11.11.07
Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:49 am by Greg
The Devil’s In The Details
**1/2 out of *****
I was lucky that my friends Dad owned a video store when I was a young lad, or I never would have been able to rent the original Exorcist on VHS when I was 13 years old. I was a scary movie veteran by this point, but most of them were B-movies that got their scares through cheap jump cuts and loud music. However, The Exorcist was the first movie that I saw that wasn’t just scary - it was disturbing. Falling to sleep after The Howling was easy; getting some winks after The Exorcist wasn’t so simple. Sixteen years later, I found myself sitting in a theatre watching the third sequel to the original and wondering when the exact point was that the franchise had been turned into my old horror staple, the magnanimous B-movie. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:47 am by Greg
Tennants Required
*** out of *****
First off, my apologies to any readers of this review who notice any vagueness that may be peppered throughout. Writing up any movie by M. Night Shyamalan always poses a problem for any reviewer. Most people know that his movies are structured so that the last 15 minutes usually contain a twist ending that is intended to pull the rug out from underneath the viewer and inspire water cooler conversations that contain sentences like “Can you believe that xx was a xx?!” and “Did you see that coming? I didn’t see it coming!” The problem then becomes how to inform people of the story without giving anything away. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:46 am by Greg
Space Well Spent
***1/2 out of *****
Several years ago, little-known director David Twohy and his cast of relative unknowns emerged from the Australian desert with a nifty little sci-fi movie called Pitch Black. It was basically a retread of a passé theme (stranded humans try to outrun hungry aliens) but was done with enough panache to catch the attention of sci-fi fans everywhere, me included. It became a cult hit that gave us one of the most memorable good/bad guys around in Richard B. Riddick, a guy so over the top badass that he makes Sam Jackson look like Gandhi. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:42 am by Greg
Arach-tastic
**** out of *****
I remember watching an old Spiderman T.V series when I was but a wee lad of about 4 or 5 (that would make it around 1980). I don’t really remember being that impressed; indeed, about the only thing I can remember is wondering to myself how come Spiderman’s suit had wrinkles and looked like a baggy pair of pyjamas. At any rate, it must have influenced me to some degree; later that day I nearly cut my fingers off trying to climb a tree using fishing line, but I digress. Thankfully, special effects have progressed very near to the photo realism needed to erase the line between reality and CGI, and what better arena to use all this continually developing technology than the comic book movie? Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:41 am by Greg
Mouse Express to Nowhere
** out of *****
If the American box office results for Disney’s latest child-friendly flick are any indication, the company that bears Walt’s famous name is in trouble. Boardroom mutinies, disappointing box office for many of their recent movies and a general public opinion that equates ‘Disney’ with ‘corporate merger’ rather than ‘fun,’ seems to have put the House of Mouse on very shaky ground indeed. In fact, while watching the latest remake of the Jules Verne classic, I was reminded of a famous quote that, I believe, referenced the charging armies of scientific advancement: “While wondering if they could, they never stopped to ask if they should.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:36 am by Greg
Return to Sender
**1/2 out of *****
Movies can usually be categorized into one of several columns, from soul-shattering perfection down to absolute, brain-numbing crap. There is lots of variety in between these two extremes, but my favorite has always been the underdog movie - a film that has a modest budget, B-list stars and minimal advertising, yet manages to come from behind to surprise and impress, my two favorite examples being Tremors and Pitch Black (and who can forget Office Space?) But movies like Godsend make me a bit upset - they nearly cross the line into underdog territory, but fall short by just a little bit. As the saying goes - close, but no cigar. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:35 am by Greg
Van-dalising Tradition
** out of *****
As I’ve said before in other reviews, people love being scared by monster movies. It’s something deep down that we all share, a common theme spanning generations. Monsters, when done right, have the ability to invade pop culture and live forever. Three of the most illustrious examples being the Wolfman, Frankenstein and the Granddaddy of them all, Dracula. These three baddies have lived for generations and their respective legends adapted into every conceivable form of entertainment. So when director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns) decided to stash all three of the famous creatures into one gigantic movie, Hollywood suits must have been salivating. “We got hot girls, gruff heroes, three types of monsters, killer effects and cool weapons - we can’t lose!” I’d love to report that they were right, but unfortunately, they were wrong. So very, very wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:33 am by Greg
Hell Yeah
**** out of *****
Years ago, when Guillermo del Toro (Devil’s Backbone, Blade II) wanted to make a film version of Mike Mignola’s cult comic book Hellboy, no one would give him a chance. Comic book adaptations had peaked with Superman II, they said. His plans were further derailed when Joel Schumacher ruined Tim Burton’s genre-defining Batman movies with two ghastly sequels. Then Brian Singer came along and made a comic book movie that was smart and sleek and kicked some major ass, and the race to find the next X-Men was on. There was still a small problem though - most people had never even heard of Hellboy, much less read any of the comics. But with the release of del Toro’s stylish and faithful adaptation, hopefully it won’t stay that way. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:31 am by Greg
You Always Get A Chance To Make A First Impression
***1/2 out of *****
Smartly embracing his one marketable talent since his inauspicious early days on SNL - his hilarious, hyper-active overreactions - Adam Sandler took the ball and ran with it, playing pretty much the same character in every movie he did. This on-the-job training apparently worked wonders, because after The Wedding Singer in 1998, people were surprised to discover that he actually can act - providing he has the right material and most importantly, the right supporting cast. The makers of 50 First Dates realized this and chose to not stray too far from a proven winner. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Movie Reviews at 4:28 am by Greg
Captain Hook, Line and Sink Her
***1/2 out of *****
It’s almost a shame that the gargantuan Disney marketing machine spewed out its version of Peter Pan in 1953, which was inevitably soon followed by the Collector’s Edition, and the Super-Deluxe Version with a free McDonald’s coupon, and then the Super Deluxe Extended Collector’s Edition that every person over the age of 28 has seen two and a half thousand times. Why? Well, with the might of the mouse altering famous books and legends and populating them with talking objects and goofy bad guys, often times youngins’ grow up not ever knowing what their shiny, happy movies of yesteryear were based on. Every kid saw Pocahontas, but will any of them ever revel in the pessimistic joy of finding out that the famous Native American in question fell for John Smith when she was about 12, married a rich tobacco farmer and died of either pneumonia or syphilis in England when she was 22? I don’t think so. Of course, now that I read back a bit, maybe it is a good thing for children to see the world through Disney-tinted glasses. Read the rest of this entry »
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