Zombieland, the new zombie-comedy by Ruben Fleisher, aims to add deliberate laughs to the zombie corner of the horror universe. Instead of pulling of this tricky balancing act (like Shaun of the Dean or the original Dawn of the Dead), Zombieland feels more like an elaborate video game narrated by the guy from “Scrubs.”
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There is something comforting and familiar about 2012. For a film about the complete destruction of the Earth’s crust and mankind’s near-extinction, it is very sentimental. You could say that Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) is the Normal Rockwell of apocalypse movies. Read more »
The mid 90′s and early 2000′s were awash in the now cliche, obsessive-detectives-stalking-the-psycho-killer genre. Replete with repetitive story lines, celebrity junkie psychopaths, and the same hard-boiled grimace stamped on the face of every detective with a tender spot for Sam Spade impersonations, the genre surged in popularity during the dark renaissance inspired by the same culture which gave birth to grunge music. David Fincher’s Seven (or, for the typographically anal, Se7en) was certainly not the first, nor was it the last, of this particular niche of crime drama, but within the endlessly recycled mediocrity which has since worked its way almost exclusively onto direct-to-DVD labels, it managed to break new ground with its bold, bleak vision of contemporary culture and an intricate plot so original its twists and turns still resonate today.
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There are few Tim Burton films left I can tolerate. In chronological order: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, maybe Beetlejuice, Batman, maybe Batman Returns, and Ed Wood. I guess that’s pretty many. Sweeney Todd was surprisingly decent, I must admit. Read more »
“My emotions are dead.” So says Christopher Walken’s gangster and New York City drug kingpin Frank White, recently released from prison and eager to revitalize his life of crime and vice, at the beginning of Abel Ferrara’s 1990 film King of New York. Read more »
I really wanted to hate Pirate Radio. Another period flick about how in the 60’s the music was great and people stuck it to the Man? But on a boat!
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I’m a sucker for films that muck around with traditional storytelling motifs. It’s not that I have anything against traditional three-act, beginning-middle-end narratives, but sometimes they can just get so droll and boring. I love a filmmaker / screenwriter who’s willing to take some risks and fool around with the audience’s expectations to produce a plot that breaks outside the bounds of the archetypal Hollywood film. Thank God for Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman.
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Due to my laceration, I have had the opportunity to watch daytime TV. The old favorites are still there, Judge Judy, Jeopardy, Judge Joe Brown. But a new and sinister force has emerged in the land of daytime: doctor shows. Not doctor-romance shows, for that would be great. No, programs like Dr Oz Show and The Doctors claim to want to help people, but they seem mostly to pander to hypochondriacs and anxiety cases. Read more »
I went to Paranormal Activity, the viral-marketing-fueled no-budget horror splash of the season, on Halloween, and was not disappointed. I was frightened, the audience yelled at the screen and evils were suggested rather than represented.
A friend of mine was incredulous when he heard I had seen Paranormal Activity, as a student of his had described every plot point to him, and had thus ruined any appeal the film had to him. The true appeal of a film like this one, however, does not lie in a nuanced concept or plot arch. Paranormal Activity, shot via faux-home video (like it’s obvious inspiration, The Blair Witch Project), manages to put the audience on edge with small gestures, shadows and powdered hoof prints. Thanks to the film’s concerted effort to appear like file footage rather than a film, such minor hints of evil feel enlarged.
I will also say that I like the recent trend in films like PA (and Hostel) to put entitled, overconfident American males in the axe’s path. The attitudes they represent are terrifying, and do seem to invite evil.
alexandrathesister
hgish
illwatchanything
Jared Parmenter
sdoob
Timothy Parfitt