Welcome to the 190th Edition which is a pretty cool number and hard to believe that in two to three months that the 200th Edition will come out. I put out some pretty unusual selections this week so I hope you'll like it. I look forward to my ring announcing gig later tonight. Also, my mom is making her movie debut in a local Ball State University film. Okay, now for the movies.
Sinatra (1992): This is my overdue tribute to the late performer Danny Gans who died in the beginning of May of this year and plays Rat Pack alum Dean Martin here.. This is a mini-series on the famed singer which starts with his early adulthood, going into his rise in the music and film industry where he had some struggles. In trying to rise to fame, he did not let anyone get in the way of what he wanted and took many risks to get to the top instead of being content in the middle. Philip Casnoff plays the title role and played it very well. It also goes into his relationships with Mia Farrow, Ava Gardner, and first wife Nancy Barbato-Sinatra, played by Gina Gershon. It shows his connections to the mob, to the Kennedy family and a little of the rise in the Rat Pack. Look for 7TH HEAVEN alum Beverley Mitchell as his daughter Nancy. There is not much else I can say without rambling but this wa a two part mini-series and worth watching.
Heaven and Earth (1993): Oliver Stone directed this movie which is based on the real-life Le Ly Hayslip, who is played very well by Hiep Thi Le in a stunning film debut. This movie takes place during the Vietnam War, showing her as part of an oppressed family during the Viet Cong rule and experiences a lot of hardship and some very horrifying things which can be hard to watch in the film. With her Mom, played by Joan Chen, she flees and gets a job in Saigon but things become difficult when she becomes pregnant by her master where she then must leave. To make money she must hustle American soldiers and in the process meets soldier Steve Butler, played very well by Tommy Lee Jones, who she falls in love with and moves to the beautiful land of America. There, she must adjust to the different world and Steve's war flashbacks become very difficult to deal with. Le Ly becomes an American author and humanitarian even making a cameo in this film. While she falls in love with an American and moves to America with him, don't watch it expecting some kind of love story because that is really not what this movie is. It is however, very beautiful and I feel carries through very well. This is the third in Oliver Stone's "Vietnam Trilogy".
Captain EO (1986): This is my tribute to the late Michael Jackson. I was talking to Lisa and saying that I wanted to use Michael Jackson in this blog but that I wanted to avoid THE WIZ since I have already done it. She then turned me on to this one which they used to show a lot at Disney World and that I found on Youtube. Francis Ford Coppola directed this this short musical which stars Jackson as the title character who leads a crew that includes an elephant-looking creature, robot and other puppets on a mission to see the Wicked Queen, played by Anjelica Huston, to give her the gift of beauty and starts by singing the song WE ARE HERE TO CHANGE THE WORLD. This is a very entertaining 16 minutes to watch and it is accessible on Youtube.te
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977): This is my tribute to the late Ed McMahon who recently left us. He plays the crooked boss of Dick who fires him in the beginning. George Segal and Jane Fonda star in this satire of life in the middle class and trying to make ends meet during a tough economy which was mentioned in this movie so we are in nothing new right now when they talk about this recession. At first Jane believes that she will work and Dick will collect his unemployment but she realizes that it is not that simple so they start leading a life of crime by robbing just about anything they can see. They soon find out that armed robbery is very hard work but have many funny moments. I have not seen the Jim Carrey version of this movie which worked with two good actors and a pretty big statement to middle-class life. Look closely for a very young Jay Leno in his film debut.
Meet Bill (2007): Aaron Eckhart stars in this comedy as the title character. His life is going downhill with a cheating wife and a job at a bank his father runs. Elizabeth Banks is his cheating wife. He also reluctantly mentors a very self-assured high school kid, played by Logan Lerman, who is determined to get him set up with a cashier named Lucy, played by DARK ANGEL alum Jessica Alba. They help him to try to win a donut company that Bill wants and to win back his wife. It is a great movie of a man trying to get his life back on track and a good performance from Eckhart and even Lerman who showed him how to have fun again. Timothy Olyphant play reporter Tim that is having the affair with his wife. There is not much more to say except that Eckhart is someone to be noticed.
The 39 Steps (1935): I bring in Hitchcock this week in one of his early and some say one of his best. Robert Donat stars as Richard Hannay who becomes a suspect in a murder and goes on the run to stop a spy ring while getting handcuffed with a woman who does not like him. Madeline Carroll plays that woman who is handcuffed to him and they work very well together. This had a lot of suspense and dark comedy which really hit the mark for the Master of Suspense.
Shaolin Invincibles (1977): This is my Cult of UHF movie for the week and this week in a martial arts film. To say that I really got this would be an absolute lie but to watch the fighting and the badly dubbed English made this worth a watch. This one was made in Taiwan and what was interesting was people in gorilla suits fighting. I'm not about to try to explain a plot but if you like the old-school martial arts and b-movies you should check this out on the Cult of UHF podcasts.
Alien Apocalypse (2005): I admit, the only reason this is here and that I DVRed it from the Sci-Fi network was because of that name Bruce Campbell and even his fellow XENA alum Renee O'Connor. They come back from a mission in space only to find out that earth is taken over by giant grasshoppers where humans are enslaved by them and some work for them. Bruce then bands everyone together to take down the grasshoppers and restore freedom. Like last one, if you're looking for something with merit, good plot, this is not it. The grasshoppers really seemed pretty easy to kill and why I observed that I don't know. If you want some entertainment and to see Bruce, here you go.
The Cheat (1915): This is my silent film for the week that I found on TCM. Fannie Ward stars as Edith, the wife of a stockbroker who embezzles $10,000 from her husband's charity. Jack Dean plays her husband Richard. She then turns to Haka Arakau, played by Asian star Sessue Hayakawa, who is a Japanese Ivory trader that Edith is flirting with. When things go wrong, Edith shoots him and Richard takes the blame. It was a pretty dark film and quite interesting. Hayakawa was pretty widely known in America and got some pretty good work for an Asian actor in that time period.
Kismet (1955): I end this week with this very unknown musical which stars Howard Keel. This movie takes place in Iraq and not the one we know today, I'd say this took place in the 1800s where Keel stars as a poet name Hajj, who is very poor where the Wazir believes Hajj put a curse on him years ago and schemes to stay alive and to be able to steal the Wazir's favorite wife. Ann Blyth plays the poet's daughter and can sing very well while taking her own interest in a prince. Delores Gray is also great as Lalume, the wife that Hajj takes a liking to. This was filled with some nice, lavish musical numbers but was quite hard to follow. It is still something to take a look at, especially for Howard Keel.
Well, that is it for this week. Leave your comments for what you like at what you don't like. I put some pretty unusual things on this one I admit so we'll see how you all take this one. Next week I will likely write a blog on my experience in AMERICA'S GOT TALENT and I will have a movie blog that include Clint Howard, the late Farrah Fawcett, a musical, and a French short film..
FUN LITTLE FACTS
BATMAN FRANCHISE
-Gina Gershon (Sinatra) does the voice of Catwoman aka Selina Kyle in a few episodes of THE BATMAN
-Tommy Lee Jones (Heaven and Earth) plays Two-Face aka Harvey Dent in the 1995 film BATMAN FOREVER
-Aaron Eckhart (Bill) also plays Harvey Dent where you see him as the heroic district attorney before he becomes Two-Face in the 2008 film THE DARK KNIGHT.
Rod Steiger (Sinatra) plays the role of Jud Fry in the 1955 film OKLAHOMA. My facebook friend Kyle played the part in the version at Muncie Civic Theater last summer
Marcia Gay Harden (Sinatra) and Timothy Olyphant (Meet Bill) have both been on the FX tv series DAMAGES.
Tommy Lee Jones (Heaven and Earth) plays the role of Agent Kay in the 2002 film MEN IN BLACK II and Michael Jackson (Captain EO) is himself but wants to be Agent M.
Conchata Ferrell (Heaven and Earth) does the voice for Calamity Jane in the 1993 tv documentay THE WILD WEST. Anjelica Huston (Captain EO) played the role in the 1995 tv movie BUFFALO GIRLS
Elizabeth Banks (Meet Bill) was considered for the role of Susan Storm in the 2005 film FANTASTIC FOUR but the part would ultimately go to her MEET BILL co-star Jessica Alba
Ok, to a certain extent I have been happy to defend Michael Bay on some (certainly not all) of his movies. “The Rock” was a kick ass action movie, and it brought Nicholas Cage to a whole new level of stardom which he has since pissed away (to a certain extent anyway). When he gave us “Transformers” two years ago, it seemed really good when you compared it to a lot of his other movies. It seemed like he might turn out to be a little better than we typically give him credit for. Steven Spielberg worked with him for crying out loud!
But now here comes the inevitable sequel entitled “Transformers – Revenge Of The Fallen,” which I thought for a moment could possibly be the “Empire Strikes Back” of the franchise. No such luck, not even in the slightest. If I didn’t have an intense hatred of Michael Bay before, I sure as hell do now. I came out of this sequel cursing that mother fucker as if he had no reason to live. “Transformers – Revenge Of The Fallen” may very well represent the biggest waste of money ever spent on a film that I have seen since “Waterworld” (not to mention “Norbit”). Yes, it has action all over the place, and the effects are incredible and incredibly loud as you would expect them to be. But I came out of this movie wanting to spit at the screen. This is a movie with no heart or soul, and it renders all the hard work put into it as utterly meaningless. What a pathetic waste of celluloid this is! But what’s truly depressing is that no matter how trashed this movie gets by the press or the fans, it’ll still make tons of money.
Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky in a performance that threatens to be as utterly annoying as Ralph Macchio’s was in “The Karate Kid Part III.” Despite being a hero and helping the Autobots defeat the evil Decepticons in the first movie, he still acts like a pussy whipped bitch during this sequel. I don’t think Shia’s a bad actor, but he needs to stop playing characters like this lest people start thinking that he’s playing himself in this role. The first “Transformers” gave his career a huge leg up, but this god awful sequel can take him down just the same if he’s not careful.
Megan Fox is also back as Sam’s voraciously attractive girlfriend Mikaela Banes, and she makes her entrance in the film by leaning over a motorcycle showing off one of her best “assets.” This will probably piss off a lot of people (especially females) as Michael Bay makes good sport of objectifying women throughout, and it wouldn’t be the first time either. Still, I would be a bit of a hypocrite if I didn’t say I did enjoy that visual even if it was from a far away distance. Hey Megan, I know you want to be taken seriously as an actress and believe it or not, I would actually like to see that happen for you. Maybe that will happen when we see you in “Jennifer’s Body” later this year, a film written by Diablo Cody (“Juno”). All the same, if there is a third “Transformers” movie, I strongly advise you NOT to do it. I honestly think that you and (yes) Shia deserve better than this.
The plot of “Transformers – Revenge Of The Fallen” is… well, it’s somewhere in there. It involves… uh, some shard from that cube that lodged in Sam’s clothing that…umm…well, ends up filling his head with symbols that… jesus this is hard to describe! It makes Sam write all these symbols that…that…I don’t know, lead him to this big fight in Egypt… Oh yeah, he meets up again with Optimus Prime from the first one… Bumblebee is back too, and he threatens to be even more of a pussy than Sam is, but he kicks ass… Then they end up in Egypt and fight alongside those military dudes from the previous film…you know, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson? And then… uh, well… There’s a lot of action!
It’s clear almost from the start that Michael Bay is not concerned with developing a good story or giving us characters that are anything but shallow. It certainly would help to bring us into the action more on an emotional level. I have a pretty good idea what Michael Bay is thinking: Fuck the critics! I make my movie for the audience, not you snobs! But in the process of flipping the bird to those film critics, he is also insulting the intelligence of the audience. And yes, that includes all those 12 and 13 years who this movie was clearly made in mind for. I can’t say that I was a huge fan of the Transformers as a kid, but I bet that even the most die hard of Transformers fans will find a hell of a lot to hate about this horrid sequel, and the call for Michael’s blood will be as loud as the explosions in this film.
All the hallmarks of a Michael Bay movie can be found here; loud explosions every other millisecond, characters communicating to each other by yelling at them (and that’s even when they are clearly close to hear each other), and inane dialogue that makes George Lucas look like John Patrick Shanley. I’m sure there are many who will say that this is a movie where you can “check your brain at the door,” but that only goes so far. There is a point where you take your audience for granted, and finding forgiveness for that transgression is a bitch to say the least. This isn’t the first time that Michael Bay has gone out of his way to intentionally piss off those who seriously hate his films. “Bad Boys II,” another monstrosity of a movie by the way, was Bay lighting a fire under the ass of many a film critic. But the maker of one god awful sequel has now succeeded in creating one that’s every bit as bad.
Michael Bay flips the bird at us even more by introducing two Autobots that are really nothing more than extremely offensive stereotypes of the blatantly racist kind. I’m talking about Mudflap and Skids, the Transformers’ answer to Jar Jar Binks. I figured that by having an actor like Tyrese Gibson that it just might balance out since he doesn’t descend into any stereotypical behavior here, but this is a movie whose main audience will be kids for crying out loud! I usually think that people look into the way certain people are portrayed in movies a little too much, but this time the criticism is more than justified.
Speaking of characters yelling at each other, this god forsaken sequel may very well contain the most yelling of multiple characters in any film (let alone a Michael Bay film). Do you have any idea of just how annoying it is when people TALK LIKE THIS AS IF YOU HAVE SOME HEARING DISABILITY AND THEY THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR HEARING AID EVEN THOUGH YOU DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE ONE BUT THERE’S SO MUCH FIGHTING AND EXPLOSIONS GOING ON THAT YOU DON’T HAVE THE FUCKING TIME TO APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER BECAUSE YOU EITHER ARE RUNNING LIKE HELL FROM THOSE NASTY DECEPTICONS OR YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THEM ASSUMING YOU GOT ANY BALLS LIKE THE MILITARY DOES BUT HAVING ANY OLD GUN WON’T HELP BECAUSE YOU NEED THE EQUIVALENT OF A BAZOOKA?… I’m not sure I have seen another movie where I have been desperate to see so many tracheotomies performed in one sitting! It’s not enough to tell one person in this movie to shut the fuck up just once. You have to do it over and over, and they still will end up screaming their anxieties right out at you!
Not just that, but half the time I couldn’t even understand what the hell anyone was saying. Did Bay sneak crystal meth into everyone’s food? It’s bad enough that he gave us a movie at two and a half hours long (who does he think he is, Paul Thomas Anderson?!), but is this how he chooses to condense a lot of it? I wonder if Bay could actually explain to us what’s going on here. I bet the way he sees it, he gave us all sorts of loud explosions and expensive special effects, then who are we to argue? You can get away with that in another movie, but sure as hell not this one.
I feel really bad for all the actors in this movie. They are all just treated like tools at the disposal of the director. Really good actors like John Tuturro and Glenn Moreshower are wasted in a movie like this, and it doesn’t really matter if they’re even good here. If I were an out of work actor (actually, I am now that I think of it), I would be foolish to turn down a role in a Michael Bay movie. But I tell you, if I were a big star, I would not hesitate to make it clear that I would NEVER work for Michael Bay, ever.
My reaction to this new Transformers movie reminds me of when I witnessed Roland Emmerich’s tragically horrific take on “Godzilla.” I went out of that movie feeling depressed and saying to myself that if this is the way Hollywood is going to keep making movies, then I am not going to another one ever again. Over 10 years later, it suddenly feels like we haven’t come any further. Does Michael really think that this is something that people will instantly embrace? In the end, it won’t really matter because “Transformers - Revenge Of The Fallen” is bound to make a ton of money no matter how bad it is. This will enable Michael Bay to make many more movies like this until he stops delivering the profit (assuming there is one to be found). The moviegoers will keep going to them out of curiosity, wondering if he’s gotten any better. I’m no different.
It’s not worth it wasting anymore time on this movie anymore than I already have. Seriously, I was all but ready to spit on the ground of the theater I saw it at. If you didn’t hate Michael Bay before this movie, you will now. Going out of the theater I quietly said to myself:”Fuck Michael Bay! Fuck him royally! Burn in hell!”
In regards to the audience I saw it with, the best piece of praise I heard from anybody about the movie was, “its okay.” Talk about being generous! Right now, I am sick of movies being just okay. So far, there has been only one truly great live action movie out this summer, and that’s “Star Trek.” Coincidentally, two of the screenwriters on this massive train wreck of cinema (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) also wrote the screenplay for that one. What the hell guys? Or maybe you’ll get off easy since Bay runs thru your dialogue so fast that we can’t understand what anyone was saying. Don’t worry Robert and Alex, Bay is taking all the heat on this one.
But seriously, fuck you Michael Bay and thank you all the same. You have just given us a great example of how NOT to make a summer blockbuster. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go watch “No Country For Old Men” just so I won’t forget what great filmmaking looks and feels like.
½* out of ****
Starring: Marcia Gay Harden, Eulala Scheel, Michael Gaston
Film Arcade recently recived a copy of Night Train starring Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, Saw) Leelee Sobieski (Joyride, 88 Mintues) and Steve Zahn (Sunshine Cleaning, A Perfect Getaway).
It's Christmas Eve… when a veteran conductor (Glover), a young pre-med student (Sobieski) and a struggling salesman (Zahn) discover a dead body onboard a night train, the three strangers find themselves on a collision course with destiny. Among the deceased man’s possessions is a mysterious box, which fascinates their attention. Upon looking inside, they see a treasure so valuable that the three conspire to hide the body and split the fortune themselves. This decision sets in motion a tense game of obsession and deceit, where greed betrays reason and morality gives way to temptation. With local authorities at every stop and an assortment of suspicious passengers along for the ride, can the three strangers overcome their fixation with the coveted box or will they delve even deeper into the trenches of depravity?
To enter this contest, send you email me to contest@filmarcade.net. Please include your name, address, with "Night Train" is the subject line. Contest is opened to US residents only. Contest ends, Wednesday July 8th.
Matt Damon, when he was on “Inside The Actor’s Studio,” said that if you want to win an Oscar, you have to do the flashiest role possible. It has to be a role with big dramatic moments where you are crying out to the heavens because that’s what the Academy seems to love and respond to the most. Matt also said that the performances where the actors don’t ever make it look like they are acting, where they seem so subtle in their actions, represent the best kind of acting to him, and they never get nominated. There is a lot of truth to what he said as the most dramatic roles that do win Oscars are almost operatic in the emotions that pour out. This is not to take away from actors who have won Oscars, be it Kate Winslet or Sean Penn, for they did do tremendous work in their individual films. But looking back, I think Damon made a great point. Some of the best acting on film involves actors inhabiting to where they suck you in so much that it almost makes you forget that you are watching a movie.
This certainly seems to be the case with Kristin Scott Thomas’ incredible performance as Juliette Fontaine in “I’ve Loved You So Long,” for it was far and away one of the best performances given by any actor in 2008. Perhaps best known for her role in “The English Patient,” Kristin more than inhabits a character who is forever trapped by a moment in time that no one around her will ever let go of. With this role, it’s the moments where she doesn’t say anything that speak volumes. While she does not try to make the character likable or remotely warm, her eyes speak of a pain that will never heal, and she remains empathetic throughout.
When we first meet up with Juliette, she is sitting in an airport, smoking the first of many cigarettes she will smoke throughout the movie’s running time (the film is French), waiting to be picked up by her younger sister Lea. We soon find out that Juliette has just been released from prison after 15 years, and later on we find out that she had murdered her own son. The details of this unspeakable crime remain murky to those who want to get closer to her, and the movie spends its time peeling back the layers of how and why it occurred. To know everything that happened at the start of the film would have made it nowhere as interesting.
The time she spent in prison has more than hardened Juliette to the world around her, and she is not looking to make new friendships. Her parents have completely disowned her because of what she did, and Lea’s husband Luc does not want Juliette around their adopted children. Being fully aware of what she has done, Luc does not trust Juliette in the slightest. But Juliette is more than prepared for this reaction from others and fully expects it too, so she starts off by pushing people away. She sees this chance reuniting with her younger sister as something forced on her, and she makes that clear to Lea early on. But Lea is keen on being there for Juliette regardless of what she has been led to believe about her. There is clearly more to Juliette than meets the eye, and the movie has us following her all the way to a startling revelation.
There’s not enough that can be said about Kirstin’s performance in “I’ve Loved You So Long.” It is a performance that doesn’t just call attention to herself, and it illustrates how the most subtle of actions can be the most powerful. Regardless of how determined Juliette is in alienating those who try to get closer to her, there is a need in her eyes that cries out to be understood even if she doesn’t want to admit it. She draws us into the life of a character that, from a distance, we would immediately despise based on her crime. But the writer/director of “I’ve Loved You So Long” creates a film where we want to spend time with her and the people around her so that we can come to an understanding of why she would commit such a horrendous deed. It also shows that what we say about what she was convicted ends up defining who we are as people let alone individuals. Life is a big pain in that ass that way.
Kristin is also perfectly matched with Elsa Zylberstein who plays Juliette’s sister Lea. Her character has been told different things about Juliette, most of them understandably negative, but she sees Juliette as someone deserving of her support. In the end, they are family, and Lea’s family is really the only one that Juliette has left. Elsa creates a strong female character who stands her ground in what she believes, and while Juliette pushes her away, Lea remains fiercely protective of her.
The film was written and directed by Philippe Claudel who is a novelist who wrote “Grey Souls,” a book about the murder of a young girl in a small French town. Philippe seems very interested not only in uncovering the mystery of such a horrific crime, but in the effect it has on the people who live in proximity to what occurred. Juliette’s sister Lea is desperate to keep her crime a secret from her friends as she fears Juliette will immediately be ostracized. While some are completely repelled at Juliette for what she did, the reactions of a few others are very interesting as they have been exposed to lives in prison in a whole other way. Juliette does strike up a nice friendship with one of Lea’s professor friends who sees her in a whole different light after her admission of what she did. While others might turn away from her, he comes across as sympathetic as he knows that experiencing what happens behind bars is never something you can walk away from.
Philippe gives the movie a very natural setting to where it feels like you are seeing a reality unfolding before you. You never just feel like you are watching a movie when you see “I’ve Loved You So Long.” Most other movies like this (particularly American ones) tend to play up the operatic emotions of the story to where you can feel like you are just being mercilessly manipulated. But as a director, Philippe makes you a witness to what is going on, and he never forces you to have the same judgments of Julia that others do. Indeed, he shows how there is more to people and events than what is on the surface, and he gives us an intriguing movie that has us wanting to know more about its main character.
The movie also has a nice yet sparse music score by Jean-Louis Aubert which is mainly him playing his electric guitar. The simple chords that Jean-Louis produces easily and powerfully illustrate the complex emotions embedded in each of the characters, especially Juliette whose process of re-entering a world that sees her more as a devil than a person we know will be no easy task. It captures the pain in her eyes which betrays her true feelings that have haunted her for so very long. A lot of movies like these typically overdo it with an emotionally overwhelming orchestral score designed to pull at our heartstrings to make us feel a certain way. It almost sounds like shock therapy the more you think about it. So it’s nice to see a composer simply illustrate the emotions that are already in front of us on the big screen instead of just forcing us to feel what is already there.
The movie’s climax which tears away at the truth of what actually happened the night Juliette’s son died would seem like such a forced ending in an American movie. You know, a way to tidy things up to make us feel a little better when we exited the theater. Those kind of endings always feel like a big cheat. But this one stayed with me long after the movie ended as it leaves us with questions as to why Juliette reacted the way she did. How it affects her crime may or may not change the way you feel about the character, but it is a credit to Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, and Philippe Claudel that they pulled it off the way they did and still had us feeling for Juliette. There is no easy closure with a story like this, and instead we are left with the feeling that it is time to move on from the past, and to deal with the present tense. It’s just that some people have an easier time of doing that more than others. Some cannot escape a moment of time anymore than they can erase it.
While it’s a shame that Kristin Scott Thomas didn’t get a Best Actress nomination for her work here, it is hard to think of what actress you could take out of that category from the Oscars because they were all brilliant in their individual performances (Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and Kate Winslet). It’s tempting to take Streep out of the running because she has won a gazillion acting awards to where she would much rather see someone else take the trophy. Jolie is tempting to take off the list, but that’s mainly because I still have not seen “The Changeling” (I know, I know, shame on me). I certainly don’t want to take away from their performances as they do have some emotionally strong moments that speak for themselves without the aid of an effusive film score, but I agree with Matt Damon in that some of the best acting comes from actors who make it look like they are not acting. It’s easier said than done, inhabiting a character as opposed to just playing one, and that makes Thomas all the more deserving of whatever acting accolades people were kind enough to bestow on her.
My parents have been begging me for ages to see this movie, and it really helped that it was showing nearby at the New Beverly Cinema. “I’ve Loved You So Long” would actually make a nice double feature with “Rachel Getting Married” as they both are dramatically strong stories that deal with characters who are forever trap by a horrible deed than no one around him will ever let them forget. Both are great movies that deal with themes of death and life, and that how we react to them informs us of the kind of people we are. The more complex the character, the more fascinating their stories and the movies they inhabit will be.
“I’ve Loved You So Long” is a French movie that of course didn’t get much of a release as is the case with foreign movies here. It’s definitely worth a rental if you are interested in more dramatic fare and great performances. It is now out on DVD, so check it out when you have the chance if you haven’t already.
**** out of ****
Film Arcade recently recieved, the official teaser poster courtsey of Liongate for their early 2010 release "Daybreakers" staring Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe.
DayBreaker stars two-time Academy Award nominee® Ethan Hawke, who plays Edward Dalton, a researcher in the year 2019, in which an unknown plague has transformed the world's population into vampires. As the human population nears extinction, vampires must capture and farm every remaining human, or find a blood substitute before time runs out. However, a covert group of vampires makes a remarkable discovery, one which has the power to save the human race.
The film hits theaters January 8th, 2010.
For more information on this film, you can go to: www.daybreakersmovie.com
Ecoute Le Temps
AKA: Fissures
Year: 2009
Director: Alante Kavaite
Studio: Lifesize Entertainment
Stars: Emilie Dequenne, Mathieu Demy, Ludmila Mikael
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 83 Mins
Language: French with English subtitles
“Ecoute Le Temps (Fissures)" is about Charlotte, an alienated sound engineer, who travels to her mother’s home, after she was murdered. Very angry about the way the investigation is going, she sets out to find out what really happened to her mother. While recording the sounds in her mother’s house, Charlotte discovers strange noises that contain information about past event in the house. She then uses that, in order to reconstruct the last days of her mother’s life. As Charlotte is able to piece everything together, the killer is looking to kill her before it’s identity is discovered.
“Ecoute Le Temps (Fissures)” is a dark and tense mystery. Alante Kavaite direction was very dark and imagery like. One of the things that make it both visual and moody was the way that he shot the film. Lavaite shoots it in a way that makes the images take over, while the story develops. He captures the tone of the film, by the locations that he uses. It give the film its darkness and somber tone, which makes the mystery very engaging. Lavaite also does a very good job with his actors and actresses, as the performances help drive this film as it will get you into the mystery considering that there not a lot of action that goes on, as it’s more of a thinking mystery and character study.
The screenplay is the main reason why this film succeeds, on all levels. One of the reasons for that, the way Lavaite moves the story along. It’s done, in a very slow pace. Normally it would be a bad thing, but for this type of movie it works. The reason for that is, he wanted to develop the characters thorough the various flashbacks that takes place. It does two things. First, it goes into the main character’s state of mind. It makes the character interesting and makes you want to follow her, as she tries to put the pieces together. Finally it gives backstory to the characters and the crime that took place, in the beginning of the film. That’s needed, in order to get the viewer involved with the case and make you interested in the characters and relationships. Another thing, I also really liked, the way Lavaite doesn’t force the action, as a lot of mysteries have, especially towards the end of the film. He doesn’t do that, because Lavaite wants to focus on the main character and her obsession with solving her mother’s case. That makes everything feel dark, which is needed for this type of film. It also makes it more of a character study than a full-fledged mystery.
“Ecoute Le Temps (Fissures)” is really one of those hidden indie gems that is currently out on Dvd, right now. I highly suggest you find it, when at your local video. It’s very different kind of mystery that makes you more about the character than the case.
Review Rating: Five Stars
Thicker than Water: The Vampire Diaries: Part one
Year: 2008
Director: Phil Messerer
Studio: The Sugar Factory
Stars: Eilis Cahill, Devon Dionne, JoJo Hristova
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 86 Mins
Official Website: http://vampirediaries.wetpaint.com/
“Thicker than Water: The Vampire Diaries: Part one”, not to be confused with the CW series, is an award winning film that has won awards at such film festivals, as the Indie Gathering, Honolulu International Festival, B-Movie Film Festival, and Bare Bones International Film Festival.
The film is about a family’s world turned upside down, when the youngest daughter becomes a vampire. That happens, when Lara (Eilis Cahill), a Goth teenager, performs a intricate ritual on Helen (Devon Dionne), her younger sister. Something goes wrong, and her sister mysteriously dies in her arms. She finds out later, from her gay neuro-mad scientist brother that Helen had a strange virus in her system. Then one night, she returns home Instead of killing her, the family decide to help her, by luring victims to their house. Soon, this would take its toll on the family, as the carnage is destroying their morality, as it brings them closer with each other.
“Thicker than Water: The Vampire Diaries: Part one” is a very gothic horror film that is very effective with its direction and storytelling. Phil Messerer’s direction was very good. He does a great job capturing the dark scenery and mood of the family. It helps makes the film, very gothic and quirky. Messerer also does a great job shooting this film, by using various angles. There are also a couple of scenes, where get to see the action through the eyes of the vampires. It gave it a perspective from their point of view, which makes you interested in the vampire characters. But what really makes this film very watchable, the performances. There was not one bad performance in the film. Messerer does a great job making the performances very quirky and very subdued. It added to the darkness that this film has.
Speaking of the performances, there are great performances here from the two leads, Devon Dionne and Eilis Cahill. They both did a great job with their performances. I liked how each of them, brought a lot of emotion to their characters, as each of them has their own set of problems that they deal with through the course of the film. The performances helps make the dramatic aspects more appealing to those horror fans that want more story, instead of needless violence.
Messerer’s screenplay relies on more story and atmosphere, than mindless action and gore. He does a great job covering the aspects of everything that takes place. He does that, by fully developing each of the film’s characters, its mythology and back story. It helps you become very interest with everything going on and makes wrapped up in the story.. Messerer does a great job going into each of the family members individually, as they all had an odd and interesting quirk that makes you invested in a favorable manner. But what I liked best about the screenplay, the way he explores the relationship of between each member of the family. Messerer does that, so it allows you the viewer to follow this family through this horrifying ordeal and makes you invested in the story, not the next bloody death scene, which some of these genre films do. It helps make you get caught up in the story of the film, which really makes this a must see.
I really urge to check this film out, when playing at your local film festival, because this a very good vampire film. “Thicker than Water: The Vampire Diaries: Part One” is a very quirky and powerful horror film
.
Review Rating: Five Stars
Singles (1992): Cameron Crowe wrote and directed this story of relationships at during the big boom of the Seattle scene in the 90s. People who lived during this time might appreciate it more and who understands the big Seattle Grunge music boom at the time. Bridget Fonda stars as Janet who has a tough relationship with her rock-star boyfriend Cliff, played by Matt Dillon who she can't leave no matter how hard she tries. Kyra Sedgwick plays Linda who forms a friendship with Campbell Scott and can't decide how far she wants it to go. These are a lot of interrelated stories within each other used with lots of music from the grunge era and even a cameo from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Other actors include Bill Pullman, Ally Walker, Tom Skerritt, Peter Horton, MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE alum Christopher Masterson, Paul Giamatti, director Tim Burton, Debi Mazar, and ALIAS alum Victor Garber all have parts.
Grease (1978): I bring you my musical for the week where John Travolta stars as greaser Danny Zuko and Olivia Newton-John is good-girl Sandy Olssen. They meet one summer and meet again in the last year of high school when Sandy realizes how much Danny has changed since that time they met. Danny is the leader of his little gang and starts to rethink his ways for Sandy. What more can be said here. Stockard Channing was good as Rizzo. Lood for Lorenzo Lamas as Sandy's date. Other appearances include Jeff Conaway, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Frankie Avalon and even an uncreditted part by Michael Biehn, and many others. I have always like Frankie Valli's title theme song. I don't think I need to explain much. Most people know if they like or don't like this one. Travolt and Newton-John were great together. Most people did not exactly look high school age but I got over it.
Sweet Smell of Success (1957): This is quite the tale of greed, power, and corruption. Burt Lancaster stars as J.J. Hunsecker, a very ruthless New York columnist who is determined to keep his sister from marrying a jazz musician. He then employs press agent Sidney Falco, played by Tony Curtis, who is almost as corrupt but begins to hate himself for who he becomes and his determination to impress Hunsecker. There is not much to explain here except it was quite daring for the era and J.J. Hunsecker was kind of like a pre-Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas in WALL STREET). Hunsecker and Curtis were great in their roles in this dark film.
Hidden Blade (2004): The Facebook friend I chose for this one is John who I had a class with at Ivy Tech. This is a samarai film that takes place towards the end of the Samarai era. This takes place around Yaichiro, who is sent to become a Shogunate but is imprisoned to to a failed political maneuver and is put in solitary confinement. He escapes and his friend Munezo must kill him to prove his innocence while Yaichiro takes hostages. This is very hard to really explain but it is a very beautiful film with the great forbidden love story and friends who must become foes. It also talks about a lot of values of the Samarai.
JCVD (2008): I now mark the first time I have ever used a movie from Jean-Claude Van Damme, which is not to say that I won't use his early work in the future but his newer stuff just usually goes through me when it comes out. This was almost one of them when I saw the DVD at Wal-Mart but then I looked a little closer and this actually sounded pretty good so I went ahead and purchased it and I was not disappointed. Van Damme plays himself returns to his country of France where he is a has-been, has a lot of financial troubles and a custody battle for his daughter that he loses. He still can't find good film projects but before anything can come around, he becomes a hostage at a post office and must try to help the others stay alive but becomes suspected of being the person holding the place hostage. This was a great part for him and he was great in this movie, including a great monologue towards the end on what his career has become where you really feel for him. I really hope they can do something like this for Steven Seagal sometime. I will never be able to look at him the same again after this one and I am so glad he got to do this one. Mabrouk El Mechri directed this and came up with the scenario for the film and all I have to say is wow. If you think Van Damme can't do a good movie, think again and check this out.
FUN LITTLE FACTS
Kyra Sedgwick (Singles) does the voice for Lois Lane, the girl who can't choose between Clark Kent and Superman, in the 2008 film JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER. Glenn Ford (Courtship of Eddie's Father) plays Clark Kent's adopted father Jonathan Kent in the 1978 film SUPERMAN.
Kyra Sedgwick (Singles) formed a relationship with John Travolta (Grease) in the 1996 film Phenomenon
Ally Walker (Singles) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (JCVD) team up in the 1992 film UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
Eric Stoltz (Singles) and John Travolta (Grease) must work together to revive Mia Wallace.
Bridget Fonda (Singles) plays FRANKENSTEIN author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in the 1990 film FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND. Eric Stoltz (Singles) plays Shelley's husband Percy Shelley in the 1988 film HAUNTED SUMMER.
Tom Skerritt (Singles) plays Duke in the 1970 film MASH. My Facebook friend Thom played the role in the stage version at Lee's Theatrical Productions.
Christopher Masterson (Singles) and John Travolta (Grease) are both Scientologists.
John Travolta (Grease) read for the part of Allen Bauer in the 1984 film SPLASH but the part would ultimately go to Tom Hanks (Turner and Hooch)
Straight for the Kill: Part Three - "The Painter of Skies", "White Radishes", "I Don't Sleep, I Dream"
Back in April, I did a column call Straight for the Kill short film program that took place at the Philadelphia Film Festival. I promised a part three. Oops. I totally forgot until the other day, when cleaning up my computer. Here is the final part to my coverage of that short program. To get get caught up with this here are the links to part one and part two
Part One - "Side Effect", "Treevenge": http://www.filmarcade.net/2009/03/2009-philidelphia-film-festival-and.html
Part Two - "Rite","The Fairy Princess": http://www.filmarcade.net/2009/04/2009-philidelphia-film-festival-and.html
The Painter of Skies
AKA: O Pintor De Ceos
Year: 2008
Director: Jorge Morais Valle
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 25 Mins
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
“The Painter of Skies” (O Pintor De Ceos) is about a painter, who hides in the darkness of the lost cliffs. He and his assistant are trying to find out the solution to the perpetual storms that causing problems his darkly lit house. Soon the two find that the waves in the water are becoming powerful to the point that is destroying their home. The only things that can save them from this potential disaster are a magic boiler and tormented ghosts, if they will be able to see the light.
“The Painter of Skies” is a very visual animated film that adults will love. One of the film’s success is that the fact that all the animation is very visual, which makes it a very good film to watch for a visual stances. Director, Jorge Morais Valle, does a great job making the animation really stand out, as its just great to look at the images that on the screen. He also does a very good job making it look, very vivid. That’s done through the various magical effects that created, in the animation process. It really makes this a very good film to look at from art form standpoint and an animation standpoint.
The screenplay written by Morais and writer Silvia Pazos really goes into the painter character, during the course of this film, which the story come alive. The writers do a very good job of exploring the painter and the struggles that made life, so dark. It examines why the painter is tormented by his past. They explore in a way that you feel sorry for the character, as his life is consumed by the darkness outside and inside of his heart, which makes you feel some sympathy for the character and want him to break through the darkness that’s upon him. The writers also go a good job, going into the painter’s backstory, as it explains how the character became who he is at the beginning of the film. Another thing that I liked about the screenplay was that they added a sidekick for the painter. That character perfectly placed there, so film would have a little dark humor to it, as it helped the film not become too dreary and dull.
“The Painter of Skies” is a very vivid animated film that fans of the Bill Plympton and Mike Judge crowd will enjoy.
White Radishes
Year: 2009
Director: Christina Won
Stars: Jack Dimich, Fairly Tull, Alison Johnson
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 13 Mins
“White Radishes” is about a man, who is obsessive compulsive. He finds that his neighbor next door is hiding a young woman in the attic. The man finds her one day, covered in dirt and roots. He finds a horrifying discovery that she is also growing vegetables out of her own skin. When he tries to rescue her, he going to learn that some things is better left alone.
“White Radishes” is a very dark and twisted story. Director Christina Won does a good job making this film seem like a grim fairy tale. I liked how she directs some of film’s shots. Some of the scenes really brought a sense of intensity of dark atmosphere that is needed for a weird film like this to succeed. Won also does a good filming some the dialoug-less scenes, especially in the beginning, at it helped introduce the film’s characters, which made up for the lack of backstory to one of the film’s key characters. Another reason that this film being dark and fairy tale like, the way that Won directs her actors. She makes all the performance feel odd. It helped bring the oddness that a film like this has to have, in order for it to succeed.
Wou’s screenplay was for the most part good. She does a good job building up the suspense and tension. The moments helped build up everything that was going on in the film, as it kept me interested in the characters and the story. It makes for one interesting and twisted story. Another thing that helped make this film good, the way the film ends. It was one of those films, which I thought something was going to happen, but instead the direct opposite happens. It’s done effectively, so that it provides the twistedness of the story that you just witnessed. If there was one problem that I had with this film, it was the fact that it moves at a pace that you don’t get to know much about the neighbor living next door or the fact that we don’t know how the young woman got be this way. It would’ve been nice to have a backstory to explain how this happened, but I still enjoyed this film, nonetheless.
“White Radishes” is very twisted but entertaining fantasy film.
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
I Don’t Sleep, I Dream
Year: 2009
Director: J.P. Chan
Studio: Medium 10-12
Stars: Jo Mei, Debargo Sanyal
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 15 Mins
“I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” is about a woman, who is driving on a deserted road, then is stopped when she hits something with one of her tires. Soon her fears come back to haunt her, as things begin to happen mysteriously. Now in order to her
“ I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” is a very imaginative and visually sound film. The visuals helps makes this a very entertaining short. Director J.P. Chan does a great job making all the images that you see, during the course of this film feel dreamlike. It helps make the film come off as dreamlike, with its visual effects. But what makes this film entertaining, the way Chan manages to get not one but two very good performances from Jo Mei, who plays the two main characters in the film. One of the things that I liked about the performances is the fact that they come off differently from one another. It easily helps distinguish the two characters in the film. You had one character, who was the straight one, while the other is pretty much in her own dreamlike world. Another thing that made it work was the fact that they weren’t recognizable, as I thought there were two actresses in the film, not one.
Chan’s screenplay is very imaginative. He does a great job creating a story that’s relies on things that you usually wouldn’t see visually. It makes the films very vivid and darkm while bringing a different tone that makes it interesting for the viewer. The imagery also helped create some of the suspense that this film has. The reason this works, there is a lot tension with the strange things that are happening, during the course of the film. It makes you get into the story and the situation the characters are in.
I Don’t Sleep, I Dream, is very vivid on imagery, while the performances help make this not another effects film.
Review Rating: Four Stars.
Roadside Attractions presents a film that examines what happens when the people we count on to hold us together…are barely holding it together themselves? Jonas Pate's "Shrink" is a striking, fast-paced exposé of the “other” Hollywood, featuring folks living outside their comfort zone and the people who put them there. Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a psychiatrist with an A-list clientele, including a once-famous actress (Saffron Burrows), an insecure young writer (Mark Webber), and a comically obsessive-compulsive superagent (Dallas Roberts). Henry is not in a good place, however. He has been asked to take his first pro bono case, a troubled teenage girl from a neighborhood far from the Hollywood hills. Considering his present state of mind, is he ready for the real-life troubles of a young woman who loves the world of movies he has become so jaded by? At its core, Shrink is a study of control and our endless need for it, even when it grows increasingly impossible to obtain. Writer Thomas Moffett uses classic archetypes in this modern Hollywood tale, but never pushes them over the edge of credibility. Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching Shrink makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.
A tart, funny, and uplifting drama about the courage it takes to achieve happiness, SHRINK stars Kevin Spacey, Robert Loggia, Pell James, Keke Palmer, Griffin Dunne, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Dallas Roberts, Gore Vidal, Laura Ramsey, Mark Webber, Jesse Plemons, Joel Gretsch. It is directed by Jonas Pate (DECEIVER), written by Thomas Moffett, and produced by Michael Burns, Braxton Pope, and Dana Brunetti.
The film will be released July 24th. For more information on this film, you can goto:
http://www.shrinkthemovie.net/
Welcome to Reviews From the Horror Chamber.
Yours truly has been so busy, it’s been unbelievable. But I have a contest that will get your attention. The Film Arcade prize closet is getting cleaned out, I’ve managed to find a couple of DVD that I want to get rid off. I have three, very good horror films that need a home. These films are:
Epitaph
Bikini Bloodbath Carwash
GIMME SKELTER
I'm giving all three of these films away, to one lucky winner. To enter you can email me to horrorchamber@filmarcade.net Please Include your Name, Address. Contest is opened to US residents only. Contest Ends, Monday, June 29th.
If you don’t win that, you will be entered to win one of two copies of “Epitaph” that we have in addition to this contest.
Lonely Joe
Year: 2009
Director: Michael Coonce
Studio: Nufilm Entertainment
Stars: Erica Leerhsen, Peter Speech, David Fine
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 96 Mins
Official Website: http://www.lonelyjoethemovie.com/
"Lonely Joe” is inspired on a true story. The film is about a female reporter (Erica Leerhsen), who returns to hometown ten years after her brother murdered near the railroad tracks by a serial killer. She returns there, to investigate what happened to her brother and the disappearance of thirty people, since her brother’s death. Her attempts to find the truth are constantly impeded, by a local sheriff (Peter Speech). He’s hiding details about the rash disappearances and wants to keep it quiet. He sends his deputies to try to get her leave, but she’s desperate to find out the truth
As she attempts to find out more about the truth, she begins to question her own sanity. Now the deeper she gets into this local legend, she discover what’s haunting these railroad tracks that may provide answer to her questions or drive her to the breaking point.
For a horror film that has an actress that has been in such films as “Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows” and “Wrong Turn 2”, this didn’t feel like the horror film that it was advertised to be. It felt like a dull and unsuspenseful film.
“Lonely Joe is a boring horror film that plays out like procedural disappearance film. Director Michael Coonce doesn’t do anything to make the material interesting. His direction was bland. He doesn’t do a good job adding any life to any of the action that goes on. I felt like, I was watching the same scene over and over again. It really felt like one of those films that was made for lifetime or something, because those film have the same tone that make it boring to watch. The acting was also made for TV like. All the actors in the film didn’t seemed interested with this material. There was no life, in these characters. They all have the same tone that made disinterest, in their characters. You can’t have it, in these types of films. That’s why, “The Alphabet Killer” wasn’t that good, and it’s also why this film wasn’t that good.
The Screenplay written Michael and Michelle Coonce was very dull and convoluted. One of the main reasons for that, there is no attempt, on their part to make the main character engaging. It hurts the film, because nothing happens for most of the time to the point where it was going nowhere. I would have liked it more, if it went into her family life or the legend about the roadtracks. It would have been better instead of every scene featuring the lead character being intimidated by the cops. Also, the ending was very bad. It would have been nice, if they fully explained the lonely Joe character fully, during the course of the film. By the time they fully explained it, I lost interest in the character. That’s why, if you want to fully develop a clearer picture of your legend, you do it, in the beginning or the middle of the film. It just feels misplaced.
Lonely Joe is a dreadful horror film that goes the route that other horror films based on true events do, where the characters and events aren’t interesting enough to grap your attention.
To purchase a copy of this film, you can goto: http://www.lonelyjoethemovie.com/
Review Rating: One Star
Cowboy Killer
Year: 2008
Director: Jason Baustin
Stars: Paul Bailey, David L. Buckler, Chris Kennedy
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Cacchiotti Productions
Running Time: 80 Mins
Official Website: http://www.cowboykillerthemovie.com/
"Cowboy Killer” is the first feature film from director Jason Baustin. The film is about Roy, a cowboy looking for a lady for one last hurrah. Along the way, Roy begins to lose his mind and everything that he imagines becomes a runaway seed, as he goes on a killing spree. Now, there are a lot of angry people that want to get their hands on old Roy. They include cops, cable guys, serial killer, stripper, bartender, waitress and an old man that want to take the law into their own hands before more chaos happens. Roy is now forced to into a showdown with these people, if he wants ride off into the sunset.
There are some horror films that I review this site, where I say that a film really deserves distribution and being viewed by a wider audience. This is defiantly not one of those films, as this falls into the category of films that makes no sense at all.
“Cowboy Killer”, from start to finish is a poorly acted and poorly conceived film.. Baustin falls into the trap that many first-time directors go though, as this felt like an amateur film at times. He doesn’t do a good job with the pacing of the film. The film’s pacing moves too fast, as it becomes quickly one of those hack and slash films, where the violence and the T & A becomes the central focus of the story, while the story itself becomes nonexistent. That just makes a film, very hard to sit through. If that weren’t the least of Baustin problems, the direction of the actors was just awful. He really needs to hone in on the actor’s performances next time around, as it comes off, as very amateurish. You had actors and actresses that were not bringing any personality to their characters, as I was not buying any of the performances.
The screenplay written by Baustin, Ben Solenberger, and Jaymes Camery was just horrible. There was no attempt to create a coherent story or character development, as the screenplay just focuses on how many deaths that they can cram into an eighty-minute film. But the major problem with this screenplay was the way into spends too much time with the ultra violence and horrible dialogue. Both of those were major turn offs for me. The violence got overly redundant, as it didn’t help advance the story. It was just there, so that people who love watching gory movies, will get a kick out of it. The dialogue was just poorly written, as it made all the characters stupid and the villain, very annoying. I’ve seen better grindhouse type films then this.
Cowboy Killer is a film that should stayed in the barnyards, as it felt very amateurish and there was no attempt for an entertaining story.
The film is now available On Demand. Check your local cable company.
Review Rating: One Star.
How My Dad Killed Dracula
Year: 2009
Director: Sky Soleil
Stars: Daniel Roebuck, Neil Hopkins,
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Tell Tale Productions
Running Time: 14 Mins
Official Website: http://www.hmdkd.net/
“How My Dad Killed Dracula” is a family short film that takes place on Halloween night, where a group of young kids are hanging out at a cousin’s house. The father (Daniel Roebuck) of cousin tells the kids that he had an epic encounter with the legendary Dracula. The kids not believing him, ask him to dig the hole, where he buried Dracula’s remains. Soon, this turns a family tradition of Halloween practical joke into a comic night of terror, or does it?
Family films are usually a hard sell for me. But “How My Dad Killed Dracula” is a funny and entertaining family horror film, for everyone. One of the reasons is the way that writer/director, Sky Soleil makes everything seem fun. His direction was very good. Soliel goes a very good job with the pacing of the film, as it doesn’t get too boring or too kiddish to the point that I would be hating on it. Soleil also goes a good job with the direction of performances. The performances helped made this film fun. Daniel Roebuck, who has been in previous film like “The Devil’s Rejects” and the upcoming “Halloween 2”, really helps make this film fun, as he makes his character, very loveable, which helps the flow of the film and makes enjoy the character.
Another thing that I thought contributed to the film’s success, the way the screenplay does a good job making the action seem fun. Soleil achieves that, by creating the main character, as someone who would be considered as someone, you would not think could actually kill a vampire icon, let along a vampire period. It makes the film funny and makes you entertained. Also, there are some twists to the story. Those twists provided some good background information and a couple of scares near the end. That in return, makes the film fun and enjoyable.
“How My Dad Killed Dracula” is film that you will probably hear more of, when the Halloween film festival season hits. This is a very fun and entertaining short for the whole family.
Review Rating: Four Stars.
If you’re a filmmaker and interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at horrorchamber@filmarcade.net or if you have any film in any genres that you want Film Arcade to review. Send us an email at screeners@filmarcade.net.
Until then, have a frightening day.
“The Notorious Newman Brothers”
2009
**** out of ****
Director: Ryan Noel
Cast: Brett Butler, Jason Butler, Ryan Noel
When it comes to independent comedy flicks, you can’t get better than the Butler brothers. I’ve seen one or two of their previous flicks and I couldn’t stop laughing through both of them. Their newest film, “The Notorious Newman Brothers,” may be their funniest film yet. I haven’t laughed this hard since “Hamlet 2.” Why aren’t these guys starring in studio flicks?
Max Chaplin (Ryan Noel) has been going undercover as a documentary filmmaker making a film about the lives of the Notorious Newman brothers, Thunderclap (Brett Butler) and Paulie (Jason Butler). Max is a terrible filmmaker, but these mobsters are so absurd that they might be as bad at being mobsters as he is a terrible filmmaker.
That’s all I’ll say about the plot. Normally, I will go into some more details but I think the more “surprises” that you discover as the film goes on the more you will like it. These surprises aren’t so surprising as they are absurd but that’s what makes the film so hilarious. “The Notorious Newman Brothers” is so well-made and so well-put together that if with a higher budget and a studio deal, it would be a hit in theaters.
The Butler brothers have been compared to Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino… doesn’t that make you want to run out and purchase their films? The film’s highlight is the script. It’s hilarious and doesn’t stop for a second. The Butler brothers are to thank for this. I’m sure this wasn’t all just the script, but there must have been a lot of improv to this film too. Or at least it seems like it. Those guys are fan-fucking-tastic in their roles.
So what are you waiting for? Fucking keep looking out for more of this film. It’s so good that you’ll want to watch it more than once… I did…
Killing Ariel
Year: 2009
Directors: Fred Calvert, David J Negron Jr
Studio: MTI Home Video
Stars: Michael Brainard, Axelle Grelet, Joseph Gatt
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 86 Mins
Official Website: http://www.killingariel.com/
Killing Ariel Trailer
Rick is a contently married man, who is mysteriously attacked, by a female demon. After the attack, he finds a beautiful young woman named Ariel. They go off to an isolated house for a weekend of sex and fun. Rick’s weekend takes a turn for the worse, when Rick accidently kills Ariel. Soon he finds out that she won’t stay dead, as she was the demon that attacked him. It’s driving him insane that she won’t stay dead. This leads Rick into a world of madness, adultery, lust, and murder that might take his mind and his sanity. .
“Killing Ariel” is a surprisingly haunting film that has many twist and turns. Directors, Fred Calvert and David J Negron Jr. did a great job with the direction and production aspects, as this film looked like it was professionally made. It helped create the dark atmosphere that surrounds this film, which helped creates tension for the viewer. The acting was very good here, as the directors do a very good job making the performances very dark, as it make you invested in the performances.
Beside the direction, there are two key points, to why this film success. First, the lead performances were very good. In a horror film, one of the things that you need for your film is for the performances to be good. The performances here were very good. Both Michael Brainard and Axelle Grelet did a great job working together. I thought they had very good chemistry with each other, as each of their performances helped make the film better, as they played off of each other very well, which make the film more entertaining to watch.
Calvert screenplay is the other key point to the film success, as it’s has many twists that lead to its shocking ending. One of the things that keeps your interest, the way Calvert develops his two main characters. I liked how he doesn’t rush the action, as it allowed the characters to develop and keeps the story off balance. That’s needed for a horror film, in order for it to be successful, as I’ve seen many horror films that deliver the violence, but overuses it to the point that it makes the story suffer and comes off as a hack and slash film. Thankfully it’s not the case here, as it’s used as part of the story. He also does a very good job creating suspense, within the story. Calvert does that by spends its time by going into the main character’s state of mind. He explores that, because its keeps you guessing if this is real or taking place in the character’s mind. It helps add tension and makes you engage with the suspense.
“Killing Ariel” is a horror film that keeps you on the edge, as it’s suspenseful and shocking.
Review Rating: Four Stars
Secret Identity Productions recently announced that their independent film "Weather Girl" starring, Tricia O'Kelley (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Mark Harmon (NCIS), Jane Lynch (Role Models, Glee) and Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) will hit theaters on July 10th.
After learning her boyfriend (Harmon) cheated on her with his co-host (Olson), a Seattle morning show weather girl (O’Kelley) freaks out on-air and is fired. Forced to move in with her little brother (Devlin) and deal with his best friend (Adams), she has to learn to cope with being 35, single, unemployed, and unfortunately famous for being the Sassy Weather Girl who lost it on live television. The film also co-stars Kaitlin Olsen, Patrick J Adams, and Ryan Devlin
More information on this film, visit the film's official website at: http://weathergirlmovie.com/
Now, from the mechanics of hell, we bring you this week’s edition of the Hollywood Remake Machine. Yes they’re back, plundering the films of the past to suck you in with whatever dollars are left from your wallet (and that’s even if you’re unemployed). This week’s victim is “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.” Based on the book by John Godey, it was first made into a movie back in 1974 with Walter Matthau as policeman Garber, and Robert Shaw as Bernard Ryder. Some may have forgotten, but there was another remake of this as a TV movie back in 1998 with Edward James Olmos, Lorraine Bracco, and Vincent D’Onofrio. But it looks like one single remake was just not enough, so Hollywood remade it AGAIN, and this one is further proof that… Oh wait a minute… This one is actually good! What happened? Could it be? YES!!! …Ahem… Excuse me for going overboard there. We aren’t exactly talking about a classic, but of one that delivers the goods.
This version of “Pelham 1 2 3” comes to us from director Tony Scott, the man who gave us “Top Gun” and “Beverly Hills Cop II” among other movies, and who is also the younger brother of Ridley Scott. Along with Tony in this one is an actor he has worked with several times before, Denzel Washington. In addition, you have John Travolta as the chief hijacker of the bunch. They take on the roles that were first immortalized on the big screen by Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. The basic premise of the movie remains the same: a group of hijackers (but of course, they are called terrorists these days) takes over a subway train, stops it in a tunnel, unhooks the other cars on the train, thus leaving them with one train car to worry about, and then they make their intentions clear. They want $10 million dollars in exactly 60 minutes, and not a minute over. For every minute they are late, they will shoot a hostage. This particular story will always be referred to as “Die Hard on a subway.” With all the amazing advances in technology, you’d figure that this premise would not work in today’s world with utter dependence on electronics to keep us informed and in touch. This is especially the case considering the paranoid feeling that the FBI and CIA are watching us all the time.
But Tony Scott gives us a film that, unlike the 1998 TV movie, is not simply a shot for shot remake. Tony takes the premise and updates it for today’s world, and gives us an action thriller that is more psychological than anything else. Just when you think you know where the story is heading, it takes a sharp turn and leaves you wondering what will happen next. I imagine there might be some gaps in logic to be found here, but I certainly wasn’t thinking about them while watching the movie. I was too busy getting caught up in the suspense and excitement of it all. For once, the excuse of cell phones not working actually makes sense and doesn’t simply insult our collective intelligence. Plus, all the characters (including the bad guys) make effective use of the technology available to them to where each side is manipulating the other.
Brian Helgeland, the screenwriter of “LA Confidential” and “Mystic River,” scripted this version (David Koepp did some work on it too, but he was not given credit). While the 1974 version functioned more as a cat and mouse game between the cops and the hijackers, this one is more focused on the relationship between Garber and (as Travolta’s character asks Garber to call him) Ryder. This brings me to one of the things I really liked about this version; we get characters who are morally compromised, and who have more in common with each other than they realized, and the line between them is not simply black or white. How they see each other really humanizes the story and keeps it from becoming just another average action flick.
Denzel Washington’s character of Garber is essentially a good guy, but he has been accused of bribery and is up on charges that leave is a heavy cloud of uncertainty hanging over his every move. For a ridiculously brief moment, I thought Denzel would be wrong for this role. Throughout his great career, we have seen him play many powerful leaders and of men in charge (or so they think) of everything and everybody around him. To see him play a regular blue collar kind of guy, being the big superstar that he is, made me worry that I wouldn’t buy him as a Garber the train dispatcher. What the hell was I thinking?! Denzel more than sells himself in the part as a regular joe, and you feel every ounce of his frustration as he struggles to maintain a situation he was not supposed to be put into. Whatever you think of his character, he makes you root for him despite the things he may have done wrong. Denzel once again reminds us (especially those who foolishly forgot) that he is one of the very best film actors, period.
John Travolta has had an iffy record in playing the bad guy, and this is mainly because we spent so much time watching him be the hero when we were younger. Sure, he did the bad guy really well in John Woo’s “Face/Off,” but then he played one of the most pussy-whipped bitches of a mob boss ever in “The Punisher.” By the way, that was one of the worst adaptations of a Marvel Comic ever! But as “Ryder,” Travolta gives us a furiously good performance and creates a very effectively dangerous character he doesn’t always sell you on. This is the same guy who a year or two ago, gave us the delightful Edna from “Hairspray.” Whereas Robert Shaw’s mercenary character was in control of his emotions, Travolta’s character is a powder keg of resentment and vengeance. Ryder is not a mercenary, but a former broker on Wall Street who just finished a stretch in prison, and now he has a score to settle with the city that sent him to the big house for 10 years instead of letting him plea bargain for 3. I almost wanted to laugh when I saw him with those tattoos on his neck, but Travolta really does come off as a bad ass mofo you do not want to mess with.
The mayor of New York is also back in the story, having been absent from the 1998 TV remake, and he is still despised as ever. This time, he is played by Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini. Once again proving to be another great actor working today, he manages to give us an elected official that is selfish and yet resourceful. James also keeps the character from becoming a simple caricature which is what we usually get with a character like this. Along with Washington, he gets some of the movie’s best lines thanks to Helgeland. Of course, does this mean that he will always be typecast as a crook since he is playing a politician? That’s just a thought.
I also have to say that I was really pleased to see Luis Guzmán cast as Phil Ramos, a disgraced motorman who is going along with Ryder’s revenge on the Big Apple. It feels like it has been far too long since I last saw Luis in a movie, and ever since I first saw him in “Carlito’s Way,” he has been and continues to be one of the most reliable of character actors. Always giving a memorable performance in every single movie he does, Luis gives a man who is a little more in touch with reality than Ryder is.
What I really liked about this version of “Pelham 1 2 3” is that it manages to not just repeat every single scene you saw in the original. Both Tony Scott and Brian Helgeland have effectively managed to update the story to a post 9/11 world where the threat of terrorism always feels like it’s around the corner, waiting like a snake to strike. Also, by giving a lot of focus to the two main characters and making them far from perfect adds a little more reality and genuine feeling to the more intense moments of the movie. I am so sick of the flawless hero in the movies who doesn’t have a single thing wrong with him or her. We need these characters to have flaws that we can recognize in ourselves so that we can relate to them and share in their danger, a danger they didn’t ask to be a part of. Thanks to the filmmakers and actors, they pulled it off very well.
The movie does share similar moments with the 1974 version, but it deviates from it in ways I couldn’t have seen coming. The ending is also a lot different from the original, which by the way was one of my all time favorites. All the same, I’m glad Tony Scott and company didn’t try to top the cleverness of that one. It would have been cool, but that is a hard ending to match. While this one ends in a more routine way, it is still exciting.
There’s also no topping the original’s film score which was composed by David Shire. The music was one of my favorite things about the film, and the soundtrack is one of my all time favorites. Still, frequent Tony Scott collaborator Harry Gregson-Williams gives us a combination of orchestral and electronic music that gives the film the propulsive feel it really needs. Looking back, I don’t think I have given Harry enough credit for the work he has done.
Tony Scott has more or less been in the shadow of his big brother Ridley, and while his career has been successful, his movies never seem to get the same amount of respect as do Ridley’s. His use of flash frames and slow motion can be off-putting at times, but this is the same guy who gave us “Crimson Tide” and “True Romance.” With “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” he gives one of the more exciting action movies that lifted me out of the doldrums of a so far weak summer movie season. Tony doesn’t bring a lot that is new to this kind of story, but he keeps things exciting throughout, and I felt myself on the edge of my seat in a way I didn’t expect to. In a lot of ways, this movie was a pleasant surprise, being that it is another gosh darn remake.
If I were compare, I obviously think the 1974 original is still the best adaptation of John Godey’s exciting novel. I won’t bother too much with the 1998 TV movie since that felt a lot like a shot for shot remake a la “Psycho” or “Funny Games.” But Scott’s film of “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” is far more entertaining than any remake has a right to be these days. Scott has managed to take this material and make his own, and he is surrounded by a great cast. This makes me want to watch “Domino” at some point because I missed that one while it was in theaters.
Looking for a good action picture? I don’t think you can go wrong with this one.
***1/2 out of ****
