tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72638037955752412292024-02-21T04:44:59.703-05:00The Cinema ExperienceMovie Reviews, Movie Talk, And Movies You Haven't Seen But Should.Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-70554019416445940532017-02-18T19:45:00.000-05:002017-02-18T20:35:11.005-05:00Split<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88woiqnZugc8-YGWRjbTbQ3zy1CO4vyiCQNAkm66EsmedE0heKmAzfxD-LVud1mXF3ZaXtjWKyBMKaMt20XtzcjgEwaxJMmByVK3sTRbDHJQ7msSLRXGzVa_t7VYTEGlnwer1yCTHJUE/s1600/mcavoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88woiqnZugc8-YGWRjbTbQ3zy1CO4vyiCQNAkm66EsmedE0heKmAzfxD-LVud1mXF3ZaXtjWKyBMKaMt20XtzcjgEwaxJMmByVK3sTRbDHJQ7msSLRXGzVa_t7VYTEGlnwer1yCTHJUE/s320/mcavoy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some would call M. Night Shyamalan a bad director. His biggest weakness comes from the tone of his films. There is always something a little “off” in most of his work. Whether it be </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Happening</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s attempt at the seriousness of plants killing humans coming across like a complete unintentional joke or </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lady in the Water</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s wacky mythology including a big jab at film critics for disliking the director. Shyamalan’s latest film, </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Split</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, continues his tone deaf style, complete with an icky ending when we are led to believe that child abuse can teach you a thing or two about survival or that people with dissociative identity disorder are dangerous. </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Split</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, however is a refreshing return to horror, and his best since </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Signs</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. What Shyamalan does really well with </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Split</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is creating a new, true horror movie monster. This is something that is lacking in horror films of late. There are home invasion, psychological, man against nature, and so many zombie (a classic monster, but not a new one) horror movies hogging the screens. Shyamalan’s monster is fresh and alive due to a great and wild performance by James McAvoy. McAvoy plays Kevin, a man who suffered abuse as a child and has 23 separate personalities. Three of the personalities are Dennis, a violent man with obsessive compulsive disorder, Hedwig, a nine year old boy, and Patricia, a woman with a British accent who keeps the other three under control; they are preparing for the arrival of a 24th personality known as “The Beast”. At the beginning of the film Kevin kidnaps three teenage girls, Claire, Marcia, and Casey, from a birthday party and takes them to his lair (which we find out later is underneath the Philadelphia Zoo!). The audience and the girls learn through Hedwig that they are meant for a sacrifice to “The Beast”. They attempt escape all while Kevin shows them his different personalities between visits with his psychiatrist, played by Betty Buckley who worked with Shyamalan on </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Happening</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and was Carrie’s understanding teacher in the horror film </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carrie</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1976). </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-2097ad42-53c9-edf6-8fc8-ff2811979fa2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> You can’t have a great monster without a great heroine. Casey, played by Anya Talor-Joy (whom you may remember is the lead in one of the best horror films of 2015, </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Witch</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), has also suffered child abuse and sees a way to connect with Kevin in order to escape. Talor-Joy has a way of embodying both innocence and cunning in her character, who is a formidable opponent for “The Beast”. When Kevin transforms into “The Beast”, he physically transforms to become bigger, stronger, faster, and hungry for human flesh. The obvious comparison would be the transformation from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, however in Kevin’s case, he transforms his body with his mind. Some would argue that having Kevin transform into a beast-like monster lessens the psychological horror of the film turning it into camp, but I wonder why this is a bad thing. The film’s pop psychology is not a strong enough framework for a serious psychological romp and from the beginning, it flirts with a campy vibe. As a horror fan, I appreciate when whatever “it” is turns out to be an actual monster no matter how silly. I get a feeling of exhilarating fun when discovering a new creature in horror; it reminds me of being a kid. It is a safe unknown. M. Night Shyamalan shows us over and over again that he too appreciates a bit of fun and folklore. That is something that I love about him, even through his faults as a filmmaker there is a sincerity to his films, a lack of cynicism. I can remember connecting with that sincerity as a kid, staying up late to watch my favorite horror movies on VHS. Also, he always films in Philly, so give him props for representing, guys. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-59941934139511229662011-02-28T09:38:00.010-05:002011-02-28T10:16:58.847-05:00Christianity and Science Fiction: Splice and Deep Blue Sea<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAChgTVVr770jx97u5I5mrQClDiLMUipPgGlLOfDeKG1UBVR18B1xMmVx4DFs8imLMzxF2hQkvt3jz8gUqGJO-UzZFA8yCsqC2-4pAYYYgKXUkm-N8Bq3wTs_snXbMZ9ZeKeaZ3T2Jik/s1600/deepbluesea2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578757568307145810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAChgTVVr770jx97u5I5mrQClDiLMUipPgGlLOfDeKG1UBVR18B1xMmVx4DFs8imLMzxF2hQkvt3jz8gUqGJO-UzZFA8yCsqC2-4pAYYYgKXUkm-N8Bq3wTs_snXbMZ9ZeKeaZ3T2Jik/s320/deepbluesea2.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I will start off saying that I love <em>Deep Blue Sea</em>, the silly scifi/horror about smart sharks (I also love the phrase “smart sharks”). I did not love <em>Splice</em>. But, these films, along with countless others have something in common, they are anti-science Christian propaganda! Also, I mention Mary Shelley's <em>Frankenstein</em>, which I had no idea the original title was <em>Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus</em>! This story has been retold countless times in scifi films and horror and the theme of man playing god and then being destroyed in the end is a common one in film. I think scifi can go beyond this idea, but let me explain:<br /><br /><em>Splice</em> is a modern day Adam and Eve story or perhaps an adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous book <em>Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus</em>. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are working scientists that share their lives together. I could write about Adrien Brody's character and the much talked about scene in which he has sex with the creature (his daughter) because he just can't control himself. But, I would rather focus on the woman in this review. The woman (Sarah Polley) (I will be referring to these characters as man and woman for the rest of this review because of their extreme gender roles) becomes obsessed with creating a creature by splicing animal, plant, and human DNA together. Her husband (Adrien Brody) does not think playing god is a good idea, but goes along with it because he can't say no to the “wiles” of the woman (this stereotype of the sexually controlling woman and weak minded, helpless man is a constant theme in this movie). She won't take no for an answer and succeeds in creating a small creature that later develops into a childlike female which later matures into a “sexy” female monster and finally into a violent horny full grown male. Why does this woman want so strongly to do this? The man wants a child and the woman doesn't want to go through pregnancy. She makes a comment, saying “as soon as they discover a way for men to give birth then she will have a baby”. Well she gets what she deserves in the end by being raped and impregnated by her creation. What the fuck people!? They make her character out to be some sort of hysteric (a word that comes from the Greek word for womb, and that people once believed was “caused by a woman's uterus getting loose within her body”) when her character is actually a very informed modern woman, who sees the unfairness of birth and boundaries put upon women from social norms and scientific study. She doesn't want to give birth, she wants control of her body, and she wants to use her skills to create her own masterpiece, her own creature! And for this she is punished, she is violated, she is raped, and she becomes what she did not want, pregnant. She also, for ridiculous reasons, decides to keep it, because abortion seems to be out of the question in movies in general. The more I type this the more I come to really hate this movie. It takes what could be a great idea and forces it back into the dark ages where extreme Christian values rule and science is evil.<br /><br /><em>Deep Blue Sea</em> has a much lighter message, but is still rooted in Christian thought. Scientists are at it again messing with God's creatures, in this case sharks, experimenting on their brains in order to make a drug for Alzheimer's patients. The lead scientist played by Saffron Burrows like Sarah Polley in <em>Splice</em> will stop at nothing to achieve her scientific goal. They succeed in making the drug, but right before all hell breaks loose and the sharks get smart. The sharks learn to open doors, turn on ovens, bite off arms and orchestrate a masterful plan to escape the facility by flooding the lab. The unsubtly named Sherman “Preacher” Dudley (wink wink) is the cook, played by LL Cool J (obviously having fun in the role). The “preacher” has a comical dialogue with God through the whole movie and he, along with the rough shark handler are the only characters in the movie that aren't scientists, and the only survivors. When the “preacher” is caught in the jaws of one of the sharks and you think he is a goner, he uses the cross he has hanging around his neck to stab the shark in the eye and is released. This memorable scene really lays it on thick! All the scientist get it in the end, especially Saffron Burrows who has an eye to eye stare match with the last remaining shark at the very end of the movie. It is almost like she is mentally telling the shark “Yes I was wrong, we humans should never fuck with nature, I am sorry, eat me.” And then the shark eats her in one gulp. Hurray for science! Bottom line, no matter if Alzheimer's is a serious disease that needs a cure and human intervention is a necessity to our survival, science is evil and we should be more like the God fearing cook to survive. Well, shit.Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-7252550104940586242010-03-10T14:57:00.006-05:002010-03-10T15:12:07.874-05:00The Oscars: An Incredibly Awkward Experience<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBf0irZ_hfEgyiYndcS25g25-4915GYaQiPB2u0KyacR0pKYndwF8IlbOjo1QV-ql2QpIwNBUzLgcYGw91QLSga8X6_YArkw-bsZ1WKMBDP5C8kS90OE2-02O-i-0Fv81vyBmC8XXtcw/s1600-h/hurtlocker.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447097916086512050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBf0irZ_hfEgyiYndcS25g25-4915GYaQiPB2u0KyacR0pKYndwF8IlbOjo1QV-ql2QpIwNBUzLgcYGw91QLSga8X6_YArkw-bsZ1WKMBDP5C8kS90OE2-02O-i-0Fv81vyBmC8XXtcw/s320/hurtlocker.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>I know the Academy Awards do not always represent the most essential films in existence; a lot of films go unnoticed or forgotten. Most of the time these involve films of a certain genre (horror, fantasy, anything that doesn’t fall under the “drama” category) or films that have lack of funds. However, sometimes the Academy gets it right. I’ll get back to this in a moment.<br /><br />Why is it that in a group of actors, actresses, directors, producers, all around movie makin’ professionals, that these people can’t seem to get it together and make a kickass awards show? Have the Academy Awards always been this awkward or has it just been in the last couple of years? How are they awkward you ask? Did you see the Oscars!? Let me run it down for ya: long awkward silences between jokes, a creepy Ben Stiller in avatar makeup, weird background noises while people were presenting (maybe from all the crazy mechanisms that were moving the stage around?), <strong>that</strong> lady that Kanyed*<strong> that</strong> director of <strong>that</strong> short documentary, George Clooney’s grumpy faces, the really bad dance number that involved break-dancing, oh boy, the dance number was really, really bad. I just don’t understand that in a business of entertaining people they can’t make an entertaining award show; although, the awkwardness does become entertaining at times.<br /><br />Ok, anyway, I am really glad <em>The Hurt Locker </em>won best picture and that Kathryn Bigelow won best director. She is an amazing director. She transcends the gender stereotype. It isn’t about a woman making kickass action films and the fact that she is a woman should mean nothing in a truly equal world. Her being recognized seems to be a step in the right direction. She has directed some of the best, most unique films in American cinema, including <em>The Loveless</em>, <em>Blue Steel</em> (with Jamie Lee Curtis!),<em> Near Dark</em>, <em>Strange Days</em>, and <em>Point Break</em> (yeah, I know, <em>Point Break</em>!) Please, check these all out if you haven’t already. And definitely see <em>The Hurt Locker</em> because it is the most relevant picture of our time!<br /><br />* Kanyed; to be Kanyed; you just got Kanyed: when someone runs up on stage and interrupts you in the middle of your acceptance speech. Usually involving loud confusing remarks about how someone deserved the award more than you. Look it up on the Google ya’ll! </div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-52603400648981051362010-03-01T13:00:00.009-05:002010-03-02T08:27:45.102-05:00Uzumaki<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIC0UiaGYpJGyu7llBh97dCPFen_HqA1SlVlx1zszcDXSR01NNCHgVan-TGMTE1WPsYpDVP_IjmZ4yF_jbI8ssLtFItbM0yV_2Sk3XJOVIBCazKhzRpWld4MrZtix0fPuowHN0Qjn7Efs/s1600-h/uzumaki2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443728496042433282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIC0UiaGYpJGyu7llBh97dCPFen_HqA1SlVlx1zszcDXSR01NNCHgVan-TGMTE1WPsYpDVP_IjmZ4yF_jbI8ssLtFItbM0yV_2Sk3XJOVIBCazKhzRpWld4MrZtix0fPuowHN0Qjn7Efs/s320/uzumaki2.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Uzumaki</em> <strong>the comic</strong> written by Junji Ito (best artist ever!), is incredible. Especially for horror fans, the comic has it all: a wonderfully imaginative idea, gorgeous art, and a truly scary and engaging story! <em>Uzumaki</em> <strong>the film</strong> is a sad comparison to the comic, but that happens when you translate a book or comic into a film. It is a bit easier with comics because they are a little like a storyboard, but when translating a long complicated story like this, it is near impossible to equal the comic into one film. But, let’s say you forget the comic and just watch the movie. Then <em>Uzumaki</em> the film becomes pretty darn good. It’s super funny, quirky and so fun!<br /><br />Kirie Goshima (played by super cute Eriko Hatsune) lives in a town that has become engulfed in the Uzumaki, which is Japanese for “spiral”. The supernatural spirals begin appearing in the sky and water; anything with a spiral pattern becomes entrancing and the townspeople begin to embody the Uzumaki. Her boyfriend Shuichi Saito (played by Fhi Fan) is quiet and brooding and I personally find him dreamy. He is the only one who really notices the danger of the Uzumaki. His father has become obsessed with anything and everything with a spiral pattern. He becomes entranced by the Uzumaki. In a scene at the beginning of the movie he is seen by Kirie crouching in an ally obsessively filming a snail and its spiral shell. The two sweethearts try to find some answers while dealing with their crazy parents. The film is divided into chapters. In each chapter the town and people become more and more consumed by the Uzumaki and people start dying gruesome deaths always involving the Uzumaki! I don’t want to tell much more for fear of spoiling it. I will say this: the soundtrack is wonderful! The music fits the quirkiness of the film. And if ever a real person looked so much like a comic character, it would be Fhi Fan as Shuichi Saito! The resemblance is uncanny, from the glasses to his eyebrows, and also his entire disposition. I mean this guy just needed glasses slapped on him and, “voila” the personification of Shuichi Saito! I looked the actor up and it seems his only role was in this film. I want to see more of him!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75sDfQW8vRwVRfNYWbh0h3FDPmfmEQm90jpIzXVZt3aWy3dJitRpIPlSZqs_80IWt8uXZ5bMDZ-t2L7WjBIMSFbDeNKueY6jU8NC16azFr5-S7_BFZGIAAi0tJEgZXnETfpohyphenhyphenvPoBLA/s1600-h/uzumaki.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 197px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443727953908509458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75sDfQW8vRwVRfNYWbh0h3FDPmfmEQm90jpIzXVZt3aWy3dJitRpIPlSZqs_80IWt8uXZ5bMDZ-t2L7WjBIMSFbDeNKueY6jU8NC16azFr5-S7_BFZGIAAi0tJEgZXnETfpohyphenhyphenvPoBLA/s320/uzumaki.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The comic engulfed me in spirals. I found myself becoming obsessed with them, much like Shuichi Saito’s father had been. I started seeing them everywhere for weeks! However, I don’t know if the film accomplishes this as effectively. Overall, the movie is a little disjointed and tries to cram a lot of ideas and scenes from the comic, without much connection to the main characters or overall story. Yes, ultimately the comic is more engaging, scarier, and of course much better than the film. However, whether or not you have read the comic, I would still recommend seeing the film. If you have not read the comic, you get a fun, goofy and really creepy film that, unfortunately, is also a bit confusing and unfinished. If you’ve had the privilege of reading the comic, then the film is not quite as confusing and you get an extra treat because you can see some of Junji Ito’s beloved characters and images come to life!<br /><br />This review is part of the Final Girl Film Club! Check out all of the reviews of this film and go to <a href="http://finalgirl.blogspot.com/">Final Girl</a> for some of the best horror writings ever! Mmmmm Final Girl….Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-92063526157612106292010-02-12T17:12:00.011-05:002010-02-13T09:38:17.199-05:00Some Of My Favorite People!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCAWDPCV0l8wO0b0GGVj4qr4OBrKwOyX0Fhx4mgOl4OnW2Pi3OR0p8bNmqd5iZ7z99HDQssSjwhl60Jwp_T4ra3CZxUcq1iDrdDvBp91kZhYNmPv6SU6LX-kvrasRiG5YLHlLICjnlLc/s1600-h/Thom+copy.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 202px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437484262859648562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCAWDPCV0l8wO0b0GGVj4qr4OBrKwOyX0Fhx4mgOl4OnW2Pi3OR0p8bNmqd5iZ7z99HDQssSjwhl60Jwp_T4ra3CZxUcq1iDrdDvBp91kZhYNmPv6SU6LX-kvrasRiG5YLHlLICjnlLc/s320/Thom+copy.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>Thom Mathews<br /><br />I have had the biggest crush on Thom Mathews since I first laid eyes on his majestic visage in <em>Alien from L.A.</em> (a movie I mentioned in “For the Love of Boring Movies Part One”). One of these days there will be a Part 2 when I get the urge. Till then, back to Thom! My crush grew even larger when I realized that the cute and loveable character Freddy in both <em>Return of the Living Dead</em> and <em>Return of the Living Dead 2</em> is Mathews! I thought my crush could not exceed its level until I saw…… <em>Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives</em>. He plays Tommy Jarvis, who accidentally raises Jason from the grave. Although <em>Part VI</em> doesn’t come nearly close to being the best movie in this series, Jason is the most “zombie” in this one. And so my crush is boiling over at this point and Thom Mathews is my hero.</div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-61260465822183682172010-02-12T17:07:00.008-05:002010-02-13T09:40:05.066-05:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTCnkFvESUZAtJE4lDGlNPLNFRGkpNppWjwQesfPw2CE72hkRAdwJryn1HPggXAkrFFxXxfwMwCkvXlT18bMbDi4f1GcKf7CobP-sELIqwXcOxX_A2yq6vAcjarMpJt6dJIMqrqvDBOs/s1600-h/Cherry+2000+copy.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437483048135474658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTCnkFvESUZAtJE4lDGlNPLNFRGkpNppWjwQesfPw2CE72hkRAdwJryn1HPggXAkrFFxXxfwMwCkvXlT18bMbDi4f1GcKf7CobP-sELIqwXcOxX_A2yq6vAcjarMpJt6dJIMqrqvDBOs/s320/Cherry+2000+copy.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>Melanie Griffith<br /><br /></div>Yeah, I have a crush on Melanie. We are on a first name basis. We are tight like that. As in, if she saw this write-up she would probably get a restraining order against me. Anyway, she plays the porn star Holly Body in my beloved <em>Body Double</em>, a bad ass tracker in <em>Cherry 2000</em> (awesome and silly sci-fi flick), a misfit on the run in <em>Something Wild</em>, and a working girl in <em>Working Girl</em> (which I haven’t seen, but I just know it is good!). She is so spunky and fun. Her voice has an innocent but bad girl whisper - crisp and pouty. She is also the daughter of Tippi Hedren, one of Hitchcock’s famous blonde actresses whose films include <em>Marnie </em>and <em>The Birds</em> (one of Hitchcock’s most famous horrors, which made history for the genre)!Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-34720808739317421312010-02-12T17:00:00.009-05:002010-02-13T09:42:25.446-05:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3euuqzHtBY3RTJlv7texB3XGWdtyPo0lKVa6qh-NEYAxOuSG5db74rDStXv4XlwE3nspFFsGoj_Il7Kd44WO3A9QIjhH7SU3XjZSD2rOD8hAEVO8l-H65xbuBh3EJPmGgnaurAOh0KY/s1600-h/Margo2+copy.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 274px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437480863572193874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3euuqzHtBY3RTJlv7texB3XGWdtyPo0lKVa6qh-NEYAxOuSG5db74rDStXv4XlwE3nspFFsGoj_Il7Kd44WO3A9QIjhH7SU3XjZSD2rOD8hAEVO8l-H65xbuBh3EJPmGgnaurAOh0KY/s320/Margo2+copy.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Margot Kidder<br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Ok, I guess I have a crush on all of these people. Can you blame me though? Margot Kidder has the kind of face that I want to draw over and over again! She is also a great actress and one of the great “scream queens,” if you could call her that. One of her first roles was in a Brian De Palma film called <em>Sisters</em>. Yeah, the same director as <em>Body Double</em>! Also one of De Palma’s first films, <em>Sisters</em> is a murder mystery/slasher about French twins, one sickly and evil, the other, good. Margot Kidder plays the twins with a sultry and sleepy French accent. Definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it. Another early film was a very popular classic horror film called <em>Black Christmas</em>. One of the most solid and effective slashers ever, this film has been the influence of almost every slasher flick ever to grace the screen! Oh yeah, I guess you might also remember her as Lois Lane in the <em>Superman</em> series.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlklqKdI9J4n-LkyiH6jmLqPvzBHImXTV5yI2MGKKLfZX5t2Sdh1sbmarz4HG2VjTMDx1aGmY81r6EZl0AyoowsYD01Zsn18UmbLqhGE8doEJF8J6VczB9-R7UTny3eiUqistkCSI79qA/s1600-h/Margo1.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 242px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437481172618339202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlklqKdI9J4n-LkyiH6jmLqPvzBHImXTV5yI2MGKKLfZX5t2Sdh1sbmarz4HG2VjTMDx1aGmY81r6EZl0AyoowsYD01Zsn18UmbLqhGE8doEJF8J6VczB9-R7UTny3eiUqistkCSI79qA/s320/Margo1.jpg" /></a></div><br />I mean, could she be any cooler?Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-44474001484560094682010-02-12T16:55:00.006-05:002010-02-13T09:46:32.856-05:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5DNrfdWclJtHT17ZlfMgHyfOh1gU8iQ8HxZqG5ljounyJvLQ7YsLRlgZYhjwi6HyRRj7qjHTYMxGiYIOLeq0w6SbFZagUxI_VAKI7FSoLht4kL4mdKgzfUiOocpdKtviwoGZ1fmLdpg/s1600-h/jaimileecurtis+copy.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437479865397648450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5DNrfdWclJtHT17ZlfMgHyfOh1gU8iQ8HxZqG5ljounyJvLQ7YsLRlgZYhjwi6HyRRj7qjHTYMxGiYIOLeq0w6SbFZagUxI_VAKI7FSoLht4kL4mdKgzfUiOocpdKtviwoGZ1fmLdpg/s320/jaimileecurtis+copy.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>Jamie Lee Curtis<br /><br />What can I say about this ultimate lady? Let me start with some titles. <em>The Fog, Halloween, Halloween 2, Terror Train, Prom Night</em>. That’s right, she is one of the greatest “final girls” or “scream queens” ever and all before her later films of a lighter but comically genius fare, which include <em>A Fish Called Wanda</em> (wonderful comedy from writer John Cleese of <em>Monty Python</em>) and <em>True Lies</em> (with Arnold Schwarzenegger). I love <em>True Lies</em> and I don’t feel guilty about it; Everyone should come ‘on out and confess their love for this movie. Like Melanie Griffith, Curtis’s mom was also a Hitchcock blonde: the famous Janet Leigh, best known for her role as Marion Crane in <em>Psycho</em>. As a side note, I just re-watched<em> Halloween H20: 20 Years Later</em> (a redundant title if there ever was one). Curtis’s character, Laurie Strode, finally faces her fear, The Shape, and man she kicks ass! This is one of the most empowering horror movies I have ever seen! As another side note, I didn’t mean to give her really tiny hands in the drawing of her. I assure you, the real Curtis has normal size hands….. I think.<br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br />This is just a sample of some of the people that I really love. I could go on and on and on and could list thousands or maybe tens of thousands more, so let’s stop here!</div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-21305429808746924272009-08-08T00:17:00.016-04:002009-08-08T10:42:57.652-04:00Wait a minute! I like "Batman and Robin"?!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHL3cg6noY8TjFAQi3GNpYXX5pkQJs_weBK4aFy_N0o2zLu7CzePc54L8gfwctKh3YVwBRjuB4x5etSSypffQut_Ongls3nGAhTAlyRg8t59oZXRP9fRdMcWk-UB9LoIrNbUWFAaor7no/s1600-h/batmanrobin1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367443410811259602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHL3cg6noY8TjFAQi3GNpYXX5pkQJs_weBK4aFy_N0o2zLu7CzePc54L8gfwctKh3YVwBRjuB4x5etSSypffQut_Ongls3nGAhTAlyRg8t59oZXRP9fRdMcWk-UB9LoIrNbUWFAaor7no/s320/batmanrobin1.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>There has got to be a secret cult of people who love Joel Schumacher’s <em>Batman and Robin</em>. Where is this group because I want to join! This is the one with Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), and Batman and Robin (George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell). Joel Schumacher apologized for this movie! I watched it on TV recently because I wanted to see the scene where Uma Thurman transforms from her nerdy scientist persona into Poison Ivy and for some reason I kept watching. Whoo boy is this a bad movie. But, something about it changed for me this time around. Instead of hating Arnold Schwarzenegger’s constant “Everybody chill” or “Cool party” one-liners, neon set pieces, batsuit nipples, and Chris O’Donnell, now I think I like them. Ok, maybe not Chris O’Donnell. But, Batman pulls out the Batman credit card for cheesy-goodness sake! And Mr. Freeze gives a really great stink eye! <em>Batman and Robin</em> is one mess of a movie, but it is a fun mess. What makes this movie so different from other campy flicks? Why did I first hate this movie and find it blasphemous to the Batman genre? Is it its self awareness? its Hollywood budget? its big name actors? There are plenty of campy movies that are self aware or are campy for the sake of camp like <em>Grindhouse</em>, <em>Cabin Fever</em>, even my beloved <em>Army of Darkness</em>. So that can’t be its supposed downfall. Maybe it’s the big name actors? But wait, Arnold is in this and he used to be a king of camp and cheese, with such beauties as <em>Conan the Barbarian</em>, <em>Running Man</em>, <em>Total Recall</em>, and his introduction to the world <em>Pumping Iron</em>. So what is so different here? He is practically the same loveable powerhouse of muscles goofball he is in all of these movies. And Uma Thurman plays Poison Ivy like a femme fatal, a vamp with an over acting swagger. This movie has also been accused by critics of being homoerotic because of the close up shots of Batman and Robin’s butt, cod piece, oh and the nipples. Now since when is this a bad thing? I think if <em>Batman and Robin</em> were made in the 80’s it would be a cult classic. It blows a loving kiss to the campy original 60’s TV shows and movie. I know I am giving this movie a lot of credit, but something turned my cold stone heart into a warm loving embrace for <em>Batman and Robin</em>. And I don’t feel I need to apologize like Joel Schumacher did. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Oh and I added some links over to the side of my page! Everyone should check them out, especially <a href="http://www.kindertrauma.com/">http://www.kindertrauma.com/</a> because if you were ever scared as a kid or like movies at all, then you will love this site!</div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-89221171210265771372009-03-13T00:15:00.005-04:002009-03-13T00:20:36.530-04:00For the Love of Boring/Slow Movies: Part 1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteMWzkgmdnBZ6Zv8gleyWulk0eBsyO9UUtVqfpdv7e0pz8LYuS5STRFp3yx2JaJRcVa9WEl0Az-2tk7-jOo0fkffskdt0RxzxwckCJF0t5h8NYTE3a1CVjv2HEL2ewS44z3o3laYvHgw/s1600-h/bladerunner.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312521598711733218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteMWzkgmdnBZ6Zv8gleyWulk0eBsyO9UUtVqfpdv7e0pz8LYuS5STRFp3yx2JaJRcVa9WEl0Az-2tk7-jOo0fkffskdt0RxzxwckCJF0t5h8NYTE3a1CVjv2HEL2ewS44z3o3laYvHgw/s320/bladerunner.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>There are endless amounts of films out there that are boring. And usually “slow” equals boring or vice-versa, but for the sake of keeping it simple let’s just stick with boring. Here are some examples of some of my favorite, most boring movies!<br /></div><br /><br /><div>I will go ahead and start with a movie that for about 15 years was my “number one”. “Blade Runner” directed by Ridley Scott is a fantastic unfaithful sci-fi adaption of Philip K. Dick’s <em>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep</em>. Whenever I talk to people about “Blade Runner” I always make the mistake of mentioning that it is a perfect film, which a friend of mine once replied “Isn’t it kind of boring.” In my mind I am thinking “I know, isn’t that great!” When you realize that this is technically a sci-fi action movie it makes it seem even more boring. There are long drawn out scenes of replicants harassing their human counterparts, beautiful long shots of the cityscape, and Deckard (Harrison Ford) and Rachel (Sean Young) staring at one another. The movie seems to go on endlessly, but because you are so sucked in by its gorgeous story and set you don’t notice until maybe the second or third viewing. For me it took about the 12th viewing. I went to see the recent release of the director’s cut of the director’s cut …cut on big screen. I was so excited and the movie was awesome even though it was the first time I really realized how boring the film really is. Remember, boring does not mean bad.</div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-89523816981905487262009-03-13T00:14:00.004-04:002009-03-13T00:14:58.499-04:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpGzzsmrwq6STSpboE8n4AiUiTH6CtH57bXZAyK3GDsuv4dmNRyYWDQYZNbhAaeA8jfyN5E4j18YcM_-Wv-wGsKqdGuuyTOwAZeMfj795HCw_u1qr5vyDh6AYDCIOjuttCNXzfV6hl7o/s1600-h/dune.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312521039213449778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpGzzsmrwq6STSpboE8n4AiUiTH6CtH57bXZAyK3GDsuv4dmNRyYWDQYZNbhAaeA8jfyN5E4j18YcM_-Wv-wGsKqdGuuyTOwAZeMfj795HCw_u1qr5vyDh6AYDCIOjuttCNXzfV6hl7o/s320/dune.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>“Dune” may be the longest movie in history. Of course it really isn’t, but it sure seems like it is, especially if you put it on in the evening and curl up in your bed to fall asleep to it and hours later you wake up and it is still on. By morning the credits are rolling. Yes this is an exaggeration and “Dune” is wonderful. There are so many weird things about this movie. Only David Lynch could turn a quintessential sci-fi book into a weird unique film. The scene when the Atreides family, including Paul (played by the all around badass Kyle MacLachlan), are getting ready to board the “ship” to head to Arrakis they all turn around to pose and the Duke Leto Atreides is holding a pug dog in his arms. This is such a hilarious and random thing to have him holding this silly little puppy for a dramatic scene. The first introduction to the evil Barron Harkonnen is unforgettable. If you haven’t seen this movie you should. Just make sure you are fully awake and ready. </div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-22849163086405312922009-03-13T00:12:00.002-04:002009-03-13T00:13:44.527-04:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7V3oEZeJltCbQ9qKG4beZ-lTM_-4jm8IfZmTpMtHExueOeHONkewx4boWQnyt5e7_toPVJJb9s-TbOMBJEAQaepuV5HYyLIEeL9EG-1BRdSa0T-rCLnKmQPofd-gAYeZN9viUIIj5YjE/s1600-h/dayofthedead.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312520708749014130" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7V3oEZeJltCbQ9qKG4beZ-lTM_-4jm8IfZmTpMtHExueOeHONkewx4boWQnyt5e7_toPVJJb9s-TbOMBJEAQaepuV5HYyLIEeL9EG-1BRdSa0T-rCLnKmQPofd-gAYeZN9viUIIj5YjE/s320/dayofthedead.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>There is the original masterpiece “Night of the Living Dead”, the incredible and socially aware “Dawn of the Dead”, and then there is the least liked and most boring “Day of the Dead”. A group of army men and scientists try and get along underground after the whole country has been taken over by the undead. There is constant fighting between the tough guys and the scientists to the point of boredom. However, there is one extra special treat in this underrated third installment. A scientist manages to teach a zombie how to behave by giving him human flesh as treats if he does well. The zombie, who the scientist lovingly calls “Bub”, remembers from before he turned into a flesh eating monster how to listen to head phones and shoot a gun! Although the movie seems really long and there is a lot of yelling it is essential to the dead series and is one of my favorite zombie movies.</div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-74485434328038523912009-03-13T00:08:00.003-04:002009-07-25T13:30:50.147-04:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqT6FbZj2F9pNDd-E4nkN2sLu6vCG6ualzdAecS-Ovj7so1hF-OAqSSUqZnR9cC7UrHjLZGyoenAlRyzCXY7ojUlY2_qbjWxcT7BaB-f6ZWmLlDbrxcwNYfiQbU80dr1V5llDpYr_v4U/s1600-h/alienfromla.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312520239978522978" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqT6FbZj2F9pNDd-E4nkN2sLu6vCG6ualzdAecS-Ovj7so1hF-OAqSSUqZnR9cC7UrHjLZGyoenAlRyzCXY7ojUlY2_qbjWxcT7BaB-f6ZWmLlDbrxcwNYfiQbU80dr1V5llDpYr_v4U/s320/alienfromla.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Almost all movies become watchable if they are on “Mystery Science Theatre 3000”. Most people know what MST3K is, but for those of you who don’t, it is about a guy and two robots, who, are forced to sit in a theatre and watch bad movies and to make it more bearable they make fun of them. We are watching them…watch and make fun of horrible movies, it’s fantastic. Anyway, there is one movie that I absolutely loved that was shown on MST3K and was replayed on Comedy Central over and over again called “Alien from L.A”. I watched it constantly growing up. It stars Kathy Ireland (yep, the model) as a “nerd” whose father goes missing in an underground world. She goes off to find him and returns to the surface world as a new woman. Sounds great right? So I went out and bought this movie and watched it without the MST3K guys there to make it hilarious. And guess what? It is really boring. It’s not because nothing is going on; because there is a lot that goes on; it is because everything that happens is nonsensical and dull. But, I still loved it! I have tried showing this to other people and they have a hard time sitting through it. Oh well, you should give it a try! The drawing that is accompanying this is about as good as the movie. </div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-13423454151120248702009-02-20T09:56:00.004-05:002009-02-20T10:00:29.419-05:00Follow up to "Body Double"Even though this movie may have been made out of spite, to me it came across as a labor of love. Perhaps that makes it more personal. Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-68652050703254419352009-02-12T20:39:00.006-05:002009-02-13T10:10:54.571-05:00Brian De Palma's "Body Double" (1984)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRDxMfTHmhT4Z4goFacUP8mGgfbHzR4FAqrxn8IO_o3NygoCcrF12rXPDM3_omSiiGg6taFrh-TyS_AgcOSvl5t1wnUq7zj4fSl0wg4HMSjcPs1Qc0brnIbz-XQ0PkRX7G-TKMtT_nh0/s1600-h/bodydouble.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302091992011136482" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRDxMfTHmhT4Z4goFacUP8mGgfbHzR4FAqrxn8IO_o3NygoCcrF12rXPDM3_omSiiGg6taFrh-TyS_AgcOSvl5t1wnUq7zj4fSl0wg4HMSjcPs1Qc0brnIbz-XQ0PkRX7G-TKMtT_nh0/s320/bodydouble.jpg" border="0" /></a> “Of course the ending of the Production Code was a good thing and filmmakers should have full control over what they show and not show the audience, and showing a graphic scene doesn’t automatically devalue a film or the filmmaker’s art by any means. It is just interesting to me that the more horrifying movies I have seen only give you hints and glimpses of a monster or murder. I’m going to get more into this later.”<br /><br />Earlier I had written a short paragraph about directors showing graphic violence and the amount of imagination directors require from their audience today, specifically in horror films. With the thrasher movies like Friday the 13th and Halloween (including their even gorier recent remakes) the movies themselves became about the killing scene or the sex scene. How many different ways can Jason or Michael kill? How many beautiful early twenty somethings can we see f*** and then get slashed? There are also the torture films like Saw or Hostel where the purpose is to watch bad people getting brutally tortured or killed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and these movies are self aware, of course. I understand the transition from fearing what we don’t see (the idea of the monster in our imaginations) to fearing what we do see (the monster). However there is an undeniable difference in graphic violence adding to a story and it being the story. Sometimes the movie itself is just about the gore or the torture. Sometimes the story, even the simplest one, gets lost. Or maybe that is the point. However some of the greatest films are specifically gory or graphic. Examples are: Dawn of the Dead (George Romero), Dead Alive (Peter Jackson), the Evil Dead series (Sam Raimi), Scanners (David Cronenberg), Body Double (Brian De Palma). I could go on and on. This will probably be an ongoing conversation with myself, so feel free to leave comments! Now onto a review of one of the movies I mentioned above, “Body Double”.<br /><br />Supposedly this film was made in response to critics disliking the director’s previous films, calling them misogynist. The director, Brian De Palma, has been accused of stealing from Hitchcock as well for several of his movies, which he does. I like to think of him as a Hitchcock without the Production Code (see earlier review for description), or if Hitchcock made films in the 80’s. For “Body Double” and in earlier films like “Dressed to Kill”, De Palma uses Hitchcock’s tools and takes it to an over-the-top level. “Body Double” is a trashy sexed-up, dirty, gory, weird mix of “Rear Window” and “Vertigo”. I love it! Can you blame someone who steals from a master? And I wouldn’t even go so far as to call it stealing. Every artist is a thief in one way or another, using or recycling each other’s ideas.<br /><br />The main character, Jake Scully, played by Craig Wasson (looks like he could be a stunt double for Bill Maher) is a struggling actor in Hollywood who because of his severe claustrophobia has lost his acting job as a vampire along with his apartment and girlfriend. He is asked by a friend to house sit a ridiculous spaceship-like apartment that’s propped up on an edge of a cliff over- looking the Hollywood Hills and a neighbor’s window. With the help of a telescope and his friend’s suggestion, he watches his neighbor Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton, former miss USA contestant). Every night she dances seductively in front of her window. Jake can’t look away and becomes an obsessive voyeur, later following her into a mall in an amazing sequence of cat and mouse. In the ending of the mall scene he sees her throw away panties she just bought. He picks them up, sniffs them and then pockets them. This is a great detail, showing this guy’s furthering sexual fascination with this stranger. This guy is a pervert, but we are all perverts, I think, in our own way. Later he witnesses her murder that is in true slasher-flick gore excessiveness; she is murdered with a giant drill, essentially getting penetrated. Then we are introduced to the porn actress Holly Body, played with true spunk by Melanie Griffith. Jake and Holly together try and solve the murder mystery. In order to meet Holly, Jake becomes a brief extra in a porn movie. During their porn shoot there is a scene in the movie that turns into a music video for the 80’s group <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Frankie Goes to Hollywood</span> and their single “Relax”. I loved this song and it’s over the top, homosexual metaphor for men cumming. “Hit me with your laser beam!” This combined with the campy visuals and sex; the film seduced me and opened up a whole world of cheesy 80’s pop music. I know most of what I have described of this movie so far might sound horrible to many people, but think back to an experience you have had with a movie you saw when you were younger and I’ll tell you my experience with this film…<br /><br />I saw this movie when I was about twelve. Seeing this movie as a twelve year old girl was such a weird exposure; it excited me. The combination of sex and violence jump started my awareness of my own sexuality and at the same time conforming me into a culture in which sex and violence are so ingrained it is a norm, especially for women, where they are both the victim and the intended audience in horror. This movie is sexist and the women in it are the objects of men’s desire and also the victims of the phallic drill. However, all of the players are such caricatures of themselves, almost like they are puppets in a funhouse that is called Hollywood. It is so phony and cheesy and has that air that most 80’s B movies have, that dream like foggy quality. For some reason I love this film. This is the best “B” movie you will ever watch and one of my favorite movies. Maybe those who love this movie as well can tell me why, so I can better understand why I do.Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-57595655199594305762009-01-26T17:21:00.018-05:002009-01-28T19:13:58.979-05:00Leave it to the Imagination and Review of "Let the Right One In"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6vNCqe6QhE867rulu4MaxnSjkrUTNVckGMQtVOHQl0gqTX8u-sOpqqAOzPmGWVPJ240uELQSRsxvbMF8uMmV4ddBOcnLRNcGAAftLaUbnTjyYHgrOXgljYxFqqMJpEzb6FN2j7ZdWGs/s1600-h/oskareli1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295733834794025186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6vNCqe6QhE867rulu4MaxnSjkrUTNVckGMQtVOHQl0gqTX8u-sOpqqAOzPmGWVPJ240uELQSRsxvbMF8uMmV4ddBOcnLRNcGAAftLaUbnTjyYHgrOXgljYxFqqMJpEzb6FN2j7ZdWGs/s320/oskareli1.jpg" border="0" /></a> I have recently been reading a book called <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho: Creating Cinematic Suspense</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic"> and Terror</span> by Philip J. Skerry. The book gives an in depth look at the shower scene in Psycho. There is a chapter in which he is interviewing Janet Leigh, the star of the first half of the movie before she is killed in the famous scene. The author asks her about her thoughts on contemporary cinema “showing” the audience every detail of sex or violence and whether or not the ending of The Production Code in 1968 contributed to what Janet Leigh thought of as films taking away imagination: “An audience doesn’t have to think anymore, isn’t given the privilege of imagining anymore.” The Production Code was a set of moral guidelines that censored what movies could show that the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) adopted as what we now know as the Motion Picture Association of America’s film rating system which uses a rating system (G through NC17). The author and Ms. Leigh thought that movies today show all and the audience isn’t required to fill in the blanks with their imagination. For instance you are shown a brief glimpse of a knife coming down toward the girl in the shower and then another shot of it coming back up and then a shot of a mouth open and screaming. There is no shot of the knife going into flesh. We fill in those blanks with our mind, our imagination. When I was talking about this with one of my friends she said “whatever is in your imagination is always scarier than what is on the screen”. I agree with this. In contemporary horror you see the knife enter flesh you see it tear skin, and you also almost always see the monster, whether creature or human. Of course the ending of the Production Code was a good thing and filmmakers should have full control over what they show and not show the audience, and showing a graphic scene doesn’t automatically devalue a film or the filmmaker’s art by any means. It is just interesting to me that the more horrifying movies I have seen only give you hints and glimpses of a monster or murder. I’m going to get more into this later. But first this brings me to my second review of a movie that only gives us hints and glimpses, subtly and at the same time violently. <div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>White, cold snow and silence in Blackeberg a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden is the set of Tomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In”. This is a quiet, subtle, beautiful yet brutal/violent movie about two twelve year old children and their found bond with one another. The two children are a boy who is lonely, bullied, and has golden hair and a pale face and his friend, a girl, who isn’t actually twelve at all, just stuck in a twelve year old body and mind. She is a vampire. Eli the vampire, played by Lena Leandersson, has an incredible and beautiful face. Her eyes are huge and they have an eerie gleam to them. When you first get a close up of her face you know at once she is a monster; not all human. Oskar, the boy played by Kare Hedebrant, is tormented at school by bullies and finds friendship with the vampire Eli who moves in next door. She has a companion, who is an old man, and they share a strange relationship that later turns sad and lonely as the film unfolds. This vampire isn’t a romanticized one who is seductive or who has the trademark fangs like in “Twilight” or even “True Blood”, the two more recent additions to the vampire genre. She is more creature-like, a monster. There is no full showing of her as the monster however. We only get beautiful hints….<br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Whenever Eli moves she has these subtle actions or gestures that make her look like she is an animal, quick and light. It seems that gravity does not have any effect on her at times. There is one scene where the two friends walk into a completely dark room and before Oskar turns on the lights you see her eyes glowing as they try to get used to the light. Or, when the boy cuts himself so they can be “blood buddies”, drips blood on the floor. She lets out an inhuman growl like sound and ravenously falls to the floor to lap it up with a tongue that is too long to be human. Eli vows to protect Oskar and tells him to stick up for himself. Her love and protection of him springs out of her an intense vengeance that culminates into such a fierce ending, that after the last shot, I felt an unlikely cross between strong feelings of fear and happiness. This isn’t just a vampire movie, it is so much more. Please, please see this movie. Don’t let the label of horror genre keep you from seeing this quiet, lonely movie about true friendship at its most extreme.<br /><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7263803795575241229.post-25298138128170485932009-01-15T13:59:00.006-05:002009-01-23T09:57:02.196-05:00Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOGP5I7xSKNZoOj35Jrj3JbLgJxrqYBvl85krfWBUpKkgAUL_kiAcktIE9LhHrNlou3qSGgredPERIETv42j6qaxJt34XJo7CSpaxrgi3-63_cvskvWTVPZaJWKQsv8K0PGdndSTSUkig/s1600-h/marieantoinette1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291600111834762546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOGP5I7xSKNZoOj35Jrj3JbLgJxrqYBvl85krfWBUpKkgAUL_kiAcktIE9LhHrNlou3qSGgredPERIETv42j6qaxJt34XJo7CSpaxrgi3-63_cvskvWTVPZaJWKQsv8K0PGdndSTSUkig/s320/marieantoinette1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNs6joVGXJmVBxh6Z01zsBSWCqIGJ14xkYU71MnIUgtWNz-ibcqeaaVqUvnFKif5qZgrzeA9CvBdBhKSvY_G_PFVctmXvKhyBoYYgGzJa4spd8imsXzJKuvuST7I2rRRy0mRQnvKpbyU/s1600-h/marieantoinette1.jpg"></a><br />For my first review I thought I would go with something difficult. A love it or hate it film. A 49% on the Rotten Tomatoes list, Sophia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette”. Before seeing this movie I had already decided I would not like it, being that I am not a fan of Coppola’s other films. Then while flipping through cable, I recently came across it and gave it a chance. I was entranced. This film is not really about Marie Antoinette and not really about the rich heiresses that engulf our modern media. It is about both. Marie Antoinette was born and later married into a world of money, power, food, clothes, and popularity. What was a young girl to do?<br /></div><br /><div>You know in period pieces where there is a party scene and it isn’t quite convincing as a party, well normally scenes like this are very structured and performed for the camera, separating the audience from the feeling of being there. There is always the dance and some conversation. Here we see the characters act like they are at a party, drinking, laughing, kissing, the place is packed and full of energy. This was the only time I felt like I was watching a real party in a period movie; this is what people probably acted like. Of course in the characters time it was contemporary to them so why can’t it come across to modern audiences as real? Another example that separates this film from others in the same category is the “carriage scene” where you watch characters get in, then see it leave, and then the shot of the carriage arriving at the destination. Where in the beginning of Marie Antoinette it puts us in the carriage with her and her companions along for the ride, where we see them sleep, play cards, and look out the windows. This among the party scenes and others removes the film from a period piece, giving it a more contemporary feel. It brings the audience closer, more familiar with the characters and action. You are watching them on a more personal level. The whole movie is a period piece that doesn’t play like one. It is refreshing. This movie shows what her private life might have been like; leaving out the political and social workings that would have changed the entire idea and mood of the film. Coppola is not necessarily kind or sympathetic to her character. She shows her as this teenager with all this stuff to play with and who is oblivious to everything going on around her. When she falls for the hunk in the movie there is a scene where she lies on her bed grasping at her chest and looking wistfully at nothing with big blue eyes. I have felt that ridiculous giddiness before as a teenage girl and it comes across so easily in this film. The ending is wonderful. Instead of showing her beheading which would have thrown the movie off course, there is a last frame of the film that shows her bedroom ransacked and destroyed. It signifies her death in a quiet, motionless, serenity. The soundtrack is fitting. It consists mostly of 80’s new wave at its height, which works great, moving along with the feel of the film.<br /></div><br /><div>Kirsten Dunst, who plays Marie Antoinette, does the job of looking as if she’s made of sugar along with the costumes and set. There is a sly, pretty, simpering look on her face most of the movie. The little dialogue she has is weak, and her speech is unsteady. Jason Shwartzman is so unconvincing as Louis XVI that it is just silly. This does not make me dislike the movie; it actually makes it more likeable to me. Let me describe it this way…<br /></div><br /><div>A candy apple has a shiny red candy shell, super sweet, but the apple inside is usually stale and soft. Marie Antoinette is like a candy apple, frivolous, sweet, fun, and satisfies your sweet tooth. It is somehow satisfying, but superficially. Yes this movie is frivolous and yes that might be the point. But, it is also a unique portrayal of a historical figure. Instead of an intense historical period drama you get a quiet, light, atmospheric story of Marie Antoinette or any teenage heiress whose obliviousness gives her nothing to do but eat cake. </div>Va Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092386487575322772noreply@blogger.com3