VERDICT:
9/10 Queen Bitches

Proves that some sequels really do kick ass and it still stands as one of the best action movies of all time.

Aliens picks up right where Alien (singular) left off with lone survivor Ellen Ripley being woken up from a 57 year-long hypersleep by the same organization that sent her out on a suicide mission in the first place. She tells them about everything that happened in the first movie, they all think she’s crazy, but when they suddenly lose contact with one of their colonies that’s stationed on the same planet Ripley’s crew first discovered that damn alien, the bigwigs quickly eat their words and send our vindicated heroine back out to the said planet to take care of business.

Hadn’t seen this one in a good long while, but being that I’ve still got Avatar on the brain, I made it a point yesterday to go out and buy this sucker as soon as possible. A fine addition to the collection and it’s still as good as ever.

And it only cost me ten bucks. Booyah!

So I don’t know about everyone else, but I think this one’s even better than the original. Why? Oh I’ll tell you why. Six words:

“Get away from her, you BITCH!“

For those who know what I’m talking about, I rest my case. For those who don’t, allow me to explain. See, James Cameron has seen the future, and the future, dear readers, is totally badass. It is far more badass than any future Ridley Scott has ever seen and we are going to be screwed in a most epic of fashions as a result.

Instead of ramble on about why the sequel is so much better, I’m gonna let Jim Cameron take it away and run down his mental bullet points after watching Alien for the first time as he thought of all the ways he was going to make the sequel rock at least twice as hard.  Pretty sure this is verbatim.

- “So, Alien. Where do I even begin? Problem number one: fight a single alien for two hours? Screw that, Ridley! How about we throw an extra hundred in there, stat…and take away all the survivors’ ammo while they’re at it! These guys are gonna be effed!“

- “Problemo numero dos: Ellen Ripley run away from the alien horde? Screw that double time! Ripley’s getting the Sarah Connor treatment and she is gonna destroy! Sigourney Weaver eats metal pylons for breakfast (thank you for that one, Castor) and the world damn well better recognize.”

- “You know what’s awesome? Marines. You know what’s even more awesome? Space marines! Gotta make sure we give them some gratuitously large guns, too.”

- “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We are totally gonna tape a flamethrower to a machine gun/grenade launcher at some point. That has to happen.”

- “I had a nightmare about this last night…and I am totally putting it into this movie.”

- “Someone should yell, ‘I’m the king of the world!’ at some point. No? Alright, but I’m saving that one.”

Yeah, I think that about sums it up. All the same, there’s still a couple more things worth mentioning.

There’s some choice performances here by Michael Biehn as the only level-headed space marine of the bunch, Lance Henriksen as the token android (Lance should be in more stuff, very cool dude) and Paul Reiser of all people as the scumbag company rep. Also features one of Bill Paxton’s more entertaining roles.

The set pieces, the creature designs, and every last painstaking detail that went into creating this horrorshow of a world are also nothing short of unreal. Not sure that it all adds up to be as scary as Alien was back in the day, but good God is it impressive. The alien queen? Utter insanity right there.

Unfortunately, the dialogue’s not all that great, at least when it comes to the marines, but there are some classic one-liners to be found amidst what is mostly a borderline corny script.

But, folks, if you’ve never seen Aliens, you are missing out on one hell of a ride. This thing is epic, this thing is awesome, and this thing is just damn fun. One of those movies that James Cameron was born to make and I was this close to giving it a 10. Who knows, maybe on the next viewing.

Game over, man. Game over.

FUN FACT: The fifteen minute countdown at the end of the movie where Ripley goes down to find Newt actually clocks in at exactly fifteen minutes. That is so freakin’ cool. That’s love, man.

Check out the newest trailer for Big Love season 4 which airs on January 10, 2010 on HBO!

Near suck.  3/10  [IAN]

Buy it

You know, with all the tv shows having talked about the Twilight series, since New Moon was coming out, and how Bella and Edward’s relationship was forbidden, etc., it made me think. Why are people hooked onto the Twilight stuff when there are other movies or other pieces of literature where there is a forbidden romance in it? I mean, there is the classic Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare. There is also the movie Titanic. In Romeo & Juliet, the forbidden romance was the fact that the couple were from feuding families. In Titanic, Jack and Rose were from different classes. What is it about Bella and Edward’s relationship that makes it so different from the other two? Is it because he’s a vampire and she’s human and that’s something new? I really just don’t get it.

por Diego Taborda

Los Golden Globes tienen algo divertido y es que son capaces de calificar tanto cine como televisión en un sólo evento. Lo malo es que las categorías no son muy elocuentes, por así decirlo, y terminan estando musicales y comedias en un sólo lado de la balanza.

Muchas pelis no las he visto, la mayoría son pelis que no van a traer y dependiendo de los corrillos en las salas de cine, habrá que ver si se hace el esfuerzo de buscarlas por Amazon, pedirlas prestadas o inducir a los vecinos o a algún amigo descarriado a que la compre pirata (ooops).

Siguiendo con el juego, espero se hayan tomado un tiempo prudencial para meditar el listado de ayer. Hoy voy a subrayar en negrilla las pelis que considero ganadoras y en itálica las que no he visto.

• Best Motion Picture – Drama

Sólo me he visto una, por descarte selecciono mi ganadora

Avatar (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Up in the Air (2009/I)

• Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Igual pero no creo que ninguna supere a The Hangover, sobretodo porque son demasiado romanticonas para mi gusto. De Nancy Meyers me he visto lo último que ha hecho y no me convence, Rob Marshall definitivamente no es mi director favorito y Nora Ephron lo mismo de Meyers

(500) Days of Summer (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
It’s Complicated (2009)
Julie & Julia (2009)
Nine (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Desierto por ahora

Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)
Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)
Tobey Maguire for Brothers (2009/I)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Desierto por ahora pero me llama la atención a la Bullock con su nominación

Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria (2009)
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Qué linda competencia. Damon dirigido por Soderbergh debe ser muy bueno, Day-Lewis nunca defrauda aunque insisto ni los musicales ni Marshall son mi fuerte, Downey Jr. es de los que pintan mejor pero quién sabe si se arriesguen a darle premios debido a su consabida arrogancia y humor negro en los podios, Gordon-Levitt me cae muy bien desde Third Rock from The Sun pero quién sabe si logre premio, lo último que le vi fue The Juror y fue normalito, el otro nominado ni idea.

Matt Damon for The Informant! (2009)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine (2009)
Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt for (500) Days of Summer (2009)
Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Esta fijo se la gana Meryl Streep pero me gustó Roberts en Duplicity. Segunda nominación de Bullock?

Sandra Bullock for The Proposal (2009/I)
Marion Cotillard for Nine (2009)
Julia Roberts for Duplicity (2009)
Meryl Streep for It’s Complicated (2009)
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Nadie le gana a Waltz en esta categoría.

Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009/I)
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Desierto por ahora

Penélope Cruz for Nine (2009)
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Julianne Moore for A Single Man (2009)

• Best Director – Motion Picture

Yo creo que con tanta muerte de nazis Tarantino gana de lejos aunque Clint Eastwood siempre es un competidor fuerte y es uno de mis directores favoritos y Reitman después de Juno y Thank You for Smoking puede sorprender

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
James Cameron for Avatar (2009)
Clint Eastwood for Invictus (2009)
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

• Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Yo esperaría que ganara Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell por District 9 por sus logros con la reinvención de una buena historia de ciencia ficción pero fijo aquí también gana Tarantino

District 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
The Hurt Locker (2008): Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino
It’s Complicated (2009): Nancy Meyers
Up in the Air (2009/I): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

• Best Original Song – Motion Picture

Desierto por ahora

Avatar (2009): James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell(“I Will See You”)
Brothers (2009/I): U2, Bono(“Winter”)
Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham(“The Weary Kind”)
Everybody’s Fine (2009): Paul McCartney(“(I Want To) Come Home”)
Nine (2009): Maury Yeston(“Cinema Italiano”)

• Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Aún no he visto la peli pero gracias a un amigo ya escuché la banda sonora completa de Where the Wild Things Are y es ganadora

Avatar (2009): James Horner
The Informant! (2009): Marvin Hamlisch
A Single Man (2009): Abel Korzeniowski
Up (2009): Michael Giacchino
Where the Wild Things Are (2009): Carter Burwell, Karen Orzolek

• Best Animated Film

Obviamente, incluso sin verla, debería ser ganadora Fantastic Mr. Fox

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Coraline (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Up (2009)

• Best Foreign Language Film

Desierto por ahora pero que no la se la gane Almodóvar, estoy cansado de la rutina

Los abrazos rotos (2009)
Baarìa (2009)
Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)
La nana (2009)
Un prophète (2009)

• Best Television Series – Drama

Hay buenas opciones, estuve viendo Mad Men en HBO y creo que es bastante ganador pero el resto es muy bueno igual, no se cuál pueda lograrlo

“Big Love” (2006)
“Dexter” (2006)
“House M.D.” (2004)
“Mad Men” (2007)
“True Blood” (2008)

• Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

“Entourage” (2004)
“Glee” (2009)
“The Office” (2005)
“Modern Family” (2009)
“30 Rock” (2006)

• Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Desierto por ahora

Georgia O’Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Little Dorrit (2008)
Taking Chance (2009) (TV)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Desierto por ahora

Kevin Bacon for Taking Chance (2009) (TV)
Kenneth Branagh for Wallander (2008)
Chiwetel Ejiofor for Endgame (2009)
Brendan Gleeson for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Jeremy Irons for Georgia O’Keeffe (2009) (TV)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Desierto por ahora

Joan Allen for Georgia O’Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Jessica Lange for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Anna Paquin for The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009) (TV)
Sigourney Weaver for Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

En esta categoría también se pone buena la competencia, Baldwin por experiencia y excelencia, Carell porque no defrauda, Duchovny porque lo hace bien aunque no es que me mate la serie ni su actuación y Jane se está reivindicando después de todo ese pasado tenebroso en Hollywood

Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock (2006)
Steve Carell for The Office (2005)
David Duchovny for Californication (2007)
Thomas Jane for Hung (2009)
Matthew Morrison for Glee (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Creo que aunque Tina Fey puede ser clara ganadora, Toni Collette tiene un logro muy bueno y puede llegar a sorprender

Toni Collette for United States of Tara (2009)
Courteney Cox for Cougar Town (2009)
Edie Falco for Nurse Jackie (2009)
Tina Fey for 30 Rock (2006)
Lea Michele for Glee (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Me voy por Ham entre Jon Hamm y Bill Paxton pero fijo gana Simon Baker

Simon Baker for The Mentalist (2008)
Michael C. Hall for Dexter (2006)
Jon Hamm for Mad Men (2007)
Hugh Laurie for House M.D. (2004)
Bill Paxton for Big Love (2006)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Menos mal me quitan el servicio de televisión forzosamente durante tres meses, creo que estoy viendo demasiada. Aquí la ganadora es Glenn Close y su papel de antagónica en Damages

Glenn Close for Damages (2007)
January Jones for Mad Men (2007)
Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife (2009)
Anna Paquin for True Blood (2008)
Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer (2005)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Voy a repetirlo tal cual: Menos mal me quitan el servicio de televisión forzosamente durante tres meses, creo que estoy viendo demasiada. Soy súper fanático de Lost y no hay nadie tan malo como Emerson, ojalá se lleve el galardón

Michael Emerson for Lost (2004)
Neil Patrick Harris for How I Met Your Mother (2005)
William Hurt for Damages (2007)
John Lithgow for Dexter (2006)
Jeremy Piven for Entourage (2004)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Tengo un cariño especial por Jane Adams desde Happiness ojalá sea ganadora este año se lo merece pero le va a tocar duro con Byrne

Jane Adams for Hung (2009)
Rose Byrne for Damages (2007)
Jane Lynch for Glee (2009)
Janet McTeer for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Chloë Sevigny for Big Love (2006)

Hay todavía muchas pelis por ver, ojalá tengamos suerte y la distribucion en Colombia sea más diligente que en tiempos pasados para poder mucho más material ineteresante.

Director – Bill Paxton

Cast – Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe, Matt O’Leary, Jeremy Sumpter

Release Year – 2001

Reviewed by John of the Dead

This film is one of those rare hidden gem type films that goes by unnoticed, but is actually really good. This film stars veteran actor Bill Paxton, who also directs the film as well. Some of you may remember Bill Paxton from the infamous 80s vampire flick Near Dark. Anywho, this is one of those films that does not need, or use a big budget or amazing special effects to get the job done. This is a story driven film that does what so many films try to do, but fail at.

This film focuses on a serial killer in Texas known as the “Gods Hand” killer. Late one night our lead character Fenton Meiks(played by Matthew McConaughey) heads to the Dallas FBI office and asks to speak to the FBI agent in charge of the “God’s Hand” case. He quickly gets to the point and tells the FBI agent that he knows who the killer is. With the agent in serious doubt over Fenton’s statement, Fenton then goes into more detail on how his family was forced to endure their father’s visits from angels telling him to go out and kill specific “demons” that were poisoning society with their horrible actions. The story is told mainly from a flashback point of view, with Fenton’s voice narrating the past events to us as we view them ourselves. The boys must figure out whether or not their father(Bill Paxton) is really having visions from angels and actually killing “demons”, or if he has become deranged and is actually killing innocent people. However there is much more hidden within the story than Fenton is telling, and the FBI agent is determined to find out what he is hiding.

I really enjoyed the storyline for this film, and found it to not only be very interesting, but it makes up for the lack of gore. I would have personally preferred to have seen more of the actual kills in the film, but this story was so interesting I really cannot dock the film for the lack of gore. The performances in this film were good, especially from Bill Paxton. I also personally feel that this one of McConaughey’s best roles so far, too bad for him it was in one of his lesser known films. I also really liked the roles of the young Meiks brothers during the flashback scenes. Most of the time children used in films are really put there for literally NO REASON and never add anything to the film. In this film, they are used to provide conflict to the plot, as well as understanding into whether or not the father is really killing demons or simply murdering people. Is God really instructing him to do his work and rid the earth of these bad people? That is the question you have during the entirety of the film(until you find out at the end), and it is the young Meiks brothers in the film that help us get to answering that question.

I do not have any major complaints for this film. The only real problem for this film was that it seemingly had a small budget, but it doesn’t show all that much. The film also develops a little slow, but the progressing story should keep you interested enough to wait until the good stuff gets going about 25-30 minutes into the film.

Overall, this is a really good film and has most likely been passed by at your local video store tons of times without anyone realizing how interesting it is. Check this out!

Rating: 8/10

Director – James Cameron

Cast – Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein

Release Year – 1986

Reviewed by John of the Dead

Seven years after Ridley Scott’s iconic Alien came out in theaters acclaimed Terminator director James Cameron brought us the next installment of grueling terror…Aliens. James Cameron defied horror logic and was actually able to produce a sequel just as good(if not better) than it’s predecessor with once again some of the same great elements used in Alien. These two films together are considered one of the best sequel-duos off all time right underneath The Godfather and it’s sequel The Godfather II.

This film takes place 57 years after the conclusion of Alien. Ripley(Sigourney Weaver) is found still alive and in deep sleep on her escape pod and after waking up she is told she slept for 57 years, instead of the 10 months she was supposed to sleep. She is brought in to answer questions for some of the “higher ups” involved in the Nostromo ship that she blew up at the conclusion of Alien. After finding no evidence to support that there was an alien on the Nostromo she is relieved of her command and forced to attend psychiatric sessions for six months. The planet that produced the alien in the first film has since been colonized, much to Ripley’s surprise. She keeps telling people that they saw hundreds on alien pods on the planet, but in the 20 years of colonization no one has come into contact with those pods…until now. A family doing independent research on the planet ventures to an unknown area of the planet and one of them gets attacked by a successful “facehugger” and well…you know that’s bad news. Contact with the planet has since been lost and a highly trained and heavily armed military team is being sent to the planet to destroy the aliens, and is asking for Ripley’s assistance. She is hesitant at first but realizes her potential as a consultant to the team and agrees to go. When they arrive on the planet they find it desolate, with no signs of human life at first. They then are able to locate some of the survivors via transponders they had implanted in them but this turns to be a very fatal mistake due to the survivors being used as cocoons to bring many more aliens onto the planet. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a firefight with the aliens leaves a nuclear reactor on the planet unstable and leaves the crew with only four hours to leave the planet and nuke the aliens, putting a stop to their terror once and for all.

This film benefits from an amazing screenplay and story by James Cameron. This film paces so perfectly and in a way that still allows for much character and plot development to take place. THIS is how great horror films are made, with the ability to develop the film without putting the viewer to sleep and still keeping them on the edge of their seat. James Cameron and Ridley Scott made this happen in these films and it’s a darn shame we don’t see more of this in modern day horror films. Mr. Cameron really focused on Ripley in this film and brought out more of her character than what was seen in the first film. We learn she had a daughter who died from natural causes during the 57 years that Ripley was asleep, which leaves her feeling desolate and emotionally unstable. In her recklessness she decides to go to the planet and by chance she finds a young girl named Newt(Carrie Henn) who managed to survive all of the alien carnage that went on. Newt’s family has been killed and she immediately bonds with Ripley, finding herself a new mother and Ripley finding herself a new daughter. With a new purpose to live we see Ripley transform from her slightly sissy, pessimistic self into a strong woman both mentally and physically, going into grave danger on several occasions to ensure the safety of her new “daughter”.

We get more main characters in this film that manage to make this plot quite colorful. Horror icon Lance Henriksen(famous for his roles in the “Pumpkinhead” series) stars a Bishop, an android much similar to the one that went haywire and caused a few deaths in the first Alien. This adds to Ripley’s character conflict because after the events she “recently”(in her mind) went through she has absolutely no trust for androids and quickly despises him. Surprisingly enough Bishop winds up playing a pivotal role in this film in a very intricately woven use of his character at the hands of James Cameron himself. We get to see another horror legend in this film by the name of Bill Paxton who starts as a colorful and loudmouthed soldier by the name of  “Bishop”. You may remember him as “Severen” from the classic 80’s vampire flick “Near Dark” which also stars Lance Henriksen, or as the father in the religious horror film “Frailty”, which he also directed. Aside from Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton we get ANOTHER cast member from the film “Near Dark”(which released the following year after this film) named Jenette Goldstien. She portrays “Diamondback” in the film. In Aliens she portrays Pvt. Vasquez, a tough as nails and possible lesbian who carries a big gun and an even bigger attitude. I found some of her dialogue to be a bit silly, but for the most part she really nailed her character. The last bit of character conflict involving Ripley would be that of Carter Burke(Paul Reiser) who was the driving force behind convincing her to come on the trip and tagged along with her to make sure the mission goes smoothly and protects his client’s financial interests on the planet. He comes off as the typical money oriented sleaze ball and defies Ripley’s trust in him by attempting to bring some of the alien embryos home to sell to the highest bidding research center.

So how is the alien action in this film? Well…I can use one word to describe it, AMAZING! The first film only gave us one alien, and rightfully so given it had to develop the story. This sequel was able to take off from that and literally gives us HUNDREDS of aliens and lots of alien carnage. We are given numerous firefights with the aliens and some of the sweetest scenes I’ve seen in a horror film. My personal favorite would be how the aliens blended in with the walls so perfectly and would unsuspectingly move from the wall and kill their victim in violent fashion. James Cameron is a genius for working this already creepy notion into the film with a very creepy looking creature. We also get a “queen” alien in this film that seals the deal on this film’s very high rating. The ending sequence had me on the edge of my seat and in awe at the special effects involved in making these scenes with the queen happen. James Cameron rightfully opted for live action effects for all of the aliens in this film and somehow made this happen with the giant queen as well. This film would just NOT stop getting better! Every time I felt the film was going to end I was given another shocking scene that kept the film going with the intensity even higher. The final scene between Ripley and the queen will remain in horror lore as one of the greatest scenes in horror history.

Overall, this is another solid installment to the Alien franchise and manages to portray the same awesomeness as it’s predecessor. I recommend this film to all horror fans and movie fans alike. The alien carnage you see in this film will never be replace and put this film at the top of the list as one of the best, if not THE best horror/sci-fi film of all time.

Rating: 10/10

In the latest comedy from Broken Lizard, “Slammin” Cleon Salmon (Michael Clarke Duncan) is a former Heavyweight Champion of the World turned celebrity owner of a high end Miami seafood restaurant, The Slammin’ Salmon.

A terrifying bull of a man, Salmon uses fear to rule over his misfit waitstaff (Broken Lizard’s Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, as well as Cobie Smulders and April Bowlby) and on this particular night, he takes his bullying skills to a new level. In an effort to pay off a gambling debt to the Japanese Yakuza, Salmon sets up a contest to ‘inspire’ his waitstaff to sell more food than they ever have before: the top selling server wins $10,000 while the waiter in last place gets served with a broken rib sandwich—courtesy of the Champ himself.

Spurred on by greed and panic, the staff resort to backstabbing, bribery and indecent proposals in an attempt to upsell their patrons while simultaneously sabotaging their co-workers. As the hours pass, the dining room action becomes more frenzied as the contest escalates into a brawl for first place in order to win the money.

doppelgänger:

Unfortunately I was only able to catch this blurry photo. I assure you he isn’t our beloved Bill. This dude was playing some kind of traveler on a Taxi TV advertisment.

I know I’ve got you on faith on this one, but it’s not Bill.

I’ll catch the advert again one day and get a clear photo or video.

Somebody needs to get in touch with Bill about this. We can’t let this guy take Bill’s carreer out from under him, people!

look, I told you...I'm sorry I superglued my hand to you...it was an accident...

R

Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Paxton, Patrick Fugit

Jason: My dad used to tell me that the people I meet will never care more about who I am than they will about what I look like.  And because I look the way I do…people may never care about me at all.

Jason (Webber) lives in a small, football-crazy, town.  His family is poor, his father has just committed suicide, and paying the bills is basically impossible.  He also suffers from an immune system disorder that causes all his hair to fall out.  Despite all that, he’s a generally humble, nice guy, and Frances (Deschanel) takes a liking to him when they meet.  Of course, she’s got some issues of her own.

Here’s the pattern of the mood of this movie:  depressing, depressing, dark, sad, depressing, depressing, everything’s actually great!

That pattern didn’t work too well for me.  Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if it didn’t feel like a tacked on ending, only there to assuage the worries of some important people that didn’t want to green light such a depressing movie.

The tone problems aside, it just wasn’t a very compelling movie.  Zooey is playing a slight twist on her usual character.  She’s the beautiful girl who comes along, instantly falls for the quiet, troubled protagonist, and leads him on various little adventures that show him a better side to life.  I say it’s a twist on the usual character because this girl has some pretty serious secrets she’s hiding.  Their relationship was probably the best plot line in the movie, but that’s only because everything else was even less interesting.

Maybe it was just the boring lead performance by Webber that did it in.  I’m not sure.  I kept thinking that Patrick Fugit, who has a smaller part, would have been better in the lead.  He’s a more interesting actor, in my opinion.

The movie’s point, in the end, is to notice the little moments in life that make it worth living.  A smile here, a beautiful sight there…but to only dwell on depressing moments for the first hour and a half, then remind us of the happy stuff for the final minute, just doesn’t work.  I think dwelling on the good moments in between the bad would have made for a more enjoyable movie, and it would have gotten the point across even better.  As is, it just felt phony and insincere.  Then again, phoniness is sort of a theme in the movie…

Apparently a pretty girl singing a pretty song can instantly put a stop to an elderly person’s dementia-related outbursts.

10 – 3.5 for being way too depressing and then trying to spring happy on us at the end – 1.4 for a dull lead performance = 5.1

Mostow’s undoubted ability does not lie in his screenwriting talents, indeed his screenplay for both this and his equally excellent Breakdown showed periods of uncertainty in pace and forward movement.

No, Mostow’s ability comes in creating good, old-fashioned tension and excitement with well-crafted action sequences. He creates a number of breath-holding scenes here, with the undoubted highlights being the two major depth charge sequences. He builds the scene with a combination of sound effects and occasional underwater visual effects but the excitement, created almost exclusively using sound effects, at the culmination of these scenes – where loads of depth charges go off in quick succession – is astonishing.

Performances from all are fine. McConaughey is rather good and has, in the eyes of critics and presumably movie producers, got his career back on track. He had the equal misfortune and fortune to work with three of Hollywood’s top directors in film’s that were generally lukewarmly received by both critics and audiences alike. Not me, however. I thought that Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, Robert Zemeckis’ Contact and Ron Howard’s Edtv were all thoroughly brilliant films and that McConaughey was excellent in them. Harvey Keitel is rather good as the afore-mentioned salty sea dog. Bill Paxton is inconsistent: generally he is trademark bland but he really nails the scene where he tells McConaughey’s disappointed Executive Officer that he needs to be able to instantly sacrifice his best friend’s life for the sake of the boat in order to qualify as a submarine captain. McConaughey’s realisation that Paxton’s Captain is right is also well-acted.

I had been looking forward to watching this for a really, really long time. If you know me, you know that I’m rather fascinated by Mormons, so it basically seemed like HBO had personally selected my random/odd interest for the topic of a show and proceeded, assuming correctly that I would bite, eventually. And so I let the Beach Boys wash over me and settled into the premium cable version of LDS’dom.

I was bored for the first two-thirds of this season. I think that amounts to, like, 8 episodes. Sure, there was sex and intrigue and creepy prophet guy and creepy young wife chick and all that, but frankly, it weirded me out. I have a fair number of Mormon friends, so whenever someone relates polygamy and Mormonism, I always defend my friends, reiterating that the Mormon church abolished polygamy quite some time ago and pegging the FLDS peeps with polygamy, which is true, anyways. And yet, while watching this show, I couldn’t help but think that I was peering into the lives of real Mormons. It’s funny, too, because the fictional Henricksons don’t explicitly state that they’re Mormon. They’re basically not. They just live by the Principle, in Utah, in modest clothing, and they refer to God as Heavenly Father. Those are all very Mormon things, or at least archaic Mormon things (in the case of the Principle). So, for me, it was hard to separate the two. I felt like I was trespassing, and not in that awesome-TV-voyeurism way. More like in the I’m-not-sure-I-want-to-know-what-these-people-are-doing-behind-closed-doors way. I don’t judge the characters, or the people on which the characters are based, so it’s not that polygamy made me uncomfortable. It’s … the characters themselves. None of them were enjoyable for me to watch, up until a point. Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) began bland, Nikki (Chloe Sevigny) began annoying, Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) began clingy, and Bill (Bill Paxton) began borzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry, I fell asleep thinking about Bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Bill Paxton is the most boring-looking, boring-seeming person on the planet. I can’t trust the chemistry he has with any of those three beautiful women! It’s ridiculous!

So why did I keep watching? Well, for one thing, I wanted to figure out why the hell anyone other than me would want to watch this show. And why people kept watching even though someone like me wasn’t even that interested. I realize that sounds incredibly arrogant, but it’s true. The show contains so many LDS references and terms and jokes, and having Mormon friends has let me in on many of those references, but the majority of the world is not aware of what Relief Society or CTR or Temple Recommends are. I’m still wondering why people care, but I have come to the realization that many people are curious, and so they tune in. Mormons keep to themselves, which seems silly to say when they deploy missionaries all over the world to spread the gospel, but they don’t exactly brag about their religion or wear it on their sleeves like many others do. Is this a window into Mormonism for many onlookers? If so, they’re getting a weird taste for it.

I admit I’m really curious about the Temple episode that caused all that controversy. But I ultimately decided to add Season 2 to my Netflix queue because of Margene. Her storyline fascinates me, especially on account of her almost-converting and almost-making out with some random guy her age and all that. And Ben’s story is really interesting, too. The perspective of the writers, whom I believe are at least in part ex-members, is so intriguing. They’ve got Utah down pat, from the box stores to the flat highways to the impersonally beautiful mountains to the awkwardly Southern accents to the Family Values to the haircuts. And, oh, the Mormon dating. It’s perfect.

So there you have it. I guess it just comes down to curiosity, and I can’t blame anyone for being curious. I just hope, as I’m sure all Mormons do, that this show hasn’t given people another reason to stereotype members of the LDS church. No matter how many disclaimers you print, no matter how many times you say it, people will assume that this show is about all Mormons, fundamentalist or not. And that sucks. Because it’s not. It’s a show about semi-interesting people who happen to be polygamists.

Everyone favorite polygamist family the Henricksons head back to HBO on January 10th when Big Love starts it’s 4th season.  Michael Aussiello over at EW.com reveals that this season Bill will be running for state office and no longer trying to keep his family hidden, Albie might finally embrace his true self (and another man, if that reference was too vague for you), and something might finally happen with Ben and Margie.  Sounds like it’s going to be an awesome season.  He didn’t even mention Nikki’s daughter that has come to live with the Henricksons or what Joey going to do now that he’s killed old Roman.  My hope is that Joey is running the compound now.  Of course we will cover er it all every Monday morning here on JoeOnTheTube.

Er spielte in folgenden Filmen mit:

L.I.S.A. – Der helle Wahnsinn, USA, 1985
Impulse 1984, USA, 1984
Hall of Death, USA, 1983
U-571, USA, 2000
Vertical Limit, USA, 2000
A Bright Shining Lie – Die Hölle Vietnams, USA, 1998
Ein einfacher Plan, USA, 1998
Mein großer Freund Joe, USA, 1998
Titanic 1997, USA, 1997
Traveller, Australien, 1997
Last Supper – Die Henkersmahlzeit, USA, 1996
Jahre der Zärtlichkeit – Die Geschichte geht weiter, USA, 1996
Twister, USA, 1996
The James Gang, USA, 1995
Apollo 13, USA, 1994
Future Shock, USA, 1994
Das größte Spiel seines Lebens, USA, 2005
Thunderbirds, USA-Großbritannien-Frankreich, 2004
Haven, USA/Großbritannien-Deutschland-Spanien, 2004
Club Mad, USA, 2004
Resistance, Niederlande, 2003
Mission 3D, USA, 2003
Dämonisch, USA, 2001
True Lies, USA, 1993/94
Monolith, USA, 1993
Tombstone 1993, USA, 1993
Boxing Helena, USA, 1993
Indian Summer – Eine wilde Woche unter Freunden, USA, 1992
Scary – Horrortrip in den Wahnsinn, USA, 1992
Trespass, USA, 1992
Masters of Horror Volume 1, USA, 1991-93
One False Move, USA, 1991
Predator 2, USA, 1990
Blue Heat, USA, 1990
Slipstream 1989, Großbritannien, 1989
Back to Back 1989, USA, 1989
Navy Seals, USA, 1989
Faule Tricks und dumme Sprüche, USA, 1988
Near Dark – Die Nacht hat ihren Preis, USA, 1987
Aliens – Die Rückkehr, USA, 1986

Bill Paxton wurde in Fort Worth, Texas als Sohn von Mary Lou und John Lane Paxton geboren. Paxton zog bereits mit 18 Jahren nach Los Angeles …

Recently, I saw this documentary on Titanic. The reason I watched was because I have an interest in the Titanic. Anyway, that made me think. Why is there a lot of interest in the Titanic in the first place? I think that it’s mostly because of the tragedy behind it. So many people could have been saved if more people were put into the lifeboats in the beginning. Anyway, in all of my readings on the Titanic, the thing that I found the most interesting was the novella, Futility, written by Morgan Robertson. The similarities between the Titanic and the novella are so interesting. Anyway, that’s just I think.

Frailty (2001)
★★★ / ★★★★

Bill Paxton directed this haunting thriller about a father (Bill Paxton) who supposedly began to receive messages from an angel to carry out God’s plan. That is, to kill seven people who disguised themselves as regular individuals. Paxton recruited his sons (Matt O’Leary and Jeremy Sumpter) to carry out God’s bidding; one willingly followed his father’s footsteps and one chose to think for himself and went against his father’s wishes of murder. But all of that happened in the past. The first scene opened when Matthew McConaughey, as one of the brothers, confessed to an FBI agent (Powers Boothe) who was in charge of the God’s Hand case that he knew the real identity of the murderer and where the bodies were buried. The most effective and chillling element about this movie was the lens we choose to see a story and therefore create varying perspectives and conclusions. Essentially, one could evaluate Paxton’s character as deeply mentally disturbed or he really did get messages from a higher power. The film’s tone was consistently sinister throughout and each scene had a payoff so it was nothing short of engaging. I also have to commend the acting, especially from the actors who played the kids, because if they weren’t very good, the story wouldn’t have held up as well because they were pretty much in every single frame. The one thing I loved about Paxton’s direction was that he didn’t use the all-too-typical formula of scaring kids or putting them into dangerous situations so we would care more about them. They were actually human beings who were capable of moral evaluations about the things they’ve done and the things they were about to do. This is a thinking person’s movie because there were a lot of unexplored untones that become more and more interesting the more one thinks about them. (Which I actively choose not to discuss because I refuse to give away the ending.) “Frailty” is a suspenseful, first-rate underrated thriller about a man who was suddenly broken or enlightened. Like a solid piece of literature, the interpretation is really up to us.

A tornado touches down in "Twister".

(Jan de Bont, 1996)

October 11, 2009

by Joel Crary

“Twister” is less a film than an amusement park ride. It contains scenes that suit no other purpose but to thrill. Its protagonists chase tornadoes and often have to dodge debris, which consists of enormous pieces of farm equipment, 18-wheel tankers full of petroleum and cows. Indeed, flying bovine formed the basis of “Twister’s” advertising campaign when it was released back in 1996, around the dawn (or at least brunch-hour) of some nifty CGI.

I admit that calling a film an amusement park ride is nothing new in the realm of describing an action picture, but the likeness in “Twister’s” case is undeniable. Those of you who have been to Canada’s Wonderland and strapped yourself in for the latest theatre-ride version of a Paramount flick will understand. The first half of the movie is a complete run of adrenaline, with cameras pointed directly into the path of enormous computer-generated tornadoes. Members of the chasing team scream instructions into their headsets that make little sense to the layman but sound really, really important. They make obvious observations about the conditions of the surrounding area, such as “We’ve got hail” or “It’s gonna shift”. Of course they do, and of course it is. You know how a ride works. You just want to experience it for yourself.

In that vein, director Jan de Bont knew exactly where to place his cameras when filming “Twister”. In 1995, he made the transition over from an impressive list of cinematography credits with “Speed”, a film that changed the modern action genre. Both that film and “Twister” are unrelenting in their execution of harrowing events. “Twister” gives us stuff we’ve never seen before, like a truck driving through a house as though it’s roadkill, and a drive-in movie screen being torn to shreds as it displays the tensest moment of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”.

The cinematography is excellent, with long, sweeping aerial shots that caress the farmlands and dark, pallid tones that cast an ominous shadow over the entire midwest. When Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) sifts the dirt through his fingers and squints off into the distance over the horizon as the winds increase, his poise and calm demeanor in the face of inevitable chaos make him the man to trust. He is counterbalanced by Jo (Helen Hunt), who at times would rather fight a tornado with her fists than stand back to study it. She’s driven by her father’s death at the touch of an F5 (referred to as “the finger of God” in the midst of an awed silence) and has been on the lookout for one since.

The team is comprised of kooks and weirdos, some played by now-identifiable actors such as Alan Ruck, Jeremy Davies and a boisterous Philip Seymour Hoffman, who seems incredibly happy to be there. In order to show the kind of damage the storms can do, the movie finds it necessary to sacrifice somebody it convinces us to loathe. Enter Jonas, who Cary Elwes plays with a southern accent and cocky attitude. His team has corporate sponsorship, though I wonder which corporations would benefit from such a niche area of scientific research. They drive around in black vehicles and sport the latest high-tech equipment, but they’re no match for Bill’s instinct.

The whole premise of rivaling tornado chasers is obviously ridiculous, but the actors have fun with it and the pace never slows. Paxton has a few overstuffed lines that he delivers with zero self-awareness. Hunt looks hangdog and open-mouthed much of the time, as though the tornadoes are an annoying upstairs neighbour. What keeps things cooking is the astounding visual work from the Oscar-nominated effects team and de Bont’s ability to keep his camera moving without treading into shots that are too dramatic to take seriously.

It’s a pity that de Bont has never really lived up to the promise he showed as a director after his first two films, instead putting out efforts like the dreadful “Speed” sequel and “The Haunting”, the effects work of which looked silly in comparison. “Twister” doesn’t take itself too seriously, looks appropriately atmospheric, is heart-stopping in its execution and knows that at the end of the day it’s about providing spectacle. It’s a film I toss on when I want to take a ride.