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What?

In Hollywood, no one is who they really want to be. Veteran police detective Joe Gavilan (Ford) and his rookie partner K.C. Halden (Hartnett) are no exception. Between Joe’s struggling real estate business and K.C.’s fledgling acting career and yoga instruction, they’ve got a major murder case to solve. With both Internal Affairs and their main suspect on their tails, Joe and K.C. have to infiltrate the dangerous world of the hip-hop recording industry. Juggling two careers proves to be a comical adventure, with Joe and K.C. desperate to stay alive long enough to catch their big break!

Where?

Hotel room…again.

With?

On my own this time.

Why?

Harrison Ford is the one and only reason for watching it. Like him or not, the guy can raise a mediocre film to a very watchable film. Plus, buddy cop flicks, I’m an absolute sucker for them!

Worth It?

I really enjoyed it! It’s good to see Ford cutting loose having more recently seeing him in K-19. When it comes to playing loveable bitterness, Ford is the man, and in this flick he nailed every single bit of misery is teased out in the funniest ways.

Hartnett also proves to be incredibly likeable in his role, but really, it’s Ford’s movie.

The direction by Ron Shelton is decent without being flashy and the story takes a while to make any sense, but I can’t say there was a moment that I wasn’t enjoying myself throughout the entire film.

As with Midnight Run, I definitely recommend for those that blindly love Buddy Cop flicks, because even with its faults, Hollywood Homicide is great fun.

7/10

It’s been awhile. Yeah, I’m busy, but aren’t we all. The typical blogger’s conundrum has fallen on my shoulders: too much work and no time for blogging/my work is writing and I don’t want to spend my little free time in front of the computer. How annoying and unfair! This month I’ve been trying my hardest to keep my lips sealed, but since ABODE is going to the printers today and our competitors’ magazines are long penned I can finally give some updates. You’ll have to get the details in person…or just wait for the book.

BEFORE: photo by brycebridges.com, AFTER: off the record

The month kicked off with ABODE exclusively covering the inaugural Doha 21st Century Leader Awards which led to me being picked up by Josh Hartnett (or me picking up him you decide): “Do you want to talk to some real Midwesterners?” …personal interviews with opera singer, Monica Yunus, daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who will be performing with Opera Omaha in February, and hotshot British painter Sacha Jafri who might be the most exciting person in contemporary art right now. The night of the interview Sacha and I immediately bonded over our velvet blazers…thank you Bellwether.
I wish you all could see the magazine online. It’s really professional. I just told T that it’s my favorite magazine in the world. I think what distinguises ABODE from other magazines in this city, besides superb photography and original writing, is that our team (though very small) is extremely intelligent, attractive (just like our magazine) and absolutely relentless.

Editorial Staff at ABODE Magazine's Pop, Lock and ROCKit party

Other notable meetings of the month: finding an almost too acute 13-year-old fashion blogger, Tavi, who I’ve just added to my blog roll, growing out my newly dyed red hair, listening to Pretty Lights and running into an adorable professional hockey player  who happened to have two missing teeth (still feeling the sporty vibe).
But still keeping in mind that there’s a fine line between playing the game and letting the game play you.

in case you were wondering about the title of the movie...

PG-13

Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell

Donald: It’s nice to obsess on something beautiful for a change.

Donald (Hartnett) is a high-functioning sufferer of Asperger’s Syndrome who has organized a regular group meeting with other people who have behavioral issues.  When Isabelle (Mitchell) joins the group, she and Donald begin a relationship.  Unfortunately, their conditions make it hard for them to find much success in romance.

This is one of those rare cases where something actually looks worse on paper than it does in reality.  Josh Hartnett…having to convincingly play an Asperger’s sufferer…in a romantic comedy.  Yikes.

But it’s not as bad as you’d think.  Not that it’s particularly good, but Hartnett and Mitchell both do an acceptable job.  The problem is the script.  The dramatic turns are too contrived and predictable.  They meet, are attracted to each other, he’s unsure of things and she has to be the pixie that draws him out of his shell and into a relationship.  Then they have troubles, but muscle past those problems.  Soon enough, though, there’s a bigger fight which results in a breakup.  Can he change and win her back?  Will she be able to get past her own issues and allow him back in her life?  Gee, I wonder…

Take away the mental disorder aspect of the movie and you’ve got nothing but a supremely dull romantic comedy.  Why not write a more interesting story line for these characters to follow.  They’re likable, for the most part, so why not have them get together and then face a challenge together?  Why the lazy relationship problems plot?

There are enough amusing and sweet moments that a better story could have lifted this movie to a higher level.  As it is, though, the amusing and sweet moments are the only good things in the movie.  Well, that and the two lead performances, though Radha Mitchell started to wear on my nerves about the 100th time she did her “HA!!” laugh.  Did nobody involved realize how annoying that is?

Asperger’s patients need love too…?

10 – 3.5 for having such a by the numbers plot – .4 for some annoying supporting performances = 6.1

Famous people I have seen in their natural habitats include: Debbie Harry on Broadway near Houston, noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker in a Greenwich playground, Josh Hartnett in a bar making out with an anonymous model type, the guy who played Artie on the Sopranos in an Italian restaurant (!) in Brooklyn the day before the Sopranos finale (!!), the guy from Quantum Leap on an airplane to LA, and Colin Quinn outside a comedy club having a smoke break – not sure if that one counts. In D.C. I have seen New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin and disgraced former New York Times reporter Judy Miller as well as the cast of the Real World, and I know none of those count.

But probably my favorite celebrity sighting was in Griffith Park in LA a couple of years ago, and I didn’t even recognize the guy. Remember the nurse from Arrested Development, the Australian one who urged Buster to wake up from his coma, which he was faking in order to avoid testifying against his father? And when Buster responded to her cajoling, she shrieked, “FAKER!” and slapped him? She had done it several times before, as shown in flashbacks, urging various other patients to overcome their illnesses, only to scream FAKER and slap them and run away when they responded to her coaching.

One of the flashback showed a man trying to take a step in physical therapy while holding onto handrails. “I know you can do it,” the nurse said. “Just one step, if you really love me.” The man took one step, and whammo, “FAKER!”, slap, scream, run. The camera lingers on the man, who is crestfallen. “But he wasn’t faking,” intones the narrator. “It was love that made him take that step.”

Anyway, I saw that guy walking in the park. My friend recognized him because he’s a regular in the LA comedy scene, as is she. I don’t know his name, though.

Did you know most people stumble upon Foxy Academy looking for Jason Mraz above anyone else? Who knew he was so in demand? In fact, this site received one of its very first visits because someone typed in “jason mraz penis” in a search engine. We couldn’t ask for more.

To our amusement, Foxy Academy has appeared as a result in the following Web searches:

• Aladdin (This is surprisingly drags in a large quantity of viewers)
• Pizza (This is too!)
• Jason Mraz underwear
• Josh Hartnett shirtless (I don’t blame you.)
• Hot dudes (What Foxy Academy was founded on.)
• Does Danny Masterson smoke weed? (Good question.)
• Does Jason Mraz have a boyfriend? (Another good one!)
• Kill the Beast (Must you?)
• Colonel Sanders full body (Not sure we want to know. Okay, yes, we do.)
• Jim Halpert friend zone (We’ll show you our friend zone for Jim Halpert.)
• A good lay (Also what Foxy Academy was founded on.)

I am so honored to have had the opportunity to work with RKB Pictures & be apart of this film. This was a really cool group of guys & I have a huge level of respect for their work ethic and professionalism. These photos of us were taken at 6 in the morning, after being on the set since 2 o’clock pm the day before but that’s the biz and I LOVE IT!!! Thank you guys I had a blast! Look for this film scheduled to be released in 2011.

The script for Stuck Between Stations was co-written by Minneapolis native Nat Bennett and male lead Sam Rosen (Casper). Independent film veteran Zoe Lister Jones (Rebecca) plays the female lead. The supporting cast includes Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down, Sin City) and Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos, Life on Mars).

Stuck Between Stations tells a coming-of-age/came-and-went story about Casper, a soldier haunted by the horrors of war, and Rebecca, a whip-smart grad student with a shaky future. A decade after they graduated from high school and went their separate ways, they reunite by chance and get to know each other over the course of an accidental tour of the little-known underbelly of Minneapolis. The evening’s odyssey includes a bar fight, a house party, a punk-rock circus, a spontaneous burglary, a home Casper didn’t know he had, and a cast of strange characters, unexpected allies and disappointing friends.

RKB Pictures, LLC was founded by star/writer Sam Rosen, director/producer Brady Kiernan and writer Nat Bennett. The company was formed in Minnesota during August, 2009 to produce Stuck Between Stations.

ConsTV goes behind the scenes at the “Pursuit of Happiness” shoot.

Did Kid Cudi just say Josh Hartnett was producing the video?

Via:Nah Right

So much has been said about the girls over the years. But we have never found an answer. It didn’t matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls… but only that we had loved them… and that they hadn’t heard us calling… still do not hear us calling them from out of those rooms… where they went to be alone for all time… and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.

– Narrator

Sofia Coppola’s feature film debut The Virgin Suicides has flew under my radar for years. With the subtle title like this, you know there will be multiple characters that will commit suicide. The review will have spoilers to explain the entire story. At the end of story, what was the message of the movie?

Based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, the action takes place in the summer of 1974 where the hypercritical, ultra-conservative Catholic parents Mr. and Mrs. Libson, (James Woods, Kathleen Turner) have been overly protective on their five daughters; Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary and Therese (Hanna Hall, Kirsten Dunst, Chelse Swain, A.J. Cook, Leslie Hayman).

Giovanni Ribisi narrates the movie after the fact. He tries to piece together the events that lead to the titular suicides of that particular summer.

The youngest daughter, Cecilia is found in the bathtub with her wrists slit. Found beside her is a tarot card of The Virgin Mary with the movie number inscribed on it, “555-MARY.” The neighborhood is gossiping about why she did it. The family is sent into a tailspin. Cecilia is sent to therapist, Dr. Horniker (Danny DeVito) to figure out what is wrong with her.

The doctor concludes that her suicide attempt was a cry out for help. He suggests having a social gathering outside of school. The parents relent to have a small party in the basement of the house. The party in her honor, but Cecilia is still not having fun and wants to be excused. Few moments later, Cecilia finally kills herself by impaling herself on the iron fence in the front yard.

The parents think that overprotect the girls from the world would help them be safe, but their actions are driving them away. Lux is the rebellious girl out of the group. She wants to be like the typical teenager, but she can’t. The popular guy at school, Trip Fountaine (Josh Hartnett) wants to be with her. She plays coy.

Until one day at the prom, they hook up. The parental units put the girls under makeshift house arrest. With nothing to do, the girls were left with no other choice.

Not being aware of this plot of the movie, except for the title, I thought that there would be a pact between the kids to commit suicide. That didn’t exactly happen. The aesthetic on the movie was reminiscent of the seventies with the golden yellow hues filling the frame. I appreciated that. What’s up with the extreme close-ups of Kirsten’s Dunst’s face? Was there supposed to be a correlation between the diseased trees getting cut down in the neighborhood and the suicides? Subtle. I have one final question. When Lux and Trip hooked up, did they have sex? ‘Cause the title wouldn’t apply to her.

Judgment: An interesting take on teenage angst, but it leaves you confused.

Rating: **1/2

ภาคต่อ 30 Days of Night ที่มีชื่อต่อท้ายว่า 30 Days of Night: Dark Days  เผยรุปแรกมาแล้ว และจะได้เห็น Kiele Sanchez ในบท Stella Oleson ที่ในภาคแรกเล่นโดย Melissa George ซึ่งก็คือภรรยาของพระเอก Josh Hartnett ที่ตายไปแล้วในภาคแรกนั่นเอง

ในภาคต่อนี้ หลังจากเวลาผ่านมาเป็นปีจากเหตุการณ์จากภาคแรก ประชาชนชาวอลาสก้ายิ่งลดจำนวนลงเรื่อยๆด้วยการคุกคามของพวกแวมไพร์ยามค่ำคืน เมื่อเมืองอยู่ภายใต้เงามืดเป็นเวลานานเป็นเดือน ด้วยความเศร้าใจจากการตายของสามีและความที่ไม่มีอะไรจะเสีย Stella (Sanchez) ได้ตัดสินใจออกเดินทางรอบโลกไปผจญโลกภายนอก จนมาเจอกับกลุ่มคนผู้รอดชีวิต (Rhys Coiro, Diora Baird, Harold Perrineau) ที่ยื่นข้อเสนอให้ร่วมเดินทางไปด้วยกันเพื่อต่อกรกับ Lilith (Mia Kirshner) ราชินีแวมไพร์ภัยร้ายยามค่ำคืน ผู้เป็นอีกหนึ่งต้นตอความอันตรายของชาวโลก

หนังภาคนี้ใช้บริการ Ben Ketai ที่เคยทำ 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust หนังซีรี่ย์มาก่อน

Watching Wicker Park after seeing Mulholland Drive is like driving your friend’s Ferrari for the weekend and then going back to your BMW.  It’s not bad; in fact, it’s much better than your other options. But as far as cars go, it doesn’t have a chance of comparing to the Ferrari.  In the mind-bending genre, Wicker Park can’t quite cut it. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn there was some pressure from the studio to make it a tad more Hollywood – the problem is that the film suffers from its cohesive plot.  We realize far too quickly what’s happening; and while we still care about the main characters, it dissolves into a waiting game to see if their stars will cross once more.  The far more interesting character is the semi-villain; really more pathetic than evil.  While she does an admirable job, the rest of the characters and the plot don’t quite support her tortured role, and as a whole it ends up falling short.  It’s too bad; she would have been a great comparison to Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive.  On the plus side, if you find Mulholland Drive too weird – or prefer more traditional story arcs – or want a male lead who’s easy on the eyes (by the way, that’s pretty much all Hartnett has going for him; he delivers every line in this movie, and all his other movies, exactly the same.  Sometimes it works.), then perhaps Wicker Park is the film for you.  And if it leaves you slightly unfulfilled, as if it could have been a better experience if they had just let the story grow on its own, then perhaps it’ll serve as a jumping-off point for some of the more inventive, less stable films.

Josh Hartnett

Domingão pré feriado, fiquei em casa vendo muito filme, um deles foi “30 dias de noite” com Josh Hartnett e Melissa George. Achei muito bom, como dizem as críticas, unir a idéia do deserto de gêlo + vampiros sedentos por sangue foi muito boa, fiquei até afim de ler as HQs que originaram o filme.

Acho que a escolha dos tons de cinza meio que mataram o desenho. Eu particularmente adorei esse desenho por causa do casaco. Usei o inverso do que costumo fazer, fiz uma chapadão de preto com os contornos em branco, inspiração vinda dos trabalhos de Aubrey Beardsley, ilustrador inglês de fins do século XIX.

Do debiutu pełnometrażowego Sofii Coppoli podszedłem z dozą niepewności. Właściwie to nie tyle podszedłem, co “podchodziłem”, bo była to próba kilkukrotna. Z jednej strony fajnie, bo córka mistrza, poza tym dane mi było zobaczyć wcześniej “Między Słowami” – a to film conajmniej dobry. Z drugiej jednak, ten (w sumie sam nie wiem czemu) odpychający mnie tytuł, pastelowe kolory i Kirsten Dunst (nie jestem pewien, w którym momencie się do niej zraziłem – najpewniej przy okazji Spidermana, ale głowy sobie nie dam uciąć). Jednak ostatecznie się udało.

Właściwie to chciałem napisać, że to film kobiecy – w sensie, zrobiony bardzo wyraźnie przez kobietę. Tak to widziałem od samego początku projekcji. Szybko jednak zdałem sobie sprawę, że historia nie została wymyślona przez Sofię Coppolę, tylko przez autora książki, która posłużyła jako pierwowzór. Autorem tym jest Jeffrey Eugenides – zdecydowanie chłop i zdecydowanie nie doszukałem się znamion jakoby wcześniej był płci przeciwnej. Co prawda nie wiem ile z książki pozostało w filmie, co zostało pominięte a co dodane przez reżyserkę, ale zakładam a priori, że wymowa i ogólny koncept pozostały bez zmian.
“The Virgin Suicides” (czy tam te debilne “Przekleństwa Niewinności”) pokazuje świat balansujący na granicach wieku i płci. Widzimy tu magiczny, trochę beztroski (przewrotnie) świat nastolatków zamknięty w kloszu otaczającej, koszmarnej dorosłości, rodziców tyle kochających co niemądrych, tyle zapatrzonych w swoje dzieci co nie mających o nich pojęcia. Widzimy świat enigmatycznych sióstr, dziewczyn, odstających pod zwględem dojrzałości o całe lata świetlne od chłopców z naprzeciwka (prowadzących w filmie narrację). I cały film przebiega jakby w tonie hołdu dla dojrzewających kobiet, piętnując bagatelizowanie ich problemów, wskazując na ich, niejako przymusową, banicję na margines społeczny, przez brak zrozumienia zarówno wśród rodziców jak i mniej dojrzałych, prostszych z natury rówieśników.

Dodatkowo dochodzi trauma domowa. Siostry żyją w rodzinie standardowych amerykańskich zjebów – ojciec nauczyciel siedzi pod pantoflem matki, która jest konserwatywną chrześcijanką. Pojawia się tu coś na kształt biografii Marilyna Mansona lub Lady Gagi tyle, że z diametralnie innym i  bardziej tragicznym końcem. Jak życie pokazuje, na siłę do Boga się dzieci nie zaciągnie, więc córki bardziej przypominają feministki lub hippiski niż bywalczynie koła różańcowego. Pojawia się tu masa klasycznych scen w stylu palenia płyt rockowych czy kłopotów z chłopcami na licealnym balu.

W takie oto kłopoty pakuje swoich bohaterów i bohaterki Coppola ale robi to całkiem sprawnie. Film płynie a wszystkiemu towarzyszy spójna i stylowa muzyka. Kirsten Dunst ma u mnie plusa za ten film, bo nie dość, że jest w nim przekonywująca, to jeszcze, o dziwo, urocza. The Virgin Suicides dostaje ode mnie 2/3 z minusem bo jednak momentami nudzi i jest nieco tendencyjny. Tak czy inaczej, niezły debiut, pani Sofio.

Halloween 2 (Rob Zombie, 2009)

Rara vez, prácticamente nunca, me veo disfrazado en una de esas fechas señaladas que te predisponen a ello. Aunque costumbre puramente americana, y a diferencia de los polivalentes carnavales, más nuestros, Halloween me merece el respeto y la oda por ser la única fecha medio pagana y ceremonial especializada en los espantos y la casquería, y por dar origen a ese precursor inabarcable e inmortal del cine de terror que es Halloween, claro. Por eso, nunca fallo a la cita que Noel congrega en su blog todos los años por Halloween. Celebrar estas fechas con un texto purificador no tiene igual, ya que ver a niños con bolsas de caramelos y artículos terroríficos proponiendo truco o trato en casas ajenas de barrios residenciales, no le incumbe a este país, como tampoco les incumbe a los americanos bailar la jota como costumbre nacional.

La 6ª edición del especial de Halloween heladero, centrado en los amoríos del voyeur más implicado, me ha dado la excusa perfecta para soltar una carga que ya llevaba un tiempo pesándome: mi declarado al Josh Hartnett de 30 Days of Night, texto que merece estar archivado aquí también:

Sedúceme a hachazos:

Desde los fósiles fundacionales hasta los más contemporáneos, son muchos los amores puros y platónicos con aspecto físico monstruoso o normal y corriente (es un decir) inmortalizados en el grueso del cine fantaterrorífico que consideramos nuestros, sin embargo, es cada vez más inusual que un sentimiento tan delicado, íntegro e irracional como es el afecto incondicional hacia algo emerja en el espectador a causa de alguna cosa o persona que deambule con cierta autoridad por una película de terror, una de cara a la galería, la de los grandes estudios (o los pequeños auspiciados por los grandes), por supuesto, siendo las producciones más pequeñas (y rara vez con una distribución comercial mínimamente decente y efectiva) las que destilan mayor honestidad y mejores resultados en su totalidad. No es el caso de 30 Days of Night, pequeña producción de la Ghost House Pictures de Universal, comandada por Sam Raimi y Rob Tapert, protagonizada por una recurrida estrella juvenil (Josh Hartnett) y dirigida por la arquetípica y sempiterna figura de la “joven promesa en el género” que apuesta mucho con poco (David Slade, director de la finalmente muy decepcionante y desaprovechada Hard Candy, aunque de solvente y personal resultado en los apartados narrativo y visual).

Hubiera sido más sencillo (y previsible) tomar notas de un dibujo mental nítido y exacto del Boris Karloff blanquinegro de The Mummy; contar los hondos agujeros del careto de la Barbara Steele de La maschera del demonio; decantarme antes por la Jennifer Jason Leigh de Eyes of a Stranger o The Hitcher que por la Jamie Lee Curtis de Halloween o Terror Train, o anteponer la poderosa presencia y las sadianas acciones del Tom Cruise de Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles a la pataleta gótica y la ética de bolsilibro, uno, claro, firmado por la plomiza Anne Rice en forma de best-seller, pero ya llevo tiempo queriendo resaltar los logros de la mejor y más sexy caracterización de un héroe de impoluta virilidad del cine de terror actual, el Sherif Eben Oleson, el excelente Josh Hartnett de 30 Days of Night, con su casi erótico, fiero y primitivo empleo del hacha, su valiente inmunidad al riesgo, su impasibilidad sentimental y su ética de guerrero tribal y llanero solitario místico, capaz de infundir un poético poso nihilista a una básica y honesta yuxtaposición vampírica rebosante de mala idea. Un hombre definido de manera directa y abierto, pues, a los estados febriles y amatorios que puede despertar en espectadores como el que esto escribe.

La película, que desborda un para nada casual bondad de pura Serie B, o sea, patente tanto en fondo como en forma, sabe equilibrar su brutal agresividad formal con un sólido clasicismo sin subterfugios irónicos que narrativamente recuerda a las mejores ocurrencias de un Stephen King sin beatería, superando, en líneas generales, y con enorme facilidad, al cómic homónimo del que procede, 30 Days of Night, guionizado por Steve Niles, coguionista en la película (por suerte, con arreglos concluyentes y definitorios de Brian Nelson y Stuart Betti), y dibujado por el sosainas de Ben Templesmith, francamente, un cómic rayano en lo patético, casi, casi un truño en todos sus aspectos, cuyo único punto favorable, su estupenda premisa, es sabiamente reinterpretado en la película (los 30 días seguidos de oscuridad del título planteados sobre inteligentes elipsis que la crítica y el público inertes no saben ver, como demuestra lo terriblemente infravalorada que está la película, aunque el tiempo y los aficionados al cine de terror más despiertos ya la están convirtiendo en ineludible título de culto).

Y ya ni mencionemos la amplísima diferencia, diría que hasta antagónica, que hay entre el Eben Oleson del cómic y el de la película. El primero manda a cagar la integridad viril y la humanidad del segundo a golpe de cursiladas baratas y convencionalismo pegoteado, y, por supuesto, dónde va a parar cualquier comparación con un Josh Hartnett de barba desgarbada con colgajos de hielo que blande un hacha para organizar con él una salvaje y casi ritual reyerta de brutales decapitaciones y desangramientos. Lo cojonudamente bien trabado que está este personaje a las magnificencias formales e hiperrealistas del suspense y del gradual y clásico desarrollo argumental de la película, es un hecho único en el cine de terror de los últimos años, sobre todo en el de vampiros. Con muchísima más violencia, sangre, terror, acción y vampiros feos con pinta de yuppie trastornado que en el cómic y una voluntariosa necesidad de respetar las consignas del gore y el terror duro a la vieja usanza por parte de un David Slade asombroso de veras, toda la parte final de 30 Days of Night demuestra un azaroso dominio de la contención, que no peligra la honorable condición de modesta película de terror que estamos degustando y, además, consigue arrastrarnos hasta una coda que no teme a una muda y simple poética del vampirismo y el heroísmo que deja en ridículo a la de Blade II, prácticamente idéntica, aunque con los roles invertidos.

Apego este mío por un hombre devuelto a sus orígenes primitivos de supervivencia y nobleza más que justificado.

Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later 1998

Director: Steve Miner

Writers: Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam Arkin, LL Cool J, Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, Jody Lynn O’Keefe, Janet Leigh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Nancy Stephens

    After the huge misstep of Halloween 6, the series found its footing again with this superior sequel.  This is the best one featuring Michael since Halloween 2.  They went back to the roots in bringing back Laurie and it relied more on suspense than just plain old gore.  It also grabbed a great horror director with Steve Miner, who had directed 2 of the best Friday the 13th installments, parts 2 and 3.  It is a solid installment in the genre and one that gets better with each repeated viewing.  I also think that this one would have been the perfect capper to the series if not for the abysmally horrible Halloween Resurrection.  The ending really ends everything as it should, and the only fault this film has is that Donald Pleasance had passed on, so there was no way for Dr. Loomis to make an appearance.  But, looking past that, this is a great addition to the series.

    The plot basics are this, we open in 1998 and in a small town we meet up with Nurse Marion (Stephens) again, and her home has just been broken into and her office ransacked.  It seems that her file on Laurie strode has been taken.  It then becomes apparent that Michael has returned and he dispatches her and then proceeds to find Laurie (Curtis) who has faked her death and is living a new life as the Headmistress of a private prep school.  She also has a son, John (Hartnett) and it is Halloween and everyone in the school is planning on going on a camping trip to Yosemite, but Laurie has issues she is still dealing with due to the attack by Michael 20 years ago.  She is very over protective but finally acquiesces and allows John to go on the trip.  He has other plans with his girlfriend (Williams) though.  John, his girl and 2 other friends decide to stay and have a romantic Halloween party and everything is going well, until Michael sneaks his way in and begins to dispatch his friends.  Laurie knew this was coming and she rescues John and his girl and rushes them out while she plans to finally end her ordeals with her brother once and for all.

    This is a tense and fright filled horror film.  Miner’s direction is taut and suspenseful, he opens it really well with the cat and mouse attack on Nurse Marion.  He also sets up all the scenes very well, it is very reminiscent of Carpenter’s classic, but he still makes it his own.  The script is very good too, the character arc of Laurie and how she is so emotionally scarred from that attack years ago, is really very well fleshed out.  I also liked Ronny Jones, he was very cool and funny.  Will Bennett is a very good romantic foil too Laurie, but you know he is ultimately doomed.  The cast is great, spearheaded by a bravura performance by Curtis,  she really amps it up past the 10 mark in hysterics here and does it wonderfully.  Hartnett is good as her son and Arkin and LL Cool J are great as the ancillary male leads too.  They support Curtis well, but still give her the room to steal the film.  The SFX is quite good my favorite kill in the film is when O’Keefe gets it and is suspended with a light through her stomach, still a shocking scene.  The score by John Ottoman is very good, it is used very well through all the chase scenes in the film and is different enough that they do not rely on Carpenter’s theme too much.  This is a great film in the series and one all Halloween fans should see if they have not already.

This one gets 5 out of 5

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Es ist mal wieder erstaunlich, was deutsche Filmverleihe aus Originaltiteln amerikanischer Filme machen. Das Buch von Jeffrey Eugenides trägt hierzulande den Titel “Die Selbstmordschwestern”, erschien 1993, sechs Jahre vor der Verfilmung. Da kann man den Titel natürlich schon mal vergessen. Wie aus “The Virgin Suicides” dann aber “Das Geheimnis ihres Todes” wird, wird wohl ewig ein Geheimnis bleiben.

Nichtsdestotrotz trifft der Titel den Kern des Films. Eine Gruppe pubertierender Jungen berichtet über die fünf Lisbon-Schwestern. Sie wachsen unter den strengen Augen der konservativ-katholischen Mutter und des untergeordneten Vaters auf. Nach einem Selbstmordversuch der jüngsten Schwester ändern die Eltern  die Erziehungsmaßnahmen und lassen nun Besuche von Jungen zu. Auf der ersten Party der Lisbon-Schwestern ihres Lebens, nimmt sich die jüngste dieses nun endgültig.
Daraufhin kehren die Eltern zu ihrer strikten Linie zurück. Währenddessen erregt der Selbstmord des jungen Mädchens auch öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit. In der Schule werden Veranstaltungen über das Thema gehalten, was es den Schwestern nicht einfacher macht, mit ihrer schwierigen Situation zurecht zu kommen.

Um so erstaunlicher, dass es Lux (Kirsten Dunst) mittlerweile schon um einiges besser zu gehen scheint, sie trifft sich mit vielen Jungen in der Schule, welche von haarsträubenden Liebesaffären berichten – Lux hält nicht viel von den Ansichten ihrer konservativen Mutter. Dann verliebt sie sich in Trip (Josh Hartnett). der sie zum Abschlussball einladen möchte. Doch die Regeln der Eltern sehen eine solche Verabredung nicht vor. Als sich eine Gruppe Jungen dazu einspannen lässt, die anderen Lisbon Schwestern auszuführen, nimmt das Chaos einen neuen Anfang.

Als Tochter von Francis Ford Coppola wäre es verwunderlich gewesen, wenn Sofia Coppola nicht das Talent ihres Vaters geerbt hätte. Die Geschichte fokussiert sich auf die Lisbon-Schwestern, Coppola verzichtet aber darauf, detaillierte Charaktere zu erschaffen – was durch einen klugen Kniff allerdings kein Kritikpunkt ist. Denn die Geschichte wird von außen betrachtet, vier Jungen beobachten die Mädchen durch das Teleskop im Schlafzimmer von einem der vier. Die Entwicklung, die die Mädchen durchgehen, versuchen die Jungen zu verstehen, kommen aber über das Oberflächliche, was sie sehen können, nicht hinaus – so bleibt auch der Selbstmord, so viel darf bei dem Originaltitel wohl verraten werden, der fünf Schwestern unbegreiflich.

Die Mädchen leiden stark unter dem strengen Regiment der Eltern, das später soweit geht, dass die Kinder nicht mal mehr das Haus oder zumindest den Vorgarten nicht verlassen dürfen, nicht mehr zur Schule gehen und deren Eigentum weggeschmissen wird. Insofern leuchtet die Tat der Schwestern dem Zuschauer ein. Was die Mädchen am Ende jedoch inszenieren, gibt aber auch noch einen weiteren Grund für diese verstörende Tat.

Am Anschluss zum Abschlussball führt Trip Lux auf das Footballfeld, wo die beiden miteinander schlafen. Lux erwacht am nächsten Morgen allerdings ohne Notiz von Trip alleine und verlassen. Trip meldet sich nie wieder bei seiner Tanzpartnerin. Auch die übrigen Verabredungen der Schwestern melden sich wider Versprechen nicht. Die Inszenierung ihrer Selbstmorde könnte auch als Rache ans männliche Geschlecht verstanden werden.

Der Film lässt auf jeden Fall viel Spielraum bei seiner Interpretation. Darauf deutet ja auch schon der deutsche Filmtitel hin. Denn “Das Geheimnis ihres Todes” bleibt ein Mysterium, ist dementsprechend nicht leicht zu begreifen. Ohne Zweifel wird eine zu strenge und strikte Erziehung stark kritisiert, selbst wenn diese nur als Katalysator für die furchtbaren Vorgänge wirkt. Erstaunlich ist aber das generelle Bild der Gesellschaft. In der Familie steht die Mutter (Kathleen Turner) klar über ihrem etwas weltoffenerem Mann (James Woods).Gerade Lux zeigt, dass das weibliche Geschlecht dem männlichen Pendant überlegen sein kann und das mit ganz einfachen Mitteln. Dass der Film Werbung für die Emanzipation der Frau macht, wäre aber vollkommen übertrieben. Im Vordergrund stehen die unergründlichen Naturen der Mädchen, die sich dem Zuschauer wahrscheinlich auch nicht erschließen werden. Nichtsdestotrotz bietet der Film einiges an Diskussionsstoff und ist auch ohne Spannungsmomente sehr atmosphärisch und bleibt selbst bei solch extremen Familienverhältnissen, die sicherlich überspitzt dargestellt werden, äußerst glaubhaft.

]]> http://readrant.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/top-ten-horror-movies-of-the-00s/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:11:13 +0000 brucecastle http://readrant.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/top-ten-horror-movies-of-the-00s/

‘Tis the season! With the end of the decade and Halloween approaching, now’s the best time to torture your soul with the best horror this decade has to offer. Now, please, forgive me. The horror genre, like everything else, is getting blurrier. It’s hard to tell just what exactly is a horror film these days. I attempted to honor the genre, while keeping a clear opinion of what the best are. Enjoy!

10. 30 Days of Night

It was either this or Zombieland. A) You already know and love Zombieland. B) This is a comic site! I have to mention the adaptations when I can. 30 Days of Night could’ve easily been mediocre. An essential part of the book’s success was Templesmith’s art. Having said that, this movie looks pretty damn good. Snow always feels epic. 30 Days of Night is well-acted and well-made. It manages to naturally stretch Niles’ novel, making it, in some ways, better. To those of you who vomit at the sight of sparkly, beautiful teenage vampires, watch 30 Days of Night. These are just about the ugliest vampires ever filmed, and that’s a good thing.

9. Land of the Dead

I would’ve loved to re-watch this one, but I figure I have to get this out before Halloween. Romero’s return wasn’t as earth-shattering as we may have liked, but there’s plenty of merit here. For one thing, Land of the Dead looks great and features actors who can actually act. For another, Romero still manages to scare us with creatures who aren’t all that scary, providing uniquely gory deaths for his decent actors. And what would a Romero Dead flick be without some social commentary? With “Fiddler’s Green,” he managed to capture both the atmosphere of rich nations, who live in luxury while many still live in hell-holes, and of a post-post 9/11 world. While we sit comfortably, discussing American Idol, the evil is still lurking, and, perhaps, evolving.

8. The Mist

Ok, it’s kind of a zombie movie with bugs, but that’s different, right? In fact, thanks to the titular mist, the creatures can be grand and epic, without looking too cheesy. We’ve got some great actors here: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Toby Jones. They help elevate the material. Frank Darabont, the director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, completes his King trilogy, and it’s a lot of gruesome fun. This being a comic site, I have to mention Darabont’s Walking Dead TV involvement. If you want to see if he’s right for that adaptation, this movie will give you a clue.

7. 28 Days Later

Again, I would’ve loved to re-watch this. I even rented it, and I will watch it, but I’m a slave to this post. Danny Boyle was a good director before Slumdog Millionaire. I swear he was, and this film is part of the proof. I mentioned in my introduction how the horror genre has gotten blurry. Indeed, this film helped start that, with many rabid fans crying, “These aren’t zombies!” Well, whatever they are, they’re scary as hell. 28 Days Later has many impressive, grim shots of a destroyed London. It has great performances from the then-newcomer Cillian Murphy and the always-fantastic Brendan Gleeson. This may have helped splinter the zombie genre, but at least it’s pretty damn good.

6. Shaun of the Dead

This movie hammered home what George Romero has known since the 70’s: zombies are hilarious! They’re such boring monsters. In this film, we can barely tell them apart from the boring humans, maybe that’s just because they’re British. Shaun of the Dead is hilarious, but it also manages to touch upon the important elements of zombie movies, such as banding together, social commentary, and that wonderful gore.

5. Drag Me to Hell

I don’t want to oversell this, but Drag Me to Hell is arguably Raimi’s best film. We’re back to Evil Dead 2, with the perfect mixture of terror and comedy. Christine isn’t as lovable as Ash. She’s not really meant to be. However, Alison Lohman is a perfect horror heroine. She has the innocent looks and a wonderful scream. Amongst the laughs and gasps, this movie teaches us some very valuable lessons. Never deny an old gypsy! And never dig up a body in the worst storm of the decade!

4. Grindhouse

Yeah, it’s one film, damn it. Funny thing about this being on a “best” list, it’s trying so hard to be bad. That said, this is probably the most enjoyable pick on my list. Ok, so Deathproof isn’t much of a horror film, even though hot girls are getting hunted and slaughtered by a badass Kurt Russell, but Planet Terror is horror all the way, in the vein of a Carpenter flick. You’ve got the babes. You’ve got the gore. You’ve even got the great actors, like Bruce Willis! And if you’re not at least a little scared of testicle harvesting, I don’t know what to tell ya.

3. American Psycho

Finally, a slasher movie where the murders don’t matter, even within the context of the film! Bateman’s murders are an expression of his boredom and vanity. Mary Harron took this material and made it an exploration of male insanity, rather than just Bateman’s. You’ve all seen these guys. They’re on Wall Street. They’re trying to sell you something. They might even be firing you. American Psycho documents masculine squabbles in deliciously, horrific detail. Perhaps, most chilling of all, the film asks, “What if these assholes really are killing, and, with wealth & power, their mess is wiped clean?”

2. Antichrist

I was mugged by God. That was my initial reaction to this film. True of almost every great film, on the first viewing, we’re not really sure what we’ve seen. This movie’s depth is so endless, it threatens to swallow you whole, taunting you to disregard it as Eurotrash. What I am sure of is the bravery of Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsburg, who follow Trier’s insanity to the end. Trier is a madman, as most great directors are, and his images, no matter how shattering to our senses, are fully realized here.

1. Sweeney Todd

The bloodiest musical, Burton’s possible best, and indeed, the greatest horror film of the decade. Burton stays faithful to the original tale, as well as Sondheim’s music. Depp and Carter are dressed like 30’s horror stars, paying homage to both the genre and the original film. I never felt Sondheim’s music should be gloriously sung, no matter how talented Angela Lansbury is. These songs are sad and personal, and though Burton’s cast aren’t singers, they are actors, and they deliver their tunes in the best possible way. You won’t find any prancing or choreography here. Sweeney Todd is a dark, terrifying tragedy that will slash its way into your nightmares as efficiently as Mr. Todd’s razors.

For more comic goodness, go here.

Not seven, but Slevin.

Set in New York City, the plot focuses on the paths of Slevin Kelevra (Hartnett), Lindsey (Liu), two feuding crime lords known as The Boss (Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley), and a mysterious hitman known as Mr. Goodkat (Willis).

One thing right from the get go of the film is that yu will notice it is a lot like Pulp Fiction. The way of story-telling, screenplay, even sometimes the way it looks, seems too much Tarantino’s masterpiece. However, it is definably not as good.

Basically the whole movie is a con, and it tries to make you, the viewer, understand the con that is going on. I felt a little too jerked around and felt that why should I care so much for the story if I don’t even know where half of the time it’s even going.

The film tries to work its way through acting as a thriller, but it didn’t quite seem that way. I felt like it was a blend of mystery and gangster genre, with a side bit of comedy. But I just didn’t feel like my needs were met as they were suddenly changed right in the middle of the film.

Slevin, has a screenplay that is pretty decent and actually turns out to be kind of witty. I enjoyed how the comedy wasn’t too bad, and it started out great at first but then soon started to drag, but was still fresh. Much of the dialogue is hard to understand since many of these characters seem like all they have are inside jokes and will actually take you a long time to comprehend who and what the joke was.

This film starts to really drag on and end it’s entertainment to me. I didn’t quite know who the good guys were and really didn’t know who to fall behind or anything of that, so I was kind of left scratching my head of who was good and who was bad.

Slevin features an ensemble cast that does actually do their best. Freeman and Kingsley do the best jobs and although their characters seem to be as stereotypes, they still try to work at it and actually put out some pretty good performances. Lucy Liu I felt was really annoying and sometimes changed her personality to really quirky and energetic then suddenly to serious and scared.

The ending to this film really does work out and saves this movie from a demise that could’ve been crucial. At the end all the little parts are explained and about everything comes full circle and it’s really cool to see all that plan out.

Consensus: Lucky Number Slevin tries to be a lot like Pulp Fiction, with it’s story-telling and witty screenplay but starts to fizzle out early but saves itself by the end.

5/10=Rentall!!!!

Barrow es un pequeño pueblo al norte de Alaska, donde el sol no se pone durante la friolera de un mes, haciendo del lugar un restaurante de comida rápida para la plaga de vampiros que merodea por los alrededores. Éste es el prometedor punto de partida de “30 days of night“, película que comparte título en castellano (de ahí el cambio) con la curiosa “Frostbitten”.

“30 días de oscuridad” está inspirada en el cómic de Steve Niles y parecía ser una digna película de vampiros, muy por encima de lo que viene produciendo Sam Raimi (me remito a “Boogeyman” o “El grito”) últimamente. Pero, a pesar de que los tres son copulativos: ser, estar y parecer son verbos muy distintos entre sí. Resulta intrigante que el director David Slade pase de hacer algo tan interesante como “Hard Candy”, que apela al terror psicológico sin necesidad de derramar una gota de sangre, a esta hemorragia de escenas gratuitas y salpicada de sustos fáciles. Supongo que la pela es la pela.

Vale que son ideas diferentes y, por extensión, también lo es su planteamiento, sin embargo, no deja de tener coña adivinar que la trituradora que vemos al principio está puesta ahí a caso hecho, porque alguien tiene que acabar dentro obligatoriamente. Slade pone las cartas sobre la mesa, apoyándose en una fotografía que es lo más destacable del film, y logra mantener el ritmo hasta bien entrado el segundo acto, el cual no tarda en tomar los derroteros propios de un survival, explorado ya en infinidad de cintas habitualmente regentadas por muertos vivientes.

Como adaptación, es bastante fidedigna y suprime alguna que otra subtrama innecesaria, dotando a la pareja principal de mayor dimensión que en las viñetas. El guaperas Josh Hartnett cumple de sobras, aunque no termina de dar el perfil de sheriff, y Melissa George se está labrando toda una carrera dentro del género tras “Turistas” y “La morada del miedo“. Los chupasangres capitaneados por Danny Huston no salen mucho mejor parados y me atrevería a decir que los dibujados por Ben Templesmith son más carismáticos, pese a que el maquillaje está tan logrado que incluso tenemos a la réplica femenina de Marilyn Manson. Los demás personajes aparecen y desaparecen a su antojo, como en el caso del compañero de Hartnett, al igual que el tiempo pasa de cualquier manera. Me hubiese gustado ver al abuelo después de los créditos, preguntando por su esposa, a lo “Jóvenes ocultos”.

Por desgracia, el sentido del humor no abunda en los gélidos parajes de Barrow. Otra de tantas películas que pudieron haber sido y no fueron.

16ª Participación para el concurso del DVD de Payasos Asesinos (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), reseña escrita por Manu Riquelme.

Ok, ok, I know I’m way late in this but I rarely watch movies.

So I’m two years late in critiquing this movie, but I’ll claim that I’m right on time because (according to internet movie database), a sequel is being filmed now.

I just watched this movie and I Am Legend last night (once again, I know, these are old movies, it takes me a while).  It was theme movie night, I guess.

So I really enjoyed both movies.  However, I have some issues with the major plot holes in 30 Days of Night.  I realize that these movies require the suspension of disbelief and that they aren’t trying for realism, but come on. So anyway, here are my problems with the movie, in no particular order:

1. cell phones – at the beginning of the movie, the sheriff (Josh Hartnett) and his partner find a pile of burned cell phones. it is one of the many ways that the vampires have attempted to cut off communications to the village.  however, after this, the sheriff and his estranged wife are shown using cell phones with each other.  they never remember to use them to call for help after they find that the land lines and computer access have been disabled.
2. cell phones part 2 – later, we find that a strange man has come into town and helped out the vampires by preparing conditions.  we are led to believe that he is responsible for the cell phone thefts.  however, no one in the town has seen him around while he managed to steal EVERYONE’s cell phone.  this guy was in town long enough to steal the cell phones from 152 people (500 and some are in the village before it’s sealed off for the 30 days without sun) but no one noticed him.
3. cell phones part 3 – wouldn’t people in an isolated village such as this have a few satellite phones lying around?
4. sealing up the town – just because there’s no sun for 30 days doesn’t mean that every form of outside contact would close down.  That’s just silly.  the airport shuts down for lack of sun? I’m pretty sure that planes have been flying in the dark for ages.  the closed town is an efficient explanation for the lack of outside help, but it doesn’t seem realistic to me.  everyone racing for the last flight out before the sun goes down is just silly.
5. subtitles – why do the vampires need subtitles?  that’s just silly.  but it does add a nice layer of cheese to this enjoyable mess. actually, I don’t have a problem with this.  this may be one of the best parts of the movie.
6. asthma – why does Josh Harnett have to have asthma?  how silly.  only after chopping the head off of a vampire does his asthma become a problem, but then he is able, after a brief lie down, to go running through the town without any access to an inhaler
7. child vampire – is it necessary to have one of the children become a vampire?  and why would she be wearing a sun dress?  surely she wasn’t wearing the sun dress when they attacked and turned her.  did she change afterwards?  and did I really need to see them hack off her head with an ax?
8. marital issues – the lame allusions to all the troubles in the marriage of the sheriff and his wife, and bizarro reasons for the wife to end up coming to town and then getting stuck in town were amateurish and lazy writing.  and the whole, they still love each other, it took this crisis for them to realize how they worked so well together was amateurish as well.
9. killing the dogs – real sled dogs, tied up or not, (barring the use of a gun) would have been really difficult to kill without sustaining some pretty serious injuries.  and yet, the stranger comes through, kills the dogs without problem and no one notices the stranger or the dogs’ wild barking.
10. the stranger – yeah, all scary movies need a mysterious stranger who, while initially being written off as only spouting foolishness, at one point becomes the sole source of knowledge in the crisis.
11. the stranger part two – why do the vampires need the stranger at all.  they are impervious to most things and the village is cut off by distance and snow.  even if communications weren’t cut off, the vampires should have no problem destroying everything and everyone before help could arrive.
12. the grinder – how does the mysterious stranger manage to get the town helicopter into the grinder without anyone noticing?
13. the grinder part two – why is the grinder left running constantly?  doesn’t it consume a lot of energy to have a giant, metal shredding grinder running at all times?  what do they need this grinder for anyway? and even after the town power is shut off the grinder is still running for 30 days.  that must be one hell of a power generator.
14. how the vampires decimate the majority of the population in the first couple of days but can’t manage to pick the rest of the people off before the end.  you’d think they would have burned as they went and far before the 30 days ended they could have had everyone rounded up and fed on them as they pleased.
15. the end – too much cheese, yes, yes, Josh Hartnett is wonderful, he can overcome everything even *******MAJOR SPOILER****** the vampiric need to feed.  He’s so wonderful that in his last moments he is quietly burned to a crisp by the sun in the arms of his wife.  Blah! I needed insulin afterwards.

But it still was a fun movie.  I suppose the sequel should involve the vampires regrouping and attempting to extract revenge on all of the survivors.  Let’s see, there was the sheriff’s wife, his brother, the little girl, and a couple of other people.  Yeah, that sounds like a movie. Hell, I’ll watch it.  Maybe not until two years after release, but I’ll still watch it.