Reviews

Its like the director Catherine Hardwick had all these great ideas and concepts in mind for how the film should look and feel, but was too amateurish to pull it off. Good ideas plus poor execution leads to frustrating viewing. Not only could she not balance the disturbing horror elements with the teen angst love story, but visually, the film was poor. The ambiance is little beyond what you would find in any primetime television show. There are a few rays of light that betrayed the flatness of the overall delivery, but as a whole Red Riding Hood fails.

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When I think of gay cinema, campy titles Too Wong Fu or I Love You Phillip Morris comes to mind, and so I am usually put off the idea of watching. However Eyes Wide Open is something totally different and quite intelligent. Here, life in a Jerusalem community is disrupted by the arrival of a young 'unorthodox' Orthodox Jewish student who proceeds to seduce an older Jewish Orthodox man, who is married with four children. The narrative follows the progress of this conflicted husband coping with what is essentially a midlife crisis, while having to deal with the relationship issues of his neighbor's daughter, whose open 'secret' affair with her boyfriend begins to mirror the problems developing in his own life.

Employing a minimalist feel supported by a soundtrack reminiscent Soderbergh's Solaris and incorporating the use of washed-out colors and stark lighting to convey a bleak realism, Eyes Wide Open's over the top premise is dealt with realistically and intelligently, never once turning the story into a tabloid spectacle. Although a lack of dialog from the main characters makes it difficult for the audience to truly understand their motivation, the story still provides an interesting insight into the moral conflicts some individuals may face, while being true to their family and themselves.

The only beef I have with this film is its 12 rating. There is some full nudity and a sex scene or two, which should have automatically given it a higher rating. Although its tastefully done and not pornographic in the least... it can make for an awkward viewing experience if watched with kids or someone more conservative.

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As sci-fi movies go, Pandorum is one of the more original you will find. Despite taking more than a few cues from the Alien franchise, this art house feature delivers so much freshness and punch (much like District 9); it can restore even the more cynical person's faith in Hollywood.

Pandorum is at its core a psychological horror that is as much about the 'demons' that lay around a dark corner, as it is about the ones that haunt the mind. Staring Dennis Quad and Ben Foster as two surviving members of a crew who awaken from a deep sleep on board a city sized space ship, the pair has no recollection of how they ended up where they are, and what their mission is meant to be. Initially believing that the rest of the crew and the ship's large compliment of passengers are still asleep, it soon becomes apparent that something else is awake, and that this thing has a taste for human flesh. However, to reveal more about the plot will ruin the multiple twists that swiftly come one after another, right up until the end credits.

Fans of Solaris, 2001 and Sunshine, who also do not mind copious amounts of blood and guts on screen, reminiscent of the horror thriller Descent, will enjoy this story. Although Michl Britsch music score proved distracting to the point of annoyance and the special effects are a little weaker than one would expect for a film released in 2010, everything else about Pandorum makes this a must see movie. The performances are excellent; the set designs are as epic as the story itself, and the direction is tight. 8 out of 10.

Before Se7en and Fight Club but after Alien and Aliens came visionary director David Fincher's Alien³. The third in the popular franchise, but easily one of the most hated, Alien³ is a grim allegorical tale about life, death, sin and redemption. And it is perhaps because of the weighty themes of this film that many fans of the franchise quickly turned their nose up at it.

Directly following the events of Aliens, the film's surviving character's escape pod crash lands on a prison planet filled with Double Y Chromosome convicts who have now found religion. Unfortunately one surviving alien came with the pod and it is not long before it starts feeding off the prison population.

A stark contrast to director James Cameron's flashy sci-fi action romp 'Aliens', Alien³ is more of a grim psychological horror where the optimism of the first two films are crushed under a near nihilistic tone persistent in this one. However it is this dramatic departure from Cameron's sequel is what gives Alien³ an edge above its predecessors. In addition to a grim storyline littered with quasi and overt religious references, Alien³ also features all of the hallmarks that make David Fincher one of the most popular movie directors around today. Those low camera angles, stark lighting and filtered colors reminiscent of Se7en, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, are all present in Alien³, in addition to some very stunning cinematography and a haunting score by Elliot Goldenthal.

The performances of the three main leads: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton and Charles Dance, are amazing in spite of the weaknesses of the screenplay. It is remarkable that despite all this film had going against it, in its highly publicized development hell (that included a script that went through several extensive rewrites before, during and even after filming had finished), the final product is still a masterpiece, albeit a flawed one.

If you watch the 'Assembly Cut' version of Alien³ , which is over 30 minutes longer than the theatrical release, you will quickly understand why it is indeed one of the most underrated, but also one of greatest sci-fi monster flicks ever made, and why it quite suitably completes the trilogy in the most fitting manner. Although many complain about the doom and gloom of this feature, this final installment in the trilogy is also the most uplifting. Looking beyond the downbeat nature of the film, Alien³ is still essentially a story about hope, and the putting aside of differences to selflessly help achieve a common good. In other words, this film is about redemption. Alien³: Assembly Cut is not only one of the best films in the franchise but it is also one of David Fincher's best efforts to date. 9 out 10.

What is there left to be said about this film that has not already been said? Cameron's Avatar is probably the biggest movie ever made, both in terms of scale and content... and in budget. The millions invested to put this film on the big screen have not been wasted, as every last cent spent is obvious to the viewer.

An amazing experience that has to be experienced on the big screen, and in 3D, Avatar tells the story of a group of scientists and mercenary types who go to war with a species of aliens called the Nav'i. With the mercenaries willing to do whatever it takes to obtain a fictional mineral called Unobtainium, an epic struggles ensues between the aliens and mankind.

Avatar's greatness does not come from its unoriginal storyline, which is a mesh between Ferngully and Dances With Wolves, but merely from the 'wow factor' of its groundbreaking special effects. These effects are not overwhelming like other box office features such as Transformers 2, but instead are beautifully integrated; making the home planet of the Nav'i more realistic than the real world you and I live in.

Although the plot treads way too closely to the aforementioned Ferngully and Dances With Wolves, while the dialog remains painfully monotonous, it is interesting that Cameron would bang over the audience's heads such obvious political statements. Its anti-war and anti-US foreign policy themes is sure to get many people upset, as a juxtaposition between this movie's story arc and the real life historical events in the Arab and Muslim world are all but subtle.

Yet, regardless of one's political affiliation, this movie should still provide an entertaining diversion for two and a half hours and is truly a motion picture event that HAS to be seen on the big screen to be truly appreciated. 8/10

If you take every disaster movie from the past twenty years and role them into one film, what would you get? 2012. Roland Emmirich's latest apocalyptic offering is fueled with as much references to previous disaster epics as it does with fire and brimstone – and there is a lot of fire and brimstone.

Taking direct cues from his recent offering The Day After Tomorrow and last century's Independence Day, 2012 is a literal tour de force of exploding cities, country engulfing tidal waves… and mass death on a biblical scale. The story is mind numbingly simple: The world's governments learn of an extinction level event due to take place in the very near future and its up to an ensemble group of characters (which for a Hollywood movie are uncharacteristically mostly African American) to find their way to safety and lead mankind to its new epoch.

Emmirich seems to take pleasure in milking the world's pre and post millennial fears of the end of civilization by constantly dishing out end of the world scenarios that can give even the most optimistic amongst us nightmares. And why does he make these films? Because we as the audience will continuously lap them up.

In the run up to the year 2000, popular media thrived of the world's Millennial anxiety with a series of films and TV shows based on the destruction of mankind. Then it was the X Files, Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Matrix and even the 'factual' Y2K scare. If it was not for the September 11 attacks in 2001, in all likelihood the Western World's preoccupation with the extinction of the human race would have itself, died out. However in the last decade we have had the Dawn of the Dead remake, 28 Days Later, Terminator 3, The Mist, War of the Worlds and Knowing, all echoing the social fears that came to light on that day. Those fears can be summarized under the mantra that we will all meet our Maker one day; the question is how we will meet Him?

At the core of these films including 2012, is not the many spectacular ways we can all die, but of how we choose to survive and move on, even after society itself has ended. And that's what gives this genre a little gravitas. Although 2012 is nothing more than a paint by numbers CGI filled disaster epic, there are lessons of humanity that can be learned from this and other similar films. That lesson is that the real threat to the end of humanity does not come from aliens, viruses, self aware computers or even Mother Nature herself, but it comes from other humans and how we treat each other when faced with a world ending crisis.

However, is it necessary to go into to this movie understanding the philosophical issues it raises? No. 2012 is equally enjoyable as CGI porn and nothing more. Turning your brain off and resigning yourself to being simply awed by the sublime images of Mother Nature reaping her destructive revenge on mankind, is enough to enjoy this film. 7/10.

There is one thing (out of the many) that the paranoid sci-fi chiller The Box achieves, and that is bringing home the fact that the 70s was a horrendous time period for fashion and home decoration. However it is this authentic re-creation of a time period plagued by sideburns, bell bottoms, disco and communist paranoia is what makes The Box a joy to watch, especially when it comes to the theme of paranoia.

Fear and suspicion is what drives this film as director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) takes many cues from other sci-fi-films of that decade such as Coma, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Stepford Wives, and cleverly pays homage to them in both visuals and storyline in order to deliver a tense but flawed movie. A reworking of an old Twilight Zone story, The Box is about an ordinary young suburban couple who find themselves thrown into a nightmare scenario when a mysterious box with a button, turns up on their front porch one morning. The wife (played by Cameron Diaz reprising that 70s look from Charlie's Angels Soul Train sequence) finds her sense of morality tested when offered an indecent proposal by a chilling Frank Langalla. If she pushes the button her family gets a million dollars, but someone somewhere dies. If she doesn't push the button, her ordinary life of trying to make ends meet goes on. Needless to say, she pushes the button and what ensues is a surreal montage of bizarre characters, disturbing imagery and that 70s pre-cold war paranoia fear that required the average American of that time to both keep a watchful eye on their neighbors, friends, work colleagues, government and even spouses, as they may not be all what they seem and may already have a watchful eye on you.

For the most part, The Box works as a genuinely creepy thriller. However Richard Kelly's sketchy editing (scenes cut to be later included in a special directors cut maybe?) and inconsistent and almost lazy pacing hurts this film a lot and prevents it from being the next Donnie Darko in terms of greatness. Yet no doubt, The Box will still become a cult classic even though it bombed at the box office as the ones who are most likely to enjoy it (or 'get it') are the ones who try to be anything but mainstream and enjoy having to use a little of their brain when watching a film. 7/10.

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What Boystown has in originality, it lacks in creativity. This light hearted black comedy about a psychotic real estate agent killing off the neighborhood's elderly ladies in order to sell their apartments to rich gay couples had a lot of potential, that was unfortunately lost.

The movie presents itself as a light and cheerful comedy, when the subject matter is anything but. This ultimately works against it and makes the scenes which were meant to be unsettling or tense, just fall flat. A rewrite (or two) of the final draft and the hands of a more competent and creative director could have turned Boystown into a darker, horror tinged thriller, while still maintaining all of the comedy elements present in the story. Furthermore the third act was a complete mess,with a couple of small plot holes and one huge plot hole the size of a football stadium ruining any potential this film had left.

However this movie still has its strengths, even though they are woefully out numbered by its weaknesses. The performances were excellent, especially by all of the leading ladies. The dialog was very sharp and witty and provided some laugh out loud moments, plus all of the main characters (bar the serial killer) actually had some development and depth...particularly the male lead and what could best be described as his 'mother in law' ;-). Also, the three different story strands did not clash with each other and gelled surprisingly well.

Overall the film still only manages a 6 out of 10 from me. It could have been a lot better if its was darker and not so infantile.