Adam Charles

THE SENTINEL

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:20:17 GMT

I just watched this supernatural horror film from the later 70s last night. It wasn't very good, albeit there were a couple of genuinely creepy moments and it had a pretty good ending. What was surprising though, and what is worthy of comment, were the number of really, really small roles given to what came to be very known actors.
The main cast was made up of Chris Sarandon, Cristina Raines, and Burgess Meredith (the highlight of the film). In lesser roles, and by lesser I mean almost uncredited, there was Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Beverly D'Angelo (with an odd masturbation scene), Jerry Orbach, and Tom Berenger. I'd say combined the five of them occupied a good 2 to 5 minutes of screen time.
I don't know if I've ever seen a film with that many actors that went on to establish a name for themselves in very insignificant roles. Especially in a film that really isn't very good.
Then, there were also actors like Eli Wallach, John Carradine, and Ava Gardner in medium-sized roles.
You almost can't ask for a better cast than that.

Post for the sake of Posting

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:01:09 GMT

We're all moved in to the house. Have been for months. Still many things stuffed in closets that should be hanging on the wall, or someone else's wall.

I'm uncomfortably busy at work lately. I don't think it's going to get any better for a few months.

That being said, I'm much happier with the job now than I've ever been.

I started writing a script. Stopped. Reworked my angle. Haven't picked it up since.

Austin newspaper film critics piss me off.

Second wave of Fantastic Fest titles are being released tomorrow (wait...today). September cannot come fast enough.

Waterloo Video is going out of business. That makes me sad because it was my favorite place to go during my lunch hour.

The Dark Knight is my favorite crime film since The Untouchables. Its positive reception critically, publicly, and box-officely is the most refreshing film related event I can recall since Saving Private Ryan. It's nice when the best film of the year up until that point is also the leader at the box-office. It's also reinvigorated my thirst for movie posters.

In 2003 Ang Lee made a film called HULK. It was received semi-fairly by critics, but left audiences cold with its dim story and lack of pure summer excitement. The result- the film cost $137 million to make, grossed $132 million domestically and $245 million combined worldwide.

In 2008 Louis Letterier made a film called THE INCREDIBLE HULK. It was received better by critics than Ang Lee's film, and it even satisfies the summer moviegoing audiences' desires of destruction moreso than Ang's. The result- the film cost $150 million to make, has grossed $133 million domestically and $228 million combined worldwide.......

That's ha-ha funny.

Movin' on up - To the South side...

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:10:09 GMT

Ever since March 3rd things have been rollin'. We closed on the home March 3rd, and I was offered / sought out moving to another position in the company.  Two very big changes, and both for the better.
The house is coming along quite nicely. Our lease at the apartment complex isn't up until April 5th, and since we closed on the house March 3rd it gave us the entire month to get everything moved out and situated. We used the first weekend of March to clean the house, and repaint one of the bedrooms. The second weekend we rented the Uhaul and got some friends and family to help us move about 90 percent of the apartment to the house. I took two days off from work the week of Good Friday, and used one of those days to move everything else over. From then until now it's been just a daily schedule of giving ourselves a goal to work through so many boxes, until the time comes when the house is about as close to 100% the way we want it as we can get it without spending an arm or a leg.
Graciously, we accepted a brand new rerigerator courtesy of my parents, and an embarrassingly large sum of money from Victoria's mom, which I won't disclose, to help us buy some new furniture. So far we've got a new dining room table, and two pleather recliners for my room / "the movie room". Today we picked up a computer desk at an estate sale, as well as a few little knick knacks at some garage sales. We may have received a good deal of money from her Mom, but after moving in we realized exactly how much furniture we'd like to add or replace, so we want to extend that money out to cover as many categories as possible. The rest of the money will probably go to a bedroom set, and we desperately need a television stand in the living room. Not a replacement stand, but an initial stand as we never had to buy one before since the last two apartments we've been in had encaved wall space to set up the TV. Then, hopefully if we can cut some corners somewhere with those two purchases the last thing we'll actually need is a secondary seating for the living room, and eventually we'll pick up an automatic garage door opener to install.
Hopefully we can get this all done by the end of April. If it was just myself I probably would have purchased it all already, but Victoria is a much stingier shopper than I. She's a stickler for finding the perfect item, and therefore is the type that would rather deal with the fact that our living room televsision is at shin-level and wait until we find that special stand that sings to us than purchase a serviceable replacement that's an obvious upgrade but may not sing as in tune as the mythical perfect stand that we haven't found yet. I think we're going to have to work out a timeline where if she hasn't found the perfect set of items by a certain day then we're just going to go with the best thing that we'd found up until then.
As far as the job goes, I was at a point last year where I was reaching my limits. I had always figured myself as the type of person that could deal with the monotony of a job if I knew the functions significantly well. Apparently, that isn't the case. Ever since I'd returned from vacation last September after Fantastic Fest I hadn't been the same. I was feeling less positive about my job, and started to accentuate all the negatives in my head. Around mid-October I began to wonder how much longer I was going to be able to deal with it, and if not then wondered if the job was going to change, or if I was going to have to change it myself.
During this time the customer service aspect of my job began to get nasty. People were calling me about all kinds of issues that took hours - to days - to weeks to resolve. This then would set back my daily processing work, and I would start to get incredibly stressed knowing that I had a deadline approaching and I hadn't begun the processing for that particular project that was going to be due. The amount of paper at my desk probably equaled the death of mid-sized tree.
Then, towards the end of October my boss took a week-long vacation. What this meant for me was that I was now going to have to sacrifice a few hours of my day so I made sure certain things that she did didn't get ignored. This severely affected my morale. Not so much because of the amount of time I was having to devote for that, but because the reason I was so down ever since I'd returned from vacation in September was attributed to nobody doing the same thing for me. To be fair what I do, or used to do, was something that could be put on the back burner because most of my paperwork is stuff that doesn't necessarily need to be entered in to our system immediately. As long as it's processed before I do a certain procedure at the beginning of the month then it's no biggy, whereas if something that one of my coworkers goes ignored for two days or so then we start to get more phone calls from angry clients. In the case of my boss, if I didn't deposit the checks every morning then everyone else's job was set back a day. Still, I couldn't help but think to myself that I had to put in over 20 hours of overtime just to keep my head above water when I returned from vacation because nobody was able to help me out while I was gone, yet here I am losing time out of my day to do my job and putting in more overtime after I had just gotten myself out of a long and stressful bind because I'm helping someone out while their gone. Again, it was just a devastating morale buster, and I hadn't been the same at my job ever since. Not personality-wise, but certainly performance-wise. I really just didn't want to do the work anymore, but I couldn't bring myself to walk away from the money, which I really needed. However, I knew that I wasn't going to last a helluvalot longer if something didn't change. Then came the oppurtunity to do just that.
Two months ago one of our more esteemed employees had to leave the company because of geographic issues. He lived in San Antonio, and didn't want to leave. The partners of the company wanted him at the office more often and wanted him to move here to Austin, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, and had to say goodbye.
So, this put a lot of the burden on the shoulders of another esteemed employee who is basically the do-it-all of the office. He's our one man I.T. guy, phone guy, human resources, etc. Now, he was going to take over the role of the departed as much as possible, on top of what he was already doing. What this meant was a new opening in the company to come in and be his back up / understudy / teammate to help him with the workload.
I knew that they were hiring for the position, but I honestly never thought of applying for the job. I knew very little about that section of the office, and knew even less about computer systems setup and didn't think I was what they were looking for, at all.
That being said, we do work in a very small company and I do have a close working relationship with our office do-it-all, and word did reach me that if it was up to him I would've been his choice, without question. The only reason I was never approached about the job was because of their fear of what that may do to my part of the team of where I was. They didn't want it to seem as if they were just going to come in and take what they need and leave everyone else to fend for themselves. Even though this posting doesn't express the company in the brightest of lights because of my own woes, we are a very tight-knit company and we all get along very well.  They didn't want to do anything to damage a solid and harmonic working environment, and cause any bitter feuds with my direct boss.
So, I did hear it from someone else in the office though that they really did want me to move out of what I was doing to the other job. I was ecstatic. I knew what the job was, and knew that I knew little-to-nothing about any of what I will need to know eventually, but also knew now that even though they knew I didn't anything about that stuff that they felt extremely confident in me that I could do whatever the job required. What also excited me about the job was that there is absolutely nothing about it that's tedious or repetetive. I was basically going to become a problem solver and a person to help find better solutions, and I loved it.
So, I then approached my boss about the position and that I wanted to throw my name in the hat. She had no complaints. She didn't want to lose me, but she's always looking out for what's in the best interest of her employees. I knew she'd respond that way, but I still thought it a respectful thing to do to let her know of my intentions.
To make an already long story slightly shorter I approached the right people, I met with the partners, met with a few other people, and a week later they made the announcement that I'd be moving over to the other side of the office. I was overjoyed.
This all happened about a month ago. A week later they interviewed people for my old position, and hired a replacement. She started just this past week, and I've spent most of the week training her about my old job functions and responsibilities. She's got a good deal of it down, but there's still a lot for me to bestow. I'm anticipating that by the end of April she'll have most of it down cold, and will just come to me every so often looking for advice on how to handle something.
As for me, I got set up in my new office (yes, an actual office with walls and a window), I got a laptop of which I can bring home, and got a quick run through of what kinds of things I'll be doing. I got a tour of our server setup and operations, and starting Monday I'll be taking a nosedive into basic computer information 101. We loaded my new laptop with Office 2007, and I'm still trying to adjust to the layout differences in the different programs. I learned how to set people up with access to certain parts of our network, and set them up with a company email. So, I've got about 3 things down out of about a couple of thousand things I'll need to know.
It's a lot to learn, but I'd much rather be working through all of this and learn different things daily than have to sit down at my desk and repeat what I'd been doing every single day for the past 3 years any longer. I'm a little nervous about it all, but if they feel pretty certain I can do it then I'll take their word for it.

Also, last but not least, the topic of continuing my education did also come up in the meeting. It wasn't a stipulation of my getting the job, but they did highly encourage me to seek going back to school. If it's something I want to pursue they did offer me financial assistance. As in, they would pay for it. All of it.
The thought of going back to school had never crossed my mind before that discussion, but with that proposal I have to say that I was taken aback, and I am considering it.

There is no escaping him...

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:16:11 GMT

I went into a Gamestop today during my lunchbreak. I hadn't been to one in a while since I don't buy games anymore, and they've now pretty much done away with their dvd stock. However, in the off chance that they had some blu-ray discs as part of their buy 2 get 2 free used dvd sale (they're trying to rid themselves of what's left of their dvd stock) I wanted to give it a shot since I had a ton of time to kill.
So, I get in the store and start looking around. I find the depleted dvd section and start sifting through the remains for any left behind gems, and nothing pops up, as expected. I thought that maybe they'd have some hi-def titles separate from the rest of the stock in an effort to satisfy the PS3 owners. So, I walk up to the guy behind the counter to ask about blu-ray discs, and right as I get there the phone rings. The guy realizes I'm about to ask him a question and politely asks me to hang on a second while he takes the call. I comply, and this is what followed.

"Thank you for calling Gamestop where you can sell or trade used games, this is _________, how can I help you?"

..........................

"Oh....hey Travis...."

.............................

"That hasn't been released yet Travis"

..............................

"It's not due out for a few more weeks"

................................

"Yes, we still have your reservation for that"

.................................

"You already asked me that before Travis"

.................................

"MGS4 isn't due out for a few months"

..................................

"No, it's Mature rated"

..................................

"I don't know what else is coming out that isn't M-Rated"

..................................

"I've already answered that question Travis, I'm not gonna answer it again."

................................................................................................................................................................

and so on

For the few that read this journal, you understand 100% who is being referenced here. Now, I wasn't on the phone with him so I can't say with absolute certainty that the person on the other end was indeed "Travis", but the phone frustrations did seem uncannily similar to the kinds I had myself many a time while employed at Gamefellas. Even the facial expression as he said "Oh, hi Travis" you could tell that he physically meant "why am I the only one here to answer the phone?"
As I continued to listen to their circular conversation I began to notice that the employee was getting a little harsher with his answering, and I felt bad for Travis. The guy wasn't blatantly rude, but it was obvious to anyone listening aside from Travis that the guy really wasn't playing up his customer service skills. I wasn't sure if I should feel bad because Travis is usually oblivious to irritated behavior, but still. Travis is just a harmless little game freak that's unfortunately a little on the slow side and doesn't realize that he's pestering, and really just wants to converse. He doesn't deserve to be treated like someone who's purposely trying to get on someone's nerves. Even though I can fully empathize with the recipient of a Travis phone call there are much better ways to satisfy the both of you than getting impolite with him.
Needless to say, I didn't stay long enough to find out if Gamestop had any blu-ray discs hidden somewhere to the naked eye, or just my eye. I had plenty of time to look, but to wait through to the end of a Travis phone call would've required me to take some paid time off.

2008 in foresight

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:48:32 GMT

I didn't make a new year's resolution this year. Last year's didn't pan out, but oddly I did lose some weight which wasn't a resolution for 2007, but was for 2006. However, here are some things I can foresee for 2008:

1. Come March 1st I'll no longer be a slave to rent and see my money go into the hands of a wealthy apartment complex owner, for he/she to do as he/she chooses. Now, I'm going to be a slave to the bank for fronting the money for Victoria and I to purchase our first home. The home inspector is checking the house out tomorrow, and the papers are in the works to close on the deal March 1st. I'm so looking forward to mowing the lawn again.

2. Maybe this year I'll actually "celebrate" my birthday. I hadn't really done much for my birthday the past many years, but since the home we're planning on moving into is nicely sized in the living area with a decent backyard, and not too distant from my parents' place I might have some people over to celebrate turning a year over a quarter of a century.

3. Fantastic Fest 4 will be awesome, because it has no choice. It may not top FF 3, in fact I doubt it will, but it will rock as it always does.

4. Hopefully, by the time we move in I'll have watched all of the Criterion dvds that I own but have yet to see the film. I know that sounds simple being as I've got at least 45 days to watch them all, but believe you me, the number of titles as at least triple that number.

5. I'll continue to have ideas about doing something film related for a living, but won't motivate myself to take the plunge and leave my job. Our realtor told me that one of his clients is a screenwriter here in Austin. Maybe I'll ask him to set up a meeting so I could pick his brain and find out how he got started.

6. THE DARK KNIGHT will not disappoint.

7. I think INDY JONES 4 may disappoint. I just hope not.

8. Hopefully Universal will release a good number of catalogue titles in hi-def this year. Something along the lines of the classic horror-monster collections, or the Hitchcock films. Not likely, but hopefully.

9. I just had an idea that maybe for my birthday I'll try and find a 96 oz. steak (as in the Old 96er from THE GREAT OUTDOORS) and serve that as the dinner for my birthday.

10. I will have seen every film that I own at this point in time by the end of the year. Again, sounds simple, but in order for me to do so I'll have to watch almost 2 films a day. I need to stop spending money.

I've chosen HD-RAY, here's why....

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 06:37:48 GMT

Right during the Thanksgiving holiday I went buyer crazy over upgrading my home entertainment setup. Until that time I was sitting on a very low-end hi-def 27 inch television with no "real" sound system to speak of. It was a basic setup to say the least, and with the amount of money I bring in per month I was certainly due, and able to upgrade. Perfect timing as Amazon began to run their 10 free HD-DVD titles with the purchase of any of the players. Consider the cost of the player (on sale for $200), and the value of the HD-DVDs I chose, I paid $200 for a $500 value. Fantabulous.
Later that week, when the HD player arrived I knew I needed to upgrade the television next, otherwise what good is it to watch hi-def on a television that really isn't hi-def? That's like an ugly woman applying higher-end facial products than what she used to. It's an upgrade without question, but if you want to see the potential of the product then you should probably apply it onto a face that's a tad smoother, and more accepting of make-up. So, I utilized the empty space on my Circuit City card to purchase an LG 37 inch 720p television, since I wouldn't have to pay any interest for a full year.  And, while I was at it I purchased an HDMI cable for the best possible resolution, clarity, and vibrancy that my player and television could agree on.
I was all set.
The first film I watched in HD was 300, because it was packaged with the player and was one of the free titles and I hadn't yet received the 3 I got directly from the Amazon offer. The last time I had watched 300 was on my better-than-crap lesser-than-acceptable television on my standard dvd player. Immediately, I could see a difference. Not great, but certainly a difference. Then, as a matter of comparison, I popped in my standard version disc. YUCK!!!! Now, I can really see the difference. Don't get me wrong (I should say don't buy in to my exaggeration), it's not as if I started watching VHS again or something. The difference certainly is not THAT substantial, but there's definitely a difference enough to validate my purchase of the player.
Basking in my glee of hi-definition I went on a shopping hurricane over the next month. All throughout the Christmas holidays all I did was trade in my old dvds that are currently available on HD, and then upgrade to the better versions. I couldn't be stopped. I traded in about 500 dollars worth of dvds, and with all the buy one get one free and discounted sales throughout December I was able to amass a total of 85 HD-DVDs to date. I was a happy, happy camper.
Then came January 5. The day of HD-DVD infamy. Warner Bros. made an official announcement to cease distributing to HD-DVD, and will back Blu-Ray exclusively beginning in May, 2008. What was my reaction to the news? After contributing about a grand or so to the HD-DVD camp, how did I take this deathstrike that was like a gun shot to the main artery of HD-DVD? I sighed.
I had anticipated back in early December that Warner Bros. would defect to the side of Blu-Ray with their announcement that they would indeed cease the usage of both formats, and decide to support one, and one only. With the PS3, and the strong marketing of Sony I didn't see how HD-DVD was going to be able to woo Warners enough for them to think that it was the best way to go. In terms of pricing they're certainly more cost effective, and as far as extra features are concerned they were feature ready before Sony was. It looked promising for a bit as it seemed that Warners preferred HD-DVD as they had a number of their titles already exclusive to HD-DVD, and none exclusive to Blu-Ray. But, honestly, I think what it comes down to are the manufacturer names. Blu-Ray technology is Sony licensed. HD-DVD technology is owned by Toshiba. Sony vs. Toshiba. If you saw those names, which would you be more inclined to choose?
Also, I think a lot has to do with the mindset of a consumer. Many times the deciding factor in regards to what you buy does depend on the price. However, not in the sense that whichever is cheaper gets the money. No, the caution alarm tends to go off in a shopper's head that makes one think to themselves when trying to decide between a more cost effective HD-DVD player, or a Sony brand Blu-Ray player. Offhand the cheaper pricetag may have led some people to believe that the HD-DVD player itself was a movie player ready to transform itself into a paperweight. It's that age old belief system that more expensive must mean better quality. Whether that's true or not in this case is beside the point.
Anyway, back on track, I was prepping myself for the bomb raid in the instance that Warner Bros would choose to side with Blu-Ray. So, what did I do when they announced that Warner Bros. and Blu-Ray would be dating exclusively (Well, at least Warner would be faithful, but Blu-Ray already has a few pocket lovers in Fox and Disney. It's kinda like BIG LOVE)? I went online to check out the Blu-Ray library, I gashed through my dvd reserves, and started trading in everything on standard dvd that I was going to upgrade to when I decided to buy a blu-ray player. Now, it was only a matter of when was going to be right. Today, would be that time.
With Best Buy running a sale for 10 free titles with the purchase of the player, and with the blu-ray price drop to $399 for the basic models I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity. Luckily, serendipity would be on my side for this particular event.
I contemplated back and forth all week whether or not I would dish out the money now for the blu-ray player. For $399 minus the value of the 10 titles I would be getting, I'd be paying about $120 bucks for the player. Not only that, I'd be paying $120 for a player that would play my movies, but would not be able to utilize future discs to their capacity as it is a first generation player, and thus cannot upgrade its specs to become a version 1.1 player. All that means is that I would never be able to use the Picture in Picture feature on future blu-ray discs. Having that ability with my HD-DVD player I can say that it's most certainly an agreeable little bonus to have. You don't have to go back to a root menu when you're watching your movie as it will continue to play and just bring up the dvd menu across the bottom, or side of the television screen and let you navigate through the disc as the movie continues to run on the screen. It's certainly neat and handy, but not something I couldn't live without. Now, this feature is something that I would be able to upgrade to if I purchased a PS3, but the PS3 was not an eligible blu-ray player to take advantage of the 10 free titles (you could get 5 by mail in rebate though), and the PS3 that I'd have to get in order to utilize its backwards compatability would have to be the 60 gig model, which is $100 more than the blu-ray player I had my eyes set on. So, I cancelled the PS3 as an option. But, I still wasn't completely satisfied that I wouldn't have the ability to upgrade my stand-alone player to 1.1, or 2.0 down the road (unnecessary feature that I won't expand upon), so I remained on the fence until today. Today, I decided to go ahead and do it. I could rationalize the purchase and I felt good, and excited about it.  So, I rush over to the nearest Best Buy, start picking out my 5 free titles (the other 5 are mail-order from a list of eligible titles) and then I head to the dvd player area to pick up the actual player. With 5 free titles in hand I get to the area, and come to find that they are completely sold out of both $399 models. Suddenly, I felt as if something was telling me that it wasn't meant to be right now and I should just walk out, and wait another day.
Then, I looked back down in my hand and flipped through the lovely hi-def cinema that I was holding, and had to wait to watch. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN the Director's Cut, 3:10 TO YUMA, SUNSHINE, THE TERMINATOR, and ROBOCOP. Suddenly, I had this urge that I HAD to have these, and I HAD to watch them. But, what could I do?
I had an idea. Let me find a sales rep to see if I can buy the player now, even though they're out of stock, and I can have them contact me when the player comes in and I can pick it up. This way I can take advantage of the sale, I just can't watch my movies just yet. I find a salesman, give him the spiel, and he tells me that it'll work. Badass!!
I follow him to the register in the area, he starts punching on his computer keys, then he gets this look of grief and disappointment on his face. Apparently, in order for them to allow someone to pay for an item that's currently out of stock at their store they would need to be able to have that item available at a nearby location, or available online. Every store in Austin, SOLD OUT. Online warehouse, SOLD OUT. It wasn't going to work. It wasn't meant to be.
Then, as if arriving like a knight in a moment of desperation, the manager walks over just to take a look at something on the computer next to the one my salesman is using. My salesman sees his manager, and decides to ask for some advice. He tells him my story, points to there being no $399 stand-alone players available at the store, shows him that ordering one for pick-up is an impossibility, shows him the dvds I picked out, the manager nods as if he understands and gets the situation, realizes that I have to buy a player in order to get the 5 free titles, and knows that the last day of the offer is tomorrow. He looks back to my salesman, and says to him, "just sell him the Panasonic player for $399."....
I look back at him, and ask him again if he meant that. He said, "sure do". The manager approved to sell me a player that's $100 more than the basic model I was going to buy, has faster loading times (I researched that model because I was leaving it as a possibility in the instance I wanted a better player), and something I was completely unaware of is that it is out-of-box ready with version 1.1. Somebody loves me.
I got my movies, I got my player then and there, and now I'm home writing this just to express my happiness. Now, with both players, I can enjoy anything released on hi-def that I choose, and not just what's been chosen for me.
Now, in regards to the HD-DVDs that I already own, I still love my HD player. I in no way regret my purchase, and I in fact see the potential to pick up many HD-DVDs in the future at a very discounted price if the technology goes kaput, and with the Warners announcement is certainly well on its way. That's high end quality product that's on a par with the currently winning format, at a fraction of the cost. That sounds beautiful.
There you have it. I didn't necessarily choose a format that I endorse. I just want to watch movies in the best way possible that's within my means. I can't compare quality because I have yet to hook up my new blu-ray player, and it honestly no longer matters. Blu-ray will win. It would take some massive event to change that, and honestly I think the consumers are fed up with the war and just want a standardized technology chosen for them as soon as possible. I know I'm ready to watch as many hi-def stuff as possible.
In fact, what the hell am I doing writing this monstrous piece of work that nobody cares about when I can be enjoying, at this very moment, any of the 5 free movies I got today?
What kind of a world is it where I am choosing to sit in this butt-numbing chair and write until my eyes hurt, rather than watch some gorgeous and engaging cinema right in my own home?
That's it, I'm saying good-bye now, and I'm going to watch me some SUNSHINE.

TEAM 2007

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:43:06 GMT

I return with the movie team I've selected to represent 2008. This year was MUCH more difficult to make up as there are a good number of movies that didn't make the list that probably would have made at least 2nd team selections in prior years, and is slightly half-baked as there are at least five films that are right up my alley and have great word of mouth behind them that I haven't yet watched. But, who knows when I'll get the oppurtunity to watch them so I might as well go with the ones that I've seen perform.
Keep in mind that this is based off of an 11 men on the field football squad setup.

FIRST TEAM (in no order, as this is a team game)

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
ZODIAC
GRINDHOUSE (will not seperate them from each other)
SEX AND DEATH 101
3:10 TO YUMA
THE ORPHANAGE
EASTERN PROMISES
PERSEPOLIS
JUNO
SON OF RAMBOW

SECOND TEAM (again, no order)

HOT FUZZ
BLACK SNAKE MOAN
KNOCKED UP
SUNSHINE
RESCUE DAWN
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
THE COLD HOUR
WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
FLASH POINT
ONCE

JUST MISSED THE CUT (quite a bit this year)

300 (but made my all-time list...weird)
MIRAGEMAN
RATATOUILLE
SICKO
BEOWULF
THE MIST
GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME
REIGN OVER ME
28 WEEKS LATER
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3: AT WORLD'S END
TRANSFORMERS
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
TALK TO ME
HAIRSPRAY
WIND CHILL
STARDUST
SUPERBAD
ENCHANTED
I AM LEGEND
INSIDE
SPIRAL
OFFSCREEN
END OF THE LINE
KILTRO
WEIRDSVILLE
TIMECRIMES
AACHI AND SSIPACK

WALK ONS (movies I didn't get to see, but have strong potential to make the team when I do)

GOYA'S GHOSTS
LA VIE EN ROSE
YOU KILL ME
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
INTO THE WILD
LUST, CAUTION
MICHAEL CLAYTON
GONE BABY GONE
AMERICAN GANGSTER
I'M NOT THERE
ATONEMENT
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
THE GREAT DEBATERS
MOEBIUS REDUX
JACK KETCHUM'S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

For as much as I loved NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN this wasn't even a contest. THERE WILL BE BLOOD is filmmaking on such a superior level of sophistication that it bleeds the qualities reminiscent of the American classics. This is the first time I've watched a movie in my life and felt that I was watching history in the making, as this film should be talked about for years to come. How this could be overlooked for best picture by anyone severely baffles me. This is a giant leap forward for Paul Thomas Anderson to a degree that there is no other filmmaker alive right now that I am in anticipation of their next picture more than his. As for the lead performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, it should go down as one of the top five performances by anyone, of any gender, from any country, during any time period. Unless something monumentally incredible comes out in the next two years this will probably be my pick as film of the decade. Actually, considering I was born in the early 80s this is my pick for greatest film of my young lifetime. RAGING BULL may get the nod over it for my pick of best picture of the last 30 years, but that's a very big MAY.

BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER (expected great, got great)

GRINDHOUSE

Considering what was being advertised, and who was involved this was the most sensible pairing of collaberators and material. In the non-festival viewings I had this year this ranked next to BEOWULF in terms of experience. Where BEOWULF showed me cinema of the future with its grandiose 3-D spectacle, GRINDHOUSE took me back to the gloriously sleezy days of the past, and I enjoyed every second of it. Watching this film as a whole with both pictures back-to-back, the faux-trailers intact, with a group of pure cinema cinephiles, at the Alamo Drafthouse at midnight on a Friday is just about unbeatable.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER (Did not expect to like it as much as I did)

WIND CHILL

There are most definitely some really deserving things here as there were a bunch of unknown titles at Fantastic Fest that floored me (THE COLD HOUR, MIRAGEMAN, SEX AND DEATH 101...), but this was a movie that got released on a total of 42 screens early in the year and I knew nothing about it until I found a used copy on dvd for 5 bucks. It didn't make my team, but I really enjoyed the chemistry between Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes, and there's a chilly (no pun intended) atmosphere throughout the running time.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER (sequel or remake better than original, or filmmaker improving over recent underachievement)

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

With as many remakes and sequels that came out this year there were a lot of films that fit the bill for being improved, but The Coen Brothers are American originals that will go down amongst the top tier of writer/filmmakers in film history, but you'd never guess it with their past two films INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE LADYKILLERS. Neither of which are terrible, but are nowhere near the best that they have to offer, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is amongst their very, very best. It may be the crowning achievement of one of the best resumes of their generation.

YEAR'S BIGGEST BUST

SPIDER-MAN 3

Certainly not in terms of box-office, but this film should not have been as bad as it was. There was 3 films worth of material crammed into 2 1/2 hours, and a really bad emo-Peter Parker inclusion.

MOST UNDERRATED PLAYER

BLACK SNAKE MOAN

I almost went the way of ZODIAC, but that had a much better critical reception despite it being as forgotten and neglected as BLACK SNAKE MOAN. This is Sam Jackson's best role since PULP FICTION, with the best original musical numbers I've heard all year next to ONCE. It's a far-fetched plot, but it's one of the better stories of redemption and healing that I've seen in a long-while.

MOST OVERRATED PLAYER

WAITRESS

It's good, but not as good as it's highly positive critical reception. It's one of those films that's too good to dismiss, but not quite good enough that you feel the need to recommend it. All the actors do good work, but there were certainly more prominent indie films released this year.

There it is, TEAM 2007. Considering what I haven't even seen yet this year may be one for the ages.

I am THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. I am THE OMEGA MAN. I...AM LEGEND.

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:35:04 GMT

It should be well known amongst the few of you that read this that I am a very light reader. I enjoy it when I can find the kind of solitude that the main character from I AM LEGEND is privy to (one of the very few benefits of being the last man on earth), but I lack the patience to space out a 400 page novel to be completed within a week's time. A week is what I'd give myself to complete a book, otherwise I'd feel ashamed that I am an inferior reader, which I am because I don't read. So, either I read something and take my time, but feel inadequate, or I read something rapidly and not completely recall the words on the page. It's a vicious decision, so I go about the lazier option and just not do it at all, much to my own dismay.
This has no bearing whatsoever on my thoughts of the films, other than to inform you that I haven't read the novel. So, what I think of each of the different screen adaptations (THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, THE OMEGA MAN, and I AM LEGEND) is from the viewpoint of someone who knows the story as it's told from the different films and not from the original source. There are certainly similarities between each of the films, but it's always the little differences that can turn the tide in favor of one over another.

THE APOCALYPSE

As you may have noticed from the trailers to the most recent adaptation, I AM LEGEND starring one of the more entertaining action movie actors of his generation, Will Smith, something cataclysmic on a worldwide scale occurred leaving just one man alive. But, as you may also have noticed from the trailer, and I quote, "The last man on earth, is not alone..."
So, something monumentally devastating happened leaving just one human being, but in turn also created something completely new. It is now up to this one man to not only survive as the last remaining human, but also to find a solution to the catastrophic problem that brought upon the apparent end of the world. Luckily, the last remaining human is a scientist.

THE INFECTION

The cataclysmic event that I spoke of was a deadly viral outbreak. It's essentially the same in all three films, only the cause of the disease and the symptoms differed. It's a virus that can infect others by airborn attack, or by physical contact from someone already infected. The main character in each of the films found himself immune to the virus, for different reasons but none so preposterous as to exclude one from the group.
The cause of the virus in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, the first screen adaptation of the novel starring horror movie icon Vincent Price, was that it was a strain that originated in Europe and was carried with the wind to our homeland.
In the 1970s adaptation THE OMEGA MAN, starring action film legend Charlton Heston, the cause of the outbreak went unknown to the viewers. All we knew was that Heston was somehow immune, but we find out later on why.
In the 2007 version of the story, things get more in-depth and scientific. The virus is the aftermath of an initially successful treatment for cancer. Cancer patients were given a proven syrum that was created by using another disease, the measles, to fight off the cancer cells. The cure was successful, until it spawned a supposed incurable strain that went airborn and wiped out the earth's population.

THE INFECTED

Here's where things start to get interesting between the different screen versions of the novel. With each new adaptation of the novel the infected people grew increasingly powerful in physical strength, more prominent in the latest adaptation which I think is the major problem with the film. More on that later.
In THE LAST MAN ON EARTH the infected people represented a combination of zombie-like and vampire-like beings. They're probably the lowest creation on the horror film food chain in terms of the threat. They move at the pace of a classic Romero zombie, and inherited the same level (or lack) of intelligence, while also being sensitive to sunlight.  They essentially get the worst of both worlds without getting the perks of being a vampire.  It's sort of a more "realistic" representation, I would think, of people being infected by what should be a sickness. When you're sick you typically feel worse, and I can't imagine feeling any worse than the people in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH do.
In THE OMEGA MAN they've done away with the zombie symptoms, and don't seem to be cannibalistic. They're really just humans that steer clear of UV rays, and are only symptomatic as far as becoming a skin-cracked albino with an increased gullibility for false prophets.  The zombie aspect of the infected people is actually a bit more metaphorically represented than literally, as the infected people keep their human traits but act as a race of people incapable of questioning authority, with an exception applied to the leader. It's similar to that of hardcore evangelists (no insult intended).
Finally, in I AM LEGEND the idea of this working as a sickness has been almost completely neglected. Apparently, when you try and cure cancer with another disease you're able to break the barriers of reality, and you become a compter generated Taz the Tazmanian Devil. Yes, I'm slightly exaggerating, but only slightly.  By combining cancer and the measles into one human body, you can create a human with ape-like strength, cat-like reflexes and agility, but you lose your thinking capacity and become something just more animalistic without the ability to walk in sunlight.  In fact, you can make a case that the main night walker in the film may have been the next evolutionary being as he showed signs of intelligence with an almost endless pain threshold.
In all honesty I don't know if I prefer any of these representations over another. I think I prefer the approach of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, but I'd wished they were as human as the infected from THE OMEGA MAN, but I can't blame a 50s drive-in movie for being a 50s drive-in movie. The super-human sickly's from I AM LEGEND certainly make for a much higher degree of pulse-pounding moments, but they are counter-productive to the more superior dramatic and solitary elements of I AM LEGEND over the other two movies.
Insert the "zombies" from Danny Boyle's 28 DAYS LATER into any of these movies and it raises the quality of each of them drastically.

THE INTERACTION

Where I really prefer I AM LEGEND to the other two is in its choice to exclude unnecessary dialogue. One of the major problems I have with THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and THE OMEGA MAN (to a lesser degree) is that they both feel the audience is incapable of sitting through long periods of silence, and that we're incapable of figuring things out for ourselves. It's not insulting, but I think it significantly detracts from my willingness to connect with the main character if he just talks to himself about things that he has no real business talking to himself about. Watching THE LAST MAN ON EARTH on mute would probably solve the problem as Vincent Price does only speak through internal monologues, which I like, but the things he says to himself are the types of things that are only there for him to say in order to blatantly tell the audience why he's doing what he's doing. You don't have to tell me that the infected people hate mirrors and garlic, I can deduce that on my own when I see there's a broken mirror and a necklace of garlic on the front door. I may not necessarily know exactly why they're there, but I'd assume they're there to work in the favor of our hero. After all, he is a scientist. Will Smith does something similar in I AM LEGEND as he tosses a gallon of liquid on his front doorsteps. He doesn't say something like, "I'm glad I found out about this liquid covering my scent, otherwise we'd be screwed..." because I can figure out for myself that he's not doing it for the hell of it. I still don't know what liquid he used, and what the reason for it was, but I can pretty much conclude that it's probably something to cover his tracks and stay hidden. That's all that I need to know, and I don't need him to give me the A to Z explanation by speaking unnatural dialogue, whether it be internal or external. Any person in that situation would not say something like that to themself.
I also love the inclusion of the dog to act as a sidekick, because the audience as a whole may in fact be strained to sit through as much as silence as this type of movie would have. It's a much better solution than unnecessary speech, and it also relieves a lot of pressure off of Will Smith to find something within himself to be a damaged individual. This is probably one of Will Smith's better performances, but I do think that had he not had the dog to interact with that he could have buckled under the pressure of carrying an entire film without being able to use his natural gifts of charm. There are a lot less actors out there that I think can remain interesting by representing their emotional state physically and not verbally. It also didn't hurt that he turned a set of mannequins into his own group of CAST AWAY Wilsons to converse with.

THE LEGEND

Honestly, I think Will Smith had the best material to work from, and therefore he, and his film get the bid.  The two prior films seemed more products of their time, and I think the possibility of any of them surviving the longest heavily favors I AM LEGEND. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is primarily 50s B-movie drive-in fare, and falls prey to having a less than threatening threat. It's more a zombie film than an apocalyptic film.
THE OMEGA MAN, also a product of its time, is not a horror film nor does it portray the sense of global destruction. It's an action film that won't feel like anything else thanks to a very sour choice in music.  It utilizes a prodominently typical 70s action-film score instead of something a little more brooding to give a sense that this is basically the end of the world. A John Carpenter score could have done wonders for this film as he seems to know the right keys to express grave danger.
I AM LEGEND is as much a product of today as the other films are a product of their day. I don't like the choice to use computer generated monsters, but I can say that it was certainly more terrifying than the other depictions, just not the depiction of preferance for my tastes. If it's computer generated then it isn't anything of real substance, therefore is near impossible to feel real, and therefore I'm not scared. However, overall I think the approach to I AM LEGEND was a bit more mature than its predecessors, both with the storyline and with the material given to the main actor.  Vincent Price suffered from having constant unimportant self speeches, and Charlton Heston suffered from having sub-standard things to say. Will Smith was given a more emotional part, probably his most demanding role, and succeeded with his performance.

THE CONSENSUS

I guess only time will tell if I AM LEGEND holds up. It's arguable whether or not the others do. I still enjoy them because I enjoy the types of films they are and recognize the period they were released in, but also realize they have a slim chance of finding an audience that won't laugh at a lot of the things that are significantly dated. Even though they're all essentially the same story, I think there are more timeless elements found in I AM LEGEND, both in the filmmaking and in the adaptation.

Even though I haven't read the novel I can tell that there's a much better version of this story waiting to be told. The different parts of the story have been filmed much better, and recently, just not all in the same picture. I'm assuming that there's supposed to be something akin to a combination of 28 DAYS LATER and CHILDREN OF MEN that we should be seeing, but haven't had the right person behind the camera to make it.
Even if that's not what the story is supposed to be like, I can't imagine the source material of I AM LEGEND being able to produce anything superior to that. Maybe 28 MONTHS LATER will be the best I AM LEGEND ever made.

YEAR IN REVIEW (Mid-December Edition)

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:21:23 GMT

I'm fairly bored at work right now as our phones are temporarily out of commission, and I doubt much more will change within the next few weeks that I'll have to make any significant updates to how well this past year has been to me. Unless SWEENEY TODD, ATONEMENT, JUNO, and GOLDEN COMPASS all turn out to be duds then I've got a good feeling that this year will end as well as it's been throughout. My family will all be together for Christmas for the first time in 3 years, and a good amount of friends will be returning in the next few days for the holidays as well.

HIGHLIGHTS

To begin with, this has been one of (if not the) most enjoyable years at the Cinema. It seems pretty trivial for me to begin with that as a highlight, but my love of movies reaches far beyond my love of almost everything else, and if a good year at the theater is all I that I would get then it's hard for me to complain about anything else that may have a negative connotation. I started working on my *now* annual TEAM list for 2007, and there are some believed-to-be all-time favorites of mine that are destined to not make the squad. This was an unbearably competetive year at the movies, and the great thing about great competition is that the consumer always wins.
FANTASTIC FEST 3 was probably the highlight of the year for me. A full week of no work, Drafthouse food, and noon to midnight movies for 8 straight days. There were some awful films no doubt, but the experience is peerless, as reenforced by VARIETY's recent article listing FANTASTIC FEST amongst the top ten film festival experiences in the world.
Sticking thematically with film is that I succeeded to a small degree in writing. I wrote in a total of 9 reviews to aintitcool news, and 7 were posted (to date). I didn't make any further strides with my attempt at a script though.
Also, I got my first experience on a film set. I was asked to assist the making of a short film, penned by none other than Mr. Gholson. I got to slam a horrendously heavy face-cage over a 7 foot tall zombie and drag him out of a house. It was probably the most exhaustive few hours since my high school football days, thanks in no small part to a three layer outfit and a gas mask. By the end of the day I felt like I was going to involuntarily reenact the scene from The Coen Bros. THE LADYKILLERS remake where the bulldog dies from a lack of oxygen during the filming of a dog food commercial. I made it through though, and from the little bit I got to see and hear during the takes of the scenes that I'm not in, that section of the story looks very promising. I'm anxious to see the final product.
Also aiding this year's film experience was my recent upgrade to HD DVD. I'm in no way a supporter of one hi-def format over another, it's just the price of the HD DVD player was way too convincing. That being said, I'm saddened that I can't pick up the likes of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, OLDBOY, THE TERMINATOR (1 & 2), ROBOCOP, and a few others on a hi-def format as they are blu-ray exclusives. In contrast to that, I'm as giddy as a virgin boy on prom night that I get to see CHILDREN OF MEN, the BOURNE films, THE MATRIX TRILOGY, KING KONG, BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (have to have it imported as it isn't released on HD here in the States, but there's no region coding on HD DVD), amongst a few others that are HD DVD exclusives. If I only had a sound system to support the picture quality I'd never leave my room for anything other than eating, excreting, working, or fornicating.
Non-film related highs was my recent annual raise that was approved yet again. i was successful in clearing off a credit card, which should make it easier to clear off a second one in no time, and hopefully clear out the third and fourth by October of 2008.
Victoria and I have been going strong now for about 3 years or so (8 1/2 years in total, no relation to Fellini's film). We were having problems during the middle part of our relationship, but we've gradually become more accepting of each other, and are in a better state now than we've ever been. Financially we're at a comfortable spot, bordering on highly satisfied.
I've also lost a good amount of weight to where I'm physically about as light as I was in high school. I've lost a decent amount of muscle, but my pants fit much more comfortably now than they ever have.
Lastly, contributing also to this year's overall great time was that I got to see my favorite all-time rock band perform twice. TOOL performed in San Antonio making up for their cancelled shows from last year, and then performed again here in Austin about 3 months later. Any year I can see TOOL once is a gift, but seeing them twice is heavenly. You haven't seen a show unless you've seen Danny Carey on the drums.
Also, to hang a hat over all of this, my Dallas Cowboys are whippin' some ass as of right now (minus this past weekend's debacle against Philly).

LOWLIGHTS

I had to pay a hefty sum of money to get my car repaired earlier in the year. I planned on using my income tax check to put towards one of my credit cards, and instead had to repair my car. Such is life I guess.
Also, my immediate high of FANTASTIC FEST was followed by an equally immediate low of having to catch up at work from missing a week. The upside to that was that I was rewarded with nearly 30 total hours of overtime pay, which pretty much covered my Christmas to-buy list. But, I will gladly trade off a less strenuous 3 month period for an extra 600 dollars any day.
The company that I work at had to endure a fairly rough 2 month period following my return from vacation, but we're getting back on our feet as I can only assume by my approved raise.
Lastly, I may have seen my alma-mater break its last legs and finally succumb to its economic and educational issues, and end up shutting the doors for good. This will probably be reiterated in 2008 if it comes to pass.

Well, as you can see this has been a pretty fruitful year, for me. I'm generally an optimistic person, so there may be more lows that I just can't recall because I typically don't dwell on anything bad for too long. That being said, I still feel that this year has been one of the best of my young life. I'm probably setting myself up for a bit of disappointment, but I'm hoping 2008 can continue along this same path.

STREAMLINED THOUGHTS (as inspired by Julian)

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 06:39:50 GMT

1) I just got word I'm due another raise this week.
2) I spent more money than I planned to because of it.
3) Everytime I get a raise I get myself into trouble by spending more on unnecessary, albeit cool, items.
4) This raise should play into our (Victoria and my) favor of getting approved for a loan to purchase a home in the next few months.
5) I'm not as much out of debt as I'd planned on this time last year. My raise should help that.
6) The monthly payment of a home will significantly hurt that.
7) This time next year I should (<key word) be completely out of debt, minus the new home payment and one year left on my car.
8) That's the exact same thing I said to myself this time last year when I got a raise.
9) With the raise I got last year I splurged more than I wanted to, but I did manage to completely clear out one credit card.
10) I was on my way of clearing off another with one payment left on my Circuit City card.
11) They really get you with those 12 months no interest deals they run from time to time.
12) I took advantage of that deal by upgrading to a 37 inch Hi-Def LCD television for my room.
13) I'll have it paid off in less than a year to take advantage of not paying any interest.
14) That's exactly what I said this time last year when I purchased my girlfriend and I our Ipods.
15) I had to upgrade my television after I purchased my HD DVD player on Amazon.
16) It was on sale for $200 and came w/ 10 free HD DVDs. For that price I essentially bought the dvds and got the player for free.
17) I've spent more money on upgrading my dvds to HD DVD than I planned on so soon.
18) My raise will contribute to my dvd purchasing addiction.
19) THE FOUNTAIN on HD DVD is orgasmically gorgeous.
20) CHILDREN OF MEN is sophisticated filmmaking, and in HD it's an almost unbearably potent experience.
21) I'm afraid to watch the two Stanley Kubrick films I have on HD (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and THE SHINING) because of my reaction to CHILDREN OF MEN.
22) By this time next year I will shamefully own everything on HD DVD that I want to.

After writing this I have no misconceptions about where I'll be next year. I have goals that won't be met, but I can promise you this...

22) This time next year I will have a second card paid off, with one halfway paid off, and the Circuit City card cleared off just in time for me to max it out again while I take advantage of another 12 months of interest-freeness to purchase a larger television for our living area, along with a sound system for the "movie room" as Victoria calls it.

Point being, I'll be a little less in debt (minus the new house payment of course), but should have a complete-enough home for me to come back to each day from my job that I'm grateful to have, so that I can continue to get raises that, somehow, never assist in depleting what I owe from my accumulative spending habits.
I've just now realized how lucky I am that I'm in a committed relationship to someone that saves money MUCH better than I do.

The Listeth Returneth, somewhateth

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:22:33 GMT

It has been so long. I have so many to include, and so many to still think about as my list was purposely incomplete as I wanted to leave room on it in the instance that I saw more things this year that I wanted to include. I don't know who may read this still as John rarely visits this site much, but this was a relolution at the beginning of the year and therefore I must see it through to the end. No matter how brief these may be, my resolution was only to list them and not necessarily to write as extensively as I would have wanted to.
And so, without further adieu, I continue with:

ALIEN
May be the most frightening of all science fiction films. Definitely the most simultaneously frightening and artistic. I love Sigourney Weaver in this film more so than any of the later entries.

AMADEUS
I love Milos Forman films, and I think this may be one of the best period pieces ever made. At least from the ones I've seen. Great film with some great classical music, about one of the most popular composers in history.

APOCALYPSE NOW
The only war film I've seen where the depiction of another country and time looks like absolute hell. Most war films portray the setting in a very realistic way to make it still feel like Earth, but APOCALYPSE NOW's Vietnam feels otherworldly for some reason, and much of that may be due to the search of the Marlon Brando character who is given, what Orson Welles would call the greatest "star" role in history. Welles' definition of a "star" role is a role where the person is spoken of throughout the majority of the story, and then makes an entrance sometime near the final act.   Brando's character is borderline mythical in the way they talk about him, and when he finally makes his entrance on screen it's uncannily eerie.

BABE: PIG IN THE CITY
Something about the seriousness and craziness of this film I find strangely appealing. I enjoy it more than I do the more popular original.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
I don't think there's been a more fun intelligent film to come out since this one. Maybe not ever in fact.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
This is probably the most insanely original movie to come out of the United States. In fact, it's almost inconceivable that this picture was made here. I'm glad it was though.

BOTTLE ROCKET
Wes Anderson's first, and funniest, feature film. I also don't think that Owen Wilson has been funnier than he was here.

BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF
Mixing real life history with a bit of fantasy, horror, and martial arts. That's just all kinds of multi-orgasmic material right there.

A CHRISTMAS STORY
No other, and I mean NOOOO other film adaquetely represents what it's like to be a kid during Christmas. There's a reason this movie is played on a loop during the holidays, it's because a better film about childhood during the Christmas holiday hasn't been made. Others exemplify the "spirit" of Christmas much better, but when you're a kid you don't care about any of that and this movie takes me back to those times in my life.

CITIZEN KANE
Justifiably considered the greatest American picture of all-time. Its influence on filmmaking techniques is almost immeasurable, and to boot it's an entertaining and mysterious faux-biopic.

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
I don't know what it says about me that this may be my favorite all time picture. It's violent and disturbingly dark with its humor, but is a tour-de-force of filmmaking. Malcolm McDowell's portrayal of Alex is probably the closest anyone has come to grasping the characteristics of The Joker (even though he isn't playing The Joker). I guess we'll see if Ledger can draw something out of himself even remotely close to this film's anti-hero.

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Eloquent fight scenes and cinematography, with a heartbreaking love story at the center. For as much as people have written this film off since the emergence of Zhang Yimou's martial arts epics, this film still played a large role in the US's interests in foreign pictures, and Yimou's films aren't nearly as emotionally affecting as this film is.

DARK CITY
Alex Proyas hasn't been the same since he made this film. It's a sci-fi/noir, and probably the best since BLADE RUNNER. Probably the only since BLADE RUNNER now that I think about it. Visually it's on par with some of more visual stuff from the Jeunet-Caro duo from France in my opinion.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
A film with timeless themes and out of date special effects. Gotta love those classic science-fiction films. Seriously.

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE
Arguably Guillermo Del Toro's best film, and most intimate. Possibly this decade's best ghost picture, with strong competition from THE ORPHANAGE.

THE DIRTY DOZEN
The best of the 60s action films that I've seen so far. Lee Marvin is one of the last on screen men.

DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB
One of the funniest films I've seen. One of the most interesting films I've seen. One of the most entertaining performances I've seen. One of the best dark comedies ever made.

ED WOOD
Tim Burton's best film to date (note that this date does not yet include SWEENEY TODD). Johnny Depp is wacky as all get out, and the design perfectly fits the z-movie level filmmaking look of the old genre pictures made by the title character.

ELECTION
A very bleak comedy, but a funny one nonetheless and an early indicator of Reese Witherspoon's on screen capabilities. This also has one of my favorite final scenes ever.

EVIL DEAD 2
The only horror comedy released during the 80s that I think compares to the work of Peter Jackson. This film is so good that a small section of its material was ripped off to make an entire film (IDLE HANDS).

THE FISHER KING
Okay, when I said that BEING JOHN MALKOVICH may be America's most original film, this film does offer it stout competition. Robin Williams is great, and this is right up there with Gilliam's all time best films. May actually be his best film.

FORREST GUMP
I normally don't say things like this, but anyone that can watch this movie and have such a cynical response to it is someone I really don't know if I want to know. Rarely has there been more heart displayed on screen than in Zemeckis' Oscar winning film. It's funny, adventurous, heart-warming, and has a great 60s and 70s rock n roll soundtrack.

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN
The first collaberation between America's two most popular film geeks is a testament to their abilities to create something that exists as two very different kinds of horror flicks. It starts as a serial killer/robbery flick, and moves right into a drive-in style vampire picture. There are some classic-level scenes in this, and George Clooney is fantastic in it.

GET SHORTY
One of the most entertaining films from the 90s. The standout for me is Gene Hackman, in a role that exemplifies his range as an actor. Normally people think of Hackman in the hard-nosed and tough roles like THE FRENCH CONNECTION, CRIMSON TIDE, and UNFORGIVEN, or in the wise and noble roles like HOOSIERS. But, here he shows that he's fully capable of being sad and pathetic with the best (or worst) of them.

THE GODFATHER 2
About as good as any film can be when continuing the story of one of the most intriguing storylines of any American film.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Probably the most famous of the Spaghetti Westerns, with one of the most famous theme songs. I think it's actually longer than it needs to be, but it culminates in a more than satisfying standoff between the three main characters.

THE GOONIES
What more can I say than there's probably never been as great of a childhood adventure film like this one? Each character is colorful and likeable. Aside from a less than inspiring speech from Sean Astin in the middle of the film, it's damn near perfect fun.

THE GRADUATE
This may be a tad over-hyped. I don't think it packs the walloping punch that Nichols' WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF does, but this does have a full soundtrack provided by Simon and Garfunkel that I love and fully adds to the melancholy tone of the movie. A great film, just may not be quite as phenomenal as many have heard.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Popcorn flick all the way, and better than any other in history. Nobody does adventure like Spielberg.

JAWS
Popcorn flick all the way, and more affecting of our relationship with the water than any film in history. Nobody makes you fear anything like Spielberg makes you fear the open sea. This is amongst the most rewatchable films of all-time.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY (EACH FILM COUNTING AS ONE ENTRY ON THE LIST)
The first film was probably the greatest big screen viewing experience of my young life. Never has a film (let alone an entire series of films) transported me to an otherworldly location like these films have. The grandest spectacle of this generation is to be seen in these films, and is amongst the greatest accomplishments in film history.

THE MALTESE FALCON
My favorite Bogie movie, if only because when he slaps Peter Lorre across the face it's one of the most hilarious things I've ever witnessed. The movie as a whole is just as good though, but not quite as funny as that one moment.

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION
Every year it gets popped in the player, and every year it's just as funny as the prior year. I'm not so sure that Chevy Chase at his best wasn't amongst the best of all screen comedians.

NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND
Purely imaginative with some gorgeous artwork. I have yet to see a Miyazaki film that I haven't loved.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
The best Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson performance, and one of the most dreary and uplifting films I've seen. If AMADEUS isn't Forman's best film then it's this film. Actually, I should say that if this film isn't Forman's best, then it's probably AMADEUS.

PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE
One of the most original comedy-adventures from one of America's most stylistic film directors, starring one of the most oddball comical figures conceived. The fiasco with Paul Reubens is a shame, because he could have been one of the screen's best entertainers (assuming the fiasco played any role in him not getting as many film work). His versatility as a character actor and comedian I think could have rivaled that of Peter Sellers.

RE-ANIMATOR
One of the most famous B-Movies ever produced. It's got all the lovely things that make B-horror films so enjoyable. Nudity (that's always first), gore galore, and Jeffrey Combs. Succeeding with no less than two of those is very difficult.

ROCKY
The first in the popular series, and America's most prized underdog story. A man that lacks pure boxing ability, but has the will and non-stop determination to take whatever life (and his opponent) throw at him, and just keeps moving forward until he wears you down. It's the classic story of exceeding your limitations by just not giving up until you have nothing left in the tank. Anytime a film can make you chant along with the crowd in the movie then it's accomplished at least some level of connectivity that will last after the film has stopped rolling.

SCROOGED
Everything that I said about CHRISTMAS VACATION goes the same for SCROOGED. Just subtract Chevy Chase, and add Bill Murray. The compliments to Chase can still be applied to Murray as well.

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
It's hard to believe this is actually a Disney family film. If ever there was a horror movie to show to children, this film is it. There are some very atmospherically scary moments in this movie, thanks in no small part to the performance of Jonathon Pryce as the Carnival manager.

STAR TREK 2: THE WRATH OF KHAN
Ricardo Montalban is so crazily over the top as Khan that it's nearly iconic, and has served as probably the best villain of the series. It isn't my favorite of the STAR TREK films, but is still amongst my favorite sci-fi movies.

STAR TREK 8: FIRST CONTACT
THIS is my favorite STAR TREK film, if only because looking at The Borg is interesting. Also, the sex talk between Data and the Borg Queen elicits some repulsive imagery in my head. No other STAR TREK film has done that.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Horribly acted by the majority of the victims, but terrifying nonetheless. I think in the entire scheme of things no other film has made people fear getting stranded off the highway more than this movie has. It is to off the map driving what JAWS is to open water swimming.

THE THIRD MAN
One of the most gorgeously lit (or unlit) black and white pictures ever. I could stare at a still photo from any scene of this movie for hours on end. It's also amongst the greatest noir stories I've ever watched. The score is also pretty stellar.

TITANIC
To hell with anyone that doesn't buy in to romance, or love at first sight, or passionate love despite class, or Kathy Bates playing a woman that DOESN'T smack someone in the face when you want her to. While I do find a few of the moments annoying, it's far too few for me to dismiss the rest of the film. And, when the shit hits the fan with the iceberg collision there haven't been many better hour-long tense moments in film. It's a grand movie that's as close to the feeling of classic Hollywood as anything made since Spielberg came onto the scene.

VERTIGO
Not my favorite Hitchcock movie, but may be his most atmospheric picture. The ending is also rather frighteningly shot.

THE WILD BUNCH
The first real American film that I can recall putting an emphasis on violence. It's a pretty intense action experience, even by today's standards.

THE WIZARD OF OZ
A fantasy musical to be king of all fantasy films for all of eternity. The flying monkeys are the stuff of my nightmares, and the Wicked Witch remains the definitive portrayal of a witch nearly 75 years later. It's so etched into our subconscious that anyone that plays a witch as evil is just imitating The Wicked Witch of the West, and anyone that tries to veer from that kind of performance is simply just not playing a witch.

It's getting close to the end of the year, and I've got some work to do if I'm going to finish this....

DEMISE OF THE EAST SIDE PRIDE

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:57:40 GMT

I just had one of the more surreal experiences of my young, now quarter-century long life. Last week, I witnessed what may possibly have been the final football game played by the A.S. Johnston High School Rams - The Pride of the East Side. Not the final game of the season, because that wouldn't be journal entry-worthy. No, THE final game. As in forever.
The school has been sucked in to a downward spiral for about two decades, and come this February when the latest crop of Austin's east side impoverished take the state standardized scholastic aptitude test they should perform low enough to finally pull the plug on a high school that's been breathing its last breath for far too long. The school that's been atop the list of having the highest dropout rate in the United States, has long been the major player in statistically raising the number of high school pregnancies, and a school that has recently been unmasked for its long time low performing numbers with the extraction of the Liberal Arts Academy a few years ago. Most definitely, The "Pride" of the East Side. My alma mater.

I attended Johnston High from 1996 through graduation day in the year 2000. When I first came in as a freshman the school was in terrible shape in every aspect you could think of. Physically, economically, culturally, academically, criminally, and last but not least, athletically. Whether or not you consider athletics an important part to the success of a school the fact is that school pride can be fed heartily by the performance of an athletic team. It's a fact.  Winning on the field generates a boost in morale for the majority of the student body, and faculty. I know, I witnessed it firsthand in 1998 when our varsity basketball team defeated the Westlake Chaparrals on a last second shot for a share of the district title, and a state playoff birth. We couldn't be yanked off our cloud if you had an army tugging on the other end of a noose wrapped around our necks. We weren't going to budge. And by "we" I mean everyone from the principal down to the freshman that nobody noticed. Our confidence was damn near an all-time high. That's the power of athletics, and Johnston High had that singular experience to essentially make up for all the losing seasons in all the sports for the past 6 years, and to last for all the losing seasons that were to follow for the next 10.
The rest of the things that were lacking at the school weren't as easy to make out as the underperformances of the athletic squads. Johnston High was home to one of the more recognizable magnet schools in the state, if not the country, which was The Liberal Arts Academy (LAA). Graduates from the Liberal Arts Academy usually went on to Ivy League or Division 1-A universities, and would be a step up over everyone else towards inevitably lucrative careers after graduation. The majority of the students in the LAA were not usually of the lower-class east side Austin resident variety. Most came from upper middle class families from different parts of the city. Sure, there were quite a few students from my neighborhood, and the similarly poor neighborhoods in the typical Johnston High district that were LAA students, but I wouldn't say they made up a significant percentage of the LAA class.
The inclusion of the Academy temporarily solved two problems at the school. One, it evened out the racial make-up of the student body. Whereas most of the typical Johnston High students were either hispanic or black, the educational advantages of the LAA brought in the white crowd that would normally grace the halls of one of the west side Austin high schools. The other problem it solved was that the low performing numbers generated from the Johnston High students were evened out by the high performing numbers that came from the LAA students. Problem solved? Or, was it just a bandage put over a deep gash?
The fact is that the success of the LAA did nothing to help the problems that Johnston High School was facing. It just put a shiny coat of paint over a car that didn't run. From the outside everything didn't seem so bad, but once you get in and turn the key in the ignition, there was no life. There was nothing working for the car that wasn't brought upon by the shiny paint. The LAA flourished in academic and artistic activities. Many a great band musicians and drama students came from the Liberal Arts Academy, and on the flipside probably close to none came from your average Johnston High School student. How do I know this? I don't.   I can only assume that the cause of a state competition level marching band going from 50 members to 9 in one year's time probably had something to do with the fact that the same year was the first year the LAA was moved from Johnston High to neighboring LBJ High, in an effort to combine the two Austin magnet schools together as LBJ was already home to The Science Academy. I can only assume that the drama program suffered just as big of a blow. The marching band never recovered by the way. Usually, the University of Texas marching band or other close-by colleges would offer their services to come and perform on behalf of Johnston high school. Sometimes, even old Johnston grads would pull out their retired tubas, drums, flutes, or what-have-you and join the 9-man marching band on the field, as if they were 5 to10 years younger.
So, the LAA left to leave the rest of the Johnston students in the sewers. The bandage was ripped off, and the gash was left to bleed. What difference does that make, though? The students will have the oppurtunity to go to a better school once the place closes, right? My sentiments exactly. "It's about time," I thought to myself. It's time these kids that really want a good educational experience don't have to transfer out of their districts to get it.
Then, I went to last Friday's football game.
As I looked around the stands, and down on the field all I could think to myself was, "these poor friggin' kids." Here I was thinking about the future youths that will have a much better oppurtunity and high school experience than their predecessors, and I completely forgot about those predecessors; the kids I saw down on the field in cheerleader outfits, the handful of boys eligible to put on football pads, and everyone else in the stands currently a Johnston High student. These were the kids that fell in between the cracks of the not-so-good, but better times that have been had by the students of my class and others, and the better times to be had by all the current 8th graders that won't have to go through what the post-LAA classes did. I'm not talking about the 61% of the student body that dropped out.  To hell with them, because they were one of the biggest reasons the school found itself in the emergency state that it's currently in. I'm talking about these kids that tried their hardest to be the solution. The kids trying to do what I could've been trying to do. The kids that wanted desperately to turn things around, and make a difference in an attempt to be able to recollect on their high school days fondly.
It's a hard swallow to say that you were part of the last class of a high school closed down due to performance. That's not something I'd have the ability to say easily. It doesn't matter how well you did, because your team failed, miserably. That was something I didn't get when I attended Johnston High. The lack of academic and athletic excellence wasn't something I was wanting to change, I just didn't want to contribute to it. I was going to do my part to not be part of the problem, I didn't think of working hard enough to create a majority solution. I hit the gym every summer for voluntary workouts, and went home and studied enough to get my B's. I was going to do what I needed to do, and get out.
Years later, I think back every so often and wonder whether or not I could have made a difference. Could I have influenced a change in the status quo? With my class it certainly seemed so. We were a unified group, more so than I can recall any prior Johnston class being while I was there. Everybody knew everybody, and everybody generally liked everybody. No joke. Nobody was excluded from activities and everyone got along about as well as a neighborhood full of Cleavers, and I credit that to a great number of classmates, that includes myself, who still remain friends to this day. It started from the top of the stereotypical ladder of class status, with the head cheerleader, class president, valedictorian, football captains, prom and homecoming kings and queens, band members, etc. We had a graduating class of about 265 students, which is relatively small for what it should have been, but I could probably name every single one of those people and tell you at least one point in time where I had hung out with them and shared a moment. We all just seemed to make a genuine effort to include as many people as we could in everything we could. I loved my class, and in turn ended up loving my high school experience. I guess I just didn't love my school enough to make a change to what I knew needed serious work, and could have used my help.
So, there I was, sitting in the stands with two former teachers talking about old times and the eventual decease of the place I connect with all of my best relationships and memories. I just kept thinking to myself that I was, on some level, partly to blame. This was partly my fault. That's not intended to sound like delusions of grandeur. I don't think of myself as an important person, but I do think I had the oppurtunity to at least try and make a difference. It's not my fault because I failed, it's my fault because I didn't even make an attempt.
As I sat in the stands, watching the football team get pummelled in typical Johnston High fashion, and was surrounded by old and current friends, part of me was looking internally for some form of redemption. I think I turned out alright, as did most of my friends of past and present (meaning the majority of my entire graduating class). For the most part, we aren't criminals or societal leeches. We're good people, doing honest work, and earning fairly substantial paychecks. Some of us have started some happy families, and some have gone as far as living out the dreams they had when they grabbed their diploma.
Maybe I'm not partly to blame. Maybe I did what I was supposed to do. In fact, I did. I did my job. I just didn't help anyone else do theirs. I'm sure I would have if someone had asked, but is there some degree of responsibility on my shoulders to have offered? Maybe that's what Johnston High needed. I certainly can't recall being asked for help, from a student nor a teacher.
I should have known better though. I needed to offer, it wasn't going to be asked of me. This was, after all, the pride of the East Side...

Adam Charles
A.S Johnston High School graduate (non-LAA)
Class of 2000

An exhausting week is ending well

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:09:36 GMT

Mama said now I'm bona-fide

CHECK IT OUT

262-292

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:16:43 GMT

I'm gonna catch up with everything sooner or later. These will be as short as can be.

ALL ABOUT EVE
I love the acting, especially by Bette Davis who I think is the greatest Hollywood actress ever, and it's just all around impressive filmmaking from script to picture.

BAD SANTA
Foul language has never sounded funnier than coming from an alcoholic redneck in a Santa suit. It also has a touching friendship story that develops throughout.

GLORY
I was just about ready to take this film off my list, but then I rewatched it and decided to keep it for one scene in particular. It's the most powerfully acted scene I think I've ever witnessed, and not a single word is spoken. Denzel is phenomenal in this film.

THE GODFATHER
Can justifiably be called the greatest American film of all time. It succeeds on every level imaginable, and there's not a noticeable flaw in the entire film.

HALLOWEEN
The most consistently frightening horror film around. It has the most recognizable score, and is probably considered the godfather of the modern slasher film.

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
I think it's been sort of written off and isn't considered amongst Miyazaki's best, but I actually feel that it's certainly the best dubbed version of his films, and is the easiest to revisit on numerous occasions.

ARMY OF DARKNESS
Bruce Campbell taking on an army of the dead with a chainsaw hand and loaded shotgun? Any day of the week pal, I'm there!

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
My favorite Mike Nichols film, and my favorite film, so far, from the 60s. Elizabeth Taylor's performance is extraordinary, the black and white cinematography is gorgeous, and the amount of intimacy between the four actors is the kind of stuff you'd find on a stage production (which makes sense since this was a screen adaptation of the play).

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder may have been the best screen actor and director tandem in American film, and this is I think the peak of their working relationship output. It's a great spoof, but it's also impressively shot, which is atypical for a comedy.

BRAZIL
Too unorthodox for me to completely understand, but it's simultaneously the biggest draw for me to watch it over and over. I never completely understand it, but the nightmaristic vision of the future is certainly something I can never not be enthralled by.

CABINET OF DR CALIGARI
Just by looking at it, you get the sense that this silent film was a direct inspiration for Tim Burton. The set design and art direction are very, what I guess I'd now call Burton-esque, but aside from just the look this is a very impressively structured story on film, containing one of the first ever twist endings.

THE ORPHANAGE
This was the best horror film at this year's Fantastic Fest, and falls just short of being the best overall film thanks to the next film on this list.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD
I'm going to write extensive reviews on both of these when I get back to my Fantastic Fest recap. Daniel Day-Lewis is an acting freight train in this film, and he just steamrolls you into the ground with his performance. This is my favorite P.T. Anderson film thus far in what's turning in to the best resume of the 90s generation of filmmakers.

TRAFFIC
Not the most entertaining film of 2000, but I think it's the best film. And, it's held its power with repeat viewings.

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
A beautiful story, wonderful animation, and possibly the cutest character in the entire Disney library of films.

METROPOLIS
Another silent classic, and like the others that I've put on my list from the German expressionists it's generations ahead of its time. The visuals alone are some of the best photography pieces of any black and white picture.

LE CERCLE ROUGE
This film is just downright crime/drama badassedness. There's no crime film like a Melville crime film.

THE GREEN MILE
An excellent cast, and lush visuals make this a repeatedly enjoyable experience.

POLTERGEIST
One of the scariest ghost films in history, and one of the more iconic characters in the genre make this a yearly Halloween must.

SISTERS
Early DePalma is some of the best DePalma, and this is one of the most suspenseful films I've seen. At the time he truly was the heir apparent to Hitchcock, whether he wanted to be or not.

ROBOCOP
One of the last great sci-fi actioners, and also one of the goriest in its uncut version.

SPIDER-MAN 2
I don't know what happened with 3, but this did set the bar kinda high. The train sequence with Doc Ock is one of the most entertaining action scenes I've seen.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION
A perfect crime drama until the ending which I don't care for at all. But, nobody can film a car chase like William Friedkin.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON
I think it's one of Pacino's best performances, and is probably the highlight of the heist genre in American film if only because of its "based on true events" roots, and its successful mixing of tragedy and comedy.

COOL HAND LUKE
Impossible to dislike. IMPOSSIBLE. Nobody can portray a rebel like Paul Newman and look as effortlessly cool while doing it. It's not that Luke is perfect and knows all the answers, it's that he knows he isn't, and just doesn't care. But, he's gonna try anyway.

CHASING AMY
Kevin Smith's most serious subject matter, and the best written, dialogue-wise, piece he's done. Jason Lee really makes the film with his comic abilities.

AUTUMN SONATA
Like WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, this is stageplay-like material, and the two lead actresses Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman just let it rip on screen. When considering the great all-time director/actor tandems, Ullman and Ingmar Bergman should be amongst the top 3 for consideration with their body of work together.

BATMAN BEGINS
The darkest of the screen representations, and the best Batman character thus far. Everyone is exceptional in their roles.

A BETTER TOMORROW
I at first discarded it because of Chow Yun Fat's lack of screentime, but I grew to love it more than I do HARD BOILED.

SE7EN
One of the creepiest non-horror films ever made. This also has the most gut-wrenchingly tragic and sad death in film. Fincher just reaches in and grabs your heart, then rips it out in the last 10 minutes. It's the worst feeling I've ever had, aside from IRREVERSIBLE, watching a film.

SIN CITY
the king of cool. The language used in narration, the dialogue, the mixed use of black and white with color, and Mickey Rourke as Marv all make for a fascinatingly awesome balls through the wall experience.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:05:29 GMT

I'll write more later, but the movie is borderline terrible. It's on the upper-end of the terrible, but still not at all good.
Again, I'll elaborate later on, but for now just know I didn't like it.

FANTASTIC FEST 3, DAY 7, PART ONE

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 05:16:01 GMT

WICKED FLOWERS

This Asian film fits less in the typical genre categories of the rest of the FF lineup. This is more of a suspense/mystery in the vein of films like David Fincher's THE GAME.
A young slacker is greeted on the streets by a woman passing out packaged napkins with an invite to join in on a game that has a large prize. You sign up for the game online, and then are told to go to a physical address in order to begin playing. The young man goes to the address, and is greeted by a woman who seems to be signing everyone up to join in. What the young man didn't anticipate getting into is a survival game consisting of a number of players who are all given a time limit to figure out the one and only answer to a series of riddles that are acted out by kabuki-style stage performers in different rooms throughout the building. The young man is read the rules of the game, is told that he has a time limit before he succumbs to the poison that he wasn't aware he had already drunk, and then is placed in the first room to see and hear the first riddle acted out on stage. Along the way in the different rooms he comes into contact with a few of the other players, all slaving away with their notepads, and petrified of their deteriating time.
On the whole the film is pretty interesting. The concept keeps you awake and curious as to what the answer may be. You do tend to find yourself working out the possible meanings of the riddles in your head, and so it is in that sense a pretty fun movie to experience. But, just like nearly every other film of this kind, including Fincher's THE GAME, the fun is in the suspense and mystery aspects of the film. So, once you know the ending and the answer there's no more fun to want to really watch it again. Except, maybe to rewatch the stage acted riddles, because those are pretty entertaining to see from a humorous standpoint for a few, and a little bit of creepiness from the others.

FANTASTIC FEST 3, DAY 6, PART TWO

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:58:24 GMT

THE COLD HOUR

There seemed to be a running theme at this year's festival, which put the stamping on the belief with day 7's "Secret Screening", and that is that the Spanish are starting to own genre filmmaking. This is a science fiction/horror film from Spain, and was my favorite competition film at this year's festival. It's about a group of refugees confined to a rundown building, sort of hospital-like in set up, but we only see the building from the inside and rarely see anything above or beneath the floor that the refugees are inhabiting. Amongst the small group of people are two kids; one a pre-adolescent boy with a video camera who is documenting pretty much anything he can, and the other a teenage girl. Making up the remaining characters is a group of specialized professionals, such as a doctor, a soldier, an astrologist, etc. However, their pre-refuge professions are virtually irrelevant, as their new profession is common amongst them all, which is to survive in this building which they dare not attempt to escape from the fear of encountering one of two possible deadly threats. One being the "strangers", which are zombie-like humans that are infected with a disease that eats away the skin and is passed on by a simple touch to those currently uninfected. The other possible form of death is to be in the grasp of environmental temperature dropping ghost-like creatures that come along during odd hours of the night, which come to be known as "the cold hours".
The way that the story unravels its secrets mimics the way that the two youngest people in the group learn what's going on in regards to their situation. We learn fairly early on that these people weren't all in this predicament naturally, but we have no clue as to anything in the five basic questions beyond the "who". We don't know "what" the threat is, "when" this story is taking place, "where" they all are, or "why" they're there. All that we know is that there's a group of people that are beyond cautious of leaving the area they've confined themselves into, and they've grown comfortable of their situation enough to joke around with one another occasionally, build emotional relationships, and sometimes have a nice game of basketball. But, in the middle of the night, after curfew, something lurks in the hallway where all their bedrooms are that causes everything in close proximity to drop in temperature to freezing levels. Not even the characters seem to understand what it is.
What I loved about this movie is its precision in giving out the details to you little by little. Even if the characters weren't intriguing in engaging, which they are, you'd still be hardpressed to be disinterested in what the hell is going on. These people are threatened by two completely different forms of danger, we don't know where they are, why they went there, and why they can't, or shouldn't leave. And when the outside threats become a focus, things start to tense up fast because we don't even know what the hell it is that we're scared of.
Also, since you know so little about the situation, you're never over-working yourself trying to fit pieces together as if they're clues into giving away the ending. Believe me, you will never guess the ending or work it all out before the last frame of film has rolled and the credits are going from bottom to top. In fact, I can gurantee you that you're going to walk out of this film feeling exactly the same way you were while you were watching it. You're going to feel like a little kid who wants nothing more than to seek answers to more questions.
This was probably the most engaging film of the festival from beginning to end. There's never a moment in between the first and last frame where you find yourself mentally wandering. There's so much that you don't know you become afraid that if you lose focus for a second that you're going to miss something important. I can tell you that if you do start to stray you might as well stop watching and start over from the milisecond that you lost attention. Not because you missed a big puzzle piece, but because by the time the film ends you're going to ask yourself, "did I miss something?"

INSIDE

This will undoubtedly be the most troublesome piece I'm going to write in regards to the films that I watched during the festival. It's not because it's a difficult film to discuss, or a difficult film to work out. It's because this is a difficult film to want to mentally revisit. Not because I didn't like it. Not because it was an emotionally tiring experience. No. This film is difficult to think about again because this film is indescribably affecting, and grandly F***ED UP!!!!!
I'm not going to tell you anything about the story. I want you to think about what I just said, and mix these ingredients together. Are you ready? Remember what I said.
1. Slasher
2. home alone (the situation, not the Maculay Culkin movie)
3. HAUTE TENSION (the movie, and the emotion)
4. NC-17 (Nothing less)
5........

If you need to know, then scroll down. If not, then stop reading. There isn't much to this movie in regards to plot. All I'll say is that I nearly HAD to look away more than once (and only one other film I've seen has made me do that), and the audience I saw it with winced, squirmed, ghasped, and was completely shocked by film's end.
Do you seriously want to know the last ingredient, because I'm wary of telling you for your own good. Look back at number 3. Think about the kind of tone number 3 had, if you've seen it. If you haven't, the tone is dead serious.

This is it. I warned you

5. PREGNANT WOMAN!!!!!

Bendy Bread with salt or cinnamon

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:49:32 GMT

I'm gonna write a horror film like what the SAW guys have done, but instead of my villain being called Jigsaw...I'm gonna call mine Pretzel. I don't know what the hell he/she is gonna do, but that name's badass. Maybe he/she twists people into odd and deadly positions to kill them. Then, Pretzel meets his/her match in a professional contortionist that can't be killed by being put into awkward positions. Maybe, the contortionist is actually an old adversary to Pretzel, and Pretzel used to be a contortionist, but something f'ed up happened, and now he/she has gone crazy and wants to kill people by bending them in unkind ways, but the major goal is to kill the old contortionist adversary to exact revenge because it's really Pretzel's old adversary's fault that Pretzel can no longer be bendy. But, Pretzel finds that there's no position that the contortionist adversary can't survive.
Maybe Pretzel just has some kind of vendetta against all contortionists, but finds just one that he/she can't kill.
Maybe Pretzel wants nothing to do with contortionists, he/she just wants to twist people's bodies, and then bake it in an oven and throw salt all over it. Maybe each different human pretzel is a different kind of gourmet pretzel from Pretzel Time. One carcass is covered in cinnamon, another in garlic, another is dipped in mustard, etc. Who knows, maybe even an unsalted one. I don't know what the motivation is yet...but it'll come.

This post took longer than I wanted. I didn't plan on the whole Pretzel Time thing, it just sorta made sense. I'm gonna go watch a movie now.

Hi Journal

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:58:24 GMT

-Fantastic Fest Day 6, part Two (best competition film was here)
-Fantastic Fest Day 7 (best film of the festival is here)
-Fantastic Fest Day 8 (next best film, possibly best film, is here)
-Adam's favorite 365 movies, EVER, numbers 250-something-or-other thru who the hell knows now.
-TOOL write up part 2, and 3. (Now I'm going to a second concert in November)
-Watched EASTERN PROMISES, want to write about it.
-Watched THE DARJEELING LIMITED, want to write about it.
-Seeing WE OWN THE NIGHT on Thursday, and would love to write about it.
-Watched a few movies at home, want to write about them.
-Went to the Dallas Cowboy game, probably would like to write about it.

So much I want to write about, no time to write it.

I had an epiphany the other day as I was writing my Fantastic Fest Day 6 Part One post. I want to write. Seriously. I enjoy doing it. I don't want to critique, but I want to write something. I want to earn a living doing it.
I love film. Maybe I should write those. I have basic training to do it.
The thing is...why should I? Why should I risk it? I make 17 dollars an hour at a job where I can only go up (godwilling the company doesn't go under). Why would I want to get away from that? I don't dislike my job. Why should I throw it out the window to pursue something that I could possibly not enjoy as much as I think I would, and get paid less doing it? Not to mention, there's certainly something about knowing that you're good at something. I know I'm good at my job. I don't know if I'm a capable writer.

JOHN!!!!!
If you read this, I need your assistance with something. Email me if you read this, and can offer a few minutes out of your day. I need a strong opinion on something, and some much needed constructive criticism and you're my best shot at that right now for this particular piece.

FANTASTIC FEST DAY 6, Part 1

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:53:17 GMT

FIVE ACROSS THE EYES

Earlier, when I posted about OFFSCREEN, and I commented about some films suffering by not having a budget to match its enthusiasm and passion, FIVE ACROSS THE EYES is one of those pictures. The film works despite its lackluster acting, writing, sound, and picture quality. The fact that it's filmed on such a low budget may make you believe that it adds to the experience. Maybe it gives a little bit of a feeling as if you're there with the girls as their terrorized by a crazy middle aged woman with a shotgun, but I can guarantee that if this was filmed with more expensive cameras and acted with a slightly greater degree of professionalism that it would greatly improve the overall experience. As it is, though, it's a picture perfect exercise in leaping the obstacles presented with making a film with about as much money as your rent payment, and making a viable piece of cinematic tension.
The film follows the typical "lost on the road" formula. A group of high school girls take a shortcut home after a high school football game, and get lost in the process. They stop at a podunk shop to get directions, and as they make their way back to the road they accidentally run into an unattended parked vehicle. No major damage, but enough so to make the girls panic and flee the scene. They follow the directions given to them, and a few miles down the road they realize that they're being followed by a vehicle with a broken headlight. The girls do their best to try and lose the vehicle only to realize that they are indeed being followed, and hunted. The rest of the film is the girls attempt to elude the maniacal woman behind the vehicle with the busted headlight.
Once you get past the obvious shortcomings, mainly some of the acting and writing, you'll realize that you're watching a very good chase/survival picture. The antagonist being a female is a slightly off-kilter twist on the typical genre baddie, and the girls are very believable as real teenage girls, as opposed to most of the studio slasher films where the girls are exaggerations of a 17 year old high school senior. They're either overly sexual, or overly innocent. These girls are neither, and that really adds to the uncomfortability and shock when these girls are put through a night of pure hell at the hands of a remorseless psycho with tits and a shotgun.

FLASH POINT

Do you remember the days when Asian martial arts and action films were all about beautifully choreographed gun fights, and gravity defying hand to hand combatants who seem to know their opponents' next twenty movements so as to block their attack and throw a punch or kick that their opponent also knew was coming, and then they repeat until it looks as if one of the two forgot the next attack in the sequence, and thus gets whacked in the face, chest, or leg? It's like watching men play a violent game of "simon", where the first person to forget the sequence of events gets five knuckles beneath the chin or an elbow to the gut. Well, Donnie Yen seems to be getting tired of that monotony as well. It used to be an incredible experience to watch, but just as with the J-Horror trend, it's overstayed its welcome, which was something we all realized the second we saw the first fight scene from ONG-BAK. We no longer want to watch balletic fist fights. We want to see brutal kicks and punches that look as if they'd shatter diamond. Enter FLASH POINT, an action masterpiece on par with the great Hong Kong films of yore. This film is so monumentally superior to any martial arts/action film released since god knows when, and it isn't just the fight scenes that strike all the right cords, the story is also a cut above what most action films use to fill in the gaps between the action sequences.
Donnie Yen (the star, and action choreographer) plays Jun Ma, a police inspector with little regard for following the conduct expected of a police officer. If a criminal is arrested with a few broken bones or a missing body part then what's the difference, right? Do what you have to do to get the handcuffs on. That approach has served him successfully in capturing some of the worst of the worst, and treating them as such upon arrest, and it's the same approach he plans to use in capturing the leaders of a local crime family that is being infiltrated by Yen's partner from the inside. As Yen and his partner get closer and closer to getting the two brothers at the head of the gang behind bars, then begins a brutal back and forth counter-attack game of kidnappings, battery, and attempted assassinations, which all leads to the greatest action climax ever put on film.
Donnie Yen seems to be heading this new Hong Kong action revolution which I first got a glimpse of when I watched KILL ZONE a few months back. While these action films don't have the athletic beauty of some of the epic martial arts pictures, they make up aplenty with their raw and more realistic portrayals of fist fights. No more awkward stances or forms, just punches, elbows, kicks, and knees thrown with the worst of intentions behind them. If Bruce Lee was still alive I'd imagine he'd have quite the smile on his face after seeing these films.

SPIRAL

Fresh off of their collaberation on HATCHET (one of the best films of last year's festival), Joel Moore and Adam Green co-directed this film to offer up another horror helping to their growing cult audience, only this film is from a different section of the menu. HATCHET took the slasher film sub-genre away from its recent surge of Hollywood inferiority and brought it back down to the grass roots with excessive gore, gratuitous nudity, and some bad jokes, while SPIRAL is much closer in kinship to psychological thrillers such as SPIDER and and THE MACHINIST, and is well worthy to recommend to everyone fond of that flavor of horror.
Joel David Moore stars as the reclusive and painfully shy Mason, an insurance telemarketer by day, and talented artist and jazz aficionado by night. Mason is the kind of guy that seems too uncomfortable in his own skin to enjoy the company of others, so he keeps to himself as much as possible, but does find slight solace with his enjoyably arrogant and womanizing childhood friend, and current co-worker, Berkeley (played by Zach Levi, star of the new show CHUCK). One day, while eating his home-packed lunch outside of the office, Mason meets Amber (the adorable Amber Tamblyn) that becomes curiously intrigued by Mason, and his sketches. Amber goes out of her way to try and get to know Mason, and gradually the two begin to form a friendly relationship. When Amber offers to be Mason's next model the skeletons begin to slowly creep out of Mason's closet which clue in to why he's such an introvert, and what the story is with the woman that seems to be haunting Mason's sub-conscious throughout the film.
As I was watching this film there was a nagging question that was constantly on my mind. Around the 45 minute mark I had a suspicion about the characters that rendered my question irrelevant, but also, if my suspicion turned out to be correct, would have completely taken away some of the originality that the film seemed to be bringing to the genre. I'm happy to say that I was wrong with my suspicions, and upon further contemplation about the way the characters are defined I'm no longer bothered by my question, which was why in god's name would Amber want anything to do with Mason in the first place? There's still no clear cut reason as to what attracts her to him, and why she feels up to befriending him when he seems to have no apparent interest in her. However, after deeper inspection, I can somewhat see a shared trait between the two that would allow for Joel David Moore and Adam Green to tell this story and make it at least moderately believable. Despite its questionable lack of personality matching, this is still a very interesting tale of an obviously troubled person and his evolving relationship with a high-on-life girl that seems to genuinely like his company. The story is an engaging piece of work, and the climax raises the film another level that puts it on par with the more recent good entries of this particular genre of horror film.

FANTASTIC FEST DAY 5

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:43:49 GMT

BLOOD, BOOBS AND BEAST

This is a documentary feature about a local z-grade horror icon in the upper East United States region, Don Dohler. Dohler is the kind of guy you'd meet in a restaurant, spark up a friendly conversation with, say your good-byes, and then get shocked when you find out that he makes no budget horror films for a living. And, not only has he been doing it for nearly three decades, but he's also a highly admired figure amongst the local genre film lovin' public. However, some of his popularity didn't derive completely from his films. He dabbled in other areas of the filmmaking media, by contributing to a special effects magazine that gained some popularity and helped some of the bigger names in special effects and make up, such as Tom Savigni, get educated enough in the field to breakout into the industry on a much larger scale than Dohler himself. This documentary introduces the viewer to the Don Dohler portfolio, and then chronicles the making of his most recent film from start to finish.
BLOOD, BOOBS AND BEAST is a fairly interesting film about an uninteresting man that does some very interesting things. As I said before, there's nothing within the personality shown on screen for Dohler that would clue anyone into thinking he was a man that devoted a good portion of his life to the creation of bad horror and exploitation films. I can't say for certain whether or not this is a recommended viewing for anyone unfamiliar with Don Dohler, such as myself, but I can say that I left the theater feeling satisfied that I watched it. Yet, the film doesn't do anything to make me go out of my way to find any Don Dohler films, and that may be its biggest failure. It's more a film made for the Don Dohler fans, maybe not so much a film to make more Don Dohler fans.

OFFSCREEN

Have you ever watched a film that uses so little resources, and it works, but you think to yourself that there's gotta be a story out there that's specifically intended to be told utilizing very little to maximize its effect? OFFSCREEN is that film. Other films I've seen, which include a few here at this year's festival, succeed despite their low budget. They're films that work even though they don't have the resources to make it great, but if the resources were there for the taking then it would certainly assist the quality and overall value of the film. OFFSCREEN is a film that works at its peak potential because of its lack of big cameras, and good lighting, and dolly shots, and what have you. The makers of OFFSCREEN have found a story that works best by telling it the way they told it, which is just with a handheld camera. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT made it famous, but the material for OFFSCREEN is vastly superior and is an unquestionably more striking and dangerous picture.
The film entails a theater actor who rents a video camera for the purposes of making a documentary of his life. He gets the idea in his mind that he'd like to make a love story documentary about him and his wife, but as he becomes more and more fascinated and obsessed with making his movie he emotionally alienates his wife and friends to the point of them feeling too uncomfortable to be around him, specifically because they don't want to be filmed. His wife gets fed up with his new project, and decides to leave him and not let him know where she's gone. From the day that she leaves him he starts to get more and more socially challenged and is focused specifically on filming with his handheld and finding out where his wife has gone to.
Most of these lower budget, homemade films fail to maximize their potential because the one thing that video camera films have going for them over other films is the feeling that what you're watching is real home video. It's like the events of what you're watching actually happened. Most of the films lose that because they're focused on making a "movie". I've come to realize that the best of these films are the ones where the audience is completely conscious of the man behind the camera. a film where the person that's filming is also one of the characters. That was one of the better ideas in DIARY OF THE DEAD, but where DIARY OF THE DEAD, and many others like it, failed was that the motivations of the man behind the camera automatically made him an obnoxious person. Where he could've been helping his friends survive he thought it best just to stay behind the camera and film the events. OFFSCREEN realizes that whomever you put to be the character behind the camera that's someone who the audience will more than likely either grow to dislike, or just immediately dislike. So, they do the best thing possible and they put the villain behind the camera. Now all those emotions that we feel towards the cameraman are directed at the best possible person in the story.
This is a film that's difficult to sit through because we see the main character fall deeper and deeper into depression and insanity as the film wears on, and since the film shows us the ending at the beginning we know more or less where it's going to end up. While this isn't the most enjoyable of films you're likely to see, it is a revelation to see a filmmaker create a true work of art from using so little, and being aware that the material was best told using so little.

END OF THE LINE

This was one of the more lovely surprises at the festival for me. It was a movie that I didn't expect much from, but I got something more memorable than I would've ever anticipated. At times it evoked similar responses from me that I also had with one of my favorite all-time horror films, which is John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS. They stories somewhat resemble one another in their religious tie-ins and what not, and even certain aspects of the score in END OF THE LINE is reminiscent of 80s John Carpenter. While I wouldn't be so premature to say that the director is capable of giving us some truly memorable films, I can say that he seems very educated in the genre, and this film is a strong starting statement that does show promise of greater things to come.
The film deals with a group of strangers that are on a subway train when it all of a sudden shuts down on the way to the next stop. On the train, along with and also being themselves passengers are members of a religious movement. While the train is stopped the different members of the religious group receive a text message, a message not shown to the viewer, which seemingly triggers them to grab large cross-handled daggers out of their bags and start murdering the non-followers of the train. The few riders that escape the slaughter meet each other outside the stopped train and start trekking through the tunnels of the subway looking for safety, and answers for the all too sudden outbreak of violence from the members of the religious group.
One of the things I really admired, and was impressed by, was the film's attention on keeping the viewer guessing until the very end whether or not what was happening was just a hoax of massive proportions, or if the reason's why the religious group started killing everyone was a legitimate act of goodwill. Is there truth in why they're doing what they're doing, or have they all gone too far with their beliefs leaving behind an ocean of carcasses of innocent people? I'll leave it up to you to find out by watching, which you should do, because I don't want to ruin anything. I will say that the ending really does make the film though.

FANTASTIC FEST DAY 4

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:40:11 GMT

PERSEPOLIS

At first, the announcement of this movie as the "secret screening" was pretty disheartening. The first "secret screening" was Richard Kelly's incredibly bad SOUTHLAND TALES, and when they announced the title of this film my immediate reaction was, "what the hell is that?" Then they explain that it's a French/Iranian animated film, which didn't raise my anticipation of seeing it any higher. Then the film begins to play, and the animation isn't so impressive. Little by little, my head began to sink as this was not why I bought a V.I.P. pass for this year's festival. Then, about ten or fifteen minutes in to the show, the film grabs my attention, and with each passing frame from that point on I was completely enthralled by the story being told.
This is a coming of age story about a young girl's journey to adulthood through the difficulties of being raised during the different periods of the Iranian revolution. Her parents and close relatives are all very politically active and strongwilled individuals who have no reservations of speaking or acting out against the current state of affairs. As a young girl the main character witnesses the overthrow of the Iranian king, which sounds like fantastic news at the outset, but the country gradually falls into a government run strictly off of the Islamic religion's beliefs. With each change in governmental policy things seem to not only change, but get worse and worse, and this little girl, to teenager, to young adult, to adult is our witness to each level of the country's evolution.
The fact that the film is animated will probably hinder it from reaching the classic status that it rightly deserves. It's a perfectly executed story that had it been made live action with the resources it would need to make it as powerful as this animated version I can guarantee that it would be amongst the classics of world cinema. Out of all of the films I've seen thus far this entire year, this is the first one I can safely say is an important piece of work. Every element of the film blends perfectly together, from the sad, to the cheerful, to the funny, and the empowering into an animated film that is childish in its presentation, but completely mature and engrossing in its execution. This is probably the "best" film I've seen all year.

SON OF RAMBOW

If there's one thing that can cheer a man up after sitting through a 90 minute film that makes you weep that your life isn't nearly as awful as you thought, it's a film that makes you weep that your childhood wasn't nearly as awesome as it could have been. SON OF RAMBOW is the first film I've seen come out for this generation of youngsters that has the potential to reach the platitudes of the young adventure films from when I was a kid, with THE GOONIES and the almighty THE MONSTER SQUAD sitting atop the very, very tiny mountain.
SON OF RAMBOW is a British film about a young boy raised in the life of a strict religious culture. It's a borderline Amish lifestyle, yet the boy attends a private school instead of the schooling recommended by the church members for the children raised in their way of life. Also attending the private school is a troublemaking aspiring filmmaker. The two meet up by chance in the hallway as the bad kid was thrown out mid-class for punishment, and the good kid was sent out because the class needed to watch the television for an assignment and the boy's religion doesn't permit television viewing. In any case, the two boys begin to develop somewhat of an older brother bullies younger brother kind of relationship, and one day while the good kid goes to the home of the bad kid he accidentally begins to view a recorded home copy of FIRST BLOOD. Having never before seen anything on a television, he becomes completely taken by the action film experience, and the two boys set out to make their own film together to submit to a young filmmaker's competition. a film entitled SON OF RAMBOW.
Watching the development of the movie (not the actual movie, but the movie within the movie), along with the growing friendship of these two kids frome completely different upbringings, is something I don't recall experiencing to this degree ever before in this kind of film. Watching the two boys try and pull off professional stunts, and write a story to put on to film, was one of the most enjoyable moments I've had at the theater. This is a film that truly applauds creativity, imagination, dreaming, and working to achieve a goal. It's a film that shows the importance of family and friendship, and the pure playfulness of what it was like to be a kid. For as much as I love THE MONSTER SQUAD and THE GOONIES, I can honestly say that this film may be the only film that I've seen that really makes we want to be a kid again.

KILTRO

This is a martial arts film from Chile starring a potentially great action film star to be. The guy worked on the set of THE RUNDOWN as one of the stunt coordinators, as well as acting as The Rock's stunt double for a few of the shots. So, the guy is big. In fact, the guy is so big that his size may be what gets him noticed in the action genre to become a breakout star. He doesn't do anything you haven't seen before, but he does do things that you haven't seen men 6'4'' and about 230 lbs. of pure muscle do before. This guy is running around and doing flips and mid-air cartwheels as if he was someone half his size, but he pulls it all off naturally, and more so than anything else is that the guy actually has some acting chops.
I won't go much into the story, because it's somewhat irrelevant. There's a man that's going around assassinating a bunch of martial arts masters, and somehow the martial arts clan that's being taken out one by one involves our main character and his love interest. That's about all you need to know.
Because this film doesn't do anything that I haven't seen at some point it doesn't earn any really awesome points, However, since I've never seen a man the size of the main character move as fast, or as agile as he then the film does get originality points there. Not to mention, that the film takes full advantage of the stereotype that characters usually the size of the main character are just mindless brutes, so it earns double points of being aware of its genre's cliches and exploits them to humorous effect. This film is worth watching if you get the chance, but mark the name Marko Zaror down as he can conceivably be the breakout action star that everyone thinks Tony Jaa is going to be. Zaror may not be able to fight like Jaa, but he's certainly got more screen personality, and sooner or later that's all that any of the action stars are left with once the awe of their athletic ability dwindles away.

DAI NIPPONJIN

I probably spelled this incorrectly, but this was the late addition "secret screening" that was brought on board specifically at the request of Drafthouse owner Tim League. This is a Japanese mockumentary that he hailed as pretty much the funniest thing in existence. While the film did have some amusing moments, and a very hilarious finale, the remaining 80 minutes of footage is mildly humorous at best. It's a very clever concept, and executed very well for what it was intending. But, drop dead funny it wasn't.
In the instance that anyone actually has the capability to watch this I don't want to ruin it by giving anything away about what the movie is about, because part of the fun truly is finding out why a camera crew is following around this very uninteresting guy and making a documentary about him. Again, the idea is highly clever, but there's a good deal of the film that isn't as funny as I thought it should have been, and after I saw the final 15 minutes (not including the end credits which is also a very funny moment) I realized why I didn't laugh as much as I thought I should have.
This was disappointing that I stayed up so damn late to watch it, but now I know to watch out for the stuff that Tim League brings on board without the knowledge of the other festival programmers as a major addition to the festival. I probably would have enjoyed it a little more if I wasn't expecting something to live up to it needing to added as a "secret screening."

THE ORPHANAGE

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:35:35 GMT

Saw this film today as the final "secret screening" of the festival. I'll write more about it when I get to today's date in festival posts, but it's making my list of favorite films, and upon first viewing I think that it is in fact the best horror film of the new millenium. I've only seen it once, so I'm not sure how much will change after the second viewing, but this is a beautifully told story, and an impressively shot film from a first time feature film director. This was an incredible watch, and the best film of the festival with only four more films to supplant it.

FANTASTIC FEST DAY 3

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:19:31 GMT

This was one of the best overall days of the festival so far.

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME
This was a wonderful, touching, and heartfelt animated film from Japan about a teenage girl that accidentally stumbles over a mechanism that gives her the ability to physically leap back in time. At first, she uses her new gift to help her manipulate certain events to benefit her particular situation. Usually, they're very trivial things such as making sure she gets up early enough not to be late to school, getting home early enough to stop her sister from eating her pudding, making sure she knows the answers to the day's pop quiz, etc. What she doesn't realize while she's preventing harm upon herself by correcting past events, is the effect that her minor changes have on the surrounding individuals, and more personal to herself her best friends are beginning to feel a little alienated from her as she continues to time leap.
This film is based on a popular book that was written back in the 60s, and has apparently been adapted numerous times to different outcomes of quality. I can't imagine that any of the other versions can match the level emotion this version takes you to. I will say that this film will resonate much better for the female gender as it has a strong love story that grows as the film progresses. But, even the most stone cold males will have trouble resisting the charming comedy that's present in spurts during some of the time leaps, and may even find it difficult to not succumb to the undeniably strong relationship that the main character has with her two best friends. It is certainly capable of bringing you to tears.

ALONE
This is a horror film from Thailand about a woman that returns home to Thailand when she receives a call that her Mother has had a stroke. When she returns we come to find out that she had a conjoined twin sister that died during the operation to separate the two. As her stay time at her old home increases, she begins to experience haunting images and hallucinations of her dead sister coming back to punish her for the separation.
This film is about as typical as they come considering the onslaught of ghost material being put out in the Asian film industry. However, even though there's absolutely nothing new in this movie over the others, except perhaps the premise, it doesn't detract from getting a tad shaken during certain parts. It doesn't do anything new, but the Asians have perfected a horror subgenre so well that they can still repeat tired tricks and cliched hauntings, and still make you sit on the edge of your seat. Had this film been made about five years ago it could've been a classic. But, now it's more of a "been there, seen that" sort of reaction. But, just because you've seen it before, doesn't necessarily make it much less scary.

SOUTHLAND TALES
This was one of the "secret screenings" that the festival programmers had up their sleeves. And, quite frankly, it's a disappointing piece of shit. It's a sometimes nice to look at piece of shit. But, like an actual piece of shit, no matter how pretty, you begin to realize that you're still looking at a piece of shit. I've never actually looked in wonder at a piece of shit before and thought to myself, "hey...that shit looks kinda pretty." So, I will give this film its due and say that it is the first time that I've ever looked at a piece of shit and thought to myself, "Hey, this shit is kinda pretty." But that's all that it gets. No more shit negotiations.
This is the follow up film by the soon to no longer be cult favorite director Richard Kelly of DONNIE DARKO fame. This film had played at numerous festivals for the past year, to widely panned criticisms. However, Kelly always went on record as saying that the film had yet to be complete and was still in its editing stages. Everytime. Movie unfinished. So, to put all of our minds' at ease, prior to the screening Kelly went up onstage before the sold out crowd of extra paying V.I.P badge holders, and four-hour waiting in line regular badge holders and assured us all that we were the firsts on planet Earth to see his Final Cut. Yay. No more excuses if this film turned out to be what I said it was in paragraph one. My reaction, as well as the reaction of about 95% of the audience? See paragraph one.
So, what's so terrible about this movie? I mean, this is a film that finished shooting probably about 2 years ago. It went through countless script changes. They added a backstory told through graphic novels to accomodate the film's narrative, supposedly. And, it had been edited down to the 2 and a half hour version we saw over the course of an entire year. So, after years and years of hard labor in front of a typewriter/computer writing it, out in the streets of America shooting it, and ass stuck to a chair editing it, what do we get? See paragraph one.
I still haven't answered what's bad. Honestly, the reason why is probably because it's much easier on me to just say what's good. It's easier for me to reflect upon and give praise to the few things that this movie does well. So, what does it do well? See paragraph one.
I've also avoided telling what this movie is even about. Why? Because, it's easier for me just to completely ignore the issue that this movie is without question the most confusing piece of pretty shit I've ever seen. There's a monstrous cast of characters, most of whom I don't have any clue what significance they play in the scheme of things, and then the actual scheme of things that I have no clue what significance they play to the point of the film, and then the actual point of the film that I have no clue what significance it played in me actually wasting my time to sit and watch it when I could have been next door watching FLASH POINT, which turned out to be the greatest martial arts film I've ever watched (saw it today). So, how do I feel after watching a confusing, unfun mess of a movie that shares similar traits to that of a David Lynch film that actually tries to give you a story to understand? See paragraph one, and take out the pretty.

SEX AND DEATH 101
After sitting through 2 and a half hours of confusion, I come in to this film. And thank god for Daniel Waters and the people programming the festival, as this kind of pure comic genius is EXACTLY what I needed to see after witnessing the now complete trainwreck that was SOUTHLAND TALES. SEX AND DEATH 101 is by far one of the most satisfying filmgoing experiences of my life, and is unquestionably thus far my favorite comedy of 2007. Yes, in a year that has given us a film from the Edgar Wright gang, and TWO films from the Apatow gang, I come to you a believer that Daniel Waters (who hasn't done a damn thing film related in over a decade) has surmounted the two best comedy teams currently working in mainstream cinema. SEX AND DEATH 101 is comic brilliance from every angle, and from start to finish.
The film follows the experiences of a wealthy and gorgeous businessman (played by Simon Baker) after he receives an anonymous email containing a list of 101 female names two weeks prior to his wedding day. The first 29 names on the list chronologically list the names of every woman he has ever had sex with, with the 29th name being his soon to be wife until death do them part. So, if his wife's name is only number 29, and the list is apparently chronological, then what's the deal with the remaining 72 names on the list?
Simultaneously, as Baker is dealing with his newfound gift of potential future sexual conquerings, there is a femme fatale (Winona Ryder) roaming the streets of the city who is targeting male sex offenders and putting them in comas after a night of seduction.
Now, the premise alone is fantastic enough to get you to buy a ticket. But, your expectations can't get high enough to be disappointed by how seriously piss-your-pants funny this movie gets. I can't, and certainly am not going to try, and give away too much about what ensues as Baker goes on his sexual escapade. But, I will say that not all sex, is good sex, even when you're Simon Baker.
After the film played to thunderous applause, there was a Q&A afterwards with writer/director Daniel Waters, Patton Oswalt (who has a hilarious scene stealing supporting role in the film), Simon Baker, and Polyanna Macintosh. The Q&A was damn near as entertaining as the film was with Patton and crew about 75 percent on their way out of sobriety, and Patton chiming in with his own thoughts on questions that weren't even asked to him, but again to thunderous applause as there wasn't a single unfunny word that came out of this mouth.
All in all, this is so far the best experience I've had from this year's, or last year's shows. When this gets distributed to theaters, do not hesitate to give it your 8 bucks. Believe me, you'll get much more entertainment and value out of this film than two and a half gallons of gas, a dinner with water to drink, or used dvd of a much lesser film. The only thing that comes close to the experience of this film for the 8 dollar price, is a blowjob on a stick. See the movie, get the joke.

EXTE: HAIR EXTENSIONS
This is a horror film from Asia, about killer hair extensions. As in, hair that hairdressers attach to your real hair to make them longer...well, they'll kill ya. They grow exponentially in a matter of miliseconds, and they suffocate you, or...well, they just kill ya'.
For as goofy as the film sounds, it actually plays to a very serious tone for most of the movie. Surprisingly, it works. It works rather well. There is a family drama at the core of the movie about a girl in beauty school learning to be a hairdresser, and her half-sister mistreating her very young daughter. These elements, when they're the focus, are very real to watch and emitted pretty strong reactions of anger from the audience as we really did hate that half-sister. But, on the flipside, there's the story of what the deal is with the hair extensions as they're being sold to the beauty parlors by an old hair fetishist that works in the morgues of the city, and he stole the hair from a corpse that he also stole from the morgue. Everytime he cuts the hair from the dead corpse, it grows back, and not just out of the head, but from every single section of the body. There's a story about what the cause of the hair is that we gradually learn more about as the film progresses, but that part of the film is fairly uninteresting compared to the family drama, and the psychotically hilarious hair perpetrator at the forefront.
Of course, it's nice to know why there's a body that grows mountains (literally) of hair out to kill anyone that wears it, and how it got to be that way. But, seriously, why bother with minute issues about an underground organ black market when we can really focus our attention at the crazy bald old man as he struts around wearing bad weaves and wigs as he looks for the greatest looking hair in town? That's what I wanna see.

FANTASTIC FEST DAY 2

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:23:26 GMT

THE BACKWOODS
This is a film that's better than the experience of actually watching it. What does that mean? I really don't know, but that's about the best way I can put it. It's a movie that's too good to call it "ehhh", but not entertaining or edgy enough to consider it really good. The quality is top-notch, but the entertainment value is lacking for some reason that I can't find.
Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine take a short vacation with their wives to the Spanish countryside to stay the weekend in a home previously owned by Oldman's Grandmother, which he just recently purchased for his holidays. It's a very isolated home in an already very isolated small town. Once they arrive at the town the two men stop in the local pub for a quick drink before they continue on to the house, and immediately get the cold shoulder and dirty looks from the locals. The following morning after their arrival at the home, the two men leave their wives at home and go off on a hunting trip. While out they locate a seemingly abandoned home, snoop around a bit to satisfy Oldman's curiousity, and find locked up in a basement type of room a young girl who looks as if she'd been there her entire young life. The two men decide to take the girl away from the home and get help. This kickstarts the events of the plot as the owners of the home, and apparently the girl, go out looking for her and immediately look to Oldman and Considine as the thieves.
The film shares many of the same qualities as DELIVERANCE and STRAW DOGS, more so STRAW DOGS. Considine's character is the main focus of the story in terms of character growth, as he begins the film as the more unsure and self doubting of the two men, not to mention the very apparent distance he's dealing with from his wife. So, obviously the situation that he finds himself in puts him in untraveled territory and he's basically given a choice to succumb to his insecurities and unwillingness to act, or to help lead the way to safety out of the home and away from the locals.
As I said, the overall production is too good to consider it anywhere near mediocre, but because the comparisons to films such as STRAW DOGS are impossible to ignore if you've seen STRAW DOGS, you can't help but say to yourself that you've seen better versions of this movie, despite the fact that the movie itself comes quite close to be considered as good as the films that obviously inspired it.

THE ENTRANCE
This was the first of two mistakes that I've made thus far at the festival. It was actually my first choice out of the three films showing, and going off of the line that formed for this film I wasn't the only one expecting good things. I can guarantee, though, that I also wasn't the only one to walk out of the theater thinking that we were all dead wrong.
This is a low budget supernatural thriller from Canada about a female police officer that is requested to speak with by a man that has arrived at the station with a very unique and unbelievable story. He confesses to her that he had escaped from a building where he had woken up after being kidnapped in his sleep. In the room were four other men, with the same stories of how they got there, and when they all awoke they were greeted by a voice telling them that it wants them to play a series of games. Whomever lasted until the end would be declared the victor and would be allowed to leave. Even though he was alive and well in the police station, he didn't win the game, but actually escaped with the help of a janitor. The rest of the story, and the events to follow after he leaves the station, place the woman in the center of a devilish game of sinful confrontation, punishment, revenge, and all for the amusement of the devil himself.
I know, I basically just told you the entire film, but I don't care because you really don't want to care either. The film is very amateurish in just about every aspect of it's different components. The acting was less than stellar, which I actually expected, but the dissatisfaction didn't end there. The story was uninteresting, especially when it became pretty obvious what was going on, and then when it throws a twist out there you're actually able to choreograph the rest of the movie down to a "t", and there's still half an hour remaining.
So far this nearly shares a space right next to what was so far the worst film of the festival, and this only gets a step up from that film because the other film should've known better.

WEIRDSVILLE
This was one of the most pleasant surprises of the festival so far. It's a stoner comedy from the director of PUMP UP THE VOLUME about a couple of junkies that find themselves indebted to the local drug dealer of their small Canadian town of Weedsville, which is nicknamed by the residents as "Weirdsville". The two best friends are given the task of selling drugs for the dealer in order to pay back the money that they owe. However, the more immature and funnier of the two guys end up using all of the drugs with his part-time hooker girlfriend during a period of a week, in which time the other of the two friends is going cold turkey to kick the habit. Well, the excess of drug usage by the still junkie friend's part-time hooker girlfriend causes her apparent death, and the two boys get the brilliant idea of burying her corpse at the town drive-in where the still junkie friend used to be employed. The rest of the night after the attempted burial involves a complex series of events with a local Satanic cult, a hospitalized rich man's safe, a team of medievil midgets, drug dealers, and a horny teenager.
The story is one of the kind of interweaving storylines, something like 11:14, only this one is actually quite amusing. I mean, the story fits itself into this nice little package where everything is sorta connected somehow, but it's less so in terms of events connecting as opposed to just characters having relationships with other characters that you find out about as the film progresses. That kind of connectivity is perfectly fine, and actually fits well with the setting because it's a small town. However, for as crazy as the events themselves seem, this movie succeeds in large part because of the extremely positive chemistry between the two lead characters, Wes Bentley and Scott Speedman, as the inept and loveable junkies. These two guys possess one of the most natural feeling screen friendships I've ever seen. The chemistry is very similar to what Scott Caan and Casey Affleck have shown as the two brothers in the OCEAN'S films. The guys just feed off of one another's quirks, and you really get the sense that they have honestly known each other for years, and have been best friends for years. It isn't just the writing of the dialogue that portrayed it, it was the performances of Bentley and Speedman that completely sold it.
The film itself is rather good and hard to dislike because there's hardly ever a moment without leaving at least a smile on your face. But, the Bentley and Speedman tandem raise the film to a level that far surpasses the more popular studio buddy comedies of this generation, such as the HAROLD AND KUMAR films. This is a film that will long be remembered over all the other comedies similar in nature to it, or at least it should be.

DOG BITE DOG
This was a film I was a little hesitant about watching. It's an Asian film about a Cambodian that was raised in the world of underworld fighting, similar to UNLEASHED, and is now being employed for assassination jobs around Asia.
The way the film was described, and the things that were written about it made it sound like it was the most brutal film ever. I guess I'm a little happy that I went in expecting to see guys getting bones broken in sensitive places, and fingernails being plucked, and ears being penetrated, and underarms being tickled, or whatever you think you'd hate to see appear on screen as this was supposed to be the most brutal shit ever made. There aren't any tickled underarms, I promise you, however there also are not really any moments that make you cringe or wince either. Compared to the visuals and preconceptions I amassed in my head, this movie was rather tame. It was definitely barbaric, but not really anything that you hadn't seen before, and seen done in more painful fashion before. In fact, this movie's lack of pure inhumanity was somewhat its saving grace for my viewing experience. That is until it completely loses almost everything it earned throughout the film in the final 15 minutes, and that really was a major ass pain because there was a perfect time for the film to end already there about 20 minutes before the actual ending. It was moments like that where I wish the projectionist would take matters into his/her own hands and cut the reel.
There isn't much I can think of to say right now about this movie because I'm tired as hell. But, the film is certainly good for the first 90 percent, and was actually a refreshing take on the action genre. It's an Asian film, but the martial arts are really non-existent, and the fight scenes in the movie play out like what you'd see in a real street fight. No ballet kicks, floating bodies against the laws of gravity, stone-like fingers in the jugular, or pretty-looking backflips. This is just I'm going to throw a punch with as much force as I can, followed by an elbow, and then a tackle, and a head-butt, and a choke, and a knee, and then I'm going to throw a bag of bottles at you, and destroy you with the broken glass. If you're still alive after that, then you can take a turn too.