Daybreakers (2009)

Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe star in a vampire film that is more science fiction that suspense or horror. I've been saving this for horror month viewing for a couple years, and it isn't the first time I've saved a film I didn't need to. It doesn't help that the film is now both dated and bad...

The film gives little background into how vampires took over the world, and explains everything through background media [televisions playing in the background, etc.] and through passing comments. It isn't that I didn't "get it," just more that I thought the screenplay didn't try very hard. The plot is basically that there are so many vampires that they are running out of blood. They have been trying to make substitutes and they actually harvest human blood, but all substitutes end up killing the vampires that try them. Hawke was turned into a vampire by his brother and does not want to be one. He is a doctor that is looking for the cure, Dafoe has a solution and Hawke goes underground [figuratively] to help his cure get tested.

The conflict comes from the vampires that don't really want a cure to exist because a limited supply plus their reserves equals power. Overall the film was kinda stupid and definitely not worth your time.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433362/

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The Final Destination (2009)

I was reluctant to watch this film. The 4th film in a series that should have never been a series. The more of these I see the more I forget just how much I liked the original. The original, which came out in 2000, was a pretty neat concept. Boy has premonition that plane will crash, keeps his friends from getting on, death is "after" them.

The 2nd film was not good and featured a different director. The 3rd in the series was horrendous, and actually brought back the original director James Wong. This film bounces back to the guy who directed the 2nd film, David R. Ellis, who is better known as a stunt man.

Made completely as a 3D gimmick two years ago, the plot is weak and the acting is bad. Then again, it wasn't THAT bad. This cheesy horror film will probably end up defining the genre at its time. When we look back in 20 years we well remember films like this, sadly. Considering how bad the last two have been, it wasn't unwatchable. You have to enjoy the random ways these kids get killed as random objects start moving around them. Imagine an invisible Carrie taking out high schoolers.

I could have done without seeing it, but I actually don't regret the hour and 15 minutes it took to watch it.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1144884/

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When We Leave: Die Fremde (2010)

This was the 9th out of 10 foreign films from last year I really wanted to see. Sadly Life, Above All STILL isn't out on DVD, but is projected for a Dec. 6th, 2011 release.

I can't say I knew anything about this one other than it was really depressing... and boy is it. The film is about a Turkish woman in Germany that leaves her husband. Coming from a culture that forbids this activity he becomes alienated from her family. Her husband beat her and her child so she is forced to rely on the German government to provide assistance to basically hide them. She goes back to school and gets a job, but her constant efforts to still be part of the family only anger the men in the family.

This is an all around sad and depressing film. So sad that I couldn't sleep when finishing it and had to switch gears and watch a comedy for half an hour before I could get it out of my head. there is no silver lining and really no message to this film. It really is just an effort to bring light to modern day oppression that some women still face. Good point, but not something I want to commit two hours to.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1288376/

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Last Tango in Paris: Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972)

So this is a very dirty movie, there really isn't much to say to defend it as art. Banned in a number of countries, rated 18+, NC-17, X in all other countries, which most artistic films have at least a few rating groups that are ok with mild sexuality.

The film starts with a young woman, Jeanne [Maria Schneider] looking for an apartment in Paris. She is given the key to look at an apartment and finds a middle-aged American man inside, Paul [Marlon Brando]. The man looks homeless, or on drugs, who knowns... but he isn't handsome and instead of being freaked out... they have sex.

She takes the apartment, and we eventually learn that Paul recently had a wife that committed suicide. They maintain a strictly physical relationship and do not even exchange names. During the film they both sodomize each other. First Paul does it forcefully to Jeanne, then she does it in revenge later. Maria Schneider, who passed away recently commented that she always regrets that scene, and that the tears were very real in that scene because it was unscripted and Brando didn't get her much of a choice.

Aside from finding this film offensive, I just found it to be boring. A romance... not really, a horror... maybe. Part of the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die, and I can say that it is not an essential view for anyone.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070849/

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Another Year (2010)

It seems to be a toss up with the 5th screenplay nomination for the Oscars. They always seem to pick one film I never expected and one that doesn't get nominated for anything else. Lately this has either been a surprisingly good film or an average British film... strange trend. Last year in the adapted category there was the average British film, In The Loop, this year it was this one in the original category. They should have put Fish Tank in this category instead if they wanted a British film. Nevertheless, it is just a nomination, the winner is all I really hope for the Academy to get right. This film happened to also finish the ballot for me, only having the documentary short subject category that I haven't seen in three years. Tell me how, and I'd love to... different story.

So the film starts with some misdirection, focusing on a woman getting a physical at a doctors office, he only motive is sleeping pills and it is clear she is very depressed. She is sent to see a psychologist, one of our leading characters Gerri [Ruth Sheen]. Gerri tried to get her to open up, then after their session she goes out for drinks with her co-worker Mary [Lesley Manville]. Mary is a piece of work, aging single and full of false confidence about her looks. Gerri heads home to her husband Tom [Jim Broadbent, the first actor I recognized, you'd know him from the Harry Potter series as Professor Slughorn, also from Hot Fuzz and Iris]. So Tom and Gerri invite Mary over for dinner, she proceeds to get plastered, emotional, and pass out in their sons old room.

So enough about the specifics. The film goes through all four seasons, we see their relationship with Mary stumble and rebuild. Tom visits his brother, who then comes to visit. One of their friends from college makes a visit, etc, etc. It is pretty average in subject matter. A happy couple and their interesting friends. Or should I say ordinary? It was quite boring, and the build up of the first 20 minutes as we learn the backgrounds and work life of the cast is just about all the action we get. A very disappointing film.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1431181/

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Confessions: Kokuhaku (2010)

Like I have been doing for several years now with documentaries, I am now starting to watch more foreign films. Films shortlisted by failing to get a nomination. With 80+ submissions [one each from most major countries] there are a lot to choose from. For an LFR first I'll plug my favorite blog to read, writer Dzong2 has a blog he just calls Foreign Films, and what he lacks in a creative title for a blog he makes up for in some extensive analysis on the foreign film race. Of his 9 predictions for the final 5, he ranked this one 4th, so I gave it a shot since it did not get a nomination.

The film starts out frantic, a busheling classroom is ignoring a teacher as she hands out milk to the class on the last day of the term. She is telling them a story about her daughter who drowned earlier in the school year and has a convincing argument that it was not accidental.

Her conclusions and revenge are shocking, enough to almost put this in a horror/thriller category. The problem with the film for me was the unbelievable reactions of the two kids. The film is kind of broken into three parts as we get "confessions" from multiple characters that all come together in a thrilling conclusion. I can see why this was not given a nomination, and even found it to be a strange submission in the first place. It was however an Asian Film finalist along with winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, and China's submission Aftershock.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590089/

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Iris (2001)

Kate Winslet and Judi Dench split starring roles in this film about the biographical film about the novelist Iris Murdoch. Winslet plays Iris as a college age woman who meets her eventual husband, John Bayley [Hugh Bonneville]. Dench plays Iris from the point that she starts to get Alzheimer's disease, Bayley is then played by Jim Broadbent. I watched this film since it won an Oscar a decade ago for Jim Broadbent's performance. Sure you would assume that Winslet or Dench, both nominees, would be the reason to watch this film, but it was in fact Broadbent that shines the most.

So why did I not like this film? For starters it as depressing. I didn't need to see a film about a woman that loves herself and her writing more than her husband. Interesting that this screenplay was written by John Bayley... Too much Winslet boobs, I didn't need to see her swimming around topless over... and over... and over. So sure, I get it, she is a free spirit. It didn't help that I got the feeling that Bayley regretted his life with her after a scene that probably won Broadbent the Oscar.

Anyways, I can definitely see why this is one of those supporting actor wins that gets ignored. not worth your time.


Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280778/

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Airport (1970)

Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin star in a drama about the chaotic operations of an airport in a snowstorm. The film which somehow made it in the Action 101 book but really has very little "action."

The film starts with Lancaster as the head of an airport in the middle of a snow storm as they attempt to continue operations despite a plane blocking a runway, picketers of a runway causing noise in a neighborhood on the path of the runway. His wife divorces him during the snowstorm for not attending a dinner with her [that I'm sure would have been cancelled due to weather in real life]. The action plot is that a disgruntled man looking to collect life insurance for his family bombs one of the planes in a scene that makes me wonder if the FAA made this movie.

Amazingly this movie managed to spawn three sequels and I would guess that this series lent some ideas to the comedy team behind Airplane! regardless of the parody being modeled around Zero Hour! This movie sucked, maybe it was good 40 years ago, but not now.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/

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Sucker Punch (2011)

I have to say that this movie looked bad from the start, but since I loved Zack Snyder I had to give him a chance. I can't even say that I have much of an opinion either way of Abbie Cornish and Emily Browning. The two have been in a number of films that were just ok, but since their roles were pretty minor I couldn't base much of an opinion from them.

The film doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It plays out more like an attempt to do as much different CGI in as many different ways in one movie. The plot is confusing because we fail to understand what reality really is for these girls in an insane asylum. We start with the events that lead to "Baby Doll" being committed by her stepfather, then we are taken through a series of adventures as she attempts to steal the ideas necessary for making an escape. The adventures are like dreams that include the other girls from the asylum as they battle samurai, nazi's, and robots.

If you are looking for action for the sake of action while you shovel popcorn into your face look no further. If you are looking for a plot with good acting and action, keep looking.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/

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Drunken Master: Jui kuen (1978)

Not to be confused with the American "sequel" The Legend of Drunken Master. This original Jackie Chan Hong Kong film came out 16 years before the sequel. Let's start by saying that the American version I gave a 7/10 and this one not good at all. Yet again an Action 101 film that seems to need a certain percentage of originals and foreign language films.

I read the imdb synopsis and I don't think I watched the same film as the writer. The film is about an immature boy who disgraces his father by harassing young women and acting up in school. His dad constantly punishes him but he constantly cheats his way out of punishments, so he sends him off to learn martial arts from his brother. An interesting man who looks like a drifter and is always drunk, he spends a year teaching him the art of drunken boxing.

Chan is an immature 24 year old actor, and if you didn't know him now you would find the acting very bad. I didn't find it to be much of a comedy and prefer many other Chan movies over this one. It may look like a cool, older Chan film but I didn't think it was.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080179/

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Cannonball! (1976)

I've found that when the library, netflix, and friends do not have old movies there is probably a reason. This film, which is kind of the middle film between Death Race 2000 and The Cannonball Run was incredibly difficult to find. Using the same director and star as Death Race 2000 it was a film that Paul Bartel was afraid would pigeonhole him as an action film director. It stars David Carradine who I find to be a really bad actor.

I was able to find it in segments on youtube that I was able to merge and watch on a portable device, whatever works right? Like I said though, there is a reason you can't find it... because no one wants it. It was really bad and was overshadowed by the Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, and Farrah Fawcett film a few years later.

The action really boiled down to a ridiculous car crash near the end, which feature a number of lemming-like drivers adding to a pileup on an interstate. Take this scene away and it gets left out of the 101 Action movie book.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074279/

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Ip Man 2: Yip Man 2 (2010)

I had high expectations of this film after enjoying the first film. Sadly I found this one very disappointing. A film clearly set up for a trilogy since it didn't even get to the part we all want to see... Ip Man training Bruce Lee.

The film focuses on his migration from China to Hong Kong after World War II. The migration isn't enough to fill up a movie so they dramatized a struggle against Western boxing to fill the movie. This killed the movie for me. Darren Shahlavi was horrible as "Twister," I'm not sure if he is just a bad actor since he has an awful resume or if it is a matter of the director asking him to be an over-the-top unbelievable bad guy. Either way the end result is crap and makes this a bad Asian Rocky film.

Part 3 better be about him training Bruce Lee. 

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386932/

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Gulliver's Travels (2010)

I didn't expect much out of the latest helping of Jack Black cinema. A one dimensional actor that you know ahead of the time if you like or not. I'm a fan of The School of Rock and have found most of his films hit or miss since. So right off the bat if you don't like Jack Black you won't like this at all.

Another modern day spin on the classic story, Black works in the mail room of what I believe is a travel magazine. He doesn't really aspire to become a journalist, but for years has been in love with Amanda Peet's character, Darcy. To impress her he plagiarizes some material to get a shot at a story, she sends him to the Bermuda Triangle where he goes through a storm and is sent to the island of Liliput. He makes friends with Horatio [Jason Segel] who is in love with the princess [Emily Blunt].

Like most bad comedies the film has a good setup, the first 20-30 minutes aren't bad. I actually watched this in two parts the was pretty happy when I took a break in the middle. After the setup Black is left to ad-lib the next 30 minutes. This is where the film takes a turn for the worse.

I'm kinda glad I checked it out, but I one bad review from avoiding this one. I hope I'm your "one bad review" and you skip it like I should have. I like Segel and Blunt, but they couldn't save this film.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320261/

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The Red Shoes (1948)

This was one of the most bizarre musicals I have seen ever. It reminds me of a mix between Black Swan and the awful dream sequence in Oklahoma! The film is on a number of "Best" lists, including the 501 Must See Movies, imdb's top 250 bubbling under, and filesite lists top 100. A British film that I at least had the pleasure of watching in high definition in a spiffy remastering that recently came out.

The film is more of a fantasy ballet than a musical. The leading character's don't sing, but perform. I'm starting to realize that the musical genre encapsulates a number of "stage performance" films that aren't really musicals at all. The film centers around the redheaded Moira Shearer who plays Victoria Page, a young prima ballerina, who is under strict guidance of the company manager.

The performance of "The Red Shoes" ballet is very odd. Blurring the line between reality and fantasy the "stage" performance is impossible with a constantly changing scenery and bizarre direction. At first all I could think was "how the hell is this a possible performance?" I didn't get it, didn't like the characters, or the movie in general. Don't watch this one.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040725/

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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

An epic silent war film about World War I. I found this one on archive.org. It is in the National film Registry and also in the 501-Must See Movies, under action for some reason.

My review might contain spoilers, but I've found that spoilers on silent movies actually help me. I really don't like to know what a movie is about before seeing it, so that I both have an open mind and let the director lead me rather than a review. The problem is that silent movies are very difficult to follow, even when I watch them at double speed. If I have some sort of clue were it is going it helps a lot.

So this one starts with a Argentinian cattle baron who owns a lot of land and two daughters. One daughter marries a Frenchman, the other a German. When the old man dies his daughter's families split the inheritance and move to their respective countries. When World War I breaks out the two families end up pitted on opposite sides. As you would expect the German side is ruthless and the French side is the heroic side, this was made in the USA. So where does the title come from? Well there is a subplot of how this great war is the beginning of the apocalypse, and a mystic spells all this out before the battles.

I could see how this was a pretty cool film some 90 years ago. It was difficult to get through though, long and grainy, and I couldn't get into the story very much. It took me a number of days to wrap it up.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012190/

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The Broadway Melody (1929)

The 2nd ever winner of the Best Picture Oscar, and credited as the 2nd musical film ever made. The movie poster even boasts that is has "talking"! I can't imagine being around in a time where mixing video and audio was so new and interesting, so finding this film good was very difficult.

I don't think the actors and actresses were good, actually I found them to be pretty awful. It sounded like there were reading lines, and I imagine that not only were they reading lines, but they were some of the first to do so. There was no acting school right? So maybe it isn't fair to judge here, but I didn't find the story all that good.

The song and dance routines were pretty fun, but I have to say... there seems to be a trend in musicals were most stage performers are very nasty people. Cutthroat, crude, and rude. I don't get it. Anyways, at least it was short.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019729/

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TRON: Legacy (2010)

Now I just watched the original TRON just a couple years ago. I have to say that I didn't like it. I even gave it a 5/10 and remember dozing off a couple times during the "action" sequences. I really didn't even realize that Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner ("Tron") were brought back to do this sequel.

The premise of the film is that after 20+ years of Kevin Flynn [Bridges] disappearance his son find that he has been trapped in the alternate universe or the system since then. I was hesitant to give this film a chance. The first TRON flopped but had a cult following, and this one flopped to everyone surprise. I'm really not sure why people are surprised when sequels to cult films don't do well at the box office. Doesn't that mean they did a good job with it?

Maybe this will have another cult following, but I think it was a little too late. The Disney element makes it cheesy and the 3d element is frustrating. The acting from the son, Sam [Garrett Hedlund], and the girl [Olivia Wilde] were not great, and the plot was stupid enough to put you to sleep. Not worth your time, and the action scenes were very limited which was pretty surprising.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/

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Wonder Boys (2000)

I'm not quite sure what I expected from this film, but it wasn't what I wanted or expected. The title, theme, and cast, even the opening scene in the classroom lead me to believe this was going to be a different version of Dead Poets Society. I was wrong, this film is all about Michael Douglas, and his character is just not interesting to me. The film won an Oscar for best song with Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed" and was nominated for two others for screenplay and editing. It was also on the AFI Annual Top 10 List.

The film is centered around Professor Tripp [Michael Douglas] who has just impregnated the [married] Dean Sara [Frances McDormand]. He wrote a fiction book that was on the best seller list, but has not been able to finish his next work for years. His publisher, Terry [Robert Downey Jr.] is in town and wants to know how it is coming. His wife just left him and he is renting a room to a student Hannah [Katie Holmes]. To make things more complicated an odd student with a lot of talent, James [Tobey Maguire] is following him around.

The film is a dark comedy, more of a dram-edy because nothing is laugh out loud funny, and many of the funny things come at the expense of one of the main characters. I really wanted there to be more to this movie than following Professor Tripp around. A pothead professor living off the fame of a single best seller is not the kind of movie I can really get into. This film had more acclaim but I really liked Solitary Man a lot more [and I only gave that a 6/10].

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185014/

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Life As We Know It (2010)

I feel a little bad always giving Katherine Heigl film bad ratings. Honestly she isn't that bad, I just feel like she doesn't try very hard. Maybe because she can't do better and the director doesn't push her, I'm really not sure.

The problem with this movie is actually not Heigl at all, its Josh Duhamel. He sucked, sorry but he did. I didn't want him to win the girl in the end and I liked Sam the doctor [Josh Lucas] much better. Oops did I spoil the movie... well you can't spoil a predictable movie like this. In the first 10 minutes they go on a blind date and hate each other, from that point on you know they will get together in the end.

So what is this movie about? Well Holly and Eric (Heigl and Duhamel) get set up on a blind date by their respective best friends, who then get married. When their friends die in a car wreck Holly and Eric are named the godparents in their friends will. Honestly the script writer and director did a good job making this extreme circumstance seem plausible, and I commend them for that. I hated how this film turned out, and the cookie cutter romantic comedy with one unique twist is a typical Heigl film. It was an easy watch, and kinda fun, with a few sad parts and I don't regret seeing it, I just can't really suggest something this bad. If you see it on tv you might check it out.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055292/

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Gosford Park (2001)

I'll just get straight to the point on this one. I don't like films like this, and I didn't really want to watch it. I'd really rather skip even reviewing it, but I'm sure I'll want to look back some day and see why I disliked it so much.

The truth is, it really wasn't all that bad. It reminded me a lot of The Rules of the Game, the 1939 Jean Renoir film, that I really didn't like. This is a film on many people top films of all time list, so if you liked it, you might like this. The cast is fairly loaded with notables Ryan Phillippe, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, and Maggie Smith. Mirren and Smith were nominated for Oscars for their performances, and the film was nominated for a total of 7.

It is very long, and somewhat slow, but it wasn't dull at any point. I could have done without seeing it, but it does round out a group of best picture winners from the year for me. Maybe 4/10 is kinda harsh, but I'm not going to change it.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280707/

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