Category Archives: Film

Fright Night (2011)

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A number of years ago, I declared Fright Night to be the best vampire movie. I’m glad I did this, because it would be implausible to just make the claim now. “No, seriously, you guys, I totally always thought so!” Plus, of course, I stopped thinking so just recently, because Let the Right One In was downright incredible; that said, I do not mind drawing a line between film from the vampire’s point of view and film from the slayer’s point of view, and letting them therefore split the honor evenly. Completely different movies, and while the Swedes made the objectively better one, Chris Sarandon has a lot going for him on the non-art-house, specifically vampire-focussed front.

None of this would be worth hashing out, of course, except for how someone (apparently, Marti Noxon! Who knew?) decided to remake Fright Night. So, I was pretty ambivalent about that[1]. On the one hand, it’s been better than a generation since the original came out, so there are upsides to modernizing the characters and the effects. But on the other hand, man, I loved that movie, and since when does Hollywood ever do a good job of reinterpreting something that was itself originally good? Since now, I guess!

‘Cause, yeah, the modern Fright Night? Still in my top five vampire movies, I suppose primarily on the strength of the core story, which is by and large unchanged. See, there’s this kid living with his single mother, and strange things start to happen. Before very long at all, he narrows them down to his recently moved-in neighbor Jerry, who he believes is a vampire. And then, you know, hijinx ensue! Just like in the original, the show stealer is the mentor character, a late night TV host played by Roddy McDowall in the original and a Las Vegas magician played by David Tennant this time out. People call the movie part comedy, but I never really thought that was right. It’s just excellent at the tension relief that most horror movies aspire to, without ever actually removing the fear. I guess it’s that I can’t believe that any movie this good at providing a scary and realistic portrayal of  modern vampires[2] can be a comedy. But yeah, it’s pretty damn funny. Sometimes. The rest of the time, it is creepy, or scary, or awesome.

[1] In the torn way rather than the barely stirring myself to care way.
[2] I mean, actually scary vampires in modernity, as opposed to the angsty, misunderstood, paranormal romance vampires that have taken over the landscape. You know, I might like this movie just as much without nostalgia, simply by virtue of being about an honest, straightforward, hungry vampire, who isn’t in love with anyone and isn’t trying to reform himself. Seriously, guys, we get it, it’s played out! (I am all the more surprised this was Marti Noxon, now that I’m really thinking about it!)

Final Destination 5

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The Final Destination series is in its own way every bit as comfortably broken in as Friday the 13th was by this point in the ’80s (which is to say, apparently, 1991); I know all the rules, better than the characters do, and even though of course there are new twists and turns, there is a fair amount of comfort in being able to settle back and enjoy the upcoming squirm-fest unencumbered by analysis about how things may or may not work. Is there more to say about Final Destination 5?

Nah, I guess not.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I caught a movie last night with an outsider / coming of age theme. The young, unusually intelligent student (played by Andy Serkis) is befriended and mentored by surrogate father figure James Franco, but despite all of their efforts, the student’s outsider status reigns supreme as he is gradually shuffled through a system that understands him no better than the inhabitants of the various locations into which he is placed by it. Can he find a way to make himself understood and grab onto happiness somewhere in the world? Can Franco make the student understand his own connection, his own love, and can that connection be enough?

Oh, also they tacked on a science fiction framework around that basic storyline, based as a prequel to a classic movie with Charlton Heston that you may have heard of[1], and also some really significant special effects and a pretty cool actiony climax. So that part was alright too.

[1] Hint: it’s not “people”.

Friends with Benefits

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I’ve been trying to figure out what makes Friends with Benefits such a good movie, in spite of looking on paper like every other date-friendly romantic comedy on the block. It’s not that they subvert Hollywood clichés, despite an effort in that direction early in the film whose sole benefit was Jason Segel hilarity. It’s not that the lead actors (Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis) have any especial talent or affability above and beyond the common crowd, either, although both they and the supporting cast are all quite good, and nobody is wasted or overused. It’s… you know what I think it is? It’s consciously adult, in concept, theme, and humor. Mainly the humor, as there are plenty of romance-themed dramas that cover the other issues well enough, but most romantic comedies don’t really try to do anything bigger than a middle-of-the-pack sitcom would do, I suppose because they know they don’t have to. This movie, though, tried to be a real, full-on comedy every bit as hard as it tried to be a romance. I don’t think I knew that hardly ever happens until I saw someone try. Good for them!

Captain America: The First Avenger

[1] You know what made this movie better than it had any right to be? It was the Captain America they wrote into it. I know that sounds painfully trite, but stay with me for a second here. I’ve read the ultra-patriotic Captain America of the 1950s[2], the reflective, uncertain, self-consciously apolitical Captain of the 1970s, and the hyper-capable, overly superior (in thought, word, and deed) Ultimate Captain of this past decade. There are things to like and dislike about each of them, but none of them made it into the movie. This guy, from his abortive attempts to enlist during World War II as an asthmatic, archetypal 98-pound weakling through his confrontation with the chillingly and somehow never cartoonishly villainous Red Skull, and at every moment in between, is just an all around average joe who happens to be the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. That he’s brave, intelligent, and acquires super-powers is almost beside the point. The heroism, explosions, and cool stunts were certainly worthwhile too, don’t get me wrong. But mainly, it’s how damn likable Steve Rogers is that carried me through the movie. Everyone has shades of grey these days, and they should, because that’s the real world. But it’s refreshing to know that sometimes the good guy really can just be, y’know, the best guy.

It’s not fair to compare him with the Captain America who was frozen in the Arctic Circle for a variable number of decades since World War II and wakes up with his whole life left behind him in the blink of an eye. Of course that guy is going to have a harder time of it than the one who asked for a chance to fight and was given everything. But it really is going to be hard to go back to angsty and/or superior Cap after liking this one so very, very much.

[1] Just to get it out of the way, my intent was not to see the movie in 3D, but events conspired against me. It’s, y’know, fine?
[2] This is true from a certain point of view, at least.

The Social Network

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First thing: I wonder if I am using this tag wrong. The Social Network was clearly not a documentary, but “drama” by itself implies fiction. Is there a classification for modern drama based on true events? ….that can fit into the tag of “$adjective drama”, I mean.

Anyway, though, I understand all the critical buzz this movie got last year. The script by Sorkin wasn’t as non-stop poppy as some of his previous efforts, but since the subject matter was less breezy than The American President and less smug than A Few Good Men, it definitely worked being a little heavier. And the acting, well, I can’t say for sure whether Jesse Eisenberg is kind of brilliant, but it doesn’t seem like it would be easy to make me dislike you and feel bad for you at the same time, no matter how good of a script you were handed. Anyway, though, not a lot to say about the plot of the movie, but if you were ever interested in the genesis of Facebook, this is where’d you’d go. And if you were not interested, it’s a good enough movie on its own merits that unless you are a shut-in who hates the internet and everything it stands for (like my great-uncle!), you’d probably like it anyway. It has so many good things, like genuine moral dilemmas, smart plot parallels, people who maybe actually learn from their mistakes, and like I already said, a lot of good acting. Well, I didn’t say that, but don’t let my singling-out of Eisenberg be seen to cast aspersions on anyone else. Good stuff, yo.

Bad Teacher

It is hard to think about writing when you are reading all the time! Well, when you are reading with a purpose, and there are discussions to be had, and all that. But still, I’m two reviews behind right now, and things can only get worse from here, so it’s time to suck it up and not turn the page for the next ten minutes or so. (I mean, some of these reviews take a long time to write, don’t get me wrong, but the rewriting is never more than five minutes, and this one just doesn’t have the feel of difficulty or for that matter length, is all I’m saying.)

So anyway, I saw Bad Teacher last week. (I’ve been really good about the summer action epics, but falling a little behind on the comedies I guess? Anyway, only three movies I need to see right now, so it’s all good in any event.) First of all, it made me laugh, so that’s your answer to that question. Second of all, I’m pretty sure it didn’t have the troubling sexism in Hollywood’s comedy genre at large, making this a surprisingly good year if you’re into that kind of thing.[1] Third of all, you should avoid this movie if you have a problem with bad people, because the title is not lying. Cameron Diaz is shallow in the worst way, which is not enough I suppose to make for a bad person by itself, but when you watch the lengths to which she is willing to stoop in order to achieve her personal MacGuffin[2] while avoiding any amount of accountability toward the children she’s teaching, well… I suppose the part where we expect teachers to be better people than the common stripe is working against her, but be that as it may; she really, really is a bad teacher. Yet somehow, I ended up rooting for her. Script or charisma? Beats me! (Also, Jason Segel is awesome, as always.)

[1] Because, Bridesmaids, right? And I know, I know, how do two datapoints make for a good year? By comparing to the past, yo.
[2] Breast implants. Seriously.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

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To the extent that there is a problem with the final Harry Potter movie, it is this: being split in two was a mildly unfortunate design choice. Because… I mean, okay, cool, this was an incredible summer movie, with non-stop action, split occasionally by tension-breaking humor or revelation after revelation, and I have no complaints about it for itself. (And for the record, I have a hard time imagining anyone, newcomer or longtime reader, being disappointed. Sure, the story gets a little weird at the end, but the only problem with the pair of films as adaptation is that it reminds the viewer how much better the fifth and sixth films (well, mainly the fifth) would have been served by an extra hour or two.)

It’s just that, when comparing it with the tight-focused character drama of Part 1, it’s impossible not to notice that what could have been an admittedly far-too-long movie that had just about everything any movie could need is instead two movies, one that interleaves magic and mystery with some of the best ensemble teen acting I’ve seen[1], and the other that interleaves magic and mystery with, y’know, loud summer explosions. I feel bad, because this makes the second movie sound worse as a standalone than it really is and also because it oversimplifies the situation and leaves some things out. But it’s still fundamentally true. Sorry it’s probably too late when you see this to get a double feature, as that’s clearly the way to go.

[1] It doesn’t matter that they were possibly early 20s by then, dammit.[2]
[2] Because, that’s why.

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

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I don’t have a ton to say about The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, and actually to some extent because of spoilers, ridiculous as that sounds. Basically, it’s this: if you want to watch a documentary that simultaneously makes you feel a lot better about yourself and a lot worse about humanity than you did before, come no further. Well, except for the guilt when you laugh, which you will many, many times. (Hopefully that part won’t make you feel better.)

Also, it has multiple cameos by Hank Williams III, who sounds a great deal like his grandfather and looks a great deal like… well, like he was born to the wild and wonderful Whites of West Virginia. Which, to be clear, is not a compliment. (Also, spoiler alert, they are not wonderful.)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

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Giant robots? Explosions? Random people yelling “Optimus!” at regular intervals? Yep, it’s a valid live-action Transformers movie. I don’t want to say a lot about it, partly because we both know there’s not a lot to say, and partly because it doesn’t seem right to accidentally give away what threadbare moments of plot exist. But I was definitely impressed by the extent as well as the quality of the extended cast, I dug the new girlfriend (though I wish she’d had more to do besides look pretty and be in danger, but, y’know, Michael Bay), and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of racist, moronic robots as “comedy relief”.

I can’t decide if it’s worth mentioning that the plot had a massive, glaring flaw or not. (‘Cause, again, Michael Bay. Right?) And despite how (glaring plot flaw aside) it was a largely good popcorn flick, I still don’t think I’ll ever get over the first impression I had, when I was watching an incredible sci-fi movie preview about how the moon landing was a cover-up for our exploration of a crashed alien spacecraft, and I really wanted to see what would happen next. And then what happened next was Transformers 3 instead of something new, gorgeous, and possibly amazing. Dark of the Moon was funny, cool, and chock full of exploding robots, and, okay, it was gorgeous; but it was by no means amazing, much less new.