Between Pictures

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

2008-12-31T23:53:00.001+11:00

Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Writer: Kazunori Itô
Released: 1995
Cast: Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama, Ayako Fujitani, Yukijirô Hotaru

The Dead Hate the Living

2008-12-30T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Dave Parker
Writer: Dave Parker
Released: 2000
Cast: Eric Clawson, Jamie Donahue, Brett Beardslee, Wendy Speake, Benjamin P. Morris, Matt Stephens

Mamma Mia!

2008-12-30T21:48:00.001+11:00

Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Catherine Johnson
Released: 2008
Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried

Highlander: Director's Cut

2008-12-30T21:35:00.001+11:00

Director: Russel Mulcahy
Writers: Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson
Released: 1986
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart, Sean Connery, Beatie Edney

Seven Pounds

2008-12-29T23:59:00.002+11:00

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Writer: Grant Nieporte
Released: 2008
Cast: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper

The Godfather

2008-12-28T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Released: 1972
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Talia Shire, John Cazale

The Blues Brothers

2008-12-27T23:31:00.002+11:00

Director: John Landis
Writers: Dan Aykroyd, John Landis
Released: 1980
Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, John Candy, The Blues Brothers Band

The Day the Earth Stood Still

2008-12-26T21:06:00.001+11:00

Director: Scott Derrickson
Writer: David Scarpa
Released: 2008
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, Kathy Bates, John Cleese, Jon Hamm

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-25T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Writer: John Hughes
Released: 1989
Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Johnny Galecki, Juliette Lewis, Randy Quaid

The Nightmare Before Christmas

2008-12-24T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Henry Selick
Writer: Caroline Thompson
Released: 1993
Cast: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Edward Ivory

Trust the Man

2008-12-23T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Bart Freundlich
Writer: Bart Freundlich
Released: 2005
Cast: David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Billy Crudup

Stripes: Extended Cut

2008-12-22T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Len Blum, Dan Goldberg, Harold Ramis
Released: 1981
Cast: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Candy, John Larroquette

Kicking and Screaming

2008-12-21T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Noah Baumbach
Writer: Noah Baumbach
Released: 1995
Cast: Josh Hamilton, Chris Eigeman, Carlos Jacott, Jason Wiles, Olivia d'Abo, Parker Posey, Carla Buono

Teen Wolf

2008-12-21T22:00:00.000+11:00

Director: Rod Daniel
Writers: Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman
Released: 1985
Cast: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine,

The Gold Bug

2008-12-20T23:59:00.002+11:00

Director: Robert Fuest
Writer: Edward Pomerantz
Released: 1980
Cast: Anthony Michael Hall, Roberts Blossom, Geoffrey Holder

A Christmas Story

2008-12-20T23:00:00.005+11:00

Director: Bob Clark
Writers: Jean Shepard, Leigh Brown, Bob Clark
Released: 1983
Cast: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Ian Petrella, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Tedde Moore, Zack Ward, Yano Anaya

Meatballs

2008-12-19T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Janis Allen, Harold Ramis
Released: 1979
Cast: Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch, Russ Banham, Kristine DeBell, Chris Makepeace, Sarah Torgov, Jack Blum, Keith Knight, Matt Craven

Ghostbusters

2008-12-18T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis
Released: 1984
Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2008-12-18T10:20:00.000+11:00

Director: Dave Filoni
Writers: Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching, Scott Murphy
Released: 2008
Cast: Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Ian Abercrombie, Kevin Michael Richardson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee

The Conversation

2008-12-17T21:14:00.000+11:00

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Released: 1974
Cast: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Robert Duvall

St. Elmo's Fire

2008-12-17T20:34:00.000+11:00

Director: Joel Schumacher
Writers: Joel Schumacher, Carl Kurlander
Released: 1985
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham

Loser

2008-12-16T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: Amy Heckerling
Writer: Amy Heckerling
Released: 2000
Cast: Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari, Greg Kinnear, Tom Sadoski, Zak Orth, Jimmi Simpson

Vacancy 2: The First Cut

2008-12-15T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Eric Bross
Writer: Mark L. Smith
Released: 2009
Cast: Agnes Bruckner, David Moscow, Scott G. Anderson, Arjay Smith, Trevor Wright, Beau Billingslea

STEVE says: Yeah, that's not a typo or anything. The IMDb has this movie listed with a January 2009 release date. We watched a screener. Which is cool because now I can honestly say I've seen the future of horror.

And it's bo-ring!

Within the first 20 minutes we're introduced to the two yahoos who run the Meadow View Motel, and learn that they're selling videotaped exploits of the young couples who've stayed at their fair establishment. No great shock there, as we already know the place is wired - having seen the first film. But when a decidedly suspicious looking "Mr. Smith" checks in with a young woman, and these yahoos watch as he first spreads a sheet of plastic over the bed, then proceeds to mount said young woman from behind and stab her in the back 20, 30 times... yeah, no real surprise there, either - having seen the first film!

The rest is no better. It's murder-by-numbers with the odd chase scene thrown in for good measure. Or, you know, to pad it out to its scant 86 minute running time.

And look, I'm just throwing this out, okay? For any direct-to-video prequels that may be in production at the moment: Don't use a number in the title. Don't use a number in the title especially if you're using a sub-title that refers to your movie being a prequel. It constitutes a supreme incongruity. That's the same sort of paradox thing that almost got Marty McFly killed.

1/5

Ghost Town

2008-12-14T20:57:00.007+11:00

Director: David Koepp
Writer: David Koepp, John Kamps
Released: 2008
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni

NIKKI says:
Every now and again, I just need a hit of Ricky Gervais. I've listened to his radio shows and watched The Office so many times, that anything new is a bit like crack -- gimme, gimme. I know he's arrogant, I know sometimes his humour borders on the cruel, but I love him anyway. And I know he has a good heart -- he has cats, you know. And he has more non-whorish self-respect than so many other UK-comics-made-good (*cough*I'll-be-in-anything-and-suck-up-to-Kevin-Smith*Simon*Pegg*).

Well, I wanted to watch it for Ricky and ended up enjoying it on its own very simple terms. It's a sweet story about a cranky old bugger who dies for seven minutes and ends up able to see ghosts who all want something from him. It's a bit like Heart and Souls -- asshole-ish Robert Downey Jnr has to help his ghost friends so they can pass on in peace. The twist here is that Ricky finds himself falling for the widow of one of his new ghost friends. Complications ensue.

Standard and formulaic, for sure, but just too sweet to dislike. And the actors make it all extra-watchable. I used to totally hate Greg Kinnear for reasons I can't even remember now, but I've come to love him. (Probably due to his involvement in Loser -- my secret favourite movie of all time.) He and Ricky play off each other really well here, ad it's so nice to see a movie about people that, while predicable, doesn't go the most convenient routes. Kinnear remains a bit of a prick, which is to say he doesn't get any easy redemption. The movie just accepts that not everyone is perfect, that love and fidelity are complicated issues, and that people can forgive.

I really liked it. I know Ricky doesn't just do every script thrown at him, but I hope to see him in more.

3.5/5

Surveillance

2008-12-13T23:59:00.004+11:00

Director: Jennifer Lynch
Writer: Jennifer Lynch, Kent Harper
Released: 2008
Cast: Bill Pullman, Julia Ormond, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins, Kent Harper, French Stewart, Michael Ironside

NIKKI says:
Compelling from beginning to end. I could barely look away from it. Every beat, every motion, every shot, every word is deliberate and calculated to build a mystery while solving another one.

Here, a scenario is presented, as seen through the eyes of three people (and three of the most unreliable narrators you can get) -- a crackhead, a bent cop, and an eight-year-old. The story goes that the cop and his partner stopped the girl's family on a routine speeding check, with the crackhead and her boyfriend literally caught in the middle when they stop to help the family, unaware of the cops behind them. In minutes, all but those three witnesses will be dead. But who saw what? Who did what? How does it all fit together with the spree killers on the loose as well? Two FBI agents are brought in to interview the witnesses and find out the truth.

It's all about seeing -- what we see, what we notice about people, how we react to each other. It's about looking for the details within the bigger picture; within bigger, skewed pictures. What does it mean to witness something? And what is it that we really see when we watch other people?

There are layers to this film. It's so intricately put together. It's been so long since I've thought to myself half way through a movie, "This is brilliant." The writing, the direction, the imagery -- I'm amazed that Jennifer Lynch has only directed a handful of films. Her attention to detail blew me away. She visually represents her themes in these effortless ways -- the three cars on the road matching the three surveillance camera in the police station, for instance, and the red, white and blue of those cars. She adds significance and purpose to every single shot -- nothing is wasted. (Her dad could learn a few things from her. Haha.)

It's all just amazing. Can't recommend it highly enough.

4.5/5

I.O.U.S.A.

2008-12-12T23:59:00.005+11:00

Director: Patrick Creadon
Writers: Patrick Creadon, Christine O'Malley, Addison Wiggin
Released: 2008
Cast: David Walker, Robert Bixby

NIKKI says:
So, oh my fucking god. The state of the world is worse than I imagined. And George W. Bush has had a more catastrophic impact on the world than I imagined (and I thought his war-mongering and his time as the Texacutioner couldn't be topped!).

This was less a documentary and more a horror movie. I gasped and jumped and couldn't believe much of what I was seeing. Even the beginning -- did you know that the economic crisis was predicted during White House speeches back in the days of Eisenhower? Pretty much every president mentioned in speeches throughout history how American people are spending more than they're earning. They all talk about the ramifications of that spending and massive debt generations are leaving for their offspring.

And now it's at crisis point. When they made this film, the National Debt was 8.7 trillion dollars and growing. America owes everyone and everyone in America seems to owe someone else and standards of living are plummeting because no one can afford anything. This movie details how the debt became so big and what needs to be done in order to get America's finances back in order.

Just like An Inconvenient Truth, the solutions are relatively simple, with great impact. But those solutions mean stepping out of our comfort zones and changing the way we live. I just don't know if I can see people doing that on such a large scale. Someone says it in this movie -- America does not respond until catastrophe. So, I can't see anything being done until the money literally dries up and Americans at large wind up on the streets. It's a tragedy. Maybe Barack Obama can do something about it?

This movie is highly informative, and simplifies much of what is happening as far as the debt goes to make it understandable. It's scary, really, just how easily it all can be simplified -- we spend too much, America spends too much, George W. Bush doubled the National Debt in just eight years in office. The movie uses cool little graphics to get its points across. It's also got some cool characters in David Walker and Robert Bixby -- men on a mission to inform America of its financial woes.

It's funny, educational, and terrifying as hell.

4.5/5

Charley Varrick

2008-12-11T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Don Siegel
Writers: Howard Rodman, Dean Riesner
Released: 1973
Cast: Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Andy Robinson, John Vernon, William Schallert, Norman Fell

Shrooms

2008-12-10T23:59:00.005+11:00

Director: Paddy Breathnach
Writer: Pearse Elliott
Released: 2006
Cast: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen, Alice Greczyn, Robert Hoffman

NIKKI says:
You know for a brief moment I forgot horro movies could be so shockingly awful. This one got points from me for doing something a tiny bit different with the whole horror visions and magic mushrooms premise. But the people behind this one don't know what scary means. And so they fucked it all up. The guys here come from that black pus looking like blood school of horror -- the more black pus we can squeeze into out movie, the more terrifying it will be!

Sorry guys -- we also need atmosphere and tension and, here's a thought -- A STORY. A story, of course, that's not semi-cribbed from every horror film in the land that features religious cults and orphanages.

Nope, I could barely stay awake this was so effing boring. Lame! (Although the poster is mildly rad.)

1/5

Futurama: Bender's Game

2008-12-09T20:26:00.002+11:00

Director: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Writers: Michael Rowe, Patric Verrone
Released: 2008
Cast: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNielle, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom, David Herman, Kath Soucie, Frank Welker

NIKKI says:
Okay, that's better. I enjoyed this one a whole lot more than the giant pink thing in the last Futurama movie. This one was relentless. It moved quickly and stayed on course and was just the right amount of ridiculous for 90 minutes. I liked it. I especially liked Bender's absession with Dungeons and Dragons and his quest for an active imagination.

"When will people learn that playing "Dungeons and Dragons" doesn't make you cool!"

3/5

The House Bunny

2008-12-08T23:21:00.005+11:00

Director: Fred Wolf
Writers: Karen McCullah Latz, Kirsten Smith
Released: 2008
Cast: Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Katharine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Colin Hanks

NIKKI says:
It could have gone one of two ways: Sweet and adorable with an obvious message but a fun way of getting there; or Obvious message but rude and stupid.

I was slightly concerned about the stupid in the beginning, but once House Bunny gets to the house and we meet her little Zeta charges, everything comes together and while it's all very predictable, and a little bit saccharine, it's all just too cute not to like.

So, a Playboy bunny gets (seemingly) tossed out of the mansion for being too old. with no friends or family or any place to go, she winds up on the doorstep of a sorority house. Looking for shelter and a place to fit in, she cajoles herself into the affections of the Zetas who she promises to turn from nerds to babes and get to keep their house, which, oh yeah, they are in danger of losing because no one will pledge there. I wonder what will happen?!?

It had its flaws but was ultimately just an enjoyable popcorn movie with cute girls and lots of pink. The best thing about the movie is Emma Stone who plays the Zeta leader, Natalie. We laughed more at her than anything else in the movie with her weird faces and her odd dialogue that was delivered so casually it all sounded like ad-libs. She was hilarious.

Verdict: Likable.

3/5

JCVD

2008-12-07T23:59:00.005+11:00

Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Writers: Frédéric Bénudis, Mabrouk El Mechri, Christophe Turpin
Released: 2008
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens

NIKKI says:
I can admit it: About 1992, when Universal Soldier came out, I had a slight obsession with Jean-Claude Van Damme. I had to watch all of his movies -- my favourite, of course, was Double Impact, probably because there were TWO Van Dammes. I even once let a guy flirt with me at a B&S because he looked exactly like JC. Height and all.

Tragic.

Well, now it all comes full circle. JC, turns out, isn't such a big weirdo as his pseudo-existential, emotional ramblings in the press might have us believe. Yes, he's slightly out there in terms of his philosophies and life choices, but this movie demonstrates that he's not completely insane. He's actually kind of endearing. This movie gives him a platform to change the public record and to reveal actual human depths.

Aside from all the Van Damme revelations and love, this is actually a good film. JC is trying to get some cash from a Belgian bank to pay off some guys and to help rebuild his relationship with his daughter, but the bank isn't co-operating. Seems JC has just stumbled into the middle of a hold up. He is dragged into the back of the bank where he stays with the rest of the hostages while a tense negotiation plays out between cops and robbers.

The genius thing here is JC has been placed into a situation very much like one of his films. He's the underestimated tough guy placed in supposed peril who wham-bams his way out of of the place and saves the girl. But that doesn't happen here. He's still underestimated, but he's hardly a tough guy, and his drive to save himself let alone anyone else is extremely low.

So, what does Van Damme do? Well, that's the key to this story. Its smart, funny, brave, and actually really tense and well-constructed. You will root for JC, and you will see him a new light, and if you don't come away respecting him... well, you just have no heart.

4/5

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

2008-12-07T16:37:00.003+11:00

Director: Kenny Ortega
Writer: Peter Barsocchini
Released: 2008
Cast: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman

NIKKI says:
Why was I so excited for this? I may have gone mad, but I just could not wait to see a High School Musical movie on the big screen. My excitement was all held over from the rush I got when we saw the preview ages ago before Wall-E. The curtain, the sparkles, the basketball, stepping noises... Wildcats WOOH!

I am so lame.

So, it was okay. Actually, it was huge fun and I loved it. However, I did have some issues with it. Many, of course, are the same issues I have with all these movies. I was hoping some of them would have been fixed this time around but no such luck. Here now are my top four Problems With High School Musical 3:

4. Sharpay's redemption
Or lack thereof. Sharpay spends the whole movie being an utter cunt to everyone that threatens her dreams of starring in the final East High Super-Mega-Show. She, like Natalie Sands (bitch!) before her will stop at nothing to make sure poor Gabriella misses the final show allowing Sharpay to step in and be the star. Well, she sabotages Gabriella's role, and almost ruins her relationship with Troy and completely overrides and shits on all her East High friends.

BUT! At the end of the movie, at graduation, who should be sitting next to Gabriella, both smiling at each other, but Sharpay! I didn't see them make up. I didn't see anyone spill red wine on Sharpay's expensive white dress as comeuppance. I saw no redemption whatsoever for bitchy Sharpay. Not good enough!

3. Gabriella's icky sweetness that makes me want to punch her
Can we get this girl some edge? Can't someone dig up some cell phone pics of her dancing around with an ex-boyfriend from her old school? Can we find out SOMETHING about her that doesn't make me think she's as soft as jelly? Ugh.

2. Gabriella's utter lack of character development
So, she goes to pre-college or whatever it is and decides a few days later to leave Troy and not come home for prom or the big final show. Umm... how did she come to this conclusion? These movies have this awful guy-centric thing, or Troy-centric, maybe, that utterly discounts the women. Look at Sharpay -- between these two protags, you'd think the writers here know only of two kinds of girls: sweet-natured Gidgets or bitch-ass beauty queens. This, of course, is so not the case. I was hoping to see Gabriella in her own "Bet On It" moment, getting out her aggression somehow -- throwing candy canes? horseback riding? -- but, alas. It was not to be.

1. The look in Troy's eyes that is supposed to say "I love you, sweet Gabriella" but really says "Man, can we just FUCK already?!"
Was it just me, or did Troy have raging hormones where his eyes should have been? Watch him every time he dances with Gabriella. He is flat out screaming with his face: "I want you!" And, of course, the little tease denies him, which just made me want to take him home all the more to put him out of his freakin' misery.

Phew.

Still, it was the best of the series with some great songs and some big cool dance numbers. I loved "Scream" and "The Boys are Back". It was just bigger and better as far as production goes. Pity they couldn't have ironed out some of my niggly issues. If only they were doing a fourth one...

3/5

Thank You Mask Man

2008-12-06T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: John Magnuson
Writer: Lenny Bruce
Released: 1971
Cast: Lenny Bruce

Night of Dark Shadows

2008-12-06T23:38:00.002+11:00

Director: Dan Curtis
Writer: Sam Hall
Released: 1971
Cast: David Selby, Kate Jackson, Grayson Hall, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, Thayer David

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

2008-12-05T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: John Hughes
Writer: John Hughes
Released: 1986
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffery Jones, Jennifer Gray

Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show

2008-12-04T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Ari Sandel
Released: 2006
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, Sebastian Maniscalco, Jon Favreau, Peter Billingsley

Baby Mama

2008-12-03T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: Michael McCullers
Writer: Michael McCullers
Released: 2008
Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard

Easy Rider

2008-12-03T20:49:00.002+11:00

Director: Dennis Hopper
Writers: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern
Released: 1969
Cast: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson

The Orphanage

2008-12-02T23:37:00.003+11:00

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sánchez
Released: 2007
Cast: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Geraldine Chaplin

Monster Man

2008-12-01T21:35:00.000+11:00

Director: Michael Davis
Writer: Michael Davis
Released: 2003
Cast: Eric Jungmann, Justin Urich, Aimee Brooks, Michael Bailey Smith

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

2008-11-30T23:59:00.004+11:00

Director: Tom Shadyac
Writers: Jack Bernstein, Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey
Released: 1994
Cast: Jim Carrey, Courtney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc, Udo Kier

STEVE says: Roger Ebert pointed out, in his July 1999 review of Dr. Strangelove, "[The film's] humor is generated by a basic comic principle: People trying to be funny are never as funny as people trying to be serious and failing. The laughs have to seem forced on unwilling characters by the logic of events. A man wearing a funny hat is not funny. But a man who doesn't know he's wearing a funny hat... ah, now you've got something."

Jim Carrey is not only aware of his funny hat, he wants to make damn sure you're aware that he's aware of it. Which is why I hate him.

It took me 14 years to finally sit and watch this movie from beginning to end (having seen bits and pieces through the years, whether because the characters I worked with in the video store when it was released would play it on an endless loop, or because my former roommate - coincidentally, one of those video store characters - was obsessed with it), and I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The plot was largely ridiculous, but that was to be expected. And it did make me laugh several times throughout - but only, I argue, where there was a joke and not simply Carrey being Carrey.

Early in the piece, Ace liberates a dog from a nasty owner, played by Randall "Tex" Cobb, who comes after him with a baseball bat. Ace manages a narrow escape, but not before Cobb smashes his windshield to hell and back. Consequently, Ace has to drive for the duration of the movie with his head out the window. Cute. Not, you know, "fall-down-hilarious", but cute. The scene where Ace and Courney Cox are going to a swanky party at Udo Kier's mansion, and she says to him before they enter, "Don't do anything to embarrass me," and he says, "Like this?" and starts dancing around like a spastic: also cute. Even mildly funny. Because it's been set up. Minutes later, though, Ace sneaks out a bathroom window, climbs along a railing and pretends to scale a wall while looking for clues - all without anyone watching but us. The humor just don't work because there's no one there to see his antics. Nikki - herself a fan of the movie - turned to me and said, "You have to wonder why he doesn't just do his job."

Thing is, Ace isn't like this all the time. There's a rare moment where he shows an almost human side toward Courtney Cox that just feels wrong and awkward because it comes out of nowhere (much like their romance), and goes against the behavior of the character as he's been developed.

I survived, though, that's the point. The movie wasn't as lame as I'd expected. Carrey, on the other hand, was.

2.5/5

NIKKI says:
Top 10 Best and Most Re-Used Quotes from Ace Ventura

1. Got a package, people!
2. Well... I have kissed a man.
3. Poor guy with a motive, baby!
4. Tonight on Miami Vice, Crockett gets the boss a coffee!
5. Obsess much?!?
6. Why? So you can beat him?
7. Lovely party. Pity I wasn't invited.
8. Had I been drinking out of the toilet, I might have been killed.
9. For God's sake, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a pool man!
10. They're little footballs!

3/5

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

2008-11-29T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: David Lynch
Writers: David Lynch, Robert Engels
Released: 1992
Cast: Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Moira Kelly, Dana Ashbrook, James Marshall, Chris Isaak, Kyle MacLachlan

After Hours

2008-11-28T23:41:00.008+11:00

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Joseph Minion
Released: 1985
Cast: Griffin Dunne, Roseanna Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, John Heard, Teri Garr, Catherine O'Hara, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Dick Miller, Verna Bloom

STEVE says: I'm going to go way out on a limb, here, and say that After Hours is my favorite Scorsese movie.

"What's that?" I hear you say. "Better than Goodfellas? Better than Taxi Driver or Mean Streets? Better even than The Departed?" No, I didn't say that. Better than has nothing to do with it. (And it's a subjective argument, anyway, don't you think?) But if I had to pick one Scorsese movie for my desert island list, it would be After Hours.

The movie's surreal nightmare quality is what appeals to me. It's like a Kafka story set in SoHo, with Griffin Dunne as Josef K. After a date goes from bad to worse to the absolute worst it could possibly get, the guy is just trying to get back home. But the gods or whatever will not allow that to happen. And after having to deal with a sadomasochistic sculptress, a paranoid subway attendant, a crazy waitress, a belligerent Mr. Softee truck operator and a passive aggressive bouncer, among many others, his goal changes from getting home to simply staying alive.

It's a hell of a movie that doesn't get the credit it deserves. And for the record, it's definitely better than Gangs of New York.

4/5

NIKKI says:
I should like this movie more than I do. I know I'll get crucified by this movies biggest fans (Steve and Lyndall), but I just don't feel anything for Griffin Dunne. Zip. He comes across to me as a smug prick and I just don't see why I should root for him. Is the movie too subtle in its absurdity for me? Maybe. Maybe I'm looking for connection where I shouldn't be, but no one in this movie compels me to follow their weird paths.

I don't remember disliking it prior as much as I did with this viewing. I just didn't care. I wanted him to get home just so I could go to bed. I like the movie's darkness, I think I appreciate what it wants to do -- Steve mentioned the Kafka aspect to the story -- but it doesn't do much for me.

This and King of Comedy are up there as the Scorsese movies everyone else loves but I could never watch again and be happy.

2.5/5

My Name is Bruce

2008-11-27T22:56:00.005+11:00

Director: Bruce Campbell
Writer: Mark Verheiden
Released: 2007
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Grace Thorsen, Taylor Sharpe, Ted Raimi

STEVE says: Bruce Campbell's My Name is Bruce was not all that I'd hoped it would be, but it was pretty much exactly what I'd expected. And that's kinda sad because, while I was hoping for something Damn Good to Excellent, my expectations hovered around Average to Good.

Campbell is playing "himself" here, kidnapped by a young fan and taken to the small town of Gold Lick, Oregon (population 339 and dwindling), where he is coerced by the townsfolk into defending them from the Chinese demon, Guan-Di, accidentally unleashed by a bunch of unwitting teens. It's a spin on The Three Amigos! and Galaxy Quest, where it's assumed that, because someone fights evil in the movies, one can do the same in real life - and it's fun. Add to the mix Campbell taking the piss out of himself and his B-movie status, and you've got what should be a solid B-movie in its own right.

So what went wrong?

Too Many Fanboy References, for one thing. This movie was clearly "one for the fans", but that shouldn't mean it alienates those who perhaps aren't as conversant with Campbell's career. The kid who kidnaps him, Jeff, is a Bruce Campbell fanatic: His room is wall-to-wall with posters from Campbell's movies, promotional items for his book, action figures, and even a mannequin wearing Brisco County's gear; his wardrobe consists of Evil Dead and Bubba Ho-Tep t-shirts; and his vocabulary is made up of hero lines from Campbell's movies. Nice, but there's no indication that Jeff is even aware of anyone else involved in the horror genre. True fanboys will delight in seeing Dan Hicks and Timothy Patrick Quill reference their characters from Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, respectively, but for those who don't recognize them, the dialog is pointless, and the joke falls flat. It seems that Campbell - and moreover, screenwriter Mark Verheiden - have ignored the wider audience, making the movie for a select group of cult followers.

It didn't help that the version of "himself" that Campbell decided to portray goes contrary to what fans already know about him. When William Shatner played "Bill" in Free Enterprise, for example, he was taking on a persona that at first amplified the stereotype he's associated with (tough guy, anti-fan, woman-magnet), and then broke that stereotype down in the end. He was playing with a perceived image, and whether that image had any corelation to his actual personality is neither here nor there. Campbell plays himself as kind of mean-spirited dick - big-noting in front of fans, chastising cast and crew, yet lonely and pathetic when he's at home - but his accessibility at conventions and screenings across the country has allowed fans a familiarity beyond mere perception, so that when he gets obnoxious or makes a wise-crack at a fan, it's never seen as anything but good-natured. Choosing to play himself as an asshole when he's known to be the opposite only distances us from the character.

Verheiden will have to take a lot of the blame for this. His script leaves a lot of room for Campbell to mug for the camera, sass the locals (thankfully leaving his Stooges schtick behind), and try to woo Jeff's mom, but offers little in the way of suspense, character or plot development. Instead, Guin-Di shows up randomly to decapitate some locals, Bruce and Kelly hate each other for five minutes, then fall in love, and the audience is filled in on back story by way of a country song by the mayor and the sheriff. I kid you not.

Which is not to say that the movie sucked. I liked it. I had fun with it. Largely because Campbell had fun with it. He knows he's not an A-list star, and he embraces that fact. With My Name is Bruce, he's making fun of himself, and thanking his legions of fans at the same time. I only wish he'd taken it seriously, rather than played it for a joke.

3/5

Blind Horizon

2008-11-26T23:27:00.000+11:00

Director: Michael Haussman
Writers: F. Paul Benz, Steve Tomlin
Released: 2003
Cast: Val Kilmer, Never Campbell, Sam Shepard, Faye Dunaway, Amy Smart, Noble Willingham, Gil Bellows, Giancarlo Esposito

Apocalypto

2008-11-25T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Mel Gibson
Writer: Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia
Released: 2006
Cast: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernández, Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Trujillo

Funny Games

2008-11-25T21:39:00.000+11:00

Director: Michael Haneke
Writer: Michael Haneke
Released: 2007
Cast: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart

Black Water

2008-11-24T23:44:00.003+11:00

Directors: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki
Writers: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki
Released: 2007
Cast: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodereda, Ben Oxenbould, Fiona Press

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

2008-11-24T21:10:00.002+11:00

Director: Chris Carter
Writers: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
Released: 2008
Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, Callum Keith Rennie

The Signal

2008-11-23T22:36:00.002+11:00

Directors: David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry
Writers: David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry
Released: 2007
Cast: Anessa Ramsey, Justin Welborn, AJ Bowen, Scott Poythress, Sahr Ngaujah

Who's That Knocking at My Door?

2008-11-22T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Martin Scorsese
Released: 1967
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune

The Hills Have Eyes

2008-11-22T21:48:00.000+11:00

Director: Wes Craven
Writer: Wes Craven
Released: 1977
Cast: Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Martin Speer, Dee Wallace, Russ Grieve, John Steadman, Michael Berryman, Virginia Vincent, James Whitworth, Lance Gordon, Janus Blythe, Cordy Clark, Arthur King, Flora and Striker

Boxcar Bertha

2008-11-21T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Joyce Hooper Corrington, John William Corrington
Released: 1972
Cast: Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus, Bernie Casey, Victor Argo, John Carradine

Troops

2008-11-20T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Kevin Rubio
Writer: Kevin Rubio
Released: 1998
Cast: Eric Hilleary, Cam Clarke, David Max, Jess Harnell, Kenar Yegyayan, Drew Massey, Dave Myers, Matthew Myers, Steven Melching, Neil Elliot, Susan Hinshaw

STEVE says: Another late night, another short film. Sue me.

Troops is just brilliant. Like an episode of Cops set in the Galactic Empire, it follows the exploits of a handful of Imperial Stormtroopers as they respond to various calls - one concerning Jawas and stolen droids, and another concerning a domestic dispute at the Lars farm.

Like George Lucas in Love, though, it doesn't work on its own. If you don't know Star Wars, you're not going to get why this is so funny. If you're a fan, though, it's going to resonate.

3.5/5

Step Brothers

2008-11-19T22:00:00.000+11:00

Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay
Released: 2008
Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins

Chinatown

2008-11-19T21:20:00.002+11:00

Director: Roman Polanski
Writer: Robert Towne
Released: 1974
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, James Hong, Burt Young

STEVE says: Every fledgling screenwriter should have a look at this script. It's perfect. Hits every beat with atomic-clock precision, it never lags, and it never telegraphs exactly what's going on, yet makes it all seem inevitable in the end. And of course it is. Right from the beginning.

5/5

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

2008-11-18T23:41:00.000+11:00

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Robert Getchell
Released: 1974
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Alfred Lutter, Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd, Harvey Keitel

Dead Set

2008-11-17T23:59:00.007+11:00

Director: Yann Demange
Writer: Charlie Brooker
Released: 2008
Cast: Jaime Winstone, Andy Nyman, Liz May Brice, Warren Brown, Kevin Eldon, Adam Deacon, Riz Ahmed, Kathleen McDermott, Davina McCall

[Okay, so it's not a movie, it's a mini-series. We're counting it anyway because we watched it all in one sitting. And at 2hrs 18 minutes, it's longer than most movies we watch, anyway.]

The Killers

2008-11-16T23:59:00.005+11:00

Directors: Marika Beiku, Aleksandr Gordon, Adrei Tarkovsky
Writers: Aleksandr Gordon, Adrei Tarkovsky
Released: 1958
Cast: Yuli Fait, Aleksandr Gordon, Valentin Vinogradov, Vadim Novikov, Vasili Shukshin

STEVE says: I had my writing class read Hemingway's short story this week, so this one's been on my mind. Whereas both feature versions of The Killers (1946 and 1964) use the story as an opening, telling the full story in flashback, this Russian student film is the story. And it's not great.

That's nothing against Hemingway's story, and it's not to take anything away from Tarkovsky as a filmmaker - but this just didn't work. Pacing was the big problem for me. When Nick Adams goes to the Swede's room to warn him somebody's out to kill him, one expects him to be gasping, out of breath, maybe urgently delivering the news... Not so much, here. Adams walks in, tells the Swede some guys are out to kill him, and it's all done in a very funereal sort of style, as though they're already lamenting the Swede's passing. It just didn't fly.

It's good to have - Criterion can really put a disc together, yeah? - but not so much to revisit. For that, I've got the Robert Siodmak version.

2/5

The Shining

2008-11-15T22:31:00.004+11:00

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubruck, Diane Johnson
Released: 1980
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd

STEVE says: The Shining is a movie I'm not overly fond of, but keep coming back to again and again just to see if I can find something - anything - I like about it.

No luck so far.

And I don't care how great you think Nicholson is, this movie Sucks Out Loud.

But let me tell you why.

King's book was about a haunted man. Jack Torrence is haunted by the student he attacked in Stovington, his careless abuse of his son, his own alcoholic father, his failure as a husband to properly provide for his family, etc. Kubrick decided that none of this was important and just went for the haunted hotel angle. Whereas the book was about the characters and their motivations, Kubrick's movie was about Nicholson going mad.

It's one thing to change a story when adaptation to a new medium demands it; it's another to completely dispense with character development and plot because you want to tell a different story. If you want to tell a different story, Tell A Different Story, don't fuck up a perfectly viable one because you don't understand it.

Kubrick jumped over the character and plot development with the "one month later" title card after Jack and his family arrive at the Overlook. This is important stuff! It's where Jack starts losing it - how can you skip over that?

I know Kubrick was a genius. There's a lot of his stuff I didn't like when I was younger, and I'm perfectly willing now to accept the fact that it was me; I didn't get it. But The Shining is just not good at all. Apart from the lack of character development, there's the Scatman Crothers thing: As a plot device, he's there to give us info on Danny's abilities, which is fine. And at the end, his return to the Overlook acts as a device to pull Jack away from the bathroom door and let Wendy escape. Fine, again. Killing him, however, serves no purpose whatsoever! If you're just going to kill him, Wendy may as well have been able to squeeze through the window after Danny. The thing with the woman in room 237 is the definition of anti-climax. When Danny goes into the room, we never see what he sees. When Jack goes in, he finds a woman who turns into a rotting corpse (after he starts making out with her, which begs some explanation), then comes back and tells Wendy he didn't see a thing. It's so much more effective if we see what Danny sees, and then Jack goes up because we know what's waiting there - whether he actually sees it or not. As, by the way, it was done in the book.

Bottom line is, the guy didn't believe in the material and it shows - but that doesn't stop the idolatry. The poster at the top there isn't from the movie; it's from a Shining convention held in Timberline, Oregon this past Halloween. There's even been an art show dedicated to the movie.

Click the creepy girls to check it out. Even I have to admit, it's kind of cool - even if the movie leaves me cold.

1/5

Assassins

2008-11-15T14:29:00.002+11:00

Director: Richard Donner
Writer: The Wachowski Brothers, Brian Helgeland
Released: 1995
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Julianne Moore

Redacted

2008-11-14T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Brian De Palma
Writer: Brian De Palma
Released: 2007
Cast: Izzy Diaz, Rob Devaney, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Patrick Carroll, Kel O'Neill

STEVE says: More than one reviewer has called Redacted a return to form for De Palma. And that's funny, 'cause I didn't see any Hitchcock ripoffs in it at all.

It's just another in a seemingly endless stream of movies presented as documentaries or lost footage or home movies (and let me be the one to say it: That gimmick has run its course), and it didn't need to be. It switches back and forth between a young soldier's chronicle of the war on his camcorder, and a French documentary about the troops, for no particular reason, apart from allowing us access with the French that the soldier wouldn't have. But even this conceit doesn't work in the scene where documentary footage is shot from inside a car that the crew do not have access to - and we know this because exterior shots of the car show no crew in the back seat. Sloppy, Brian. Real sloppy.

Some day someone's going to make a good movie about this war. Redacted isn't that movie.

1.5/5

Fallen

2008-11-14T22:49:00.002+11:00

Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writer: Nicholas Kazan
Released: 1998
Cast: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, James Gandolfini, Elias Koteas

The 40 Year-Old Virgin

2008-11-13T23:40:00.003+11:00

Director: Judd Apatow
Writers: Judd Apatow, Steve Carrell
Released: 2005
Cast: Steve Carrell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogan

STEVE says: So Matt Reedy says to me, "You have to see The 40 Year-Old Virgin. You'll love it." I've known Matt Reedy for maybe eight years at this stage, and I'm wondering what he's seen in me that makes him think I'd find this movie even remotely funny, much less Love It.

Wasn't the biggest fan of Steve Carrell at the time, not the least because of his involvement in the Americanization of The Office, and the less said about Apatow, the better. I decided Matt Reedy either A) didn't have the slightest idea what I'd find funny, or B) was just having a joke, throwing this title out to see if I'd watch it on his recommendation alone. Neither prospect made me want to rush out and see this movie.

I eventually, grudgingly, got around to watching it - this was back in '06 - and I did love it. Score one for Matt Reedy.

3.5/5

Birthday Boy

2008-11-12T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: Sejong Park
Writer: Sejong Park
Release: 2004
Cast: Joshua Ahn

Headspace

2008-11-11T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Andrew van den Houten
Writer: Steve Klausner, William M. Miller
Released: 2005
Cast: Christopher Denham, William Atherton, Olivia Hussey, Dee Wallace, Sean Young, Udo Kier

Hope Floats

2008-11-10T20:55:00.002+11:00

Director: Forrest Whitaker
Writer: Steven Rogers
Released: 1998
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr., Gena Rowlands, Mae Whitman, Michael Paré

Speed Racer

2008-11-09T22:33:00.006+11:00

Directors: The Wachowski Brothers
Writers: The Wachowski Brothers
Released: 2008
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Paulie Litt, Willy and Kenzie

STEVE says: It's been more than a decade since the rumours started flying about a live-action Speed Racer movie. Johnny Depp was rumoured to be playing Speed (that's how long ago this was) and I think Sherilyn Fenn might have been mentioned as Trixie, but it's possible that part was only in my head. (I have a large catalog of fantasies involving each individually, and it's quite possible that they've merged.) It was on and off for a while, and finally the Wachowski's picked up the ball and ran with it. It looked like my wait for a live-action Speed Racer movie was over.

Not so.

Turns out, this movie is really nothing more than a live-action cartoon. I don't think there was one scene that wasn't shot against a green screen, and that's disheartening. The movie itself can't be distinguished from a cartoon in that 98% of it was CGI.

With all the flashing lights, quick cuts and bright colours, the Speed Racer movie is the cinematic equivalent of an all-syrup Squishee. I'm just trying to decide whether that's a bad thing.

3/5

First Sunday

2008-11-08T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: David E. Talbert
Writer: David E. Talbert
Released: 2008
Cast: Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan, Katt Williams, Chi McBride, Loretta Devine, Michael Beach, Keith David, Regina Hall, Malinda Williams

They're Among Us

2008-11-07T23:32:00.002+11:00

Director: Adam Weismann
Writers: Joshua Hale Fialkov, Christian Ford, Roger Soffer, Mark Wheaton
Released: 2008
Cast: Gil Bellows, Maxim Roy, Carlo Mestroni, Judd Nelson, Isabella Rossellini

Timber Falls

2008-11-06T23:59:00.000+11:00

Director: Tony Giglio
Writer: Dan Kay
Released: 2008
Cast: Brianna Brown, Josh Randall, Nick Searcy, Beth Broderick, Sacha Rosemann

Slacker Uprising

2008-11-05T23:59:00.002+11:00

Director: Michael Moore
Writer: Michael Moore
Released: 2008
Cast: Michael Moore, Steve Earle, Michael Stipe, Eddie Vedder, Tom Morello

[Steve also watched The Texas Chain Saw Massacre again, with film class.]

Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming

2008-11-04T23:02:00.000+11:00

Director: Ernie Barbarash
Writer: Ernie Barbarash
Released: 2007
Cast: Rob Lowe, Marnie McPhail, Ben Lewis, Tatiana Maslany, Shawn Roberts, Vik Sahay

Yella

2008-11-03T22:59:00.005+11:00

Director: Christian Petzold
Writers: Simone Bär, Christian Petzold
Released: 2007
Cast: Nina Hoss, Devid Striesow, Hinnerk Schönemann

STEVE says: Okay. First: Not a bad movie. Beautifully shot, well-acted. Somehow managed to make corporate accounting, if not interesting, at least a source of intrigue. But by the 12-minute mark, I could see where it was all going. Am I the only person who's seen Carnival of Souls?

As the movie went on, it became less a question of What's Happening? and more How Will These Events Lead to the Inevitable Conclusion?

As a movie on its own, it probably deserves a higher rating, but it was hard to buy into the suspense when I couldn't get Carnival of Souls out of my head, so it's losing some points there.

2.5/5

Doomsday

2008-11-02T14:56:00.004+11:00

Director: Neil Marshall
Writer: Neil Marshall
Released: 2008
Cast: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Sean Pertwee, Darren Morfitt, Adrian Lester, Craig Conway, MyAnna Buring, Lee-Anne Leibenberg

Not Quite Hollywood

2008-11-02T13:23:00.007+11:00

Director: Mark Hartley
Writer: Mark Hartley
Released: 2008
Cast: Phillip Adams, Tom Burstall, Jamie Lee Curtis, Everett De Roche, Bob Ellis, Richard Franklin, Anthony I. Ginnane, Barry Humphries, Stacey Keach, Russell Mulcahy, Quentin Tarantino, Brian Trenchard-Smith

Anamorph

2008-11-01T17:45:00.004+11:00

Director: Henry Miller
Writers: Henry Miller, Tom Phelan
Released: 2007
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Clea Duvall, Peter Stormare, James Rebhorn

STEVE says: This was interesting, but not altogether good. The concept of a killer arranging his murders as art is cool - if not completely original (David Bowie did a concept album, "Outside" on the subject in 1995), but after a while you've just got to ask yourself, "Wouldn't it just be easier to shoot these people, or stab them or something?" The answer here is "Yeah, sure... I guess. Leave me alone!" But of course it's all about the art in the first place; the murders are incidental. And that's what I liked about it.

The thing is, there's no resolution to the story. Is Dafoe the killer? Is he the copycat? If so, who's the guy he was chasing if not the killer or the copycat? Does Dafoe know he, himself, is the killer if, in fact, he is? All questions the director felt we didn't need to know the answers to.

Normally, that's something I'd dig - a story where the journey is more important than the destination - but this time, I just felt cheated.

2/5

[Steve and Nikki also watched Hot Rod again.]

Night of the Living Dead

2008-10-31T23:38:00.003+11:00

Director: George A. Romero
Writers: John A. Russo, George A. Romero
Released: 1968
Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon, Russell Streiner, Bill Hinzman

NIKKI says:
Moonlight movie on Halloween. It was very cool. And the darkness and the wind only added to the creepiness of the movie. I do have to say, though, I'm glad to see the back of horror month. I want some fun. I want some bright colours. I need to laugh.

What can you say about Night of the Living Dead? It sets the bar. It's still the best zombie movie of all time, still one of the smartest horror movies ever, and still fucking scary. I love it, and I enjoyed a lot the experience of watching it outside. Fulci, however, was "TOO SCARE" through the whole thing. Wind and zombies was too much!

5/5

Dark Night of the Scarecrow

2008-10-30T23:59:00.002+11:00

Director: Frank DeFelitta
Writer: JD Feigelson
Released: 1981
Cast: Charles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Claude Earl Jones, Lane Smith, Tonya Crowe, Larry Drake, Jocelyn Brando, Tom Taylor

NIKKI says:
Wow, one of my all-time favourites. This is about as scary as movie get. Again, it's all to do with the atmosphere, the themes, the paranoia that comes with guilt and distrust. Of course, there's also a sackheaded scarecrow which is way fucking insanely creepy, but he's not the cause of all the creep. Not really.

It's really a horror movie fairytale, with poor Larry Drake attacked after saving the little girl from the scary dogs. So, on that other level, it's about love and understanding, unconditional friendship. Drake's revenge is very sweet, and I don't think I can think of a death scene more horrifying than the guy in the big silo. Ughghgh. It's horrible.

Good movie -- scary and beautiful.

4/5

Frankenstein

2008-10-30T13:12:00.002+11:00

Director: James Whale
Writers: Garrett Fort, Francis Edwards Faragoh
Released: 1931
Cast: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Edward Van Sloan, Dwight Frye

Dracula

2008-10-29T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Tod Browning
Writer: Garrett Fort
Released: 1931
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloane, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade

Lifeforce

2008-10-28T23:59:00.004+11:00

Director: Tobe Hooper
Writers: Dan O'Bannon, Don Jakoby
Released: 1985
Cast: Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Mathilda May, Frank Finlay, Michael Gothard, Aubrey Morris, Patrick Stewart

The Lottery

2008-10-27T21:31:00.006+11:00

Director: Larry Yust
Writer: Larry Yust
Released: 1969
Cast: Olive Dunbar, William Benedict, William Fawcett, Joe Howarth

STEVE says: There's something to be said for a film that manages to be suspenseful and shocking, even though it has one of the most famous endings in literary history.

I tried to watch this as someone who wasn't familiar with the story, and it wasn't easy. Like the last ten minutes of The Wicker Man, where you just know Edward Woodward is going to be burned alive, but you're still waiting for someone to swoop in and rescue him - no matter how many times you've seen the movie. It was a lot like that. But I was able to appreciate the lead-up a lot more, knowing how it was going to turn out. Yust (and Shirley Jackson, it must be said) highlights the banality of evil before the audience is even aware that evil is in the picture. Genius.

After watching this short film, I'm reminded of the woman in Fahrenheit 9/11 who was pro-war until her son was killed. In The Lottery, Tessie Hutchinson - like everyone else in the town - is all for the lottery, until it affects her personally. Then, suddenly, "It isn't fair!" Considering "The Lottery" was published in 1948, this short was made in 1969, and the themes were still relevant in 2004... Well, "the more things change", I guess...

3.5/5

NIKKI says:
There's something about old farm-lookin' dudes from the backwoods that just creeps me out. And this has lots of 'em. But that's not the point of the story... so it is a famous story, and it's still as scary as it ever was. Amazing how after so many years and so many retellings you still sit there in shock that the townspeople are actually going to go through with the ritual. Maybe it's because after all those retellings, there's still no actual reason why they do it.

Steve and I decided the themes in the story have much to do with conscription and sending kids off to war. We openly and randomly choose names from a hat and send people to war to be killed. This is a simplified exploration of that very strange practice that, when laid out in this way, just seems insane. Like so many things, I guess.

3.5/5

The Dark Half

2008-10-26T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: George A. Romero
Writer: George A. Romero
Released: 1993
Cast: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, Robert Joy

STEVE says: Not one of the best Stephen King adaptations, but surely one of the better ones. The fact that it's Romero gives it a bump, as well.

3/5

Burn After Reading

2008-10-26T19:10:00.003+11:00

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Released: 2008
Cast: George Clooney, Francis McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins

STEVE says: I haven't seen a Coen Brothers movie in the theatre since O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2000. Coincidentally, I haven't cared for much of their work since then, either. So the fact that Burn After Reading had me excited enough to get into the theatre seemed a good sign.

Now I'm wishing I'd waited for the DVD.

I didn't hate it as I did The Ladykillers, wasn't indifferent to it as I was to Intolerable Cruelty, and wasn't bored by it as I was to The Man Who Wasn't There. But I didn't love it. Better than Fargo, but it was no Miller's Crossing or Lebowski, films I can revisit again and again and never get bored with. Burn After Reading had its moments. They were just too few and far between.

3/5

NIKKI says:
Wow, about as MEH as you can get. Well, maybe it would have been less meh had it not been a Coen borthers movie of which I expect so much more. But, you know, maybe I shouldn't. The guys haven't really been all that impressive with their original stuff of late. (No Country, of course, was brilliant, even if it fucked the ending of the book.) I don't know -- everything I really don't like about the Coen brothers was all over this movie. I'm not into wide-eyed Fraces McDormand characters who are supposed to perhaps be lovably stupid, but come off as just stupid. I'm not really inot the whole Brad Pitt playing the fool thing. And I didn't really care for the intertwining stories rehash.

This was a failed attempt to pout every cool Coen trait inot one big star-filled movie as if the stars would detrct from the really kinda lame plot and poor execution. It was horrible or anything, but it wasn't anything special either. The guys, it would seem, are out of Lebowskis.

2/5

Dawn of the Dead

2008-10-25T23:59:00.004+11:00

Director: Zack Snyder
Writer: James Gunn
Released: 2004
Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Lindy Booth

STEVE says: It's like Remake Central here at Casa de Steve y Nikki. Either this says that there are more good horror remakes out there than we'd thought, or that we like crappy remakes more than we let on. You decide.

I think I'm in the minority on this, but I actually like the Dawn of the Dead remake, crappy or not. There are things about it that annoy me, to be sure - like its lacking the social commentary of the original - but overall it was fun and violent and gory, and that's pretty much all I was hoping for.

3.5/5

The Fly

2008-10-24T23:26:00.003+11:00

Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg
Released: 1986
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Gina Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel, Les Carlson

They Live

2008-10-23T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: John Carpenter
Writer: John Carpenter (as Frank Armitage)
Released: 1988
Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, Peter Jason, George "Buck" Flower

NIKKI says:
I'm loving this week. This is the coolest movie. So, maybe John Carpenter forgot how to direct after this one? And write, too, apparently, because this is such a good story. Could it be before it's time? Or at least aware of its time. This one is all about the media keeping us asleep with mind-crushing advertising and blinding pretty pictures making unfulfillable promises.

Roddy Piper get s pair of shades that allow him to see through the advertising to the real, black and white world underneath. He's suddenly exposed to everything and must fight those crazy aliens keeping us all down. Someone once described Roddy's journey as a "battle of self-awareness", and I really like that desciption. It's something we all fight every day; the constant search for truth amid the bullshit. It's a great representation of that battle. I love it, even despite the ten minute fight scene. It's a ten-minute battle or self-awareness, Steve!! Get into it!!

4/5

The Thing from Another World

2008-10-22T23:59:00.004+11:00

Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: Charles Lederer
Released: 1951
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James R. Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Eduard Franz, Sally Creighton, James Arness

STEVE says: Watching the original again, I'm thinking it's unfair to call Carpenter's version a remake, as the two share very little in the way of similarity. Sure, they both take place in the arctic, and they both have an alien antagonist, but that's really where the similarities end. Carpenter's movie (and, indeed, the original story it's based on) deals with a creature that consumes and imitates whatever life it finds here on Earth, and Nyby's creature is just James Arness with a prosthetic forehead, hiding in the snow and occasionally smashing through a door.

It's a classic, yes, and I enjoy watching it - I'm just not sure it earns the "based on a story by John W. Campbell, Jr." credit.

3/5

Harold and Maude

2008-10-22T21:03:00.001+11:00

Director: Hal Ashby
Writer: Colin Higgins
Released: 1971
Cast: Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon, Vivian Pickles, Charles Tyner

Re-animator

2008-10-21T21:55:00.002+11:00

Director: Stuart Gordon
Writers: Dennis Paoli, Stuart Gordon
Released: 1985
Cast: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson

John Carpenter's The Thing

2008-10-20T23:21:00.008+11:00

Director: John Carpenter
Writer: Bill Lancaster
Released: 1982
Cast: Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley, TK Carter, David Clennon, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, Thomas G. Waites

STEVE says: John Carpenter could live to be 2000 years old and direct every movie made in that time, and still never come close to making anything as good as The Thing.

4.5/5

NIKKI says:
Man, the '80s was a good time for campy, awesome horror. This is another movie filled with crazy looking monsters that the cast plays entirely seriously. It really works. I like this movie a lot. It speaks to all my scare-points -- isolation, paranoia, darkness. It groups those things in a really cool way so that you feel just what the characters feel. The tension is quite real throughout, and it all feels so authentic that when the big spider thing jumps out, you're not going "oh whatever!" but "oh my holy fuck look at THAT?!!"

Movies like Waz could take a lesson in what it is that makes an out of this world horror feel real -- atmosphere, development, and timing.

What happened to John Carpenter? It's like he made this and then forgot how to direct. Sad.

4/5

C.H.U.D.

2008-10-19T22:46:00.012+11:00

Director: Douglas Cheek
Writer: Parnell Hall
Released: 1984
Cast: John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Kim Greist

STEVE says: So many good things to say about C.H.U.D. - but I'm not going to go into them. The New York Times review from 1984 pretty much nailed it, so check that out if you want a critical analysis. Me, I'm using a different cultural yardstick to measure the film's awesomeness: The Simpsons.

In the September 21, 1997 episode of The Simpsons, "The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson", Homer's recollection of his first trip to New York City ended with his falling in the sewer and quoting, "...and that's when the C.H.U.D.s came at me." Marge responds: "Of course you'll have a bad impression of New York if you only focus on the pimps and the C.H.U.D.s."
In another episode of The Simpsons, "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder", Homer — when falling from a building with Otto on a bungee cord — goes down into an open manhole and sees various underground creatures, including Morlocks (from H.G. Wells "The Time Machine"), C.H.U.D.s and Molemen (with Hans Moleman as their leader).
In yet another Simpsons episode, "Crook and Ladder", a videocassette of the film is seen at the beginning of a chain of videocassette boxes used as dominoes.
Also when Homer takes Bart to see the Itchy and Scratchy Movie, Air Chud can be seen on the marquee. In fact, several variations of C.H.U.D. related titles are seen at the Springfield Multiplex throughout the series.

A mention on The Simpsons is a sort of validation of pop-culture worth, an initiation into the cultural zeitgeist — and C.H.U.D. has been referenced nearly as many times as sci-fi icons Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green. It probably also has something to do with the fact that the Simpsons writers are big nerds, but we'll table that argument for the time being.

C.H.U.D. is the perfect B-movie, from its roots in 50s paranoia flicks right down to the silly rubber monsters with their phosphorescent eyes. The inevitable remake will no doubt use CGI C.H.U.D.s and ruin the whole effect. That's what let the Chainsaw remake down: Too Much Money. Some things were meant to be made on a shoestring, yeah?

4/5

NIKKI says:
Ahh, now that's better: an '80s horror movie I'm allowed to still love. Man, CHUD is the best movie ever. It looks, on the surface, like a cheeseball horror flick with silly looking demons under the bitumen. But it's really a dramatic, genuine picture about the state of the homeless. It's smart, it's funny, and it's got some great scares if you know where to look.

It's one of those B-movies where no one in it realises it's a B-movie and all play their parts like David Lean is behind the camera. Daniel Stern and John Heard just rock all the way through the movie, remaining utterly serious for the duration. They're CHUDs, you know? And yet these guys never for a second let you think the threat they pose is anything but realistic and catastrophic.

I love this movie for many reasons, but that's a big one -- the earnestness with which it's all carried out. This is a first-rate horror classic.

4/5

Clownhouse

2008-10-18T23:59:00.005+11:00

Director: Victor Salva
Writer: Victor Salva
Released: 1989
Cast: Nathan Forrest Winters, Brian McHugh, Sam Rockwell, Tree

NIKKI says:
I knew the whole Victor Salva/paedophile thing from the time Powder came out, but for some reason, I held onto this movie. He did this one a fair while before Powder, and I'm sure the reason it remained in my collection was the whole clown thing. Scary carnivals are my thing, and this has a damn creepy one.

I didn't know, however, until after this viewing that the boy Salva was charged with molesting was the little boy from the movie. We decided after reading that to get rid of the movie. It's just kind of undiginifed to have it in our collection with such horrible things affiliated with it. Poor kid. And he was the one out protesting Powder, and somehow Salva is still allowed to make movies with young shirtless boys running all over the place. Crazy.

As far as Clownhouse, I used to think it was a cheesy Z-grade horror film with some mad clown visuals. Now, I just think it's icky.

Unrated

W Delta Z (aka The Killing Gene)

2008-10-17T23:59:00.003+11:00

Director: Tom Shankland
Writer: Clive Bradley
Released: 2007
Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Selma Blair, Melissa George

NIKKI says:
You know, WAZ started off okay. I thought the banter between Melissa George and Stellan Skarsgaard was geniune and effective. I also thought the Se7en-like energy the film had meant it might be a cut above your standard psychological slasher. Sadly, as the film went on, it lost much of its inital smart, low-key appeal. Which is to say, it went all torture-porn-y and showed way more than it needed to and just moved to extremes I really don't think it needed to go to. I don't think the story needed much alteration, just the depication of the sadist undertakings within it.

In a movie like this, I want to feel haunted by the things we do to each other, by the levels we'll go to when exacting revenge. Stepping away from a film like Se7ev, you certainly feel the grime on you, but that film didn't show us in ultra-graphic detail every cut and kill. Here, we see it all, and we're horribly desesnsitised to the Hostel way of vieweing horror effects in films that the atmosphere of terror is replaced by blatant gore which really isn't that shocking. It's like a movie pissing contest to see who can make the best looking snapping back fingernails. Boring.

Annoying really, because this had potential to be a really classy thriller. They just pushed it all too far and I didn't really care one way of the other in the end. I just wanted it all to stop.

2/5

The Devils

2008-10-16T23:59:00.010+11:00

Director: Ken Russell
Writer: Ken Russell
Released: 1971
Cast: Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, Dudley Sutton, Michael Gothard

NIKKI says:
Yeah, this was just about the creepiest thing ever. Steve's been at me to watch it for a long time, but I'm just not the biggest Ken Russell fan. I think he's cool, I just don't really like his movies. I can't pinpoint why except to say they're so very 1970s-BRITISH. I know that's totally inappropriate and the wrong way to describe what I think when I think about movies like this. I get a sense of Fahrenheit 451 and Blow Up. and I just can't do it.

Even so, I did like this one. It had all those elements that bother me, but I was compelled, at last by scary Oliver Reed to put my unfounded and silly prejudices aside and enjoy. It is, though, a hard movie to enjoy. It's creepy and in your face and full of meaning and metaphor. Instead of trying to outline the complex plot, I'll let "Nizz" do it, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database:

Cardinal Richelieu and his power-hungry entourage seek to take control of seventeenth-century France, but need to destroy Father Grandier - the priest who runs the fortified town that prevents them from exerting total control. So they seek to destroy him by setting him up as a warlock in control of a devil-possessed nunnery, the mother superior of which is sexually obsessed by him. A mad witch-hunter is brought in to gather evidence against the priest, ready for the big trial

Couldn't have said it better myself. And there's a big scene with nuns having an exorcism-slash-orgy, and Oliver Reed goes around saying extremely profound things, and at the end I pretty much needed a shower. A religious experience, to say the least. And while I didn't entirely understand it, I certainly recognise its power. I think...

3/5

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

2008-10-15T23:59:00.008+11:00

Director: Marcus Nispel
Writer: Scott Kosar
Released: 2003
Cast: Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee Ermey

NIKKI says: It's probably the best of the Next Generation Remakes, but it still has it's issues. We realised last night that it really does drag in the end, as Jessica Biel runs and hides from each and every character in the thing. And there's another issue -- there are too many damn characters. But, even so, it's frightening, it's got some good horror, it's teen victims aren't complete dunces you just wish someone would cut up. All in all, it's a good modern horror film.

I have a hard time watching the original Chain Saw, only because I find its horror so completely visceral and realistic. As soon as we put this one on, I remembered how well it also does its slimy, gruesome horror. There's something about both of these films that makes me forget they're just movies and gives me the absolute squeals. It all starts after the girl shoots herself in their van. GROSS. And then they go to the gas stations that's not really a gas station and there are all these flies on pig heads and it's gross. Then they find some teeth, then R. Lee Ermey wraps the girl in plastic, then Jessica has to help the old guy with the catheter, then the hot one gets hooked, then Eric Balfour gets his face cut off. Grossness everywhere. But effective grossness, and grossness that seems to fit the story being told. So, it works.

Yeah, so much as we love this movie, we had some problems with it last night. We realised that the remake perhaps tries to do too much. The old movie just had the three members of the family, and this one has mothers, fathers, sisters, grandparents, little kids... it's not good, and it overdoes the creepy. And the old movie really kept the action focused inside the house and with the family, which was really the main purpose of the film, to look at this strange group. The new movie takes the action outside and makes it a real can and mouse chase, and that can get tedious. I believe the political undertones of the first film are also removed. This one had a theme more like Friday the 13th, with Leatherface's mum pissed off at kids for tormenting her boy. Which is a bit boring, and kind of silly for a film set in the charged early 1970s.

I really didn't like, either, the final shot of Leatherface as Jessica gets away. He looks like as evil monster. In the original, he flails about on the road and looks like what he is, a confused stray.

Still, I enjoy the remake. I like the kids, it's absolutely beautiful to look at, and I scream at the gross stuff. Success.

3/5

Just Desserts: The Making of 'Creepshow

2008-10-14T23:45:00.011+11:00

Director: Michael Felsher
Released: 2007
Cast: George A. Romero, Richard Rubinstein, Tom Savini, John Harrison, Nick Tallo, Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Harris, Bingo O'Malley

NIKKI says: I've never been the hugest fan of Creepshow. I think it has something to do with the cartoonishness of the whole thing, which I underestand is the point of it, but still never really drew me in. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I wasn't into comic books as a kid? Because when I first saw the film, I found it kinda silly, and not really scary, and really not that entertaining. Apart from the bug one, which I've always thought was horrifying.

Still, even without a real love for the film, the documentary was fascinating. I enjoyed hearing all about the project and how it got off the ground, and how George Romero and Stephen King came to finally put it all together. It really made me miss that sort of old school filmmaking, where a couple of guys with mutual love for something join forces to bring it to life. This was back when it wasn't about names and budgets and studios and effects, but a real desire to want to see something very specific on screen. The idea and then the how-to, rather than the other way around.

I very much enjoyed, too, the different sorts of folks they spoke to here. From the major players in the project to the grips and the editors and other cool folks usually left in the sidelines.

Some great stories, some interesting filmmaking philosophies, a lot of great movie history. I really liked it. Pity they didn't talk to King, though. That was really the thing's only downfall.

3/5

Halloween: 20 Years Later (aka H20)

2008-10-13T23:59:00.001+11:00

Director: Steve Miner
Writers: Robert Zappia, Matt Greenberg
Released: 1998
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, Adam Arkin, Jodi Lynne O'Keefe, Adam Hann-Byrd, LL Cool J

Tropic Thunder

2008-10-13T17:50:00.009+11:00

Director: Ben Stiller
Writers: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Etan Cohen
Released: 2008
Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Nick Nolte

NIKKI says: So, who knew this was gonna be the most freakin' hilarious thing ever? Okay, so not EVER, but it was damn funny. I'm so over Ben Stiller, which made me shrug this one off as yet another vanity piece for the guy to go around yelling and making stupid faces. Consider -- he's really only got one classic in his comedy list and that's Zoolander. Everything else is just annoying. So, how is it that this works? Well, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that his character in this movie is very much like Derek Zoolander. A passionate innocent, with a huge ego and a small brain. Welcome back, Ben. I like you again.

So, this new Ben is on the set making a movie in the jungle with rebel drug makers trying to kill him which he thinks is fake movie magic but after certain bizarre circumstances becomes completely real. He fumbles his way through the whole thing as his friends and fellow actors try to save him. Jack Black plays a heroin addict on detox whose only claim to fame is fart-joke movies, and Robert Downey, Jnr plays an Australian actor so immersed in his character of a black man that he can't stop talking like Mr. T.

Their mission to get Ben and go home occurs as Ben's agent, Matthew McCaonaughey, tries to get Tivo to his client trapped in the jungle without entertainment. He has to battle the big studio boss, Tom Cruise, to make this happen. But Tom wants to let Ben die and claim the insurance and buy Matthew a plane. So, Matthew has a moral dilemma on his hands, and Tom Cruise dances around a lot like a sex-monkey FREAK.

It's so ridiculous, I could not stop laughing. Who thinks of these things? I did enjoy the parallels between actors on set and soldiers in the jungle. That was very clever, and the way the whole thing pulled together with Cruise as some crazy President-like guy sacrificing his actors for money -- it was good.

I can see us going back to it every year like we do with Zoolander. Maybe we can double-team the both of the them?

"A little twig-man Oscar. I 'm going to call you Half-Squat, and you can call me ... papa."

Half-squat.

3/5