Spending Easter alone this year and then boarding a plane for Scandinavia in the late afternoon. [url="http://www.devilducky.com/media/41802/"]Beency-bouncy-burger, eh?[/url]
Have a happy & safe Easter holiday, everybody.
And thanks to those who voted in my Battle of… More
Spending Easter alone this year and then boarding a plane for Scandinavia in the late afternoon. [url="http://www.devilducky.com/media/41802/"]Beency-bouncy-burger, eh?[/url]
Have a happy & safe Easter holiday, everybody.
And thanks to those who voted in my Battle of the Posters matches (looks like my tombstone's being etched as we speak for that one, but it was close! Congrats to Chairman Meow).
Movie reviews for another newsletter offering (interest? then follow closely!):
[font=Book Antiqua][b]The Host (Gwoemul)[/b][/font]
[font=Book Antiqua]Though ultimately a “monster movie” if you want to ascribe it a video store definition, this über-fresh Korean product has much more than scares extending from its slimy tentacles. It’s absurd to think this movie managed to be so gloriously entertaining with such a kinetic spirit and a wide-ranging, dauntless narrative, almost making it an entirely new species of film altogether. This plucky undertaking is an effortless hybrid of terror, suspense, action, drama, tenderness, and comedy, with nimble but assured shifts in emotional tone that made it feel more organic, and satisfying. Even in moments of tragedy, the movie manages to console the audience by tilting overwhelming family grief into hysterical slapstick (trust me, it works), followed minutes later with breathless gangbusters action. There’s an air of ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ to the dysfunction of the dopey family comedy and tragic setbacks (each family member amply developed enough for empathy, even with economic screen time), and the satirical social commentary, replete with plague fears and government distrust, is in no shortage of effect. The photography and the unexpectedly strong score, too, serve to augment the skin-stiffening horrors and endearing compassions of the movie and for the viewer. ‘The Host’ is a bizarrely delightful experience, a feverish, genre-splicing beast of a film that immediately ensnared me in its hideous jaws and didn’t let up. It’s a movie I greatly respect for tearing from my calloused self a wide variety of emotional reactions, and should stand as a paramount example of how horror can actually serve as a handmaiden to legitimately poignant storytelling.[/font]
[b][font=Book Antiqua][size=3]9.5/10[/size][/font][/b]
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[font=Book Antiqua][b]300[/b][/font]
[font=Book Antiqua]Abs ahoy! Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel adaptation arrives with slightly more swagger (and greased bodies) than ‘Sin City,’ but no less the excess. As one person put it, it’s the cinematic equivalent of Bill Brasky, one of the tallest tales out there. There are times when ‘300’ is entrancing as its slow-motion blood poem bombastically unfolds onscreen, swarthy Spartans sluicing through wave after wave of demonic Persians like a salad shooter infomercial, blood gracefully squirting from open neck cavities. But when it bogs down into intermittent lapses between the action, the viewer is allowed to realize, once more, that this movie borders on the ridiculous (such as the painfully cheap storyline with the wife at home and the senator). At times boring? Gasp, it may be true once the hypnosis wears off, but there is enough visual dazzle, snappy one-liners, and a cool enough premise (with wrinkly-applied layers of history) to justify itself as serviceable escapist fare, as well as a Body by Jake portfolio.[/font]
[b][font=Book Antiqua][size=3]6/10[/size][/font][/b]
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[font=Book Antiqua][b]Zodiac[/b][/font]
[font=Book Antiqua]‘Zodiac’ is a fascinating period piece / newsroom sleuth film set in our lovely San Francisco about the infamously unsolved Zodiac Killer murders in the 60’s and 70’s. Alluring, absorbing, and at times disturbing, it invites the viewer into the obsession shared by the protagonists (Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey, Jr.) in trying to piece together a dizzying parade of overlooked clues and overcome bureaucratic hurdles just to even begin knowing where to look for the Zodiac killer. Expertly, the movie leads and misleads, mirroring reality, never really being able to conclude what was a red herring and what wasn’t. There is subtle finger-pointing, but it’s more about the quiet destruction of the characters whose lives they just couldn’t untangle from the Zodiac mystery. And, it does a brilliant job book-ending the movie with Donovan’s creepy “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” both an emblem of the cultural era and of the slow unsettling atmospherics of the film.[/font]
[b][font=Book Antiqua][size=3]8.5/10[/size][/font][/b]
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[font=Book Antiqua][u]Others[/u]: [/font]
[font=Book Antiqua][b]Blades of Glory[/b][/font]
[font=Book Antiqua]Hilarious, Ferrell’s best yet (yes, better than Anchorman and Talladega Nights), but with a great comedic cast all-around and a story the filmmakers never gave up on. “It makes my hair shine like the Belt of Orion.”[/font]
[font=Book Antiqua][size=3][b]8/10[/b][/size][/font]
[font=Book Antiqua][b]Grindhouse[/b][/font]
[font=Book Antiqua]Planet Terror = thumbs up. Death Proof = meh. Rodriguez’s zombie romp (Planet Terror) was basic but a lot of fun. Dang that Tarantino, who has a frustrating habit of pandering to the masses without much buildup, and is clueless like a small child on how to do anything remotely worthy of the viewer’s emotion outside of kick-butt action twists and soundtrack-soaked style. At least Kurt Russell was great.[/font]
[font=Book Antiqua][size=3][b]6/10[/b][/size][/font]