Paranormal Activity(2009)
Paranormal Results
Synopsis: A couple decides to video the strange noises and activities while they sleep only to discover more than a settling house.
Rated: R
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 86 minutes
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat
Directed By: Oren Peli
Theater Release: October 16, 2009
Oh man! Where do I start? First time director Oren Peli just showed the world what an independent film maker can and should do with a limited budget. I’ve seen many scary/horror movies in my time. In fact I make an effort to ask, read, look up and find what people think of as the scariest movies and buy them to see if it’s true. More times than not the movies you see are bloody and gory, with some having a few jumpy moments but not very “scary” in the end. I define a scary movie as one that after you leave the theater and go home, your still a bit twitchy thinking about what you’ve seen. Truly scary movies will have you staring at the darkened closet thinking you see shapes while you lie in bed. “Paranormal Activity” is a movie that not only made the first night a sleepless one, but so were the next two or three. It’s that good. (It was a towel hanging in the closet by the way)
The pacing of this movie is what does it. It slowly builds and builds to the point where every time the young couple start going to sleep at night you will already be nervous wondering what is going to happen. The storyline is good at setting up this pace although it may be a little lacking in some of the details. Basically it’s about a young girl and her boyfriend dealing with a haunting by some entity. They decide to try and catch some of the “Paranormal Activity” on camera to find out what strange things are actually happening while they sleep. Things start off tame, strange noises, bumps in the night and slowly build to a shocking climax.
The thought of a home movie “film” will make most people think of “The Blair Witch Project” but this movie was filmed in a way that the comparison doesn’t exactly work. There is no running around with a shaky cam, mostly the camera is fixed on a tri-pod and the shot is steady. It works much better than some other “hand camera” films because of that. It is just you the viewer seeing what’s happening while this couple is asleep. The film plays on the feeling of being vulnerable while you’re asleep and it takes the noises from everyday things that everyone has experienced and twists it to make them frightening. There is no blood, no gore just a mind game that I can honestly say scared me more than any movie I’ve seen since I was twelve years old.
I suggest everyone see this movie at least once. It’s just fun to be scared and “Paranormal Activity” does it in the simplest ways. This is a movie that the kids seeing it today will always remember it as the movie that freaked them out in their youth. (The way I remember “IT” from when I was twelve) It would be even truer if they had been able to pull off a PG-13 rating by not using the F-word a couple times too many, leaving a larger audience of kids scared of the dark. Just know that the adults watching this movie will also be knocked down to the level of feeling like there’s a monster under the bed. The lessons I learned from this movie: Don’t date crazy people, don’t play with Ouija boards, and always sleep with the lights already on. Well, two out of three isn’t bad...
Zombieland (2009)
Zombie Fun Land!
Synopsis: Two men trying to survive in a world overrun by zombies.
Rated: R
Genre: Action, Horror, Comedy
Run Time: 88 minutes
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Directed By: Ruben Fleischer
Theater Release: October 2, 2009
Sometimes you want to just see a movie that is fun. Where for two hours you can sit back and enjoy a wild ride through some crazy movie that’s not about winning awards but that is about just having a good time. That movie is “Zombieland” and it’s the most fun I’ve had watching a movie in a very long time.
First time director Ruben Fleischer found his niche with this film about post apocalyptic America where the few survivors have all found a special way to cope and live on. Some live by a code, some dress like zombies themselves, some con their way ahead of the competition, and some are just badass’ trying to find the worlds last Twinkie before it expires. “Zombieland” has everything that I love from this genre of film. There are gory zombie kills but they are all in good fun so while your looking away your also cracking a huge grin over it. There are witty one liners, insane video game-ish battles, some jumpy scares, and the greatest cameo ever in movie history.
Woody Harrelson is awesome going back to the type of role I love for him to play. His character is almost a perfect mix of Mickey Knox from Natural Born Killers and Charlie from “Money Train”. He’s both a crazy madman and a loveable idiot both roles he was born to play. Not to discount the other actors but his character of Tallahassee is truly what makes this movie great, well that and the fore-mentioned cameo which I wont ruin.
In short everyone who is a fan of fun mindless cinema should go see this movie. It’s not for kids but they can check it out when they’re older. The rest of us should go get the box of popcorn ready sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster, while the kids can go into the other room and watch Garfield.
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Wild Things
Synopsis: A children's book brought to life. A misbehaving child uses his imagination to create his own world after being punished.
Rated: PG
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 101 minutes
Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'hara, Forest Whitaker
Directed By: Spike Jonze
Theater Release: October 16, 2009
Should a beloved children’s book always be made into a movie for children? Or should it be something more than the usual simplistic feel good live action cartoon? Wild man Spike Jonze the director of “Adaptation” and “Being John Malkovich” who got his start in music videos (most recognizable being the Beastie Boys “Sabotage”) has taken the story of “Where The Wild Things Are” to the big screen. His vision for this film may not be what you would expect (in fact it took be awhile to decide how I felt about it) but in the end I believe he did it brilliantly with visuals for the children and a storyline for adults.
If you go into this movie expecting to see a Disney movie be warned that it is not. It has a deep meaningful storyline full of childhood angst with moving subplot. To me it was a film not “of the book” but inspired “from the book” and instead of being for children of today it will make adults remember how it felt to be a child. When I say it will make you feel like a child I don’t mean everything is puppies and rainbows, which is an adult view of childhood. What I mean is the love, anger, loneliness, jealousy, fear, happiness, confusion, and ability to take that stew of emotions you don’t quite understand and create a world of your own to cope with it.
The look of this film is amazing and it will most likely be receiving an Oscar for it. The “Wild Things” are not just puppets or CGI effects they have character and personality. The voice acting is perfectly cast for the characters (except for maybe one who I could of sworn was Seth Green but turned out not to be) and the feel of the voice acting matches the emotion of the characters so much you can forget they are 10 foot tall furbies. The landscapes are excellent and the contrast of Max’s make believe world from that of a drab snowy real one has a great effect.
When you go to see this movie you will need to let go a little. It is a bit dark and will mostly be over the heads of the children you watch it with. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some adults may think it’s too melancholy, while their children don’t understand it at all. But if you just go with it you may find yourself immersed in a fantasy world that will take you back to how you really felt at times when you were a child and that’s an impressive feat for a movie. Especially from a film that’s based on a book with only twenty sentences to read in the whole thing. That’s ten less than this article has.
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (sp?)
Synopsis: A group of Jewish-American soldiers are given the special assignment of hunting, capturing, scalping and killing Nazis in Nazi-occupied France.
Rated: R
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 153 minutes
Starring: Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christopher Waltz, Eli Roth
Directed By: Quentin Tarrantino
Theater Release: August 21, 2009
First off, with the highly unlikely chance Mr. Quentin Tarantino ever actually reads this, I want to say upfront that I am a fan. I enjoy your work, I appreciate the nuances of your style and love how you throw references in your films for other movie geeks to catch. In the case of Inglourious Basterds, however, I’m not sure how I feel.
The movie is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino who has written some of the greatest scenes ever put on film. (The dialog between Walken and Hopper in True Romance in my opinion being the best scene in any movie ever both for style, and artistry) All of the tale-tale Tarantino signs are present in his film about a World War II alternate history. Brad Pitt is great as the leader of the ragamuffin group sent to hassle the Germans, but I was disappointed the movie doesn’t focus on them as much as it could. Christoph Waltz who plays the German interrogator and protagonist is so enjoyable to watch as he flows through Tarantino’s monologues that I won’t be surprised if he’s nominated for an Oscar. Inglourious Basterds has a slightly long run time that seems to be unnecessary, but you never quite lose interest.
I usually love the dialog in a Tarantino movie as the conversations flow in such a stylistic way that few writers can capture. But in this movie it seems like Tarantino shotgun blasted those scenes across the film and hoped one of them would stick and become legendary pop-culture much like the “Royale w/Cheese” from Pulp Fiction (or in my case any line from Pulp Fiction). The end result of this being that instead of focusing on a few great scenes there is an over abundance of mediocrity. A staple of most Tarantino movies are the quotable lines that one can leave the theater with and repeat over and over to their friends for the next six months. After leaving the theater this time, I don’t think there are any that stick out in my mind. (It might have something to do with most of the film being in German, which flowed in and out seamlessly and is done very well)
Don’t get me wrong, Inglourious Basterds is an entirely decent movie. It is well acted, well written, and well directed. Every scene on its own will certainly be taken and studied individually in a film class somewhere. Every piece of the movie when looked at separately is great, but when all the pieces are put together I thought there was a lull in the 3rd act and a generally uninteresting storyline overall. But my skewed view of this movie could be entirely my own fault.
Since I first heard the concept of Inglourious Basterds I was so excited by the idea of Tarantino’s take on The Dirty Dozen type of movie that as I sat in the theater watching it I slowly realized that it wasn’t anything like that classic film and actually does not even focus on the Basterds. My initial reaction was to think Quentin is a bastard for letting me down and not making what could have been one of the greatest movies ever (like The Dirty Dozen). Instead, what Tarantino has created is a decent war movie for film critics and classes to rave about for its “originality” or “gutsy filmmaking” or whatever. But, Quentin you shouldn’t listen to them, you played it safe and you know it. As far as Tarantino filmmaking goes I say this was merely Par for the course, which is like Tiger only barely winning the Masters.
District 9 (2009)
District Mine
Synopsis: Aliens that are forced to live in slums find a friend in the government.
Rated: R
Genre: Action, Drama
Run Time: 112 minutes
Starring: Sharlto Copely, Jason Cope, Nathalie Bolt, Sylvaine Strike
Directed By: Neill Blomkamp
Theater Release: August 14, 2009
One of the signs of any significant movie is that it catches you off guard and within the two hours or so that you’re watching it you are actually intrigued by something unexpected. This is a rare feature in today’s world of cinema where everything is a remake of a sequel. But every now and then a movie comes out that is outside the box enough that a critic like me can hold it up and say “Look at this! It is unique and thus better than the majority of everything else!” District 9 is one of those movies, they come around every half decade or so. The type of film that while you’re sitting there watching it at first you think “wow this is nothing like I thought it would be” but it’s original and something you haven’t seen before. Examples of this in recent memory would be The Matrix (the first one before they ruined it) where a film blows your mind with just the concept behind the storyline.
Now District 9 is not a mind-blowing game changing film but it has that type of feel to it. The mishmash of styles and the underlying social commentary of the film mesh seamlessly to create a movie that works. My friends and I have often discussed how we are going to write a screenplay and what it would be like. I have come to the conclusion that for a low budget film from an artist starting out to be successful it has to be driven by either comical relief, (Kevin Smith, Clerks) impressive dialog, (Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs) or a truly intriguing idea (Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko). The forth bloody option would be to just make a grinningly visceral flick (Eli Roth, Cabin Fever) and District 9 falls somewhere between the last two. The dichotomy of the two styles is District 9’s backbone. How it is bloody fun to watch a human being explode like a water balloon after being hit with an alien gun and it is also interesting to think about Somalian gangs black market trading within the alien slums.
District 9 doesn’t do everything right, in fact it does a lot wrong. I found myself wondering if a different director took over halfway into the movie because the filming style completely changes. The main character (though funny) was a mismatch for the role he played (think Jonah from “ Summer Heights High”) which kinda killed it a bit when the movie was being serious. Also, the whole basis of the situation is not explained very well. Why are the aliens here in the first place? That should have at lease been mentioned once people learned how to talk to them. Perhaps some of these are in fact not flaws but the little things that add to the character of the film itself.
Regardless of how you will think of District 9 after you see it, you need to see it. If for no other reason than to support a film that tried to do something different and was not made with a proven formula for box office success. More people in the movie industry need the guts to make a film like this one because it will better the quality of all movies. They just have to find that balance between art and dollars (Martin Scorsese and Michael Bay ). This is the type of movie that my friends and I said “we need to make a movie like that!” as we walked to our cars.
Public Enemies (2009)
Public Nuisance
Synopsis: Feds try to take down 1930s gangster John Dillinger.
Rated: R
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 154 minutes
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, James Russo, David Wenham
Directed By: Michael Mann
Theater Release: July 12, 2009
I’ve told many people that my dream job is to be one of those guys who edits movie trailers. You get to see the movies early and pick the scenes you think would best describe the film or will market the film well. Many of these editors give away too much in the preview where I find my self able to guess the whole plot line (twist included) from the three minutes I’ve seen. For example watch the trailer for “Hide and Seek” or “Righteous Kill” come the think of it take pretty much any De Niro movie in the past 10 years. Those are “bad” trailers, but one of the most appealing aspects of my dream job is that every now and then you can make a “good” trailer and really piss off a bunch of people in the process. Some editor somewhere is smirking to himself at the opening weekend numbers for “Public Enemies” because he tricked us all, and I want to do that.
Hey, did you see that trailer for the new gangster movie with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale? It looks like an awesome modern flick about American legend John Dillinger. If you thought that then you’ve been had and some advertisement agency somewhere earned their money. Michael Mann directed this extended history channel special and I believe he hasn’t directed a decent movie since Heat (which fate would have it was also one of De Niro’s last good movies; see how I come full circle there). Of late all Michael Mann films are heavy on the dialogue and extremely slow on the pacing to the point that when something interesting actually happens I’m already too zoned out to care. If you don’t understand what I mean take his last movie “Miami Vice” for instance. Did anyone stay awake long enough or care enough to know how that movie ended, my little field test shows that no; not one person remembers what happens after the first 30 minutes (from the 5 people in my office anyways).
That’s how Public Enemies feels, it is entirely too slow and not the movie the trailer shows it to be. Christian Bale is in the movie but his character didn’t even need to exist he doesn’t do anything the whole film or add to the story in anyway. The studio should have saved the money and hired an unknown and have a better effect because no one would think this character must matter, Christian Bale is playing him. It’s not that the acting is bad. Depp and Bale give solid performances but they could be convincing physics professors and I’d still be bored watching them. Public Enemies actually received decent reviews from some famous sources that I usually respect, but on this film they are disconnected from the general population. Public Enemies is a mundane film but would have been a great history channel reenactment all that’s missing is narration.
