| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Happens - PG-13 | September 11, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| El Orfanato (The Orphanage) - R | September 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Saw - R | September 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Eyes Without a Face - Unrated | September 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| I Sell the Dead - Unrated | September 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Bakjwi (Thirst) - R | September 10, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| 9 - PG-13 |
The first caveat: If i liked the steampunk style, this would definitely be a 3.5 star and potentially 4. Now some training for cinen00bs: Repeat to yourself in mantra style until you have properly remembered it: "Shane Acker wrote and directed this, not Tim Burton. Tim Burton produced." OR shortened, "Shane Acker's 9". Got it? Okay now say aloud Timur Bekmambetov's name until you got it down (Tee-mur Beck-mum-beh-toff) because if you didn't know about him already, he's one of the top directors in the world, specializing in flawless action and monumental visual flair; for this film, he also produced. Okay we go that out the way, and you know this isn't a "Tim Burton's _____" film and that Bekmambetov is quite entrenched in Hollywood now. Onto actual review: The story of 9 is a simple and interesting take on the post-human landscape where robots rose to destroy society. The focus of the film is on a handful of sentient puppets who seem to be among the few creatures left alive in a desolate landscape. The detailed design of these puppet characters is amazing and beautiful. They have simple character traits and are one-dimensional cutout characters (and the story tries to justify this with its ultimate revelation about these creatures' sentience). The animation is amazing and presents equally over-the-top action with gargantuan mechanical creations and emotional exchange between the tiny characters. It's great if you like action, but I found the action segments to be numbing to my senses. Some of the interpersonal exchanges are quite convincing, but sometimes the cutout nature of these characters intervenes and makes a give-and-take too predictable. Still, the simple animations of the numbers' eyes and mouths was enough to keep my mind engaged. The end was not satisfying for me, but the moments of questing for that truth were quite cool. The thought that went into these designs (and the fictional origin of these designs) is immense and unbelievably executed. When I couldn't care about the simple plot or immense action scenes, there were always novel design details to absorb. I don't understand the PG-13 rating, except that I know that rating has grown immensely in the past few years as PG becomes far more tame. To me, this is a very PG movie, and actually the people (age-wise) who will gain the most from this are in the 6-12 range. There are too many scary images for small children, but any child who has acquired any sophistication re:"real vs. fake" and the magic of cinema will be utterly enthralled by this story. For me, it didn't have enough emotional resonance because I have been exposed to far too many stories in my short lifespan. To a green mind, this is an intriguing and possibly standout parable with a sharp message of 'The human spirit can and will overcome the "inevitable" robot apocalypse.' Ultimately, visuals over storytelling (who didn't expect that), but a veritable heaven for lovers of the steampunk aesthetic. |
September 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Infection - Unrated |
For J-horror this is quite disappointing. It may pack the undicipherable plot, but it does not deliver on enough (and powerful) indescribabbly creepy imagery. This crew also doesn't really know how to handle special effects. They don't show much (probably because of the budget) and though I am often a proponent of "less is more", in this case the little that is delivered is at the just-above-mediocre level of special effects. This is currently (second week of September 2009) streaming free on fearnet.com but I wouldn't waste my time again. A sad reminder that Japanese doesn't always equal an unequivacably frightening flick; they make shitty B-horror dime-a-dozen flicks too. |
September 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Times of Harvey Milk - Unrated | http://content9.flixster.com/movie/10/87/44/10874435_tmb.jpg | September 1, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Survival of the Dead - Unrated | September 1, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Brother to Brother - Unrated |
A friend's recommendation reminded me that I saw this stunning documentary-style-film on PBS's Independent Lens. The literary world of the Harlem Renaissance is more central to this than homosexuality amongst African American men (see Paris is Burning for the best film on that topic). It's admirable unabashed reality and as result, quite depressing at moments with an overall tone of bittersweetness. I think this is a very important film for young artists, especially writers, to see. |
September 1, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Red Without Blue - Unrated |
Very interesting piece about identity and how a family deals with situations that most of society deems "odd" or "too complicated". Biggest plus here is that Claire's transsexualism is not the sensationalized focus of the film as many of its loglines and synopsis report, but rather one more bit in a large patchwork of the subjects' past and current happenings, emotions, and the impact on their closest relationships. This film is centrally about personal identity and the twin dynamic than sexgender and sexuality, which is very refreshing for one like myself who has seen too many films play heavily on the trans component to gain notoriety. A very fair and frank examination of this family's life, including some very moving and astounding interviews with the parents. The only reason I didn't give this a 4 star rating is because it didn't have as much emotional bang (for me) as did many of the other documentaries I recommend and list on Top Docs. But it may be profound enough to warrant a four from you, so I must strongly recommend it if you seek a doc that films a modern American family. |
September 1, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Small Town Ecstasy - Unrated | An HBO special from a few years back. One of the most insightful "fly on the wall" documentaries about modern drug culture. Highly recommend. | September 1, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Around the World in 80 Days - Unrated | September 1, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Cemetery Junction - Unrated | August 27, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Slaughter - R | AfterDark 2009 - not be confused with "Slaughter" extreme snuff drama, not associated with AfterDark | August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Slaughter - Unrated | August 27, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| ZA: Zombies Anonymous - Unrated | The first half of this film is great, then the remainder is unjustifiably terrible. Detailed review to come. | August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| District 9 - R | Loved it. Quite simply loved it. | August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Snuff 102 - Unrated |
"That's Fucked Up" commentary: This film shoots straight to the heights of fucked up cinema. This is the film Hostel wishes it could be. I defy you to watch the whole thing. The camera technique and effects are so well done that I kept feeling I was watching real snuff. "Fucked Up" highlight: Though the camera cuts from it at the impact moments, the snuff killer stomping on a pregnant victim's abdomen is the most unsettling moment for me. I'm sure you may have your own; this film is quite packed with contenders for "most fucked up" moment. |
August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Autopsy - R |
A by-the-numbers horror flick that hopefully warns college twenty-something that if you come to New Orleans and drunk drive home, you will get seriously fucked by the less controlled people of the surrounding parishes. The fantastic thing here though that I must recommend EVERY horror enthusiast see is an effects installation towards the very end where one of the main character's body has been completely dismembered, all of his organs suspended, and he is still alive. It's a truly impressive piece of art and this film doesn't deserve its high caliber of artistry. |
August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Jefftowne - Unrated |
I really liked this film. I thought it was a decent low budget portrait of one man's life and not at all like the sensational description of it. My biggest problem is that Jeff is not subtitled. It is clear that the people around him can understand him, including the film-maker, so why not help us the audience out. I want to know what Jeff is saying, but because I'm not in the room to question his interpreters every time there is a bit I can't understand, I miss too much. Also quite important is that I entered this film without any knowledge of what Down's syndrome is, and ended it with that same ignorance. I did gleam that Jeff still mostly enjoys the same things any man his age without Down's would also enjoy and that his surrounding friends and family believe him to be cleverer and more capable than his affliction would state he is. A decent little film and quite short, but again my biggest regret is the lack of integrated subtitles which could have enhanced this film so much. |
August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Stupidity - Unrated |
I learned the origins of the words "idiot", "moron", and "imbecile" but I could have unearthed that in an article. I learned who some of the leading authors are in this understudied field of "stupid" but I could have unearthed that in an Amazon book search. I didn't leanr anything about the nature of "stupidity" other than it is hard to find a consensus on the definition of the word, but that lack of consensus hold true for any loaded and complicated subject that tries to pick one all-encompassing word to define it. I was, at least, impressed by the lineup of intelligent individuals the film-makers were able to interview. My biggest sense of being cheated by this film is that it doesn't do something so utterly obvious - interview and explore the lives of the "stupid". The film also never addresses the idea that stupidity, idiocy, etc can all be defined by their antithesis to a system to which most of modern societies subscribe, the fields of "logic" and "ration". This film just does not provoke enough thought on non-thought, and often ignores the elephant in the room of stating that the film-makers, like the researchers they are interviewing and referencing, define stupidity by a lack of awareness. But I guess that is all okay because the opening disclaimer is that the film was made by idiots. Just not a revealing documentary and not worth your time. If you wish to further investigate the realm of stupidity and its brethren, watch a few episodes of Jackass and make your own observations on why and what could be considered "stupid". |
August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Latter Days - Unrated |
It's just a lukewarm film, a by-the-numbers romantic drama about people from utterly different worlds that happen to fall in love. I give props for the included "twist" and depictions of "homosexual reformation" facilities that we all KNOW exist and are utilized by the Mormon church. Some very nice bits of secondary character acting by Erik Palladino as the AIDS patient and Joseph Gordon Levitt as an overly everything-that-isn't-Mormon-phobic missionary. "Hot Gay Sex" commentary: this reluctantly makes the list. makes the list because there is certainly gay sex happening here. Reluctant because, as my gay boyfriend said, "we don't know who topped/bottomed". Plenty of shapely buttocks, though. |
August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Humboldt County - R | August 21, 2009 | N/A |
1678 ratings
588 reviews
