- My biggest issue with the film was the sheer number of times when a character did something that was nonsensical on a purely logical level. The most glaring (or at least closest to the end) moment that this struck me: when Brody takes off to befriend the normal sized predator, does so, runs away mid-predator battle and then just leaves the Israeli commando and the then-innocuous Topher Grace in a pit where, when he is inevitably soon victorious, the mega-predator will proceed to immediately spinerip the shit out of them. Like, did his character realize the dramatic value of just leaving them there for a bit, even if it meant that they might be hashmeat by the time his clever plan played out? I also thought the part where he intentionally summons a mega-predator to the labyrinthine and tight confines of the abandoned spacecraft inhabited by Morpheus was ludicrous. What back-against-the-wall situation could POSSIBLY be worse than that? "We're in a tiny, crawlspace-heavy ship with next to no resources... let's summon our mighty and unforgiving adversary to help free us!" Sure but no.
- By similar accord, the biggest difference between this and the original is the way in which characters are developed. In the original, the characters are rapidly introduced, developed (however briefly) and then thrown into the conflict. In PREDATORS, the development is threaded throughout the narrative, which makes the audience give much less of a shit about who the characters are or why they are doing what they are doing. As black and white as the original seems in contrast, the rapid character rollout dovetails so much better with the themes of almost ANY action film. The middling attempt to push some kind of message, only to abandon it by the film's end, seems extremely foolish.
- I heard not one but two people in the showing that I was at suggest that the IDF sniper was "the girl from the original". Like, are you even listening to the words?
- On that same note: why did a rank-and-file (by all accounts) Israeli soldier get briefed about the existence of predators? I can only imagine the conference room filled with thousands of soldiers, headed up by a general saying, "Now... I know it's EXTREMELY unlikely that you will ever come across one of these things... but if you do, here is what we know:" WHA'? And then she remembered every last detail?! Goddamn it, why is this movie so lacking in the brains dept.?! Also, when Brody was like, "You knew why that thing was there!", I thought that she was going to admit that she was luring PLO agents with an injured comrade then sniping the shit out of their brainstems.
- I really, REALLY hope that the befriended predator was not supposed to be the same predator as the one from the original despite their aesthetic similarity because... WHY?! Why would that be important to the arc of these characters! It isn't!
- OK, I did laugh at the "do so much coke" line. Why the FUCK did it have to be followed by a rape joke? Seriously? You couldn't write any other line that would explain how CRAZY that Joe Pantaliono-looking skinnyman was without resorting to rape jokes? Just awful. My disgust was later compounded by the dude sitting a few rows behind me who, when Brody was consoling the paralyzed and injured Israeli sniper after dispatching with the nefarious Grace, declared that "Now is the time, bro! HIT THAT SHIT!" Faith in humanity: waning.
- I won't even address that fat-fuck Larry Fishburner cameo.
- This is minor, but Topher suddenly and inexplicately regains the use of his walking after getting some serious ligaments and shit shredded just right prior to the part when he uses the obvious first-act-gun of a paralyzing toxin knife to disable the lady in the pit.
- On that note: who was on the predator "Good Prey Selection Committee" the day that they opted for both Topher's third-act psychopath and the Joe Panataliono turdsack with a shiv as potential adversaries for 9'-tall death machines equipped with shoulder lasers? Like maybe their stable psyches could somehow enable them to outwit the feral veracity of giant murderslabs?
- Why the HELL was such an explicate homage to the original as Brody running around covered in mud and screaming, "C'MON! KILL ME! I'M RIGHT HERE!" needed? They couldn't have shot that exact same scene without having him directly aping the climactic attire and dialog of the original? Who ARE these wretchedly shitty screenwriters? It's a saddener.
- I understand that the extended samurai sword battle was some half-ass attempt to visually reference classic Japanese samurai cinema, but why did it have to be so corny, sound-stage-y and horribly limp? Also, it does not speak to the strength of the script that the yakuza assassin was one of the more sympathetic characters despite speaking less than ten English words through the entirety of the runtime.
- Two different alternate endings that would have been hugely superior to the actual ending:
1) The camera spins around to reveal what Brody is marveling at to reveal... an '80's-era chopper! As the chopper approaches ground level, Arnold, revealed to be sitting in the chopper's side, throws them a rope and says, "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
2) The crates from the original ending fall to the ground. The door to the crate closest to Brody et al. blasts open to reveal an ebony void. Suddenly, a pair of red eyes light up and the TERMINATOR 2 theme plays. Cut to black screen, credits.
- I hope that the "Russian" chain gun guy wins the governorship of MN or some other Midwestern state in the next 20 years.
13 July 2010
04 March 2010
Exhaustive list of three-sentence reviews, Volume III
CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE (2009)- This movie left me torn; there are very brief flashes of brilliance, but CRANK was also chock full of racist caricatures of all stripes, splashes of misogyny, and an overwhelming sense of forced wackiness. Jason Statham perfectly captures the character of the immense leading prick, whose profession is seemingly the only plot detail I might have been missing out on not having seen the first installment. I would challenge co-directors Mark Nedelvine and Brian Taylor tone down their schtick a half dozen degrees for their next picture and see what happens, as it would surely be much more enjoyable.
EVENT HORIZON (1997)- Many folks whose opinions closely mirror my own on sci-fi and horror genres have recommended checking this out to me in the past, so it was a pretty steep disappointment to finally take in this half-baked horror flick. The cast is the most enjoyable aspect of the film, as Larry Fishburne, Sam Neil and Jason Isaacs (who later played Lucius Malfoy in the Potter films) chew through scenery like so many milk-soaked graham crackers. The plot, about a space rescue mission attempting to locate an experimental spacecraft, starts strong and then falls apart as Neil's Dr. Weir's motivations and true origins remain unnecessarily obfuscated through even the lame "twist" ending.
FAME (2009)- Having watched only the first half of the original FAME (1980) after finishing this, I am offended at this limp remake. While the original FAME features gritty sets and cinematography, characters who are provided with actual backgrounds, and several story arcs varying between the comical and the brutal, neo-FAME instead spotlights lamely sexualized teen robots, a seemingly unending parade of unneeded musical set pieces, and a New York city that looks a lot like Toronto. Most offensive is the wholesale replacement of the lower class origins of the original's characters, instead replaced by an elite group of selfish and interchangeable automatons.
FUNNY PEOPLE (2009)- Adam Sandler has always struck me as an actor capable of a lot more than he is willing to normally commit to, an idea inspired by his dually subtle and intense performance in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE. FUNNY PEOPLE, while tonally quite different from PUNCH DRUNK, also offers up a nuanced Sandler performance in the form of a selfish, lonely, and self-destructive comedian whose character surely draws a lot from Mr. Sandler's actual life and success. Like all of director Judd Apatow's work, FUNNY PEOPLE is slightly uneven throughout, but the characters and situations that they subject themselves to ring truer to life than almost any other big budget comedy.
I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF (2009)- This was the first time I have ever encountered anything by Tyler Perry and I enjoyed it a good bit, lacking in subtlety though it may be. I CAN DO BAD slips and slides tonally all over the map from slapstick comedy to heartfelt drama to balls-out musical, and while the experience is somewhat jarring, all of the components are well-crafted as individual elements and result in an enjoyable whole. Hope Olaidé, as a troubled teen acting as a surrogate mother to her two younger brothers, and Taraji Henson, in the role of a self-destructive lounge singer and initially unwilling adoptive mother, offer excellent portrayals of women forced down similarly difficult paths in life.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (2009)- Despite knowing better, I really hoped that LAW ABIDING CITIZEN would be something more than a dumb revenge-themed cat and mouse procedural given that it was set in Philadelphia and starred that guy from 300 (who has yet to make another good movie). Not only did it fail at that, it outright fell flat at being entertaining or making any sense, for that matter. The only aspect of the film that I even took any note of was director F. Gary Gray's restraint in not showing any of the potentially very gory SAW-like torture scenes, and that is truly not saying much for a film. (Bonus sentence: From visiting links from this picture's IMDB entry, I discovered that they are remaking TOTAL RECALL, which is one of the worst ideas in the history of cinema, followed closely by the idea that this film's writer, Kurt Wimmer , should be in charge of writing its script.)
MOON (2009)- Atmospheric science fiction is a genre that has fallen greatly from grace since it's heyday of the '70's and '80's, aside from a sparse number of recent offerings like Soderbergh's 2002 SOLARIS remake and Danny Boyle's 2007 slow burner, SUNSHINE. MOON continues in the revival as a (briefly) mysterious and gauzily shot tale of space madness and corporate greed. While Sam Rockwell does everything he can with the role of Sam Bell, an astronaut/space miner eager to reunite with his family, the film unveils its secrets far too rapidly and obviously to wring out the full psychological tension that the film could have potentially mined.
THE STEPFATHER (2009)- Not much can be said about THE STEPFATHR that isn't already revealed in the trailer: stepfather guy meets mom, kills elderly neighbor, terrorizes her/her kids. If you go into this expecting dumb entertainment and nothing more, you will come out unscathed. Here is another sentence to meet my quota of three sentences.
TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009)- While many dismissed TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES as an awful entry into the franchise, I found it's extremely clever writing, novel premise, and willingness to portray John Connor in a negative light as a refreshing change from James Cameron's previous two blunt slugfests (which were both excellent in their own right). SALVATION, on the other hand, lacks both the creative and humorous writing of RISE as well as the visceral brio of the first two installments; were a few details and names changed, this would have been on par with any other generic mid-budget sci-fi movie of the last ten years. Michael Ironside, who has been in some of the best sci-fi pictures of the last ten years, is utterly squandered in the two scenes he appears in, and the rest of the cast is so lacking in charisma that the third act's dramatic finale is easily forgotten by the time the credits roll.
THE THING (1982)- John Carpenter is responsible for several of my favorite childhood movie experiences and what I consider to be the best science fiction picture of all time, so I was hesitant to elevate my expectations for THE THING when I first saw it several years ago. While THE THING is a vast tonal departure from his other output of the era, totally lacking in any comic relief, Carpenter proves his mastery of restraint and tension here, with a story whose shrouded details and loyalties result in a mass of hysteria and suspicion that ends in tragedy on a personal, or possibly global, scale. The atmosphere of THE THING is perfectly realized with both sound and image, making the viewer feel like one of the research team members trapped in a seemingly impossibly fatal situation.
TWILIGHT (2008)- Much like my original viewing of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, watching TWILIGHT was inspired not so much by an interest in the subject matter or storytelling but rather gaining a perspective on the cultural discourse that it inspires. While Potter & co. pleasantly surprised me with a tale that would make Joseph Campbell proud, TWILIGHT offered not only low production values and poor characterizations, but also a story that made me feel like an old woman as I asked myself, "What is wrong with kids these days?" since Bella and Edward's relationship is clearly abusive on several levels. The only aspect of the film that I enjoyed was the idea of a vampire family, a concept which was not very thoroughly fleshed out aside from a couple of short asides.
WORLD'S GREATEST DAD (2009)- While Robin Williams has indeed been in a few good movies over the years, his presence in a cast usually means you're going to end up with a JUMANJI or perhaps a BIRD CAGE. He has a history of playing everything atrociously over the top, from gay caricatures to sentimental schmaltz, and DAD is no exception, as he takes on the role of a pathetic go-nowhere high school teacher who uses his son's death by auto-erotic asphyxiation to further his own dreams of becoming a professional writer, a role he inhabits almost freakishly easily with his frumpish physique. Director Bobcat Goldthwait (yes, that guy) takes a bitterly misanthropic view of his subjects without every offering any sympathetic characters or moments of hope, thus rendering the film unpleasant for all but the most hateful of souls, even through the anti-climax of a nude Robin Williams diving into a pool like an oafish, elderly version of Benjamin Braddock.
YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (2008)- Quite a different beast from FUNNY PEOPLE, ZOHAN is much closer to the films parodied to hilarious effect in the above-reviewed Apatow picture (the idea behind MERMAN was genius). The vigor with which Sandler inhabits the role of an Isreali secret agent-cum-NYC hairstylist is hard to not enjoy, and the message of peace between Jews and Palestinians is admirable, though quite confusingly staged. I consider this to be the A SERIOUS MAN of the "sex with old lady jokes" genre of comedy films.
EVENT HORIZON (1997)- Many folks whose opinions closely mirror my own on sci-fi and horror genres have recommended checking this out to me in the past, so it was a pretty steep disappointment to finally take in this half-baked horror flick. The cast is the most enjoyable aspect of the film, as Larry Fishburne, Sam Neil and Jason Isaacs (who later played Lucius Malfoy in the Potter films) chew through scenery like so many milk-soaked graham crackers. The plot, about a space rescue mission attempting to locate an experimental spacecraft, starts strong and then falls apart as Neil's Dr. Weir's motivations and true origins remain unnecessarily obfuscated through even the lame "twist" ending.
FAME (2009)- Having watched only the first half of the original FAME (1980) after finishing this, I am offended at this limp remake. While the original FAME features gritty sets and cinematography, characters who are provided with actual backgrounds, and several story arcs varying between the comical and the brutal, neo-FAME instead spotlights lamely sexualized teen robots, a seemingly unending parade of unneeded musical set pieces, and a New York city that looks a lot like Toronto. Most offensive is the wholesale replacement of the lower class origins of the original's characters, instead replaced by an elite group of selfish and interchangeable automatons.
FUNNY PEOPLE (2009)- Adam Sandler has always struck me as an actor capable of a lot more than he is willing to normally commit to, an idea inspired by his dually subtle and intense performance in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE. FUNNY PEOPLE, while tonally quite different from PUNCH DRUNK, also offers up a nuanced Sandler performance in the form of a selfish, lonely, and self-destructive comedian whose character surely draws a lot from Mr. Sandler's actual life and success. Like all of director Judd Apatow's work, FUNNY PEOPLE is slightly uneven throughout, but the characters and situations that they subject themselves to ring truer to life than almost any other big budget comedy.
I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF (2009)- This was the first time I have ever encountered anything by Tyler Perry and I enjoyed it a good bit, lacking in subtlety though it may be. I CAN DO BAD slips and slides tonally all over the map from slapstick comedy to heartfelt drama to balls-out musical, and while the experience is somewhat jarring, all of the components are well-crafted as individual elements and result in an enjoyable whole. Hope Olaidé, as a troubled teen acting as a surrogate mother to her two younger brothers, and Taraji Henson, in the role of a self-destructive lounge singer and initially unwilling adoptive mother, offer excellent portrayals of women forced down similarly difficult paths in life.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (2009)- Despite knowing better, I really hoped that LAW ABIDING CITIZEN would be something more than a dumb revenge-themed cat and mouse procedural given that it was set in Philadelphia and starred that guy from 300 (who has yet to make another good movie). Not only did it fail at that, it outright fell flat at being entertaining or making any sense, for that matter. The only aspect of the film that I even took any note of was director F. Gary Gray's restraint in not showing any of the potentially very gory SAW-like torture scenes, and that is truly not saying much for a film. (Bonus sentence: From visiting links from this picture's IMDB entry, I discovered that they are remaking TOTAL RECALL, which is one of the worst ideas in the history of cinema, followed closely by the idea that this film's writer, Kurt Wimmer , should be in charge of writing its script.)
MOON (2009)- Atmospheric science fiction is a genre that has fallen greatly from grace since it's heyday of the '70's and '80's, aside from a sparse number of recent offerings like Soderbergh's 2002 SOLARIS remake and Danny Boyle's 2007 slow burner, SUNSHINE. MOON continues in the revival as a (briefly) mysterious and gauzily shot tale of space madness and corporate greed. While Sam Rockwell does everything he can with the role of Sam Bell, an astronaut/space miner eager to reunite with his family, the film unveils its secrets far too rapidly and obviously to wring out the full psychological tension that the film could have potentially mined.
THE STEPFATHER (2009)- Not much can be said about THE STEPFATHR that isn't already revealed in the trailer: stepfather guy meets mom, kills elderly neighbor, terrorizes her/her kids. If you go into this expecting dumb entertainment and nothing more, you will come out unscathed. Here is another sentence to meet my quota of three sentences.
TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009)- While many dismissed TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES as an awful entry into the franchise, I found it's extremely clever writing, novel premise, and willingness to portray John Connor in a negative light as a refreshing change from James Cameron's previous two blunt slugfests (which were both excellent in their own right). SALVATION, on the other hand, lacks both the creative and humorous writing of RISE as well as the visceral brio of the first two installments; were a few details and names changed, this would have been on par with any other generic mid-budget sci-fi movie of the last ten years. Michael Ironside, who has been in some of the best sci-fi pictures of the last ten years, is utterly squandered in the two scenes he appears in, and the rest of the cast is so lacking in charisma that the third act's dramatic finale is easily forgotten by the time the credits roll.
THE THING (1982)- John Carpenter is responsible for several of my favorite childhood movie experiences and what I consider to be the best science fiction picture of all time, so I was hesitant to elevate my expectations for THE THING when I first saw it several years ago. While THE THING is a vast tonal departure from his other output of the era, totally lacking in any comic relief, Carpenter proves his mastery of restraint and tension here, with a story whose shrouded details and loyalties result in a mass of hysteria and suspicion that ends in tragedy on a personal, or possibly global, scale. The atmosphere of THE THING is perfectly realized with both sound and image, making the viewer feel like one of the research team members trapped in a seemingly impossibly fatal situation.
TWILIGHT (2008)- Much like my original viewing of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, watching TWILIGHT was inspired not so much by an interest in the subject matter or storytelling but rather gaining a perspective on the cultural discourse that it inspires. While Potter & co. pleasantly surprised me with a tale that would make Joseph Campbell proud, TWILIGHT offered not only low production values and poor characterizations, but also a story that made me feel like an old woman as I asked myself, "What is wrong with kids these days?" since Bella and Edward's relationship is clearly abusive on several levels. The only aspect of the film that I enjoyed was the idea of a vampire family, a concept which was not very thoroughly fleshed out aside from a couple of short asides.
WORLD'S GREATEST DAD (2009)- While Robin Williams has indeed been in a few good movies over the years, his presence in a cast usually means you're going to end up with a JUMANJI or perhaps a BIRD CAGE. He has a history of playing everything atrociously over the top, from gay caricatures to sentimental schmaltz, and DAD is no exception, as he takes on the role of a pathetic go-nowhere high school teacher who uses his son's death by auto-erotic asphyxiation to further his own dreams of becoming a professional writer, a role he inhabits almost freakishly easily with his frumpish physique. Director Bobcat Goldthwait (yes, that guy) takes a bitterly misanthropic view of his subjects without every offering any sympathetic characters or moments of hope, thus rendering the film unpleasant for all but the most hateful of souls, even through the anti-climax of a nude Robin Williams diving into a pool like an oafish, elderly version of Benjamin Braddock.
YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (2008)- Quite a different beast from FUNNY PEOPLE, ZOHAN is much closer to the films parodied to hilarious effect in the above-reviewed Apatow picture (the idea behind MERMAN was genius). The vigor with which Sandler inhabits the role of an Isreali secret agent-cum-NYC hairstylist is hard to not enjoy, and the message of peace between Jews and Palestinians is admirable, though quite confusingly staged. I consider this to be the A SERIOUS MAN of the "sex with old lady jokes" genre of comedy films.
19 February 2010
Exhaustive list of three-sentence reviews, Volume II
DISTRICT 9 (2009)- While it is a rather gimmick-driven picture, DISTRICT 9 pulses with a raw and rough energy that is rarely found in wide-release science fiction films. The gradual and measured set-up for the protagonist's story arc is brilliantly executed despite the fact that the viewer needs to suspend disbelief as far as any sci-fi picture can expect its audience to. DISTRICT 9 combines subtle racism, an anti-racism subtext, exploding heads, and giant robot exoskeletons as well as any film since ALIENS, and I am genuinely looking forward to DISTRICT 10.
EXTRACT (2009)- Mike Judge's previous two features were extremely hilarious, but both films suffered from a distinctly misanthropic viewpoint that felt somewhat coldhearted. EXTRACT is a welcome departure from that vibe; while Judge certainly still does occasionally spotlight the negative, distinctly human traits of his characters, the conclusion of the film is thankfully sympathetic to his suffering creations, allowing a dignified resolution to what could have been a hateful tale. The increasingly complex relationships Judge draws out, even between characters bordering on outright caricature such as a grindcore doofus and a dopey bro cassanova, bode well for his future efforts. GILLY ALERT!
THE GODFATHER (1972)- This was only the second time that I had seen THE GODFATHER in its entirety and it was amazing how much of it was already vividly inscribed on my mind. The naturalistic touch that Coppola brings to the picture, notably in the sequence of Michael's exile in Italy and the garden death of Vito, adds another dimension to an already effective piece of cinema. The visual impact of both the christening sequence and the final, dark confrontation between Michael and Kate has rarely been paralleled since. Bonus sentence: the death shot of Moe Green gives this movie the record for worst-fake-blood-to-best-film ratio.
HALLOWEEN (2007)- In his last feature, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie proved that he was capable of crafting an excellent horror film, with the touch of an auteur as well as moments of truly frightening human malevolence. In HALLOWEEN, he swings again for the fences, attempting to give Michael Myers a compelling psychological backstory and a justification, if minor, for his later-life murderous rampages. Zombie falls short, due to an unbelievable, over-the-top set-up and a half-baked relationship between Myers and his hippie-dippy psychologist, but the third act of typical Myers terrorizing is well-crafted if uninspired.
IN BRUGES (2008)- Categorizing IN BRUGES simply as a story about hitmen exiled to Belgium after a botched killing not only does it a great disservice, but also pigeonholes one of the best cinematic character studies of the last ten years. Unlike most films about hitmen, Martin McDonagh's debut feature doesn't focus so much on his characters' profession as how they interact as individuals cast into a fantastic scenario. Mr. McDonaugh subtly and skillfully changes the tone throughout the film, from outright comedy to violent tragedy, and Colin Farrell expertly brings life to his sympathetic yet pathetic failed assassin.
THE RUNNING MAN (1987)- Despite being one of the lesser works in the Schwarzenegger cannon of the '80's, THE RUNNING MAN is still a very fun ride, one that packs a completely unsubtle anti-corporation message. THE RUNNING MAN contains one of the best Arnold quotes of all time: "All I've seen is a bunch of low foreheads who think they can change the world with dreams and big talk. It's too late for that! If you're not ready to act, give me a break and shut up!" I also really enjoy the distinctly 1987 aesthetic perspective of 2019 technology and the prolo look of the antagonists.
SURROGATES (2009)- SURROGATES takes an extremely strong premise (the entire Western world uses ubermench android doubles, controlled remotely, to live their daily lives) and makes a forgettable experience of the tale, which is sort of a letdown given that both of Jonathan Mostow's previous two pictures were both effectively spartan yet enjoyable. While there are some exciting action sequences and the robot duplicates do look as creepy as they rightly should, the whole film seems milquetoast, even though I did enjoy the gracefully ambiguous conclusion. Why is it that James Cromwell always plays the supposedly benevolent authority figure who ends up being a conspiracy puppetmaster?
EXTRACT (2009)- Mike Judge's previous two features were extremely hilarious, but both films suffered from a distinctly misanthropic viewpoint that felt somewhat coldhearted. EXTRACT is a welcome departure from that vibe; while Judge certainly still does occasionally spotlight the negative, distinctly human traits of his characters, the conclusion of the film is thankfully sympathetic to his suffering creations, allowing a dignified resolution to what could have been a hateful tale. The increasingly complex relationships Judge draws out, even between characters bordering on outright caricature such as a grindcore doofus and a dopey bro cassanova, bode well for his future efforts. GILLY ALERT!
THE GODFATHER (1972)- This was only the second time that I had seen THE GODFATHER in its entirety and it was amazing how much of it was already vividly inscribed on my mind. The naturalistic touch that Coppola brings to the picture, notably in the sequence of Michael's exile in Italy and the garden death of Vito, adds another dimension to an already effective piece of cinema. The visual impact of both the christening sequence and the final, dark confrontation between Michael and Kate has rarely been paralleled since. Bonus sentence: the death shot of Moe Green gives this movie the record for worst-fake-blood-to-best-film ratio.
HALLOWEEN (2007)- In his last feature, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie proved that he was capable of crafting an excellent horror film, with the touch of an auteur as well as moments of truly frightening human malevolence. In HALLOWEEN, he swings again for the fences, attempting to give Michael Myers a compelling psychological backstory and a justification, if minor, for his later-life murderous rampages. Zombie falls short, due to an unbelievable, over-the-top set-up and a half-baked relationship between Myers and his hippie-dippy psychologist, but the third act of typical Myers terrorizing is well-crafted if uninspired.
IN BRUGES (2008)- Categorizing IN BRUGES simply as a story about hitmen exiled to Belgium after a botched killing not only does it a great disservice, but also pigeonholes one of the best cinematic character studies of the last ten years. Unlike most films about hitmen, Martin McDonagh's debut feature doesn't focus so much on his characters' profession as how they interact as individuals cast into a fantastic scenario. Mr. McDonaugh subtly and skillfully changes the tone throughout the film, from outright comedy to violent tragedy, and Colin Farrell expertly brings life to his sympathetic yet pathetic failed assassin.
THE RUNNING MAN (1987)- Despite being one of the lesser works in the Schwarzenegger cannon of the '80's, THE RUNNING MAN is still a very fun ride, one that packs a completely unsubtle anti-corporation message. THE RUNNING MAN contains one of the best Arnold quotes of all time: "All I've seen is a bunch of low foreheads who think they can change the world with dreams and big talk. It's too late for that! If you're not ready to act, give me a break and shut up!" I also really enjoy the distinctly 1987 aesthetic perspective of 2019 technology and the prolo look of the antagonists.
SURROGATES (2009)- SURROGATES takes an extremely strong premise (the entire Western world uses ubermench android doubles, controlled remotely, to live their daily lives) and makes a forgettable experience of the tale, which is sort of a letdown given that both of Jonathan Mostow's previous two pictures were both effectively spartan yet enjoyable. While there are some exciting action sequences and the robot duplicates do look as creepy as they rightly should, the whole film seems milquetoast, even though I did enjoy the gracefully ambiguous conclusion. Why is it that James Cromwell always plays the supposedly benevolent authority figure who ends up being a conspiracy puppetmaster?
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