“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
– Arthur C. Clarke
“Are you saying that the death of one species is less tragic than another?”
–Karen Pommeroy from Donnie Darko
“Anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without feminine upheaval.”
– Fortunio Balducci from Southland Tales
There should be a special rung in Hell for those who dismiss the films of Richard Kelly. We do not deserve Richard Kelly. I am sure Richard Kelly never set out to be the cinematic chronicler of America’s mental well being after 9/11, but he seems to have captured the raw nerves of fear, anxiety and trembling in all his films. Of course, this was never one of his goals, but his first film, Donnie Darko was released in the aftermath of that horrific day in 2001. The film developed a much deserved cult following on home video. The film’s cult status paved the way to his much maligned second, but equally brilliant, Southland Tales in 2007. I am of the opinion, if you are going to go down the rabbit hole for Southland Tales, you better be prepared to go all the way in its defense.
Continue reading ‘The Box: Apocalyptic Anxieties And Desires’
David Hackl’s Saw V is fighting a multiple front battle at the box office this weekend. Perhaps, in the oddest clash of the box office titans, Jigsaw may have met his match in the form of Walt Disney’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year. It is no secret that once this teen phenomenon reached the big screen, it was going to be big, so big that not even the gargantuan formulaic torture induced saga was going to be able to stop it from being number one this weekend.
We live in very interesting times. A year ago, I would never have given any thought to Rob Cohen’s The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor. The first two Mummy films were fun, disposable entertainment that owed more to the Indiana Jones films than to the great Mummy films from Universal Pictures and Hammer Film Productions. No one would call Stephen Sommers a visionary, but he knew how to make decent summer popcorn films loaded with CGI effects and pleasing characters. The best thing to come out of The Mummy Returns was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the Scorpion King. He even got his spin off film the following year– The Scorpion King.
Cloverfield is very effective for what it is. The true pleasure of watching Cloverfield is akin to finding a message in a bottle. In this the case, the bottle is a video camcorder and the message is the content on the videotape.
The house itself is an organic being. Like the best horror films and ghost stories, the structure itself is a pulsating and breathing organism. Bayona’s orphanage is not that different from the Bates Motel in Psycho; the horrible house in The Amityville Horror; the house in Burnt Offerings; the Overlook Hotel in The Shining and of course, the Freeling household in Poltergeist.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem has a built in audience. I cannot say I am disappointed by the finished product. My cynical nature expects these kinds of results. Sure, the R-rated mayhem is better than the first film, much better, but nothing to write home about in the end.
Is it possible to like a performance in a film, but be disappointed with the finished product? That is the question I have been asking myself since exiting the latest cinematic version of Richard Matheson’s timeless I Am Legend.
Although at the end of yesterday’s film, one kid shouted out there better not be a Saw V. I did not have the heart to tell him that five and six are already in the pipeline.
The film could have easily been called The Longest Month. For thirty days, Eben, Melissa, Eben’s brother, Jake (Mark Rendall) and a handful of survivors must figure out ways to endure until sunlight returns. The best thing to do is to hide and figure out how to outlast these super powerful predators. Guerrilla warfare tactics will come into play, but it seems the vampires are always one step ahead of their human prey.
