The Conqueror (1956)
Runtime: 111 minutes
Directed by: Dick Powell
Starring: John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendariz, Agnes Moorehead
From: RKO Radio Pictures
Remember this post I made in late August, talking about that awful-looking Genghis Khan movie that’s going to be out on DVD… well, sometime in the future? Here is my take on the John Wayne film that I referenced there.
This movie is about Khan (i.e. Temujin) early in adulthood and how (and this is definitely not a historically accurate movie, as they admitted in the opening crawl) he fell in love with a Tartar woman, who just happens to be the daughter of the guy who killed his father. Yet, he still fell in love with her. Go figure. Their relationship is just ridiculous. He bitch-slaps her and they ridicule each other, and yet they still kiss each other and of course she later falls in love with him. The script was just no good. There’s intrigue and romance and all that, but it’s hollow and stupid, and even though there’s a lot of unintentional humor in the movie, it’s a chore to get through the almost 2 hour runtime in one sitting. Temujin’s brother betrays him… just because. Like I said, no good.
Sure, the southern Utah scenery was pretty (although I have no clue if it looks like Mongolia or not) and the sets and costumes looked nice, and you can see that the movie had money behind it (6 million bucks in 1954 money, which is almost 50 million in 2009 money) but it’s never engaging and the action scenes aren’t even all that thrilling (even though it should have been with all the people involved in the scenes) so that’s a problem.
Another big problem is the casting. The Duke as Genghis Khan doesn’t work, needless to say. There’s a few versions of the story, but he had to make one more movie for RKO and he either wanted or was forced to star in this, playing a role meant for Marlon Brando. The script has him delivering flowery lines such as: “She is a woman - much woman. Should her perfidy be less than that of other women?” and “There are moments for wisdom, Juhmuga, then I listen to you--and there are moments for action--then I listen to my blood. I feel this Tartar woman is for me, and my blood says, 'TAKE HER!” in his trademark drawl and it’s preposterous. Him with his eyes slanted back, a Fu Manchu mustache and the outfits was also preposterous. Susan Hayward as a Tartar (an ancient band of people who live around Russia and those surrounding countries) was laughable as they didn’t even try to make her look ethnic as hey, she looks western European and is a redhead. The rest of the cast is the same and it doesn’t help the film’s credibility at all. So, if you can find it cheap (although you can watch a version of it edited down a few minutes on Google Video) or rent it for a library like I did, if you have the patience for it, you may want to get it and laugh at it. Although…
Considering the fact that some of it was filmed near a nuclear test site and a large number of people in the cast/crew developed cancer later in life, probably due to radiation poisoning, and that sobering fact may make you not enjoy the flick at all if you think about it for too long.
And yet it still looks better than that Khan movie with Charlton Heston and the bad guy from Kindergarten Cop.
If you want to see a better flick with Genghis, check out Mongol. Sure, I'd say it's a little overrated but it's much better than the two movies I've talked about here.
If my Internet doesn't crap out on me due to BrightHouse being brutally incompetent, by the end of the weekend I'll have new stuff posted here.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Toy Story/Toy Story 2
Toy Story (1995)
100% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 64 reviews)
Runtime: 81 minutes
Directed by: John Lasseter
Starring: The voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn
From: Disney/Pixar
Would you believe that I hadn’t seen the first Toy Story since ’96 and I had never seen Toy Story 2 before? Sad but true. So, I figured that the double feature of the two movies in 3D is a great way for me to get to see both and in an awesome format.
Recently during the late evening I saw this. The crowd wasn’t large at all and yet of course some people there were Troglodytes. But, even though they were dumb they didn’t cause any problems when the movies started, so I really can’t carp too loudly. I definitely can’t carp about the presentation as the picture looked great (the 3D wasn’t overdone or distracting) and the inserts they had before the movies and during the 10 minute intermission were fun and fit perfectly.
I won’t describe the movie as I’m sure just about everyone knows what it’s about, but this tale featuring such stuff as friendship, jealousy, revenge, being happy with who you really are, childhood innocence, and other things is a classic and works great with both adults and children. As the first-ever feature-length computer animated film, it still looks great 14 years later and the story itself more than holds up, as it is timeless. The kid next door Sid is quite the villain and you enjoy his comeuppance. The climax involving Buzz and Woody still looks great in 2009. So, I’m happy that I finally saw this again in a great format and now I wish I would have seen it again much sooner than I did.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
100% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 130 reviews)
Runtime: 92 minutes
Directed by: John Lasseter/Ash Brannon/Lee Unkrich
Starring: The voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Wayne Knight
From: Disney/Pixar
Like I said before I hadn’t seen this before so I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a bigger story in scope, a great opening segment, other great action sequences, and a story about loss, children growing up, losing touch with your friends as you get older, and all that jazz. The villains have motives that make logical sense and yet you still root against them and again you’ll enjoy their comeuppance. Everything is bigger in scope-as I said already-and it all looks great due to the improved technology. It was great seeing such an awesome flick in this way for the very first time. Many people say that it's better than the first (and it's a rare feat for a sequel to be better than the original) and I'll have to agree with them, although it's close and both are classics. I also enjoyed the end credits bit where it was like a Jackie Chan movie and you saw bloopers and outtakes.
Check this spot out in a few days to see what new stuff I have posted.
100% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 64 reviews)
Runtime: 81 minutes
Directed by: John Lasseter
Starring: The voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn
From: Disney/Pixar
Would you believe that I hadn’t seen the first Toy Story since ’96 and I had never seen Toy Story 2 before? Sad but true. So, I figured that the double feature of the two movies in 3D is a great way for me to get to see both and in an awesome format.
Recently during the late evening I saw this. The crowd wasn’t large at all and yet of course some people there were Troglodytes. But, even though they were dumb they didn’t cause any problems when the movies started, so I really can’t carp too loudly. I definitely can’t carp about the presentation as the picture looked great (the 3D wasn’t overdone or distracting) and the inserts they had before the movies and during the 10 minute intermission were fun and fit perfectly.
I won’t describe the movie as I’m sure just about everyone knows what it’s about, but this tale featuring such stuff as friendship, jealousy, revenge, being happy with who you really are, childhood innocence, and other things is a classic and works great with both adults and children. As the first-ever feature-length computer animated film, it still looks great 14 years later and the story itself more than holds up, as it is timeless. The kid next door Sid is quite the villain and you enjoy his comeuppance. The climax involving Buzz and Woody still looks great in 2009. So, I’m happy that I finally saw this again in a great format and now I wish I would have seen it again much sooner than I did.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
100% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 130 reviews)
Runtime: 92 minutes
Directed by: John Lasseter/Ash Brannon/Lee Unkrich
Starring: The voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Wayne Knight
From: Disney/Pixar
Like I said before I hadn’t seen this before so I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a bigger story in scope, a great opening segment, other great action sequences, and a story about loss, children growing up, losing touch with your friends as you get older, and all that jazz. The villains have motives that make logical sense and yet you still root against them and again you’ll enjoy their comeuppance. Everything is bigger in scope-as I said already-and it all looks great due to the improved technology. It was great seeing such an awesome flick in this way for the very first time. Many people say that it's better than the first (and it's a rare feat for a sequel to be better than the original) and I'll have to agree with them, although it's close and both are classics. I also enjoyed the end credits bit where it was like a Jackie Chan movie and you saw bloopers and outtakes.
Check this spot out in a few days to see what new stuff I have posted.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Untraceable
Untraceable (2008)
14% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 138 reviews)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Diane Lane, Colin Hanks, Billy Burke, Joseph Cross
From: Screen Gems/Lakeshore Entertainment
Here is a movie I saw earlier in the year. I won’t mention the circumstances behind me watching this (as after all I’ve always heard it was not good) but I did and it lived up, or rather down, to its reputation.
This is another thriller revolving around computers and the Internet and set in the Pacific Northwest (meaning: plenty of rainfall). I guess Firewall and this did it because Microsoft is located in the area… I don’t know, it’s just a guess. Here, Lane plays the head of a cybercrimes unit in Portland, Oregon along with Hanks and they investigate a major case that happens to be in their own backyard. A mysterious person is killing people and streaming it on the Internet for people to see, and the more hits he gets, the quicker they die. How he lives up to the movie title is done via mumbo jumbo, not all of which is realistic with current technology. I mean, the scene involving the OnStar in Lane’s car… I don’t think that can actually be done.
But, the downfall of this generic thriller with torture porn elements is that (besides it being boring more often than not) is that it’s hypocritical. It criticizes both people who anonymously do bad things on the ‘net and people who enjoy graphic violence and yet… this movie exploits the story of someone who does bad thing on the ‘net AND the movie yells at you for trying to enjoy this. Why should you enjoy this if it bashes you as an anonymous person on the Internet and rips you for trying to like the violence seen on the screen?
All that plus a really preposterous scene where one victim is able to communicate nonverbally where he’s located at and given the horrific conditions he’s experiencing at the time… this is another flick that I say you skip as hey, there are way too many movies out there (tens of thousands) and many of them are more worthy of seeing than this one.
Look below for another review I posted of another "techno thriller".
I'll be back sometime next week.
14% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 138 reviews)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Diane Lane, Colin Hanks, Billy Burke, Joseph Cross
From: Screen Gems/Lakeshore Entertainment
Here is a movie I saw earlier in the year. I won’t mention the circumstances behind me watching this (as after all I’ve always heard it was not good) but I did and it lived up, or rather down, to its reputation.
This is another thriller revolving around computers and the Internet and set in the Pacific Northwest (meaning: plenty of rainfall). I guess Firewall and this did it because Microsoft is located in the area… I don’t know, it’s just a guess. Here, Lane plays the head of a cybercrimes unit in Portland, Oregon along with Hanks and they investigate a major case that happens to be in their own backyard. A mysterious person is killing people and streaming it on the Internet for people to see, and the more hits he gets, the quicker they die. How he lives up to the movie title is done via mumbo jumbo, not all of which is realistic with current technology. I mean, the scene involving the OnStar in Lane’s car… I don’t think that can actually be done.
But, the downfall of this generic thriller with torture porn elements is that (besides it being boring more often than not) is that it’s hypocritical. It criticizes both people who anonymously do bad things on the ‘net and people who enjoy graphic violence and yet… this movie exploits the story of someone who does bad thing on the ‘net AND the movie yells at you for trying to enjoy this. Why should you enjoy this if it bashes you as an anonymous person on the Internet and rips you for trying to like the violence seen on the screen?
All that plus a really preposterous scene where one victim is able to communicate nonverbally where he’s located at and given the horrific conditions he’s experiencing at the time… this is another flick that I say you skip as hey, there are way too many movies out there (tens of thousands) and many of them are more worthy of seeing than this one.
Look below for another review I posted of another "techno thriller".
I'll be back sometime next week.
Firewall
Firewall (2006)
19% (based on 151 movie reviews)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Richard Loncraine
Starring: Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen, Paul Bettany, Robert Patrick, Mary Lynn Rajskub
From: Warner Brothers/Village Roadshow Productions
This is movie I’ve certainly heard of but I have had no desire to ever see it. Through a series of events I won’t recap, I was pretty much forced to watch this earlier this week.
It’s one of those “techno thrillers” (as you can probably gather from the title, if you know much of anything about computers) about a security expert at a bank (Ford) who has his family kidnapped by a gallery of rogues, led by Bettany, and he is forced to rob his own bank and give the money to the rogues. That’s pretty much the entire plot. I overall did not care for it at all. What turned me off the most was how cartoon-y evil the villains were, especially Bettany. You see them slap and punch Madsen, yell and be physically abusive to their kids, and even yell at their barking dog! Plus, Paul even treats his henchmen like crap the entire time, so don’t ask me why they went along with such an ass who is so disloyal to his help. So yeah, you hate the villains but in a “bad” way, and the problem is that you don’t like anyone else either! Talk about bad writing.
As for the technology, not all of it that you see in the flick is made-up babble, but some of it is. I mean, some stuff is rather preposterous. I won’t want to give any spoilers but in this case I have to… it’s to prove a point. You get to see a device involving the scanner from a fax machine wired to an iPod… and it works to capture images! As I heard from someone else, fax machines are so damn slow, how could it possibly capture a viewable image that scrolls by fast? Plus, you see a woman drive an old early 70’s Plymouth vehicle and yet she has an expensive laptop and cell phone… figures.
Yeah, in the end you get some action in what otherwise is just a drama/thriller and it’s a goofy setting and a fight you see is not bad but it’s definitely not one of Harrison’s best by an y stretch of the imagination (not even if you only include the movies he’s done in the past 10 years, when his career has been lean), the impressive-looking cast doesn’t get to do too much (and the guy who played the T-1000 is made to look like a real wimp, so I wouldn’t recommend you go out and see this. Add in no real originality or unexpected plot twists (at least Sorority Row tried to pull off some plot twists, but whether they’re “real” or just red herrings to trick the audience, I’d rather not say in order not to spoil anything, but it’s still more interesting than anything you see in oh so predictable flick like Firewall) and yeah, don’t see this.
19% (based on 151 movie reviews)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Richard Loncraine
Starring: Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen, Paul Bettany, Robert Patrick, Mary Lynn Rajskub
From: Warner Brothers/Village Roadshow Productions
This is movie I’ve certainly heard of but I have had no desire to ever see it. Through a series of events I won’t recap, I was pretty much forced to watch this earlier this week.
It’s one of those “techno thrillers” (as you can probably gather from the title, if you know much of anything about computers) about a security expert at a bank (Ford) who has his family kidnapped by a gallery of rogues, led by Bettany, and he is forced to rob his own bank and give the money to the rogues. That’s pretty much the entire plot. I overall did not care for it at all. What turned me off the most was how cartoon-y evil the villains were, especially Bettany. You see them slap and punch Madsen, yell and be physically abusive to their kids, and even yell at their barking dog! Plus, Paul even treats his henchmen like crap the entire time, so don’t ask me why they went along with such an ass who is so disloyal to his help. So yeah, you hate the villains but in a “bad” way, and the problem is that you don’t like anyone else either! Talk about bad writing.
As for the technology, not all of it that you see in the flick is made-up babble, but some of it is. I mean, some stuff is rather preposterous. I won’t want to give any spoilers but in this case I have to… it’s to prove a point. You get to see a device involving the scanner from a fax machine wired to an iPod… and it works to capture images! As I heard from someone else, fax machines are so damn slow, how could it possibly capture a viewable image that scrolls by fast? Plus, you see a woman drive an old early 70’s Plymouth vehicle and yet she has an expensive laptop and cell phone… figures.
Yeah, in the end you get some action in what otherwise is just a drama/thriller and it’s a goofy setting and a fight you see is not bad but it’s definitely not one of Harrison’s best by an y stretch of the imagination (not even if you only include the movies he’s done in the past 10 years, when his career has been lean), the impressive-looking cast doesn’t get to do too much (and the guy who played the T-1000 is made to look like a real wimp, so I wouldn’t recommend you go out and see this. Add in no real originality or unexpected plot twists (at least Sorority Row tried to pull off some plot twists, but whether they’re “real” or just red herrings to trick the audience, I’d rather not say in order not to spoil anything, but it’s still more interesting than anything you see in oh so predictable flick like Firewall) and yeah, don’t see this.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sorority Row
Sorority Row (2009)
25% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 59 reviews)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Stewart Hendler
Starring: Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Audrina Patridge, Carrie Fisher
From: Summit Entertainment
Sorority Row is a movie I’ve heard about for awhile and it’s a remake of the 80’s flick The House on Sorority Row, which I haven’t seen before so I’m unable to compare the two. What caught my eye with the remake was, to be blunt, the attractive women in the cast and seeing them wear not much in the way of clothing! I know, shallow, but that’s how I feel. Man, Briana Evigan… very nice.
I already mentioned the problems I had last week in watching this movie, so I only saw the first half of it. Yesterday, I finally got to see this in full. As I figured from seeing the first half of it, it’s a goofy trashy movie that you can’t really take seriously, and yet it is entertaining trash and while the kills weren’t that inventive they were still good overall and looked fine enough.
You probably know the plot already if you’ve seen the trailer as a lot is given away, but it’s all about several ladies in a sorority, including the bitchy girl that’s the unofficial leader, and what happens when a prank against a guy goes awry and one of their sisters is accidentally killed, so they cover it up. Problems arise the night of graduation. Yeah, it does sound a whole lot like I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is a film I enjoyed way back when. I Still Know…, though, is a horrible movie and it shouldn’t be seen; I mean, the big plot point of that film is knowing the capital of Brazil! No lie.
Sorority Row, like I said, is entertaining trash and I can’t say is “good”, but it’s not ”bad”, IMO. You’ll have to put up with some goofy and eye-rolling dialogue, but if you can and you like horror flicks with some nice gore and a good amount of nudity (mainly female, but some male too) then you may have fun with this. It’s almost out of first-run theatres now but I wouldn’t be surprised if it made it to some dollar theatres in like a month or two, so you can wait for that or until it comes to DVD, probably before 2009 is over with. What a stocking-stuffer! I’d like to stuff… oh wait that’s way too crude, nevermind.
I’ll be back in a few.
25% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 59 reviews)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Stewart Hendler
Starring: Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Audrina Patridge, Carrie Fisher
From: Summit Entertainment
Sorority Row is a movie I’ve heard about for awhile and it’s a remake of the 80’s flick The House on Sorority Row, which I haven’t seen before so I’m unable to compare the two. What caught my eye with the remake was, to be blunt, the attractive women in the cast and seeing them wear not much in the way of clothing! I know, shallow, but that’s how I feel. Man, Briana Evigan… very nice.
I already mentioned the problems I had last week in watching this movie, so I only saw the first half of it. Yesterday, I finally got to see this in full. As I figured from seeing the first half of it, it’s a goofy trashy movie that you can’t really take seriously, and yet it is entertaining trash and while the kills weren’t that inventive they were still good overall and looked fine enough.
You probably know the plot already if you’ve seen the trailer as a lot is given away, but it’s all about several ladies in a sorority, including the bitchy girl that’s the unofficial leader, and what happens when a prank against a guy goes awry and one of their sisters is accidentally killed, so they cover it up. Problems arise the night of graduation. Yeah, it does sound a whole lot like I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is a film I enjoyed way back when. I Still Know…, though, is a horrible movie and it shouldn’t be seen; I mean, the big plot point of that film is knowing the capital of Brazil! No lie.
Sorority Row, like I said, is entertaining trash and I can’t say is “good”, but it’s not ”bad”, IMO. You’ll have to put up with some goofy and eye-rolling dialogue, but if you can and you like horror flicks with some nice gore and a good amount of nudity (mainly female, but some male too) then you may have fun with this. It’s almost out of first-run theatres now but I wouldn’t be surprised if it made it to some dollar theatres in like a month or two, so you can wait for that or until it comes to DVD, probably before 2009 is over with. What a stocking-stuffer! I’d like to stuff… oh wait that’s way too crude, nevermind.
I’ll be back in a few.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity (2007)
92% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 24 reviews)
Runtime: 85 minutes (don't believe the 99 minutes that has been bandied about)
Directed by: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
From: Paramount/Dreamworks/Blumhouse Productions
I’ve talked about this movie before and there’s a really informative article from the LA Times here which explains the history of the movie and why it sat on the shelf for so long, but FINALLY now I can talk about it after seeing it in person.
To copy and paste from a recent MySpace blog:
I’m not sure if this was the arrangement that all the other 11 theatres had when they showed this last night and Friday night, but what everyone had to go through at Universal was enter in, wait in line, then the line was moved outside and then they only let people into the auditorium a few people at a time and then wait at least a minute before they let a few more people in at a time. THEN, you had to enter the auditorium (and be told where to sit exactly) first before going back to concessions to get stuff there! It was a total dick dance and I'm presuming based on past experience that it was probably a Universal thing (the staff being rude on that night didn't help matters) rather than a needlessly complex thing that was demanded by Paramount that all theatres MUST do. To quote another theatre-goer, "What, hasn't this place ever had a sell out before?" Why didn't they just have people enter the theatre normally rather than do this dick dance, I don't know, but it came dangerously close to ruining the whole night for me. I'm glad I ended up liking the movie and had a great experience once the film started. I don’t really want to give anything away (and when I eventually talk more about the movie on my movie blog page, I’ll try to be vague about it) as it’d ruin the surprises, but for a simple movie that isn’t complex and costs about as much as the cheapest compact car, it is VERY freaky and many people there were screaming in terror during the scary scenes. It’s supposed to be in wider release next month, or so I understand, so you can wait to see it then, or see it at Universal the first few days of next month if you can go to it at midnight and are willing to put up with that BS treatment I described above. Even with their dick dance thing, the movie IS worth that aggravation, and then some.
OK, onto the movie. As I said before, it's about a young couple who move into a new house and some sort of spirit that's bothered the girl intermittently since childhood pops up again and this time the boyfriend confronts it, and from the usage of a handheld camera hooked up to a laptop, they record what happens at night when they're asleep. We see everything happen in one house through the span of about 20 days. You'd think that with the setup and the budget, no way could it be as scary as advertised. Well, trust me, it IS very freaky. I mean, it's certainly scarier than most horror flicks out there, and it's the opposite of a gore-fest and what is so scary is the setting, the usage of sound, and strange out of the world images that lets you know something other-worldly is going on. There's probably a backlash due to all the hyperbole that's been used in the advertising, but don't let that sway you from seeing it if you can. It's in more towns this upcoming weekend and info can be found on such places as the movie's official website.
In general, the "sold out" auditorium (although the first few rows were empty) was freaked out of their minds by it. I'm sure I knew more about the movie than many of them did; I wish I knew how they all heard about it and if any had known about the movie for as long as I did. They ran mainly horror trailers and the only one that got applause (!) was the crappy no-budget one for Saw VI. I'm sure they would've gone wild if they had shown the New Moon trailer! No wonder why they were freaked out as much as they were. I was certainly chilled by it and I was on edge but there were people shrieking in terror and there was groans when they knew something bad was going to happen... and the surprises, I wouldn't be surprised if people jumped out of their seats due to fright. I know the ending minute or two is something I won't forget due to the surprise and one unnatural moment in particular.
Like I said, believe the hype and if you can see it, you MUST. It really is that good, and a 15,000 dollar movie having this kind of run is an amazing success story.
I'll be back by the end of the week.
92% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 24 reviews)
Runtime: 85 minutes (don't believe the 99 minutes that has been bandied about)
Directed by: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
From: Paramount/Dreamworks/Blumhouse Productions
I’ve talked about this movie before and there’s a really informative article from the LA Times here which explains the history of the movie and why it sat on the shelf for so long, but FINALLY now I can talk about it after seeing it in person.
To copy and paste from a recent MySpace blog:
I’m not sure if this was the arrangement that all the other 11 theatres had when they showed this last night and Friday night, but what everyone had to go through at Universal was enter in, wait in line, then the line was moved outside and then they only let people into the auditorium a few people at a time and then wait at least a minute before they let a few more people in at a time. THEN, you had to enter the auditorium (and be told where to sit exactly) first before going back to concessions to get stuff there! It was a total dick dance and I'm presuming based on past experience that it was probably a Universal thing (the staff being rude on that night didn't help matters) rather than a needlessly complex thing that was demanded by Paramount that all theatres MUST do. To quote another theatre-goer, "What, hasn't this place ever had a sell out before?" Why didn't they just have people enter the theatre normally rather than do this dick dance, I don't know, but it came dangerously close to ruining the whole night for me. I'm glad I ended up liking the movie and had a great experience once the film started. I don’t really want to give anything away (and when I eventually talk more about the movie on my movie blog page, I’ll try to be vague about it) as it’d ruin the surprises, but for a simple movie that isn’t complex and costs about as much as the cheapest compact car, it is VERY freaky and many people there were screaming in terror during the scary scenes. It’s supposed to be in wider release next month, or so I understand, so you can wait to see it then, or see it at Universal the first few days of next month if you can go to it at midnight and are willing to put up with that BS treatment I described above. Even with their dick dance thing, the movie IS worth that aggravation, and then some.
OK, onto the movie. As I said before, it's about a young couple who move into a new house and some sort of spirit that's bothered the girl intermittently since childhood pops up again and this time the boyfriend confronts it, and from the usage of a handheld camera hooked up to a laptop, they record what happens at night when they're asleep. We see everything happen in one house through the span of about 20 days. You'd think that with the setup and the budget, no way could it be as scary as advertised. Well, trust me, it IS very freaky. I mean, it's certainly scarier than most horror flicks out there, and it's the opposite of a gore-fest and what is so scary is the setting, the usage of sound, and strange out of the world images that lets you know something other-worldly is going on. There's probably a backlash due to all the hyperbole that's been used in the advertising, but don't let that sway you from seeing it if you can. It's in more towns this upcoming weekend and info can be found on such places as the movie's official website.
In general, the "sold out" auditorium (although the first few rows were empty) was freaked out of their minds by it. I'm sure I knew more about the movie than many of them did; I wish I knew how they all heard about it and if any had known about the movie for as long as I did. They ran mainly horror trailers and the only one that got applause (!) was the crappy no-budget one for Saw VI. I'm sure they would've gone wild if they had shown the New Moon trailer! No wonder why they were freaked out as much as they were. I was certainly chilled by it and I was on edge but there were people shrieking in terror and there was groans when they knew something bad was going to happen... and the surprises, I wouldn't be surprised if people jumped out of their seats due to fright. I know the ending minute or two is something I won't forget due to the surprise and one unnatural moment in particular.
Like I said, believe the hype and if you can see it, you MUST. It really is that good, and a 15,000 dollar movie having this kind of run is an amazing success story.
I'll be back by the end of the week.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
An Update
Let me cut and paste from my latest blog on MySpace/Facebook:
Originally I had tonight planned as me seeing a pair of movies at the theatres at CityWalk (Sorority Row and then Paranormal Activity, a movie I’ve talked about recently that has gotten a LOT of hype and CityWalk is one of only like 8 places all across this country showing it this weekend) but things changed when I found out that the Friday night midnight screening was sold out. Yeah, they’re showing it only once a day at midnight and that’s it and it’s this Friday, Saturday, and then next Thursday through Saturday and then that’s it. With the way things are now I’d better see it as soon as I can so even though I have my sisters (and husband of one of them) coming down this weekend I now had to change things around and tonight was me going to Universal, seeing Sorority Row there that night, and get a ticket to see Paranormal Activity tomorrow night at midnight. It means that even though I didn’t want to do it that way, I will be seeing a wrestling show Saturday evening in nearby Minneola and then leaving from that and going straight to CityWalk.
Unfortunately, things got screwed up AGAIN and it’s because I went and saw Sorority Row and unfortunately, because of some complete baboons in the audience making noise as if they were at a zoo, I had to leave as there was no possible way I could concentrate and focus on the movie when those monkeys were so disruptive. I don’t know what’s worse, them acting that way or the few other people in the auditorium doing nothing about it, as if they’re ok with that disrespectful ignorant crap. I’m not a fan of ignorance, in case you couldn’t tell. At first they made some noise but it was intermittent. Then, it became nonstop and it was just unbearable. When I left I walked by them and I stopped and gave them a dirty look! Really. They deserved it. Then again, they deserved a large bag of popcorn and several sodas dumped on them, but alas… I stopped and talked to management before I left and I got a free pass to use at anytime at any AMC joint, so depending on how things go I’ll have to use that this upcoming week during an unbusy time for me (and where I’ll be more confident there won’t be any Troglodytes around) I’ll have to see the movie in full. It sure as shit will NOT be at CityWalk. In fact, after Paranormal Activity tomorrow night it’ll be a long while before I go to Universal, let alone that theatre. I’ve had problems there and one other time I had to go get a free pass due to more baboons being disruptive. It’s best if I try to avoid all that Halloween Horror Nights garbage. No offense to anyone who likes it, but it’s not for me, that’s what I’ll say about it. It started tonight so yeah it’s a zoo there, but thankfully it wasn’t filled with baboons; it’s just that the ones I saw were in a theatre and hell, it looked like a mom and some kids, none of whom looked to be old enough to have too many pubes, to state it crudely! What an appropriate movie for them. What I saw of it, it was crappy, sure, but still entertaining. Hot women wearing a scanty amount of clothing and nighties… I enjoyed that, and I certainly enjoyed looking at Briana Evigan too. But yes, they haven’t showed any old movies at CityWalk in months so it will be a long time before I go back there after tomorrow night.
Yes, not good times. I'll continue the horror kick I'm on by reviewing those movies within the next week when I (hope) to see them, so check back then.
Originally I had tonight planned as me seeing a pair of movies at the theatres at CityWalk (Sorority Row and then Paranormal Activity, a movie I’ve talked about recently that has gotten a LOT of hype and CityWalk is one of only like 8 places all across this country showing it this weekend) but things changed when I found out that the Friday night midnight screening was sold out. Yeah, they’re showing it only once a day at midnight and that’s it and it’s this Friday, Saturday, and then next Thursday through Saturday and then that’s it. With the way things are now I’d better see it as soon as I can so even though I have my sisters (and husband of one of them) coming down this weekend I now had to change things around and tonight was me going to Universal, seeing Sorority Row there that night, and get a ticket to see Paranormal Activity tomorrow night at midnight. It means that even though I didn’t want to do it that way, I will be seeing a wrestling show Saturday evening in nearby Minneola and then leaving from that and going straight to CityWalk.
Unfortunately, things got screwed up AGAIN and it’s because I went and saw Sorority Row and unfortunately, because of some complete baboons in the audience making noise as if they were at a zoo, I had to leave as there was no possible way I could concentrate and focus on the movie when those monkeys were so disruptive. I don’t know what’s worse, them acting that way or the few other people in the auditorium doing nothing about it, as if they’re ok with that disrespectful ignorant crap. I’m not a fan of ignorance, in case you couldn’t tell. At first they made some noise but it was intermittent. Then, it became nonstop and it was just unbearable. When I left I walked by them and I stopped and gave them a dirty look! Really. They deserved it. Then again, they deserved a large bag of popcorn and several sodas dumped on them, but alas… I stopped and talked to management before I left and I got a free pass to use at anytime at any AMC joint, so depending on how things go I’ll have to use that this upcoming week during an unbusy time for me (and where I’ll be more confident there won’t be any Troglodytes around) I’ll have to see the movie in full. It sure as shit will NOT be at CityWalk. In fact, after Paranormal Activity tomorrow night it’ll be a long while before I go to Universal, let alone that theatre. I’ve had problems there and one other time I had to go get a free pass due to more baboons being disruptive. It’s best if I try to avoid all that Halloween Horror Nights garbage. No offense to anyone who likes it, but it’s not for me, that’s what I’ll say about it. It started tonight so yeah it’s a zoo there, but thankfully it wasn’t filled with baboons; it’s just that the ones I saw were in a theatre and hell, it looked like a mom and some kids, none of whom looked to be old enough to have too many pubes, to state it crudely! What an appropriate movie for them. What I saw of it, it was crappy, sure, but still entertaining. Hot women wearing a scanty amount of clothing and nighties… I enjoyed that, and I certainly enjoyed looking at Briana Evigan too. But yes, they haven’t showed any old movies at CityWalk in months so it will be a long time before I go back there after tomorrow night.
Yes, not good times. I'll continue the horror kick I'm on by reviewing those movies within the next week when I (hope) to see them, so check back then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)