FilmRoar

I did not like Femme Fatale (2002) while watching it nearly as much as I did afterwards going over the making of the movie with the featurettes on the DVD. The story that Brian De Palma dreamed up is interesting, but he somehow did not seem to manage to pull it off. The movie is full of cinematographic devices that are interesting to notice through the film and add up as you realize what the sub-text of the movie is telling you about the plot. Watching the movie for clues and cinematography would probably be more fun if the whole production did not have a stale air to it. If you are a fan of De Palma or Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, or if you like watching movies where you have to go back for a second viewing once you realize ‘what was really going on’ you will probably enjoy watching this film. The movie is somehow flawed though; it seems to make a promise of a good and intelligent film that it cannot keep.

Some Hollywood Stars are personalities more than anything else. Some Hollywood movies are a vehicle for a Hollywood personality more than anything else. As a Steve McQueen vehicle, Getaway, The (1972) is first and foremost an opportunity of us to see the gritty grumpy looks that he can give, that and car chases, lots and lots of car chases. The movie is not bad for what it is, but be clear that it does not aspire to much more than guys who look like they just got out of jail shooting at each other, cars flipping over in chases, girls showing cleavage as they stand by their tough hombres and lots and lots of pissed-off looking Steve McQueen.

To use a Neoism: Whoa!

After a yearlong wait since the teaser trailer, Warner Brothers just released the final and full Matrix Reloaded trailer on the Matrix Web site. The trailer is simply astounding, showing off some incredible and unprecedented special effects scenes.

Warning: If you prefer to see a movie without spoilers this may not be the trailer for you. While it does not give away the movie plot, it does show a lot of the effects you may wish to wait and see on the big screen.

A cult classic that took decades to be recognized, The Wicker Man (1973) is a great B movie gone right. The story of a virginal and Christian police officer Sergeant (Edward Woodward) who becomes embroiled in a heathen plot on a remote Scottish island while investigating the disappearance of a young girl plays on fears planted deep in our minds of what pagans might be capable of. Children dancing around a maypole? Townspeople fornicating in the fields at night? The sexy innkeeper’s daughter trying to seduce the very Christian goodness out of an innocent man? Human sacrifice?!!! What could a community turned to paganism be capable of? Watch The Wicker Man to find out.

Oh, one more thing: It’s a musical. You have been warned.

Let’s be clear about this: I do NOT like musicals. Musicals for me fall into three categories: Tolerably bad, really bad, and audio-visual punishment. There are a couple of movies that can be treated as exceptions, notably Moulin Rouge and The Blues Brothers (face it folks, The Blues Brothers IS a musical). Now I have a new shinning gem to add to the list of proof that not all musicals are bad, and in this case Chicago (2002) is actually really rather quite excellent.

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Just got done watching Eddie Izzard - Dress to Kill (1999) from a tape my good friend Enrika Made me. This would be the sixth or eight time I watch the show through and it still makes me laugh out loud. The tape left me wanting to buy Izzard’s other show on DVD: Eddie Izzard - Glorious. Problem is Glorious seems to no longer be in print.

What is more frightening than a monster movie? How about a horror film that relies on pointing out how screwed up the society we live in is, to get its frights? Point in case: The creepy scene with a store full of Stepford Wives grocery shopping with Sunday hats and lace gloves on. There is something deeply wrong with that moment, and I don’t just mean the vacant eyes and hollow greetings they give each other as they shop. What makes the scene so disturbing is that the housewife holding the can of product up so the label shows while in her Sunday best IS something we have seen before: in countless detergent and margarine ads. When you watch The Stepford Wives(1975) don’t just see the horror, read the context. Let me give you a hint: Women’s Liberation.

Incidentally, the movie is being remade thirty years later starring Nicole Kidman and Joan Cusack. While I detest the Hollywood propensity to mess up classic movies by remaking them with a dumbed down script and a happy ending, the casting seems perfect.