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Carrie (2013)- This is a remake I normally would have groaned at, but when it was announced that Chloë Grace Moretz was playing Carrie, that got my attention. I thought she stole the show as Hit Girl in 'Kick-Ass'. The casting of Julianne Moore as the crazy mom was even better- I thought we had a good movie on our hands!
Well it came and went in the theater- for whatever reason I just missed it. I was excited to see it show up on Netflix.
After seeing it.... it seems like a waste of time. Carrie 2013 seems to come from the 'Psycho' school of remakes: it's just a bit too close to the original to the point of being irrelevant. It had the same exact scenes and many of the exact same lines as the 1976 original. In fact the only thing I noticed that brings the story to the present was in the beginning locker room scene, when all the girls whip out their cell phones and start recording Carrie's freak-out. Those recordings then end up online and that brought a contemporary, realistic (and cruel) tone to the movie. In this day in age, that's totally what would happen in real life.
Aside from that though, it was pretty much the same movie. In the 1976 original, the final frame when
So in the end, Carrie 2013 wasn't horrible- just unnecessary. They took no liberties or chances with it.
Cheers i realised that when i went to next page ;-) The film certainly had a typical downbeat Polanski ending, incredibly well shot film.
The 2009 remake had given me hopes. But alas, the next film in the series effectively ignores that remake, takes a script someone must have had floating somewhere and pasted the COTC brand over it. There are, however, almost no children in this film and there's even less corn. Instead, we get a weird story of two young people stranded in the middle of nowhere, taken in by a preacher who performs his Christian duty when in fact they will be kept there by He Who Walks Behind The Rows or at least some mystical force field that literally prevents them from escaping. Yeah, whatever.
Okay, I'll go through it quickly. Everything is so-and-so, the story is kinda meh, yet there's a cool scene in the third act but not cool enough to save this film. Nothing about Genesis is scary or even remotely eerie. Also, the "genesis" of what? If they think I'm going with the conclusion of this film, they're insane.
You have your typical survival horror story but then without truly horrific moments. This could have been part of any series really. The first couple of minutes, totally unrelated to the rest of the film except for a detail or two, were obviously shot to legitimise the COTC brand and to make sure that we'd get at least 80 minutes of film. I laughed once at the film and once with the film and spent the rest of the time checking my watch. I hope they give it a rest now.
Children Of The Corn (2009): 4/5
Children Of The Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) 4/5
Children Of The Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) 3/5
Children Of The Corn (1984): 2.5/5
Children Of The Corn: Genesis (2011): 2/5
Children Of The Corn V: Fields Of Terror (1998) 2/5
Children Of The Corn: Revelation (2001) 2/5
Children Of The Corn 666: Isaac's Return (1999) 1.5/5
Children Of The Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992) 1.5/5
Wow, it's been a pretty daunting task sitting through these corn films. Less than half of them range from acceptable to good; only two are in my opinion even worth returning to. The likes of Final Sacrifice and Isaac's Return I run away from in utter agony.
Stephen King wrote 30 pages worth of corn and over the years, no less than nine films and one short movie (Disciples Of The Corn) were produced based on his story, most of them very loosely. I can only recommend this series as a whole to completists like myself who will watch any horror series with some reputation no matter what that reputation is. But to those who actually seek quality, I can only say: don't even try it. If you cannot fight the urge, at least watch the original (because it's the original, not because it's good - which it really isn't), the third (although I admit I may give it more credit than it deserves) and the remake. Still, be warned, none of these films matches the quality of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween.
@Thunderfinger, very few genres are as effective in purging one's own fears or mirroring society's phobias or providing catharsis and entertainment, as the horror genre. It is incredibly diverse, arguably more so than any other genre, and it often elicits the most creative impulses from filmmakers and storytellers, which perhaps partially explains why the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Jackson, Polanski, Fincher, ... started their successful careers with horror films or at least eerie thrillers. Good horror is in fact unmatched in its ability to impress the human mind; for who doesn't feel slightly upset or even downright terrified after seeing a really scary movie, dreading the prospect of driving back home at night with no-one else in the car or going to sleep with the lights out? By the same token, horror, when produced on the very cheap and with almost no skill involved or no mainstream ambitions in mind, can hit rock bottom so fast and so dramatically that it presents an almost childish form of amusement: the educated mind realises it's over the top silly and bad but finds itself having an immensely fun rollercoaster ride down buckets of fake blood and slaughter house leftovers. It's no surprise that practically all of the top ten most successful independent movies ever made are part of the horror genre. No matter how civilized we think we are, humans have always been drawn to the macabre. And I for one do not feel ashamed to admit that I enjoy horror in all its forms: from top quality intellectual arthouse horror movies to mid-70s Italian horror trash, from satirical zombie survival horror to the goriest slashers, from smart, implicit psychological horror to the most explicit cannibal shock-horror. You name it, Dimi is in for the ride. While I can be very delicate about comedy or romance, I swallow horror down like potato crisps. :-)
While the Hollywood Inquisition MPAA was waging its insane crusade on mainstream slasher films, effectively diluting the average quality of the output in the once so celebrated genre, some films, like Child's Play, slipped right through its fingers with surprising ease. Child's Play met with another opponent though, and a very laughable one I might add: the MOP or Morally Orthodox Protester. You know, angry mothers and fathers and the likes... In the name of whatever moral authority they claim, these people preserve the right to judge films and demand censorship; you know, like in the former Soviet-Union or during the dictatorship of Hitler and his Nazi buffoons in Germany. These are the people who gathered to protest against Kevin Smith's Dogma, but were too stupid to realise that Smith himself had gotten among them and mocked them while being interviewed. Anyway, Child's Play got away with it and I'm grateful for that.
After all, Chucky is one of the icons. As a killer doll, he was neither new or original in '88 though. Karen Black had already fought an evil doll in 1975's Trilogy of Terror and devilish souls being transferred into or present in inanimate objects had been a staple of some Stephen King output in the 80s, most notably Maximum Overdrive and Christine. But Chucky brought more charm to the whole experience, not in the least because of Brad Dourif's enigmatic voicing of the character. Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon and Alex Vincent are perfectly serviceable too.
Though the story gets muddled after a while, struggling to keep its own logic straight, there's some good material to be found in this film. Tom Holland, also known for the original Fright Night and Psycho II, made sure the film would be a genuine 'scary movie'; I guess one could argue that Chucky's full potential as a comedic character had yet to become obvious to writer Don Mancini. Comedy would play a much greater part in the later Child's Play films and its absence in the original film may in retrospect be thought of as a flaw.
Yet despite that, I think Child's Play has earned the label of a classic by now. When people think of killer dolls, they usually think of Chucky, no matter what Anabelle may or may not achieve at the box office in the next couple of weeks. I always go back to Child's Play with much amusement though I know that the best material in the series is yet to come. I cannot recommend it as strongly as say A Nightmare On Elm Street or Friday The 13th, but there's fun to be had with Chucky and his weird Voodoo curse. Overall, a film I like.
Child's Play (1988): 4/5
Child's Play had made some money and thus a sequel was practically inevitable. Directed by John Lafia and with Don Mancini returning as the writer, Child's Play 2 also managed to secure a return of Alex Vincent and Brad Dourif. This one also explored the comedy angle much more than the previous film, putting the filmmakers on the right track for the future.
Though we must accept the obviously flawed premise that the toy company would pay a lot of money for the restoration of a molten mile of plastic, we are quickly pleased to learn that the setting will move to a big house with two ignorant foster parents and a cute foster sister, played by Christine Elise. Chucky has a lot of fun in this film and I dare say, so do we.
Somehow, this film works well for me despite a couple of perhaps clumsy plot twists. I like CP2 as much as I like the original one.
Child's Play (1988): 4/5
Child's Play 2 (1990): 4/5
7 seven survivors of a sunken cruise liner happen upon a seemingly abandoned tanker, and gradually realize that they were safer in their dinghy. They soon discover that the ship was used for torture by the Nazi's in WW2. A lot of squirmy scenes follow. This film has an atmosphere that is still creepy after many viewings.
31 Days Of Horror:
Day 1: The Resident (2011)
Day 2: The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
Day 3: Horror Of Dracula (1958)
Day 4: The Woods (2006)
Day 5: The Haunting (1963)
Day 6: Theatre Of Blood (1973)
Day 7: The Night Of The Seagulls (1975)
Day 8: The Wishmaster (1997)
Day 9: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Day 10: City Of The Living Dead (1980)
Day 11: Death Ship (1980)
Additional: It might look like I am a day behind, but I will be watching today's film, tonight, and will add it and tomorrow's film, tomorrow.
This is the one inspired by Grant Morrison's run on Superman, right?
Seriously a weird tale though! And it embraces the weirdness too!
That's Morrison for you. Quite the genuine article, that man.
I like this one more than the original, but Dead End lack a likeable final girl. So Nina is the final girl, and while she softens from the 'bitchy one' that she is at the beginning, she abandons Jake, Jonesy & Amber. Then, when she falls into the pit, Nina starts calling for help.
Friday The 13th Pt VII: The New Blood
It would be appropriate, that for day 13, I break out a Friday The 13th film for this Shocktober celebration. Part 7, one of my favourite Friday films, with my favourite Friday final girl, Tina. The only criticism I could level, is the the end is a bit hokey, even within the world of which the Friday films are set. This also features my favourite Jason look.
31 Days Of Horror:
Day 1: The Resident (2011)
Day 2: The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
Day 3: Horror Of Dracula (1958)
Day 4: The Woods (2006)
Day 5: The Haunting (1963)
Day 6: Theatre Of Blood (1973)
Day 7: The Night Of The Seagulls (1975)
Day 8: The Wishmaster (1997)
Day 9: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Day 10: City Of The Living Dead (1980)
Day 11: Death Ship (1980)
Day 12: Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
Day 13: Friday The 13th Pt VII: The New Blood (1988)
Some ideas work, some don't, and some ideas could work but are poorly executed. The central idea of Child's Play 3, once again written by Don Mancini, could indeed have worked, quite well in fact. Andy has matured a bit and is sent to military school where he shall go through a harsh 'hazing' routine, not entirely unlike what we got in Full Metal Jacket. Only this time our favourite killer doll, Chucky, has been resurrected yet again by the power of voodoo and he will now terrorise a platoon of young soldiers. In a way, this is smart thinking on behalf of Mancini. Your typical slasher audience isn't particularly interested in the adventures of an eight year old kid anyway, so by making our 'protagonists' a little older, it's easier for us to get involved.
While this may sound good, Chucky still needs to play hide-the-soul apparently, and so we get yet another kid, Tyler, to hang around with [insert kid voice] "Chuckeeeey!" The result is a film that doesn't always find the proper balance between dark humour and kiddie stuff. Even though the film has genuine potential, it goes off track quickly and often, never quite getting to the point. Though Child's Play 3 has some cute moments, the overall excitement has dropped since the previous film.
I don't necessarily blame director Jack Bender, nor do I blame the cast. With Alex Vincent not yet grown up enough to play a 16 year old, Justin Whalin does an adequate job replacing him. Travis Fine is especially interesting as the sadistic Shelton. Dirty Harry and Hellraiser star Andrew Robinson is perhaps a bit wasted in this film but Dourif's voicing is, as usual, perfect for Chucky. But once more it is made clear to us that a film is more than merely the sum total of its parts. Child's Play 3 could have been good but now I think it's just okay.
Child's Play (1988): 4/5
Child's Play 2 (1990): 4/5
Child's Play 3 (1991): 3/5
Seven years is how long it took to get another Chucky film developed after the not too celebrated Child's Play 3. Let's see what happened in slasher land between '91 and '98: Scream! Scream was playful, clever and incredibly successful. So when Don Mancini wrote another Chucky film, something must have clicked...
Yes! This is it. They finally got it right. Bride Of Chucky is deliciously funny and very tongue-in-cheek. Forget Andy Barclay; this is Chucky's story! Chucky traps the soul of a former girl friend, Tiffany, in a doll and the two of them go on a juicy killing spree. Now Tiffany is the real treat here. She's played by none other than the incredibly talented Jennifer Tilly. Her voice, sweet as sugar; her looks, sexy as hell... First she gets to abuse Alexis Arquette, then she gets to 'toy' around with the Chuck. Brad Dourif may finally have met his match in the series.
Hong Kong based director Ronny Yu, who in 2003 also directed the fantastic Freddy Versus Jason, does an excellent job with Bride Of Chucky. We get a gory kill every few minutes and a great joke even more often; dark humour makes Bride Of Chucky what it is. Chuck and Tiff are the perfect couple from hell. Eat that, Bonny and Clide! If Child's Play was good, Bride Of Chucky is excellent! It isn't a perfect film - few films are - but the level of enjoyment I get out of it is very high! This is the film that cemented my Chucky fandom, and I could watch it again and again and again and never grow tired of it.
Bride Of Chucky (1998): 4.5/5
Child's Play (1988): 4/5
Child's Play 2 (1990): 4/5
Child's Play 3 (1991): 3/5
Worth another look has some epic and mythic moments, Lex's realisation of how the universe works is worth it alone. Love this animated movie, Christopher Drakes soundtrack is very good, up there with his Dark Knight Returns score.
Oh so highly recommended.
Keanu and Morgan not seen that in years. Does Keanu play a nuclear physicist? Keanu has some great roles, legend!
Well, that was the most uncomfortable movie experience I have ever had. All the horror movies I have watched, more than I could list, don't compare to this film. I knew about the content of this film going in, but I wanted to get a copy because I am a huge fan of Jena Malone, and with this film being her first major movie role / her debut movie. Jena was apparently just 10 when it was filmed. Which, given her performance, is unsurprisingly extraordinary.
On a positive note, despite her young age, and what is done to her character, Jena came through the film, and forged an early career on complex and unconventional roles for an actress of her age, as opposed the the traditional route of family friendly / Disney roles. A powerful film to make a debut in, but then, the path of Jena's career has been anything but typical.
Jena Malone ranking: 12/27
X-Men Days of Future Past
I saw it once in the theatre and loved it. Yesterday marks the first time I saw it in its entirety because the first time I had to run to the restroom halfway through, lol. I was only gone a minute but I hated missing any of it!
Such a cool movie- I love time travel and I love X-Men.
The coolest part of the movie is the fact that they took the hugely successful 'First Class' and merged it seamlessly with the original trilogy (well, excluding X3 I guess).
X2 was always my favorite but this one comes close.
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
It just happened to be a coincidence that it was Columbus Day when I came across this on Netflix. Not my usual type of movie, but I remember watching this with my dad when it first came out (on the 500th anniversary, lol) and thought why not. It wasn't bad- a little slow. I found the movie to be better before they landed; they did a good job conveying the fear of going out into the unknown. Gérard Depardieu in not a good looking guy, but that long hair suited him- he looked like a badass. Unfortunately I admit I did need subtitles for him- he has a heck of a French accent. There's a great cast here too: Gérard Depardieu was great, Sigourney Weaver is always a favorite of mine (she practically came right off the set of Alien3 so I assume she wore a wig?), Armand Assante, Michael Wincott (another Alien alumni, who I'll always remember from The Crow), Frank Langella, a very young Arnold Vosloo, and GoldenEye's Tchéky Karyo, who looks nothing like Defense Minister Mishkin, but you'd recognize that voice anywhere.
The best thing about the movie though? That MUSIC. Damn, I just loved it.
Despite Bride Of Chucky being a fairly successful movie, it took Don Mancini six years to get a sequel made. This time, Mancini would write and direct the film. Bringing back Jennifer Tilly, as Jennifer Tilly, and starring Redman, as Redman, Seed Of Chucky also traps the voice of Billy Boyd in a doll's body...
... because old Chuck and Tiff have a child! And quite an ugly one. S***face is its name and 'it' is confused about its gender. Meanwhile, Chucky and Tiffany get mixed up in Hollywood.
Yes, it's clear that Seed Of Chucky took its inspiration from Scream 3, another film that goes meta in and around the real film business. Many jokes about Julia Roberts and Ed Wood's infamous Glen Or Glenda unfortunately cannot distract us enough not to notice the obvious flaws of this film. Some of the comedy is pretty silly and in poor taste too. It doesn't help that S***face is frustratingly ugly and Billy Boyd's voice, I'm sorry to say, even worsens things for me. Fortunately, there's enough juice in the Jennifer Tilly - Brad Dourif combo, so for the most part, this film is actually pretty funny.
Only the few really bad jokes and the character of S***face make this film of a lesser quality than its predecessor. But despite its poor reputation, I can still find enough in it to put a smile on my face. Seed Of Chucky thus gets away with it. I can't help it, folks. I enjoy this film.
Bride Of Chucky (1998): 4.5/5
Seed Of Chucky (2004): 4/5
Child's Play (1988): 4/5
Child's Play 2 (1990): 4/5
Child's Play 3 (1991): 3/5
A fantastic movie!!!
I was so impressed how a silent movie is able to convey so many emotions! The music is great and the actors are very good. The story is on the one hand very funny and romantic and on the other hand tragic and sad. It's awesome!!!
The Artist is a 2011 French romantic comedy-drama in the style of a black-and-white silent film. It was written, directed, and co-edited by Michel Hazanavicius, produced by Thomas Langmann and starred Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood, between 1927 and 1932, and focuses on the relationship of an older silent film star and a rising young actress as silent cinema falls out of fashion and is replaced by the "talkies".
The Artist received highly positive reviews from critics and won many accolades - among five Oscars, three Golden Globe Awards, seven BAFTA Awards und six Césars.
I can really understand it!