Horrorthon: Day 4

It was Sunday and I really appreciated that extra hour of sleep once the clocks went back. Summer Scars was the first of the day and it didn't seem to be all that interesting to merit getting my lazy ass out of bed. Once I got in it was time for The Masters Of Horror selection. In the previous Horrorthon the MOH was a daily feature with double episodes of the TV show. Some were really good (Family, The Deer Woman) and some were downright awful (Pro-Life). Sadly, the 2 episodes for this year's Horrorthon (The Screwfly Solution and The Black Cat) were terrible. Once that was over it was time for Dracula!

Review: Dracula (1958)
This Hammer-Horror version of the Dracula story was the first time it was shot in color and made a star out of Christopher Lee. The BFI's clean-cut restored print will be screened in the coming weeks at the IFI and is well worth checking out. It's not hte best adaptation I've seen of the story but is really entertaining nonetheless.
Rating: * * * (3 Stars)

Review: Shrooms (Surprise Film)
Shrooms isn't a bad film, and is probably the best Irish horror film ever made (which doesn't say much about Irish horror), but it wasn't that much of a "surprise". You could hear the disappointment in the audience when the titles came up, and then the credits rolled there were some very audible boos. The Surprise film should just not have been so predictable (in the selection sense). As a film, it's ok. It does create a nice atmosphere and is unnerving at times, but it is nothing that you can't find in other horror films cut from the same cloth (Blair Witch, Evil Dead, Cabin Fever).
Rating: * * (2 Stars)

Review: Stuck
Stephen Rae is a homeless guy who gets hit by a car driven by Mena Suvari late at night after a night on the town. She freaks out, drives home (with Rae still stuck in the windscreen) and hopes that it'll all work out in the end. This was the best film of the festival! It plays out more like a good thriller than a horror, and contains some of incredibly tense sequences. If Hitchcock were alive today then he'd be making films like this. Highly recommended.
Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

What began as a terrible day with some lackluster Master Of Horror and turned into disappointment with Shrooms, Stuck redeemed it. A few beers later and it was time to head home.

Horrorthon: Day 3

Saturday turned out to be the longest day of the festival. Had a massive (and tasty) lunch in Yamamouri followed by some pre-festival beers. Nice!

Review: The Tripper
Another comedy/horror hybrid, this one with a more political stance. A group of drug-taking youths arrive for a music festival in a large forest, only to be stalked by a conservative killer who wears a Ronald Regan mask. The laughs are more like titters and the horror is only average. A nice idea, but could have been more.
Rating: * * (2 Stars)

Review: The End Of The Line
Low-budget Canadian horror about religious freaks who descend bloody hell onto a stalled metro tram. This was truly awful! Not a kind word to say about it really. Dreadful! The very thought of it is depressing me. Acting, direction, script, production value... really really poor.
Rating: * (1 Star)

Review: Teeth
This is a film about a girl who discovers that she has teeth....in her vagina. And it's really good! The film that is. No, I'm not kidding! What could have been a grindhouse-style, woman-revenge flick is actually is really well made and thought-provoking piece on attitudes and fears towards sex. Written well and superbly acted, this was a huge surprise. A festival highlight and a film that will cause a little controversy when it's released.
Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

Review: All The Boys Love Mandy Lane
Another highlight. The title sums the plot up nicely: Every guy in high school wants to be with Mandy Lane and a small group coerce her into spending a weekend filled with drugs and booze down at a secluded ranch. Once there, certain members of the party fall prey to a sadistic (and possibly jealous) killer who offs them one by one. Smartly written (with a really good climax) and shot beautifully (it's probably the most gorgeous horror film I've seen in a while), this deserves to find a large audience.
Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

Having watched ...Mandy Lane it was time for another in-between-movie beer and then a screening of Fright Night. It'd be unfair for me to review this vampire flick from the 80s (with it's ultra-camp dance scene midway through) as I began to nod off. One Nightlink later and I was at home in bed.

Horrorthon: Day 2

Not wanting to burn myself out on a supposedly terrible film (Motel Hell) so early on I didn't show up on Day 2 till 3pm and Friday 13th: The Final Chapter. Thankfully, the issue surrounding the tickets, that caused so much grief on both sides the night before, has finally been sorted.

Review: Friday 13th: The Final Chapter
I've always seen the Friday 13th movies as something of a joke. None really differ in many way from the other (except when Jason X came along) and I've enjoyed them as one would a guilty pleasure. This one (which was supposed to be the last one until it made some money) has more intentional comedy then the rest and is somewhat more accomplished then Part 3. It's fine, but then you know what you're getting yourself into.
Rating: * * (2 Stars)

Review: Gamerz
The world of Role Playing Games is perceived to be enjoyed by a bunch of nerds who sit around being all nerdy about elves, orcs and the like. Gamerz does nothing to dispel this myth. The story of a RPG playing student, outcast from the real world but finds solace, purpose and, maybe, love in pretend dungeons and characters, is predictable and really pointless. Directed like a prolonged student film, it did nothing for me.
Rating: * * (2 Stars)

Review: Botched
The first half-decent film of the day is a strange mix of comedy and horror. Shot in Ardmore studios, a group of thieves are involved in a heist-gone-wrong situation and take some hostages to a vacant floor of an office building. There, they encounter a serial killer who attempts to kill them one by one. It's silly, but in a fun way. I'd put it on the same level as Severance.
Rating: * * * (3 Stars)

Review: Joshua
Think of The Omen, but without the demonic streak in the story, and you have Joshua. It's a fine attempt to be a Hitchcock film but fails in taking it's time to tell us very little. It's entertaining to watch and is performed to a high standard, but it is given many chances to become a really good thriller and takes none of them. The scariest thing about it is how much I enjoyed the Dave Matthews song over the end credits (**shiver**).
Rating: * * * (3 Stars)

That was it for Friday. Caught the almost last bus home which left me some time to chill with a bottle of wine and that oddly-named TV channel "Dave".

Horrorthon: Day 1

The Horrorthon began in style yesterday evening with a packed out audience in the IFI Screen 1 to watch 30 Days Of Night. I almost didn't get in myself due to a royal mess up with my festival pass and a really snarky bitch in the IFI ticket office telling me it wasn't her problem. Eventually, and thanks to the legend that is the festival director Ed King, it all got sorted and the lovely pair of Nell and Lucy got me and the other half our seats.

30 Days Of Night
This had received mixed reviews thus far and I didn't know if I was going to enjoy it or not. Well... it's a really good film! Finally, an original Hollywood horror movie that didn't play to the lowest common denominator and evoked memories of Carpenter's The Thing. It's well played, deftly directed and the creatures in the film are downright face-behind-your-hands scary. There are problems though: the final conclusion doesn't really capitalize on what had come before and ends up being cheesy, also the passage of time (it's supposed to be 30 days!) feels like it all could have happened in a day or two. Nonetheless, it's a film that's well deserving a trip to the cinema.
Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

Afterwards the was a screen of Dead Silence which I didn't make. I'd already seen it before and wasn't impressed enough to sit through it again (if you want a rating: 2 Stars).

Today there's Friday 13th: The Final Chapter, Gamerz, Botched and Joshua. Will report back tomorrow with more reviews.

Your Daily Dose of News...

No reviews from the weekend as I've been as sick as a dog. Here's some news that's been going round...

- Mark Whalberg is staying in Pennsylvania to work on Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones following his lead role in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Marky Mark is replacing Ryan Gosling in the film who left to "creative differences".

- George Clooney is out of White Jazz, but director Joe Carnahan says he's already got a good replacement lined up.

- William Shatner will not be cameoing in the next Star Trek film. Well darn it!

- Tippi Hedren thinks the supposed The Birds remake will be a mess. Smart woman.

- Linda Blair reckons there's a remake of The Exorcist in the pipeline. Gah!!!!!

Random News...

- Brian DePalma is planning a pre-quel to The Untouchables and it's going to be called: The Untouchables: Capone Rising. Interesting, but unnecessary.

- A Wolverine film is in the works all will be released in May 2009, taking up the prime spot originally held by the third Narnia film which has been moved to a later date.

- A Kurt Cobain biopic is in the works, thanks to Working Title and writer David Benioff. Courtney Love is an Exec. Producer so some details may be...well...glossed over. Or not. Approach carefully.

- Daren Aronofsky is getting physical! Already announced is boxing drama The Fighter with Marky Mark and Brad Pitt, and now he's directing The Wrestler with Nic Cage about a former wrestler brought back from retirement to fight his nemesis. Ding ding!!

- The Birds is being remade with Naomi Watts in the Tippi Hedren role and Casino Royale's Martin Campbell directing. What's interesting is that this is not a pre-strike priority and may not be put into production till after the strike is over. Let's hope it doesn't go into production at all!!

Review: Black Sheep

The Short... What could have been a guilty pleasure in the same vein as The Evil Dead is instead a half-hearted effort that's only justifiable by the creature effects from Weta.

The Long... Well, I don't want to spend too long on this review. The acting: bad. The direction: worse. The script: terrible. Is there's anything good about it? The work Weta Workshop (the same company behind The Lord Of The Rings effects) have done in Black Sheep is great and serves as the only positive in a huge field of negatives.

I was hoping that it'd be a film cut from the same cloth as the Evil Dead franchise, or Shaun Of The Dead, but it differs from these in terms of how the film handles itself. Each actor knows the type of film it is and plays it as a pantomime, almost always a breath away from turning to camera and winking at the audience. The story itself, while a good basis for a decent OTT film, never realises its potential and relies on tired arcs that you can see coming from a mile off.

It's a massively poor film that had the prospect of being something greater and funnier. Wait for this on DVD and even then I'd suggest massive amounts of alcohol before pressing 'play'.

Rating: * * (2 Stars, incl. one for Weta's impressive work)

More News in Brief...

- A 7 minute sequence detailing how the Joker came into existence for the new Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, will be screened in IMAX cinemas this December. Which means that, without an IMAX screen in Ireland (although I think there's one in Belfast), we'll have to hope that it also appears on ye ol' Internets. Another teaser trailer will be attached to I Am Legend which is out this December/January. Did anyone ever go to the old IMAX where Cineworld is now? I went twice, to an Everest documentary and a 3D film about dinosaurs.

- Grindhouse could finally be coming to Irish and UK screens by January, once Death Proof and Planet Terror have finished their runs in the cinema. Click here for info.

- With Saw 4 coming out in a couple of weeks the news is that they may just NOT release a Saw 5 till October 2009, breaking their one a year pattern so far. Lets hope it's replaced with some original horror in the schedule.

Review: Ratatouille

The Short...
Another high point in the Pixar cannon. Funny, entertaining, intelligent and full of joy.

The Long...
Something happened in the IMC Cinema, Dun Laoghaire on Monday night last as the graphic for the IFCO appeared on the screen. It looked different, gleaming with a kind of sheen. It hit me once the Pixar logo with it's lamp jumped around to introduce a short film before the main feature... it was all projected digitally. No film, just a large projector box with a whole bunch of 1's and 0's being pushed through it's lens. And WOW, it looked freakin' awesome!

It's a theme that ran through the whole of Ratatouille, one of amazing technical achievement. Disregarding the actual film, story, characters and elements the film there is some impressive attention to detail and organic, realistic textures throughout. Rain droplets hit the ground and look ultra photo-realistic. A carpet seems as though it really does have millions of fibers running through it. Vegetables appear to have tangible weight and grain. With each film since Toy Story Pixar seem to be pushing the limits of 3D animation to new heights.

Production quality aside, is Ratatouille any good? It begins quite slowly, setting up the character of Remy, a mouse who has a nose for food and a passion for cooking it. He, his family and their fellow rats are driven from their country house by it's owner (an old lady) when Remy is discovered attempting to find some herbs for his next culinary endevour. Remy is separated from the main group and finds himself beneath the restaurant of his now deceased hero, Auguste Gusteau. So far, so average, but things really begin to pick up when Remy tries to fix a soup ruined by the restaurant's new garbage boy, Alfredo.

It's a great rat-out-of-water story and yields some excellent gags as Remy attempts to control Alfredo's cooking. The lush design and smart writing add to a story that exhibits an intelligence far beyond the moral stickiness of Cars (their worst film). Ian Holm and Peter O'Toole perform excellent jobs as the main villains of the piece, in particular O'Toole's rich and brilliant voice adding an incredible depth to food critic Anton Ego (you could listen to him talking for ages).

Ratatouille is an amazing feat. Technically brilliant while ensuring that just as much attention is paid to story, laughs and characters. Along with Toy Story 2, this is one of Pixar's best.

Rating: * * * * * (5 Stars)

Horrorthon '07

From Thurs. Oct 25th to Mon. 29th I'll be attending the annual Dublin Horrorthon at the IFI. Running for 5 days it screens some soon-to-be-released horror films and some classics from the past, all in the cozy and relaxed atmosphere of the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar.

I've been going to this fantastic festival for the last 2 years and it's become something of a highlight on the film calender. Memorable events from those years have been...
- Watching Jaws on the big screen (with a scratchy 70s print, a Grindhouse experience before Tarantino even thought about aping it)
- Discovering Behind The Mask (a still unheard of film that's in the same genre, but funnier, then Scream)
- Meeting Ruggero Deodato after a screening of Canibal Holocaust
- Seeing Poltergeist on a huge 70mm print
- Experiencing hilarious films like Demons and Grizzly while drunk with a crowd that cheered every scene

Go to www.horrorthon.com for this year's line-up. The ones you should keep your eye on are 30 Days Of Night, Teeth, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Surprise Film and Stuck. I'll be keeping the blog updated with mini-reviews and updates during the fest.

News in Brief!

Here's some of the goings-on of late...

- Simon Pegg (Shaun himself) is Scotty in in new Star Trek flick
- The new Rambo movie changed it's name from John Rambo to Rambo: To Hell And Back and almost immediately went back to John Rambo. WTF?
- Sean Astin says that The Goonies 2 is a "certainty". Gulp!
- Frank Miller (director of such movies as Mad Max and Happy Feet) is currently casting The Justice League Of America by test screening most 20-something actors and actresses from TV shows like Friday Night Lights

Desert Island Movies...

Went home for the weekend to visit the folks and on Saturday evening over a few bottles of wine the subject of the "Top 3 Movies" came up. Some tried to get their 3 favorite, others (myself included) went for a range of good films. The results were...

Mom: Pride & Prejudice (1940s version with Olivier), How Green Was My Valley (1941), High Society (1956).
Dad: The Great Escape (1963), Shane (1953), Rebecca (1940).
Sorcha: The Last Unicorn (1982), American Beauty (1999), The Fountain (2006).
Conor: Donnie Darko (2001), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981).

Review: The Kingdom

The Short...
Feels like a watered down version of a more interesting film with added action. Fans of 24 will lap it up.

The Long...
I sat down to The Kingdom with the fear that it would turn into a pro-American rush to the head with added extra Middle-Eastern stereotypes. Luckily, this isn't the case as the film does it's best to serve both sides equally and ultimately tries to convince us that, save for culture, both sides are indistinguishable from the other.

It begins with an impressive credits sequence detailing the history of American relations with Saudi Arabia and leads to a savage attack on an oil workers colony in Ryiadh. This sparks an investigation team of 4 FBI agents to head to Saudi Arabia with the intention of bringing the man behind the attack to justice. Once there, they encounter the Saudi police and military who do not feel that an American presence is necessary and do everything possible to hinder their progress.

While not entirely sympathetic to either side the film does have a tendency to play the America-is-smarter-than-you card (watch out for a silly piece of dialog as Chris Cooper's character asks a Saudi if he knows what clues and evidence are) which comes off as being slightly arrogant. The story itself is entirely uncomplicated and exhibits a definite urgency to be a Syriana for the MTV generation. And this brings me to a point where the film will be either a piece of entertainment or a horrible and disgusting fable born out of a Hollywood that wants to capitalise on post-9/11 fears.

Essentially, I find it to be the latter. Some will disagree, but I believe that it's really an action film that tries it's best to be current and meaningful, while failing at doing both. Yes, the action is well executed, but using such a volatile backdrop in a way that comes off as frivolous and half-hearted doesn't sit well with me at all. I can't help but think that if the setting had been changed (even to a totally fictitious country) then we'd have a film that would at least be a decent thriller.

The final scene where the The Kingdom's core message is delivered is not so much revealed to the audience, but shoved down our throats. It does it's best to be fair and balanced, but is thrown off course by a story that is both irresponsible and lazy.

Rating: * * (2 stars)

A note on Reviews...

"When I sees it, I'll reviews it!". That's the mantra behind the reviews for this blog. There's no way I'll get to every new release and I'm not going to spend my hard earned cash on some pointless chick-flick or yawn-inducing Adam Sandler film (yes, I have not and will not go to see ...Chuck And Larry!). So, when I see a film... I'll review it. It's that simple. I'll also do the oft-copied 1 to 5 stars rating system. It's easier and people seem to like it.

Thunder...Thunder...

...Thundercats! Ho!!

It was inevitable really. Thundercats will be let loose on the big screen via a CGI animated feature in the same vain as last March's Ninja Turtles film. Jerry O'Flaherty ("who?" I hear you ask!) will be helming. O'Flaherty will be making his feature debut as director on Thundercats, having already served as art director on such games as Gears Of War and Unreal Tournament 3.

I caught an episode of Thundercats on digital a few months back. After the nostalgic opening sequence it became more cringe-worthy then an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Absolutely awful!

Star Trek news...

The next Star Trek film, under the watchful eye of JJ Abrams, is beginning to pick up speed. The re-imagining of the original crew has been generating some casting rumors of late...

- Eric Bana has signed on to play the villain, Nero
- Zachary Quinto (Sylar from Heroes) will be playing Spock
- Anton Yelchin is Chekov
- Zoe Saldana (soon to be in James Cameron's Avatar) is Uhura
- Leonard Nimoy is strangely returning as old Spock

And finally, we could potentially have Chris Pine (last seen in Smokin' Aces) as Captain Kirk. He's also set to star alongside George Clooney in White Jazz, but both films have similar schedules. If they can't work out a way for Pine to do both he'll have to choose between them.

Terminator 4 in the works...

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is the name given to the next Terminator film from the WB. Apparently it's the first of a new trilogy of Terminator movies to be set in the future.

No director has been confirmed as yet, but McG (ouch!) is supposed to be the front-runner. A Summer 2009 has been set and Arnie has been offered the chance to reprise his role in some way, but it's not detrimental to the production if he says "no".

My thoughts....
1st Terminator: Good!
T2: Ultra classic!
3rd: Meh-tastic
The prospect of a 4th doesn't really set my cinematic soul on fire, esp. with McG on board.

The Golden Compass: New Trailer and Conclusion

The Golden Compass is hitting our screens this December and has a new trailer which can be viewed here: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718640/video/4451177/

In other Compass news, director Chris Weitz has confirmed on his official blog that the final 3 chapters of the book will be removed from the final film and re-inserted into the very-likely sequel The Subtle Knife. Having not read the books myself, I've no idea if this is a good or a bad thing. However, if you remember back to Lord Of The Rings Peter Jackson decided to cut the Shelob sequence from The Two Towers for placement in Return Of The King. That wasn't such a bad idea and, from what I've heard, Weitz's cut is along the same lines.

Has anyone read these books? Are they worth picking up?

The remakes go on and on and on....

It seems that most Hollywood horror movies these days are either sequels or remakes of old 70s classics and J-Horror imports. Thankfully this trend hasn't crossed over to other genres in such a fashion, but still does pop up every now and again to make us all cry out: "Ah seriously, what's the point!?".

Next up for the remake treatment is John Woo's action flick The Killer. To be honest, the story of a hitman on his last job doesn't strike me as that original to warrant a specific remake (Holloywood at one point churned out these "original" films on a regular basis) so the only benefit I can see from making it an official remake is from a studio standpoint. And that is that it's safer to make a film where you already know what the finished product will be like since you have the template, rather then gamble on originality. The studio wins, and the audience loses out (both in cinematic and financial terms).

HOwever, there have been successful remakes in the past. Let's see, there was Cape Fear and....and...em... anyone?

And in the Beginning...

...there was this blog! This space will soon be filled with news, reviews and various other musings on film and related matter.