[rec] -A Movie Review- NO SPOILERS!

Horror fans, get ready to stop being jaded! If you like the direction the genre is headed, and, like me, you wonder who can take everything the filmmakers have learned and improve upon it, then I have great news!

   [rec] (like the 'record' icon in a video camera's viewer) isn't wholly original and it doesn't break any new ground, but it utilizes a lot of new tricks as effectively, if not moreso than any recent horror films to precede it. Example; the camerawork and perspective is all handheld a la The Blair Witch Project or the recent and awesome Cloverfield. The subject matter is... well, that one I won't give away. I can say that in this respect [rec] has nothing in common with the previous mentioned films. 

But like I said, it isn't newer than anything you've already seen, just better.

Here's the poop:

TV presenter Angela (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman, Pablo visit a Barcelona firehouse to shoot footage for a fictional show called While You Sleep. As they interview the firemen a call is received and the force is dispatched to a local building where an old woman is trapped in her apartment. Residents of the building are scared and confused as the firemen and police attempt to rescue the woman only to be attacked by... I said NO SPOILERS!

Soon the government seals off the building with no explanation and noone; residents, fire crew, reporter or cop, knows anything. 

However, what was assumed to be an isolated incident quickly escalates despite everyones best efforts and the situation spirals horribly out of control. 

Now, as you know I love good horror. This movie had me literally leaning forward the entire time! There were a few awesome shocks and some really frightening scenes, and the tension is maintained throughout to take up the slack in between. The reporter Angela (Velasco) is a great screamer and believable in her role as the one person trying to keep perspective despite the harrowing events surrounding her. The cameraman (I assume is the guy credited on imdb.com only as 'voice', Pep Sais) is also good at giving you someone to root for. There are no stupid asshole teenagers running for their lives in this horror, just regular folks in an increasingly nightmarish scenario trying to figure out what the hells going on and how to survive!

I first heard about this movie on The Howard Stern Show when Robin and Richard talked about how it's one of the scariest movies they'd ever seen. Robin even said that she saw it in the original Spanish without the subtitles and still was freaked out! Richard, who if you know the Show is a huge horror fan, said it was one of the scariest movies ever. Well, calm down. I went into this remembering those comments and was slightly buffered at first. Could it really be that scary?

Go into it with no expectations. 

In my humble opinion (I think the kids are typing that IMHO these days) I'd have to say Yes, it scared the shit out of me, but you're different. It may be a walk in the park for you. I can see how someone could call it cliched and overdone. I could agree that it's a rehash of several movies that've come before it. What I can also say it that it is an effective use of the many bits and pieces of many of it's predecessors put together in a whole new film in such a good way that it's just plain... well, GOOD!

GOOD, GOOD, GOOD.

This will surely rate a repeat viewing. Maybe when I've learned how to sleep again. 

My best advice if you watch this is PAY ATTENTION! Actually don't worry, you'll have no choice once it hooks you. 

My spidey senses tell me it's being remade by those dirty americans for release in the Fall of this year. They did a good job with Funny Games but that might've been a fluke. (Funny Games was a remake of the Austrian film of the same name by the same director, Michael Haneke, a suspense genius! Look him up!).

[rec], or rather it's american counterpart Quarantine, is being helmed by John Erick Dowdle. [rec] was co-directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza. 

Rottentomatoes.com aggregated [rec] at 93% based on 14 reviews. The lone dissenter was surprisingly from Variety, calling the film "lazily scripted" and "without [...] character development".

Finally, if it actually works, I leave you with a trailer! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQUkX_XowqI

The Incredible Hulk 2008-A Movie Review-

I just finished watching The Incredible Hulk. Honestly, I expected this to be a big, stupid, special-effects laden mess, and I went in with that mind set. I also expected to hate Edward Norton (Bruce Banner) cos I hate him in anything else. Just see American History X and if you didn't hang yourself you'll know what I mean. 

However I really enjoyed this film. The story moves like crazy and although it doesn't always make sense the action makes up for the plot holes. 

The action sequences are all CGI but well done, and I know that cos I never once thought 'Hell, that's the lamest head-smashing I've ever seen! I could do that better!'!

I highly recommend The Incredible Hulk. It's a good action flick with a bit of thought behind it. 

I liked it. 

I said... I ... ouch, I said I fuckin... OWWWI LIKED IT!!! THE MOVIE, I LIKED... OUCH!!!!!!! WHAT?! WHAT?! THE INCREDIBLE HULK!!!! i SAID I %$#@I LIKED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Machinist -A Review- 2.0

It's been a long time since I've seen this film. I was in the mood tonight. 

Christian Bale is Trevor Reznick, the machinist of the title. 

It's been a year since he's slept and the insomnia is taking it's toll. He functions on coffee, cigarettes and the occasional chicken wing.  His spine shows through his skin. Legend has it Bale prepared for the role by consuming one cup of coffee and an apple every day for four months in preparation. It shows in gruesome detail. 

The real story however is, well, the story! 

Trevor works in a machine shop. He operates some sort of hydraulic something-or-other. They look dangerous. When he accidentally causes a co-worker to lose an arm while assisting in a repair the entire plant turns against him, except for one mysterious employee called Ivan. Problem is noone knows who Ivan is. Furthermore someone is leaving threatening post-it messages on Trevor's refrigerator! He wonders how they got in? Who are they? Why are they doing this to a man who can't sleep and whose only outlet is a 24/7 airport coffee shop? Well, that and a prostitute who seems to have fallen in love with him. 

The journey you'll take in answering these questions is more than worth it. Bale's performance is nothing short of genius! His commitment doesn't end with his emaciated body. This is not the Bale of Batman. There is no trace of the robust and muscled Bruce Wayne here. What we're introduced to in the beginning scenes is a corpse; a bony, creepy endoskeleton of a man who doesn't eat or sleep. 

The tone of the film is grim and the music oddly evocative of 80's creepers. 

The direction and editing are tight, leaving no extraneous scenes, to the point I thought it could've easily been two-and-a-half hours when in fact it was only just over an hour-and-a-half. They manage to pack a lot into that time! 

Relative newcomer Brad Anderson directed the hell out of this, and Scott Kossar (The Amityville Horror remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) wrote the script. Believe me this is more than just worth seeing; this is required viewing for fans of the new thriller avante garde. Fans of Christopher Nolan may have a new hero. Storytelling is wedded to cinematography in a wonderful way. 

See The Machinist. 

Available on DVD everywhere.

Baby Mama -A DVD Review-

This is not the funniest comedy I've ever seen. It's not by any means groundbreaking. It's not even hugely innovative or original. I guess the reason I still liked it is because Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have such incredible chemistry and together they muster enough charm and likeability that I cared about the characters and genuinely felt for them. 

Sure there are some funny moments. I chuckled to myself a few times. I laughed out loud more than once. I felt good when I was supposed to and I was sad or angry on cue as well. That doesn't exactly make for great cinema, but maybe thats enough when you just wanna watch a movie that makes you feel good. That's not an easy thing. I've seen comedies (many of which starred Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell) where I just shake my head and wonder how I ended up on a date with someone who actually thought paying twelve dollars a ticket would act as some sort of twisted foreplay. Some so-called comedies are irredeamable beyond all belief. Whether you're a man or a woman on a first date, I can't conceive of spreading legs or cheeks for most of what passes for 'Date Movies' these days.

Baby Mama might've been an exception, had I been asked by a dude to see this with him. But I wasn't. I'll get over it.

Here's the poop;

Tina Fey plays Kate; a sorta uptight VP of an organic foods company DESPERATE for a baby. She tries everything: adoption takes too long, her in-vitro clinic sends her home with a cup of sperm like it's a latte, and of course she can't conceive like a 'normal' woman so she turns to the last great hope. Enter Chaffee Bicknell, the surrogate agent, played by Sigourney Weaver in a manner I can only describe as the most fertile 60-year-old woman on the planet. Either she carries peat moss around in her uterus or her never-seen husband is twenty and powered by Monsanto. (Look it up. The vegans get it!) The elder Chaffee is poppin' 'em out like a pitching machine! She don't need her own services no matter how old she gets! Kate feels the ouch.

Chaffee hooks Kate up with Angie (Poehler), a white-trash dummy and they decide to let Angie carry Kate's fertilized eggs. 

Now, in typical comedy form Angie breaks up with her skeevy boyfriend and moves in with the prim Kate and hilarity is supposed to ensue on an Odd Couple-ian scale. Sadly such heights are never reached. 

Both women, especially Fey, are more than watchable. Each steals their individual scenes, and when they're together sparks fly! Unfortunately the real tension you might expect from polar opposites is missing and as one reviewer noted, there might've been more drama if we glimpsed some real hatred, which comes too late. 

The romantic sub-plot involving local shop owner Rob (Greg Kinnear) is too predictable, however the other supporting player Romany Malco (as Oscar the doorman) felt underused. Both are good, but Malco had potential to be a real scene stealer instead of an afterthought. Again tho, Kinnear and Malco, in fact the entire cast is fantastic and is what ultimately makes this film at least enjoyable. 

One disappointment comes from Steve Martin's cameo as Kate's hippie-dippy boss, Barry. He had a chance to really be a wild amalgam of a grassroots, granola munching profit-mongering CEO pot-head, but he played it pretty safe and left me wondering to what heights he could've taken his bizarre character. It was such a minor part for chrissake! He didn't have to assume any responsibility for the film's success! He should've gone for it! If he had I might be saying Best Supporting Oscar Nom!!! The part had potential! I'm just sayin. Oh well.

That all said, I go back to my original diagnosis that Baby Mama is a good film with a few laughs and a happy ending. It's not award winning, in fact it flies in that airspace between great and bad. It's good. It should be seen if you're in the mood and probably will be on DVD but really won't make much of a blip on the 'Hits' radar, and that's fine. I think both Poehler and Fey have many more great things coming for them. I expect a few truly funny chick-buddy-comedies before we've seen the last o' them. 

In video stores now, rent Baby Mama when you want a sweet, funny buddy flick with a big heart and great performances which overshadow the material. 

We all get in that mood sometimes, right? 

I did!

Cloverfield -A Review 2.0-

Okay, so the 2.0 in the title refers to the fact that I've reviewed this film here before. I think, however, that since my viewing experience has been quickened so too should my review. Be. Quickened.

*cough*

Toronto is in the grips of TIFF fever! (Great! Just as I recover from Summer-Sweepsitis!) The Toronto International Film Festival is in full swing and hundreds of films are being premiered, so I thought I'd revisit one that I enjoyed. That and I'm dirt poor and can't afford any screenings. 

Cloverfield is good. It takes equal measures Blair Witch (shaky hand-held camera), The Host (mystery monster appears and invades major city), and 9/11 disaster documentary (New York's recent terrors being referred to more than once).

The cast of Cloverfield is mostly unknown, at least to me, though the role of Marlena was a pleasant reappearance of someone I didn't recognize; Lizzy Caplan! She played alterna-girl Janis Ian in 2004s Mean Girls opposite Lindsay Lohan! Too cool! You really respect her talent when you reflect on the Janis character and then see her as someone so different and equally convincing. It's like the powers that be haven't figured her out yet. She's good, and should be better known!

The story is pretty straightforward; a monster attacks Manhattan and a group of friends attempt to flee while trying to save another friend on the other side of the city. There are some good scares and effective emotional moments, as well as a few laughs thanks to chatty, erstwhile documentarian Hud (T.J. Miller), who just can't seem to shut the fuck up. It's okay though cos he's a charmer. 

JJ Abrams (Bad Robot Productions) of Alias and Lost fame is the producer here, with Drew Goddard (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Alias, Lost) writing, and Matt Reeves (The Pallbearer) directing. 

Fans of the thriller genre will enjoy this, as will anyone who likes a good disaster flick. Give it a shot. 

Rottentomatoes.com averaged it at 77% Fresh, which is impressive for the genre! Even my boy Ebert loved it! 

Iron Man -A Review-

Best. Superhero movie. Ever. 

Have you seen Iron Man yet?! NO!?!? What's your problem?!?!?!?!?!?!

Seriously, this was a kick-ass flick, and if you like superhero movies you'll LOVE this one. 

The best thing I can say is that Gwyneth Paltrow (as the unfortunately named Pepper Potts) is not even remotely annoying. In fact she's understated and pretty good. 

The most common thing I can say is what everyone is saying and thats that Robert Downey Junior is fantastic as Tony Stark. I hope his drug problems are behind him, cos RDJ is one of our finest actors living today and since we can assume the producers signed him to a multi-sequel deal we can look forward to Iron Man 2, 3 and so forth! Keep 'em comin'!!

Okay, here's the poop:

Tony Stark is an american weapons manufacturer and richer than god, and fucks more pussy than a cats-only kill shelter. He sips cognac while being driven by soldiers through a war zone. He's awesome. We love him. We want to be him. His house is bigger than Dolly Parton's tits. He's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Well, it just so happens that while he's visiting Afghanistan he's captured and is forced to build a weapon of mass destruction, since that is his forte. He uses his enormous brain to construct instead a way to escape his Afghani captors. Bad-a-boom, bad-a-bing he's Iron Man, and he can save the world... or can he? BUT, someone else wants the power Tony Stark has, and they'll do anything to get it. Will they? Can they? Do they? When they?

Robert Downey Junior delivers another excellent performance as playboy Tony Stark. The man is gifted! If he could only keep the straw out of his nose!

Gwyneth Paltrow plays his assistant, Pepper Potts, and, as I said earlier, she's not annoying. In fact she's actually quite good. 

The shocker for me was that Tony's partner Obidiah Stane was played by none other than Jeff Bridges! I had no idea! He looked nothing like himself, but he played the shit out of that character and he was fantastic! I LOVE Jeff Bridges so I was shocked that I didn't know it was him. Pleasantly shocked. :)

Rottentomatoes.com gave it a 93% Fresh rating based on 215 reviews, so that only backs me up!

I say, see this movie while you can, but if you can't, rent it starting September 30, 2008.

It's prolly better on the big screen but don't worry, you'll love it.