DIRECTED BY
Christian Alvart

STARRING
Renee Zellweger - Emily Jenkins
Jodelle Ferland - Lilith Sullivan
Ian McShane - Detective Mike Barron
Bradley Cooper - Douglas Ames
Callum Keith Rennie - Edward Sullivan
Kerry O'Malley - Magaret Sullivan

Genre - Horror/Thriller/Suspense/Supernatural/Evil Kids

Running Time - 109 Minutes


It must be difficult working as a social worker in a child protective services position. It can't be fun dealing with issues of child abuse, neglect, and foster care. Lately, these workers have been giving a bad rep, due to certain cases where they have failed to notice the signs of child abuse before it was too late [Nixmary Brown being the infamous one recently]. A lot of people have lost faith in these workers due to their actions [or lack thereof].

So it's no surprise that CASE 39 treats the social worker characters as incompetent and naive individuals. It's not because they don't notice children being abused. It's because they're fooled by a little girl who acts innocent, but is anything but. Unfortunately, I can't be fooled in believing this film is worth a movie ticket price this weekend when it's a rental at most. Let's open up this file and see why CASE 39 is nothing more than a mediocre "evil kid" flick.

PLOT
A child social worker named Emily Jenkins (Renee Zellweger) looks into the case of Lilith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland), a 10-year-old girl whose parents (Callum Keith Rennie and Kerry O'Malley) don't seem quite right mentally and emotionally when it comes to Lilith. Emily believes that Lilith is being abused, but can't seem to prove it or get her supervisor to back her up without evidence. One night, Emily receives a phone call from Lilith who urgently cries for her help. Emily and her police friend Mike Barron (Ian McShane) rush over to find Lilith's parents trying to bake her in their oven. Lilith's parents are arrested and Lilith is placed in the foster care system.

After finding a family for Lilith, Lilith begs for Emily to take care of her. After some hesitation, Emily can't refuse and has temporary custody of her. Even though things start out well, things eventually get worse when people in Emily's life start dying. Emily finds out that the victims received phone calls from her home, making her suspect that Lilith is behind the murders.

REVIEW
CASE 39 is one of those films that has a lot of potential but fails to live up to it for various reasons. What could have been something more ends up being nothing but your predictable and mediocre "evil kid" film, a trend that started in 1956's THE BAD SEED until most recently in 2009's ORPHAN. ORPHAN sticks out in the sub-genre because it had a twist no one saw coming - a twist that actually made sense and worked for the film's benefit. CASE 39 is more of a supernatural story, putting it in the same territory as 1973's THE EXORCIST and 1976's THE OMEN. Yes, Lilith is demonic and uses her victim's fears to cause them harm. We've seen films like this before and honestly, I have no problem with that the fact that it takes a pretty predictable route. After all, originality is hard to come by these days. But the filmmakers behind CASE 39 don't do anything to really make the film stand out, making it nothing really special.

The screenplay by Ray Wright, who wrote the English-language remake of 2006's PULSE and the remake of THE CRAZIES (2010), writes a pretty standard and predictable story. I feel bad for CASE 39 because while it was released in Europe last year before ORPHAN, it'll end up being remembered as a film that waited two years to be released in North America [a whole year after ORPHAN was released here]. CASE 39 really needed an interesting twist to make it live up to ORPHAN's twist. Unfortunately, the only explanation we get about Lilith is that she was born without a soul. Nothing more, nothing less. There's nothing about her being a demon. There's nothing about what her motivations are or how she ended up in the system to begin with. It's almost as if Wright forgot to give viewers an explanation for Lilith's actions and just stuck one on her at the last minute. It's even worse in that Lilith's powers of using people's fears against them to the point that they die is extremely interesting. But no one does any research or even tries to decipher who or what Lilith is until the very end, which by that point is way too late. I think if more thought was placed on Lilith's supernatural abilities, CASE 39 would have been a stronger and way more effective film. Instead, it just feels like the same old, same old.

Plus, what was the issue with phone calls? You're telling me a demon needs to call someone first before they can do bad things to them? It's like ONE MISSED CALL all over again, and I don't need those kind of bad memories resurfacing! I just thought it was really silly and it's purpose is never explained. It could have been creepy if something was done with this subplot.

And the ending is just ridiculous. I won't spoil it, but all I could ask myself was "That was it? All that build up for THAT??" Not only can you see it coming, but it's illogical and not executed well at all. The finale is very lame.

That's not to say that Wright writes a horrible script. As a matter of fact, it's not all that bad. It's just not all that memorable either. The film has a decent structure. While it could have used more character development, at least there is some. And the dialogue isn't terrible either. In fact, I enjoyed the fact that we sympathize with Lilith in the first half of the film where she plays victim, creating a jarring effect when her true colors begin to appear. And I also thought it was ironic that the child social workers who did good deeds were the ones being punished. It was almost as if Wright really had a dislike for these workers because not even the good ones escaped unscathed. I know a lot of people lost respect for child social workers in the past few years. If Wright had done more with that, CASE 39 could have probably been a more inspired and interesting movie.

The direction by German-born director Christian Alvart, who directed ANTIBODIES (2005) and PANDORUM (2009) is actually pretty good. It has a subtle mood and creepy atmosphere at times, and the film looks quite polished. Maybe a bit too polished. I do think Alvart took a weak script and tried to compensate for it with a balance of visceral visuals and psychological themes. A scene where Lilith turns Doug's words around on him during a counseling session is pretty chilling at times. There's another moment where Emily is stuck inside an elevator that quickly plummets but ends up being nothing but an illusion that ends up being visually stimulating. I also think my favorite moment is where Emily locks herself in a room and something suddenly bangs on her door, smashing the hinges and throwing the furniture barricading the door to the side. We expect this vicious monster to appear, but it's just normal Lilith smiling at Emily and wondering why she's hiding under a bed. More moments like this could have been done because they really worked. But the studio had Alvart by the balls and he had to play by the rules. But I'm sure if he had his way, the visuals for CASE 39 would have made an uninspired script more inspired. By the way, CASE 39 does use CGI to reveal Lilith's demonic appearance, as well as for some of the murder sequences [in particular one dealing with a swarm of hornets]. Let's just say it probably would have been better if it was more implied rather than seen.

The acting is decent. Renee Zellweger was okay, I guess. She's never really impressed me as an actress and CASE 39 doesn't change that. She does manage to carry a level of empathy and terror that makes the character work for most of the film. But I do think a much better actress would have brought out more in the character. Still, Zellweger has come a long way from 1994's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION. Bradley Cooper and Ian McShane do well in their extended cameo roles. Cooper had the best fear sequence and McShane took a nothing role and gave it some depth. I wish they were in the film more. The star here is Jodelle Ferland as Lilith. She's cute and creepy at the same time. I thought she did a nice job giving subtlety to a menacing role.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED WHILE KEEPING MY FEARS TO MYSELF

- As a social worker, Emily is in charge of a lot of cases. That's quite a COLD MOUNTAIN of paperwork to look through.

- Lilith's parents tried to bake her in an oven. I knew their traumatic childhood episode would turn Hansel and Gretel into murderers! And aren't Hansel and Gretel brother and sister? Ew....

- A child murdered his parents with a hatchet as they slept. If they refused his request for an increased allowance, then they were probably axe-ing for it.

- Lilith threatened Doug during their therapy session. She must have seen ALL ABOUT STEVE. It's understandable.

- Doug constantly had hornets coming out of his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. Now I see why some of the women and men consider him the Bee's Knees.

- Lilith knew she wanted to destroy Emily's life once she saw that Emily was a good person and cared about her. She had her at hello. She had her at hello!

- Don't piss off Lilith in an elevator. She'll probably give you the shaft. Literally.

- Lilith's father, under delusions, murdered his Asian cellmate. What a bastard! If anyone was going to create a foolproof escape plan, it would have been him!

- A vicious dog murdered one of the characters. You'd think the dog would be happy after the Asian was killed!

THE FINAL HOWL
CASE 39 isn't a horrible film, but it's not a movie you'll end up remembering or talking about much once it's over. It had the potential to be something good, yet it comes off as lazy at times and overly predictable. Still, it has decent direction and acting so it may be worth your time if you're into this kind of movie. I wouldn't spend money on a movie ticket for CASE 39, but it's not bad for a rental when the DVD is released.

SCORE
2 Howls Outta 4

Welcome to the 254th Edition of my long running series. Starting next week I will have some focus towards Halloween oriented films as I'm sure Horror Movie Madness will start soon so much focus will be on that and whatever "loopholes" I can find. This week I end my five-part Robin Williams series. I started out with animation and I end with him in animation. I started with him in HAPPY FEET where he lends out his great speaking voice. I then went to a couple of his 80s classics of DEAD POET'S SOCIETY and THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP. From there I featured Williams' best film in years with WORLD'S GREATEST DAD and end in another animation film where his voice is used. I also end my Quentin Tarantino series where I started out with his great feature debut, then went to the great KILL BILL VOLUME 1, and end it inglouriously. Also, I had a three part Steve Martin series where I started with his western comedy THREE AMIGOS, I then went into a smaller part but great performance for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and now I end with lots of moving vehicles. I also have a lot more so get out your Netflix and Blockbuster queues and read on.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944): I was recently in this production at the Anderson Mainstage Theatre where I played Lt. Rooney so like after every show I like to check out the movie. I had seen this but it had been quite a while. Cary Grant stars as Mortimer Brewster, a theater critic who is just getting married and learns his beloved aunts as well as other people are rather insane. Josephine Hull and Jean Adair play aunt Abby and Martha who believe they are doing lonely men a favor by poisoning their drinks to put them out of their misery and give them a burial. Mortimer also has a brother convinced he is president Theodore Roosevelt. Raymond Massey co-stars as the very insane Jonathan Brewster who has escaped prison and decides to reside in his aunts' home much to the dismay of Mortimer. Peter Lorre plays Dr. Einstein who is Jonathan's henchman and the one that gives him a face that looks like Boris Karloff. Karloff actually originated this part on stage in 1941 where he plays this guy who "looks like Karloff. In observing my character, James Gleason plays Lt. Rooney and is quite a bit older than me and he was rather sarcastic. I played the serious lieutenant where is was apparently so serious it was funny as some people said. Cary Grant regards this film as his least feeling he was very over-the-top but I felt he remained at a good level for a part that already is rather over-the-top. This movie obviously has differences to the play like any adaptation but it remained pretty faithful to the script and had lots of laughs in this rather dark comedy from the great director Frank Capra.

Robots (2005): I end the five-part Robin Williams series with this animated film from Twentieth Century Fox where he plays the robot Fender. Ewan McGregor stars as idealistic young inventor Rodney Copperbottom who hopes to get his inventions noticed and sets off to the metropolis robot city. Fender is his fast talking friend he meets in the big city. His dreams go up in jeopardy when he sees his idol Bigweld is no longer running his corporation that has been taken over by the evil Ratchet, voiced by Greg Kinnear. I know this got mixed opinions but I really enjoyed the animation and the concept of a robot society weing taken over by big business. There were lots of people who provided voices here like Halle Berry, Paul Giamatti, Jim Broadbent, Mel Brooks, and many others. I was not big on the fart jokes and even fat jokes but mostly enjoyed the film as a whole.

Inglourious Basterds (2009): This is the last part of my three part Tarantino series. In this film, he gives us his take of Nazi era WW2. Brad Pitt stars as Lt. Aldo Raine who leads the military group of the film title whose job is to kill as many Nazis as possibly and have a very extreme way of killing them. Christoph Waltz co-stars as ruthless Nazi Colonel Hans Landa who we see in the beginning lead a massacre of a Jewish family leaving the daughter Shoshanna, played by Melanie Laurent, who years later owns a German movie theater while planning revenge against the Nazis. This was a very complex story which would be rather hard to really go any further but with Tarantino, we know this is the real story of the Nazis and Hitler. Eli Roth, Mike Myers, Julie Dreyfus all co-star. There are a lot of violent, funny, and sad moments in this film where Tarantino does it again. Waltz won many awards for this star-making performance for his American fame. This is a script that Quentin has been working on for many years but put it off for a little bit in favor of his KILL BILL films. Pitt was also a lot of fun in his role. Eli Roth directed the film within-a-film that was shown at the movie theater. There are also a lot of references to the German cinema of that era including someone playing the legendary German actor Emil Jannings.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987): This is the last part of my three-part Steve Martin series. John Hughes directed this comedy starring the great combo of Steve and John Candy. Martin stars as businessman Neal Page who is trying to get home from Thanksgiving but things go awry when his flight gets cancelled and must find other means to get home. John Candy plays Del who is always with Neal no matter how much he wants to get away from him. Del always give Neal advice, tells bad jokes, and has other things that irritate Neal which make it a lot harder for him. Together, they must go through all means that include vehicles of each kind listed in the title. The two stars worked very well together and John Hughes pulled off a good adult comedy when known for directing the Brat Pack. Other actors include Kevin Bacon, Michael McKean, Dylan Baker, and many others. Steve Martin has cited this one as his favorite.

Friday Foster (1975): I now bring you some Blaxploitation though this one is milder than some. This movie stars Blaxploitation queen Pam Grier who plays the title character who is a photographer. Foster is sent to photograph Blake Tarr, the richest black man in the world where she witnesses an assassination attempt on him. She teams with police officer Colt Hawkins, played by Yaphet Kotto, to take down an assassination ring on many other rich black men. Eartha Kitt co-stars as Madame Rena. This was a pretty entertaining film and a pretty good performance from Grier. This is based on a comic strip that started in 1970.

Hollywood Hobbies (1939): This is my short film for the week which I found on TCM On-Demand. This movie shows a couple women taking a tour to see what kind of hobbies people in Hollywood have. This shows Clark Gable in his hobby and later a big, celebrity baseball game. It was interesting seeing all these actors from the Golden Age which include Buster Keaton, James Stewart, Mary Pickford, Tyrone Power, and many others. It looks like this is available on the Clark Gable Signature Collection boxed set.

An Autumn Afternoon (1962): This is my Japanese film for the week which was directed by Yasujiro Ozu in his last film. This is a character study on an aging Japanese man who realizes that his daughter should not have to care for him the rest of her life and looks to get her married. Many people when thinking of Japan, think Samurai, horror, and other violent films. This takes a very good look at a simple Japanese family in that era. There is not much to say but this was quite a work of art and very moving which I think foreign film buffs will enjoy.

The Funeral (1996): This is my mafia film for the week which was directed by Abel Ferrera. This movie features a mafia family from the 1930s, whose youngest brother, played by Vincent Gallo, was murdered and they do what they can to find out who killed him and to avenge his death. Gallo plays Johnny who was murdered and it flashes back to the events leading into his murder. Christopher Walken plays the oldest brother Ray who wants to find the killer but is pretty laid back about it. Chris Penn plays the other brother Chez who is a lot more angry making himself a loose cannon. Other people include Benicio Del Toro, Gretchen Mol, Isabella Rossellini, and Annabella Sciorra. This is an interesting look at the mafia showing that how even though the brothers did not kill Johnny, they were not necessarily innocent as they taught him the things he knew. Del Toro was also good as their rival Gaspare.

The Cry Baby Killer (1958): This is part one of my two-part Jack Nicholson series. I now bring you the film debut of Jack Nicholson. Here, he plays Jimmy who is bullied a lot and panics when he believes he has killed a couple people. In his panic he takes some people hostage including a mother and her baby. THe police plead with him to let the hostages go but his fear clouds his judgment. Roger Corman produced this film thus helping Nicholson get started when seeing him in an acting school. Nicholson shows signs of what he will become later making a pretty good debut here. Make no mistake this is a b-movie but still very fun to watch and worth the 70 minutes.

Tipping the Velvet (2002): I end this week with this British mini-series and probably the best of the BBC mini-series I have seen to date. This is a three-episode series looking at a lesbian affair from the 1890s. Rachel Stirling stars as Nan who becomes very fascinated by male-impersonator Kitty, played very well by Keeley Hawes. She soon meets Kitty where they form an affair, even become a partnered act, but then Nan gets hurt and must go on her own journey of self-discovery realizing she must rely on herself. This is a very beautiful story which moves very well through the three episodes. I got this off Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week but stay tuned for next week which so far includes more Jack Nicholson, James Caan, Vincent Price, Bill Paxton, Allison Lohman, Kurt Russell, and many others. October will focus a lot on Halloween oriented film and look for a lot featured from Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, some together, some separate.

Welcome to Trailer Friday. In this edition, it's all Horror. With october upon us, this edition has three trailers for films that all come out in October. In addition to that, I'm adding a retro trailer to this column to give some nostalgic feel to it. I'll explain more when we get there. Enjoy.

"Let Me In": Official Trailer

Trailer Courtesy of Overture Films

Chloe Moretz (Hit Girl from Kick-Ass) stars as Abby, a mysterious 12-year old girl, who moves next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road). Owen is a social outcast who is viciously bullied at school and in his loneliness, forms a profound bond with his new neighbor. Owen can't help noticing that Abby is like no one he has ever met before. As a string of grisly murders occupy the town, Owen has to confront the reality that this seemingly innocent girl is really a savage vampire.

Let Me In, a haunting and provocative thriller written and directed by filmmaker Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) and produced by legendary British horror brand Hammer Films, is based on the best-selling Swedish novel Lat den Ratte Komma (Let The Right One In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and the highly-acclaimed film of the same name.

"Let Me In" hits theaters on October 1st.

"My Soul to Take": Official Trailer

Trailer Courtesy of Universal Pictures

The first 3D movie from horror legend, Wes Craven. A serial killer returns to his hometown to stalk seven children who share the same birthday as the date he was allegedly put to rest.

"My Soul to Take" hits theaters on October 8th

"Saw 3D": Official Trailer

Trailer Courtesy of Lionsgate

This October, one of the biggest, most successful horror franchises in movie history arrives in theaters in vivid, chilling 3-D with the release of Lionsgate's SAW 3D.

As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw's brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen, a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror...

'Saw 3D" hits theaters on October 29th.

This is a new segment called "Retro Trailer". It can deal with certain themes pertaining to a movie in this column, or it can be used as a tribute to a passed away star or I can just randomly pick I trailer for a film, which I think is underrated. Now on to our Retro Trailer.

"Let the Right One In"

Trailer courtesy of Magnet Releasing

With the american version, known as "Let Me In" coming out on October 1st, I came across the official trailer for the original known as "Let the Right One In". It was released by Magnet Releasing as part of it's Six Shooter series in 2008 and manage to make to 2.1 million dollars in limited release in the USA. Enjoy.

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of returning all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed in Fast Five. In this installment, former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) on the opposite side of the law. Dwayne Johnson joins returning favorites Jordana Brewster, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon and Don Omar for this ultimate high-stakes race.

Since Brian and Mia Toretto (Brewster) broke Dom out of custody, they’ve blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he’s not the only one on their tail.

Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can’t separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey…before someone else runs them down first.

"Fast Five" is scheduled for release on June 10th, 2011

Dark Sky Films, a division of MPI Media Group, recently announced that following the onslaught of demand from fans nationwide, Adam Green's unrated HATCHET II will now debut at midnight (12:01 a.m. Thursday night/Friday morning) on Oct. 1 in AMC Theatres across the country. Pre-sales for both the 12:01 a.m. showing and an evening showing on Oct 1 are now available for purchase at www.amctheatres.com.

Through its AMC independent™ program, AMC Theatres will exhibit HATCHET II in top markets in the United States including: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Detroit, Seattle, Cincinnati, Columbus, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Baltimore, St. Louis, Orlando, Tallahassee and Tampa. A list of specific theaters in these markets is listed below.

The announcement about the HATCHET II midnight screenings on Oct. 1 was made jointly by AMC Theatres and MPI Media Group. Vitagraph Films will serve as the theatrical distributor.

Dark Sky Films' Greg Newman said "We're doubly please that not only are we offering fans the opportunity to see HATCHET II in all of its unrated glory, but we're giving it to them as soon as we possibly can."

A tribute to the old-school slasher movies of the 80's, HATCHET II is the follow-up to the popular original film, which was released theatrically in 2007 and became a sleeper-hit, gaining a wide following on DVD. The cast of HATCHET II features a cavalcade of horror movie icons including Danielle Harris (HALLOWEEN) and Kane Hodder (FRIDAY THE 13th), who reprises his role as serial killer Victor Crowley. Also starring are Tony Todd (CANDYMAN), R.A. Mihailoff (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) and Tom Holland (CHILD'S PLAY).

Welcome to the 252nd Edition of my blog. We finally start week one of the NFL, I have my fantasy team ready to go. This week I pay tribute to Martin Short who recently lost his wife. This week, I am continuing my Robin Williams series, possibly starting one on Quentin Tarantino, and even got the second part to a Cloris Leachman series. I also got some classic Disney this week and the return of the FUN LITTLE FACTS section. I also focused a lot more on comedy that usual so get out your Netflix and Blockbuster Queues and read on.

Reservoir Dogs (1992): This is part one of at least two-part Quentin Tarantino series but likely a three-part series. This is actually Tarantino's first feature film and this one remains my favorite to this day. It is a bit of a reworking from John Woo's CITY ON FIRE which stars Chow Yun-Fat. This movie is about a very botched robbery. First we have Lawrence Tierney who plays Joe and puts together a robbery which involves criminals who do not know each other. He then gives them names of colors like Mr. White, Mr. Blue, and many others. It was the perfect jewel robbery until they find that there is an undercover cop in the house. Chris Penn co-stars as Nice Guy Eddie, Joe's son who helps put the team together. The people involved directly in the robbery include Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino, and Eddie Bunker. The opening scene is possibly one of the best dialogue scenes of all time when Quentin Tarantino describes what the song LIKE A VIRGIN is about. We also have a very amusing torture scene with Michael Madsen. Like Tarantino's next big hit PULP FICTION, this movie jumps around a lot so just stick with it and it will all make sense. It is a pretty violent film so watch at your own risk.

Marked Woman (1937): This is my mafia film for the week which stars Bette Davis as Mary who works for a night club run by a mobster Johnny Vanning, played by Eduardo Ciannelli. She along with many are mistreated on a constant basis but are afraid to talk. The Johnny Vanning character is based on real-life mobster "Lucky" Luciano whose prostitute employees got sick of the maltreatment and turned him into the police which was the only time Luciano got any big prison sentence. Humphrey Bogart plays the crusading district attorney who tries to get the girls to turn in the mobster and slowly talks Mary into telling all about Vanning. This was a much different part for Bogart at the time who in that era played a lot of mobsters. The district attorney character was possibly based on Thomas Dewey who was determined to bring down the mob. Davis is great as Mary and the movie is really centered around that character. This was a pretty violent film and Davis did not like the bandages on the set so she went to her doctor so that he could do a more believable job.

The World According to Garp (1982): This is part three of my Robin Williams series which will go to at least four but I look for five. George Roy Hill directed this adaptation of the John Irving novel. We first meet nurse Jenny Fields, played by Glenn Close, who wanted a child but not a husband so she got pregnant by a soldier on his deathbed. She then has Garp, played by Robin Williams when grown up, who has an unusual upbringing. When older he decides to become a short story writer which inspires his mother to do her own writing where her stuff is about her feminist viewpoints. He gets jealous when she becomes more successful even though he feels he worked very hard on his books but just can't get an audience besides the critics who love his books. THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN alum John Lithgow was very amusing as a transsexual who is good friends with the family, Swootzie Kurtz is also good as a prostitute, and we also have a group of women who make a strange statement towards their cause. This is a very unusual movie but very good. There are some comedic moments but also lots of dramatic moments with Garp and the family he has with his wife and two children.

The Hoaxters (1952): This is my short film for the week that I found on TCM On-Demand and is quite a propaganda piece. We start out at a carnival where a guy is trying to sell snake-oil that will apparently cure everything and then it branches off to the dangers of the communism way of life and other totalitarian societies. This was quite entertaining but probably more entertaining than expected when comparing these people to "snake-oil salesmen". Some of the narration comes from people like Robert Taylor, Howard Keel, and Walter Pidgeon.

Young Frankenstein (1974): This is part two of my two-part Cloris Leachman series. I watched this at my dad's house which was I believe on Showtime On-Demand. I jumped at this Mel Brooks film right away. I suppose you could call this a preview to Elizabeth's Horror Movie Madness coming in October since this is quite the horror comedy and quite possibly one of the greatest movie parodies of all time. Gene Wilder stars as the title character who is trying to escape the shadow of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein as he is determined to not follow in his footsteps, though I'm not sure what happened to his father. He then goes to claim an inheritance and starts to become more obsessed with his grandfather's work and after meeting hunchback Igor, beautiful lab assistant Inga, and an old housekeeper. Frankenstein then successfully brings to life a new man but Igor gets the abnormal brain which starts a lot of havoc. EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND alum Peter Boyle is pretty funny as the monster who just wants to be loved. Wilder is great in his part. Teri Garr is very good as Inga and Marty Feldman is funny as Igor. Gene Hackman's scene is possibly the best where he plays the blind old man who wants a friend. There is also a hilarious scene where Frankenstein and the Creature do their own version of PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ. There are lots of memorable moments and possibly Mel Brooks' best work which ranks very high among the comedy genre. There was also great use of black and white to pay homage to the Univeral monster classics. This was a parody that meant something.

Whip It (2009): I watched this at my dad's on Showtime on-demand. This is the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore who embraced the resurgence of women's Roller Derby. Ellen Page stars as Bliss Cavendar who lives in a small Texas town where she wants nothing more than to get out. Marcia Gay Harden stars as her mother who always enters her into beauty pageants but she does not really fit into this world but her younger sister does. She then learns about a roller derby game and decides to check it out. She then takes a liking to this rough sport and lies about her age to join because you must be 21 to join Roller Derby according to this film. She not only lies about her age but also lies to her parents knowing at least her mother would not accept her doing it. Daniel Stern, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, and many others also co-star. Page was very good in her part as the teen trying to fit in and I even learned a little here since I don't know much about Roller Derby but now I will look into going to see one of these events. My own town of Muncie has a Roller Derby team called the Cornfed Derby Dames. This is a familiar coming of age story but one of the first feature films of this era to address Roller Derby. Barrymore makes a great directorial debut.

Elf (2003): The Facebook friend I selected for this one is Luke who is quite the chef and has been involved in the wrestling industry as a ring announcer, booker and possibly other things. I know this is probably too early to be featuring this film focused on Christmas but it is what presented itself to me so I'll go with it. I also know some who can't stand this film but others who love it. I really enjoyed this myself. Jon Favreau directed this movie which stars Will Ferrell who is raised at the North Pole as an elf but has a hard time adjusting to things there as he is very big. He soon learns that he is actually human and is sent to New York to find the father who gave him up for adoption. James Caan co-stars as his father Walter who is very business-minded and Santa told Buddy that he ended up on the naughty list. I really like Will Ferrell in this one where he must adjust to a totally new world after being raised for so long in the real-world of the north pole an now having to get used to the strange, magical world of New York City. Zooey Deschanel plays Jovie, a Christmas store worker who slowly takes a liking to Buddy, understanding he is a naive man and liking his innocence. Ed Asner plays the part of Santa Claus. Look for Peter Billingsley as one of the elves. I really enjoyed this comedy of a man's adjustment to a different world and doing everything he can to win over his real father.

Leave Her to Heaven (1945): I found this on TCM On-Demand. Gene Tierney stars as Ellen, a socialite who immediately falls in love with novelist Richard Harland, played by Cornel Wilde. Richard's life begins to fall apart as he starts to experience tragedy and starts to suspect his wife who seems to love a little too much. She gets very jealous of other people including Richard's crippled brother. This was a very good entry of the debatable film-noir genre. Some disagree on its genre due to the technicolor. No matter what one might think, this is a very good movie which flows very well and has good performances. Vincent Price co-stars in the film as a former flame of Ellen. Daryl Hickman co-stars as Richard's younger brother who is crippled. Hickman is the maiden name of my mom so maybe there is some relation there.

Three Amigos (1986): This is my tribute to Martin Short who recently lost his wife. John Landis directed this film which I thought to myself is the "Original Tropic Thunder". I say that because it is centered around actors who believe they are just going to do some movie and it ends up becoming more real than they want. Three of the best 80s funny-men Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase all star in this film as silent film stars who become unemployed after doing many westerns. They then get hired in a Mexican village where the villagers believe they are the real-deal and the actors just believing they got more work but then they learn that the ruthless gang is for real. Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, and Phil Hartman co-star in this comedy written by SNL writer Lorne Michaels and Steve Martin. Randy Newman wrote some of the songs to the film. Not the best comedy I have seen but very enjoyable especially with the three stars. When researching this, I find this was a bit of a spoof to Kurasowa's SEVEN SAMARAI which I did not know.

Bambi (1942): I end this week with this animated Disney classic so I'm sure my dad might like this selection. This is an animated film which features the iconic deer of the title who we see first becoming born and learning about life. He meets friends along the way like the rabbit Thumper and the skunk Flower. He then learns about the horrors of the world when Man comes and kills Bambi's mother. We then see him grown up where he finds love and reunites with his friends but must be brave in another attack by what they call Man. I guess this is something that animal rights activists will love since it makes the hunters out to be the bad guys though we never really see their faces. It is rather disturbing at times and sad but it is great how it shows us we must move forward. Thumper was the show-stealer.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you hate. Stay tuned next week which so far includes more Robin Williams, more Tarantino and many others. Keep reading to get some very useless information unless of course you are on a quiz show like JEOPARDY and get asked something about this and you will remember what I wrote and get the question right so go ahead and read even if it is a little useless. You never know when you might need it.

FUN LITTLE FACTS

I return with this section. This is not something I do all the time but I'm glad to bring it back every once in a while. I doubt I'll do it next week but I'll try to do something. If I miss any facts, feel free to comment.

Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs) plays Judas in the 1988 film THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. My Facebook friend Stevie played the part in GODSPELL, a recent musical done by Muncie Civic Theater.

Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs) and Amanda Plummer (The World According to Garp) rob a restaurant in the 1994 film PULP FICTION. Other PF alums include Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs), and Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs).

Laurence Tierney (Reservoir Dogs) plays the legendary bank robber John Dillinger in the 1945 film Dillinger. Cloris Leachman plays "The Lady in Red" Anna Sage who betrays him at the Biograph Theater in the 1973 film.

Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) plays Virgil Earp in the 1994 film WYATT EARP. Gene Hackman played his father Nicholas Earp in the same film.

Humphrey Bogart (Marked Woman) played private eye Philip Marlowe in the 1946 film THE BIG SLEEP. James Caan (Elf) played the part in the 1998 tv movie POODLE SPRINGS.

Bette Davis (Marked Woman) and Walter Pidgeon (The Hoaxsters) both played "substitute attorneys PERRY MASSON in a time when Raymond Burr was having medical issues

Robin Williams (The World According to Garp) plays Genie in the 1992 film ALADDIN. My Facebook friend Ben played the part in a recent version of ALADDIN at Fishers, Indiana.

Mary Beth Hurt (The World According to Garp) and Gene Wilder (Young Frankenstein) both attended the University of Iowa.

DAMAGES FRANCHISE
-Glenn Close (The World According to Garp) stars in Damages as Patty Hewes.
-Marcia Gay Harden (Whip It) has been in some episodes as Claire Maddox.
-Martin Short (Three Amigos) has been in some episodes as Leonard Winstone.

John Lithgow (The World According to Garp) plays Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1994 tv movie WORLD WAR II: WHEN LIONS ROARED. My Facebook friend Jim played FDR in an Anderson Mainstage Theatre version of ANNIE which I was in as his cabinet member Cordell Hull.

Jessica Tandy (The World According to Garp) plays Daisy Werthan in the 1989 film DRIVING MISS DAISY. My Facebook friend Judy played the part at Muncie Civic Theater in the 90s which went on to have its own success.

Gene Wilder (Young Frankenstein) plays the Mock Turtle in the 1999 tv movie ALICE IN WONDERLAND. My Facebook friend Neil played the part in a recent Muncie Civic Theater version.

Gene Wilder (Young Frankenstein) plays Willy Wonka in the 1971 classic WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. My Facebook Friend Sean played the part in a Muncie Civic Theater production.

Gene Wilder (Young Frankenstein) plays Leo Bloom in another Mel Brooks classic THE PRODUCERS. My Facebook friend Mark played the part in a production at the Belfry Theater in Noblesville.

Gene Hackman (Young Frankenstein) plays former president going for mayer in the 2004 film WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT. Marcia Gay Harden is his adviser in the film.

Daniel Stern (Whip It) plays Mike O'Hara in the 1996 film Celtic Pride. I have a Facebook friend of the same name who is a Ball State professor and directs some shows at Muncie Civic Theater.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE alums
-Kristen Wiig (Whip It)
-Jimmy Fallon (Whip It)
-Will Ferrell (Elf)
-Steve Martin (Three Amigos): Not a regular but hosted and had the great King Tut skit.
-Chevy Chase (Three Amigos)
-Martin Short (Three Amigos)
-John Lovitz (Three Amigos)
-Phil Hartman (Three Amigos)

Mary Steenburgen (Elf) used to live next-door to Steve Martin (Three Amigos)

Zooey Deschanel (Elf) plays Dorothy in the 2007 mini-series TIN MAN but goes by the name DG. My Facebook friends Kristen and Lindsey have played the part in various productions and Muncie Civic Theater.

Zooey Deschanel (Elf) plays Lady Larken in the 2005 tv movie ONCE UPON A MATTRESS. My Facebook friend Nickole played the part in a recent version at Muncie Civic Theater.

Steven Spielberg was originally going to direct this week's feature THREE AMIGOS but declined and has said his choice for Ned would be Robin Williams (The World According to Garp) but John Landis would ultimately cast Martin Short (Three Amigos)

In an interview with the New York Times, Casey Affleck confirmed that his documentary on Joaquin Phoenix was all “performance.” Many were wondering about that after they saw “I’m Still Here” which opened recently in Los Angeles, and the general consensus was that they couldn’t figure out if it was the real thing or if it was all a hoax. But the past two years of Joaquin growing a beard and gaining a lot of weight seemed to capture everyone’s attention, and many of us couldn’t stop thinking of him after he was on Letterman. So how does Casey himself see all us?

“It’s a terrific performance; it’s the performance of his (Joaquin Phoenix) career.”

“I never intended to trick anybody. The idea of a quote, hoax, unquote, never entered my mind.”

So what was “I’m Still Here” really all about? The way Casey explains it; he wanted audiences to experience the film’s narrative which was about the “disintegration of celebrity” and to view it without “the clutter of preconceived notions.” Casey and Joaquin both wanted this whole project to feel like it was really happening. For many people (including myself), they succeeded in making us believe it was the real deal.

I imagine there are a lot of people who are now rather pissed off about this being a mockumentary instead of a documentary. All the same, I bet those who say they knew it was a fake along are more likely covering their embarrassment, not wanting to reveal that they were so easily deceived by this charade that ended up lasting a couple of years. Then there was that article in Entertainment Weekly where Joaquin was quoted as saying that his whole breakdown and entrance in becoming a hip-hop artist was a put on and that Casey was going to film it all. But for those who saw “I’m Still Here,” that same columnist from the weekly magazine was interviewed by Casey, and he tried to convince her that none of this was a hoax. When asked to reveal her sources, she refused to do so.

Now I just saw this not actually real documentary the other week. Do I feel deceived? Well, I was along with many others (that includes those who won’t admit it) that were completely deceived, but I actually don’t feel all that angry about it. In fact, upon finding out the truth behind this feature being made clear to the world, I was really very much relieved. I so didn’t want any of what I saw in “I’m Still Here” to be true! After remembering how shocked I was to hear about his brother River’s death outside the Viper Room, it was disheartening to think that Joaquin is going down that same road, and you’d think he would know better than to do that to himself.

You know something? I find myself really admiring both Casey Affleck and especially Joaquin Phoenix for even attempting to go through with this. This is performance art of a whole other kind, and it proves once again that Joaquin is indeed one of the best actors today. Over the years, he has more than set himself apart from his famous brother and has never had to stay in his shadow thanks to great performances in “Parenthood” and “Walk The Line” among other movies. But even before all this happened, Joaquin always seemed like an odd person who never seemed comfortable being a celebrity let alone an actor. So now he is said to be returning to acting which I actually look forward to as it would be a shame to let his talent go to waste. But since this has been proven to have been a performance, I guess it’s safe to say that he never gave up acting in the first place.

As for Casey Affleck, he will return to acting as well, but the revealing truth behind “I’m Still Here” will probably change people’s perception of his work as a director. Upon its release, many reviewers slammed the movie as being technically inferior compared to others, but that was part of the plan. That whole opening sequence of a young Joaquin in Panama with his dad and on a ledge hesitantly waiting to jump into the water while his father watched? It was said to be a home movie, but Casey said the whole thing in Hawaii and cast actors unrelated to either him and that “crazy” actor, and he later put that same footage over a videocassette recording of “Paris, Texas” where he played it back and forth to degrade the image.

This whole act goes back to that William Shakespeare quote from “As You Like It” which I used to open my review of “I’m Still Here;” how all the world is a stage and all the men and women are merely players. People are going to be looking at this “documentary” differently now, and comparisons are being made between this and Sacha Baron Cohen’s work on “Borat” and “Bruno.” But the big difference there is although we all went into it knowing it really wasn’t really, and that made them easier to sit through (for some of us anyway). You never got that with Casey’s documentary because the line between what’s real and what is not becomes completely blurred, and it was like everyone involved didn’t care if you were uncomfortable. What truly mattered is that you experienced the movie more than anything else.

C’mon and admit it, you couldn’t figure out if this was staged the way “Borat” was. If you did, you either knew more than we all did or you’re just lying to yourself as well as to the rest of us.

To hell with it I say! My hat is off to both Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix for having the balls for taking it as far as they did. You may despise them for making everyone worry so much about poor Joaquin, but then again, there are so many other things we should be worrying about anyway like our economy, hanging onto our jobs, Karl Rove still having the power he has as a Republican strategist, etc. Perhaps that’s why the two of them went through with this; to show the world that being a celebrity is an isolating experience where you are focused on only you 24/7, and that there are a lot of things you really don’t need to see and probably shouldn’t. Let’s face it; we’re all a nation of voyeurs who no longer know when to step back from the scene of a crime. Everyone deserves their privacy, and if we don’t like we see, it won’t change the fact that we’re all part of the problem.

Honestly, I think Andy Kaufman would be proud of these two. I’m just glad that Joaquin’s act is all over, and that he is in fact NOT the reincarnation of lounge singer Tony Clifton. He’s going to be on David Letterman again soon, but as himself and not the bearded Unabomber wannabe he looked like before. Looks like this act is not over yet…

reported by Ben Kenber

Overture Films recently send us over stills and the official trailer for the "Let Me In", the remake of the 2008 film "Let the Right One In.

Chloe Moretz (Hit Girl from Kick-Ass) stars as Abby, a mysterious 12-year old girl, who moves next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road). Owen is a social outcast who is viciously bullied at school and in his loneliness, forms a profound bond with his new neighbor. Owen can’t help noticing that Abby is like no one he has ever met before. As a string of grisly murders occupy the town, Owen has to confront the reality that this seemingly innocent girl is really a savage vampire.

Let Me In, a haunting and provocative thriller written and directed by filmmaker Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) and produced by legendary British horror brand Hammer Films, is based on the best-selling Swedish novel Lat den Ratte Komma (Let The Right One In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and the highly-acclaimed film of the same name.

"Let Me In" hits theaters on October 1st.

"Let Me In": Official Trailer

There are still tickets left to come see SATAN HATES YOU at the 10th ANNUAL CONEY ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL on Saturday, September 25th:
http://www.coneyislandfilmfestival.com/programs10/program5.htm

The screening will take place at the Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Ave at 5pm. Tell your friends! Warn your enemies! Pass it on!

For more information, visit the festival website:
http://www.coneyislandfilmfestival.com

Don't live in NYC? Next month SATAN HATES YOU will be coming to Colorado as part of the TELLURIDE HORROR SHOW:
http://www.telluridehorrorshow.com

More dates and cities coming soon!

SATAN HATES YOU is a graphic, over-the-top horror movie inspired by classics of 1960's and 70's Christian cinema. In the film, we follow Marc (Don Wood) a homicidal maniac driven by demons buried deep within his soul, and Wendy (Christine Spencer) a young girl who lives life fast and hard without a second's thought to the consequences. Their separate paths will eventually cross, but will it be on the road to salvation or the highway to hell?

Co-produced by Glass Eye Pix and MonsterPants Movies, SATAN HATES YOU features performances by a number of genre stars including Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM, TV's ALIAS), Reggie Bannister (PHANTASM, BUBBA HO-TEP), Michael Berryman (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO'S NEST, THE HILLS HAVE EYES), Debbie Rochon (TROMEO AND JULIET, TERROR FIRMER) and Producer Larry Fessenden (HABIT, I SELL THE DEAD).

For more information on the film, please visit: http://www.satanhatesyou.com

Phase 4 Films recently send us over some information for their upcoming release, "The Freebie" which hits theaters in limited release, this friday

Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Katie Aselton) have an enviable relationship built on love, trust and communication-they still enjoy each other's company and laugh at each other's jokes. Unfortunately, they can't remember the last time they had sex. When a dinner party conversation leads to an honest discussion about the state of their love life, and when a sexy bikini photo shoot leads to crossword puzzles instead of sex, they begin to flirt with an idea for a way to spice things up. The deal: one night of freedom, no strings attached, no questions asked. Could a "freebie" be the cure for their ailing sex life? And will they go through with it?

THE FREEBIE is an insightful and humorous look at love, sustaining relationships, and the awkwardness of monogamy when the haze of lust has faded. The film was produced by Adele Romanski and executive produced by Aselton and CYRUS director Mark Duplass.

For more information on this film, you can visit the film's official website at www.untie-theknot.com

"The Freebie": Official Trailer

Welcome to the 253rd Edition of my long-running series. I am right now 1-0 in Fantasy Football so I look to do it again this week. I continue with my 5-part Robin Williams series as well as 3-part series with Quentin Tarantino and Steve Martin. Last night I had the pleasure of seeing David Letterman and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone at Ball State and discussing the rise of Twitter and the benefits it can have. It was very interesting though I still have not grasped the Twitter concept.

World's Greatest Dad (2009): This is part four of my five-part Robin Williams series and the facebook friend I chose was Brandon who I got to know through Hoosier Pro Wrestling and is working very hard to become the best wrestler he can be. He listed Robin Williams in his movie section so after our mutual friend Bobby made this suggestion, I settled on this one. This is his best movie in years as far as I'm concerned. Robin Williams stars as teacher Lance Clayton who has a troubled relationship with his teenage son and is dating the art teacher but even she won't go public with the relationship and seems pretty close to another male teacher. Suddenly his son dies a very strange death so to protect his reputation, Lance makes it look like a suicide and writes a suicide note that becomes very popular helping him to approach his dream of being a famous writer as long as he can live with his lie. I really enjoyed watching this and reminded me of how much of a Bruce Hornsby fan I am. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait actually went behind the camera to direct this film and makes a great achievement as a director.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003): This is part two of my three-part Quentin Tarantino series. This is Tarantino's dream film along with the second part which will be on a future installment and it could be part three of this series. Uma Thurman stars as The Bride who is part of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad but is left for dead after she decides to marry and killing what would have been her husband. They did not get the job done on the Bride and she gets put in a coma. When waking from her four year coma she sets out for revenge on the people who left her for dead. David Carradine plays the title character who is the leader of the group which also includes Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Lucy Liu. In this volume, there is a great fight scene in a home to start and then she sets off to go after O-Ren, played by Lucy Liu, who has since become the leader of the Yakuza which is the Japanese version of the mafia. The Bride then goes after the whole syndicate which is his tribute to the samarai and martial arts films. Japanese martial arts legend Sonny Chiba also has a part as Hattori Hanzo who supplies the Bride with her sword. This volume focuses a lot on classic martial arts and samarai. It also has a great animation sequence charting the back story of O-Ren. The yellow suit that the Bride wears is a replica of what Bruce Lee wore in his last film GAME OF DEATH and many of the bad guys were what she calls Kato masks which is another Bruce Lee reference for the mask he wore as Kato in the 70s tv series GREEN HORNET. There is a lot of exaggerated gore which was purposely done and in some ways the action scene in the end was like a live-action anime film. The next volume is a little more dramatic and it pays more of a tribute to westerns. Next week's Tarantino film could be someting he directed, produced, written, or acted.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975): I found this Australian film on Instant Netflix. This movie takes place in 1900 on Valentine's Day but please do not jump to any conclusions that this is some Valentine's Day love story. This is a film taking place at a girls school where the girls are taken on a trip to hanging rock. It then results in three girls and a teacher disappearing at Hanging Rock. One of them returns to the school but does not seem to have much memory leaving very little answer. Peter Weir directed this atmospheric film. It also has a very haunting soundrack and requires a lot of attention and guessing. Many believe this is a true story but it is not nor does anyone involve claim otherwise.

See Your Doctor (1939): This is a Robert Benchley short I found on TCM On-Demand where a man gets stung by a bee and his brother insists he sees the doctor believing it could be a bit from a Black Widow spider. When he gets there the doctor is very busy on the phone and the nurse takes a while to fill out his papers leaving the patient in quite a worry. This is interesting propaganda talking about going to see your doctor like the title says.

Friday (1995): The Facebook friend I chose for this one is Dylan Bostic who is on the rise as a young professional wrestler who was recently signed by the Ohio Valley Wrestling and who knows what is in the future for bigger things. F. Gary Gray directed this stoner comedy which stars Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. After smoking a dope dealer's weed, they then must come up with money very fast to pay him off. Ice Cube plays Craig who has just lost his job and Chris Tucker plays Smokey his friend that gets him into a lot of trouble. There were some pretty funny moments in the film. I have not seen the two sequels. I put this off for many years but finally broke down to watch it and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Look for Bernie Mac a little earlier in his career.

Little Shop of Horrors (1986): This is part two of my three-part Steve Martin series. This is the musical remake of the classic 1960 b-movie from Roger Corman. Rick Moranis stars as Seymour who lives in the very poor town of Skid Row working for a very unsuccessful flower shop ran by Mr. Mushnik, played by Vincent Gardenia. Things get more successful when Seymour finds a strange looking plant which he names Audrey 2 which turns out to be a very violent plant where Seymour must decide between his success and destroying the plant. Ellen Greene is very good as Audrey, who Seymour names the plant after, who is another employee at the flower shop. Seymour likes her a lot be she is in a very abusive relationship with the sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello, played very well by Steve Martin. This is one of my favorite musicals and this one has some differences from the stage musical. Frank Oz directed this version and did a pretty good job getting it to film. We also have some cameos from people like John Candy, James Belushi. This was actually my mom's very first theatrical show where she played the bag lady and a reporter which then made me want to be in theater. I will tag my facebook friends who have been involved in stage productions I have seen like the one my mom was in when I was a kid and a couple productions last year in Muncie and Portland.

Van Wilder (2002): This is a selection from the Random Myspace Profile selection process and for this one I chose Fred who has been a very loyal reader to me. This is the comedy that many people who have been in college can relate to. Ryan Reynolds plays the title character who has been going to college for seven years and his father, played by Tim Matheson, decides to revoke his funding. Van Wilder then must come up with ways to pay his way through college so he does have to do the dreaded graduation and can stay in college to throw parties and "fundraisers". Kal Penn co-stars as Taj, Van's assistant that he hires and who helps him raise this money. Reynolds and Kal Penn were both very fun but could have done without Tara Reid who was the reporter out to find out why Van Wilder is still going to college.

Catch-22 (1970): Mike Nichols directed this war comedy which is adapted from the controversial novel by Joseph Heller. Alan Arkin stars as Captain John Yossarian who wants no more to be declared insane in order to not fly planes but no matter what he tries he cannot get anyone to do it for him. While there are some pretty funny moments, we also must watch as Yossarian watches the people around him die. Many other actors co-star in this film like Art Garfunkel, Martin Sheen, Anthony Perkins, Bob Newhart, Jon Voight, Orson Welles, and many others co-star. In the same year is when Robert Altman directed his war comedy MASH which gained a bigger following maybe because it is not quite as dark as this one. This featured film is rather anti-war and MASH is not really pro or anti-war, just making the most of the crazy time with their hijinks. I found this on Instant Netflix.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953): This is my musical for the week which stars 50s icons Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell as two singers and best friends. Monroe plays Lorelei who has an obsession with diamonds and money. Russell is Dorothy who is just obsessed with love and is a bit irritated with her Lorelei's money philosophy. They are working in Paris where Lorelei's fiance hires a private detective to keep tabs on them and leads into a misunderstanding with diamonds. The most known thing from this Howard Hawks film is the musical number DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND. This was a fun one to watch where Monroe was pretty amusing and Russell was good in her part. I found this on Movieplex On-Demand but I'm not sure if it is still there.

The Alligator People (1959): This is my sci-fi b-movie for the week that I found on Instant Netflix. We start with a Newlywed couple and the husband has telegram. When he is off to make a call, the train leaves without him. The wife then never sees him. She then finds him on a family estate and find a medical experiment went a bit wrong as you might imply from the title. Lon Chaney Jr. co-stars as Manon who lives at the estate and is not fond of the alligators. It is a great, unintentially funny monster movie that can be found on Instant Netflix.

Well, that is it for this week. Tell me what you like and what you hate. Stay tuned next week where I return with Cary Grant, more Robin Williams, more Quentin Tarantino, more Steve Martin, Eartha Kitt, and many others. I do have an honorable mention for this week so keep reading.

HONORABLE MENTION

Big River (2010): Now only did I go see David Letterman and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone but I also went to see KING CORN producer Ian Cheney who I saw yesterday speaking downtown with my mom in a local health food place in downtown Muncie. Today I actually met him because he was at the Minnetrista Cultural Center during the Lighter Living fair where he was promoting his 25 minute short documentary of this title. This is his follow-up to the 2007 documentary KING CORN where he and his friend Curt Ellis return to Iowa where in the 2007 film, they grew an acre of corn to see where it goes. They return to see what happened that made their acre go downstream and the ecological consequences of what happened. They showed the premier of this at Minnetrista where afterwards they allowed a question and comment session where many people really liked what he did. One person who runs some water company wanted to talk to Ian about getting the rights to show it to her employees. Mr. Cheney was also a very good speaker. Info about the film and the screenings are on http://bigriverfilm.com. In these two films, these guys raise a lot of awareness and do it by presenting the facts, not using a bunch of tricks.

Dark Sky Films recently sent us over the official poster for Adam Green's Hatchet II.

Just as the 80's had their signature murderous maniacs-HALLOWEEN's Michael Myers of Haddonfield and FRIDAY THE 13^th's Jason Voorhees of Camp Crystal Lake- the original "Hatchet" marked the arrival of the latest and most lethal of the genre's stalking murderers: Victor Crowley, a crazed backwoods killer stalking the bayous of New Orleans.

"Hatchet II" picks up right where the 2007 original film ends, as Marybeth (Danielle Harris from HALLOWEEN) escapes from the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder from FRIDAY THE 13th). Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact her revenge against Victor Crowley.

"Hatchet II" hits theaters unrated on October 1st

"Hatchet II": Teaser Trailer

Halo-8 Entertainment has picked up the rights for award-winning filmmaker Matt Pizzolo (GODKILLER) to adapt the Tim Seeley comic book HACK/SLASHin the illustrated-film style Pizzolo designed with Emmy-winning producer Brian Giberson for GODKILLER, which opened theatrically in 11 cities earlier this year and sold through its first DVD pressing at San Diego Comic Con in July. Pizzolo intends to begin by adapting the HACK/SLASH series "My First Maniac," currently being published in comic book form by Image Comics. Halo-8 is planning to release the illustrated-film in 2011 as a double-feature with Pizzolo's previously announced adaptation of Seeley's LOADED BIBLE comic book.

Seeley said "I'm happy to have my two babies in the same crib, with a unique HACK/SLASH and LOADED BIBLE double feature. Viewers can get their horror and sacrilege in the same lovin' spoonful."

Pizzolo said "Tim is not only a master storyteller but he's also completely nuts, and that combination makes for some fantastic comics. As a longtime fan of the series, it's a ridiculously exciting opportunity."

HACK/SLASH tells the ongoing adventures of Cassie Hack (daughter of the evil slasher known as The Lunch Lady), who rejected her mother's murderous ways and instead devoted her life to hunting down slashers with her partner Vlad. "My First Maniac" is the newest HACK/SLASH mini-series, going back to the beginning Year One-style and detailing Cassie's very first case.

LOADED BIBLE takes place after nuclear Holy War has decimated North America and left it populated by legions of vampires. When humanity's last stronghold New Vatican City is withering under the vampires' assault, the Church gives their people a hero by cloning Jesus Christ Himself... but all is not as it seems for the Test Tube Messiah as he's drawn into a web of betrayal, bloodshed, and seduction.

DIRECTED BY
Paul W.S. Anderson

STARRING
Milla Jovovich - Alice
Ali Larter - Claire Redfield
Kim Coates - Bennett
Shawn Roberts - Albert Wesker
Sergio Peris-Mencheta - Angel Ortiz
Spencer Locke - K-Mart
Boris Kodjoe - Luther West
Wentworth Miller - Chris Redfield
Sienna Guillory - Jill Valentine

Genre - Horror/Science Fiction/Action/Zombies/Video Games

Running Time - 97 Minutes


With its fourth film out this weekend, RESIDENT EVIL has officially become the most successful video game franchise of all time. Who knew in 2002 that this video game adaptation would still be talked about, in good and in bad, would spawn a motion picture quadrology? The film really wasn't all that good and left a lot to be desired. It probably didn't deserve as many sequels as its gotten. Yet, here I am again discussing another RESIDENT EVIL flick, this time titled AFTERLIFE.

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE is a sort of rebirth of sorts for the franchise. For one, it has brought the original director [and Milla Jovovich's husband/baby daddy] Paul W.S. Anderson back to direct and write. It also brings back the more claustrophobic feel of the first film where interior shots take precedence over exterior shots. And it also adds more Resident Evil game characters than ever before, with Chris and Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, the Executioner Majini from Resident Evil 5, and one of the coolest villains, Albert Wesker, all appearing in one film [Leon Kennedy will probably be in the next film at this rate]. But the biggest addition of all is the 3D elements that seems to become the popular thing to do these days, for better or for worse.

If you've read my three previous RESIDENT EVIL reviews, you know I'm not the biggest fan of this franchise. I love the games but the films just make me scratch my head. Still, I find some enjoyment in them and I can see why people love these films so much. I wasn't really eager to see RE: AFTERLIFE. But I felt I had to complete this franchise before my sanity returned and warned me to stay away.

My only wish for the film was that it was better than that stinker, RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION. And thankfully, my wish came true. RE: AFTERLIFE is definitely better than its previous installment. Still, the same problems linger and show why this franchise has gone longer than it probably should have.

PLOT
Continuing four years after EXTINCTION, Alice (Milla Jovovich) and her countless clones have infiltrated the Umbrella Corporation building in Tokyo, Japan. They murder everything in sight, going after Umbrella's head honcho, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). Wesker is one step ahead of Alice, murdering all of the clones in a massive explosion and escaping in a bulletproof plane. Predictably, the real Alice is already boarded on the plane to stop Wesker. Unfortunately, she's too busy getting one-liners in that she is vulnerable to Wesker injecting her with a new Umbrella serum that strips Alice completely of her superpowers, making her fully human. The plane crashes, but both manage to survive.

Six months later, Alice finally arrives at Alaska to find Arcadia, the haven where the non-infected are staying at. But Alice quickly realizes that there is no Arcadia in Alaska. Soon after, she reunites with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), who has a spider device on her chest [created by Umbrella] to wipe her away of her memories and control her. Alice removes the device, taking Claire and herself to Los Angeles - now overrun by zombies [or paparazzi, what's the difference?]. They land on top of a building where they meet with more survivors: basketball player Luther West (Boris Kudjoe), TV producer Bennett (Kim Coates), actress Crystal (Kacey Barnfield), and Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) who happens to be a cop and also Claire's older brother. The survivors point Alice and Claire towards the real Arcadia, which is a ship in the Pacific Ocean. But before the survivors can get there, they must encounter zombies, Genados infected with the Los Pragas parasite, The Executioner Majini, and a superpowered Albert Wesker himself.

REVIEW
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE is pretty much the same as the three previous installments. We get the usual lack of logical story. We get the wooden acting from everyone involved. We get decent amount of action. And the direction is what it is. The only difference is that Paul W.S. Anderson actually filmed the film in James Cameron's 3D Fusion Camera System, the same technique used to film AVATAR. And to be honest, this film would be a waste of time without the 3D thrown in. While not great, it does help the experience in watching RE: AFTERLIFE.

To discuss the lack of story and character development would be pretty much pointless. This franchise isn't known for deep, fascinating stories and their interesting and colorful characters. And RE: AFTERLIFE doesn't change that. I should be overlooking this aspect of the movie and praising it for at least being consistent in its "storytelling", but that wouldn't be fair as a reviewer to do that. I could ignore the lazy screenplay if other things in the film compensated for it. But there isn't enough action, visual style, or great acting for me to do that.

The fact is, we're in a fourth film in this franchise and we still have NO idea who Alice is. I will praise Anderson for stripping away her powers, which I had issues with for a while now. It actually makes Alice vulnerable now and gives her a new dimension to her character. Well it should have if he had allowed Alice to deal with the fact that she doesn't have an advantage over Umbrella anymore. But we never get a scene like that. In fact, it's like Alice hasn't changed except that she doesn't use her psychic powers anymore. She survives plane crashes, battles with The Executioner Majini and Wesker, and swinging away from zombies as if her powers never left. It wasn't a really effective plot point at all, even though it was the right move to make.

And then we have the other characters, whose only character development are their names and occupations. The newer characters didn't bother me much anyway because they were zombie food anyway. But Claire still doesn't feel like Claire. And Chris is as bland as they come. And even though the two are siblings, they hardly talk to each other or share scenes together. Some backstory for these characters would be nice. Just throw your fans a bone here!

And Wesker is okay, but he doesn't do enough to really effect you as this major villain. He's an awesome character in the video game franchise, who has a long history with Umbrella and S.T.A.R.S. In the film, he's treated as an Agent Smith ripoff from THE MATRIX. The character deserved better, even though I didn't hate the portrayal all that much. He should have been in the film more to really matter.

I will say that the narrative is a lot simplier now, and it doesn't have many subplots that distract the flow of the film. We clearly understand the goals of the characters and it's followed through pretty much. There's no more experimenting on clones. There's no more moments of Alice's eyes changing to reflect her new powers. It's pretty much kept as a small group of survivors trying to make to a place where they live safely without infection. The story felt closer to tone to the first RESIDENT EVIL, which was kind of refreshing.

I will praise RE: AFTERLIFE for having the best action in the franchise so far. The opening sequence with the Alice clones is pretty cool and ties up that sub-plot as best as Anderson could write it with his capabilities. The ending with Wesker is more of a skirmish than an actual battle, but it was cool to see the Wesker from the video games using his superpowers on Alice and the gang. The best action sequence was the one with the Executioner Majini. That dude is intimidating in Resident Evil 5 and he was pretty imtimidating here as well. I wish they had explained who he was or where he came from, but this is a RESIDENT EVIL film we're talking about. They just supply questions, not answers. Still, I thought the action was handled well for the most part and kept me from being bored, although the dead spots were pretty obvious as the film went along.

The direction by Paul W.S. Anderson is a mixed bag. The pacing is off at times due to the fact that we get massive amounts of action, then a period where characters just talk and walk around, followed by more action, followed by talking and walking, and etc. This wouldn't have been an issue if the talking and walking was shot in a more interesting manner. Also, Anderson loves his MATRIX-like slow motion filmmaking, to the point where it started to annoy me after a while. I don't think this was more worse than during the fight between Alice/Claire vs. The Executioner Majini. There was times during that sequence where I actually felt a bit of tension and suspense, but then Anderson ruins it by filming portions in slow motion. It just ruined everything! Without the slow motion, this fight would have been pretty awesome for a RESIDENT EVIL movie. But it completely takes you out of it. And the way it was framed as well was just awkward. You have to see it to understand. Other than that, the film looks good. The editing was tight. And the 3D, while not the greatest I've seen, is actually very well done. You get a bunch of things flying at you, like weapons, blood, brain matter, and other stuff. I thought a lot of it was very cool and it definitely made the viewing experience a lot better than it probably should have been.

The acting in RE: AFTERLIFE is pretty bad. Milla Jovovich is still bland as Alice, although I will say that this is her best acting performance as the character since the first one. She still does action very well and she was emoting a bit more at times, which was nice to see. I think she was more game for this one since her husband was the director. But I didn't mind Jovovich at all. Ali Larter, on the other hand, is no Claire Redfield. She's a better actress than this but she's just wooden as hell here. I have to blame Anderson for not bringing out more from her, but it wasn't a great performance at all. Wentworth Miller is just as bland as Chris. He tries to be this badass but just comes off looking bad. He doesn't get to do much either. Shawn Roberts was also wooden as Wesker, but he had his moments. And Boris Kudjoe as Luther West was okay as well. He seemed to be more into the film than the other actors.

And stay after the end credits to see a familiar face return to the movie franchise. From the looks of it, I'm kind of interested in the next installment. I can't believe I just wrote that...

THINGS I'VE LEARNED WHILE THROWING THESE WORDS TOWARDS YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN

- Always walk away from a hot girl standing in the rain for no reason. She's probably a zombie. Or thinks she's participating in a wet T-shirt contest. Dead and stupid - not exactly an attractive combination.

- Don't ask Wesker questions. He'll just shoot you in the head. Or make you watch him in DIARY OF THE DEAD. No one deserves either fate.

- Even though she was stripped of her powers, Alice still managed to survive a plane crash without much injury. If only John Denver had his DNA manipulated by Umbrella...

What? Too soon?

- Alice arrived in Alaska, disappointed to find out that Arcadia wasn't there. Well, Arcadia hasn't been around since the mid-80s. She should have known that the members are back in Duran Duran now.

- Chris Redfield was locked inside a cage, saying he knew the way out towards Arcadia. Well if anyone knows how to break out of prisons, it's this guy.

- Alice and Claire took care of the Executioner Majini. The only thing better would have been receiving an achievement or a trophy for 50 GS for sitting through it.

THE FINAL HOWL
If you're a fan of the RESIDENT EVIL movie franchise, then you'll enjoy RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE. If you're not a fan, then stay far away. I'm in the middle when it comes to these films. I enjoy them as mindless entertainment, but it's becoming obvious this franchise needs to end sooner than later. Still, it's an improvement over EXTINCTION and I can't say I wasn't entertained. RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE is a film I wouldn't mind watching on DVD or cable every once in a while. But I wouldn't spend 18 dollars to see this in a theater, even if the 3D helps the film a decent deal. No movie is worth that much, especially this one. But it was better than I was expecting it to be and I'm pretty satisfied by that.

SCORE
1.5 Howls Outta 4