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Found (2012)
A wonderful achievement in Indie Horror
This film should always be introduced by director Scott Schirmer. His passion for this story shines through on the screen. It is a fresh look at the genre and also achieves so much with what was obviously a low budget.
It tackles several issues of a boy growing up, but his life advice is coming from his serial killer brother. The idea that he is learning about being a man, from his brother, but at the same time the boy understands that his brother is scary and is doing things that he shouldn't, is a strange and wonderful new story.
The shock factor in the movie is always brought back to a state of self awareness with often funny responses from the mouths of children and its a wonderful tool that keeps the film on target.
There are very strong performances from Gavin Brown as Marty, Ethan Philbeck as Steve and Phyllis Munro as the Mom. The fact that they agreed to do this film and not get paid is a testament to the passion that Scott Schirmer has for the project.
Check this out and enjoy the ride.
Inside Seka (1980)
The scene that's worth it all!
I'm sure there are several movies where he does it, but when Seka tells Ron Jeremy to go and pleasure himself. And he does. It makes the whole movie worth it! I haven't seen the movie since I was younger, but that image will forever be in my brain. We all wish we could. It's nice to see that someone actually made it. Ron really did it for all the men out there. Thanks Ron, I raise a glass to thee. By the way... don't even get me started on the opening song. I still find myself humming it to myself at work. "Seka... Tried on some sexy clothes, took some pictures in the raw..." A real gem of 70/80's porn. If you can find this one pick it up and send it to me ASAP.
Nacho Libre (2006)
Ouch...
I hope that Jack Black and every person involved with the production of this movie has my home address so they can send me a written apology for my time spent in the theatre. What do you do when you just had a big hit movie and one more joke? You get a backer and make a one note bad film.
Husband and wife Jared and Jershua Hess, the creative team behind "Napoleon Dynamite," join forces with Mike White and Jack Black, the team behind "School Of Rock," to try and drop kick another hit with the tale of Nacho Libre. The concept, perhaps the most interesting and funny aspect of the movie, has a Mexican Friar Ignacio (Black) as a man of the cloth that has to turn to Mexican Wrestling to make enough money to feed the orphans.
While the film does have a couple of great guffaws and it's share of slapstick antics to shock us into laughing, the bulk of the movie relies on Jack Black's ability to carry the weight of the entire film on his back and suplex it. He can't do it with one joke, but what an effort he puts in. Jack Black does his worst "typical" Mexican accent and body slams his signature style of quick quips effectively, but it just is not enough to make the whole movie work .
This is the kind of movie that catch phrases come from, but I'll put a figure-four leg lock on anyone that tries to repeat these lines to me. Some times this kind of movie works, but that is when the star has a cast to support him. The script only introduces one other comic character into the movie
and he only has one joke too
and it's the same one Jack Black is telling.
In what could have been a very funny scene with Black singing to the current wrestling champion, the director ends the scene way too short. I'm sure they has a great time filming this movie, but during the editing process someone should have noticed that the film just wasn't working. In the middle of the film is a sequence of scenes that seem to be put in just because the director "thought" they were funny. Not only do they not follow the plot or progress the story at all, but they don't even stay in the same genre of comedy. There are two jokes that would have fit into "Airplane!" and others that wanted to be in a dark Wes Anderson-esquire comedy.
Some positive things I can say is that the costumes and set design was meticulous and perfectly hilarious. The location shooting in Oaxaca, Mexico is beautiful and sets the mood wonderfully. By using the full use of the natural beauty, with the cinematography to capture the amazing work of all the technical aspects of the film, this film was visually compelling.
When I left the theatre I saw some younger people still laughing outside, maybe this unfocused film would be funny for someone that has not been jaded by watching intelligent and inspired comedies. Sorry Mr. Black, but I have seen great comedies and this is not one of them.
He may be the champ, but I will not step back in the ring with Nacho Libre.
Inside Man (2006)
Bad Weed
What can go right
and what can go wrong? What we have have here is a failure to co-habitate. This one is a test in taking the bad with the good.
A bank robbery is in progress, but we soon realize that there is much more then just a heist happening. We see, in flashbacks, that the robbery has already happened
but the police don't know what really went down. They are asking questions of the witness' that tell us the police know nothing. It is eventually revealed that this is no regular run-of-the-mill bank robbery. Indeed much more important thins than money will be removed from this bank.
This Spike Lee joint has an interesting concept and a wonderfully executed script. The outstanding camera work of Matthew Libatique (even though his opening shot in "Requiem For A Dream" is also of a roller-coaster) is consistent throughout the film. Russell Gewirtz's intriguing script is brought to life by superb performances. Clive Owen plays the man inside the bank. Christopher Plummer plays the man inside the mystery. Denzel Wahington plays the man trying to get inside the other character's head and Jodie Foster plays the one trying to sort out everyman's problems.
In the end, this film is a question of morality. In the end we have to decide who is right. They all use deceptive tactics, but are their motives honourable? Do the ends justify the means? This makes for an intriguing plot that keeps you guessing.
So those were the things that worked
so what went wrong? To start, the music didn't suit the feel, theme or flow of the movie. Terence Blanchard's score sounded like the discarded theme song from "Night Court." It was extremely distracting when a dramatic moment began and the music was screaming for Crockett & Tubbs to come and save the day. But what this film needed the most was a script editor to save the day.
Too long
we get it, they are after something else. Now let the other characters know. Stop hinting at it, because the natives are getting restless. I had already guessed Chistopher Plummer's big secret 20 minutes before they even mentioned it. Why? Because I had 25 minutes before that to guess.
The biggest celluloid crime committed here is the waste of a marvelous performance by Jodie Foster. I understand she's mysterious. I've clued in she's got connections. I got the hint that she's cool, calm and collected
now let's do something with her interesting portrayal.
At the end of the movie I walked out moderately entertained. Spike Lee is a great film maker so it wasn't unwatchable. It just was not up to his usual standards. But this is one Spike Lee joint I will not toke again.
Final Destination 2 (2003)
Better than the first!
We "finally" have a yes answer to the age old movie buff question, "is any sequel better than the original?" In Final Destination 1 we were introduced to the concept that "death has a plan." In the first movie, students on their way to France get off their plane when one of the students has a premonition that the plane is going to explode. Flight 180 does in fact explode and death has to play a little catch-up. The grim reaper methodically and quite creatively tries to finish what he started and send each person to their grave.
In this installment of the Final Destination franchise, another premonition is had by a girl on her way to a cottage. This time a pile-up on the freeway which would have killed several more people, is avoided and death once again has to put his regularly scheduled plan into action. One by one he claims his victims and sends them to their eternal sleep. But after a visit to Clear Waters (Larter, yes that is the character's name), the only survivor still alive from the plane crash in the first film, we find out that all these people had been interfered with in their own death by the flight 180 survivors. So death was going to take care of all of them in one fell swoop.
This time death is not at all happy and decides to have a lot fun with this elusive bunch of death dodgers. The best part of this movie is the seemingly endless ways that these people almost die. With three people working on "Characters, Story and Screenplay" it seems as if the writers sat around and thought of all the coolest ways to have a death scene
and then just decided to put all of them in the movie. Everyone is constantly narrowly avoiding their fate until
BANG! Their goose gets cooked
or crushed
or splattered
or chopped off.
The script itself is one that was definitely not taken lightly. This is a well thought out storyline and holes were looked for. It is cohesive and leads you down a believable path with a completely unbelievable concept. Even the ending is one that surprises without making you roll your eyes.
The most surprising thing in this movie is the wonderful cinematography. Normally not the kind of movie that most people would relate to great camera work, but Gary Capo (2nd unit DOP on The Last Samurai, Mission: Impossible II, The Thin Red Line) has a keen eye for camera angles to intensify suspense and surprise. And this movie is full of both.
Apart from an over-the-top cameo performance from Tony "Candyman" Todd, the actors do a great job presenting a complex and entertaining look at death and uncertainty. It's hard to tell who is going to make it to the end of this thriller, and compelling to see how each person deals with the events in their own way. It's easy to tell that the film makers actually cared about the characters they had created. Like comedies, the genre of horror films has been passed over as fluff in the history of cinema. But as more and more movie fans become film makers, horror films are becoming all around better films. Peter Jackson (Heavenly Creatures, Lord of the Rings) and Wes Craven (Music of the Heart, Red Eye) have proved that director's starting in the horror genre are quite capable of making big blockbusters. Maybe these great films will one day get the respect they deserve.
If it's my time to go
I want my final destination to be a place that they show films as good as this one.
John Q (2002)
Agggh... my... heart....
Here's the pitch
A blue collar family in rural U.S.A. The son has an accident and the parents find out he has a rare heart disorder and will have need a heart transplant or he will die. The tough business minded hospital administration has to tell the parents that they need to come up with $250,000 just to get on a donor list. Dad (John Q, Washington) tries his hardest to keep up with the hospital bills, but the insurance company has left them high and dry. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Fed up with falling behind in life John Q decides to take over the hospital by force. With gun in hand he takes several people hostage. Police are brought in but there is even corruption within the police force. The media gets wind of the problem and create even more trouble. How will it play out?
watch and see.
Hollywood Producers: HP 1: Wow, sounds great. Get some hot new director
HP 2: How about Nick Cassavetes? HP 1: Isn't that John's son? HP 2:Yup, he just did "She's so lovely." HP 1: Perfect
good buzz. HP 2:Next, we'll get some Academy award winners to sign on. Denzel, Duvall. HP 1: What about a supporting cast? HP 2: Ray Liotta, James Woods? HP 1:This sounds like a sure fire hit. Let's green light it.
Six months later
Exterior movie theatre / Night: Two movie goers:
MG 1: What a ridiculous movie. That plot did not work at all. I mean, taking an emergency room over with a handgun, only one security guard
? MG 2: And what was with every sub plot being 100% in a fantasy world? The battered wife finally getting the courage to fight back, under these circumstances
and the whole room laughing as she sprays mace in to his face. MG 1: Ooo
Now how about the soccer "fan-esque" crowd that shows up outside, and "Boo'" the police. MG 2: Speaking of terrible extras, you think they could find people that have actually held a gun before. MG 1: But the worst thing has got to be the rare blood type, only one person on the donor list that matches crap. MG 2: Hooray
The deus ex. I mean heart flies in and saves the day. MG 1: How and why in the heck did all these people sign up for this piece of garbage? MG 2: It must have looked good on paper.
This movie should be put in the "John Doe" files. No one should have to ever see this film. The only saving grace is a great performance by Denzel Washington
but it's not worth seeing this film for.
Mother's Day (1980)
This is a great and original movie
What do you say about a terrible movie
that you love. How do you defend a movie that you love
for all the wrong reasons. "Mother's Day" is one of those films that I would love to have these answers for.
It is filled with all the horror film clichés that we have come to expect and would be disappointed if they weren't present. The old man in the small town warning the heroes to "stay away." The fake scare before the killing starts. An arm out of bushes that ends up being one of the girls. One girl stabbed in the back
surprise she was just kidding.
Apart from all the clichés and creative kills, including "DRAINO" and a boob shaped inflatable pillow, there are well thought out characters and a cohesive script. Now I say well thought out characters, because of the diversity of them. Granted they are stock characters, but they work so well together.
The premise is, of course, girls in the forest
psycho killers hunt and torture the girls
girls seek revenge on bad guys. But this time the two psychos are not alone. They are provoked by there sadistic, innocent looking mother. Played with comical righteousness by Beatrice Pons, she is the one with the real mental problems.
While the script does a great job using foreshadowing and creating believable deep characters, the real strength of the film lies in the performances. The three girls are well developed and by the time the madness starts we know the kind of people they are and are rooting for them more then we would the typical drinking, pot smoking, fornicating teens, that are usually hunted in theses films. Instead we want the girls to get the bad guys. We want them to win.
Then we have Ike and Addley the two twisted "Backwoods Freaks." The vicious and precise way these two carry out the disgusting orders of their mother has sent chills through me since I was young. It really doesn't feel like they are faking it. The opening scene, in which they relentlessly beat a girl close to death, goes on just a bit too long to be comfortable.
In the end, of course our heroes, at least the ones that make it out alive, get the best of the bad guys with a little vigilante justice. But I was left with a bad taste in my mouth because of the motives of all the characters. One girl pretends she is killing her own mother in her attempt to free herself from the grips of the family.
Other than a pointless "surprise" ending, that really only achieves to cheapen the movie, "Mother's Day" will stay in your mind for a while. Well written and directed by Charles Kaufman, brother of Troma Films founder Lloyd Kaufman, this 80's horror classic is a must see for all movie fans.