Saturday, June 16, 2012
The Road
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Michael
Write Up.
So grim. But probably the best post-apocalyptic looking movie ever.
The Cabin in the Woods
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler, Michael
Non-Spoiler write up here.
I will try and keep this spoiler free too.
I really only have one problem with this film. I think it's just too funny to be able to sustain tension for any period of time. The horror gets short-changed a little in favour of the comedy. But for a film that in my opinion gets everything else so right, that's a small complaint.
Unabashedly love it. I'm biased as hell probably, but still, I think it gets pretty much everything else spot on. It's not easy to juggle horror and comedy in a smart way. We've even seen deconstructions of horror before but never as fun or intelligent as this. There more you delve into the film the more there is to see.
The opening titles are reminiscent of one of my all time favourites Funny Games, and like that film we see the onus of various acts of violence places squarely on the audience and their depraved penchant for getting a kick out of it. It's about horror films and why we enjoy them whilst at the same time pulling off the magic trick that Funny Games struggles more with, of actually being an enjoyable horror film while it does this.
And once you get past what is a deceptively simple classic set up of 5 friends spending the weekend at a mysterious cabin in the woods, the film will take you places you never would have picked. Hence the reason for everyone desperately trying not to spoil anything about it. This is a film made for being discovered, with friends in a packed out cinema. I hope you can all have that experience.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Brave
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler, Michael
Pixar are so canny with their marketing campaigns. I haven't seen any trailers or images that actually give away the main plot of the film, what it's actually about. So I'll do my best not to destroy their hard work.
This is a gorgeous looking film, as you would expect. I also have a real love of that Celtic mythology, landscapes and design so this was extra exciting.
This one never reaches the soaring heights of Pixar's more recent offerings (Cars 2 aside) but it is a lovely film and features their first female protagonist, a princess. Could be giving classic Disney a run for their money.
It's a simple set up, and the story is pretty standard too but it is done well and of course, the animation is fantastic Especially on the bears.
Case 39
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler
Rewatched this purely for the Jodelle Ferland-as-evil-child connection to Cabin in the Woods. It's getting harder to find films all my friends haven't seen!
Ferland seems to have made a career as an evil or mysterious child in horror films. This has another fun performance from her. I like her and Bradley Cooper going head to head. His death scene is pretty fun too.
This is one of those misleading trailers that I actually love. Renée Zellweger doesn't seem suited for horror heroine, although I guess she did make her breakout with the 4th Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I've never seen that. Perhaps I should. Anyway she's fine and the story and film overall are pretty standard but well enough put together to enjoy its few big moments.
This is another film that sat on the shelf for a few years and was only release here on one cinema for a very limited run. I managed to catch it then and I enjoyed it fine. It's pretty typical modern horror filmmaking but definitely much better than most of the crap that's been around of late.
The Cabin in the Woods
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Becky, Kim, James, Jordan, James, Jess, Claire, Belinda, Paul and all the other people that weren't in my row, there were a lot of you!
This is my spoiler free post. Don't watch the trailer, Don't read anything about the film, just go and see it now, while it's still on it's very brief run at theatres. Go! Do it now, I'll wait...
See, now wasn't that the best film ever? It was a hell of a struggle to get it released in Australia, if you don't know about the campaign, well, I won't go into it here, but I personally invested a lot of time to see this film in a cinema and I tell ya what, it was well worth the fight. The film delivers in every way imaginable.
I'll write another gushing review that might get slightly more spoilery later, but for now, just know that the film is easily one of the best of the year for me and needs to be seen with friends at the cinema!
The Sitter
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
This one is a much more r-rated Adventures in Babysitting (aka A Night on the Town for all you Aussies that grew up in the 80's). For David Gordon Green, it's certainly a big step up from Your Highness (it's also much simpler) but probably not as fun overall as Pineapple Express.
I think the Sam Rockwell factor is a big part of why I enjoyed this so much. I also think Ari Graynor is the best. The 3 kids are really great. Max Records from Where The Wild Things Are is given the more dramatic storyline whilst the other two are just played for the laughs.
As you would expect, things escalate and get pretty outlandish and you're just expected to go along for the ride. More of it works than doesn't though and it was a perfectly fine diversion from a day of work but not something I'll be coming back to often.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Session 9
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler
Whoa, not the film I remember. I only saw it once on its initial release, I think mainly due to wanted to see what the new digital filmmaking looked like. I recall more of the spooky ghostly atmosphere and not so much the psychological breakdown thing that seems rather more predominant.
The film has more tense dramatic scenes than suspenseful nights alone in a haunted asylum. Thankfully they have a nice cast to do the work.
This was the first Brad Anderson film I saw, one of his earlier works, and it's a pretty great low budget thriller that has a few very effective moments. It's also very dreamlike and will leave you with a lot to ponder over. Nice atmospheric little flick and great use of a found location.
The Changeling
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan
Another great classic haunted house story. This one slightly adds in a political thriller conspiracy into the mix.
That wheelchair reveal still creeps me out.
This also has one of the great cinematic seance scenes.
The sound design in this one is a little on the nose, probably too big for my tastes but there are still some great moments and the story is actually interesting in how it pans out. Having an older man as the protagonist is an interesting choice and I like that he's a composer too. They use that to good effect at the beginning of the haunting.
Great to catch up with another classic. Before this viewing I never recognised Jean Marsh, who I know as the evil queen in Willow. That fact made it hard to sympathise but the rest of the film still works a treat.
Mosquito
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan
Oh man, this is a hilariously terrible film.
Gunnar Hansen may be a fan favourite for being the original Leatherface but he has no business appearing out of make up reciting lines. That goes all the cast in this film.
I do love all the old-school fx, the stop motion animation and hilarious puppets. And of course I can't help but get a huge kick out of the War of the Worlds reference at the start.
This is a truly brilliant terrible film, it will have you in hysterics at some of the lines and line delivery. Just terrible hahaha!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Rock of Ages
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler
There's trash, there's trashy, there's even trashtastic. I like good trashy entertainment as much as the next guy, actually probably a lot more than the next guy, but not even I could find much to enjoy here.
They keep advertising this as from the makers of Hairspray. It's not half as much fun as that film. It has a couple of inspired moments, the 90's boy band plot was one of them, but much of this just falls flat. I don't know the stage version so I can't tell you if that's just the show or a bad adaptation.
Tom Cruise does a fine job with his performance I guess. It's just his character is not nearly as interesting as the writers had hoped and certainly can't sustain the unbearably long scene that introduces him. It would have worked far better if he was that legend that is talked about and referred to more than you actually see him. But they try to squeeze him in to an already overcrowded collective noun of plots.
All the plots are stock standard, they follow all the basic beats, there's no surprises and they don't even seem to try and make them fresh. There's a lot of talent that's wasted here. I found Catherine Zeta-Jones to be the most entertaining. She seemed to be in a completely different and much more fun film.
They use the wise black person trope here big time. They ABUSE it. She seems hopelessly wedged in last minute when they realise they don't have a black person needlessly riffing over all their montages where she has no business being.
Any rock and roll fans will be disappointed at how glee-ified all the songs are. They're just regular pop tunes with a little more electric guitar now. Perfectly safe and family friendly. There were only one or two slightly risque beats but the rest is pretty tame.
It's unfortunate. The start was pretty engaging, they raced through about 7 songs before the opening titles finished. But they ran out of steam quick. The film stops dead before the first act finishes, while Stacy Jaxx has non-sex with a reporter.
I like trashy movies. I'm not a big fan of juke-box musicals or Rock and Roll though. But more importantly, I'm not a fan of boring films. I appreciated cameos from Eli Roth and T.J. Miller but I doubt I'll be revisiting this one again anytime soon.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
American Psycho
The Innocents
IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan
Ooooo spoooky. It's actually a really dark premise for a haunting, especially given the film was made in 1961. And if you can get past the very theatrical acting it's pretty effective too. They don't take it all the way but still, that kid kissing Deborah Kerr on the lips like that is extraordinarily uncomfortable and is guaranteed to make you squirm.
I especially love the beautiful widescreen black and white photography. The framing of some of these images are pretty unique and the deep focus with extreme foreground and background elements is effective. You're always looking behind characters to try and catch a glimpse of a potential scare.
I also think that this film shows, sometimes the simplest effects are the more effective. The Innkeepers and The Woman in Black are both recent films that seems to agree and even though they have the opportunity to use big fancy fx, the opt for the classical approach and it works wonders. It's like the difference between the original The Haunting and the remake. Uhg, haha.
Now I'd only seen this once before and I didn't remember the ending and now I see why. I was trying to remember the twist ending, because every ghost story I know has a twist ending. There's not twist here it's pretty straight forward, I was trying to remember something that didn't happen. The Woman in Black tricked me that way too.
Well it's nice to know that something made all those years ago can still be just as potent today. The good ones always are and this one is remembered for a reason. Seek it out if you've never seen it.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler
The Duplass Brothers are doing pretty well, they seem to be churning out these indie comedy dramas and each time getting to work with interesting casts and making nice studio friendly yet still slightly left of centre films.
And I love that Jeff's central conceit is based of his love for the film Signs. What an odd choice.
Now since there last big release, Cyrus, the camerawork has taken a step back slightly to the handheld crash zoom documentary approach. I recall Cyrus being just a bit more classically photographed but still rough around the edges. There's nothing off putting here though. And this also has the biggest action oriented set-piece I've seen them come up with too.
But as usual at the heart of it is some great improvising work from talented actors. Susan Sarandon is lovely, Jason Segel is an endearing oaf and Ed Helms is really good at playing an asshole. I really didn't like his character much but I guess that's the point. But it's nice to see these guys doing improvisations not just searching for a joke.
Monday, June 11, 2012
11-11-11
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself
I was reading an interview with Darren Lynn Bousman the other day and realised this film never came out in Australia. I've enjoyed his other films to varying degrees so I thought I might give it a try.
You can't help but think of the Number 23 film when talking about number based conspiracy theories. This is a very different beast though, it's all biblical and religious.
It also benefitted from my having just watch The Innkeepers, so I was primed for some good scares. And what jumped out at me most, after having watch a very slow methodical horror film, was just how fast the start of this film moves along. It cuts through exposition like a knife and before you know it you're in Barcelona and demonic angel things are popping up trying to scare you.
Ultimately the film doesn't hold together that well, and I suspected as much after hearing Bousman talk about the huge problems he ran into shooting in another country with no budget. There's a few nice bits but it really doesn't ease you into any of the huge leaps the film takes.
However I'm still looking forward to he next projects. I like the release strategies he's developed after being burned by his last 2 films. I hope they get releases here.
The Innkeepers
IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan
Ti West's House of the Devil was the most authentic homage to 80's slasher films I've ever seen. Complete with the flaws those films had as well. Here's he crafted a film that has a very similar sense of brooding, a very slow and steady pace and doesn't resort to much trickery or gimmicks, instead opting for a very old school approach to build tension and scares.
There are moments of suspense that work really well. The sound design is made quite prominent in the story and they've done a great job with it. That really what I found the scariest part. The more they keep their spooks in the dark the better I think. Unfortunately there's nothing much new to offer in the way of scary looking ghosts and when they were revealed it lost a little tension for me. But these are very brief punctuating moments, the emphasis is kept firmly of the slow build up.
Oldschool style ghost story. A lot of fun and something to talk about once it's over. It's getting an extremely limited release in Australia but you'll have a better chance finding it soon in a home release, so seek it out.
30 Minutes or Less
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