Frank Darabont returns to the Stephen King well once again and this one is my personal favorite. I have a soft spot for horror stories, I know The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both much more subtle artistic masterpieces of modern cinema, I watch those films quite often and they tug at my heart strings each and every time. This film, however, is a fantastic character study with a subtly layered screenplay, powerful performances from it's ensemble of movie stars and "hey it's that guy!" character actors that also just so happens to include expertly directed gut wrenching sequences of horrorific monsters. It's a truly spooky film unlike most modern horror films. Darabont puts you right there in that supermarket, surrounded by panicked townsfolk and religious nutcases. Not only is the film scary, it's painfully tragic. I don't want to spoil the ending because it's so incredibly powerful so I'll say as little as I can but just don't expect every character that you've grown to love to make it out unscathed. This film has immense rewatchability unlike so many horror films that are meant to shock you momentarily with a jump scare then laugh it off with a quip. This is NOT that kind of film. Yes things get shocking but they're earned shocks and not just a series of the filmmakers shouting BOO!
Reviews
3 Reviews
Steel
(1997)
I was 7, I loved it then for even less reasons than I do now
11 January 2015
I recommend the film Steel. Let me explain: I'm in my mid 20s. Back in the day, back in 1997 we didn't have your high falutin Dark Knights, hell, our Batman was 1997s blockbuster success but lame even for a first grader Batman and Robin (which actually should have been titled "Batman and Robin and Batgirl"). Steel was, to a seven 7 year old, better, yes BETTER than BATMAN. WHY? Because Batman had Robin. Steel had a hammer that shot a lasergun. Batman had that old fuddy duddy Alfred. Steel had SHAFT. Batman had glow in the dark gangstas of uncertain ethnicity. Steel had, according to Warner Brothers and auteur writer director Kenneth Johnson himself: "To aid with the urban aspects of the dialog Johnson took a copy of the script to South Central Los Angeles and spent a day with a group of kids to ensure that the language of some of the characters was more believable". Batman had respectable actor George Clooney and his awesome chin. Steel had athelete, health-advocate, successful gangsta rapper (and minor comedic actor) Shaquille O'Neal, known to the world as SHAQ! By the way, Shaq is a NYPD POLICE DETECTIVE IN REAL LIFE, which probably added to his nuances in his performance as the modern day knight in shining armor John Henry Irons, (THE FIRST IRON MAN?) STEEL! (steel) STEEL! YOURSELF. (yourself)
Peace out.
Peace out.
Khorhrdayin Hayastan
(1924)
Saw most of it in class on Armenia
6 April 2011
Its an odd film. There isn't too much appeal to it except to those interested specifically in Armenia. Some good imagery. To be fair the film doesn't exist in its entirety so I was only able to see bits and pieces. An odd footnote in film and Armenian history. Of course it is in black and white and is silent so its kind of hard to get into unless one is used to these kinds of black and white, silent, documentaries which were fairly common during this period in history. I'm not sure how one could get ahold of this film, perhaps one can get pieces of it on youtube. So far I cannot find a DVD or even VHS copy, or even a copy of a copy.
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