I saw a few movies recently so I thought I'd write brief reviews for them.
Silent Hill:
I saw this with my friend Chris on April 27 (Dining Out for Life Night -- we had dinner at Creole Cafe; good cause, good food, and the movie...). I wasn't sure about this one at first. I like video games. I like movies. But most movies based on video games I've seen just weren't very good. I decided to give it a chance, though.
The video game itself seemed a bit different than the usual. It seemed to have a plot that was more developed than most other video games. Also, the production of it had as many elements of movie production as it did game production. Then I saw the cast list.
I think it was a good choice to see this movie. It was sufficiently scary, creepy and gory. Well, the gore may have been a bit much at the end for my taste but I've seen worse and it did kind of fit in this case. The plot was pretty good. Not rock solid but good enough if you keep in mind you are going to see a Hollywood-ized horror flick based on a video game that was inspired by other horror flicks and urban legends (and a real town in Pennsylvania called Centralia, go ahead and Google it).
Alice Krige's performance was also notable. Between the Borg Queen and the bat-crap crazy religious zealot in Silent Hill, she is now the scariest person in the world. Apologies to Christopher Walken, Voldemort, and Katherine Harris. Laurie Holden as Officer Bennet was also pretty good. At first her character was annoying to me. But as time went on, I began to appreciate her presence. That is due in large part to the actor's performance. The plot as written was OK but the dialogue, well at least it was better than George Lucas but that isn't saying much.
I also think credit should go to the director, Christophe Gans. The overall direction also really made this movie worthwhile. Without him, I think it would have been another video game-to-movie mess.
And what is a horror movie without skilled FX and editing crews? Probably Stephen King's Thinner (OK, no fair making fun of the FX & editing crew, King wrote a bad book hence the bad movie). Fortunately, Silent Hill was better. So thanks to the FX and editing crew for their contributions toward 2 days of nightmares for me!
Now, themes. I'm not really sure. When I went into the theater I really didn't care about themes. I just wanted to be entertained. But something kept nagging me about this movie. Oh, there was the obvious stuff about right-wing, hypocritical, Puritanical overzealous religion. And how fear corrupts absolutely. I think revenge vs. justice was also a theme. But there was something else.
It was the dad. The basic plot is that this little girl, who was adopted by a fairly typical upper-middle class couple played by Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell, has serious night terrors about a place called Silent Hill. This town was abandoned years ago due to a fire that still rages underground and makes the place inhabitable. Of course, it's a scary movie so it wasn't just an ordinary fire. They delved too deeply and let loose a Balrog. Oops. Wrong movie.
I guess you could say the little girl was possessed. Her mom had this idea to take the girl (Sharon) to Silent Hill -- Mom was sure this would cure her. And that's when all h-e-double-hockey-sticks broke loose.
When Dad found out where his wife & daughter had gone, he went after them. He looked frantically for them. Evaded police, got arrested, broke into places... This was a dedicated man who wanted to find his family. At some points he and his family inhabited the same space though in different dimensions (for lack of a better word). He sort of sensed them but couldn't quite get to them.
He was forced to leave Silent Hill. To me, he appeared depressed and like nothing was left for him but emptiness.
CAUTION SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ PINK TEXT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THE ENDING REVEALED TO YOU! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED STAY AWAY FROM THE PINK TEXT!
With help from Officer Bennet and the "possessing" force, mom and daughter got to go home. Just when you thought the family would be reunited, you find that Mom and daughter still exist in a different dimension/plane than Dad. It was really sad. I suppose it was just set-up for a sequel. But I can't help thinking that was meant to say something about the state of families in our society and the roles of dads/men.
The thing is, I'm not really quite sure what it is supposed to say if it is supposed to say anything. I've been trying to type out what I've been thinking since seeing this movie but none of the words really make sense. I'd kind of like to view the movie again so I can examine this aspect of it. Maybe then I can properly verbalize what I think is going on here. (If you've seen it and know what I'm talking about, please comment!)
As an entertaining movie, I rate this one as a thumbs-up. It isn't like Slither, which was light-hearted and funny. This movie is darker, heavier and in a way more gross. If you like scary movies, I recommend this one. If kiddies are interested, parents should keep in mind that it is rated R and probably for good reason. Some 15- to 16-year-olds could probably handle it, but not those any younger. IMO.
Art School Confidential:
I went out Saturday night to see this. Davinci Code and Poseidon where my top choices but I'd rather see those with my friends. Since I was alone (which sometimes is the best way to see a movie), I saw one that few of my friends would have paid $9 to see even if they knew they'd appreciate it.
The trailers I saw for this film made it appear to be a light comedy. I should have known better. Not that the movie was bad. Just that trailers are often made by marketing people and not the filmmakers. This means that often movies are a bit misrepresented. If you have Pleasantville on DVD (or can get access to it, it’s a darn good movie), check out the trailers on that. Notice how different they are. Also note how certain ones totally misrepresent the movie.
Anyway. This movie was more of a dark comedy. But an actual good one. Max Minghella is a pretty good young actor. I would have liked to have seen more Angelica Huston; but John Malkovich and Jim Broadbent made just the right appearances. (Broadbent really was scary at the end).
What is the nature of art? What is the nature of pretentious dorks who take themselves too seriously? What is the nature of fame? What is the nature of scandal? Why do people want to be artists? Why do they want to be famous? Just who are you really trying to impress?
So maybe you don't care. OK. There is plenty of humor in the movie, and attractive people. I enjoyed it. It looked good. Generally well-crafted. Acting was solid. Had some funny moments. But I really don't think this movie is for everyone. If you don't like dark comedy, you won't like it. If you don't like absurdism, you won't like it. It's weird sometimes. And predictable other times. The whole thing is sort of an in-joke, I think. It may have the makings of a cult-classic.
Mrs. Henderson Presents:
Hil-freaking-larious. Music was great. Everything was great. I really wish I had the time to see it on the big screen last year. My friends Cory & Shana rented this movie Monday night. I was tired and cranky at work on Tuesday because I had to stay awake to see the whole thing. It was worth it. It was insanely entertaining. Although at some points a little sad and poignant.
Some basic themes involved out-dated moral/ethic codes, affects of war, grief.
It was part love story. And a very good one. Atypical and a lot less predictable. Well, one bit was predictable. One person's fate was sealed when a shot of her waving good-bye was followed not by the face of the person she was actually waving to but instead of the stage where she performed.
I also want to say that I love Judi Dench. She's just great. And I'm a little sad that I've only just discovered her (and Maggie Smith) in recent years (which reminds me, I must add Ladies in Lavender to my Netflix queue). Should I find myself in London, I may be one of those annoying tourists who has to see that place made famous in that movie and go to where the real theater, which was part inspiration for this movie, was.
Mrs. Henderson Presents is a great movie and I think most people I know would like it.
Ok, that's it for tonight. There is still so much more I want to do here. I still need to re-upload the ROTFLMBO video and my logo. There are some other things I'd like to write about, too. But right now Ellie is demanding a visit outside and DJ & Magic have teamed up with her. Oh, and check this post later b/c I will add a few links that you may find interesting.