Produced by Maurice Sendak and directed by Spike Jonze, this film has been taunting and teasing me for months. I loved the book - who didn't? And I love Jonze's previous work, including but not limited to Fat Boy Slim's Weapon of Choice video staring Christopher Walken. And I am here now, a week late, to tell you all what I thought of it.
First, please don't misunderstand... this is not a children's movie. It is based on a children's book and it is by no means inappropriate for children. But it was created for the generation (mine) who grew up with the Wild Things, not for the generation who are just discovering them. The overall tone of the film is very melancholy, even in the happy, raucous scenes there is a shadow lurking in the background...you just know that the happy moment is going to go sour.
As with so many things in our lives, "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." In the opening sequence, our hero Max engages some of his older sister's friends in a snowball fight and all are having a terrific time until one of the older kids dives, feet first, into Max's igloo which he worked very hard to create and was, as a result, very proud of. The igloo is destroyed along with Max's feelings.
And this isn't the only scene of its kind. There are at least three more moments where everyone is having a grand old time that is ruined by someone getting to serious.
Don't get me wrong. It was a beautiful film. Sendak made a terrific decision with Jonze. But my recommendation for parents is to see it before your kids. Know, before taking your kids to see it, what they are seeing. Like I said before, it's not inappropriate but for a few of the angrier, more destructive scenes, but it is not one that I give a recommend for kids, 110%.
October 25, 2009
September 12, 2009
Rental Recommendation: Wristcutters: A Love Story
Wow! Totally not what I thought that was about. So here's the premise. Suicides don't go to Hell. They go to this kind of parallel world where they have jobs and crappy apartments and singles bars but no one ever smiles. I had no idea that that was what this movie was about when I Netflixed it (Netflix is also a verb, boys and girls) but I liked it.
Finally a positive review. I have been pretty cynical and negative in my reviews lately and I was beginning to think it was something wrong with me rather than something wrong with the entertainment industry but Wristcutters has reassured me that it is indeed that the movies suck, there is nothing wrong with me.
Zia (who is a male, FYI and played by Patrick Fugit) is jilted by his girlfriend, Desiree, and slits his wrists in the opening sequence of the film. We catch up with him after he has been in the world of suicides for several months. He is seated at a bar where he is approached by Azura Skye who tells him that she and her friend have a game wherein they try to figure out how various bar patrons "offed themselves." He follows her back to her table with her friend where they meet Eugene (Shea Whigham) who bets they can't figure out how he died. The girls leave without figuring it out and he reveals to Zia that he was a musician in life and electrocuted himself by pouring beer on his guitar.
From there we watch the friendship between Zia and Eugene develop until one day Zia learns that his beloved Desiree is also in their world and the two set out to find her, which is the meat of the story.
It's actually a very well written and rather cute story with a happy ending (a legitimate and deserved happy ending not a force-fed Disney ending).
I absolutely recommend Wristcutters: A Love Story to anyone looking for a good, positive, cute indie flick.
Finally a positive review. I have been pretty cynical and negative in my reviews lately and I was beginning to think it was something wrong with me rather than something wrong with the entertainment industry but Wristcutters has reassured me that it is indeed that the movies suck, there is nothing wrong with me.
Zia (who is a male, FYI and played by Patrick Fugit) is jilted by his girlfriend, Desiree, and slits his wrists in the opening sequence of the film. We catch up with him after he has been in the world of suicides for several months. He is seated at a bar where he is approached by Azura Skye who tells him that she and her friend have a game wherein they try to figure out how various bar patrons "offed themselves." He follows her back to her table with her friend where they meet Eugene (Shea Whigham) who bets they can't figure out how he died. The girls leave without figuring it out and he reveals to Zia that he was a musician in life and electrocuted himself by pouring beer on his guitar.
From there we watch the friendship between Zia and Eugene develop until one day Zia learns that his beloved Desiree is also in their world and the two set out to find her, which is the meat of the story.
It's actually a very well written and rather cute story with a happy ending (a legitimate and deserved happy ending not a force-fed Disney ending).
I absolutely recommend Wristcutters: A Love Story to anyone looking for a good, positive, cute indie flick.
September 9, 2009
Gamer
Starring Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall, opened in theaters Friday, September 4. Disclaimer: I copied and pasted this from a post on a message board and don't really want to "tidy" it up so basically you are getting the raw, bare bones of what I really thought. No one is paying me to do this so who cares HOW I write it?
I can only think of two applicable words here: Hugely disappointing! I had seen Milo Ventimiglia plugging it on late night and at Comic Con and it sounded really awesome. I adore Milo...both as an actor and as a beautiful man ... and Michael C. Hall never fails to impress but both of their characters... Yikes. The way Milo was talking about the movie, I definitely thought that Rick Rape was going to be far more integral a character than the five absurdly creepy minutes we spent with him. Same with Ludacris. He had top billing and he on screen, cumulative total, fifteen minutes, maybe twenty.
And Ken Castle (Hall).... Wow! As villains go, he was one of the worst I've seen. And not in a good way. Meanwhile, WTF was with the detour through the set of High School Musical? Singing and dancing? Really? I had to pinch myself to keep from shrieking with hysterical laughter...which is okay if everyone else in the theater also thinks what you are laughing at was funny (or asinine) but apparently I was alone.
Between the two, relatively similar films, I say Death Race was 1000 times better. Same basic concept...Death row inmates fighting to the death to earn their freedom, rigged competition that prevents anyone from winning the prescribed number of battles, but Death Race was definitely better.
I can only think of two applicable words here: Hugely disappointing! I had seen Milo Ventimiglia plugging it on late night and at Comic Con and it sounded really awesome. I adore Milo...both as an actor and as a beautiful man ... and Michael C. Hall never fails to impress but both of their characters... Yikes. The way Milo was talking about the movie, I definitely thought that Rick Rape was going to be far more integral a character than the five absurdly creepy minutes we spent with him. Same with Ludacris. He had top billing and he on screen, cumulative total, fifteen minutes, maybe twenty.
And Ken Castle (Hall).... Wow! As villains go, he was one of the worst I've seen. And not in a good way. Meanwhile, WTF was with the detour through the set of High School Musical? Singing and dancing? Really? I had to pinch myself to keep from shrieking with hysterical laughter...which is okay if everyone else in the theater also thinks what you are laughing at was funny (or asinine) but apparently I was alone.
Between the two, relatively similar films, I say Death Race was 1000 times better. Same basic concept...Death row inmates fighting to the death to earn their freedom, rigged competition that prevents anyone from winning the prescribed number of battles, but Death Race was definitely better.
August 8, 2009
The Collector
The four words that best describe The Collector are: Don't waste your money! As is the going trend in horror films of late, The Collector starring Josh Stewart (the name you may not recognize but the face belongs to former police Det. William LaMontange, reluctant husband of FBI Agent JJ Jareau on CBS's Criminal Minds), gives very little attention to character development and plot and more attention than could accurately be seen as necessary to gore for gore's sake.
Yes, loyal readers, I understand there are people in this world who enjoy these directionless gorey displays of human entrails and torn flesh. I don't understand WHY these people enjoy these movies but I do understand they are out there.
The premise of the story was a decent one. Arkin (Stewart) is an ex-con (a character flaw you'll miss if you go for popcorn at the wrong moment; it's only mentioned once and in passing) whose ex-wife (a detail I only learned from reading the synopsis on the IMDb....see what I mean about poor character development? There's more information about the MC in the synopsis than the actual movie)... Arkin is an ex-con whose ex-wife needs an indeterminate amount of money to repay a loan shark so Arkin decides to rob his jeweler boss's house while the jeweler and his family are away on vacation. Unfortunately, someone else beat Arkin to the punch and littered the house with traps.
That was all I knew about the movie going into it. Sounds tame enough, right? Wrong. Shortly after Arkin breaks into the home we learn that not only are the traps rigged to kill but the trapper would rather do it himself...as slowly and painfully as he possibly can. Any unsuspecting victim would prefer the traps to the alternative. Wait, didn't I see this movie when it was called.....every other spatter-gore movie about a deranged sociopath?
Seriously, kids, if we keep watching spatter-gore pictures, they'll keep making them. If we keep watching them, there is nothing to force horror movie writers to try using their own imaginations. Don't waste your money on The Collector. Skip it. It's not worth it. Go see ....frankly anything currently playing has to be better than this. I would even advocate seeing G-Force before recommending anyone giving money to the unoriginal lunatics who created The Collector.
Yes, loyal readers, I understand there are people in this world who enjoy these directionless gorey displays of human entrails and torn flesh. I don't understand WHY these people enjoy these movies but I do understand they are out there.
The premise of the story was a decent one. Arkin (Stewart) is an ex-con (a character flaw you'll miss if you go for popcorn at the wrong moment; it's only mentioned once and in passing) whose ex-wife (a detail I only learned from reading the synopsis on the IMDb....see what I mean about poor character development? There's more information about the MC in the synopsis than the actual movie)... Arkin is an ex-con whose ex-wife needs an indeterminate amount of money to repay a loan shark so Arkin decides to rob his jeweler boss's house while the jeweler and his family are away on vacation. Unfortunately, someone else beat Arkin to the punch and littered the house with traps.
That was all I knew about the movie going into it. Sounds tame enough, right? Wrong. Shortly after Arkin breaks into the home we learn that not only are the traps rigged to kill but the trapper would rather do it himself...as slowly and painfully as he possibly can. Any unsuspecting victim would prefer the traps to the alternative. Wait, didn't I see this movie when it was called.....every other spatter-gore movie about a deranged sociopath?
Seriously, kids, if we keep watching spatter-gore pictures, they'll keep making them. If we keep watching them, there is nothing to force horror movie writers to try using their own imaginations. Don't waste your money on The Collector. Skip it. It's not worth it. Go see ....frankly anything currently playing has to be better than this. I would even advocate seeing G-Force before recommending anyone giving money to the unoriginal lunatics who created The Collector.
August 5, 2009
S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
Not quite a full decade after Richard Kelly introduced us to the ill-fated Donnie Darko, his family, his girlfriend, "Gretchen," and philosopher Roberta Sparrow, we are taken on another journey, this time following young Samantha Darko, ten years old when her brother was killed by a falling airplane engine, now 17 and traveling from Virginia to California in search of a better life.
While Daveigh Chase reprised her role as Samantha, Richard Kelly disavowed any involvement with the sequel. This was not encouraging. But it was a Donnie Darko Tale, as the cover clearly states, and therefore, as a card carrying Donnie Darko nerd, I had to watch, no matter how painful.
As is the case with most ill-conceived sequels, S. Darko rehashed much of what we loved about the original and made several obscure references to it as well. After blowing out the water pump in the car they are driving, Samantha and friend Cory (played by Briana Evigan) find themselves at Frank's Echo Service in Conejo Springs, Arizona. Work that one out on your own. The rest of the story is too bizarre to effectively convey without a scene by scene breakdown.
Basically, I think it was not a bad movie but I'm really not sure because I was far too distracted by the too much-ity of it all. In the original, there was a moment, when Donnie first meets Frank, when he touches the glass of the bathroom mirror and it ripples. That ripple effect was littered throughout S. Darko nearly every five minutes, and not just in mirrors and glass...thin air rippled (and rippled and rippled until I feared the onset of motion sickness) when it was touched as well. Scenes ran at double time more often than could fairly be called necessary. And there was a great deal of psychedelic lights and colors. There was a terribly upsetting moment where it seemed as though the writers had forgotten which movie they were sequeling and drifted into Invasion of the Body Snatchers, as Jackson Rathbone's face contorts and morphs into something less human and more alien.
As for rehashing the original, there was an ultra-creepy youth pastor slash cult leader, a fire burning hotter than any normal house fire should, a man in a biomechanical bunny mask. There was an "I would give anything to bring her back" sacrifice. And, 2000 miles from the setting of the original story, there was the grandson of Roberta Sparrow.
It is the opinion of this writer and viewer that, had it not been so overtly gimmicky, it might have rivaled the original in story quality. Not surpassed it by any means, but could have stood proudly on a shelf beside it's predecessor without rubbing its toe sheepishly in the dirt like a disdained younger sibling. As it stands, however, I can only think of two words to accurately describe what I saw: Grossly overdone. But. Twenty-four hours later, after having some time to think about it (and I did think about it) I say, if you are a fan of Donnie Darko, rent S. Darko.
However, if you are a fan of Donnie Darko, watch this film without expectations (or as I did, expecting it to be a total disaster). Ignore the spiraling neon lights, ignore the double exposed flickering images of what may or may not be a ghost Sam (Samara? If Daveigh Chase isn't thoroughly screwed up by now, she's one tough cookie). Ignore the gimmicks and pay attention to the story. And watch it again. Because having endured it once, I can tell you with absolute certainty, that once was not enough...another part of it that was just like the original.
While Daveigh Chase reprised her role as Samantha, Richard Kelly disavowed any involvement with the sequel. This was not encouraging. But it was a Donnie Darko Tale, as the cover clearly states, and therefore, as a card carrying Donnie Darko nerd, I had to watch, no matter how painful.
As is the case with most ill-conceived sequels, S. Darko rehashed much of what we loved about the original and made several obscure references to it as well. After blowing out the water pump in the car they are driving, Samantha and friend Cory (played by Briana Evigan) find themselves at Frank's Echo Service in Conejo Springs, Arizona. Work that one out on your own. The rest of the story is too bizarre to effectively convey without a scene by scene breakdown.
Basically, I think it was not a bad movie but I'm really not sure because I was far too distracted by the too much-ity of it all. In the original, there was a moment, when Donnie first meets Frank, when he touches the glass of the bathroom mirror and it ripples. That ripple effect was littered throughout S. Darko nearly every five minutes, and not just in mirrors and glass...thin air rippled (and rippled and rippled until I feared the onset of motion sickness) when it was touched as well. Scenes ran at double time more often than could fairly be called necessary. And there was a great deal of psychedelic lights and colors. There was a terribly upsetting moment where it seemed as though the writers had forgotten which movie they were sequeling and drifted into Invasion of the Body Snatchers, as Jackson Rathbone's face contorts and morphs into something less human and more alien.
As for rehashing the original, there was an ultra-creepy youth pastor slash cult leader, a fire burning hotter than any normal house fire should, a man in a biomechanical bunny mask. There was an "I would give anything to bring her back" sacrifice. And, 2000 miles from the setting of the original story, there was the grandson of Roberta Sparrow.
It is the opinion of this writer and viewer that, had it not been so overtly gimmicky, it might have rivaled the original in story quality. Not surpassed it by any means, but could have stood proudly on a shelf beside it's predecessor without rubbing its toe sheepishly in the dirt like a disdained younger sibling. As it stands, however, I can only think of two words to accurately describe what I saw: Grossly overdone. But. Twenty-four hours later, after having some time to think about it (and I did think about it) I say, if you are a fan of Donnie Darko, rent S. Darko.
However, if you are a fan of Donnie Darko, watch this film without expectations (or as I did, expecting it to be a total disaster). Ignore the spiraling neon lights, ignore the double exposed flickering images of what may or may not be a ghost Sam (Samara? If Daveigh Chase isn't thoroughly screwed up by now, she's one tough cookie). Ignore the gimmicks and pay attention to the story. And watch it again. Because having endured it once, I can tell you with absolute certainty, that once was not enough...another part of it that was just like the original.
July 25, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
A week late, as usual, here I am with my thoughts on the latest in the Harry Potter film franchise. A little conflicted here, to tell the truth. It was a great movie, good effects, overall a good time. But there was a lot of important scenes left out of this one. If you've read the books, you'll be able to keep up with me. If not, the first paragraph is probably all of this blog you are going to understand.
Dumbledore only showed Harry two memories. There were a dozen in the book. Now, I was one saying if they include all of the memories the movie is going to be very slow but they needed to include a few of the others. The ring, for example. There was a ring and they kept focusing on it but never explained what it was or why it was important.
They touched on the horcruxes but never elaborated on the seven people Voldemort killed to create them. Lily and James we've known all along but I think knowing the other five (well, four of them anyway) is kind of important to the story.
The first three books followed the books very closely and they were amazing. The Goblet of Fire took some detours but didn't leave out anything important. The Order of the Phoenix actually added some information that wasn't clearly outlined in the book. But The Half-Blood Prince...it stuck to the story, as far as getting from point A to point Z and all of the vowels were present but there were a few consonants missing here and there. Important ones like R, S, T, L, and N.
Dumbledore only showed Harry two memories. There were a dozen in the book. Now, I was one saying if they include all of the memories the movie is going to be very slow but they needed to include a few of the others. The ring, for example. There was a ring and they kept focusing on it but never explained what it was or why it was important.
They touched on the horcruxes but never elaborated on the seven people Voldemort killed to create them. Lily and James we've known all along but I think knowing the other five (well, four of them anyway) is kind of important to the story.
The first three books followed the books very closely and they were amazing. The Goblet of Fire took some detours but didn't leave out anything important. The Order of the Phoenix actually added some information that wasn't clearly outlined in the book. But The Half-Blood Prince...it stuck to the story, as far as getting from point A to point Z and all of the vowels were present but there were a few consonants missing here and there. Important ones like R, S, T, L, and N.
May 5, 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The first in a potential string of "spin-off prequels" (X-Men Origins: Magneto slated for release in 2011), X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a little more Psycho 4 and a little less Temple of Doom. That is to say, it was far more informative than action-packed. There were definitely some great action sequences, unfortunately, most of them were in the short version of the televised trailer.
Please, don't misunderstand me. It was a great ride and packed tons of people into an nearly-dead cinema in my sleepy little hamlet (I haven't seen that many people in, or around, that building in, literally, years. I think the last time I stood in line for a ticket at that theater was for The Guardian.). If you are a fan of the X-Men, or even a fan of comic book movies or Hugh Jackman, I recommend seeing it. However, if you are just going for big action sequences, big FX, I honestly recommend waiting for the DVD release. Save your ticket money for something like Terminator Salvation (however, given the choice between the two, I'd still pick Wolverine, even with Christian Bale in Terminator).
Please, don't misunderstand me. It was a great ride and packed tons of people into an nearly-dead cinema in my sleepy little hamlet (I haven't seen that many people in, or around, that building in, literally, years. I think the last time I stood in line for a ticket at that theater was for The Guardian.). If you are a fan of the X-Men, or even a fan of comic book movies or Hugh Jackman, I recommend seeing it. However, if you are just going for big action sequences, big FX, I honestly recommend waiting for the DVD release. Save your ticket money for something like Terminator Salvation (however, given the choice between the two, I'd still pick Wolverine, even with Christian Bale in Terminator).
April 18, 2009
New server...hosting company...issues
While this blog has only been used for reviews in the past, I hope some of you have been keeping up with it. The hosting service we were using got bought out or merged with or something another company and all of the sites they were hosting have been (or are being moved) to a new server.
This means nothing to my readers other than it's going to be a few more days while I figure out how the new company works (I hope) until I can get the new issue up and running. Ultimately it really shouldn't affect you kind folks too much.
As for the book...yikes! I'll be honest. I got a new position through my freelance writing gig and that has taken up quite a bit of time that I had hoped to be devoting to the anthology. But that's all wrapped up here for a few weeks so hopefully I can get the book ironed out and ready to print before Mid-May.
Keep checking back here or on the site for more updates.
This means nothing to my readers other than it's going to be a few more days while I figure out how the new company works (I hope) until I can get the new issue up and running. Ultimately it really shouldn't affect you kind folks too much.
As for the book...yikes! I'll be honest. I got a new position through my freelance writing gig and that has taken up quite a bit of time that I had hoped to be devoting to the anthology. But that's all wrapped up here for a few weeks so hopefully I can get the book ironed out and ready to print before Mid-May.
Keep checking back here or on the site for more updates.
March 29, 2009
Watchmen
Three hours and still no theatrical trailer for Harry Potter later...I return from my journey through an alternate history with Zack Snyder.
There were a couple of incredibly distracting aspects to this film. First of all, did you know that Billy Crudup is the "Priceless" guy from the MasterCard commercials? I cannot picture him when I hear that voice in those commercials so every time Dr. Manhattan spoke, because there was Billy Crudup without Billy Crudup's face, I tried to imagine him saying "priceless," and still couldn't do it.
Second, was Richard Nixon's (Robert Wisden) fake nose. It was so visibly formed out of costumer's putty that every time he came on screen a little voice in my head would scream, "It's not even a real nose! It's polystyrene!" Inappropriately placed Monty Python references are rarely helpful, especially when I'm the only one who can hear them.
Beyond the workings of my own slightly short-circuited mind, I enjoyed the show. It may have been subject matter, it may have been lack of action but I did not hold this one up to the same standard as Snyder's 300, but still enjoyable.
I was warned before going that it was violent and bloody and it was, indeed, violent and bloody. There were some instances when the violence did not seem to be such that would cause the amount of blood spill; that is to say there were a few scenes that seemed to be only for the sake of using up a surplus of Karo syrup, but, again, did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the film.
The premise of the film is fairly simple, given that it is set in the mid-1980's. Stop the Soviets from starting a Nuclear war while the government pretends you don't exist and while someone is picking off your ranks one by one. There is a standard and almost expected twist of comic book treachery in the end and in between is a story about superheroes who try to live normal lives but get dragged kicking and screaming (for about three seconds until they remember how much fun it was to be a superhero) back into the gig.
If you enjoyed 300 and enjoy comic book/superhero films and have the endurance to sit through 3 hours (including trailers), have fun. It's pretty much worth the price of admission. I'm not sure it would be as effective on a home television set.
There were a couple of incredibly distracting aspects to this film. First of all, did you know that Billy Crudup is the "Priceless" guy from the MasterCard commercials? I cannot picture him when I hear that voice in those commercials so every time Dr. Manhattan spoke, because there was Billy Crudup without Billy Crudup's face, I tried to imagine him saying "priceless," and still couldn't do it.
Second, was Richard Nixon's (Robert Wisden) fake nose. It was so visibly formed out of costumer's putty that every time he came on screen a little voice in my head would scream, "It's not even a real nose! It's polystyrene!" Inappropriately placed Monty Python references are rarely helpful, especially when I'm the only one who can hear them.
Beyond the workings of my own slightly short-circuited mind, I enjoyed the show. It may have been subject matter, it may have been lack of action but I did not hold this one up to the same standard as Snyder's 300, but still enjoyable.
I was warned before going that it was violent and bloody and it was, indeed, violent and bloody. There were some instances when the violence did not seem to be such that would cause the amount of blood spill; that is to say there were a few scenes that seemed to be only for the sake of using up a surplus of Karo syrup, but, again, did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the film.
The premise of the film is fairly simple, given that it is set in the mid-1980's. Stop the Soviets from starting a Nuclear war while the government pretends you don't exist and while someone is picking off your ranks one by one. There is a standard and almost expected twist of comic book treachery in the end and in between is a story about superheroes who try to live normal lives but get dragged kicking and screaming (for about three seconds until they remember how much fun it was to be a superhero) back into the gig.
If you enjoyed 300 and enjoy comic book/superhero films and have the endurance to sit through 3 hours (including trailers), have fun. It's pretty much worth the price of admission. I'm not sure it would be as effective on a home television set.
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About Me
- bending spoons
- a literary collection devoted to showcasing works of new and established fiction in the SF/F/DF/H genres. Our blogspot is an extension of the magazine focused on reviews and rants regarding that which is new and exciting in the world of SF/F/H