Film Filter: Off - I was prompted to see this film by a friend, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised, seeing as how it follows a very trendy (and often overused) plot-line.
Pros- I definitely have to give props to the cast, as everyone in the film did a really good job of making sure that their characters felt real. The young girl who is featured in the film stood out in particular, as she was the main focus. It's very easy to lose pity for a multi dimensional character when they are poorly played, but she did an excellent job of evoking pity when she was normal, and looking scary as hell when she was possessed.
I thought the music was really creative and well done. Some reviews state that the ominous, low piano transition music was overdone, but I disagree. I liked the simplicity of it, and I think that it worked. It was a nice distraction from the predictable minor orchestral scores you hear too often that allude to distress as soon as they stop or climax.
This movie put a little bit of a twist on possession, as they didn't pursue the Roman Catholic religion. It was, instead, a Jewish family. It was interesting not only because it was unique, but because there was a lot of new information presented in regards to the Jewish faith and its beliefs, which is an untapped resource in regards to possession films. It allowed the film to be successful in all the ways that other exorcism films are, but at the same time set itself apart. Very smart thinking.
Cons- You could almost consider it a pro, but this was the first movie I can recall seeing recently that forced me to actively keep it out of my mind as I went to bed that evening. I'm far beyond the nightmares-from-scary-movies phase, but some things you just can't help being spooked about. Demons, ghosts, and other non-tangible entities are among that for me, thus my fascination with theological thrillers.
Ummm, I'm just going to come right out and say it: the polish spirit-demon-thing looked like a dying Lord Voldemort from the last Harry Potter movie. While we're talking about it, it baffles me to no end how the mother was able to see the face of the spirit inside the girl during the MRI that the she had. That was just a little too tangible for my mind to wrap around.
While we're talking about frustrating, I found it odd that the husband didn't just tell the wife what he suspected. It was obvious that they still cared for each other, so she probably would have at least listened to what he had to say. Frustrating again was the fact that he didn't leave the basketball practice to go see his daughter perform. Not that it was a critical plot point in the story, but the assistant coach is even reminding him about it...better late than never, right?
Wrap up- This is a really good movie. If you want to get a little spooked at the movies, along with an interesting story, I would highly recommend it.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Film Filter: Off - Madison County
Film Filter: Off- The cover of this film has a picture of a serial killer wearing a pig mask...need I further defend my decision?
Pros- Okay, so this movie is definitely not as terrible as I thought it was going to be. It's certainly not good, but it's something that most people could probably tolerate.
One of the things that was enjoyable about the film was its believability in regards to the character interactions. Sure, there was the once in awhile stereotypical statement, but for the most part the characters co-existed with each other in a manner that made sense.
Another thing that was a slight surprise was the independence of the male lead character to not follow all of the stereotypical rules. When a creepy guy in a truck comes to aid you by the side of the road and offers a "short-cut" to their destination, it's usually not a great idea to listen to him. Kudos, James. Kudos.
On a side note, 96% of the film is in broad daylight. Thinking outside of the box...I like it.
Cons- As with most slasher flicks, there is a massive amount of predictable, stupid situations that the characters could have avoided had they had a collective IQ higher than the Madison County speed limit.
Where shall I begin? The idiocy doesn't really ensue until Will takes a photo in the woods and sees someone creepin' in the shrubs. Hey, you're in the forest, and this is crazy: you saw a creeper...tell someone, maybe? Or not. Maybe if others had known there was someone following them, they would have been more apt to make intelligent decisions.
Next is the splitting up. I can slightly see their perspective in that they weren't really in danger when they started to split up, but there's a general rule of thumb that strength in numbers is better than getting brutally murdered. Just sayin'. Not only do they split into smaller groups, but once they're in groups of twos, they split even further to one on one. It's like a mitosis of retardation.
So there are two chicks in this movie...one who understands the principles of mass preservation, and one who does not. Fortunately for the one who does not, her ass gets saved by the smart one who distracts the little piggy when he gets too close to the moron. When moron girl realizes she's safe, she goes to follow him when she sees her smart friend injured and about to be hacked up. So what does she do?
a) dumb bitch tires to tackle him from behind, then picks up his axe and slices him up like bacon
b) dumb bitch calls for him to follow her like her friend did, to give her a chance to run away
c) dumb bitch tries to save her friend by picking her up and carrying her through the woods
d) dumb bitch acts like a dumb bitch and just stands there
Yeah, you guessed it. D. *sigh* I'm not even going to elaborate because it's too frustrating.
Wrap up- As I mentioned, this movie is not as awful as I initially expected. That being said, it's frustrating as hell. However, most of the pros outweigh the cons (at least to the degree where I don't consistently feel like I wish I were the one dying so I wouldn't have to suffer throughout the rest of the film).
Pros- Okay, so this movie is definitely not as terrible as I thought it was going to be. It's certainly not good, but it's something that most people could probably tolerate.
One of the things that was enjoyable about the film was its believability in regards to the character interactions. Sure, there was the once in awhile stereotypical statement, but for the most part the characters co-existed with each other in a manner that made sense.
Another thing that was a slight surprise was the independence of the male lead character to not follow all of the stereotypical rules. When a creepy guy in a truck comes to aid you by the side of the road and offers a "short-cut" to their destination, it's usually not a great idea to listen to him. Kudos, James. Kudos.
On a side note, 96% of the film is in broad daylight. Thinking outside of the box...I like it.
Cons- As with most slasher flicks, there is a massive amount of predictable, stupid situations that the characters could have avoided had they had a collective IQ higher than the Madison County speed limit.
Where shall I begin? The idiocy doesn't really ensue until Will takes a photo in the woods and sees someone creepin' in the shrubs. Hey, you're in the forest, and this is crazy: you saw a creeper...tell someone, maybe? Or not. Maybe if others had known there was someone following them, they would have been more apt to make intelligent decisions.
Next is the splitting up. I can slightly see their perspective in that they weren't really in danger when they started to split up, but there's a general rule of thumb that strength in numbers is better than getting brutally murdered. Just sayin'. Not only do they split into smaller groups, but once they're in groups of twos, they split even further to one on one. It's like a mitosis of retardation.
So there are two chicks in this movie...one who understands the principles of mass preservation, and one who does not. Fortunately for the one who does not, her ass gets saved by the smart one who distracts the little piggy when he gets too close to the moron. When moron girl realizes she's safe, she goes to follow him when she sees her smart friend injured and about to be hacked up. So what does she do?
a) dumb bitch tires to tackle him from behind, then picks up his axe and slices him up like bacon
b) dumb bitch calls for him to follow her like her friend did, to give her a chance to run away
c) dumb bitch tries to save her friend by picking her up and carrying her through the woods
d) dumb bitch acts like a dumb bitch and just stands there
Yeah, you guessed it. D. *sigh* I'm not even going to elaborate because it's too frustrating.
Wrap up- As I mentioned, this movie is not as awful as I initially expected. That being said, it's frustrating as hell. However, most of the pros outweigh the cons (at least to the degree where I don't consistently feel like I wish I were the one dying so I wouldn't have to suffer throughout the rest of the film).
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Film Filter: Off - The Mothman Prophecies
Film Filter: Off - I watched this film for the first time a long while ago with a good friend, and to be honest, it scared the bejeezus out of me. After recently re-watching it, it still spooked me a little, but I do have a different view of it as an adult from that of when I was a teenager.
Pros- First off, I have yet to see a movie starring Richard Gere where he does not do a commendable job with his role. Maybe that means he's a great actor, or maybe that means I haven't seen enough Richard Gere films, but he definitely pulls his weight in this film, as he is present in nearly every scene from beginning to end.
If you've read any of my other posts, you'll understand that I am fascinated with symbolism. Hidden graphics, colors, underlying themes and the like are intriguing to me, as it presents another level of depth to the film. This movie is by no means void of symbolism, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy it.
This next piece is, like many things in my reviews, a personal opinion. Although scary movies that contain blood, gore, and creatures popping out for cheap scares are sometimes good and often scary, I find myself more drawn to subdued fear that is susceptible to actually occurring. With my self-created genre of theological thrillers, the horror is not as deep with the actual film as it is with the thought process of the events occurring in the film actually happening. Most of us have succumbed to the fact that a masked murderer wearing a pig faced mask isn't going to be hiding in our garage, but the probability of demons, possession, ghosts, spirits and supernatural forces are something that I think could be more of a distinct possibility. Maybe that's just me, but it usually ends up scaring me more, because it falls into the category of the unknown, and what's scarier than something that you have no control over?
The cinematography was great, especially when showing perspective changes and demonstrating the eerie scenery in many of the scenes.
Cons- One of the major things that is wrong with this film that I started to see more recently is its inability to commit to a specific content. If I were to describe the film to you, it would more or less be a series of short stories or events pertaining to the Mothman, of which Richard Gere's character (John Klein) is a common link to. The focus of the film in that regard, is often unclear.
One of the other things about this movie that sort of confuses me is the ability for this supernatural mothman to have people who are dead show up in a tangible form. I can sort of understand the hearing of the deceased person's voice, as that can be something that could be manufactured by some outside force, but there's a big stretch between that and seeing said dead person walking the streets of West Virginia. That is pushing it, in my opinion.
Wrap up- Overall, I still enjoy this movie. Is it, at times, unrealistic and unfocused? Yes, but I think the pros outweigh the cons in this instance.
Pros- First off, I have yet to see a movie starring Richard Gere where he does not do a commendable job with his role. Maybe that means he's a great actor, or maybe that means I haven't seen enough Richard Gere films, but he definitely pulls his weight in this film, as he is present in nearly every scene from beginning to end.
If you've read any of my other posts, you'll understand that I am fascinated with symbolism. Hidden graphics, colors, underlying themes and the like are intriguing to me, as it presents another level of depth to the film. This movie is by no means void of symbolism, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy it.
This next piece is, like many things in my reviews, a personal opinion. Although scary movies that contain blood, gore, and creatures popping out for cheap scares are sometimes good and often scary, I find myself more drawn to subdued fear that is susceptible to actually occurring. With my self-created genre of theological thrillers, the horror is not as deep with the actual film as it is with the thought process of the events occurring in the film actually happening. Most of us have succumbed to the fact that a masked murderer wearing a pig faced mask isn't going to be hiding in our garage, but the probability of demons, possession, ghosts, spirits and supernatural forces are something that I think could be more of a distinct possibility. Maybe that's just me, but it usually ends up scaring me more, because it falls into the category of the unknown, and what's scarier than something that you have no control over?
The cinematography was great, especially when showing perspective changes and demonstrating the eerie scenery in many of the scenes.
Cons- One of the major things that is wrong with this film that I started to see more recently is its inability to commit to a specific content. If I were to describe the film to you, it would more or less be a series of short stories or events pertaining to the Mothman, of which Richard Gere's character (John Klein) is a common link to. The focus of the film in that regard, is often unclear.
One of the other things about this movie that sort of confuses me is the ability for this supernatural mothman to have people who are dead show up in a tangible form. I can sort of understand the hearing of the deceased person's voice, as that can be something that could be manufactured by some outside force, but there's a big stretch between that and seeing said dead person walking the streets of West Virginia. That is pushing it, in my opinion.
Wrap up- Overall, I still enjoy this movie. Is it, at times, unrealistic and unfocused? Yes, but I think the pros outweigh the cons in this instance.
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