Survival of the Dead

Survival of the Dead is the fifth zombie film that George A. Romero has made. It begins badly, as we see a group of AWOL marines who are forced to kill one of their own on the sixth day of the zombipocalypse. The gore that we get here makes us believe that this is just going to be an overly gory horror flick. And yet, Survival of the Dead never works as a zombie movie, comedy, action film, drama, or any other genre that a zombie film could fall into. It's quite strange how it actually becomes like a western in it's tone. And that's damn entertaining for a good twenty minutes as we get tough-as-nails sons of bitches on an island where there's a huge debate going on. The debate these men are having is: 'should we kill the deadheads (zombies)? For, if we could get them to eat something other than humans, we could coexist with them until a cure could be found.' This is an interesting and novel idea for the zombie genre, and it almost makes the film work. However, like most zombie films, it undermines itself in the obligatory last scene where one or two people survive and the rest are dead. And after trying to be so serious for so long, we get some pretty nauseating scenes of ribcages being gnawed at in close up. It's a disappointment.
Survival of the Dead: ✰✰1/2

Shaun of the Dead

Simon Pegg stars in this halfway-decent zombie film. Like most of them, the beginning is very strong. Here we get a sort of oblivious Pegg who doesn't realize for quite a while that everyone is turning into zombies because they seem to act as much or matter as much anyway. Pegg's character has a little posse of friends, and through quick shots and high energy camerawork, the first 2/3 of the film are quite good. Again, it's the ending of the film that undermines it. For, while being an effective spoof piece, it ends up being an effective genre piece in the realm of zombies. However, that means that it falls into cliché and the last thirty minutes is filled with all of those. The film is worth seeing for the great first two thirds, but the end is a pretty huge disappointment.
Shaun of the Dead: ✰✰1/2

Zombieland

Zombieland begins in a more original and thoughtful way than is expected from a zombie flick. It's funny. We meet Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a loner who has been making his way through zombie-america because he has a specific set of rules that he follows in order to survive. This is unique, this is funny. The filmmakers then pile on three more characters: a bad-ass zombie killer Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and two younger girls with more brawn than you would have expected, played by Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. Every character here is entertaining and has something unique and amusing about them. The film starts very strong and then unfortunately begins to flounder as it realizes that it has nowhere to go but into clichés given its genre. The end is quite satisfying, and a middle portion with a cameo from Bill Murray is also amusing, but the zombie genre being what it is, the film probably did the best it could. It's a decent film, not great.
Zombieland: ✰✰✰

Dawn of the Dead

The remake of Dawn of the Dead is made by Zack Snyder, who is a sometimes good director and sometimes superfluous in his deliveries. This film starts well, it has it's own tinge of humor and grossness as a quite appealing Sara Polley flees from her zombie husband. She, and a group of others take refuge in a shopping mall. They barricade the doors and spend their days stealing from the shops, shooting celebrity zombies from the roof, and planning eventual escape. We get a lot of pretty stupid shit in the middle though, like when a bitten pregnant woman has a zombie baby. It's admittedly pretty fun in the middle, and a lot of the killings are more entertaining than usual because these zombies can run (contrary to the classic zombie). Eventually the group makes a sort of super bus to take them out and to an island (where they feel they'll be safe). And as the film goes from the great first scene to average to boring, the film becomes disappointing. And then the sadism comes out as practically every character dies. And then the film does something unforgivable. It finishes in the credits. We see them go off in the boat to happiness, and then the credits start and everyone dies. Real appealing. Real smart... Dawn of the Dead is an essentially unnecessary and forgettable, especially cruel film with nothing to it. It's on supercharge but not all the better for it. We've really just seen it all before. Yawn.
Dawn of the Dead: ✰✰

Dawn of the Dead

The original Dawn of the Dead begins with a thrilling scene. The military is exterminating the walking dead, and despite all of their machine guns and grit, the sheer numbers of the dead are overpowering them. This scene serves as a precursor to what actually occurs in the film, which is that a group of people gather within a shopping mall, barricade the doors, and live there to escape the evil. Unlike George A. Romero's first zombie flick: Night of the Living Dead, this film has a sense of humor and fun. For a long while, it is. The scenes in the mall are fun, the killings are fun, and the idea that the zombie have flocked to the shopping mall because they remember 'shopping sprees' in marginally amusing. The whole first hour and a half is great fun. And then...the film enters into the territory that all zombie films must inevitably arrive at: sadism, stupidity, and predictability. Sadism: characters we like are eaten from their stomachs to their spinal chords. Stupidity: the characters act in stupid ways and do stupid things. Predictability: one person will escape, the rest are the zombie's midnight snack. What a shame that they all have to end the same way. Why can't someone come up with a way to end a zombie picture on a different note? It's frankly depressing how these films end. That being said, the film is entertaining and (for a while) exceptionally fun.
Dawn of the Dead: ✰✰✰

Night of the Living Dead

The original Night of the Living Dead by zombie extravaganza-man George A. Romero is highly, highly esteemed within horror film circles, and revered endlessly for its creativeness, introduction of the zombie genre, and political message beneath all the blood and guts. Now, NOTLD is not actually a ton of blood and gore, and it actually has a bigger feel of claustrophobia than anything else. The political message within NOTLD is sort of dubious, and I feel like it's grasping for meaning in something. However, NOTLD deserves some of its praise, for it is an effective horror film--tension builds up. We start with the television sets telling of the walking dead, and quite soon, a group of people have barricaded themselves up. Questions arise: should they flee? Will this ever be over? What if one of their own becomes a walking dead? These questions are obligatory within zombie pictures, and it isn't given any sort of better treatment here. Zombie films have a few rules to them. These include how the zombies look, the fact that someone will have to die every fifteen minutes or so, and everything goes to hell in the end. This makes zombie pictures extremely predictable and perhaps boring, but NOTLD was the first, and its suspense factor and grungy look make it stand out.
Night of the Living Dead: ✰✰✰

Jack Goes Boating

I expected to like Jack Goes Boating, so perhaps that made me want to like it too. Phillip Seymour Hoffman has always been great, and to hear that he was directing and starring in a film was a joy. So here's the film, which centers upon two relationships. The first is between Jack (Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan): they are possible lovers. The second is between Jack's friend Clyde (John Ortiz) and his wife (Daphne Rubin Vega). Jack is one of the most pathetic characters in movie history. He has nothing going for him except his prospects with Connie. He's trying desperately to become a better person as well, but Hoffman plays him with the same note throughout. He's either sad, or really sad. Connie is a weird one too, she's dysfunctional, but at times pretty weird and then abruptly serious (which doesn't fit her character). Clyde and his wife seem to be the opposite of Jack and Connie. For, as Jack & Connie's relationship is born, we see Clyde and his wife's relationship die. Everyone is so dysfunctional in this film that they become pathetic: especially Jack. This pathetic nature makes the film mawkish and uncomfortable, as it tries to be poignant while being odd and depressing. The only thing about Jack Goes Boating that is enjoyable is a couple of scenes at the pool with Jack and Clyde, but that's about 6 minutes within the entire film. The film also likes to employ indie songs like the Fleet Foxes, but it employs them terribly and at the wrong times (which feels amateurish and out of place). Indie songs and indie feels should be employed in films about youth and life and when the lyrics make some sense with the story, but with the overly maudlin and depressing Jack Goes Boating it feels forced and silly. This movie sucks, not only can we not connect with the characters because the writer thinks that three dimensional characters means they have split-personality, but because what happens ends up being a sort of dualism statement on life and perseverance after it hasn't gained the audience's trust to make such statements. Jack Goes Boating--a truly pretentious and awful film.
Jack Goes Boating: ✰

Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman is a mockumentary directed and written by Christopher Guest (who also stars). It focuses in upon a flamboyant drama director named Corky (Guest) who has been commissioned by the town of Blaine, Missouri, to direct and write a musical about the town's history. He does this for the 150th anniversary of this odd little town, whose claims to fame include a UFO landing in 1946, and they make a lot of stools. He holds auditions, and ends up with this dubiously talented group: A dentist (Eugene Levy), two travel agents (Fred Willard & Catherine O'Hara), a bumpkin (Parker Posey), and a car dealer. The show ends up becoming a big deal, and after Corky sends in a ton of proposals to New York, a Broadway producer sends down a man named Guffman to see if the show is ready for Broadway. Now, the way the movies goes about everything is quite unique. It builds a lot of tension with obviously idiotic characters who try to go about things in normal ways and fail. We get a lot of (fake) interviews with the townspeople, and it's amusing how they are astounded at small things, and how they have put so much faith in Corky. Waiting for Guffman is an amusing film. It's filled with amusing moments, but as a whole it isn't really what it could have been. It's nice to see a film that doesn't plow jokes into our heads every ten minutes, but the film is just a little off from what it could have been. The same director/writer/actor's other film: Best in Show is a far superior film, and perhaps its greatness makes Guffman worse just because he's done the same thing better.
Waiting for Guffman: ✰✰✰

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

To start off, it should be mentioned that the actual construction of this film is done masterfully. From the use of repetition to suspense to absolute vastness of material and the appropriate and tasteful conjoining of that material, Dear Zachary is an excellent documentary. We begin with the murder of the father (mentioned in the title). His suspected killer is now pregnant with his son: Zachary. The film chronicles the attempt to put his killer in jail and keep Zachary safe. The intent of the film (at first) is to show the mass of people that cared for the murdered man. The filmmaker wishes to then present the film as a sort of gift to Zachary (who would never know his father). Plans go astray, for during the making of the film, some horrendous things happen. The greatness of Dear Zachary is in its construction, what occurs within it is awful, except for the love of the relatives and the perseverance of the murdered man's parents. Dear Zachary is a great documentary.
Dear Zachary: ✰✰✰✰

The Best Films of 2008

1. Milk
Centered around a great performance by Sean Penn, Milk is an undeniably inspirational film. It has extraordinary emotional range, pace, and power. It's delivery is as poignant as the speeches within.

2. The Wrestler
A gorgeously real portrait of a man. Trenchantly poignant in how pathetic it is, an in the way it exhibits a man who clings to all that he has left. While simultaneously exposing a world and exposing a man: it's a great film.

3. Shotgun Stories
One of the best and underrated films of the decade, a film about dualism and the inability to let old dogs die. An ugly and well acted parable that moves with inevitable melancholy.

4. Frozen River
A film about fighting to the bitter end (like most of the other films this year) centered around the performance of Melissa Leo.

5. Let the Right One In
A morally problematic, sickening, re-imagining of vampirism. A great crime film and a great love story about pure evil, and how things aren't how they seem to be.

6. Slumdog Millionaire
A well-paced and uplifting film that brims with life. Exemplified by the sublime Danny Boyle, the music of A.R. Rahman, its pure fantasy, and the ignored actors: Frida Pinto and Dev Patel.

7. Gran Torino
A film that so perfectly captures racism and irrational behavior. Clint Eastwood's most emotional film that is unexpectedly touching, comical, and sad.

8. Paranoid Park
The brilliant companion piece to the brilliant Elephant by Gus Van Sant (who also directed Milk). A film about moving through life comatose and the factors that shatter those perceptions. It moves biliously and pulls no punches.

9. Doubt
A great film about religion featuring great performances by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep. It perfectly shows the different sides of religion and the people who follow it.

10. The Dark Knight
A great crime film that is as far away from being a superhero movie as a superhero movie can be. Immediately shocking, perceptive, and witty.

11. Frost/Nixon
A film about pace that exposes a different side of Richard Nixon not because of what happens, but how it happens, and all that's in between.

12. Religulous
A brilliant documentary that merely shows the insane parts of religion (or all of it...). Bill Maher proves himself as not preachy but rather intelligently realistic and pragmatic. The open and close are a wonder.

13. Dear Zachary
The other great documentary of the year. Completely devastating and the saddest film I've ever seen. Also technically brilliant and as effective as a suspense thriller.

And these films (alphabetically):

Chop Shop:
A realistic and trenchantly American film about perseverance and heart.

In Bruges:
A black comedy film that is clever and complicated (two things comedy films rarely are).

Pineapple Express:
David Gordon Green's well paced stoner comedy that strays into fantastic possibility territory.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona:
A beautifully shot and sharply written comedy that is ridiculous and all the better for it.

The Visitor:
Much like Gran Torino in the way it centers a story of racism around a great actor (Richard Jenkins). Simple and true.

W.: Oliver Stone's could've-been-pretentious film about an idiot.

WALL-E: Another entry in Pixar's great body of work that proves they can tell a story in any fashion they choose.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe: A devious and disgusting film about faith, evil, and desire.

Red Riding Trilogy: 1974

RRT:1974 at first seems to be like the british version of Zodiac. Zodiac masterfully covered the career and pursuit for the Zodiac Killer, and RRT:1974 at first seems like it's going to cover the Yorkshire Ripper. At first, it does, and well, but we then see that this is all an illusion. The film doesn't care about the Yorkshire Ripper case at all. Instead, it is about the corruption within the policeforce. A reporter (Andrew Garfield of The Social Network) finds a connection between some murders and immediately begins to pursue the case. He's obsessive, and in over his head. He falls in love with a dubious moral person (Rebecca Hall). The sex scenes between these two characters are the only bits of the film with warm colors or warm feeling. The rest is grungy, sad, and dark. Garfield's character is tortured mentally and physically--this is not an easy film to watch. It is overwhelmingly dark. However, the way that the film does what it does is so captivating that RRT:1974 becomes a damn good film. It reminded me of Taxi Driver in the way that it exhibits a man who wishes to do good, and ends up shattering the world around him.
Red Riding Trilogy: 1974: ✰✰✰1/2

Mystic River

Mystic River is immediately frightening. It has the feel of a brewing pot that could go off at any moment. Three friends play street hockey in the neighborhood, they decide to sketch their names in the cement. As the third friend: Dave sketches his name, two men appear claiming to be police, and take Dave away. We then skip ahead thirty-some-odd years and Dave is antisocial and depressing, the second friend, Sean, is a cop, and the third, Jimmy, is the manager of a store. One day Jimmy's teenage daughter's car turns up by the side of the road: his daughter has been murdered. Sean is on the case, Dave is a suspect, and Jimmy is in mourning. As the case unfold and revelations appear, it isn't the revelations about the case which interest the audience, but rather, the revelations of the characters: we see their reactions and the souls of these characters become apparent. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is especially interesting, for he used to be top shit in the neighborhood, but now he's a wreck. Penn gives a great performance. Kevin Bacon as Sean, and Tim Robbins as Dave are also good. The wives of these men are often overlooked, but they are just as important. They are played by Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden. Mystic River is a great film. It concerns the mood of a time and place and also succeeds as a fascinating crime story. It was directed by Clint Eastwood.
Mystic River: ✰✰✰✰

An Education

From the moment when the streets are colored grey and sad, every house looks the same and uniforms are ubiquitous, An Education is known to be a british movie about the confines of life and trying to break out of those confines. It's immediately apparent that the film is excellent in terms of its technicalities: it's beautifully photographed. So now we expect a film that will follow the formula. And in some ways, An Education does, but it stands out as a different film in two ways. First: it is realistic rather than maudlinly satisfactory, second: it features a breakout performance by a radiant and appropriate Carey Mulligan. The story follows Mulligan's character: Jenny, who is outspoken, intelligent and desires a life where she can study what she wants and listen to what she wants without the protests of her father. But one day, as Jenny walks home with her cello in hand, a charming 'music-lover' saves her and the cello from the wet. He's immediately witty and charming, as radiant as Mulligan's character. Peter Saarsgard (so good, so often) plays the man brilliantly. He strikes up a relationship with Jenny, and in no time is showing her all that she wanted to see. However, there are some demons within this man. Her parents would be happy to see her married off to an established man rather than go after her own life, her teachers are wary but disregarded because they represent the old way of thinking. This is a masterful film. Not only in the way the actors convey feelings at appropriate times, but in the way that the film knows what it's like to be young. It is never condescending or preachy, but you reach a conclusion by what occurred in the story, not what the story told you to think.
An Education: ✰✰✰✰

Stone

Stone is a film you walk into with very high expectations. For one thing, it stars Robert De Niro in a serious role: which is hard to find these days. For another, it stars the best younger actor around: Edward Norton, who also starred in the same director (John Curran)'s previous film (which was great). And yet Stone does not manage to be a great film. It's definitely a bit of a disappointment, but not wholly. For, Stone is so complex a film that I wonder if I just missed something or if it wasn't the right day or time to see the film. Here's the plot: Robert De Niro plays a parole officer about to retire. He decides to stay and see out all of his current cases. He's a man inner demons, and we see some of them come out in the prologue. He's moving through life without any, until he meets Stone, an inmate. Stone is extremely intelligent (played by Norton) and starts to mess with De Niro's life. He has his scintillating and never-better girlfriend played by Milla Jovovich call and meddle with De Niro. This is all done well, and as De Niro and Jovovich begin a relationship, there's a heavy overtone of religion and god--righteousness. The director, John Curran, was masterful at taking clichés and exhibiting them (and stereotypes) as truth in The Painted Veil, it's not done as well in Stone, but there's a sense of it. This is a complicated crime picture, one that is a step above most others. It deserves recognition and perhaps there's something I missed with the religion scenes, but the film was just not fully coherent. There's a few silly mistakes here and there and not enough interaction between De Niro and Norton. Potential not met.
Stone: ✰✰1/2

The Way Back

The Way Back is a dubiously true story that is not only well made, but well acted and well photographed. It has a master director behind it: Peter Weir, and yet it manages to be unsatisfactory and frankly boring. It tells the story of a group of men who escape the gulag in Russia. They trek across forest, desert, and mountain to reach freedom. They are Ed Harris, an especially convincing Colin Farrell, and Jim Sturges. Later on they are joined by Saorise Ronan. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the first hour is actually quite entertaining. But the group makes a four thousand mile trek to freedom and that's a hell of a lot of walking. There just isn't enough drama in the film. Too much doesn't happen. The group struggles with their hunger and thirst, but we don't get the details about how they find such things despite the odds. We expect some chase scenes, for the characters are escaped convicts, and yet we get none. It's an especially disappointing film because it's executed so well, but manages to be so boring in the second hour--where there are endless shots of going over a little hill and viewing shit-tons of land to still cover. It's not a very good movie--a disappointment.
The Way Back: ✰✰1/2

Magnolia

Magnolia is over three hours long, and yet, I never even for a moment found my mind wandering. Rather, I was completely captivated from the opening documentary scenes to the inexplicably strange and absolute end. The opening documentary I refer to is completely separate to the events in the story. Instead, it offers some explanation for life. It covers three strange events. The first: A man from Greenberryhill is killed by three men: Mr. Green, Mr. Berry, and Mr. Hill. The second: A man is lifted from the water while he scuba-dives by a fire control plane picking up water. The man conducting the plane got into a scuffle with the scuba-diver days earlier. He kills himself in confusion and depression after the scuba-diver's death. The third and most interesting: A man jumps from a building and on his descent is shot with a shotgun. The shotgun was shot by his mother. He loaded the shotgun days earlier hoping that she would kill his father. In his attempted suicide, he would have failed if not for the shotgun, for nets had been installed for window workers the previous day. The mother is arrested for homicide, and the deceased is named as an accomplice in his own death. After this, we are immediately thrust into the story, and a series of vignettes connect a group of around seven or eight people. There are a lot of great actors in the film: Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy to name a brief few. They act the film with such emotion, such poignancy. The entire film covers subjects from death to depression. The stories include a man who is dying of cancer, two women addicted to drugs, a whizz kid forced to compete on game shows, a middle aged man who thinks he needs braces, a cop, a sex motivational speaker. They all convene in themes of depression or some other form of connectedness. What occurs in the film is intriguing, but more intriguing is why what's happening to them is happening to them. In the last scene of the film, something extraordinary and unexpected happens. It surprises these characters and shatters their world. Magnolia is a complicated allegory for life. It exhibits the strangeness of life, and the importance of surprises. Great.
Magnolia: ★★★★

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Anchorman solidified the status of Will Ferrell as a very funny, over-the-top kind of comedian. He plays the kinds of characters who are so stupid, they eventually just sort of start blubbering to the complexity of the world. In Anchorman, Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy: a popular tv anchor at the height of his career. In fact, Ferrell is just part of the Channel 4 News Team. It includes the likes of Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana (an arrogant womanizing long-haired field reporter), David Koechner as 'Champ' (the chauvinistic sportscaster), and Steve Carrell as Brick (a weatherman with an I.Q. of 48). The film is so aware of how stupid it's being that it's hilarious. It's very, very funny, and features a plethora of creative scenes (like when the rival news teams have a street fight and Brick kills a man with a trident). But there's some story too, which focuses upon a woman anchor (Christina Applegate) who is joining channel four. The men are at first pissed off that a woman would be an anchor and as they all harass her, she starts to fight back. The tension within Anchorman is great, the actors are great, the script is great. It's one of the best comedies of the 00's.
Anchorman: ✰✰✰✰

The Haunting In Connecticut

 This movie blows. There are some effectively scary scenes in it, but upon any sort of further examination, those scenes view as tawdry and a little sick. The story revolves around a family where the son is chronically ill. They move to a house in Connecticut so that they'll be closer to the center where they bring the son. However, in any horror movie, you don't just get a house cheap for no reason. No, Haunting gives it itself away to the biggest movie cliché: the house that is freaky--it was the home to a serial killer. The sick boy starts to experience a ton of psychic dreams: he dreams of the torture that went on at the house. A few ridiculous twists and turns later and the boy is miraculously well again! Haunting in Connecticut gives itself away to nearly every horror movie cliché that exists. The scares are cheap and rely on screechy music and "gotcha!" moments. The film is inept and finally just pretty stupid. It's kind of annoying at times how good it think it is too, so it takes liberties that only a very good horror movie should do. The sadistic nature of the film is what I'm referring to. Your movie should be good if you expect an audience to sit through that kind of bullshit.
The Haunting in Connecticut: ✰✰

Prom Night

Here's a movie that you keep waiting for, a film that you could eat lunch around while it provides some noise, a film that is so bad it's not funny, a film that doesn't even try. There were a few times during it when I thought: alright, has the movie started yet? Because, even though it's a clean ninety minutes, the amount of pain it induces is pretty incredible. The first hour is unbelievably boring. A killer is going to kill Brittany Snow (fuck the name of her character, the movie doesn't deserve the effort it would take for me to wiki her name) and it's going to happen at the prom. Snow and a group of friends decide to say 'fuck it' and go to prom anyway. There's a hell-of-a-lot of security, but the security guys are idiots and so are the kids. People start to go off to rooms to have sex, and they're all killed in unbelievably bad kills. I mean, sure, the Friday the 13th series blows, but the inventiveness of the kills keeps you marginally interested. In Prom Night, they're not even trying with the low-key PG-13 deaths. One of two people will die and then the other will go looking around for them, only to be murdered themselves. So, all of Brittany Snow's friends die and then what? In the last 15 minutes of the film, we discover that the killer is actually an obsessed teacher! Oh, and she actually escaped but now he's going to kill her! Oh, but this is also a hollywood PG-13 horror film and everyone's got a hard-on for Brittany Snow, so, of course she lives, the killer dies: la dee fucking da.
Prom Night: 1/2 a ★

The Uninvited

The Uninvited is a problematic, but above-average horror flick. It opens and we meet young Anna, a suicidal teen who is just now being released from the mental hospital. She returns home to her sister Alex and her father, who she learns plans to marry a woman she hates. Not the best environment for a suicidal person to return to...but what the hell, everyone's a little dim in horror movies anyway. Anna (Emily Browning) starts to distrust her father's to-be-bride. She is played well by the talented and underrated Elizabeth Banks. Another fine actor: David Strathairn is the father. Anna's mother is recently dead, killed in a fire, and as Anna digs she begins to convince herself that her to-be-mother-in-law is responsible. We get a lot of obligatory fright scenes then that reduce the power of the film. It's atmospheric enough without requiring such crap, but considering it's hollywood-horror-flick of the fall status, we have to endure some ineffective screechy music mixed with shit jumping out at you. This was all to be expected, but regardless of such silliness, the film is a step above the usual shlock. This was accomplished due to three things: the atmosphere maintained throughout the film, the good acting, and a final twist that changes everything we've just seen. Many twists nowadays just come out of someone's ass, they don't really make sense after you think about it. But in The Uninvited everything from the nuances of who speaks when and what the spook that came out of nowhere is elevated by the finale. It's a good horror movie.
The Uninvited: ✰✰✰

The X-Files: Season 1

The X-Files does not seem as original as it might have when it came out in the early 90's. It has a rainy and hapless feeling to it, but some of that 90's crime magic that was so constant within that period. But the X-Files boasts two damn-fine actors and one of the best genre's within film: mystery. For, it is so intriguing to be brought through the FBI cases that are worked on in the X-Files. Especially when a lot of the theories and ideas are ones that actually exist in real life, The X-Files is great at exhibiting great cop drama. However, it's above even that, for, the series chronicles the digging and working of it's main character: Fox Mulder (David Duchovney) in a unique fashion. Mulder is obsessed with the paranormal, he's been assigned to the X-Files to be shoved aside. He's an esteemed profiler, but his "spooky" ideas have landed him in a basement at the FBI looking at files to do with the paranormal. Mulder is an avid believer, and to debunk him even further, the government assigns an agent: Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to scientifically scrutinize his findings. There's a lot of near-corny material in the X-Files, but it's elevated by the real theories within. Example: the real life Jersey Devil to whom an episode is dedicated.

The X-Files: ✰✰✰✰

The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead is a damn good horror movie. It's complete trash, with one very creative and interesting scene, but the rest is sort of ridiculous. It's low-budget and quite creepy. It's loud and screechy, extremely gory and finally disgusting. Four friends go out to a cabin in the middle of the woods. It's the kind of cabin where everything creaks and the floorboards are made of elastic. One of the girls goes out into the woods and is raped by the trees. She comes back possessed, and eventually transforms into a disgusting zombie-esque creature. All hell breaks loose, as hero Ash (Bruce Campbell) watches his friends turn into disgusting evil dead. He eventually discovers that the book of the dead caused this horror, a book they read aloud and released the evil spirits. There is one pretty great sequence in the film, where director Sam Raimi (of the Spider-Man trilogy) exhibits his talent with awing and creepy cuts. They show Ash attempting to flee from the evil dead. There's so much creativity in this one scene that it practically makes the movie. The Evil Dead is not a very well done film, but it does what a horror film should: it's pretty scary. It's better than average and an achievement for low-budget filmmaking.
The Evil Dead: ★★★1/2

The Shawshank Redemption

Shawshank is a film that most everyone likes. It manages to be endearing and constantly amiable, even when it's sad or cruel. Perhaps it's because Shawshank has a happy ending. But it's popularity doesn't dwindle the greatness of Shawshank. It's a great story, penned originally by Stephen King in novella form. It tells of Andy Dufrense (Tim Robbins) who is sent to jail after being convicted of murder--the murder of his wife. However, Andy is innocent. In prison he meets Red (Morgan Freeman) and over the span of about thirty years, they become best friends. We see a lot of intriguing stuff in Shawshank. We see a man who's been in prison so long he doesn't know how to act in the real world when he's finally released. We see cruel prison guards, manipulative wardens. And yet, Andy is invigorated by Red to keep alive within prison. At first he drifts into depression, and yet Red gives him the drive to keep working. Andy works in the library at the prison, he does the tax returns for all of the guards, he gains the confidence of the warden. This might all seem like small achievements, but in the context of prison, these show the need to be important even within the heart of hell. There's so much injustice, so much love in Shawshank that it becomes more than just a prison movie. Rather, it becomes the story of a life. The story of most lives. The Shawshank Redemption is a great film.

Avatar

Avatar is a difficult film. At times it seems humble and simplistic, and at others it feels pretentious. I suppose the most problematic thing about Avatar is that it pretty much took the story of Pocahontas and then replaced it with aliens. It's obvious what the film is trying to say, and how it compares the two situations. But, the film is so hateful towards humans regarding something we haven't done except in the fantasy world of James Cameron! This bothered me during the first hour of the film, but admittedly, some of the ideas that were brought up in the film were interesting. The idea that a soldier becomes part of the alien tribe and then fights back was appealing to me despite my reservations. The power of the imagery is overwhelming. It's done so well, it creates a world. It reminded me of Star Wars in its epic scale. Every inch of the screen is filled with wonder, the flying scenes, the end result is great. The last scene where the world fights back was appealing. It was well done. And yet...there's a scene in the film where one of the supposedly evil soldiers says something I found true. "You throw a rock in this place and you'll hit some holy fern". Yes! Exactly! That's bullshit! And then, the film goes on to explain the biological interconnectedness of the alien world. But that's bullshit!! That creates a fantasy argument for indigenous peoples, rather than dealing with the issues in a more realistic way. There's also a lot of hippie-scientists who try to be one with the tribe. That's also bullshit. And yet...it's done so well and it's so appealing. Oh Avatar, what to do with you? Perhaps I'm looking at the film too cynically, too literally. Therefore:
Avatar: ★★1/2
(Avatar is a groundbreaking film and one-of-a-kind. It deserves recognition for that but it should be viewed fairly for what it is).

Disgrace

Disgrace is a film that starts so intensely I could hardly believe it. It's at once clear that Disgrace is no murder-case or action type film, not even in the indie version of that. Rather, it begins with sex. This sex is uncomfortable, however, for we have the manipulative and lustful John Malkovich seducing one of his students. They have sex. She tells. Malkovich is outcast immediately. He makes no secret of his affairs, he is at a level above the people he deals with. He believes that he is at such a level of intelligence that they don't even deserve his explanation. Malkovich evokes the image of a devious and sick man. Then the movie shifts gears, and Malkovich is now living in Australia with his lesbian daughter. One day, he is attacked by aborigines. They pour him with gasoline and then light him on fire. He nearly dies, and in his distress, they rape his daughter. Now Malkovich is humbled by absolute evil. He tries to understand, to fight back. But his daughter strangely wants to forget it all. He cannot understand. He is incapable. Disgrace is a film so concerned with this character that it seeps with the power of Malkovich. His character is immediately convincing and we move from listening to a story to analyzing in from within. Disgrace is a complicated and intriguing film. It's about racism and moving on, one of the best films of 2009.
Disgrace: ★★★★

Ponyo

Ponyo isn't meant to be a great film, but it comes from a visionary director: Hayao Miyazaki, and ends up being one. Consider some of his past films: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away. His animated style is one that produces well-drawn and amiable films. With Ponyo, he achieves just that. It's tale is a little silly, it's just a fable. It tells of a creature named Ponyo that was part of the sea creatures, but longed to be human. It's sort of like the japanese Little Mermaid. Ponyo befriends a boy up on the land, and their innocence and carefree sets them off on a mini-adventure. Everything is so grand in Ponyo, especially a great scene where the duo float over a buried city, that we can't help but feel privileged to see it. It's like a dream. The story, the images, they all seem to have been perfectly re-represented by Miyazaki. The film isn't really complicated or interesting, but it's one of the best children's films I've ever seen. Not only that, but the simplicity within the story is endearing. With all of these high-octane, high-bullshit children's movies that are out nowadays, its so great to see one that tells a simple story and captivates solely by imagery.
Ponyo: ★★★★

Public Enemies

Whenever Michael Mann makes a crime film, there's a hell-of-a-lot for him to live up to. For, in the mid 90's he made one of the best ever: HEAT. With PUBLIC ENEMIES, Mann does not try to give us a great crime movie, but rather, show us one of the most intriguing periods of crime. With PUBLIC ENEMIES we meet and realize the brutality of the likes of: Pretty Boy Floyd (disgustingly killed at the start of the film), Baby Face Nelson, and John Dillinger. The film mostly follows Dillinger, who is played with a smooth face and mean temper by Johnny Depp. Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis: a hard-ass lawman who'll take criminals dead or alive. We follow the escapades and jail-escapes of Dillinger, and this is all pretty entertaining and interesting, but it is the degeneration of the character's surroundings, and how he reacts to it which is so intriguing. Mann uses striking imagery that never calls attention to itself, and a blunt reaction to violence. This works brilliantly, making PUBLIC ENEMIES a great American film.
Public Enemies: ★★★★

The Road

There is no bleaker a film than The Road. For, no matter what horrors occur in any other narrative film, the world is still out there. It beckons and hopes that the depressed parties will see the light. In The Road, there is no bright future. Rather, the characters attempt to keep humanity alive within themselves. The father tells the son stories of justice and morality--which are absent here. The Road is based on the book by Cormac McCarthy. In The Road, McCarthy created a devastating portrait of the world, but tenderly mentioned the relationship between a father and son who still fought for survival in a post-apocolypse world. The film is unique because it doesn't try to explain what happened, but rather explains what is happening. The scenery is so well done and convincing. The whole film is grey, and when a coke bottle appears in one of the few happy scenes, it shines with color. It's very well done, and an achievement to film what is unfilmable. It follows the book very well, it's very scary, and very depressing. The end is just what is inevitable--we understand it well after going through the day-to-day with the father and son. The acting here is also very good. Viggo Mortensen is creepy and convincing as the father, Robert Duvall appears as a scripture-esque blind man, and Kodi-Smitt McPhee is quite good as the son. The entire film is an achievement, it's interesting and compelling: one of the best of 2009.
The Road: ★★★1/2

The Best Films of 2009

A bit late, but here it is, I saw most of them and it was a damn good year for movies. Any one of the top ten could have been a number one in a lesser year. Thus...

1. The Hurt Locker

An electrifying, compelling, alternative way to view war, the Hurt Locker is a timely film filled with metaphor and blunt fact. The way that director Kathryn Bigelow takes all that we know and turns it upside-down makes the film original--even though it's genre and action is one of the oldest things in film. From the first scene to the last, the film is constantly captivating and tense.



2. Goodbye Solo

The most tender film of the year, a view at pure goodness in the light of depression. The end shot is one of the best I've ever seen. Goodbye Solo transcends the foolish buddy picture and exhibits what's at the heart of relationships. Not only is the film grounded in reality, but its insights and ability make it a wholly American film.


3. An Education

A film whose ideas ring as true today as they did in the time of the characters, An Education exemplifies with a fair and understanding hand what it's like to grow up when everyone seems against you. The way that it does not fall into stereotypes and yet exhibits them as true at other times is wonderous. Carey Mulligan is especially a revelation. Here is a film that allows the viewers to reach a conclusion based on what we've seen instead of plowing a message into our heads.


4. Moon

A gorgeous and eerie sci-fi film that ranks with the best of them all, Moon is a compelling film about what it means to be ourselves. It is immediatley clichéd and trite, but that does not make what it has to show us any less interesting and true. It's a given that there are hidden demons in a sci-fi film, but when it is executed so well and mysteriously, it becomes great entertainment. The ideas presented in Moon are ones that are more intelligent than the revered Isaac Asimov.


5. A Serious Man

The Coen Brother's epic about the meaning of life and the cruelty of life. Beautiful, caustic, and devastating.


6. Up in the Air

A perceptive, funny, and kind-hearted comedy that is realistic while being trenchantly hopeful.
Up in the Air so perfectly captures it's time and the mood that accompanies it--one of those comedies that has a depressing undertone.


7. Bad Lieutenant

A holds-back-no-punches thriller that perfectly delves into madness and obsession. A film that solidifies Nicholas Cage's worth as an actor and an achievement for master-director Werner Herzog--it steams with lust and evil.


8. Brothers

The other great war film of the year, a movie about family more than anything else. Wonderfully acted and architectural, Brothers delves into dualism with perfect pace.


9. Sin Nombre

The steamy and captivating tale of evil within Central America, and how we're doomed to see history repeat itself. The realistic nature of the film and its de-romaticized nature mark it as a great film about immigration and leads to questions about the entire subject and its civility.


10. Broken Embraces

A scintillating and slow spanish film by the master Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces embraces all aspects of life and plots them all out. The colors in Almodóvar's film seem allegorical for the sides of his characters: their desires, shame, and depression.


11. A Single Man

A devastating and façade ridden portrait of life, acted wonderfully by Colin Firth and with the feel of a ticking time bomb. The beauty that director Tom Ford brings to the film makes it unique.


12. Antichrist

The most effective horror movie ever. Director Lars von Trier evokes wonderful performances from his actors and allows for long, contemplative scenes of absolute evil.


13. In the Electric Mist

Noir in Louisiana, exemplified by the pen of James Lee Burke and the voice of Tommy Lee Jones


14. Drag Me To Hell

The other great horror film of the year, it leaks its ridiculousness out into the audience. The dualism of horror, comedy and a disgusting ending exhibit the worth of director Sam Raimi.

15. Inglorious Basterds

For it's non-basterds scenes, its a sharply written and sexy revenge tale. The power given to the women in Tarantino's film is admirable, and so is Tarantino's big joke on all of us: that the real basterds in his film are the americans.

Also these (alphabetically):

(500) Days of Summer

Probably the only good romantic-comedy of the decade.

Avatar

A groundbreaking (though pretentious) masterpiece on the visual level--on the scale of Star Wars in its vision.

The Cove

A hopeful documentary about the evils within Japan's dolphin industry and how we helped that to occur.

Crazy Heart

A great portrait of a man, exhibited by the great Jeff Bridges

Disgrace

A John Malkovich vehicle about racism and letting go.

Gomorrah

A brutal picture of the mafia in Italy.

The Informant!

A hilarious and odd film about a man with no actual ideals.

The Messenger

For it's solid portrayals.

Ponyo

A dreamy and sweet fable that is as simple as can be.

Public Enemies

Michael Mann's overwhelming epic about 1920's gangsters--highly romanticized and all the better for it.

The Road

A bleak and disgusting movie that is done so well and raises such primal questions that it must be mentioned.