Archive for August 23rd, 2009

Halloween‘s definition of normality - that is, how normality is represented in the film - is depicted as being relatively care-free with only minor day-to-day inconveniences and annoyances to battle with (a friend speaking to your crush for you, a boyfriend getting grounded on a date night, getting harassed by bullies, etc.). It is an enclosed suburban world where evil does not reside, and the time of when it once did is considered a distant memory; a history that is acknowledged but not really known or given much, if any, attention. The horror inherent in this film is that this normality comes under threat by something completely unexpected that they could not have prepared for. Michael Myers is a threat that seeks to change the definition of normality in his world – that is, the world as seen through his eyes - and ends up also changing it for others. Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is regarded by many to be the first horror film in terms of how we recognize the genre today. Released just two years later, F. W. Marnau’s Nosferatu barrowed some of Caligari‘s style to help construct what were to become the basic features of the horror genre that would continue to present day. Converting expressionism from the medium of painting and sculpture to the medium of cinema, Caligari‘s style would prove to be even more influential than what following 1920s German films would indicate. Not only would these films set the standard for critical and popular success in their genres in Germany, but the entire field of cinema as well (particularly with America’s Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931), and Italy’s 1960s and ’70s horror). Read the rest of this entry »

Terminator Salvation

Director: McG (Charley’s Angels)

Screenwriters: Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato (Terminator 3, The Game)

Cast: Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Sam Worthington (Hart’s War), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village), Anton Yelchin (Star Trek)

Length: 2h 10m

Synopsis: John Connor (Bale), prophesized leader of the human resistance against Cyberdyne’s Skynet machine army, is neck deep in anxiety about how to lead his human brethren in a struggling effort against the mechanical marvels until a destructive electronic signal is found that can be used against the formidable foes. Meanwhile a cyborg named Marcus (Worthington) has been recently awakened from an underground Skynet base, holding a mysterious secret that could either save the human race or destroy it once and for all. Read the rest of this entry »

Drag Me to Hell

Director: Sam Raimi (Evil Dead trilogy, Spider-Man trilogy)

Screenwriters: Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

Cast: Alison Lohman (Big Fish, Matchstick Men), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard)

Length: 1h 39m

Synopsis: A bank loan officer named Christine (Lohman) finds herself up for a big promotion at work, but to win the job she must prove she can hold firm against sympathetic customers. Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), a witchy old woman, asks Christine to give her a third extension on her mortgage, but Christine is obligated to turn her down. In doing so Mrs. Ganush finds herself greatly embarrassed and publicly shamed. To seek revenge she puts a curse on Christine that will bring Hell right to her front door. Read the rest of this entry »

District 9

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Screenwriters: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

Cast: Sharlto Copley, Vanessa Haywood

Length: 1h 52min

Synopsis: An intelligent alien race, known as Prawns, landed in South Africa over twenty years ago, and have been stuck on earth ever since. Despite the species’ intelligence and sophistication the aliens find themselves at the mercy of human government supervision, relegated to a small patch of land near Johannesburg called District 9. Subject to prejudice and torturous living conditions the Prawns struggle to survive, but a select few hold out hope for finding a way home. That way home, as it turns out, may only be possible with the help of a government agent who has been accidentally infected with a virus that has made him public enemy number one. Read the rest of this entry »

500 Days of Summer

Director: Marc Webb

Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (Pink Panther 2)

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout, Brick), Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man, The Happening)

Length: 1h 35m

Synopsis: Day 1 begins with greeting card writer Tom Hansen (Gordon-Levitt) first laying eyes on beautiful new coworker Summer Finn (Deschanel) and immediately falling in love. The preceding few days are him falling deeper in love as the two get to know each other and she begins to reciprocate his affections. There is gum in the works, however, as Summer states up front that she does not want a serious relationship. Tom convinces himself that he is OK with this even though all of her signals indicate that she is just as smitten as him (or do they?). Days 40 through 400 are mercurial to say the least as Tom continually tries to come to grips with Summer’s ambiguous ideals about monogamy. Eventually a boiling point is reached and Tom refuses to torture himself further. Day 500, alas, is the point of complete severance. What first seemed like a fairy-tale relationship ends with mutually optimistic solemnity. Read the rest of this entry »