Death Proof

Originally, this movie was released in theatres with Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, entitled Grindhouse, but unfortunately, it was released separately when it came to DVD. Luckily, I was able to witness this film in theatres, which was a great moment for me. Firstly, I got to feel the real grind house experience from the 70's, and secondly, it was my first Quentin Tarantino film I saw on the big screen. This was worth while on its own for me, being the huge Tarantino fan that I am. Last Thursday was the third time I have seen Death Proof: once in the theatres, and twice on DVD.

What makes me mad about the people that don't appreciate the classic cinema behind Quentin Tarantino (QT)'s movies is that they go into it just seeking out action. I have heard comments many times, bashing his movies because there is, and I quote, "lots of talking." If you came to a QT movie, you should expect good dialogue, and nothing less. Like his other movies, Death Proof has "lots of talking" in it, which I think makes it the worthwhile film that it is.

Death Proof is about a has-been stuntman from the 70's/80's who preys only on women. His weapon of choice: his death proof car. This movie is QT's homage to grind house/exploitation/slasher movies from the 1970's. Seeing quite a few of those, I can easily say he did a very good job. Although this is not his not his greatest film he has made, it is definitely worth your while to watch it.

Rating: 8.9/10

Trainspotting

"Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"

I first viewed this amazing film a few weeks before starting this blog, so unfortunately I could not have reviewed it until watching it again, which I did, just recently. The previous paragraph is basically a sum up of the opening and closing quotes, which I think are perfectly used in their places in the movie. The opening quote sets up the mood for this glorious film, and the ending one perfectly concludes it. Between these two points in the movie is one of the greatest hour-and-a-halfs I have witnessed in film.

Despite the dark and morbid subject matter, Trainspotting does have many moments of humour that make me laugh out loud. Combined with spots of drama, this movie displays a great combination of cinema that I adore. Ewen McGregor does a brilliant job as narrator Mark Renton: a 25 year old heroin addict who lives with a few other junkies, including Sick Boy and Spud, in his run down flat in the impoverished part of Edinburgh. His non-junky friends, who seem to be the "normal" ones in society include the psychopathic Begbie, and Tommy, the one who has his life together. Throughout this film we see life through the eyes of these heroin addicts and how they cope unsuccesfully with life.

Danny Boyle's direction in this movie was superb: some of the best themes of cinema I have seen. He also uses great metaphors in this movie, such as Renton diving down a toilet just to retrieve two suppositories; this scene shows how far he will go to get one last hit before he "kicks his addiction." (Other Danny Boyle films include Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later).

After my second viewing of Trainspotting, it occured to me that this is my favourite movie, beating out the long running 2001: A Space Odyssey. My rating for this glorious movie is 9.8/10.

A Clockwork Orange

I have seen this movie at least 3 times, but I have never seen it all the way through. Something always stops me, such as: I have fallen asleep (out of tiredness, not boredom), the video loader stopped working, and even a power outage. Although this did not make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, it was nice to finally see it in its entirety. As "disturbing" as this movie may be, it is very well done and has a good message about people's views of goodness in others. A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is about a group of teenagers set in the future who hold no regard for anyone, and often perform acts of violence and rape. When Alex is arrested, a new treatment to "cure" him is available, raising controversy in the judicial system and in the government. I find the language in this movie (especially in the book) very interesting; it combines Russian, English, and slang.

Stanley Kubrick is one of my favorite directors, being tied for first place with Quentin Tarantino. All of his movies that I have seen (from Dr. Stranglove and on) are masterpieces, and I encourage anyone reading this to watch as many of his movies as you can. A Clockwork Orange is not my favorite film by him, but it is still an amazing movie. The filming style is so clever that it makes you feel nauseous. It is not because it is so-bad-its-sickening, but because Kubrick wanted the audience to relate to Alex in the movie, which is a great cinematographic skill to posess.

Rating: 9.0/10

Paranormal Activity

I am so pleased to see a horror film that has been made after the year 2000 that actually genuinely scared me. This movie was made for only $35, 000 and has already grossed over $8, 000, 000. It has done very well considering it was released in around 10 cities on the first weekend it came out a few weeks ago. Ever since I saw the trailer on TV, I have been wishing it would come to Mission, knowing the day would never come. I was ecstatic when I first heard the news last Thursday. The film is about a couple who document their lives due to the girlfriend Katie's paranormal experiences throughout her entire life. As the film progresses, so does the paranormal activity in her house, which is terrifying to see on screen, especially the scenes at night.

This movie is now up in my list of scariest movies, along with The Shining and The Evil Dead. I am still scared at night ever since Monday when I saw it.

Rating: 8.9/10

Das Kabinet des Doktor Caligari

Das Kabinet des Doktor Caligari is one of those most interesting art/horror films I have ever seen. The scenery in this silent German 1920 film was incredible, eerily reminding me of any Tim Burton film; it seems that this movie is where he got all of his inspiration from. The movie starts out with the protagonist, named Francis, telling an old man how he met his fiancee. The story starts in a small town with an annual fair. At this fair, an old man named Dr. Caligari has an exhibit featuring a somnambulist named Cesare. Francis' friend asks this somnambulist when he is going to die, to which he replies "tomorrow at dawn." The prophecy is coincidentally fulfilled, ultimately unleashing the audience into an artistic nightmare.

I found this film extremely ahead of its time. I did not reveal the whole plot because of spoiler reasons, but the story as a whole was better than many horror movies made in a long time. I could have written a review on the set design; the obscurity in it is definitely out of this world. If you don't plan on watching the movie, at least look at what I'm talking about on Google images.

Rating: 8.6/10

Shichinin no Samurai

The movie Sichinin no Samurai, known in English as The Seven Samurai, was a Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa. It starts out in a small village in 16th century, isolated in fear by bandits that will steal their crops needed to lead a prosperous life. The village seeks out seven samurai to protect them, after hearing of how this worked for other villages. I downloaded this movie a month or two ago, but just until recently I watched it, after being recommended films by Akira Kurosawa from a friend. His movies have apparently been influenced by Shakespeare (I would not know, having only seen one of his movies), and his movies have influenced other great movies, such as A Fistful of Dollars and Star Wars. So in theory, Star Wars is basically A Midsummer Night's Dream in space (just kidding).

Shichinin no Samurai was a very good film showing the struggles of the peasants and samurai: the peasants with their bandit problem, and the samurai having to hold off the bandits from the village. I am glad that my friend told be about Akira Kurosawa, and there will be surely more of his movies on my movie list.

Rating: 9.0/10

Charade

This is one of the best movies I have seen recently that I have not previously viewed before. Having no idea what Charade would be about, I was pleasantly surprised throughout the entire movie, being shocked and surprised by twists and suspenseful scenes. Not only was this film a mystery/thriller, but it was also a comedy. Being able to combine these two aspects is the reason for the rating I will give it later on in this review. The movie is about a woman (Audrey Hepburn) who's husband was recently murdered by being thrown off of a train. This was not an accidental murder, but he was killed over a quarter of a million dollars that he and four others had stolen from the government. Now those men are after Hepburn, and eventually each other, looking for this money. Wherever it has gone, they will do anything to get it.

I was greatly surprised by the many, many, many twists in this movie which had be wondering throughout. If they made mysteries as good as this nowadays, I think that the genre would be saved, and would encourage me to watch more Hollywood-made mysteries. (That'll be the day...)

Rating: 8.7/10

The Others

I've heard from some people that this movie is good, and I've heard that it is bad. Because the person saying it is good is more reliable than the one saying it was bad, I decided to watch it (unfortunately already knowing the twist at the end). The story follows a family of three in a large house during the World War II era. The mother (Nicole Kidman) is very religious, and is very cautious with her children; they are very sensitive to the sun, which could cause their demise. Her carefulness results in the curtains being closed at all times, and having doors locked behind you when you enter a room: rules in which the mother demands the new servants obey. Kidman begins to hear strange noises in rooms where no one is occupying, and on one day, she experiences the others' presence in her house.

I quite enjoyed this movie, and I look back upon my friend's opinion on movies (including the bad one on this), and realize I should never take his word again. The shadows used in this movie, due to the closed curtains, really give a supernatural and dark mood to the movie, something that Hollywood horrors rarely do today (see review of Disturbia). I give this movie 7.6 out of 10 for these reasons, and because of the twist at the end that I already half knew, so luckily it wasn't completely spoiled.

Movie Night - Disturbia, Troy, and There's Something About Mary

These reviews will be very brief summaries of how I felt about the three movies chosen to play at movie night this year.

Disturbia:
Although the storyline is a blatant rip-off of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, Disturbia did provide a few mediocre scares. 5.6 out of 10.

Troy:
A fairly good war epic based on Homer's The Iliad. It had decent actors in this movie, as well as some great fight/battle scenes. 7.3 out of 10.

There's Something About Mary:
Having never seen this before and hearing so much about it, I expected way too much of it. It was not as good as some people make it out to be, although there were some funny scenes and a clever twist, as far as comedy twists go. 5.8 out of 10.

Lost In Translation

I watched this movie for the first time a few weeks ago, but just last night I watched it again. The story is about two people (Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson) who are both isolated in their own ways. First of all, they are both staying for a short time in Tokyo, which in itself is highly isolating, having barely anyone around them who can speak English. This proves to be very difficult for Murray, a has-been actor who is popular in Japan for his whiskey advertisements; he is alone in Tokyo being photographed for posters. Johansson stays in the same hotel as Murray with her husband who is always away doing various photo shoots. When these two meet, they instantly have a connection, realizing the loneliness in each others' lives.

Contrary to the main theme, this movie also displays the companionship between the two characters, showing that through isolation, people can become loved by others. I found the storyline to be very original, and well carried out with the help of Bill Murray. The cinematography was also very well done, as well as the soundtrack. When I watched it, I found myself feeling isolated by the shoegaze/alternative soundtrack, especially in 'Sometimes' by My Bloody Valentine. I give this movie a 9.2 out of 10 for the brilliance of Sofia Copolla, and I highly recommend this film.

Natural Born Killers

I finally finished the film Natural Born Killers after only seeing the first half of it two months ago. When I saw that first half, I was amazed by the story, the cinematography, and action. The story: Two lovers who are also mass murderers are on the run from the law as well as killing as many people as they can until the day they are arrested. But that's only half of it. I have never seen any cinematography like it in a film. Not only did they use regular colour film, black and white, and different colours to show characters' emotions, this film cleverly used stock footage and flashback cuts to show messages throughout the movie. What I took away from this movie had a huge impact on me, seeing as how it applies to my life: Desensitization of violence in the media. In the bloody rampage at the end of the movie, they film it for the news while footage of families happily watch this massacre.

The acting in this movie is superb, especially Tommy Lee Jones, who plays a prison warden that goes mad. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis' performances and relationship make this movie: without them, I don't think it would have been as much as a success with me. Overall, I give this movie a 9.0 out of 10 because of the amazing aspects of it that make great cinema.

The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead: the most terrifying movie I have seen since my first viewing of The Shining. This movie is about five people who go to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. They stumble upon 'The Book of the Dead,' which turns you into a flesh-possessing demon. The scenes were terrifying; this an aspect in horror movies I have not seen in a long time. Another subject that makes slasher movies great is the amount and usage of gore used. Long story short, the demons' guts were made from green creamed corn, and they spewed milk out when they were destroyed.

There are two main types of people when it comes to horrors and slashers: ones who appreciate them, and find that the classics outshine the Hollywood horrors any day, and the other being people who laugh at old horrors just because they are "over the top" or "cheesy." If you are in the first category, you would enjoy this film like I have. If you are in the second category of people, I wish you luck in this world. You'll need it.

Over, I give this movie an 8.5 for sheer terror I have not seen in a long time, as well as displaying the most gruesome deaths seen in a slasher film.

Where The Wild Things Are

Based on the gargantuan novel of the same name, Where The Wild Things Are is a movie about a boy who runs away from home to.. Well, where the wild things are. This movie was directed by Spike Jonze, the brilliant mastermind behind Being John Malkovich, which is one of my favorite movies. I didn't go into this movie with high hopes, or low hopes, but with just an idea in my mind that I was going to be revisited by the ghost of my childhood past. Generally, the movie follows the book fairly well, which shouldn't be too hard, seeing as how there are approximately 10 sentences. What made me upset was how Max got to the island. His room didn't mystically transform into a magical place, but instead he just sailed there (although it does make the ending make a lot more sense for when he goes back home).

I was neither disappointed or thrilled with this movie. Sure, it brought back some memories of how I used to read the book a lot, but at the same time, I think it should have stayed a book. The movie is an hour and a half, which is a very long time to stretch out a few pages. I'm sure that in this generation of children, the ones brought up on visual entertainment rather than reading, this film will be remembered as the way I remember the story.

Overall, I give this movie 6.0 out of 10. What keeps this rating high is the artistic quality of the film and the wannabe indie soundtrack.

October Sky

I stumbled across this feel good movie when I noticed Bravo! was airing a movie. (I previously watched Amélie the night before on the same network). I had never heard the title before, and upon seeing Jake Gyllenhaal's face on the screen, I was immediately drawn in. I pressed 'info' and I saw that it was a true story about a boy in the fifties named Homer Hickam who wants to build a rocket, after hearing about the Sputnik launch. And just like a classic fifties story, the father is the antagonist who wants the son to continue in the family business, which in this case is coal mining. From this description alone, I am sure you can already figure out the entire plot line. Nevertheless, it makes for a good movie with a well written story and a good moral: "If you listen to your dad, you will go no where in life."

This movie was very intriguing, with a script that was very well thought through. In conclusion, I give this movie an 8.9 out of 10.

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

To stay true to my promised first post, I will review every movie I watch. The first movie I saw after creating this blog was Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, also known as Amélie to the less civilized. (I wonder how uncivilized a person who watches French films can be). As the title suggests, yes, this is a French movie. If you are put off by reading subtitles, then this film is not for you, and you should not be reading this if you are that lazy. The story starts off with a young girl from Paris named Amélie. Using many cute 'n clever camera tricks and stock footage usage, we see how she grows up as a home schooled girl, and how she goes through her own magical world. Years later, when Amélie has grown to a young woman, she hears of the tragic event that changes her life completely: the death of Lady Diana. Through a series of a few events, Amélie anonymously returns an old tin box of memories to a man who used to live in her apartment in the 50's. This man refers to her as his "guardian angel," which influences her to become this new profession for her.

In my opinion, this movie is a masterpiece. Audrey Tautou does a magnificent job, the direction was brilliant, the cinematography was beautiful, and the script was very well written. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this movie an 9.0.

Au Revoir!

The Dawn of Man

I have started this blog to review movies that I have recently watched. Whenever I watch a movie, regardless of how good or bad it is, I shall post a review. Along with my friend Alec, we shall cover Action to Grind house, Horror to Martial Arts, and Romance to Westerns. Hopefully, if someone reads this blog, we will influence their taste in movies (hopefully for the better) and will show them how there is nothing worse than a modern generic Hollywood flick about Vampires.

Enjoy.