The first generation to be aware of the existance of Alzheimer's BEFORE most of them were old enough to have to consider the possibility is turning 60 faster every day. How long until we see the first of what will be MANY "Rear Window" variations on the theme of "I saw a murder (or did I?) and no one will believe me because I've been diagnosed with Alzheimer's!!!" movies? This'll be BIG with aging leading-men.
"Dad... I know what you THINK you saw..."
"I KNOW what I saw!!!!" ::throws medication at wall::
Monday, 27 July 2009
Orphan (2009)
Possible Spoiler Warning
Here's a good rule to pick movies by: If the TRAILER is already talking about a Shocking! Twist!! Ending!!!, it's probably not very good. If they thought it was good enough to stand on it's own, they wouldn't feel the need to imply that you might be missing "this year's Sixth Sense."
In full-disclosure: I went into "Orphan" 99% sure I knew what the "twist" was, having heard of a certain producer making a film with a certain "really dumb" final shocker a year or so ago. Thusly, I can't tell you whether the "secret" is as easy to figure out as it is dopey; other than to opine that it's one of those things that you'll only guess if you've heard of "it" before. In this case, I think that especially devoted fans of either "Law & Order: SVU" and/or "Batman: The Animated Series" will probably call it right off the bat. Make of that what you will.
Whatever. The fact is, knowing or guessing the "twist" doesn't really effect the film much - this isn't like "Psycho" where the big reveal explains a central mystery and redraws everything you thought had happened. Here, it's just a lurid "oh by the way" that mainly serves to take the "teeth" out of an otherwise potentially-disturbing sequence it's intercut with toward the end. Otherwise, this is just a 100% by-the-numbers, unimaginative "spooky kid" movie. Title baddie is overly well-mannered and dresses like an American Girl doll? Check. Marriage recovering from recent tension? Check. Kid with exploitable disability? Check. Knick-knack of irreplaceable sentimental value that might as well be labeled "break for purpose of of escalating tension? One parent has job that keeps them out of touch constantly? Check. Ridiculously-ornate house in the middle of fucking nowhere? Check. "Audience POV character" with dodgy "nobody trusts me" past? Double-check. There's not a single thing that happens here that you won't see coming.
"Spooky Kid" movies, of course, belong to the subgenre of exploitation movies I've occasionally liked to call "projection monster" films - wherein the "monster" is a generalized version of a certain type of person or identity that most of us never get to "confront" the way we secretly want to; usually for purposes of social correctness (see: "Evil dad" movies, "evil cop" movies, etc.) The ultimate expression of this is the Zombie Movie, wherein the form of the monster allows for the good guys to lay indiscriminate waste to humanity itself. That's why "spooky kids" are always prim and smug, as though they're fully aware of how much you HATE bratty kids sometimes. Don't lie. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Ill-trained little rugrats running around causing chaos, screaming infants inexplicably brought into movie theaters... there are times you just fuckin' HATE children, and "spooky kid" movies are an outlet for that - particularly seeing them take the innevitable beatdown at the end (in fact, one of the few marks in "Orphan's" favor is that it has seemingly no qualms about inflicting physical harm on it's population of obnoxious tots.)
In any case: Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard are the mom and dad. She's a recovering-alcoholic, he's an architect, she got drunk and nearly allowed one of their kids to drown, he's straining under the weight of being the "stable one," they're both getting over a recent miscarriage. Their son is an angry little shit, their daughter is a hearing-impaired cherub. The titular adoptee is Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) a Russian refugee who's foggy past has evidently imbued her with advanced skills in the fields of piano-playing, painting, period dress and never being seen by doctors (got it yet?) Bodies, injuries and coy manipulations are piling up before you know it, and poor ex-alkie-mom can't get anyone to believe her.
At the very least, it goes at the material feet first: The (very) R-rated gore helps give the third act a bit more heft than it deserves (since you can't be 100% positive people won't be killed) and the actors are all really good. A mountain of buzz will fall on Fuhrman, who's good but not exactly a revelation - how many times can you see the "I'm too glib and well-spoken for my age and therefore you should be unnerved" schtick and still be impressed? Aryana Engineer, a newcomer who plays the deaf, sign-language speaking younger daughter (she's apparently partially deaf in reality) has the harder part and shows real range... though I hope she was unaware of the context of most of her scenes. The "twist," sadly, ends up sucking a lot of the edge out of things... it almost feels tacked-on in order to make Esther's "bigger plan" less creepy to the audience and "justify" the eventual punishment she takes.
It's not very good, is the bottom line; though I imagine it'll be pretty impressive to younger audiences who never saw Bad Seed or Omen.
Here's a good rule to pick movies by: If the TRAILER is already talking about a Shocking! Twist!! Ending!!!, it's probably not very good. If they thought it was good enough to stand on it's own, they wouldn't feel the need to imply that you might be missing "this year's Sixth Sense."
In full-disclosure: I went into "Orphan" 99% sure I knew what the "twist" was, having heard of a certain producer making a film with a certain "really dumb" final shocker a year or so ago. Thusly, I can't tell you whether the "secret" is as easy to figure out as it is dopey; other than to opine that it's one of those things that you'll only guess if you've heard of "it" before. In this case, I think that especially devoted fans of either "Law & Order: SVU" and/or "Batman: The Animated Series" will probably call it right off the bat. Make of that what you will.
Whatever. The fact is, knowing or guessing the "twist" doesn't really effect the film much - this isn't like "Psycho" where the big reveal explains a central mystery and redraws everything you thought had happened. Here, it's just a lurid "oh by the way" that mainly serves to take the "teeth" out of an otherwise potentially-disturbing sequence it's intercut with toward the end. Otherwise, this is just a 100% by-the-numbers, unimaginative "spooky kid" movie. Title baddie is overly well-mannered and dresses like an American Girl doll? Check. Marriage recovering from recent tension? Check. Kid with exploitable disability? Check. Knick-knack of irreplaceable sentimental value that might as well be labeled "break for purpose of of escalating tension? One parent has job that keeps them out of touch constantly? Check. Ridiculously-ornate house in the middle of fucking nowhere? Check. "Audience POV character" with dodgy "nobody trusts me" past? Double-check. There's not a single thing that happens here that you won't see coming.
"Spooky Kid" movies, of course, belong to the subgenre of exploitation movies I've occasionally liked to call "projection monster" films - wherein the "monster" is a generalized version of a certain type of person or identity that most of us never get to "confront" the way we secretly want to; usually for purposes of social correctness (see: "Evil dad" movies, "evil cop" movies, etc.) The ultimate expression of this is the Zombie Movie, wherein the form of the monster allows for the good guys to lay indiscriminate waste to humanity itself. That's why "spooky kids" are always prim and smug, as though they're fully aware of how much you HATE bratty kids sometimes. Don't lie. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Ill-trained little rugrats running around causing chaos, screaming infants inexplicably brought into movie theaters... there are times you just fuckin' HATE children, and "spooky kid" movies are an outlet for that - particularly seeing them take the innevitable beatdown at the end (in fact, one of the few marks in "Orphan's" favor is that it has seemingly no qualms about inflicting physical harm on it's population of obnoxious tots.)
In any case: Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard are the mom and dad. She's a recovering-alcoholic, he's an architect, she got drunk and nearly allowed one of their kids to drown, he's straining under the weight of being the "stable one," they're both getting over a recent miscarriage. Their son is an angry little shit, their daughter is a hearing-impaired cherub. The titular adoptee is Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) a Russian refugee who's foggy past has evidently imbued her with advanced skills in the fields of piano-playing, painting, period dress and never being seen by doctors (got it yet?) Bodies, injuries and coy manipulations are piling up before you know it, and poor ex-alkie-mom can't get anyone to believe her.
At the very least, it goes at the material feet first: The (very) R-rated gore helps give the third act a bit more heft than it deserves (since you can't be 100% positive people won't be killed) and the actors are all really good. A mountain of buzz will fall on Fuhrman, who's good but not exactly a revelation - how many times can you see the "I'm too glib and well-spoken for my age and therefore you should be unnerved" schtick and still be impressed? Aryana Engineer, a newcomer who plays the deaf, sign-language speaking younger daughter (she's apparently partially deaf in reality) has the harder part and shows real range... though I hope she was unaware of the context of most of her scenes. The "twist," sadly, ends up sucking a lot of the edge out of things... it almost feels tacked-on in order to make Esther's "bigger plan" less creepy to the audience and "justify" the eventual punishment she takes.
It's not very good, is the bottom line; though I imagine it'll be pretty impressive to younger audiences who never saw Bad Seed or Omen.
New Image From Dreamworks Animation's HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
Jim here. Dreamworks Animation has just released a new photo from their upcoming HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and it looks impressive.HTTYD is an adventure comedy set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, based on the book by Cressida Cowell. The story centers around a Viking teenager, who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. Initiation is coming, and this is his one chance to prove his worthiness to his tribe and father. But when he encounters, and ultimately befriends, an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is slated for release in 3D theaters on March 26th, 2010. Also - check out there official movie site here.I am really looking forward to this one as dragons are a favorite of mine in the fantasy genre. Loved the final dragon battle scenes in BEOWULF and I am STILL a sucker for DRAGONSLAYER. HTTYD is looking great so far!
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Thought For The Day 7/26/09
Well, a pair of thoughts actually. BELOW, the trailer for "Ninja Assassin."
Question number one: I get (and ADORE) that this film seems to "get" that Ninjas carry a certain ironic/humorous baggage with them at this point but that it's "more fun" to play them stone-cold serious than joke about it, but... the title is a blatant redundancy on purpose, right? Cuz otherwise, "Ninja Assassin" is sort of like saying "gay homosexual" or "police cop." Just sayin'.
Question number two: "International" readers (I must have some of those by now, right?) preferably from the East... is Rain (Korean pop superstar, lead actor here) taking - or can he be expected to take - any degree of "grief" from his native country for playing what I imagine has to be a Japanese hero character in this? I mean, Korea and Japan are still really, REALLY not fond of one another, correct?
Question number one: I get (and ADORE) that this film seems to "get" that Ninjas carry a certain ironic/humorous baggage with them at this point but that it's "more fun" to play them stone-cold serious than joke about it, but... the title is a blatant redundancy on purpose, right? Cuz otherwise, "Ninja Assassin" is sort of like saying "gay homosexual" or "police cop." Just sayin'.
Question number two: "International" readers (I must have some of those by now, right?) preferably from the East... is Rain (Korean pop superstar, lead actor here) taking - or can he be expected to take - any degree of "grief" from his native country for playing what I imagine has to be a Japanese hero character in this? I mean, Korea and Japan are still really, REALLY not fond of one another, correct?
3D Geek Alert: Sideshow Collectibles Has AVATAR License
Jim here. Just a quick note to let you know that Sideshow Collectibles has obtained an AVATAR license to create and sell premium collectible figures.What's first you ask? How about a 22" AMP Suit
This isn't a Mattel toy - not that there is anything wrong with them. This is for serious collectors. I will be picking one up for sure. Can't wait to see what else is coming from Sideshow for AVATAR...
Also here are some shots via JamesCameronOnline of the finished product (or close to finished) - click to enlarge:
OMG. RESIDENT EVIL 4 In 3D!
Jim here. I don't know about you, but ZOMBIES FREAK ME OUT. I have never hidden this from view and if the world was ever exposed to a zombie takeover - I have a plan. :-)So it is with mixed emotions that I am posting about RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE being planned in stereoscopic 3D. And not just any 3D, but the same camera tech that James Cameron co-developed and is using for AVATAR: Pace Fusion 3D. One one hand the visuals should be stunningly immersive - like you are really there... and on the other hand - it is like you are REALLY THERE. With zombies.
ShockTilYouDrop has the news from an interview with Paul WS Anderson (Writer, Director) about the next shot of the franchise, the most expensive of the lot: "I always envisioned Resident Evil as a trilogy of films, and we've been very lucky where it's a trilogy where the audience has built and built. I wanted to kick off a brand new trilogy. I'm really excited we're doing it [in 3-D] and we're using the same camera system [James] Cameron used for Avatar. There are a lot of exciting things about this one. I don't regard it as Resident Evil 4, I regard it as a re-tooling and rebirth of the entire franchise."
STYD also confirmed that Milla Jovovich will be returning along with some characters from previous movies and the video games. Expect RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE in 3D theaters on September 17, 2010!
Who else has their own plans drawn up in case of zombie invasion? I'm not alone here am I?
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Avatar Toys Show Off Augmented Reality "i-TAG" System
Hi, Michael here with video of the augmented reality "i-TAG" system being demoed in the Avatar section of Mattel's booth here at Comic-Con.Each Avatar toy will come with a special card. After a one-time software download, any card can be scanned with a webcam, summoning an AMP Suit, RDA Gunship, or other model onto the screen, which can then be moved around or given special commands.
I was very impressed with the quality of the digital models and the speed and fluidity with which the on-screen models responded to user movements or "button" input.
Check out the video below for a demo of the AMP Suit:
RDA Gunship:
The Mattel representatives were giving out the following scannable cards. http://www.avataritag.com/ should have more info soon.
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