Review: Paranormal Activity

When Kate suspects she is being haunted, her boyfriend, Micah, decided he is going to document events and prove to her it is just her imagination. As the nights go on, the evidence becomes overwhelmingly apparent that they are in fact being haunted. They look to experts with no luck and continue living their lives, but the activity becomes harder and harder to ignore, and eventually puts their lives in danger.

This movie was part of an internet petition to get this into theaters. They needed at least a million, and got that (plus more I think) based purely on trailer footage. Whenever a inexpensive film is hesitantly backed by a studio, I usually put faith in the fact the project is good. And thankfully so.

Kate and Micah (they use their real names) are not award winning actors. For all intents and purposes, they are still amateurs. A lot of the negative criticism has come under their acting skill, usually done in the most disrespectful way possible. I unfortunately have to agree. In the beginning their small talk felt forced, and they were lacking a lot of chemistry as a couple. Yet they were still engaging enough for me to care what happens to them, as well as being incredibly disarming. Plus once they get into the thick of incidents, their reactions seem mostly authentic. They perform the bare minimum in my opinion, so for the most part is works.

The camera visions at night are definitely the star of this movie anyway. A few thuds here, a flickering light there, all nonthreatening individually, but overtime, the idea of coincidence becomes meaningless. The scares come from a really realistic place. Creepy things happen and bring you to the edge of your seats. There is no attempt to jump at the screen and startle you with loud noises or gross you out with crazy over-the-top gore. The filmmakers invest a lot of time in building tension and a sense of dread, and that is better than any masked slasher that the audience actually roots for over the teen stereotypes they happen to be chasing down at any given moment. This movie is popular for the same reason the Ghost Hunter shows are, a dependency on little things that add up to a big haunting allowing the improbable to seem possible.

I should say that there is one attempt to jump at the screen and startle you, and that is in the theatrical ending. The alternative ending is much more appropriate in my opinion.

7/10 Amateurish? Sure. Horrible? No way. Over-hyped? Possible, but I wouldn't let seeing this depend on that characteristic.

Review: Antichrist

A couple travel to their cabin in the woods after suffering the loss of their child. Their the husband, a therapist, coaches his grieving wife through cognitive therapy in order to find out what she truly fears and to grant her solace in the face of losing her son.

There is only one way to describe this movie. FUCKED UP

Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourgh pull of very chilling performances, their characters known only as "he" and "she." They start the movie off as very normal couple. Grieving and emotionally distraught, but normal, human nonetheless. Gainsbourg seems to be dealing the worst, and Dafoe takes responsibility for it. As time goes on, they both seem to move into the darkness, becoming more and more crazy, yet rationalizing themselves in such a way, that makes it incredibly more horrifying than a person who is simply out of control, especially Gainsbourgh, who's bipolar character is the most confusing character to get a read on.

The movie itself is split into 4 chapters including a prologue and epilogue. The first being the prologue where while having sex, the couple do not notice their son near by climbing to look out the window, but accidentally falling to his doom. The next 4 chapters, basically the plot of the movie, follows these two lovers into the woods in order to face their fears. The woods and cabin turn out to be a depressing place working more as an excelerant than a deterrant for their emotional instability.

Visually, there is no movie that compares. If anyone has ever referred to a movie as arthouse, than they have not seen this. They all pale in comparison. The simplest vision or sound bring about feelings of doom and gloom. This movie dares to be disturbing and unforgettable showing the much, MUCH darker side of humanity.

She is studying gynocide, the murder of woman, for a thesis, and during her emotional instability has convinced herself that she, like all the other female victims in her project, deserves to die. She blames herself for the death of their son, for good reason I must say, and drives he to the brinking point.

What does this movie actually mean though? I don't know. To fathom a guess would only ruin the experience for yourself. One of the movies in a long time that has a truly think-for-yourself ending. For a slow movie, it is surprisingly engaging, but I don't see most people making it through this movie. The entertainment value is incredibly low. This isn't a painting you put in a coffee table book, you hang it in a museum and tell every critic that it is in fact art no matter how much they deny.

6/10 based purely on art.

Top 10 Favorite Sci-Fi Flicks

After seeing Moon this summer and being completely mesmerized by it, I have had science fiction on the brain, particularly the kind that comes with a social conscious and meaningful disposition as well as the future tech and nuanced performances that have become the most common elements of all. Sci-fi really does get a bad rap what with the lonely loser Trekkie stereotype and really REALLY horrible "Sci-Fi (oh my bad SyFy) channel originals...." people just kind of scoff at, even though the numbers suggest they line up for everything that has a killer robot, invading aliens, or spandex-clad superheroes. There is no doubt more Sci-Fi in necessary in modern cinema, especially at this stage of special effects advancement. Here are my top favorite sci-fi flicks for you to whet your whistle on.

10. Equilibrium

Equilbrium takes after Farenheit 451 taking place in a distant future where art is illegal and passionate feelings of hate or love are buried by mandatory, government issue pharmaceuticals. Most art and "sense-offenders" are dispatched by "clerics." Christian Bale plays one such cleric who after missing a dose of his numbing perscription falls deeper and deeper into addiction of feeling all the while pretending he's not. It is probably one of his more impressive performances. Just the little things he does over the course of the day that make him stick out from the other clerics are very subtle yet set in motion the waves of emotion he feels at certain points within the movie. Euqilibirum is also chock full of some of the coolest action scenes, using the directors own blend of "Gun-Kata," gun play meets martial arts, that has to be seen to believe.

9. Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Minds

No robots. No superheroes. No apocalytpic view of the future. Just your average joes of modern times undergoing a procedure that is out of this world. Joel, played by Jim Carey, undergoes mind erasure of a messy break-up and once great relationship he had with Clementine, played by Kate Winslet. Directed by the very fantastic Michel Gondry, the events of their relationship play mostly backwards, as Joel relives the relationship as the technicians erase them. Being conscious during the procedure, Joel drifts off to other memories trying to save his favorite times spent with Clementine.

8. Children of Men

In a post-apocalyptic world, all the women stopped having babies. It sends a number of people into complete apathy, while a select veiw become aggressive and violent. The world is in shambles both emotionally and physically, and no where is really safe as the world is reduced to slums and de-militarized zones. Clive Owen plays a man capable of great hope and love who has lost his way with the rest of the world until he is pulled into an operation by his ex-wife and her revolutionary cohorts to protect a young pregnant woman.

7. 12 Monkeys

Bruce Willis plays a time traveler forced into the past by the remaining humans of the future to gain intel on a disease that would eventually send humans underground. In 12 Monkeys, time travel is not an exact science. A couple of times Willis' character is sent to the wrong time, and he is even convinced he is crazy in modern times. Bruce Willis, known for his bravado and comic timing than his dramatic acting, excels surprisingly well even if Brad Pitt's psycho supporting character steals the show and gains more attention.

6. The Road Warrior

Most of the world knows it as Mad Max 2, but since it was released in the US before the first Mad Max that wouldn't make much sense. In fact, this arm's length distinction between the two works out for the best since the future of Mad Max and the future of The Road Warrior share a number of differences, the biggest being the amount of social decay that has occured. The Road Warrior depicts an Aussie setting where all government and society has completely erased leaving a number of boomtowns and villanous, nomadic gangs littering the highways. Max rises as a definitive anti-hero who's motivation for helping first comes from selfishness as he bargains for gas and equipment and later out of his own honor as he helps the residents of a boomtown escape. The Road Warrior is best remembered for its incredible finale car chase devoid of any CGI, strictly all stunt work.

5. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Easily one of the greatest sequels cinema has ever offered, Arnold Shwarzeneggar returns as the wooden robot from the future not as a villain but as a hero protecting young John Connor from a much higher advanced robot combatant. Arnold is truly amazing in this movie. The Terminator itself is characterized by its absence of emotion, and while the leads to some comical interactions with John, you can actually see the Terminator grow and develop as a character in small subtle ways. The key to this change is his ever growing understanding of why humans are the way they are, which also unlocks the doors to why we created the technology that turned on us in the future and why we are worth saving, both of which would usually be answered with entirely opposing intentions.

4. Dark City

Influenced by the tone of film-noir, this mystery-thriller involved a group of aliens, known only as The Strangers, who lack any kind of differentiating characteristics, have taken it upon themselves to study the life and love of humans by systematically rearranging the elements of a small population of people's lives to see how they would unfold. One such human ends up being more than he appeared having the same reality warping powers as The Strangers. Now immune to their changes, he tries to piece together his far fragmented life and earn back the woman he loves, yet swears he has never met. This movie is chock full of incredible cityscapes resembling Burton's Batman or The Crow (no surprise since they share a director).

3. Empire Strikes Back

A best of sci-fi could not go without some kind of nod to Star Wars, and Empire Strikes Back has clearly been the best installment of that 6-part story in my opinion. First of all, it is Han Solo at his best. Same roguish charmer from A New Hope. Same bull-headed hero from Return of the Jedi. It is also our first introduction to Yoda, the philosophical mentor, and Lando, Han's frenemy for life. It also has the coolest action of any of the first three, and not to intentionaly quote Clerks, but it has an outstanding downer ending leaving the audience wanting more.

2. Blade Runner

A neo-noir detective mystery based on Philip K. Dick's Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep, Richard Dekard is one the case to find 4 cyborgs (aka replicants) on the rampage after finding out they have expiration dates. The sad realization that they are not immortal and have more in common with humans sends them into a craze, pretty impressive for a computer brain. The tone, visuals, and Harrison Ford downplaying his investigator character and Rutger Hauer playing his sadist replicant up makes for a chilling dynamic. Catch the director's cut for a subtle subplot involving the possibility that Ford's Deckard is also a replicant. Any of the three verisons (at least 3 I know of) all include the sad, thoughtful last words of Hauer.

1. Moon

The reason that I am even making this list is because of this movie. Maybe it is just so fresh in mind and that I have an incredible bias for the talented and underappreciated Sam Rockwell that this new film makes it so high, but it deserves a spot on anyone's Top 10 sci-fi flicks regardless. It is funny, thoughtful, profound, and engaging, all impressive feats for a one-man-in-two-roles show. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell and Sam Bell, one of the same but coming aged three years apart meeting on a space mission to harvest the newly discovered energy source. After spending three years in isolation, anyone would go crazy, but is it really hallucinations or a bigger conspiracy at hand. Stay tuned for Duncan Jones', director of Moon and David Bowie's son, next feature Mute, a piece inspired by Blade Runner, and rumored to show the final fate of Sam Bell.

Honorable Mention: Serenity

I needed to throw some kind of honorable mention in here because there were so many movies I wanted to add but couldn't. For instance Serenity, the continuation of the short lived television series "Firefly." It follows the further adventures of war hero Captain Mal Reynolds and his band of miscreants as they live paycheck to paycheck as mercenaries. This time they get in over their heads with a conspiracy that goes all the way to the head of the new ruling class, the same bad guys who won the war against Mal's side. One part western, one part Star Wars. This is a fun action-adventure with truly charming characters and a great bad guy yet a pretty ham-fisted message.

Review: Carriers

The world has been overrun with a plague. Most of the human population is either dead or dying. A group of 4 are trying to make it to their childhood vacation spot for solace, but their cross country trek does not turn out to be easy. Finding gas, shelter, and protection from the sick and the paranoid proves much harder than they expected.

Carriers is another in a long line of mis-marketed movies. I feel like that is a sentence used far too often nowadays. Carriers promised to be a quick-paced thriller implying that their would actually be "carriers," as in a minority group of infected showing other signs other than death. Instead it is very much a psychological drama. Much of the fear stems from feelings of isolation, desperation, paranoia, and expendability (even in the eyes of your loved ones). These elements work effectively, but make for a much slower movie than expected. It is a bit of a chore to sit through the movie, which is not even that long. The gore factor is also very low; a few blood splattered face masks and rashes.

The acting is top notch though making for a more pleasurable viewing experience. Chris Pine continues being great after his breakout role in Star Trek, and Lou Taylor Pucci is a very promising up and comer. Piper Perabo and Christopher Meloni also give very memorable performances, maybe more so than the two male leads. There were also a few moments of humor, mainly from Pine's character trying to lighten the mood. These light scenes are unfortunately fleeting and lead to stryfe among the survivors.

The movie is very minimalist, relying on atmosphere and key performances all of which just fall short of par. The film is in no way poorly constructed, but the quality of storytelling is just not as high as one would hope.

6/10

My Favorite Horror Films

10. Feast

Brain-child from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's second Project: Greenlight, Feast is a funny, gorey, violent delight. A monster movie with Die Hard intensity, Evil Dead laughs and gore, and Pulp Fiction dialog and characters. Starring a very underrated Balthazar Getty, a group of strangers fend off a family of incredibly strong and hungry beasts while trapped in a bar.

9. The Devil's Rejects

Rob Zombie's follow up to the very weird but dissapointing House of 1,000 Corpses takes his murderous Firefly family on the road flipping the killer/killee dynamic with the sheriff finding them. I always appreciate a horror movie that can use comedy and not kill the entire pace and tone.

8. 28 Days Later

The incredible Danny Boyle creates a truly scaring depiction of a post-apocalyptic London devoid of most life. A new twist on the zombie genre turning the normally undead flesh-eaters into rabid, rage-infected violent people.

7. Evil Dead 2

Sam Raimi's middle installment of the Evil Dead series has the perfect combo between Evil Dead's thrills and Army of Darkness's laughs, starring Bruce Campbell as Ash sky-rocketing him to A-Number-1 fanboy cult favorite actor OF ALL TIME!!!!!!! (Yes, it's that dramatic)

6. The Mist

One of the more chilling horror flicks in years, Frank Darabont may in fact be the only person who should be allowed to adapt Stephen King novels anymore. First Shawshank Redemption, than Green Mile, and now The Mist. He captured the feel of each individual book and added upon what King already started.

5. The Dead Zone

And than of course there is this Stephen King adaptation that isn't made by Frank Darabont. It is more of a thriller than a horror, but Christopher Walken is great in it. Much better than Anthony Michael Hall during the tv series based on the same material.

4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This is one of the first truly disgusting, graphic, and controversial horror movies. Based loosely on real life serial killer, Ed Gein, and then further warped to the 1,000th degree. 10x better than the remake just because of the nuanced performance of Gunnar Hansen.

3. Halloween

The beginning of the modern slasher flick. It single-handedly made John Carpenter one the greatest masters of horror, and created a cinema icon out of a white William Shatner mask.

2. Jaws

Scared everyone out of the water. Seriously. One of Spielberg's earliest efforts, even then he seemed like he'd be one of the greatest directors of all time.

1. Dawn of the Dead

Greatest zombie movie ever! Actually characterized the victims instead of root for the bad guy slasher flicks that the genre has become desensitized by.

Review: The Surrogates

Somewhere between near future and distant future, the majority of the population have been replaced by remote control robots. Despite a numbing sensation, the world has seemingly become a utopia until someone dies from feedback from their destroyed robotic counterpart.

The story has a lot of potential . Utopian world. Robots. Subtle thematic undertones that turn out to be not so subtle. The movie never reached it's full potential. It promised to be a robot action flick with a thriller pace, but the movie crawls to the ending. It is full of plot holes and the storyline seems pretty forced. A world where 99% of the population are actually controlling robots to do their day-to-day stuff probably does not need an FBI, yet there is one that looks well funded and very busy. The robots are also lacking serious emotions. That sounds weird considering their machines, but they are controlled by people yet comically perform as pieces of wood.

The Surrogates needed a serious injection of Bruce Willis. Yes, Bruce Willis is already cast as the lead, but you would never know. His famous wit and charisma is missing almost completely. One scene where he chews out his boss and another where he mouths off to a female legal aid for probably being a sexually frustrated man at the remote are truly the only scenes worth seeing just to see Willis do what he does best.

As most pieces of science fiction, this movie tries to have a meaningful theme. It is exactly what you would think. Live life equals good. Control robot equals bad. Not very inspiring at all. The potential for lamenting on freedom, personal prisons, dependency on technology are left pretty much out of the picture except for the finale mad genius rant that is too cliche to even count.

The Surrogates is an incredibly dissapointing film with all the potential to be a fantastic and unique blockbuster, but apparently those two terms (unique and blockbuster) continue to stay disassociated. But its still an action pic with a few good explosions (I suppose).

3/10

Review: Dark Country

The directorial debut of the movie's star, Thomas Jane, tells the story of two lovers who were quick to fall in love. After a swift marriage in Vegas, this sexy couple sets forth on a cross-country trek. On their way, they see a car crash and a bleeding, dying man in the street. In a desperate attempt to get him to a hospital, he ends up turning on his would be saviors sending the newlyweds down a twisted path.

The atmosphere is easily the greatest part of this movie. The jazz theme in the beginning sets the tone for a dark film-noir, but the film quickly changes gears to a '70s era grindhouse picture eventually merging the two in a very engaging combination. The 2 leads, Tom Jane and Lauren German, perform very well. Their fast-talking conversational tone in the beginning enhances the noir aspect, but their true natures emerge during the desperation leading both of them to question their relationship and the matter at hand. The story is very simple, a one thing leads to another crime caper, but it proves to be more engaging than the premise promises. Ron Perlman also makes a very small appearance, and he always makes movies better.

The special effects could be better. The movie is certainly not winning any effects awards, but the low-budget visuals adds character and a "do-it-yourself" sensibility that so many noir and grindhouse flicks had back in the day. Jane is obviously a lover of the genre picture, and he succeeds at making a very decent freshman film.

Ther is a point as the ending is about to happen where I saw that the movie could go in one of two directions. Unfortuantely, it took the one I hoped it wouldn't be, but it doesn't take much away from the viewing experience.

6/10

Review: Zombieland

When a zombie outbreak decimates the American population an unlikely group of survivors work together to brave the zombie plagued highways of the United States. Hotshot Tallahasse is a gun-totting cowboy who enjoyed killing his zombified neighbors. Columbus is a quiet, rational, loner who is easy to like. Wichita and Little Rock are sister con artists who have a hard time trusting anyone. They are trying to make it to Los Angeles where there may be a zombie-free amusement park for them to hang out.

Admittedly influenced by the hit zom-com, Shaun of the Dead, Z-land brings enough yucks and yuks to keep pace, but unfortunately doesn't surpass Shaun. The movie is well cast using a number of young upstarts plus Woody Harrelson, who always excels as goofy douchebags. Each brings a great amount of heart and charisma that makes the conversation much more natural than forced in either a horror or comedy way. Each character has a dark moment in the past. You'd expect most characters to have them, but unique to this film is they are not defined by them. For instance, Tallahasse suffers a great loss. One would think he would turn inward and become a loner. Instead he becomes a badass who shoots from the hip and the mouth, and while reluctantly, he still bonds with his travelling companions rather than alienating them. A refreshing take on survival horror.

When it came to the laughs, Z-Land definitely brings plenty of goods. Unfortunately, the horror side is severely lacking. There is maybe one or two startles caused by loud noises, but very little moments of terror. The gore is also severely lacking, especially for a zombie flick. Bloody faced zombies and a few shotgun squibs on their chests offer the most, far from enough. The big mistake is not having ACTUAL zombies. These zombies were suffering from a mutated strain of mad cow causing rage, aggression, and munchies. This meant the infected were fast, living, and capable of being killed from run-of-the-mill violence. On the other hand they could have been real zombies: slow, numerous, undead, and only vulnerable through messy head shots.

Overall, this is a great film for any zombie enthusiast or comedy lover. It has a few flaws, but the movie is still highly entertaining. Director Ruben Fleischer shows some great promise as a genre filmmaker.

Keep your eyes open for a great celeb cameo. Possibly the greatest.

7/10

Review G. I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

G. I. Joe is a special branch of the military in cooperation with most countries enlisting the best of the best to fight the most dangerous and violent terrorists. Members Duke and Ripcord join up after a run in with Cobra agents and losing highly advanced nanite weaponry.With fellow members Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Heavy Duty to take down Cobra and retrieve the lost weaponry.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra has loads of potential. The "best of the best" soldiers fighting an equally elite technologically advanced terrorist group has summer blockbuster written all over it. Motely crews of action heroes have always gone over pretty well. War movies usually do well and Stallone's Expendables has most cinefiles drooling. Studios get excited for the obvious merchandising and other tie-in attempts at furthering their income. This falls way off the map.

There's a lot of wasted talent among the cast. Christopher Eccelstein and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are very gifted actors, yet their talents are put to no good use as run of the mill world take-over types. Dennis Quaid is given limited time and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Rachel Nichols both prove to be much more talented and in better roles than the leads. Ray Park is given very little to do himself. One of the better movie martial artists becomes half CGI and half showy sword intimidation, but no real impressive fight scenes. This is all given up for the incredibly bland Channing Tatum, annoying Marlon Wayans, and cringeworthy Sienna Miller. I have seen Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Requeim for a Dream, and Interview. These 3 actors still need work, but they are not as incapable as this movie proves.

The military forces already have truly fantastic weaponry and designs for prototype future tech, yet this movie takes it a step further and makes each of these soldiers look like they are playing with toys more so than weapons. Not so ironic seeing as it is based on a toyline, but the real world wonders are more wonderful than director Stephen Somers would seem to like to admit. Somers love affair with CGI also has to stop. There seems to be almost no reason to even cast humans to act since there was so much computer generation. A specially horrible looking effect that happens when Eccelstein becomes a more recognizable Destro as seen in the toyline made me literally laugh out loud.

I can only describe this movie as corny, cliched, and 'splodey to a Michael Bay degree.

2/10

Top 10 Movies of the Summer

10. Public Enemies
Johnny Depp as the infamous John Dillinger

9. World's Greatest Dad
Robin Williams in a surprisingly heartfilled comedy

8. Drag Me to Hell
Sam Raimi's triumphant return to horror

7. Brother's Bloom
A funny and charming crime caper

6. District 9
Race wars between aliens and humans

5. Star Trek
Abrams re-writes the Enterprise's future

4. Hangover
One word: Hysterical

3. Inglourious Basterds
Long awaited war epic from Tarantino

2. The Hurt Locker
Iraq war movie without a political agenda. Believe it!

1. Moon
Greatest sci-fi movie in recent years

Review: Gamer

In the not too distant future, America has embraced its history of violent entertainment when a waelthy inventor/media mogul creates a way for gamers to actually control real people instead of computer generated characters. Once such game is "Slayer" where Gerard Butler's Kable plays to win his freedom from death row. Kable is the closest anyone comes, but they can't just let him leave. Kable gets in a literal fight to the death as he leaves the gaming world thanks to some concerned hackers and goes after the men who created the game.

I really really want to like Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, but their obsession with video games, which also had a big influence on the Crank movies, is getting tired really fast. The movie is already suffering from being a retread of Running Man and Death Race. It also relies heavily on shaky cam, bright flashy lights, and distracting video game-esque icons flying across the screen. Michael C Hall is the cheesy cherry on top as he hams it up as the film's Kentucky fried villain, surprising since Hall does so well on his TV series, "Dexter."

The movie is full of faults but it is not without a few upsides. Like Starship Troopers, despite its cliched action movie elements it has some pretty interesting underlying satire involving violence and role-playing games in the media. Gerard Butler continues to show immense talent and charisma on screen even when all he really has to do is kick people's ass. And despite Michael C Hall, the rest of the cast is pretty decent and backs up Butler pretty well. The action scenes were pretty kick-ass when you could actually see stuff to, especially the earlier gameplay moments.

Butler is awesome, but the rest of the movie is touch-and-go.

5/10

Oscar for Sam Rockwell

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First Impressions: Crazies and Elm Street

The Crazies

I like the original Romero flick, but always had a problem with the pacing. Even for a sneak up on you kinda thriller, it still seemed overly slow. This one seems to add a certain level of high-0ctane. It could be its key to success or undoing. The use of the Mad World song adds an eerie tone keeping with the original so I hope to see this find the balance between them.

Nightmare on Elm Street

Not looking forward to this almost on prinicple. I mean Jackie Earle Haley is a fantastic choice and the new look is pretty awesome, but it just looks like more of the same. The trailer already shows a "revolving bedroom" and claw in the tub scenes.