January is when movie studios like to dump films they shouldn't have made (read: Inkheart, The Unborn, Bride Wars, Paul Bart: Mall Cop, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans). There's usually some poor attempts at remaking already poor J/K-Horror films. Last January it was One Missed Call, which has a whopping 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This year it's a remake of the Korean film, A Tale of Two Sisters. Apparently that title doesn't work for Americans, so it's now called The Uninvited. Expectations were low, but I figured that Elizabeth Banks would be good enough to make it worthwhile. She was. And the film is actually pretty excellent on a bunch of different levels. For a PG-13 horror film, it's exceedingly well-written. The film opens with the main character making out with a guy on the beach. He says, "I love you. I have a condom." In case you didn't know, that's amazing. Elizabeth Banks is turned up to eleven. Ms. Banks seems to be channeling Jamie Lee Curtis in Mother's Boys, which is a good thing. The whole movie is pretty much played out like a late 80s/early 90s piece of schlock. It reminded me of The Good Son and The Tie That Binds. They don't make movies like this anymore. Anyway, then there's the horror stuff. Not since Pet Sematary have I seen such incredible images of abject horror in a mainstream film. And a PG-13 one! There's a lot of bodies doing things that bodies should not be doing. Backs breaking, necks twisting, spines bending. And then there's the mother's "illness." I don't recall if they actually say that the mother has cancer, but it's clearly hinted at. The way her diseased body is presented is incredible. I'm not sure if any of this was intentional. I don't know what the movie was trying to be. What it ends up as is a satisfying B movie with some incredible scenes of abjection and an over-the-top performance by Elizabeth Banks. It's probably going to be one of my favorite films of the year. See it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Long Island DUI Wall of Shame...
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Spirit...
You know that list of my favorite films? Ignore it. The best film of the year is The Spirit. I love it so much, I may actually write a full review. I can't even handle it.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Best Films of 2008...
I can't even try to number these. Some of them came out last year. Some of them haven't come out at all. Whatever the case, these are the best films I saw in 2008.
What We Do Is Secret
American Teen
Australia
Blindness
Blue State
Burn After Reading
Dark City: Director's Cut
Enduring Love
Expired
Good Dick
Hallam Foe
Hamlet 2
The Toe Tactic
Lakeview Terrace
Afterschool
Married Life
The Onion Movie
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Pineapple Express
Quid Pro Quo
Remember The Daze
Role Models
Spiral
Stuck
Synecdoche, New York
Teeth
The Go-Getter
The Ruins
The Wrestler
The Lost Coast
Towelhead
You, The Living
Zack And Miri Make A Porno
Cloverfield
Happy-Go-Lucky
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Top 20 Albums of 2008...
1. Metronomy - Nights Out
2. The B-52's - Funplex
3. Johnny Berlin - Find What You Love And Let It Kill You
4. Why? - Alopecia
5. Subtle - ExitingARM
6. Britney Spears - Circus
7. Ladyhawke - S/T
8. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
9. Malcolm Middleton - Sleight of Heart
10. Zucchini Drive - Goodbye Television Payback
11. Tilly and the Wall - O
12. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
13. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
14. Alanis Morissette - Flavors of Entanglement
15. Bloc Party - Intimacy
16. The Cure - 4:13 Dream
17. The-Dream - Love Hate
18. Alaska in Winter - Holiday
19. Quitzow - Art College
20. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
NOTE: I screwed up. Bad. I didn't realize the We Are Scientists album came out this year. It's high on my list. So this is now my Top 21 Albums of 2008
+ We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery
