|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Dec 29, 2013 - 3:33 AM
|
|
|
By: |
Francis
(Member)
|
Normally James Wan conducts his horror affairs with a degree of sophistication. Thats why I was surprised by a few moments in Insidious 2 where you find some clumsily concocted dialogue. Overt rather than suitably subtle. Were I a studio producer, those would be the moments where I stick my interfering neck out/in and say, "HEY! Hey! You! That!" Still, it was a good show. Woman In Black, Sinister, and The Conjuring are still the best recent horror fare I can recall. One more thing: did Wan de-demonize the demon (!) in Insidious 2? I recall a demon being more demonic, with more demon-like demon features... similar to what one might find on a demon. Cough. (Which also leads to a strange plot gap in #2, but I don`t want to go on at length...) That demon is not featured in Insidious 2, only the dark bride whose origin story is the main focus of insidious 2. The red face demon from the first movie (who is played by composer bishara) SPOILER can be heard at the end of insidious 2, when the spirit of Elise accompanies Specs and Turner to investigate a new family and hears his cracking noise; so most likely insidious 3 will deal with the red face demon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yesterday, Saturday, I watched "Petunia" from Netflix, a rather silly film about strange family alchemy (the central family are the Petunias), although I appreciated it a little more when watching it again with the audio commentary with the director and writer and a few stars. But the big thing was watching the last 5 episodes of season 7 of "Dexter" on my Blu-ray set, and that next-to-last season is one of my favorites, and as I wrote when watching the first 5 episodes earlier this week, they make great use of the surround channels, although they provide absolutely no extras, which is unforgivable. Ray Stevenson is one of the best "Dexter" villains ever.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DeputyRiley: "Before Midnight"??? Ya gotta be kidding. I bought the first 2 in the series as they were released and enjoyed them, but I thought "Before Midnight" was simply dreadful. If I had seen it in a theatre I would have had trouble NOT shouting angrily at the screen -- what an inept script! And I was shocked to see how involved the 2 principal stars were in the making of the film (over and beyond their acting). To me, it read like a horrible first draft in great need of a second and third and maybe even a fourth draft. I sat through it all, and endured some of the most idiotic dialog, and it felt like punishment as I struggled to endure it. Today I watched the 3 1/4 hour "Ben-Hur," the 2010 remake with Joseph Morgan and Stephen Campbell Moore and Emily VanCamp, which I wrote about a month or so ago on another thread, probably about script adaptations, and this was the first time I had ever watched it WITHOUT commercials, and while I liked it back when I first saw it on cable, it has gained considerably in my estimation. I hadn't intended to watch it all, but couldn't turn it off. And it brought me to tears at least 3 times. I believe it was re-edited to lengthen some scenes over what was originally shown on American TV (it's, I believe, a Canadian/German/Moroccan co-production) and there's some slight male nudity as well as some above the waist female nudity that I don't remember seeing when it was broadcast in the U.S. I had picked it up at Amazon for $1 plus shipping and it's one of the best deals I've found in quite some time. Highly recommended.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today I watched Neil Jordan's "Byzantium," knowing almost nothing about it, and it was NOT boring. Watching the voluminous interviews in the special features (which I recommend) we find that they had wanted to make a vampire movie unlike those typical for the genre, and in that respect they succeeded. There are 2 women at the heart of this film (Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan) with the men, played by Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, and Caleb Landry Jones, mostly supporting players to the women at the heart of the story. I recommend it, giving it 3 1/2 stars out of 5, and I must say they make very good use of the surround channels. Here's what Netflix says about it: "Byzantium," 2013, 118 minutes. On the run for a gruesome crime, two mysterious "sisters" take refuge in a seaside town, where their shocking secret lies waiting to be discovered. Bloody and brooding, Neil Jordan's gothic tale delves into the ladies' shared dark history. Cast: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, Daniel Mays, Caleb Landry Jones, Kate Ashfield, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Uri Gavriel, Thure Lindhardt. Director: Neil Jordan. Genres:Thrillers, Supernatural Thrillers, Vampires; United Kingdom; this movie is: Scary.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Air America (1990) -- 5/10
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was glued to the flatscreen tonight for an HD broadcast of "Cloud Atlas," which I had seen several months ago, but, even though I had no intention of watching it all, could NOT stop watching. I remember that in my Netflix review I made the point that they kept jumping to another storyline (and another time) just as I was getting involved in something, which was frustrating, but this time I had no problem with that at all. I had liked it the first time, and realllllllllllllly liked it the second -- can't use the word "love," but what an amazing achievement!!!! And I love the way, in the closing credits, they show the many roles each actor played -- watching the movie the first time, I had hoped they would do something like that and they did. This is a spectacular movie.
|
|
|
|
|
(revisit) Insidious (2011) -- 10/10 Honestly and truly, the most terrifying movie I've ever seen. I thought this when I watched it for the first time in 2011, and last night watched it again in preparation for my first viewing of Insidious Chapter 2, but also to see if my feelings still held up. Yes, they do. Probably not everyone's "scariest movie ever," but watching the film feels like a collective nightmarish representation of just about all things I find creepy/horrific/disturbing in horror movies, done with creativity and ingenuity and done to perfection. Great performances by Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson. The imagination, sound design, music, color scheme, makeup, F/X, and photography really do work as equal parts to pull off this kickass, arresting horror film. Bravo! And on to Chapter 2!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Jan 3, 2014 - 5:49 PM
|
|
|
By: |
Francis
(Member)
|
Carrie 2013 6/10 As a fan of Stephen King adaptations I wasn't particularly waiting for another Carrie; I found the original De Palma ok and definitely disturbing to watch but at the same time also dated with the 70s feel. I saw it late 90s and a lot of it felt cheesy. Then there was Carrie 2 the rage in 1999, which acted like a sequel and an updated version of Carrie, IMO not the worst sequel to a King movie, but that's not saying much. So now we have this new adaptation or remake, I tend to go with the latter as it recycles a lot of De Palma's iconic images, only a lot less effective this time around; there is a good half in Carrie where there is tension and Julianne Moore is well cast as the mother, but there are also moments where the movie doesn't work; the tampon throwing scene was laughable, the scenes where Carrie uses the force on her mother look cheap and most important, the bucket of blood scene which here has none of the power the original had, and it makes what comes after it seem like an excuse for crap CGI kills rather than a scary final act; The prom sequence really looks tacky here and I didn't feel for Chloƫ Grace Moretz like I did for Sissy Spacek. The only good thing about the prom massacre in the new version is the Beltrami score which worked well, but the visuals almost made me shout out 'blasphemy' like that crazy mother. The reason I mentioned Carrie 2 The Rage earlier was because in that movie they also used filmed footage of Carrie projected on screens like they do here. But here it feels out of place; In this remake, a lot of the mischief feels too contrived and over the top almost. I'm not sure having it take place in this time was the best way to adapt King's story, it might be that it needs that cheesy 70s decor after all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|