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Reviews
Halloween (2018)
Genuinely Satisfying
This was easily the best Halloween film outside of the original. There were little bits I thought it could have improved on (Haddonfield is still a one cop town?) and a minor plot twist that should've been handled differently but otherwise I really, really liked the film.
The comedic scenes were actually funny, the kills were intense, the cinematography and use of the shadows was balanced and eerie, Carpenter's score was elevated and improved on and the general story was simple but effective.
Without going into spoilers, I especially enjoyed the way this film flips the script and becomes more of a story about the survivor and the effects of trauma on the victim. This is what a soft reboot should be. I feel like I can still enjoy the other Halloween films but I think Halloween 1979 into Halloween 2018 is the way the Michael Myers/Laurie Strode story should always be viewed.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Brilliant Filmmaking and Real Horror
I have one episode left and have to wait damn near 20 hours to finish but I feel the need to state that this is damn good filmmaking and an extremely well made horror story.
Mike Flanagan needs to offer a course on how to scare an audience; I've gotten chills noticing subtle things I otherwise wouldn't have seen had I not been looking at a specific corner of the screen- a face in a reflection, a silhouette in a dark corner, a statues head turned ever so slightly between cuts. He uses every tactic in the book to make your skin crawl from jump scares to uncomfortable building moments of terror and they are all executed perfectly.
I don't get scared or duped by 'horror' movies anymore or at least I haven't been since I was a kid but this show has given me goosebumps and gotten my heart racing. It's seriously brilliant horror and filmmaking and I can't sing it enough praise.
(I'm also extremely impressed by the single camera continuous shot sequences in episode six.)
The Predator (2018)
The Justice League of Predator Fanchise
It was fun but the editing was horrible, it took unexplained leaps of faith and had gaps where there should have been a simple explanation. The third act was obviously reshot when Sterling K. Brown took off his magically appearing uncloaked sunglasses from inside the Predator ship at night.
The practical effects were incredible and the Predator suit and animatronic facial movements were the best that franchise has ever had. But, as if a 7 foot Alien hunter wasn't scary enough, they had to introduce a 10 foot Alien-hunter hunter and that was a CGI slap in the face to the practical FX work on the man-in-a-suit creature.
If Star Wars 'fans' think Rey is a Mary Sue they should take a long hard look at Olivia Munn's Scientist lady turned back-flipping, grenade launching, commando and Predator cloaking technology expert.
I enjoyed the humor, I liked the actors and characters in the squad of loony commandos but the story lost itself three quarters through and the little stinger/cliffhanger at the end took too many leaps over believability and into anime territory. Overall, it was a lot of fun to watch but it's the Justice League of the Predator franchise.
Paul (2011)
A loving tribute to the original Star Wars kids.
This vulgar little science fiction comedy was written by the two lovable hetero-lifemate leads of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead and directed by Superbad's Gregg Mottola. The film pays adoring tribute to those of us that grew up in the 70's and 80's enthralled by the fantastical works of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. While the film may not live up to the hype and hysteria of the aforementioned titles it holds a certain warm charm throughout that had me feeling as though I'd written the film on a drunken night with friends recalling the 'what-ifs' of my elementary years.
I was surprised by certain content in the film that I felt took a bold step; specifically, our Seth Rogan voiced, foul-mouthed alien friend disproving God and creation by 'healing' a fundamentalist Christian and exclaiming tenaciously that he couldn't understand how we (atheists?) put up with them. The inside jokes and nods to former sci-fi films were done with careless abandon but fun and humorous nonetheless. One moment that had me laughing uncontrollably has Paul inside a suspiciously familiar warehouse while playing technical adviser to a 'Mr. Spielberg' on the inner workings of alien technology.
Don't go into this film expecting a laugh-a-minute comedy on par with Superbad or anticipate something akin to other films starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Paul is more along the lines of brainless (alien) fart humor such as Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back before their age-afflicted cult status. I enjoyed Paul with my brain on auto-pilot or perhaps it was my inner man-child nerdiness, but if you've ever been to the San Diego Comic-Con you will feel an awkward affection towards this film not unlike Richard Dreyfus to Devil's Tower.
Tron: Legacy (2010)
An enthralling love letter to the live-action Disney films of my childhood.
My love for films involving a singular setting that expands into separate worlds or fantastical realms and dimensions such as Coraline, Troll, Hellraiser and Poltergeist has been realized again in spectacular fashion. Not being a huge fan of CGI, I was pleasantly surprised by the special effects as I could tell everything in this film was constructed with excruciating, meticulous attention to detail from the character deaths (known as de-resolution) to the lightning and fireworks in the digital realm of the Grid.
Jeff Bridges portrays dual characters in the film, reprising his roles from the 1982 classic Tron- both his character in human form, Kevin Flynn, and C.L.U., his digital reflection and counterpart on the Grid. Seemingly the ying to his yang, C.L.U. has been stuck in arrested development; Hell-bent on a digital ethnic cleansing by wiping out imperfections in the system or ISO's- newly developed programs that mystically came into being.
The film was written by the UW alumni team responsible for a majority of LOST, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Fans of LOST should recognize some similarities in the warring clans, secret initiative, a violent purge, right and wrong within the duality of the individual- the perception of it in the eye of the beholder and eventually ultimate sacrifice to reset the balance.
The digital reconstruction of Jeff Bridges sans 20 years can be a bit unsettling to the eye. While it looks 90% accurate and lifelike it can at times suspend disbelief but also attribute to the darker side of the character C.L.U. The soundtrack score by Daft Punk is superb and reduces Trent Reznor's Academy Award-winning Social Network score to ambient background keyboard noise. I have been listening to the French duo's excellent symphony infused, electronic-retro score repetitively since late last year.
The upcoming Blu-ray release promises to be the HD event of the year for me; the special effects, with slight exception to the digital Jeff 'The Dude' Bridges, are virtually flawless. The sound effects of the Recognizer blazing over the Grid are so bass driven and badass that I will be shaking framed posters from the wall until my speakers pop or I blow a fuse.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Jumpscare on Lame Street
I figured this would be an entertaining remake if nothing else, I was wrong. Dead wrong. There was a much richer mysterious element to the original film and to my surprise, much more creative. I thought the kills and nightmare sequences would be vastly improved upon, but alas, gigabytes, greenscreens and CGI cannot compete with hands-on creativity.
The biggest question is of course whether a new Freddy is/was a good idea and I tried to give Jackie a chance; ultimately you can interchange actors playing Jason, Leatherface and Michael, they are suits and masks but you can't replace a personality. Known personalities such as Pinhead and Freddy Krueger ARE Robert Englund and Doug Bradley with prosthetics. Robert Englund brought us a believably creepy and demented sadistic killer where Jackie looked and acted like a pedophile. There were a handful of lines I enjoyed such as the 'body dying but brain living on' speech, but the rest seemed like plagiarized, recycled and poorly delivered lines selectively stolen from all the Nightmare films. (ex. Robert's "Your eyes say no, no, but your body says yes, yes." From Freddy vs. Jason)
I don't understand why everything needs to be explained in full now. I hate that. I didn't need to know what the force was, Michael Myers mom was a stripper? Oh, okay, his killing is justified. I don't care that Jason Voorhees played hockey and was prolific in archery and I don't care that Leatherface has no nose. Some things are more frightening if you don't know why or aren't given a chronological map of where everything went wrong. Where was the creepy nightmare goat in this film? Did they have to cut the sequence showing a young Fred Krueger as a goat-herder on his family farm? In the 1984 film, what Freddy did with kids was implied but never told in full. That gives the viewer the right to view him in any matter, even as an anti-hero. The new film stamps it on your forehead that he was doing unsavory things to children which more or less made me sick and made the character less likable. (I always did find it funny that Freddy had such a cult following and appeal with kids as a child killer, but it worked. Here it does not.)
The CGI becomes a distraction here; it's when things look too perfect that they lose believability such as Freddy bending the wall above Nancy. The original was creepier and it was produced in camera. The kills were boring. "I fall asleep, Freddy shows up, Freddy says something, I'm stabbed, I'm dead." Remember Rod (1984) being slowly strangled by bed sheets? That was scary, creative and left people thinking that perhaps Nancy was imagining Krueger and that Rod had hung himself. The new 'Nancy in the bathtub' scene was a boring cop-out and seemed more or less to be suggesting that it could be frightening. Even Tina's death being dragged across the ceiling was more vicious and sadistic in the original. EVERY 'scare' in this film is the cliché loud music and somebody jumping into frame.
I couldn't care less about the kids in this film, they are bratty and almost apathetic/nihilistic to the idea that they were being stalked in their sleep. Forget about brewing coffee in your closet, these kids are popping pills and using needles to stay awake this go around. I didn't buy that they were sleep deprived as the actors had shaggy or ratty hair and clothes, baggy eyes and looked strung out on heroin since the beginning of the film. The unnecessary 30 second video blog cameo by the likable Asian stoner from the Friday the 13th remake was the only time anyone seemed like they wanted to live.
The simplified story, CG, and casting aren't the only problems, the screenplay seems to be jumbled as certain characters have been blended and displaced. The 'Tina' character or 'Kris' in this film seems to take on most of Nancy's research early on in the film imposing the belief that she was the lead actress. I'm not sure if that was the goal of the screenwriter, but it wasn't a very clever or effective trick if that was the intent. The altogether renaming of the characters and traits begs the question of why even do it in the first place? Why not just make a new sequel with a great script and high production value?
This film, to me, was more like a terrible modern high school cliff-notes adaptation than a remake. It brought nothing new to the table and improved on nothing. As a film it was outperformed on every level by it's 26 year old predecessor. I truly hope this dies terribly at the box-office and that talk of a sequel gets slashed from the mouths of New Line and producers of this sacrilege. Shame on everyone involved in this crap. Even the worst sequel to the original series has more entertainment value.
I am not a purest, I was looking forward to this and I have enjoyed most of the remakes to a certain degree.
Avoid.