Paranormal Activity April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 10/22/09
I saw Paranormal Activity tonight. I had mixed feelings about the film, but it was interesting to watch and discuss afterwards at dinner.
What the film gets right, it does quite well at. It was effective at being understated and not needing to explain too much for the most part. The nighttime shots started out slow and built the tension very effectively and there were several scenes that were quite creepy and unsettling.
But there were some threads that seemed too overstated, both in trying to show and trying to explain too much. A scene with a ouija board was too deliberate and kind of over the top at the end. And while the movie built the tension well, there were some parts in the middle act that dragged on too much and took away that energy.
The camera-POV style of shooting, like Blair Witch or Cloverfield was pretty good, but at the same time the characters didn’t totally work for me, especially the annoying boyfriend. Paul and I both wanted to slap him but we also came to independent questions as to whether or not there was some subtext on relationships, with the hapless woman and the controlling alpha male. I have to think some of that was deliberate, which made for an interesting layer to the horror story.
The movie was a mixed bag and it didn’t totally work for me, but it was worth checking out. It’d be a good rental if you like this kind of film.
Zombieland and Surrogates April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 10/02/09
I got to unwind with a movie tonight. Zombieland pretty much kicked all kinds of ass, and it exactly lived up to my expectations from the trailer. It slowed down a little in the middle, but it was a fun ride and very clever and hella funny.
The intro and opening credits were a blast, including a zombie montage set to Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” which set the stage for the film well. And the last act was a set piece with fighting off a zombie horde at an amusement park at night, score!
I was trying to figure out what park it was. It was set in the LA area and there were calling it Pacific Playland, so at first I thought it might be Six Flags Magic Mountain, but you didn’t see any mountains in the background. I didn’t see it listed in the credits, but they did say the film was shot on location in Georgia.
Also, I saw Surrogates last week which was really underwhelming. Once again Rotten Tomatoes (40%) was right. I was hoping for a fun action film which had some interesting thoughts behind it, but it was neither.
It asked some questions how robotic avatars would change the world, but the scenario wasn’t believable and they never managed to sell the idea as plausible, plus some of the technology was just plain goofy. And it was a pretty tepid action film, barely a thriller that turned out to be an uninspired and boring murder mystery. Even Bruce Willis couldn’t liven it up.
Inglorious Basterds April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 08/25/09
I went down to CT to visit Shawn and then Lonnie this past weekend. On Saturday night Shawn and I saw Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s new WW2 action flick. The trailer made it look like a romping good time with black comedy and stylish violence. It certainly delivered that, but there was a lot more to it as well; the movie had a surprising amount of drama to it as well.
It was effectively two films in one, with parallel story lines. One plot line followed the eponymous bastards, a group of Jewish-American soldiers who were recruited to fight guerrilla warfare against the Nazi’s in occupied France. Tarantio used his typical flare with style and comedic elements, to good and enjoyable effect. The characters were lovable comedic archetypes and it was a lot of fun.
The other half of the movie was a taut emotional drama which added a lot of depth to the film. Tarantino used pacing to wonderful effect here. There were several scenes where the dialog plays out over a long stretch, but unlike in the mental masturbation of Death Proof, it works superbly well here. Several times it draws you in and lulls you into a false sense of security, before pulling the rug out from under you, or conversely it sets up a tense scene and leaves the viewer on edge wondering what’s going to happen.
The film worked so well on both levels, as both the drama and the fun darkly-comic action film. It was very good to see Tarantino at the top of his game again.
District 9 April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 08/15/09
District 9 is quite a compelling movie. The film is like Alien Nation with a more interesting, realistic and gritty plot. The fact that the disabled space ship came to rest over Johannesburg, South Africa is no accident.
The film is a study of race and the mistreatment of refugees. The social critiques are obvious but deftly handled, starting out with dark humor and building into a mounting dread. There is a fair amount of violence and gore, but it feels organic to the plot as it mounts to its conclusion.
The creature effects are wonderful. They created a race of aliens which are truly alien. The bipedal shrimp-like “Prawns†are both pathetic and unnerving as they eke out their existence in the settlement camp. It’s only later when we get to spend time with them as characters do we get to identify with them more.
The plot is brilliantly economic with the back-story, not answering all the questions, but showing enough to relate to the drama of the situation. It all adds up to a very impressive and moving film.
Angels and Demons April 25th, 2010
Originally Written 05/16/09
I saw Angels and Demons. I got tired of the hype and never got around to reading any of Dan Brown’s books or seeing The DaVinci Code so this was somewhat new for me, but I knew what to expect and got pretty much that. It was a middling but passable thriller and for the most part entertaining.
The annoying points were the obvious expositions where they hit you over the head with everything. I’m no apologist for the Catholic Church, but to have characters stop just to point out some past aggression was kind of lame, as was the heavy-handed topics of science versus religion. Yawn!
Thankfully there wasn’t a lot of it and only a handful of times where it really bugged me. I will say some of the historical references were kind of cool as well. The movie did have a few nice dialog exchanges on faith and doubt, as well as a couple of wonderfully nuanced and emotionally effective scenes. It’s too bad it couldn’t have had more of those, but that sounds like its par for the course with the source material.
The movie started out being pretty goofy, but got better and the third act was the best part of the film. The adventure and mystery was fun too. It wasn’t great cinema, but certainly watchable and had some fun.