I am an X-Phile. I watch reruns on TNT and the Sci-Fi channel (until they start showing the Doggett episodes then I find something else to watch for a couple of weeks). I have my favorite episodes and I have seen all of them repeatedly.
Chris Carter has blessed people like me with reopening the X-Files and offering Mulder a pardon for his alleged crimes. When I heard there was going to be a new X-Files movie this summer I asked why, then vowed to see it opening weekend. In the months between hearing about the film and today, I started questioning whether or not I should see it. The thing is that sometimes these things come out to a great deal of hype from the media and high expectations from the fans and they bomb. The numbers don't show it because the die hard fans are going to see it come hell or high water but they leave disappointed. I didn't want that.
I reasoned that Chris Carter is in charge and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson obviously approved of the script so it couldn't be all bad. So, after much debate, I decided that I would go.
I say that I have my favorite X-Files episodes. Very few, if any of them are centered around the core plot of the show; Mulder's quest to find his sister. UFO's and aliens, while interesting in concept, don't interest me much in fiction. But I was fully expecting to see this as the whole of this new movie and was not only surprised but a bit disappointed to be met with little more than the pilot of a "next generation" spin-off (P.S. Don't get all excited, I am only making a comparison - to my knowledge there is no scuttlebutt of a spin-off).
While my reviews rarely contain spoilers, I feel compelled to tell my readers that The X-Files: I Want to Believe doesn't even so much as mention aliens (unless you count Russian immigrants). Even in the brief discussions of Samantha, the word abduction is only used once. This is only important if your love of the show was centered around the alien conspiracy and you didn't like the ghost/mutant/demon/psycho-kinetics episodes. If you watched the show because you were interested/a believer in the paranormal, or just liked to find out what kind of predicament Mulder would get them into next, then the absence of UFO's is completely irrelevant.
And if you are as committed a fan as I was for several seasons (and still am, to the reruns), you will spend a great deal of the film waiting with bated breath for Walter Skinner. Let me say this, as I teeter on the edge of spoiler.... His appearance is late but significant and I fully expected the theater to erupt in applause (to my chagrin, I was apparently the only bonafide, card-carrying geek in the room because I was the only geek who actually applauded).
The agents are being led through their case by a self-proclaimed psychic, Father Joe. Father Joe was an excommunicated priest with a soiled past (if you don't understand that, pick up a newspaper sometime). Father Joe was the subject of my debate in my own head - is that Billy Connolly? No, yes? No. I finally settled on yes and apparently the Scot went through some serious work to get ready for the role. Yes, the drawn, emaciated old man leading agents through the middle of a snowy nowhere, is Billy Connolly. And near as I can tell from my research (because I wanted to make sure before I wrote this) he's not ill. Of course, in true X-Files form, we never really find out if the old priest was truly psychic or a con, but I don't think true fans would expect to find out.
Basically, my recommendation is to go see it. It is fully worth the ticket price.
July 27, 2008
July 19, 2008
The Dark Knight
Let me begin by saying I really liked Nolan's Scarecrow. That statement plays an important part since he chose to being The Dark Knight by making Scarecrow a "grey" hat, as it were.
One of the opening scenes (about fifteen to twenty minutes into the 2 and a half hour picture) is of a group of mobsters being attacked by a group of Batman wannabes, led by Scarecrow. When the real Batman shows up and unmasks one of the bats-in-training and Dr. Krane, they both desperately profess that they were "only trying to help."
What? Scarecrow is ... trying to help Batman? I don't think I'm okay with that. And for purely female reasons, I'm also not okay with that being Cillian Murphy's only scene in the whole movie but his absence didn't take away from the rest of the movie.
The rest of the movie was... not as good as the first. When I heard Christian Bale, the American Psycho, was cast as Batman, I worried. Batman Begins put that worry to rest. The Dark Knight was not as good. If you are in it for explosions and the occasional one-liner (Lucius Fox asking Bruce Wayne's accountant if he really thought it was a good idea to blackmail a man who spends his nights beating bad guys to pulp), you are in for a hell of a ride. But if you are expecting a film to par with Nolan's previous outing, I fear you will be disappointed.
Morally, I have qualms critiquing Heath Ledger's performance, given the speculation that his inability to get out of character and leave The Joker's insanity behind was what led to the depression that eventually killed him. That is not to say I don't think he did a good job in the role, and if I didn't know it was him, I'd have never known it was him, but I have heard unofficial reviews that he made the show and I'm not sure I agree with that.
The truth is The Joker is supposed to be the scariest of all the Bat-villains because his only motivation is to, to quote Alfred (Michael Caine), "watch the world burn." Throughout the history of Batman, from the original Detective Comics to the 1960's TV show to the Dark Horse comics, The Joker has never been given a backstory to tell us why he is the way he is and he is (intentionally) the only villain without one. I don't think this version of The Joker was written to live up to that title. It comes down to a question of writing and considering Nolan's writing, Scarecrow is far more frightening than The Joker.
For the record, Nolan's treatment of Two-Face was a bigger disappointment but expounding on the whys of that would give away too much of the end of the film and I don't do that.
I guess the moral of the story here is to go see The Dark Knight but don't go because of the media hype (which is a bit over the top) or because the 14 screen theater in my humble hamlet has it playing on five screens to accommodate the anticipated audiences (which is also a bit over the top). Go because, in the dozen or so years I have been watching his performances, Christian Bale has never failed to impress and go because it's freaking Batman.
One of the opening scenes (about fifteen to twenty minutes into the 2 and a half hour picture) is of a group of mobsters being attacked by a group of Batman wannabes, led by Scarecrow. When the real Batman shows up and unmasks one of the bats-in-training and Dr. Krane, they both desperately profess that they were "only trying to help."
What? Scarecrow is ... trying to help Batman? I don't think I'm okay with that. And for purely female reasons, I'm also not okay with that being Cillian Murphy's only scene in the whole movie but his absence didn't take away from the rest of the movie.
The rest of the movie was... not as good as the first. When I heard Christian Bale, the American Psycho, was cast as Batman, I worried. Batman Begins put that worry to rest. The Dark Knight was not as good. If you are in it for explosions and the occasional one-liner (Lucius Fox asking Bruce Wayne's accountant if he really thought it was a good idea to blackmail a man who spends his nights beating bad guys to pulp), you are in for a hell of a ride. But if you are expecting a film to par with Nolan's previous outing, I fear you will be disappointed.
Morally, I have qualms critiquing Heath Ledger's performance, given the speculation that his inability to get out of character and leave The Joker's insanity behind was what led to the depression that eventually killed him. That is not to say I don't think he did a good job in the role, and if I didn't know it was him, I'd have never known it was him, but I have heard unofficial reviews that he made the show and I'm not sure I agree with that.
The truth is The Joker is supposed to be the scariest of all the Bat-villains because his only motivation is to, to quote Alfred (Michael Caine), "watch the world burn." Throughout the history of Batman, from the original Detective Comics to the 1960's TV show to the Dark Horse comics, The Joker has never been given a backstory to tell us why he is the way he is and he is (intentionally) the only villain without one. I don't think this version of The Joker was written to live up to that title. It comes down to a question of writing and considering Nolan's writing, Scarecrow is far more frightening than The Joker.
For the record, Nolan's treatment of Two-Face was a bigger disappointment but expounding on the whys of that would give away too much of the end of the film and I don't do that.
I guess the moral of the story here is to go see The Dark Knight but don't go because of the media hype (which is a bit over the top) or because the 14 screen theater in my humble hamlet has it playing on five screens to accommodate the anticipated audiences (which is also a bit over the top). Go because, in the dozen or so years I have been watching his performances, Christian Bale has never failed to impress and go because it's freaking Batman.
July 5, 2008
The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan is back with another creepy feature for our viewing pleasure. The Happening (starring Mark Whalberg and Zooey Deschanel) is Shyamalan's first R-rated feature which set this writer's horror-heart all a-twitter. Let's face it, The Sixth Sense, at only a PG-13 rating was pretty swell nightmare-fodder, what can the man give us with an R-rating?
The Happening was, at best, strange. At worst, not what I had hoped it would be. Perhaps, had it not come out of the pen of a writer who has earned such high expectations from me, I may have not been so critical but as it was the movie was odd. Basically, we learn in the first five minutes, as is Shyamalan's no-nonsense, get-down-to-business style, something is making people sign into the banana factory quick, fast and in a hurry. Two young ladies sit on a bench in Central Park, discussing a book, when suddenly Claire (the other girl was never properly given a title) starts behaving, well, strangely. Repeating herself, forgetting where she was in the book. A woman, somewhere off screen, screams, and Claire removes a chopstick from her hair and, just as calmly as if she were tying her shoelace, drives it through her carotid artery.
And things only get worse for the people of the American Northeast.
What disappointed me most about this film was not what was happening *ahem* but the rationing of script time. A significant amount of screen time was given to the various methods of suicide people elected and there was definitely a great deal of discussion about the science and mechanics of what was *ahem* happening but scientific and mechanical dialog do not horror film make. The happening of The Happening was not given sufficient attention to make me worry about it. I believed, when it was all over, that it could happen, scientifically speaking.
Perhaps the problem was not that there was insufficient attention given. Perhaps all the science and mumbo-jumbo sterilized it. Whatever the case, I say, wait until it comes out on video and rent it. I suggest spending your $15 after popcorn and a beverage on something worth of the 20 foot screen and super-dooper sound system. The Hulk or Hancock, perhaps. But if you are a Shyamalan fan, it is worth the rental fee.
The Happening was, at best, strange. At worst, not what I had hoped it would be. Perhaps, had it not come out of the pen of a writer who has earned such high expectations from me, I may have not been so critical but as it was the movie was odd. Basically, we learn in the first five minutes, as is Shyamalan's no-nonsense, get-down-to-business style, something is making people sign into the banana factory quick, fast and in a hurry. Two young ladies sit on a bench in Central Park, discussing a book, when suddenly Claire (the other girl was never properly given a title) starts behaving, well, strangely. Repeating herself, forgetting where she was in the book. A woman, somewhere off screen, screams, and Claire removes a chopstick from her hair and, just as calmly as if she were tying her shoelace, drives it through her carotid artery.
And things only get worse for the people of the American Northeast.
What disappointed me most about this film was not what was happening *ahem* but the rationing of script time. A significant amount of screen time was given to the various methods of suicide people elected and there was definitely a great deal of discussion about the science and mechanics of what was *ahem* happening but scientific and mechanical dialog do not horror film make. The happening of The Happening was not given sufficient attention to make me worry about it. I believed, when it was all over, that it could happen, scientifically speaking.
Perhaps the problem was not that there was insufficient attention given. Perhaps all the science and mumbo-jumbo sterilized it. Whatever the case, I say, wait until it comes out on video and rent it. I suggest spending your $15 after popcorn and a beverage on something worth of the 20 foot screen and super-dooper sound system. The Hulk or Hancock, perhaps. But if you are a Shyamalan fan, it is worth the rental fee.
May 10, 2008
The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
When I was a kid, I would rent an animated version of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe approximately once ever two or three weeks and watch it about twenty times during the rental period. The jury is still out but I think it was the 1979 Bill Melendez (the guy who produced the Peanuts movies) version.
I found out later, when I decided since WalMart was selling the books for $4.88 a piece, I should buy them and read them, that that animated version followed the book to the letter. I could hear the voices, see the scenes, as I read along.
Recently I decided (finally) to sit down and watch the Walt Disney/Walden Media production and I have to say, I was very disappointed. The Pevensie children were poorly acted and very flat, especially Edmund, who really is the main character of the story, when you get right down to it.
I'm not saying it was horrible. It wasn't bad but for all the hype, and for being a Disney production, I expected more. Now (and this is why I hadn't seen the movie until just recently), I am not a fan of Disney movies, as a rule - I place sole blame for happy endings upon Walt Disney and his vision, across the board and sometimes a happy ending is simply not appropriate - but I lump them into the same category as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Speilberg ....they simply do not invest money in bad movies. Even if you don't care for the story line, you know that they are going to put out a damned fine production just because they have a reputation for doing so. But Disney's Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was not up to that standard, in my not-so-professional opinion. Which makes me a little less than extremely excited to see Prince Caspian ....although I probably will just on principle since it's an amazing book.
I guess the moral of the story here is that if you haven't seen the Disney production, rent it. Then, when you get done watching that, rent one of the previous, less extravagant versions. Preferably the previously mentioned Bill Melendez take but another good one is the made-for-television one from the BBC, directed by Marilyn Fox in 1988.
I found out later, when I decided since WalMart was selling the books for $4.88 a piece, I should buy them and read them, that that animated version followed the book to the letter. I could hear the voices, see the scenes, as I read along.
Recently I decided (finally) to sit down and watch the Walt Disney/Walden Media production and I have to say, I was very disappointed. The Pevensie children were poorly acted and very flat, especially Edmund, who really is the main character of the story, when you get right down to it.
I'm not saying it was horrible. It wasn't bad but for all the hype, and for being a Disney production, I expected more. Now (and this is why I hadn't seen the movie until just recently), I am not a fan of Disney movies, as a rule - I place sole blame for happy endings upon Walt Disney and his vision, across the board and sometimes a happy ending is simply not appropriate - but I lump them into the same category as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Speilberg ....they simply do not invest money in bad movies. Even if you don't care for the story line, you know that they are going to put out a damned fine production just because they have a reputation for doing so. But Disney's Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was not up to that standard, in my not-so-professional opinion. Which makes me a little less than extremely excited to see Prince Caspian ....although I probably will just on principle since it's an amazing book.
I guess the moral of the story here is that if you haven't seen the Disney production, rent it. Then, when you get done watching that, rent one of the previous, less extravagant versions. Preferably the previously mentioned Bill Melendez take but another good one is the made-for-television one from the BBC, directed by Marilyn Fox in 1988.
March 19, 2008
The Man from Earth - Rental Recommendation
Professor John Oldman has announced his retirement from the university, effective immediately. His colleagues, unwilling to accept his sudden departure, follow him to his home where he reluctantly lets them in on a secret. He is 14,000 years old.
Naturally his colleagues; consisting of an archaeologist, an anthropologist, a psychiatrist, a biologist and a Christian literalist; are unwilling to believe his story. He eases them into it, setting it up in the beginning as a science fiction story he is contemplating then progressing into a first person narrative of a man who has lived fourteen centuries, born as a Cromagnon man and then simply not dying.
As the story progresses, his colleagues grow both fascinated and angered by the story, coming to the eventual conclusion that it neither be proven or disproved. Seeing their reactions and regretting what his confession has done to his friends, he takes it all back, revealing it to be a test. He wanted to see how his story of the immortal would be received, and to iron out the kinks through their reactions. As they all prepare to leave, it is a student, who had accompanied one of the professors to the gathering, who locks in on his name: "John Oldman, that's a pun, isn't it?" she asks with a smile.
At the risk of turning away would-be viewers, I have to apply the disclaimer that The Man from Earth is slow. It is also captivating. There is a shallow climax about an hour into the hour and half feature but it never gets truly action-packed; if that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere. The end of the film, however, is fully worth the wait. And the rental fee.
Naturally his colleagues; consisting of an archaeologist, an anthropologist, a psychiatrist, a biologist and a Christian literalist; are unwilling to believe his story. He eases them into it, setting it up in the beginning as a science fiction story he is contemplating then progressing into a first person narrative of a man who has lived fourteen centuries, born as a Cromagnon man and then simply not dying.
As the story progresses, his colleagues grow both fascinated and angered by the story, coming to the eventual conclusion that it neither be proven or disproved. Seeing their reactions and regretting what his confession has done to his friends, he takes it all back, revealing it to be a test. He wanted to see how his story of the immortal would be received, and to iron out the kinks through their reactions. As they all prepare to leave, it is a student, who had accompanied one of the professors to the gathering, who locks in on his name: "John Oldman, that's a pun, isn't it?" she asks with a smile.
At the risk of turning away would-be viewers, I have to apply the disclaimer that The Man from Earth is slow. It is also captivating. There is a shallow climax about an hour into the hour and half feature but it never gets truly action-packed; if that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere. The end of the film, however, is fully worth the wait. And the rental fee.
March 1, 2008
Book Recommendation: The Dresden Files
I got into the book version of the Dresden Files after getting sucked into the short lived television show based on the books on Sci-Fi channel. Unfortunately, Sci-Fi didn't see fit to continue giving us weekly glimpses of Chicago's....ahem, underworld but on the upside, author Jim Butcher does.
Harry Dresden (the book version; we've left the poor unfortunate television version behind now) is Chicago's only professional wizard. Unfortunately, for Harry, he is not Chicago's only wizard. So far in the series (there are currently 10 books available and one more on the way in October) he has done battle with other wizards, sorcerers, demons, plant monsters, trolls, power hungry fairies, vampires and an assortment of other otherworldly creatures and characters.
The Dresden Files could easily be a what-if look at what could happen if Harry Potter were to move to Chicago and enter the witness protection program (although that wasn't what Butcher had in mind when he set out to create Dresden). Both Harrys are orphans with natural abilities and mothers with questionable associations. Both Harrys have seen first hand the power dark magic can give them and fought to resist it...Which, I supposed is a good place to start when creating conflict in a book about a wizard...
I am just starting the seventh book out of ten, Dead Beat, and have to say, if you are a fan of quick, easy reads, these are fantastic books to check out. I picked up Storm Front, the first book in the series, last summer and have about an hour worth of time each week to devote to reading. That means in a cumulative total of about 25-30 hours I have read five books (that's not counting the one that I read in four days between Christmas and New Years because I had nothing to do but read). The stories are page turners. Butcher has gifted Dresden with a quick wit and quicker tongue - and the stickier the situation gets, the quicker his wit becomes. And the secondary characters (CPD Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, Knight of the Cross Michael Carpenter, half-blood succubus Thomas Raith and mob boss Johnny Marcone, for example) are as 3-dimensional as Harry. Butcher doesn't let a single character go flat.
I am recommending the Dresden Files to anyone looking for a quick read story about a witty wizard. I haven't found one yet that I didn't like.
Completely unrelated side note: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction. We here at bending spoons aren't exactly sure the prereqs for winning, or even qualifying to win in this category, but we really don't care. It's still a shiny, sparkley trophy for Mr. Burton and Co.! Yippee!!!
Harry Dresden (the book version; we've left the poor unfortunate television version behind now) is Chicago's only professional wizard. Unfortunately, for Harry, he is not Chicago's only wizard. So far in the series (there are currently 10 books available and one more on the way in October) he has done battle with other wizards, sorcerers, demons, plant monsters, trolls, power hungry fairies, vampires and an assortment of other otherworldly creatures and characters.
The Dresden Files could easily be a what-if look at what could happen if Harry Potter were to move to Chicago and enter the witness protection program (although that wasn't what Butcher had in mind when he set out to create Dresden). Both Harrys are orphans with natural abilities and mothers with questionable associations. Both Harrys have seen first hand the power dark magic can give them and fought to resist it...Which, I supposed is a good place to start when creating conflict in a book about a wizard...
I am just starting the seventh book out of ten, Dead Beat, and have to say, if you are a fan of quick, easy reads, these are fantastic books to check out. I picked up Storm Front, the first book in the series, last summer and have about an hour worth of time each week to devote to reading. That means in a cumulative total of about 25-30 hours I have read five books (that's not counting the one that I read in four days between Christmas and New Years because I had nothing to do but read). The stories are page turners. Butcher has gifted Dresden with a quick wit and quicker tongue - and the stickier the situation gets, the quicker his wit becomes. And the secondary characters (CPD Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, Knight of the Cross Michael Carpenter, half-blood succubus Thomas Raith and mob boss Johnny Marcone, for example) are as 3-dimensional as Harry. Butcher doesn't let a single character go flat.
I am recommending the Dresden Files to anyone looking for a quick read story about a witty wizard. I haven't found one yet that I didn't like.
Completely unrelated side note: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction. We here at bending spoons aren't exactly sure the prereqs for winning, or even qualifying to win in this category, but we really don't care. It's still a shiny, sparkley trophy for Mr. Burton and Co.! Yippee!!!
February 3, 2008
The Eye
Well, it wasn't bad. Save for a few assembled-from-a-kit shocker moments, it was a decent horror flick. Good plot, good acting...well, from Jessica Alba anyway. Parker Posey's performance could have been better but the film was really just about Alba's character Sydney and Sydney's struggles; the other characters were little more than scenery.
The film opens with children throwing rocks at a house graffittied with "bruja." A prefunctory understanding of Latin languages helps with the interpretation, and if not, it is revealed later in the film (right about the time you've forgotten the opening scene). A woman inside the house is struggling desperately to escape something blurry off to the edge of the screen. Clumsily and frantically, she ties a slipknot in a cord and throws it over a pipe near the ceiling. As the blurry figure to the side lunges at the camera (in one of those aforementioned kit moments), she kicks the chair she is standing on out from beneath her feet.
Cut scene to a symphony rehearsal, Alba front center as the solo violinist. She leaves rehearsal for the hospital where she is scheduled to received corneal transplants. From there we watch weeks of painful recovery aided (or possibly hindered) by visions of shadowy creatures escorting blurry people away from Sydney; the first being her comatose roommate, Mrs. Hillman.
The Eye is an effective ghost story with little to no hokey animation and no contortionists on the payroll ála The Grudge, The Ring, Pulse and the like. The key element is a creature Sydney comes to call Shadowman and Shadowman is fashioned to look (albeit unintentionally, I am sure) a little like the cinematic interpretation of Dementors, but that doesn't detract too much from the story.
As with any ghost story, Sydney finds herself redeeming someone who was wronged in their own life; in this case the woman who donated the corneal transplant Sydney received (subsequently the "bruja" from the opening scene).
Overall, while I have not yet recommended a remake of an Asian horror film (or the originals thereof, for that matter) because of the shoddy animation tricks and contortionists that are meant to be scary but really just make me seasick, I will wholeheartedly recommend The Eye for anyone looking for a good time. If I enjoyed it, cinematic horror elitest that I am, I am sure those less selective will be in for a romp.
The Eye is an effective ghost story with little to no hokey animation and no contortionists on the payroll ála The Grudge, The Ring, Pulse and the like. The key element is a creature Sydney comes to call Shadowman and Shadowman is fashioned to look (albeit unintentionally, I am sure) a little like the cinematic interpretation of Dementors, but that doesn't detract too much from the story.
As with any ghost story, Sydney finds herself redeeming someone who was wronged in their own life; in this case the woman who donated the corneal transplant Sydney received (subsequently the "bruja" from the opening scene).
Overall, while I have not yet recommended a remake of an Asian horror film (or the originals thereof, for that matter) because of the shoddy animation tricks and contortionists that are meant to be scary but really just make me seasick, I will wholeheartedly recommend The Eye for anyone looking for a good time. If I enjoyed it, cinematic horror elitest that I am, I am sure those less selective will be in for a romp.
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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