A good remix of a cool song from the 80s, chicks dancing in bikinis, kids playing hooky, in other words all the elements you need for a great music video. Some may call this sexist but I’m sure you’ll forgive me for channeling my inner 15 year old.
I’m a few hours late but figured I’d share this New Year’s tradition. Every year in many of the Germanic countries people watch a short movie that was filmed in 1963. For some reason I haven’t been able to understand, even though the film is in English it’s found an incredible level of popularity in countries for which english isn’t the native tongue and is virtually unheard of in english speaking countries (I was first exposed to it in 1988 when I was stationed in Germany).
So…in the interest of spreading cultural awareness, here’s Dinner for One. Enjoy!
I went to see I Am Legend last night and thought it was a pretty good action flick. Without Will Smith, however, it would have been a ’so-so’ movie at best. He’s one of those actors that can make you ignore plot and scripting shortfalls.
The movie differs significantly from the book. So different, in fact, that you can’t really discuss which version was ‘better’. The book had a darker, more complex ending for sure (although the movie doesn’t exactly end with a ‘happily ever after’ either) but the special effects in the movie are pretty powerful and a even a mildly active imagination will force you to enjoy the post apocalyptic mayhem of the film.
The evil doers of the film were pretty two dimensional but gave a few small hints at being more interesting. Either there were some scenes left on the cutting room floor (wait for the DVD!) or, when combined with the ending, it may have been a set up for a sequel (which I do not think would be particularly good).
The original film, with Vincent Price, was closer to the book (you can watch it here) but it has it’s own faults and, in my opinion, the movie has difficulty in capturing the despair Neville feels in the book or the sense of how empty the world is in the story. I watched it again recently but it didn’t do much for me.
Another movie called Cloverfield will be kickin’ the crap out of NYC soon. I don’t have high hopes for this one. It looks like the Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla where a bunch of clueless 20-somethings decide to film a huge monsters assault on the city. The movie obviously intends on making a lot of mileage out of the fact that they have the monster decapitate the Statue of Liberty. That’s fine with me but if you have to reference that gimmick three or more times in a two minute trailer I’m guessing you don’t have much else to show.
I’m not particularly interested in crime movies or shows but this week, for some inexplicable reason, most of my TV/movie viewing has centered around the theme of serial killers.
It all began on Sunday with the latest episode of Dexter. When a friend told me about this show I was initially skeptical. Yet another crime show where…let me guess…a different scumbag criminal gets caught every week and the world is clearly divided between ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’. Boy, was I wrong.
The show focuses on Dexter who is a blood spatter analyst working for the Miami PD. The twist is that he is also a serial killer. The show balances the tensions between making the character likable while at the same time, reminding you that ‘Hey, this guy kills people and cuts them up into tiny pieces.’ It’s a credit to the writers that they are able to pull it off so well.
Next up was the movie Zodiac which is about the killer of the same name who was active in California during the late ’60s and early ’70s. It might be more appropriate to say that the movie is about Robert Graysmith’s research and writing of a book about the killer. As such, this is one time where reading the book before seeing the movie will actually make the film better (the two works are complementary rather than covering the exact same events). I really enjoyed the book and the movie was quite good as well.
Finally, I saw Mr. Brooks with Kevin Costner. While not a perfect movie (the female roles were particularly weak) the film contained enough interesting ideas and a good performance by William Hurt that it was worthwhile to see. It was one of those movies that had the potential to be a great movie with a bit more work.
I didn’t say a nice one though…
Halloween is coming so it’s time to break out the John Carpenter movies (although it’s always a good time for John Carpenter movies).
Last night I watched The Thing with my wife and cousins (Who are almost 30 and have never seen it! What the hell are they teaching in schools these days? How can a great piece of American culture not be included in the curriculum?)
The more I watch that movie, the better it gets. Now, the monster is really secondary to the physiological tension of who can and can’t be trusted. And the ending is simply great. Is McReady or Childs infected?
So..if you haven’t seen it lately (or…gasp…at all) go out and rent the danged thing. It’s amazing how well it’s held up considering it was made 25 years ago. I don’t think a remake would really improve it at all.
If you’re a total geek like me, do what I’m going to do and read this guy’s 136 page ebook about the movie!
|
