Red

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is a retired CIA asset, just trying to figure out how he's going to fill the rest of his life.  He's particularly fond of Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), a customer service representative at the agency responsible for sending him is pension checks, which "mysteriously disappear" forcing him to call.

Then, for some reason, a hired squad tries to kill him.  Unfazed, he heads to Sarah to pick her up, knowing those after him will get to her, too.  As the plot thickens, he enlists the help of his former associates, all retired, and all also on the same hit list.  Can the experience of age defeat the vigor of youth and get to the bottom of the conspiracy that goes to the top?

The film has a catchy feel - a modern action story without sacrificing dialog or character development.

Red
2010, 111 minutes, directed by Robert Schwentke

Skyfall

It's interesting to watch a reboot of the James Bond franchise without them actually replacing the main character.  I can picture a film 20 years from now, with this Moneypenny and Q interacting with a new Bond thrice removed.

Film-wise, the story does feel significantly less epic than the two prior installments.  The action comes closer to home as M is threatened, and Bond must go off the grid and off the rails to protect her.

Skyfall
2012, 143 minutes, directed by Sam Mendes

Looper

I skipped this during Fantastic Fest, preferring the world premiere of Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman over what was billed as an action shooter.  For the rest of the week everyone was telling me how wrong I was (or rather, how misguided the advertisements were) because Looper was a true sci fi film.

So what makes a film sci fi instead of action or horror?  Just because there's a piece of undeveloped technology that enables the plot doesn't make something a science fiction film.  True sci fi has on-the-horizon or pie-in-the-sky technology, sure, but it's not used to enable a shoot-em-up or some sort of slasher film.  Instead, sci fi uses the technology to poke and prod at the human condition, to see how human interaction and feelings react to new stimuli.  It's all about the people.

In these ways, Looper truly is sci fi.  Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an executioner, killing those sent back from the future who need to disappear.  When it's time for him to "close his loop" - killing his future self (Bruce Willis) - he hesitates and things go awry.  Much of what follows is action chase, sure, as Joe tries to fix his mistake while his older self hunts the future mob boss who sent him back for his death.  That the boss is a young boy is troubling, sure, but is this fate fixed or is there another way?  In the end, Joe just can't be sure, and has to take what can only be a leap of faith.  It is right here that the film cements itself as the best of 2012 sci fi.

Looper
2012, 119 minutes, directed by Rian Johnson

Encounter at Raven's Gate

Close encounters in the Australian outback, filmed and set in the 1980s amidst small-town drama.  It baffles me.

Encounter at Raven's Gate
1988, 94 minutes, directed by Rolf de Heer

Resident Evil: Retribution

OMG there's so much explanation to establish backstory and bring in the characters.  Alice used to be a genetically-engineered killing machine, one of Umbrella corporation's tools to combat the T-virus infestation that has destroyed the world.  Or maybe she was just another experiment as they perfected the virus, the world be damned anyway.  But then she lost her powers and was just a woman who can do mid-air somersaults while shooting weapons in both hands.

She's met a lot of people along the way, many of which she's cared for, a subset of which make appearances in this film (though some as clones, not the original people, which is a convenient way to bring back a few who died).   In this film, she'll meet a few more, deal with some former friends turned enemies, and dutifully advance the plot along to the next sequel.  It was very perfunctory, and in that, not interesting.  My only other notes on the film are:

• Undead Russians can't shoot, even at point blank range
• Stargrazing as an awesome name for a craft services company

And with that, I guess I'll wait for the next sequel to be churned out sometime in 2014.

Resident Evil: Retribution
2012, 95 minutes, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

Johnny Mnemonic

Here we are, a few weeks after the end of Fantastic Fest, and I'm finally able to stomach watching a movie again.  This week's Netflix special is Johnny Mnemonic, a not-so-futuristic look at data smuggling in the head of one serious and pissed Keanu Reeves.  Overloaded with a whole 320 gigabytes of data (oh my!), Johnny has to find the pass code and get it out before it leaks into his brain, bursting it.  Meanwhile the Yakuza and various local scum (including a cyborg street preacher) a trying to hunt him down to "retrieve" the information, guillotine-style.

It's funny watching old sci fi action films try to be futuristic, but still mess up so many key things.  The sad part about this one is that it didn't come out in the 80s when such things were forgivable - it came out the year I graduated high school.  They should have known better and I feel old.

Johnny Mnemonic
1995, 103 minutes, directed by Robert Longo

Antiviral

Well, here it is, the end of another film festival.  This is my 34th screening including shorts series; it's my 35th event including the awards ceremony.  With a last-minute change to my planned film, I'm walking in mostly blind to Antiviral.

This film focuses on the cult of celebrity.  We (as a culture, not me) follow every moment of their lives, good and bad, desperate to grab at shoestrings and remnants of their lives.  Is celebrity mania so strong that people would pay to get celebrity diseases?  Would you eat celebrity cell steaks?  It's an interesting topic, and one delved into whole-heartedly by this story.  I find it refreshingly different that the lead actor must act sick for the entire film, as he falls deeper into the underworld of society.

Antiviral
2012, 108 minutes, directed by Brandon Cronenberg

Red Dawn

Sure, this remake of a 1984 classic is all moving and stuff.  America is my home, too, and I don't think we take too kindly to unwelcome guests.  But it's that very point that makes the film so comically unbelievable in this era.

The producer at the Q&A mentioned that they didn't talk to John Milius prior to or during the remake.  I'm not sure they talked to the rest of the world, or really watched the TV or read the internet either.  The film simply does not work in this day and age, and while it will likely do well riding on the coat tails of Chris Hemsworth's popularity, they could have made an actually sensical film using him instead.

Red Dawn
2012, 129 minutes, directed by Dan Bradley


First, look at it from the pro-America standpoint.  Is that really all the resistance a town of that side would see?  Seriously?  And where is the national guard?  The EMP that knocked out the power grid didn't hurt anybody's cell phones or any car electronics, so most military weaponry would be fine.  And where's the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps.?  I have every confidence in our military to handle a situation like this.  Someone has seriously underestimated them.

Point two, where are our allies?  They mentioned Texas at one point in the film.  Assuming somehow that the invaders took Fort Hood, why isn't the Mexican Army marching in to assist?  Where's Canada?  Europe?  For all they call it a "Self-Defense Force", the Japanese military is plenty formidable, and at this point they would certainly come to our immediate assistance vs. North Korea, knowing that they would likely be next.

Finally, and the most important point, what about the worst aspects of America?  Let's assume the Army is decimated, the Air Force grounded, the Marines all dead.  Let's assume all of our allies abandoned us, laughing all the way to the bank.  The U.S. Navy has enough of a nuclear arsenal deep underwater to obliterate the planet.  If our allies don't assist and the situation looks suitably grim, it's hard to imaging we wouldn't squeeze off a few nukes to push North Korea underwater and make a few holes where major Russian cities used to be.  America truly going down would be a flailing, wild, evil beast.

So anyway, that's what I spent too much of the film thinking about.

Wrong

In this Drafthouse Films Quentin Dupieux special, Dolph Springer has to deal with: his missing dog, coworkers at the office, the clingy pizza operator, his gardener, a private detective, and the police.  And none of it makes any damn sense.  A lot of the audience was laughing at this but I found it incredibly stupid.  Why did anyone pay money to film this?  I would have rather stayed home and ironed my clothes.

Wrong
2012, 94 minutes, directed by Quentin Dupieux

I can't even tag this as a commentary.  It isn't funny unless you're high.

Doomsday Book

This film is actually a series of three shorts, created together as a single motion picture, all focused on (as you may guess) doomsday scenarios - from a Korean perspective.  The first - Brave New World - is a straight-up zombie scenario as told via patient zero.  For the second short - Heavenly Creature - the definition of "doomsday" is stretched to include singularity, as a UR International robot awakens as Buddha.  Finally the third film - Happy Birthday - takes a new look at asteroid apocalypse in the modern age.

I won't call the film epic or particularly enthralling, but if you like the Future States shorts or similar looks at future probability - and are willing to tolerate a little silliness on the side - then this film provides more footage for you.

Doomsday Book
2012, 115 minutes, directed by Jee-woon Kim and Pil-Sung Yim

2 Coelhos (Two Rabbits)

Two Rabbits is an ably-told crime story, with misdirection and subterfuge to keep the audience in the dark until the very end.  It's a story plenty well told, sure; I just didn't like it.

2 Coelhos (Two Rabbits)
2012, 108 minutes, directed by Afonso Poyart

It's too late in the festival to watch things that turn out like this.

Cloud Atlas

This epic, interwoven adventure tells not one, not two, but six stories across time.  Past lives, past loves, past loss.  It's all connected.  It's seriously the most epic film I've seen since The Fountain.  Alas, Cloud Atlas didn't touch me in the same way, but I appreciate everything the Wachowski's, Tykwer and the actors did to realize this on screen.  Unfortunately, given it's scope and very intellectual overriding motives, I doubt it will do well in mainstream American theaters.  I want to see more films like this made, even if this wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

Cloud Atlas
2012, 164 minutes, directed by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wakowski, and Andy Wakowski

Flimmer (Flicker)

The hapless employees of a remote Swedish electric and communication company try to live their lives amidst the local 4G roll out and a band of anti-EM terrorists.  I think it has a very subtle, very northern sense of humor, meaning most people won't find it funny at all.

Flimmer (Flicker)
2012, 100 minutes, directed by Patrik Eklund

Come Out and Play

This disturbing remake of 1976's Who Can Kill a Child? is set in Mexico, not Spain, but features the same chilling path of desperation and tragedy until the lead characters face the choice to die or kill their assailants.

Come Out and Play
2012, 110 minutes, directed by Makinov

Dead Sushi

Rina Takeda, who looks surprisingly familiar despite me never seeing any of her previous films, stars as Keiko in the latest action comedy by Japanese director Noboru Iguchi.  Raised by an overbearing father to be a sushi chef, but spurned as not capable of mastery, Keiko runs away to work at a holiday spa.  Comedy ensues as she tries to satisfy the spa owners and guests from a major corporation, but things go awry when a mysterious stranger arrives with flying, animated sushi, seeking revenge...

Dead Sushi
2012,  109 minutes, directed by Noboru Iguchi

Earlier this week I sat next to Rina Takeda at the first ABCs of Death screening, the intro of which featured Tim League and the audience downing a can of Shiner beer "high school style."  She and the other Japanese female guests didn't participate. =P So while I have no proof or record of her being there, I know that she and her friend, film stars, somewhere out there have photographs of me shotgunning a beer for what I hope is my one and only time.

That kind of random connection makes me an instant fan, and I hope to see her have continued success.

Sightseers

Ahead of this screening, the first "secret" screening of Fantastic Fest 2012, I had heard from an apparently-not-so-reliable-source that this would be the big-budget film Cloud Atlas.  Disappointed as I am that none of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, or Hugo Weaving were here, the film was instead a delightful British comedy Sightseers featuring a cast of unknowns and just the right amount of horror to make such a film fit in at the festival.

Chris takes his new girlfriend Tina on a caravan holiday, her first real vacation from an overbearing mother.  Things quickly go awry, and she attempts to adapt.  I really don't want to say more, but it was very enjoyable.  As my friend Joel put it, the characters have depth.  They grow on you.

Sightseers
2012, 88 minutes, directed by Ben Wheatley

No habrá paz para los malvados (No Rest of the Wicked)

I've watched several films this week featuring good-cops-with-a-side-business, where they're put in a bad situation and need to bring forth their best side to save the day.  Santos is not one of those cops.  He's downright evil.  Set in Paris ahead of a G-20 summit, this feature finds him very quickly murdering three people late night at a strip joint.  A witness escapes, forcing Santos to ditch his G-20 surveillance responsibilities and take on investigation of the club's contacts.  Meanwhile, Chacón, a police investigator, takes on the murder case, forging ahead into the same investigation from a different angle, thinking terrorism.  Can she catch Santos before he eliminates the witness, or is something more going on here?

No habrá paz para los malvados (No Rest of the Wicked)
2011, 114 minutes, directed by Enrique Urbizu

Graceland

Marlon, driver for a dirty Congressman in the Philippines, is taking both his and his boss' daughters home from school when a kidnapping attempt goes wrong.  Rather than take the Congressman's daughter, the kidnappers kill her and take Marlon's by mistake.  He has to find a way to get his boss' help to get his daughter back without him knowing his daughter is already gone.

This is a very dark and gritty film, with almost no one coming out untainted.

Graceland
2012, 99 minutes, directed by Ron Morales

King of Pigs

Children have limited filters for emotion, and while at their peaks they are angelic, at their depths their brutality is sickening.  This Korean animated film starts by sticking a knife in your gut, and then just keeps twisting for two hours.  Kyung-min, seemingly calm after an unexplained opening scene, contacts old friend Jong-suk.  It's been 15 years - since middle school - since they've talked, and it's time to catch up on old times.  Prepare to be depressed.

King of Pigs
2011, 97 minutes, directed by Sang-ho Yeon

Here Comes the Devil

The devil knows no depths he will not sink.

Here Comes the Devil
2012, 97 minutes, directed by Adrián García Bogliano

Grup 7 (Unit 7)

Late 1980s: Ceville, Spain.  The city prepares for the 1992 world expo.  A group of four narcotics detectives - from a rookie to a brutal, hard-nosed detective - work the streets to clear them of heroin ahead of the world's attention.  Their actions quickly get out of hand as they try to stay one step ahead of internal affairs and the drug traffickers.

The plot in this film is, let's say, subtle.  Think of it more as five-years-in-the-life of four detectives.  A strong, quality film.

Grup 7 (Unit 7)
2012, 95 minutes, directed by Alberto Rodriguez

Holy Motors

Is Monsieur Oscar a master of disguise?  The ultimate odd-jobs man? Or is he and the entire Paris population simply insane?  Prepare to have your head rattled with Holy Motors.  Warning: people going into this film expecting a plot tend to be disappointed.  Think of it more as a day-in-the-life of the Most Interesting Man in the World.

Holy Motors
2012, 115 minutes, directed by Leos Carax 

Cockneys vs Zombies

With the exception of one short film, this festival has suffered from an extreme lack of zombies. I rectified the situation in a midnight screening of... Cockneys vs. Zombies.

Alan Ford (Brick Top from Snatch) owns this film as the grandfather, a WWII veteran and general badass.  And there are a few new tricks to a zombie film - zombies chasing a guy with a walker, a zombie with an iron plate in his head - but overall it's pretty run-of-the-mill except for Ford's performance.  The planner for the festival who introduced the film said that every third film they screened was a zombie flick, and every third film they saw sucked.  I can see this as the best of a lot of dredge, sure, but overall the genre is getting spent.

Cockneys vs Zombies
2012, 88 minutes, directed by Matthias Hoene 

Fuck Up

Ignore the title; I think there are maybe two swear words in the entire film.  Instead it's another good-crook-gets-in-trouble story, perhaps the third I've seen this week (Break Out, Plan C).  Jack, Robin, Glenn, Rasmussin - four longtime friends - get in over their heads when a drug smuggling job goes awry, leaving Jack and Glenn in trouble with the local mafia.  Jack, also in the midst of family drama, is fully aware of his faults and spends most of the film trying to make things right, to the best of his ability.

It's a tight crew - the entire cast and crew have a show together - and the interactions work.  This is a very enjoyable film.

Fuck Up
2012, 95 minutes, directed by Øystein Karlsen

$2M budget per the director

Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman

Santiago is a young DJ in the wrong place at the wrong time when he overhears crime boss Che Longana put a $300 million peso hit on the Machine Gun Woman (Fernanda Urrejola), a spurned ex-girlfriend-assassin of the mob kingpen.  To save his skin he swears he knows the girl and can bring her in, but how?  An excellent mix of story and video game tracks his progress as he finds and wins over the Machine Gun Woman.

This film lacks the raw physical action of Ernesto Diaz Espinosa's previous works; during the Q&A the director said that Fernanda had only two days of training (one for hand-to-hand combat, one for guns) prior to shooting, so a lot more of the action is carried by swagger and gunfire than physical activity.  That said, I still appreciate Espinosa's flavor as he puts a video game spin on his latest creation.

Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman
2012, 75 minutes, directed by Ernesto Diaz Espinosa

Errors of the Human Body

Geoff (Michael Eklund) is a controversial geneticist due to his research into embryo screening, based on (and using) the death of his newborn son to a unique genetic defect.  Former student Rebekka (Karoline Herfurth) lures him to the Max Planck Institute in Dresden after he's forced out of work in the U.S.  Slowly he realizes that there's some Days-of-Our-Lives-style backstabbing and intrigue going on at the institute - I say slowly because it took me a while to realize that this was the real plot instead of more exposition - and he steps right into it, while also dealing with the loss of his ex-wife and rekindling of an old affair with Rebekka.  Then the plot wakes up and gets very personal for Geoff, and it seems like the climax has passed and the film will end.  Only at this point it doesn't; the denouement is stretched out for 30 minutes so the writers can make one final point before they let the film end.

There's very little sci fi at Fantastic Fest this year.  Vanishing Waves is the best of the two I've seen, with Errors of the Human Body a disappointing second due to pacing issues.  I shouldn't spend the first part of the film wondering when it will finally start, and the last part of the film wondering when it will finally end.  I totally wanted to love this film and I didn't.

Errors of the Human Body
2012, 100 minutes, directed by Eron Sheean 

Vanishing Waves

Lithuanian scientists experiment with brain-wave capture, in the hope of connecting human minds.  The first experiments with human-human contact find Lukas (Marius Jampolskis), a lead researcher, dropped in the dreams of coma patient Aurora (Jurga Jutaite), trapped since a car accident which took her husband.  Their immediate, deep connection troubles Lukas, who has to hide his experiences to dig deeper into Aurora's soul and bring her back from the depths.  It's such an intimate look into the woman's mind that I can overlook the story not going as I expected.

Vanishing Waves
2012, 124 minutes, directed by Kristina Buozyte

Tebana Sankichi: Snot Rockets

Japanese people are weird and repressed. I was very tired for this screening, and my legs ached, making it difficult to keep them still. I think both actually enhanced the film experience. ADHD sufferers will enjoy this.

Tebana Sankicki: Snot Rockets
2012, 79 minutes, directed by Yudai Yamaguchi

ABCs of Death

In what I think is the first Drafthouse Films-funded venture, Tim League and Ant Timpson enlist 26 genre film directors to each produce a short, each based on death and a letter of the alphabet.  As is usual, I don't review shorts except when they are produced together to form a feature film.  I'm not going to attempt to review every story; it's sufficient to say some were funny, some were bizarre, and some were downright disgusting.  I can't recommend it for anyone with a stomach or conscious.

ABCs of Death
2012, 123 minutes, directed by Angela Bettis, Hélène Cattet, Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Jason Eisener, Bruno Forzani, Adrián García Bogliano, Xavier Gens, Noboru Iguchi, Thomas Cappelen Malling, Jorge Michel Grau, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Simon Rumley, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Srdjan Spasojevic, Timo Tjahjanto, Andrew Traucki, Nacho Vigalondo, Jake West, Ti West, Ben Wheatley, Adam Wingard, Mikael Wulff, Yudai Yamaguchi, and Lee Hardcastle




The list of deaths below is for my own reference.  I don't recommend reading it, whether you plan to see the film or not.
Apocalypse
Bird
Cycle
Dogfight
Exhumed
Far
Gravity
Hydro-Electric Diffusion
Itchy
Jidai-Geki
Kapoo
Libido
Miscarriage
Nature
Orgasm
Parama Ribo (Pressure)
Quack
Rice
Speed
Toilet
Unsuspecting
Vagitist
XXL
Yeti
Zymosis

Plan C

Ronald, a Dutch cop, is down on his luck.  In debt to the local Chinese mafia and constantly frittering his illegal side-cash away on gambling, just waiting for luck to turn to his side.  When the mafia threatens his son, he has to take action.  Plan A: win enough to pay back his debt gambling.  Fail.  Plan B: borrow enough money to pay the mafia in time.  Fail.  Plan C: steal the money by enlisting help and robbing his gambling house....

Plan C is a thoroughly enjoyable story from start to finish.

Plan C
2012, 95 minutes, directed by Max Porcelijn

Taped

A Dutch couple, on vacation in Argentina to rekindle their failing marriage, witness a police shooting.  With no where to turn, tension rises as their situation grows increasingly desperate.  As the title might imply, part of the film is recorded shakey-cam style using the couple's camcorder.  Fortunately for the audience, though, that genre is falling out of favor, and the film quickly adopts a hybrid style where a professional third-party camera is used more than half the time.

I think the film hits all its marks, and while the overall plot is somewhat predictable the individual twists and turns make for a good, if suspenseful, adventure.

Taped
2012, 90 minutes, directed by Diederik Van Rooijen

Toata lumea din familia noastra (Everybody in the Family)

The description for this film said that I shouldn't know anything about it going in, and that I should stop reading right away.  My mistake was following their guidance.  Right off the bat they tell us that it was a all a trick; this isn't a genre film at all, but instead a family drama.

Marius, the father, wants to pick up his daughter for his brief custody week.  Only his ex-wife, Otilla, is a conniving schemer who wants to keep him away from his daughter.  Oh, Marius is also incredibly stupid when put into bad situations.  The only saving grace is their daughter, Sofia, who (played by five-year-old Sofia Nicolaescu) is put in the middle as her parents, her grandma, and her mother's boyfriend ratchet up the insane.  None of them should be allowed near children.

Toata lumea din familia noastra (Everybody in the Family)
2012, 107 minutes, directed by Radu Jude

Cold Blooded

Cold Blooded is a police crime drama centered around a strong female lead ("Lauren" in Lost Girl apparently, if you watch it), with a single bit of gore right in the middle to ratchet up the tension.  But that's not important.  What's important is that this is one of the best films I've seen in a good while, and all of you that would ever watch a police crime drama should find a way to see this.  The cinematography was great, the acting solid, the special effects amazing for a $2M film.  And in the Q&A, when the producer said that the actual budget was $275k and it was shot in just two weeks, the audience (myself included) was astounded.  It's after 2 AM and I just sat through the screening, but if I had a DVD of this I'd put it on again.  This film deserves nationwide release and it needs an audience of devoted fans to get one.

Cold Blooded
2012, 86 minutes, directed by Jason Lapeyre

Miami Connection

Yes this is a 1987 film.  Why I am seeing it at a festival?  Because it was billed as "the BEST unseen movie in HISTORY!"  An American-Asian martial arts film from their heyday, this low-budget flick faded into obscurity until it was rescued by the Alamo Drafthouse.  The screening today featured a reunion of the entire Dragon Sound ensemble, the band around which the centers.  (I sat along side them, next to Vincent Hirsch and his wife.)

I'm not sure if this would appeal to many people.  The dialog is awful, the facial hair is straight outta the '80s and the plot is served with queso on top.  My sister-in-law would love it.

Miami Connection
1987, 120 minutes, directed by Woo-sang Park and Y. K. Kim

The Conspiracy

Two Canadian directors set out to create a documentary film about a local conspiracy theorist.  But when their subject goes missing a few months into production, the filming doesn't end.  Tracking down his work, the filmmakers continue to put the pieces together, tying -everything- together and to a mysterious world cabal.

The film explores how conspiracy theorists create un-refutable positions to ensure that no reality can interfere with their beliefs.  Then the film shows how far the conspiracy really goes...

One of the director's comments was particular interesting.  As he said, if athletes dressed up in the woods and conducted pagan rituals, the media would be all over it.  But when the people who actually run the world do it (e.g. Bohemian Grove), the media is generally silent.

The Conspiracy
2012, directed by Christopher MacBride 

The Warped Forest

I'm not really sure what I just watched.  Even having seen Funky Forest, the weirdest thing on film, I'm at a complete loss for how that formed a coherent story in the mind of writer/producer/director's Shunichiro Miki's mind.  It's Japanese.  Picture strange creatures, unusual currency, and über technology.  For God's sake, don't let it splash the dumplings!

The Warped Forest
2011, 82 minutes, directed by Shunichiro Miki 

La Memoria Del Muerto (The Memory of the Dead)

Three films in one day?  Why yes, it is the start of another Fantastic Fest!

As the director puts it, La Memoria Del Muerto (The Memory of the Dead) is not a horror film; it's a love story.  Or, as I see it, a story of horrible love.

Five friends of Jorge reunite with his widow to remember his life.  And when the dead start to return, it seems the reunion is something more... Be prepared for emotional scars to be ripped off and eaten as the guests reunite with the ghosts of their pasts.

La Memoria Del Muerto (The Memory of the Dead)
2011, 89 minutes, directed by Valentín Javier Diment

Black Out

In this Netherlands crime comedy-drama, Jos:

• wakes to find a unknown corpse in his bed.
• discovers he stole and lost 20 kilos of cocaine, and both "owners" want it back.
• has a hole where the last two days of memories should be.

Oh, and he's getting married tomorrow.

He thought he'd left this life behind a decade ago, but somehow he's been pulled back in.  An ensemble cast of criminals interact to weave the story of one important day in Jos' life.  It's not remotely new or anything - it's been more than a decade since Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels after all, but I still enjoy the hell out of the genre.

Black Out
2012, 89 minutes, directed by Arne Toonen

Frankenweenie 3D

There's little need to run through the plot Frankenweenie.  It is what you expect it to be, a feature-length rewrite of one of Tim Burton's early shorts.  That's not why the film is awesome.  It's awesome because of the attention to detail in creating a vast 3D, claymation world, and framing that world in the confines and freedoms of black and white film.  It's awesome because of Tim Burton's macabre sense of humor and how readily it can be conveyed through puppets.  Forget your kids (seriously, don't bring them under 8 years old or so); this film packs plenty of emotional punch for adults.

Frankenweenie 3D
2012, 87 minutes, directed by Tim Burton

In the spirit of the film, the Alamo sponsored a Monster Ball for patrons and their (under 20 pounds) dogs in costume.  And as part of the multi-cast world premiere, one of the theaters allowed pets - but fortunately not my theater.

Showdown at Area 51

When the newer guy on Burn Notice crashes from the sky, chased by a big guy in a gas mask wielding nanobot shurikens, only some B-movie actor dude and Chiana from Farscape (strangely, as a human) can save the world.

This isn't a very good movie.  It's especially not very good late at night on Siffy when I should be asleep, with regular breaks so Jimmie Johnson can hawk Extenze.

Showdown at Area 51
2007, 96 minutes, directed by C. Roma

The Book of Eli

I knew this film had religious undertones, but whoa.  Still, this was a good story of the re-emergence of hope in world where it had long passed.  And there's a decent bit of knife combat.

The Book of Eli
2010, 118 minutes, directed by Albert and Allen Hughes

Red Planet

Part two of my year 2000 Mars film retrospective, Red Planet starts out almost exactly the same as did last week's Mission to Mars - right down to the machine-of-the-gods-style random event just as they reach orbit that nearly derails the mission (and drives most of the survival portion of the action).  Indeed, for a long while it doesn't feel as if any of the crew are safe, to the point that I was beginning to think this was a very high tech snuff film.

Instead, the crew finds Mars air inexplicably breathable, with an atmosphere caused by - something.  But the science has to take a back seat while they race across the surface to reach a way off the planet, before their rescue ship must return home.

They make an effort to explain "gravity" in space, and are even somewhat consistent with its application (and absence as necessary), but most of the special effects budget was spent on AMEE, their military hand-me-down, overly-complicated, psychopathic robotic scout.  Overall, with its solid cast of B-movie actors led by then stars Carrie-Ann Moss (hot from the Matrix) and Val Kilmer, this was a decent B-grade sci fi action film.

Red Planet
2000, 106 minutes, directed by Antony Hoffman

The Dark Knight Rises

It's been a long time since this series started, and so long since Heath Ledger's death.  Is this the ending I wanted?  Is it what I needed?

Mercenary Bane has taken Gotham City hostage, striking directly at the police and the resources of Batman.  Even with the enlisted help of Catwoman, Batman will need to give everything he has to succeed in this final chapter of the Dark Knight trilogy.

Batman's righteous anonymity leaves me hanging.  Maybe that's a lesson on humility I need to hear.

The Dark Knight Rises
2012, 165 minutes, directed by Christopher Nolan

Mission to Mars

Usually, when I see a science fiction film that bothers to explain artificial gravity, I presume they want to pursue some sense of scientific rigor, at least for the mundane things not necessary to advance the "fiction" portion of the science fiction plot.  This was alas my downfall with Mission to Mars, for I tried to evaluate it as a good film, one that would be consistent in its scientific quality.  I was quite dismayed, then, when they let someone survive down to 10% atmospheric pressure - then back up again quickly without getting the bends.  Then there was the free scene in orbit, and I was ready to write the film off as hopeless.

But then it struck me; the gravity answer was the anomaly.  This is actually a bad film where acting, storyline, and accuracy were tossed in favor of vision.  Vision, that is, of the directory or studio execs or whoever cobbled this crap story together.  Recognizing that it was low-grade cinema allowed me to appreciate it for what it is: filler for my Netflix queue.  And as that it was all right.

Mission to Mars
2000, 113 minutes, directed by Brian De Palma

The Final Cut

Alan Hakman (Robin Williams) is a cutter, a taxidermist of memories for those who lived and died with a Zoe implant, with their entire life captured on film.  Haunted by the memories of his own life, Alan cleans those of his clients, leaving their families with only the sanitized good they wish to see at their loved one's rememory gathering.

Then, some things happen, and Alan faces a life crises.  And while science fiction film most certainly doesn't require action, none of the things seem particularly life changing; no matter how well or inaccurately he remembered past events, he seems basically unchanged in his melancholy.  It's this malaise of sadness that permeates the film, and with nothing to perturb it the whole picture falls flat.

The Final Cut
2004, 95 minutes, directed by Omar Naim

The Amazing Spider Man

As I recently said, I really liked the casting of the 2002-2007 Spider Man trilogy.  They weren't the best films, no, but the actors fit their roles so very well.  That already puts me off such a sudden reboot into new players in an alternate storyline.

Then there's the new Peter Parker himself.  I dunno about this kid who likes to shake his head side-to-side with his mouth partially open.  Did he do that once in high school drama class and his teacher said it "carried his emotion well", so he just keeps doing it as his only acting skill?  I swear he strikes that same pose a half dozen times in this movie.

I guess they're trying to write a better story, but they've mucked it up with the casting.  Sorry.  Reboot it again.

The Amazing Spider Man
 2012, 136 minutes, directed by Marc Webb

Machete

"Machete don't text."

This isn't meant to be serious.  It isn't meant to be provocative.  It's meant to be kickass fun.  Danny Trejo is Machete, an ex-Federale who's been set up by a cartel of lowest scum on both sides of the border.  With the help of Michelle Rodriguez as Luz, leader of a immigrant network, and Jessica Alba as Sartana, a no-nonsense ICE agent, Machete is after justice and revenge.

Machete
2010, 105 minutes, directed by Ethan Maniquis and Robert Rodriguez

"I thought Machete don't text?"

"Machete improvises."

The Next Three Days

There are too many lucky coincidences, but as a filler film for a lazy evening I enjoyed this. The Next Three Days 2010, 133 minutes, directed by Paul Haggis

The Hangover Part II

Having seen the original film in the theater, I can't imagine a sequel being anything more than a warmed over rehash of the same basic plot.  Having now seen the sequel courtesy of our I-haven't-gotten-around-to-cancelling-it-since-Game-of-Thrones-ended HBO subscription, my presumptions are vindicated.

The Hangover Part II
2011, 102 minutes, directed by Todd Phillips

The Negotiator

When a long-time cop and decorated hostage negotiator is framed for his partner's murder, and he holes up in a federal building with hostages, who do they call?  The OTHER NEGOTIATOR.

There's nothing wrong with this police crime action/drama.  Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, and the rest of the cast do a fine job given the material.  There are just so very few films that can pull off a central character drama when they bring in a second character in the same role.

I really want to make fun of their pagers, but sadly I still have one just like 'em.  My employer's emergency response system requires them for some inane reason.

The Negotiator
1998, 140 minutes, directed by F. Gary Gray

Prometheus

The interstellar ship Prometheus arrives at its destination and a long, cryo-sleep journey: a planet indicated on maps of every major prehistory civilization on Earth.  Perhaps this is the home of our progenitors, our Gods.

As it happens, though, it's not.  Instead it's the home of a living goo that, in the correct circumstances, breeds in the right kind of human to become an Alien of the franchise.  This is a prequel, sort of, but not really.  It's sort of a horror film, but no, not that.  There's some action, but it's certainly not an action film.  Maybe it's a survival film, but that's not really it either.  And since I've never given a reason to develop an emotional attachment to the characters, there's no possibility of suspense.  I wanted spine-tingling insight into the backstory of the Aliens; I got something bland and rambling on screen.

Prometheus
2012, 124 minutes, directed by Ridley Scott

Kill Bill Vol. 2

When I originally watched the series, the first film was all action, flash, and style, and the second was...slow.  But in my first re-watch since release, having not seen the first half again, I better appreciate the story, character development, and unique style of the "conclusion" to the story.

Now I just have to hope that the upcoming third film won't horribly suck.

Kill Bill Vol. 2
2004, 136 minutes, directed by Quentin Tarantino

The Game

Michael Douglas stars as wealthy financier Nicholas Van Orton, given the ultimate birthday gift: a real-life mystery game starring him.  How far does the game go, or is it a game at all?

I kept trying to predict the ending, and kept getting it wrong.  But still I'm not sure I'm happy with how it turned out.

The Game
1997, 129 minutes, directed by David Fincher

X-Men: First Class

Why?  The plot is disjointed and contrived.  I would have so much preferred more effort put into the third film of the original trilogy to make it not suck so much than spend any money on this at all.

Wait, is this supposed to be a reboot?  I can't tell.  That's a large part of the problem.  Set in the 1960s, this film shows events long before those of the trilogy, in a way compatible with (hello Hugh Jackman) the Wolverine origin film.  Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) is a former Nazi scientist bent on world destruction to reform it for the mutant race.  Erik Lehnsherr totally agrees with all of that except Shaw happened to have killed his mother, so Erik teams up with Charles Xavier and his new mutant understudies to take on Shaw and the simultaneous American and Soviet navies.  If they'd made it clear this was a reboot, I might have taken it differently.

X-Men: First Class
2011, 132 minutes, directed by Matthew Vaughn

11:14

I have a soft spot for congruence-of-events filmmaking.  Sure they basically took the climax of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and turned it into a full-length feature, but seeing basically the same story over and over again, each time from a different view, each time learning a little more, just works for me.  No complaints.

11:14
2005, 86 minutes, directed by Greg Marcks 

The Avengers

First thoughts: There are a lot of ingredients in this pot.

Second thoughts: I was wondering when the not-so-super heroes would be relegated to civilian duty while the fly-through-the-air jumping-on-buildings super heroes would save the day.  Oh, yes, here it is.  Well at least they kept it as part of the action, as an important part of the mission.

Ending thoughts: I don't think this film - aka Iron Man III and friends - was the best film I've seen this year.  Oh well.  It's made enough money that there will be another film.

Final thoughts: Stay until the end of the credits for a bonus scene.

The Avengers
2012, 143 minutes, directed by Joss Whedon

The Hunger Games

It's unfortunately obvious that they were forced to compress an extensive novel into one film, what with all the knowing gazes that clearly imply history not explained to the audience.  I expect there's an extended cut with significant back story.

Nothing really seemed new, so I wasn't all that impressed.  It doesn't even attempt to set up a satisfactory conclusion, as if the rest of the series being funded is already assumed.


The Hunger Games
2012, 142 minutes, directed by Gary Ross

Spider-Man 2

I know the scenarios are laughable, the plots contrived, the dialog drippy.  But I love the casting of the 2002-2007 trilogy.  Kirsten Dunst, Tobey Maguire, James Franco, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, J.K. Simmons - they all work for me in these roles.  I'm not sure if I'll watch the reboot.  It may leave me with too much regret for what might have been.

Spider-Man 2
2004, 127 minutes, directed by Sam Raimi

District B13

Leïto, a product of Paris bario B13, wants to clean up his home and rescue his sister Lola.  Damien, a go-it-alone cop, needs to defuse a bomb captured by the B13 thugs.  Together they need to bring down the crime boss Taha, save the girl, and save the city.

I liked the idea of putting two very physical actors together on screen, though I have to admit their respective solo work at the start of the film exceeds their group scenes.  Still the story is solid enough and the action sequences are good.  I'd watch it again.

District B13
2004, 84 minutes, directed by Pierre Morel

Citadel

Citadel is a story of urban and mental decay, and the struggle to fight for order and justice.  Tommy, a young father, is stricken with agoraphobia after witnessing his wife's brutal assault at the hands of a mysterious gang of street youth.  Held to the area by his wife's coma, he's certain that the gang plans to return for his son.  Can he escape, or is the option to face them in their stronghold, the abandoned tower block known as the Citadel?

I felt many of the decisions made in this script were harsh and brutal, yet exactly right for the dystopic wasteland of the urban renewal project and the devastated mental state of the main character.  It's not a particularly scary film, but it does a very good job of conveying Tommy's absolute terror, starting with simple things like stepping outside, but ramping up to far, far worse.

Citadel
2012, 84 minutes, directed by Ciaran Foy

Black Pond

The papers called the Thompson family murderers. They say it was the only decent thing to do. Why did they invite a stranger to their home, and when he died bury him in the woods?

Like many British mockumentaries, this is a slow-burner punctuated with dry witty humor. I would have liked it better if I was working on more sleep.

Black Pond
2011, 82 minutes, directed by Will Sharpe and Tom Kinsley

"The downside of a tedious life is you have a tedious life. But the upside is you have a swimming pool in the summer."

Compliance

Stupid, gullible people do uncomfortable things when told to by someone they perceive to have authority. It would be inane if it wasn't based on true events. Based on how everyone out here is talking about it, though, I think it's a cinematic success.

Compliance
2012, 90 minutes, directed by Craig Zobel

V/H/S

Five short horror stories are tied together loosely by a sixth, centered on the theme of "found footage" shakey-camera work.  I wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped to be.

V/H/S
2011, 115 minutes, directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, and Radio Silence

Under African Skies

When Paul Simon heard the music of South Africa, his only desire was to meet the artists and record with them.  However, in doing so, he "violated" the cultural ban enacted to oppose apartheid.  Twenty-five years later he returns to South Africa to reunite the original band and perform a reunion concert, as well as meet a former African National Congress leader and lay the controversy to rest.

The film includes video of original recording sessions in South Africa, New York, and London, as well as video of the reunion rehearsals and concert and meetings between Paul and ANC leadership.  The one thing it lacked was full-length songs, leaving me hanging each time they fade out...

Under African Skies
2012, 108 minutes, directed by Joe Berlinger

Gayby

In this uncomfortable but funny situation comedy, Jenn and her best friend Matt decide to have a baby.  Except Matt is gay and Jenn isn't.  And they decide to try the old-fashioned way.  Dating and sex hilarity ensues.

I'm not sure if they were trying to direct it just towards an LGBT audience, but it plays well for a general crowd of open-minded people.

Gayby
2012, 88 minutes, directed by Lonathan Lisecki

Shut Up and Play the Hits

When James Murphy was 38, he made an album.  When he was 41, his band LCD Soundsystem announced their final show, performed it, and quit music.  Why?  A documentary filmmaker followed him for the week before the show, the final performance, and the next day.  Note that the film features many songs from the concert in their entirety, so fans of LCD Soundsystem are the preferred audience.

I will note that, for whatever reason, I had a really hard time understanding the dialog in this film.  I with someone from the film had been there for Q&A so I could casually ask how they did sound work, just to make sure I never do it that way myself.

Shut Up and Play the Hits
2012, 110 minutes, directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern

Iron Sky

In a world where Sarah Palin is president, the Moon Nazis return...

Iron Sky
2012, 93 minutes, directed by Timo Vuorensola

I spent an hour in line chatting with acting hopeful Samantha Davilry.  I'm noting her name so I can keep an eye out for film credits.  Good luck!

Girls Against Boys

Abused and insulted, Shae and her new friend Lu go on a sadistic rampage against every man they meet.  Quite a performance by Nicole Laliberte, but it's senselessly brutal.

Girls Against Boys
2012, 87 minutes, directed by Austin Chick

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters

I'm fascinated by Gregory Crewdson's work.  His photos have a production cost rivaling an independent film, and his prints sell for up to $125k.  His eight-year photo epic "Beneath the Roses" features 50 photos taken in Massachusetts, documenting the decay of the northern small town as capitalism fails.  And yet he insists his photos have no plot, storyline, character, or development; each exists just in one moment, in his head and on film.

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters
2012, 77 minutes, directed by Ben Shapiro

Intruders

This is a tale of two children, separate but alike, haunted by Hollowface, who comes in the night. He steals their faces to wear as his own, for his face is long, long gone. But he does not realize how far parents will strive to keep their children safe and alive.

Intruders
2011, 93 minutes, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Extracted

This film is about inhabiting other people's memories.  No, this isn't Inception.  Tom Jacobs invents a machine that allows a person to enter the mind of another, and experience his or her memories.  No, this isn't Inception.  When something goes wrong, he's trapped in the mind of another, unable to escape.  No, this isn't Inception.  Can he find a way to escape and get back to the real world?  No, this isn't Inception, it's better, because the film solves its dilemmas via engaging character interaction and growth, rather than special effects and running around a lot through a city.

Writer and first-time director Nir Paniry wrote the first draft of the script in 2008.  When Inception came out, as he put it, he "fucking freaked out".  And yet they were able to finish the film and bring it to the festival market.  I don't know if it will get distribution, but I'm quite pleased to have had an opportunity to see it.

Extracted
2012, 88 minutes, directed by Nir Paniry

WONDER WOMEN! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Per the documentary, 3% of decision-making positions in media companies are held by women, so most comics, films, and TV shows that feature women are designed or approved by men.  The result can range from the occasionally empowering to the usually inane.

This documentary looks at all three of the mentioned media types, but it starts and finishes with Wonder Woman, from her formation in the early 1940s, through the years when she was mostly helpless and even gave up her powers, to her resurgence as a symbol of feminism and girrrl power.

WONDER WOMEN! The Untold Story of American Superheroines
2012, 65 minutes, directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan

Lovely Molly

In Lovely Molly, director Eduardo Sanchez (of Blair Witch fame) follows the same trend as the [REC] franchise, moving away from first-person "found footage" back to a mix with traditional camera work. Molly and her husband, newly married, move back into her childhood home. The demons of her past - drug use, insanity, the memory of her father - quickly reemerge as she struggles in her new old setting. Are the demons all in her head, or does her father's legacy live on? SXSW bills the as "what happens before the exorcist arrives". I think of it as Paranormal 4: Less Scary More Nudity.

Lovely Molly
2011, 95 minutes, directed by Eduardo Sanchez

See Girl Run

Emmie, a married 30-something, isn't sure her life is heading in the right direction. What if she wasn't supposed drift away from her first love, the one where she "never broke up, just moved away?" What if he thought the same? What if?

"You can't live your life on 'what ifs'. Eventually they make you crazy," says her father. It also doesn't help that her ex is a friendly yet creepy stalker who never figured out the best way to show how you feel is to get the hell out of her life and let her be happy her own way. I thought this film would be insightful but instead it was just uncomfortable and sad.

I'm going to find a horror film to watch and forget about this.

Run Girl Run
2012, 89 minutes, directed by Nate Meyer

Her Master's Voice

Nina Conti was ten years into her stand-up ventriloquism career when she decided to give it up. Before she had a chance to tell her mentor and former lover Ken Campbell - the man who introduced her to her career - he died, unexpectedly leaving her his entire collection of books, tapes, and puppets. She deduced to make one last trip, to a ventriloquist convention in Kentucky, and to donate one of Ken's puppets to Venthaven, a museum and resting place for puppets of dead masters.

That's the plot, at least, but it isn't the story. What really matters is that Nina is at a crossroads, scared and unsure, yet she shares her deepest most inner thought through her puppet Monkey and through those of Ken she voices. A lot of the film is her having conversations with herself - and it works. It really works well.

Her Master's Voice
2012, 59 minutes, directed by Nina Conti

Modus Anomoli

I really got angry with the protagonist of this outdoor survival horror. Carrying around a flashlight when being hunted outdoors falls in my stupidpeople category. There's a full moon. Do you have no night vision?

In the end, though, they explain everything, albeit in a way that leaves me baffled for an hour until it clicks. If you start to watch this definitely see it through.

Modus Anomoli
2012, 87 minutes, directed by Joko Anwar

The Raid: Redemption

Brutal.

The Raid: Redemption
2011, 100 minutes, directed by Gareth Huw Evans

This film is worth upgrading your sound system for.

WE ARE LEGION: The Story of the Hacktivists

This feel-good activism documentary chronicles the story of Anonymous and it's offshoots, from its origins on 4chan, early operations against Hal Turner and Scientology, through the Lulzsec activities of 2011. It does a good job of marketing the Freedom ethos, but there's little time spent on opposing viewpoints if you want an apolitical account.

If you don't believe the government will always protects ALL your freedoms, you too rely on Anonymous. I expect though that only those who agree with film will ever see it.

WE ARE LEGION: The Story of Anonymous
2012, 89 minutes, directed by Brian Knappenberger

Keyhole

The director of this film describes it as "gangsters meet ghosts" turned into an autobiography of a house. Ulysses returns to his family home, determined to reach his wife Hyacinth on the top floor. To get there, though, he must navigate the other rooms of the house and their unearthly inhabitants.

Or at least that's how it's billed. I describe it more as surreal experimentation. Or a black & white cinematic study of how many actors (young and quite old) you can get full nude and acting like a crazy ghost on film.

It's not really for me.

Keyhole
2012, directed by Guy Maddin

Sinister

SXSW's not-so-secret screening was the first public screening of Sinister, exactly as everyone thought.  While I appreciate all the effort they went to for the film to screen here, it just didn't work for me like I'd hoped.  Ellison (Ethan Hawke) is a true-crime writer seeking his second Big Novel, having suffered several unspecified failures.  He moves his family - wife Trace (Juliet Rylance), son Trevor (Michael Hall D'addario), and daughter Ashley (Clare Foley) into the house of his latest focus, a family of five where four members were hung from a tree in the back yard, and the final member, a daughter Stephanie, disappeared.

Very quickly the scope of the crime grows when Ellison finds a box of "Home Movies" in the attic, along with a Super 8 film projector.  The first film shows the murder of the family - a film the police never found.  The other four films show the deaths of similar families, each killed by a different method, each in a different state, and each (as he later learns) with a missing child, stretched out over the past 45 years.  At the same time the supernatural events in the house lead him to believe that maybe the killer never left...

I didn't think Ellison's actions were plausible, something admittedly I can overlook (as I often must) for horror films.  The real problems though were in the ending.  I have BIG SPOILERS below the film info below.  Read on only if you have seen the film or have no intention of doing so.

Sinister
2012, directed by Scott Derrickson










THESE ARE SPOILERS!  Things that just didn't work:
1. The biggest problem is the slow, all-cards-on-the-table ending.  We just didn't need everything spelled out like that in passionless film.  First the kids should not have already been mindless automatons when they killed their families.  It would have been better if they were doing it scared shitless and crying, while being forced to by the Boogie Man.  And what Ashley does after Ellison dies seems redundant.  Who cares that the kids live in the film?  The movie should have ended the instance Ellison was killed, his family dying first.
2. When Ellison learned that one dead family previously lived in a home that was itself the scene of an earlier film, it was obvious the same would be true for all the other murders.  It also meant that "family piles into the car and flees" would never be a suitable ending.  Either they'd need to fight and win, or they wouldn't make it.  That's all fine, except that the phone call from the deputy at the end where he explains all of this is completely pointless.  I got it already, thanks, don't slow things down.  Maybe the only useful bit is the deputy's comment that his action might have "accelerated the schedule" which was somehow true but really never explained.  Why'd they need to die the day they moved?  The other families clearly lived at least a little while in their new homes based on the films.
3.  Why did the Boogie Man switch to Super 8 in the 1960s?  Was that when he stopped using photographs?  During the course of the film - which could also double as an Apple product instructional video - Ellison proves the editing superiority of digital cameras and a computer.  I think it would have been more satisfactory somehow if Ashley was filming on her dad's digicam at the end, with a USB stick dropped in the Home Movies box if that clip isn't cut (as it wouldn't be I guess if they want a sequel segue.)  The Boogie Man needs to keep up with the times or else he'll be stuck with a family that doesn't even know what the Super 8 projector is.

Safety Not Guaranteed

I'm old enough to be sentimental about things. In the film they say "It's not about a girl, it's about a time and a place." But it's not. It's really more about finding who you want to be right here and right now.

Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and two coworkers follow a classified ad:
"WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. 'Safety Not Guaranteed.' I have only done this once before."

Safety Not Guaranteed
2012, 85 minutes, directed by Colin Treverrow

The Announcement

AIDS is the medical story of our generation. It appeared as a modern-day plague, became a death sentence, then evolved into a tragic yet chronic and manageable disease. And for all of that Earvin "Magic" Johnson was there. I didn't follow basketball and I knew about his announcement. November 7, 1991. Other than a lady who spoke at an assembly at my junior high, he was the only person I knew who had AIDS/HIV. And yet, over the years, he didn't...die. I saw this today to understand why.

What I got was so much more, focused on his uplifting spirit. At first I wasn't sure about having Magic narrate his own film, but ultimately as a story of optimism there's no better choice. And for the record, he takes the exact same cocktail as everyone else lucky enough to have insurance and treatment.

The Announcement
2012, 75 minutes, directed by Nelson George

The Imposter

Thirteen-year-old Nicholas Clayton disappeared from his San Antonio home in 1993.  Three years later, a 23-year-old French imposter claimed to be him, having been kidnapped and held as a sex slave.  His hair color didn't match, his eye color didn't match, and he spoke English with an accent.  And yet you won't believe how far it goes...

The Imposter
2012, 95 minutes, directed by Bart Layton

[REC]³ Génesis

 When you're whole premise - demonic zombie infestation film with shakey cam - becomes a cliché, what should you do?  For Paco Plaza, the answer is kick it out, literally in this case, and fortunately not that long into the film.  This leaves the third installment of the [REC] franchise (Quarantine per the U.S. remake) with a very different feel than the first two.  It, too, has lost the claustrophobic charm of its predecessors, set this time in the spacious buildings and grounds of a reception hall.  It's her wedding day, and nothing is going to keep the bride from her groom.  This isn't a demonic zombie film.  It's a love story.  With demonic zombies.

[REC]³ Génesis
2012, 80 minutes, directed by Paco Plaza


Scott, people don't ask questions during your Q&A for a reason.  First off, you ask 60% of the questions yourself.  Then when you cajole a question from the audience, you take the gist of it, come up with a different question of your own, and "restate" it to the director so he'll answer your version.  And you interrupted the director while he was talking to put words in his mouth!  Twice!

The Cabin in the Woods

Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon don't want anyone to talk about this film.  It's hard not too because it was fucking awesome.  You think you have it figured out?  Oh no you don't; check out this.

What happens when five young college students set off for a weekend alone in the woods?  Mayhem of course.  If you would ever watch a horror comedy, make sure you watch this one.

"This came from a place of love.  Joss and I just love horror movies." - director Drew Goddard at the world premiere Q&A on opening night of SXSW 2012.

The Cabin in the Woods
2012, 105 minutes, directed by Drew Goddard




"No, no, no.  It's not an angry raping tree.  It's an angry molesting tree." - Drew

Outbreak

I think this is the first film I've ever seen with Dustin Hoffman in the lead role.  In truth, he struggles somewhat as an archetypical "good guy" without a character to absorb.  He stars as USAMRIID agent investigating a new disease that has appeared in sub-Saharan Africa.  As it spreads to the United States, he struggles to find the source, save his wife, and fight the establishment determined to suppress the spread through any means necessary.

Outbreak
1995, 127 minutes, directed by Wolfgang Petersen

The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations

In this direct-to-DVD installment of the Butterfly franchise, Sam is a psychic detective for Detroit PD, who has a time travel ability vaguely similar to that of Evan from the first film.  This time, though, he has a knowing sister and friend/professor who help him with his jumps, so long as he sticks to the code and never affects his own past.  But when the sister of his murdered first girlfriend needs his help to prove the innocence of the man sitting on death row for the crime, his jumps starts to unravel his life.  Each time the death count grows, and the police think he's the murderer.

Unfortunately the true criminal is apparent half an hour into the film, what with the no-so-subtle repeated dialog about his past choices.  Unlike in the first film with Evan, though, this time Sam has a solution that can put everything right...

The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations
2009, 89 minutes, directed by Seth Grossman

The Butterfly Effect

My review of this is mostly spoilers.  Sorry.

I prefer films with happy endings.  Shallow, I know, but I don't watch a movie so I can make some haughty film critic pronunciation on its worthiness in the cinematic arts.  I want to lose myself in another world for a little while, to have an opportunity to see what it's like to be someone else.  Such sessions end better if they end well.

So why am I not satisfied with this one?  Ostensibly it ends as well as it could.  Everyone's happy.  Sort of.  Maybe the guy who gets the girl in the last scene shouldn't be an extra?

I watched the director's cut.  I would have enjoyed another hour of film if they could have kept the roller coaster going long enough for him to find a better solution.

The Butterfly Effect
2004, 120 minutes (director's cut), directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber

Deja Vu

This film starring Denzel Washington starts as a straight-forward police procedural, investigating a terrorist attack that destroys a New Orleans ferry carrying returning sailors and their families.

Then the time viewing/interference starts and it gets weird.  Couple that with an ending of imperfect knowledge and I hesitate to like it as much as I think I should.

Deja Vu
2006, 126 minutes, directed by Tony Scott