Archive
Theatrical Review: “ParaNorman”
Directed by: Sam Fell, Chris Butler
Produced by: Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner
Written by: Chris Butler (screenplay), Arianne Sutner, Stephen Stone (story)
Cinematography by: Tristan Oliver
Music by: Jon Brion
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Jodelle Ferland, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, Tempestt Bledsoe, Hannah Noyes, Ariel Winter
Year: 2012
There are several things that I admire about this movie that I’m just going to highlight from the outset:
- The animation is impressive. I have no idea how they pulled off the visually (not to mention emotionally) charged ending effects, but I would really like to see the featurette on the home release on that.
- Getting back to the emotion, there are moments in the film that feel stunningly authentic, and that ending really does pay off.
- The filmmakers largely stayed away from obvious pop culture horror references that would be so prevalent in so many big studio film efforts. There are some, one of which is revealed in the trailers (“You want to play hockey?”) and another that is a lot more subtle than this (Norman’s ringtone is from The Exorcist), but, for the most part, the film is a much calmer, more self-contained experience than it could have been.
I lead into this review with those points because I don’t want to sound like I didn’t enjoy this film, because that wouldn’t necessarily be true. The fact of the matter, however, is that for all the things this film excels at, there are several things that hold it back for me from being the apparent critical darling that Rotten Tomatoes would suggest that ParaNorman is.
Theatrical Review: “Prometheus”
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Produced by: Ridley Scott, David Giler, Walter Hill
Written by: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof
Cinematography by: Dairusz Wolski
Music by: Marc Stretenfeld
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce
Year: 2012
Here’s a little thing you really need to know about Prometheus, and it’s something that Ridley Scott would definitely like you to know, as well: Prometheus, though set in the same universe as the Alien film series, is not a prequel — at least not in the sense that one would expect from hearing that word. Prometheus, aside from a few nods, does not feature the parents of Ellen Ripley, does not feature Lance Henriksen, and does not, in fact, really set up any plot points in the Alien films that came before, and without the scattered connections and references to those films, Prometheus likely would have stood on its own as a completely unrelated film. What connections to the Alien films that are present are neat little nods that fans will enjoy that help to effectively build up this universe rather than just exploit a film franchise. But, much like the plot, do not go in expecting a film that apes any of the films that came before it. You will be profoundly disappointed if you do. Read more…
Mother’s Day Review: “Aliens” Special Edition
Directed by: James Cameron
Produced by: Gale Anne Hurd, Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Written by: James Cameron (screenplay & story), David Giler and Walter Hill (story)
Music by: James Horner
Cinematography by: Adrian Biddle
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein
Year: 1986
Mother’s Day is coming up, and so of course I had to do something for the site. I was considering two of many other ideas floating around in my head to commemorate the occasion: The first idea was to review one of my own mom’s favorite movies in honor of her. Certainly, this would have resulted in a possibly more diverse list of films in the Reviews section of the site. However, my second idea was far more enticing to me, as it involved a film that I hadn’t seen in its entirety for quite sometime: Aliens. Of course, if the title of this review didn’t give it away, I went with the second idea. (I’ll just have to review one of my mom’s favorites on her birthday.) Read more…
Review: “Shaun of the Dead”
Director: Edgar Wright
Produced by: Nira Park
Written by: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Peter Serafinowicz, Jessica Stevenson
Music by: Pete Woodhead, Daniel Mudford
Year: 2003
I’m not going to pretend like Shaun of the Dead is some masterpiece of cinema. The movie speaks for itself — it is a masterpiece of comedy, no pretending needed! There’s just something so fun, so delightfully silly about the concept of a romantic comedy set during a zombie outbreak. I mean, seriously, how could you resist?
Review: “28 Days Later”
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Produced by: Andrew MacDonald, Robert How (Line Producer)
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson
Music by: John Murphy
Year: 2002 (UK)
As I recently stated in one of my (many to come) Great Scenes articles, you don’t have to be from England to recognize just how terrifying the seemingly abandoned streets of London become in 28 Days Later. Danny Boyle’s brilliant take on the zombie horror film sub-genre is as breathtaking as it is unnerving. Read more…
Update: Busy, busy week…
To everyone who may be wondering –
I know you’ve all been panicking because of my 2 day absence from blogging, but it’s been an incredibly busy week and, well, I really needed to relax this weekend. Tomorrow’s Halloween, and, in my eyes, it’s still horror week. I will attempt to get most of the reviews I intended to do posted throughout the following week, but due to the fact that tomorrow’s my birthday (yep, Halloween) and I’ve got family in town, those will be coming a bit later than intended.
I know you’ve all been freaking out over this (right?) but I just thought I’d mention it.
In the meantime, why not think of any non-horror films you’d like me to review, post them in the comments, and I’ll check them out?
Thanks again, everyone, and hope you have a …
Review: “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (2010)
Directed by: Samuel Bayer
Produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller
Written by: Wesley Strick & Eric Heisserer (screenplay), Wesley Strick (story)
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz
Music by: Steve Jablonsky
Year: 2010
I will refrain from mentioning Michael Bay… I will refrain from mentioning Michael Bay… I will refrain from… Oh! Hi! Welcome, my friends, to my final Nightmare on Elm Street review for this Halloween season. We end this streak with something more terrifying than a chainsaw-wielding maniac… more chilling than a ghost who doesn’t know he’s been dead the whole time… more evil than [EXAMPLE]. Today, we examine… A HORROR MOVIE REMAKE. *lightning and thunder*
Today’s feature is the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, a modern day revival of that cult classic story that, as we all know by now, I wasn’t the biggest fan of, but always held a certain level of reverence for, in the same way I do for the Final Fantasy series, and yet I do not play. Read more…
Review: “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare”
Director: Wes Craven
Produced by: Robert Shaye, Wes Craven
Written by: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Miko Hughes, John Saxon
Music by: J. Peter Robinson
Year: 1994
Now explain to me why more horror movies can’t be this much fun and be scary? As a prelude to his Scream series, Wes Craven goes all meta on us with the seventh Nightmare film by folding his universe into the real world with this re-imagining of the formula and the penultimate appearance of Robert Englund as Freddy.
However, I think you’d be hard pressed to figure this in with the rest of the films, even if you include the crossover with the Friday the 13th series (which I haven’t seen and really don’t plan on seeing for a while), as it’s really almost like a spin-off, sidestory, or, if you’re knowledgeable about comic books, an Elsworlds tale! New Nightmare brings back some of the most famous and beloved of the Nightmare actors, including Heather Langenkamp herself, only, this time… she’s playing herself! Read more…
Review: “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors”
Director: Chuck Russell
Produced by: Wes Craven, Robert Shaye
Written by: Wes Craven & Bruce Wagner (also story), Frank Darabont, Chuck Russell (screenplay)
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Robert Englund, Laurence Fishbrune, Priscilla Pointer, Craig Wasson
Music by: Angelo Badalamenti, “Into the Fire” by Dokken
Year: 1987
If the first film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series was a metaphor for the perceived innocence of childhood and American suburbia, then the third film kind of represents the opposite side of the same coin, as it centers on the inability of adults to understand the problems their kids are facing and address them accordingly.
Subtitled Dream Warriors, you’d be forgiven for thinking this would be some campy Aliens knock off, with people being jacked into a dream network to take out Freddy Krueger once and for all…. Actually, that kind of sounds awesome. Anyway, no this isn’t that kind of film. Dream Warriors doesn’t repeat the scares and themes of the first film, but rather expands upon them and delves deeper into the mythology. If you were among the people who scolded me for my ignorance of the series and suggested this to me, then, congratulations. You’ve got me. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is not only a pretty good movie, I actually like it better than the first! Read more…
The Viewer's Commentary 