THE DOOR (2009) (a review)

THE DOOR (DIE TUR) (2009) (a review)

A GREAT MOVIE!!! How is this not getting more attention? A Dutch/German film, a very cool little twisted thriller...one of the best movies twisted thrillers I've seen in a long time. With time time loop movies all the rage (ala SOURCE CODE with Jake Gyllenhaul which is coming out next year) this is a movie that does something a little different and does it in a very cool way

The story: DAVID is cheating on his wife, and while out getting some nookie his daughter falls into the pool and drowns. David is devestated. His wife leaves him. His life is in shambles. Then one night while wandering he finds a strange door. He walks through it and it is daylight. More thna that he has been transported to an alternate universe where it is five years earlier. Now he is able to save his daughter, but afterwards he is surprised by this world's version and David and he accidentally kills him. Now he has to cover up what he has done so he can stay in this world where his daughter is still alive and he is still with his wife. Except of course covering it up isn't easy, especially when his daughter is the one person to recognize that he is not in fact her actual father.

Was it good?

GREAT MOVIE! Not only is this a nice little twisted thriller, but this movie has what most thriller don't -- EMOTION. The scenes of the man losing his daughter are painful. Then when he is able to save her, and then that gets flipped around when he accidentally kills himself and then when his daughter knows he's not the real father and he has to explain what happened (without wanting to tell her the truth). AMAZING STUFF!

There are some other great twists that come about later. Not only does he have to cover up his crime and try to win over his daughter, but he has to break things off with his mistress without his wife realizing what is happening and then it turns out he isn't the only one able to use the door, which adds complication onto complication.

If I have any problems it's with the third act which gets a little too plot-y and goesa bit over the top and doesn't deliver the emotional punch that it should. Otherwise, this was a knick out film for me.

*** RECOMMEND (and then some!!!) ****

THE HOLE (2009) (a review)

THE HOLE (2009) (a review)

An interesting horror movie whose concept reminded me of Kathe Koja's first novel, The Cipher. It stars Teri Polo (Meet the Parents)

The story: a family moves into a new home and the boys find a mysterious hole in the basement that causes their worst fears to come to life.

Was it good?

Not really. There is a nice idea to it, but the movie doesn't do anything particularly interesting. The relationships, with the two brothers teasing each other and the older brother liking the girl next door, had some possibilities and one or two nice moments, but they didn't extend it. It's like I've said before -- movies like this work best when you have a clear emotional element and then use the external force as expand the metaphore. In ET, Eliot is alone and then meets ET, so it is like the story of a boy and his dog, only here it is an alien. In CLOVERFIELD, a guy wants to run out to find the girl he is in love with but then a monster attacks and now he has to run out and save her from the monster.

So while there are some nice moments, it ends up feeling more like a cheesy B-movie instead of a classic family film, ala ET or GOONIES.

For youngers kids, it's probably worth a rental, although they might actually get a little bored since nothing struck me as really, really cool. For older kids (which are called adults, right?) there isn't enough here to watch.

*** AVOID (except maybe for kids) ***

OXFORD MURDERS (a review)

OXFORD MURDERS (a review)

A detective/thriller starring Elijah Wood and John Hurt, based on the novel of the same name.

The story: a man goes to Oxford to study under a famed mathmatician. The mathmetician humiliates him, but as the boy is getting ready to leave he and the mathmatician come across the body of a murdered woman with a note, a mathematical symbol. She is the first in a series of murders and the pair must try to find the murderer before his final murder.

Was it good?

No. The problem isn't that the movie is especially bad, it's just there isn't anything great in it. The characters aren't particularly interesting, there isn't a great emotional componant to it (like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) did, the actual mystery doesn't have any cool aspect (like SEVEN did), and the ending and reveal just wasn't anything special. There are SOOOOO many detective shows on tv, and this really didn't have anything to separate it from any of them. In fact, a lot of tv shows are better put together and more interesting. Maybe there could have been something interesting here, but they just didn't find it.

*** AVOID ***

MEGAMIND (a review)

MEGAMIND (a review)

This is the second of two recent animated super-villain movies. The first was DESPICABLE ME (reviewed HERE) which featured Steve Carrell as the main villain. This one features the voice work of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Brad Pitt.

The story: Megamind, the arch-villain of Metro Man, is in jail but he breaks out and is able to finally defeat Metro Man and take over the city. Except then he becomes bored. He realizes he needs a hero to fight, so he decides to create a superhero, Tighten, except that superhero becomes an even worse supervillain than Megamind. Also, Megamind in disguise begins to date Roxanne, a woman who hates the villainous Megamind. Then to svae the girl he loves Megamind has to become the cities hero and defeat Tighten.

Was it good?

Not really. it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't especially good either. The problem is the core of the story just isn't that compelling. It basically is a guy who gets what he wants and then becomes bored. That's not much of a story. And him falling in love and deciding to become a hero, while okay, isn't real compelling either. Compare that to the much better DESPICABLE ME where a super villain has lost his funding and must try to steal the moon to regain his line of credit, but is thwarted by a more successful supervillain and now must use three orphans to try to defeat this other supervillain. That's a heck of a lot more interesting than just someone trying not to be bored.

As a result just about everything works better in Desp-Me than in Megamind -- the jokes are funnier, the action scenes are more interesting, the characters are more interesting. It all comes from concept and story. The stronger the motivation, the more interesting the heart of the story, the easier it is to get everything else to work around it.

The two things MEGAMIND does have is some first rate animation and great voice work. The animation is fantastic and I'm a big fan of Will Farrell and Tina Fey, even if this isn't their most interesting work.

For adults, there isn't enough here to recommend. For kids, there is probably enough to keep them entertained even if it won't rank as a classic.

*** KIDS -- RECOMMEND, ADULTS -- RENTAL ****

Still the animation is first rate and I'm a fan of

AND SOON THE DARKNESS (2010) (a review)

AND SOON THE DARKNESS (2010) (a review)

A remake of a British thriller. Stars Amber Heard and Odette Yusman.

The story: two girls traveling in Mexico by themselves, one a party girl and one the responsible one, have a fight and split up. When the party girl doesn't show up at the rondesvou spot, the party girl tries to find her. The police won't help. A man who is looking for his missing sister helps her, but when they are able to finally find the girl it only makes all three of them targets by the kidnappers.

Was it good?

No. God, no. It was horrible. In fact it was worse than horrible -- IT WAS BORING. I mean, seriously, shouldn't the one basic rule of filmmaking be, especially when you are making a thriller, that you can't make it BORING???

The story has all the elements of a fun thriller -- two beautiful girls (and yes, Heart and Yustman are gorgeous), an exotic locale, the conflict between the nice girl and the party girl, then the drama of the one girl going missing, etc. All the beats are there...but it's just so BORING. It would be easy to blame the director (and yes, the directing is lame), but the bigger problem is the story itself. Stories need to give the audience the feeling like they are going for something, that they are pushing the edge at least a little bit. It doesn't matter if you are making a comedy, a horror movie, or a thriller -- you need to know what is it that you are pushing. Maybe it's something abou the characters, maybe it's something about the threat, maybe it's something else, but you always need that "go for it" feeling. Usually you can tell what it is because it shows that that's what the filmmaker was most fascinated by. This movie, however, has nothing. It doesn't seem to be interested in these two girls, not for their relationship, not for any internal drama, not even as eye candy. It doesn't seem fascinated with the locale. it doesn't seem fascinated by the drama of the girl going missing and the one girl being left alone with no help to find her friend. It doesn't feel fascinated by the bad guys. It doesn't seem fascinated by any moral or thematic statement.

It's just all kind of there. Which makes it all boring.

And all of that is ignoring all the ridiculous elements in the movie. Like the fact that she just seems to randomly walk around and stumble on her missing friend with no detective work at all. Just walk around in a strange country, look through some rubble, and you'll find a kidnapper within 24 hours. I can't express how stupid that was.

So a message to all filmmakers -- find something in your project that fascinates you and GO FOR IT. Maybe then you won't make soething as boring as this movie.

*** AVOID ***

MEGA PIRHANA (a review)

MEGA PIRHANA (a review)

From the people at Asylum. Was this a genuine horror movie, or just a no-budget attempt to cash in on the Hollywood feature PIRHANA (and by cash in I mean take advantage of their advertising to get people interested in this other movie as well).

The story: set in Venezula, a genetically altered strain of pirhana has escaped. Not only are they extra-vicious, but they are also growing -- yes, growing! -- as they feast on everything they can find. Of course, the government at first doesn't believe the scientists and try to stop them, but then the pirhana grow big enough to destroy boats and helicoptors and aircraft carriers. Conventional weapons no longer work on them (not even missiles) and the only way to kill them is to hurt one pirhana under water so the animals will turn on each other and in a feeding frenzy destroy themselves.

Was it good?

No, not really. But this movie is so over-the-top stupid it is an oddly fascinating watch. It reminded me of the old horror movies I'd watch on Saturday afternoon that were so cheesey they were enjoyable. I mean, watching a bunch of giant pirhana take down a battleship and destroy a hotel! That's awesome.

So I guess the real question is was this better than the Hollywood version, Pirhana 3-D? Well, no, not really. That movie didn't have some of the over-the-top chees-fest elements, but it had something this movie didn't have -- characters and story. The HW version has the good son wanting to rebel to get the attention of the girl he likes who seems to like another girl, and her later attmpts to get his attention when other girls are flirting with him. It has the story of the mom trying to protect both the town and her family, and it gives a good dose not only of good people in a bad situation, mixed with the wild sex and party debauchery of spring break.

Still, Megapirhana was an entertaining watch. I little more work and it could have been actually good, but it was still entertaining.

** RENT ***

BLACK SWAN (a review)

BLACK SWAN (a review)

A psychological thriller by Darron Aronofsky (PI, Requiem of a Dream) starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.

The story: a dancer (Portman) gets her first starring role in a new production of Black Swan where one dancer is going to play both the White Swan and the Black Swan. Unfortunately, while she is perfect for the White Swan, she needs to let go to become the Black Swan. Another dancer (Kunis) is perfect for the Black Swan and they form a friendship and rivalry that plunges the first dancer into fear, passion, and paranoia.

Was it good?

Kind of. This is at lest the third movie by Aronofsky about people plunging into insanity (Pi, Requiem of a Dream and this) and he is good at pulling the audience into the eyes of madness. However, where those movies worked this one falls apart. PI is about pure obsession and madness. R-o-a-Dream is about peopel spiraling into addiction. BLACK SWAN though is about creativity and art. It's about a girl who wants to be perfect, but to be perfect as the black swan she will need to let go of her concept of perfection. She needs to be spontaneous and sexual and wild. This is Portman's story -- trying to get in touch with that sexual side of herself. And for most of the movie it is at least an interesting ride.

*** SPOILERS ***

However, it's in the final act that things fall apart. In the end Portman feels threatened by Kunis and kills her and then becomes the Black Swan. But what the hell does that mean? So in a movie about embracing sexuality it is an act of violence that allows her to become the black swan? What does that say about women's sexuality, that women are threatened by it? That wimen need to kill it? That women are rivals and need to kill each other? And then it's revealed that Portman didn't really kill Kunis, but in fact she killed herself, allowing her to become the Black Swan...so what does that say about creativity, about passion, about sexuality?

It's in that final phase, when the movie should be reaching the height of its theme, it's most powerful statement of what the movie is about that it falls apart and all the threads seem to contradict itself and it becomes a jumbled mesh.

So at the end when Portman says it was "perfect" it feels less like a powerful statement of creativity or sexuality or passion, but simply the final meaningless word of a delusional girl. And for a movie that seems to want to say something more about art and passion, that's a pretty big failure.

Still, there is enough interesting things that it can still be worth seeing. But unfortunately it's more of the hot mess catagory than the great film catagory.

*** RENTAL ***