““Silent Hill: Revelations” by relying so much on the exposition from the original film, suffers.”
The first thing that you’re probably asking is: Why is he reviewing “Silent Hill: Revelations?” Didn’t that come out last year?
It did, though in my defense I intended to review it when it first appeared in iTunes a few months ago, though due to ‘technical difficulties’ of an electronic nature, I was unable to.
The original “Silent Hill” was directed by Christophe Gans, and while it may not have been as creepy as the Konami video game that inspired it, it was entertaining enough that someone believed that it warranted a sequel (an interesting decision you figure in that it earned $97 million dollars on a $50 million dollar budget, not quite double its production costs). That sequel, “Silent Hill: Revelations” was directed by Michael J. Bassett (“Deathwatch” and “Wilderness,” both of which are available on Netflix and well worth catching) which keeps the franchise firmly in European hands (Gans is French while Bassett is British).
‘Revelations’ is an oddly effective film, though all things considered, it shouldn’t be. Bassett doesn’t appear quite as comfortable dealing with such esoteric subject matter as Gans, which is probably why characters seem to launch into exposition at just about every occasion, wasting time with pointless backstory.
Zach Snyder’s “Man Of Steel” is significantly better than I expected, though not nearly as entertaining as it could have been.
That’s probably one of the most weasely summations of a film that I have ever written, but it’s fitting. Much is riding on “Man Of Steel” because if it succeeds – and early returns are making that look very likely – it will be the opening salvo in Warner Bros. finally getting a Justice League film off the ground, which they hope will follow in the steps of Marvel Studios’ “The Avengers.”
“Great Concept, So-So Movie.”
What is it with these movies that seem so afraid to take any sort of risk, seemingly because they might offend someone? First there was the “The Internship,” that somehow manages to forget that when most people – including Vince Vaughan, I suspect – lose jobs (and houses, and girlfriends…) they don’t tend to feel that good about it.
“The Purge” is similar in that it takes an excellent premise – in the year 2022 America is governed by ‘The Founding Fathers,’ who institutes an annual purge, one day a year,when people are free to do whatever violent act they choose, without repercussions.
This isn’t done without cause, or on a whim because it’s learned (somehow) that as a result of the catharsis that comes about from the release of violence and deeply hidden anger, crime has fallen countrywide to one percent.
“”Oblivion” Is A Beautiful Film, Though Muddled Storytelling Almost Scuttle It.”
When critics criticized Joseph Kosinski’s “Oblivion” for the ideas it borrows from other (often better) films, they weren’t kidding. Some instances fall more in the area of homage than outright theft, though there are moments, particularly the last half hour or so, that are so blatantly lifted from “The Matrix” and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” that residuals should be paid to Lena and Larry Warschowski and Robert Wise.
In fact, during the sequence in question I – honestly – was waiting for V’Ger to turn up.
“He was always trying to f*&k the way out of himself. I have orgasms, he has wargasms.”
–O
What an awesomely cheesy line. Reminds me of “Do you know what happens to a toad that’s struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.” from the first “X-Men” film.
Despite how technically proficient Oliver Stone’s films tend to be, there is a rawness to them that’s refreshing, especially when compared to movies where most characters never even have a hair out of place. By way of example, I think that there were three or four instances of saliva-stringy kisses given, which is interesting because most directors wouldn’t let such shots out of the editing booth.
Another odd thing is that there are two African-Americans in the cast, a female bicycle messenger (who was in the film all of a minute) and an ex-Navy SEAL (who wasn’t in the film significantly longer) but it somehow felt organic, unlike in the case of “This Is 40,” which felt like a documentary on the mating rituals of the white and privileged (which I have learned includes an inordinate amount of whining).
Large predatory animals, like leopards and lions, though by no means exclusively, have to live within a major contradiction.
That is, despite their awesome speed and strength, they also have to be very patient.
The reason being, if they’re stalking prey though the jungle or veldt, the placement of a paw, the direction of the wind, all matter.
They’re learned this invaluable lesson overtime, because not too could mean the difference between feeding their young, starvation or even death.
Movies are similar because those films that choose to be patient, reveal their mysteries gradually, run the risk of losing their audience along the way.
Or even worse, boring them, which is the kiss of death as far as movies are concerned.
And also like our feline friends, it takes faith in what you’re doing, and a sure hand, to pull it off, which is why many directors don’t even bother trying.
Though when it works, it’s remarkable, which it does in the case of “Safety Not Guaranteed.”
It’s a charming, heartfelt movie that’s very much about the trip, as opposed to the destination (though that’s pretty cool, too).
The film revolves around a personal ad for someone seeking someone to accompany them through time (which is an interesting MacGuffin).
Though “Safety Not Guaranteed” is less about time travel–though it is present–than the danger of revealing ourselves up to others and the threat of putting the past behind us in the name of an uncertain future.
For awhile I kept wondering when there was going to be any sort of Terminator-style time hopping, though as soon as I met Darius (Aubrey Plaza), Kenneth (Mark Duplass, who also executive produced, along with his brother Jay), Jeff (Jake Johnson) and Amau (Karan Soni) I became less interested in the time travel angle, and more in the lives of four people, all scarred in their own way, looking for a way back to the places where they were happiest or seeking someway to move forward, but being unable to do so.
A movie like this rises or falls on the strengths of its characters for there aren’t any giant robots, sparkly vampires, or zombies to fall back on.
And it rises admirably.
By the way, I mentioned earlier that the whole time travel aspect of the film is a bit of a MacGuffin. It is, though that’s not to say that it’s not fully realized at some point.
And congratulations to Derek Connolly, who wrote the screenplay for “Safety Not Guaranteed,” and recently won the Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
Deadline estimates that the returns from Friday’s showing of “The Avengers” will be somewhere between $70-74 million*, and after seeing it, I can understand all the hype because it’s the best time I had in the movies in quite awhile.
It’s fun, action-packed, has some terrific visuals though most importantly, it has characters that it’s easy to care about.
And it’s very funny (in a good way), which is probably what the makers of the two Fantastic Four features were trying to do, though much less successfully.
“The Avengers” is everything that a summer movie should be.
Then there’s the added bonus of having unspool a culmination of a childhood dream because I grew up reading their adventures, and always wondered what a movie of their exploits would be like.
There are various subplots bandied about, some more successfully than others (and there’s a scene with Loki and an old man who refuses to kneel that’s deserved much more subtlety than it was given) though when things begin to gel, it’s remarkable.
I caught the 2D version and was blown away, so the next time I see it it will be in 3D.
As I posted before, sit though the credits.
* Make that +$80 million, as of this morning.
“If you don’t go into “Cabin In The Woods” expecting the best thing since “The Exorcist,” then you’ll definitely enjoy yourself.”
Vulture says that Drew Goddard’s “Cabin In The Woods,” is a “teen slasher movie that redefines the horror genre.”
It’s not necessarily what I would call a teen slasher flick, since none of the young people are teens–the youngest person happens to be a zombie–and it definitely does not redefine the horror genre.
What it is is a moderately ambitious horror film–that wimps out at the end–that plays like an episode of ‘Buffy,’ (The Initiative storyline, particularly), except for lots of weed references and the occasional boob shot.
The similarity is probably not a coincidence, since Goddard wrote it with Joss Whedon (the writer and occasional director of “Buffy, The Vampire Slayer).
What ‘Cabin’ does remarkably well is to showcase the banality of evil, as embodied by Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins, who are easily the best part of the film.
Their nonchalance over some pretty despicable acts that they initiate–in the name of what they perceive as the greater good–is pretty entertaining stuff.
The rest of the staff, while not nearly as interesting, acquit themselves well enough.
Now to the wimp-out at the end, which I will not give away except to say that the film spends much of its third act building toward some nameless horror that ended up as a reject from “Wraith Of The Titans.”
“The only revelation that “Hellraiser: Revelations” offers is that someone either needs to take this franchise seriously, or let it die. “
I was browsing though Netflix, as I often do, looking for a decent horror flick. There’s are some classics, like William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” or Michael Winner’s “The Sentinel,” though for every classic, there’s seems more in the way of dreck.
Then I noticed that “Hellraiser: Revelations” was available, so I gave it a try, despite not expecting much.
And it fully met my expectations, which wasn’t a surprise since the series haven’t been much of the way in of entertaining since “Hellraiser: Bloodline.”
Though what bothered me most was less than what was on screen, than the missed opportunities that weren’t. Doug Bradley, who played ‘Pinhead’ in all the other films, wisely bailed this time around and was replaced by Stephan Smith Collins (who, it’s worth noting looks nothing like Bradley).
Which would have worked if they had run with the concept, and replaced not only Bradley, but the entire Cenobite hierarchy. There could have been a set-up with Bradley’s Pinhead being deposed in Leviathan‘s eye with the new guy (or gal).
If John Carpenter’s version of “The Thing” had not existed, then Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr’s film would have been much better received because, while it isn’t bad, it is not nearly as effective as Carpenter’s film
