Review: The Signal

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

4 out of 5

Short version: Funny, scary, gory and unpredictable, this is sure to become a cult classic with a strong following.

The Signal was one of my favorite films from those I had the opportunity to watch and review at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. As a longtime horror movie fan (much more of older stuff than what's come out recently), it was great on many levels and fortunately you'll be getting the opportunity to see it soon as it was picked up for theatrical distribution.

There was a short film before the main feature called Little Farm which was shot in only 48 hours. Given that constraint it wasn't bad, except for the fact the two of the three main characters gave pretty close to the worst performances I've ever seen on screen. Aside from that, although it was pretty strange, in the end it delivered some pretty good scares. I actually had a woman sitting next to me ask if that was the main feature. :-)

On to the main event...

Review: Jumper

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

2.5 out of 5

Short version: How can such an interesting concept end up as such a boring movie? One reason: Hayden Christensen.

I must be feeling generous with this Jumper review - despite the fact I'm giving it only 2.5 stars, that's a rave compared to other movie reviews of this film.

I had really hoped this would be one of those little movies that turned out to be great, especially since I knew it was from Doug Limon, the director of The Bourne Identity and Mr & Mrs Smith. Those two films would look great on any director's resume.

And then we had the screenplay, written by Jim Uhls, who wrote the script for the amazing film Fight Club and David S. Goyer whose written great stuff like Batman Begins and Dark City.

You'd think that this movie couldn't miss with all that talent behind the camera... but unfortunately you'd be wrong.

Review: Towelhead

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

4.5 out of 5

Short version: Towelhead manages to balance humor and drama in this cautionary tale of a 13 year old girl's burgeoning sexuality.

I realize I'm a little behind the curve on Sundance reviews, but I've got a couple more coming after this one. It's not like you'll have a chance to see the movie before reading my review anyway, right?

Like many films shown at Sundance this year, Towelhead combines different styles (humor and drama), but does it more successfully than most. It's the story of a thirteen year old girl who is half Lebanese / half WASP whose physical development is quite ahead of her age. Towelhead (aka Nothing is Private) was written, directed and produced by Alan Ball, the same fellow who wrote the screenplay for the similarly themed American Beauty a few years ago.

On a side note, due to the content of this film, you may never get a chance to see it since I doubt it will get picked up for distribution at theaters but it's definitely worth seeing.

Review: Rambo

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

4.5 out of 5

Short version: If you're a fan of the previous films, Stallone's awesome new Rambo will blow you away.

After having seen some of the Rambo reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes and the overall rating of only 35%, I fully expected to be disappointed by Sylvester Stallone's second revisiting of an iconic character. So you can imagine that it came as a complete shock to me when I ended up loving it.

Rambo opens with real footage of the nightmarish abuses that are currently going on in Burma. It's very disturbing and at the very least I believe that Stallone is hoping that this will draw attention to what's going on over there with the military murdering innocent men, women and children on a daily basis.

From there the film cuts to John Rambo in the Thai jungle (Thailand borders Burma) where he is out with a local man wrangling cobras. The local town's main attraction involves shows were men taunt cobras, pythons and other dangerous snakes. It seems that he has been living there for a long time - living a spartan, simple existence among the local people.

Review: Downloading Nancy

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

1 out of 5

Short version: A bleak and starkly shot film that left me feeling like I needed a shower after watching it.

Downloading Nancy premiered here at Sundance 2008 and is the story of Nancy (played by Maria Bello), a severely emotionally damaged woman married to and emotionally cold man (Rufus Sewell as Albert) who turns to the internet for companionship.

The film opens with Nancy discussing her thoughts on what happens after you die with another woman. At this point it sounds like she is optimistic about the afterlife while her friend is very negative and keeps bringing up counterpoints to make it sound like she could be somehow trapped in some way after death. As it turns out, the friend turns out to be a therapist who is trying to convince Nancy that death is not an escape or freedom.

Review: In Bruges

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

3.5 out of 5

Short version: While the individual parts of the movie satisfy, In Bruges doesn't really come together as a whole.

Back in November I posted the trailer to In Bruges and commented that it looked like a movie that would not be a hit with mainstream audiences but those that like indie movies would probably love it. Well I just watched it and I'm more certain than ever that my first reaction will turn out to be accurate.

Right from the opening frame of the movie it seems that the director is intent on keeping the audience off-balance. The camera pans across various landmarks and streets in the beautiful town of Bruges, Belgium with music that sounds like it comes from some French romance movie. But as this is happening, we get quick cuts to the two main characters, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) making funny comments profusely laced with the F-bomb.

It wasn't the F-word or the humor that struck me as odd, heck, I thought Superbad was really funny - it was the incongruity of the scenery and music against what the actors were saying and doing. On a side note, if profanity in films bothers you, this is SO not the movie for you...

Review: Cloverfield

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

4.5 out of 5

Short version: Yes, it lives up to the hype - Cloverfield is a blast.

Where does one start a review of a movie that has been the subject of so much attention and hype for months on end leading up to its release?

Bigger than the speculation about what the monster in the movie would look like, the hunting for clues on viral websites, what "Slusho" has to do with the movie - has been the question: After all the hype, will it be a great movie or a huge letdown?

Well I'm sorry to disappoint all the naysayers, but Cloverfield rocked.

Will it win an Oscar or Golden Globe? Heck no. Was it fun and exciting to sit through? Hell yes. This is what the ridiculously weak American version of Godzilla that came out a few years ago should have been.

The following review will be free of any major spoilers - to the point where I won't even say whether the images that have been making the rounds lately are accurate portrayals of the monster or not. :-)

Review: Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem

By Vic Holtreman

Rating:

0.5 out of 5

Short version: I didn't think it was possible, but AVP-R is worse than the previous Aliens vs Predator movie.

Abandon all hope ye who enter a movie theater that is showing Aliens vs Predator: Requiem.

It's that bad. I kid you not. As first time directors, "The Brothers Strauss" (as they are referred to in the credits) are great visual effects guys. Honestly, I'm having a hard time coming up with ways to tell you just how depressingly awful this movie is, but I'll do my best.

Review: The Rules of Attraction

By Brian Rentschler

Rating:

0.5 out of 5

Short version: This movie was so bad that it was almost painful to watch.

I was more than a little stunned after seeing this movie. Not just because it was one of the worst movies I had ever seen, but also because of who was involved in it. Most of the cast ranged from competent to top-notch, and the writer/director was Roger Avary. For those of you who aren't familiar with that name, he was a co-writer for Beowulf, which received a positive review right here on Screen Rant. He also collaborated with Quentin Tarantino to come up with the stories for one of my all-time favorite movies, Pulp Fiction. Besides that, I had recently seen the movie adaptation of American Psycho (which, like this movie, is an adaptation of a novel by Bret Easton Ellis), and I found it reasonably enjoyable overall. With all these things in mind, I wanted to like The Rules of Attraction. However, I'm afraid my reaction was almost entirely at the opposite extreme. This movie did almost everything wrong. Where do I even start?

Review: National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

3 out of 5

Short version: National Treasure 2 works hard at being as entertaining as the original, but doesn't quite manage it.

In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the whole gang is back, plus we have heavy-hitters Helen Mirren and Ed Harris to round out the cast. It's far from awful, but unfortunately "heavy" is a good word to describe this sequel, at least as it compares to the original.

The film opens five years after the end of the Civil War, where we find out that Ben Gates' (Nicholas Cage) heritage as a code breaker goes back to his great-grandfather Thomas. A pair or men bring Thomas a cypher to decode since he is known for his code breaking abilities. As it turns out (not suprisingly), these are bad guys. In particular they are Confederate spies trying to help win the war for the Union.

Apparently they didn't get the memo that the war ended five years prior.

Review: I Am Legend (IMAX)

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

4 out of 5

Short version: Despite a few problems, Will Smith makes this update of The Omega Man work.

The plot of I Am Legend is pretty obvious from the trailers and commercials, so it's not so much about surprises and plot twists as much as it's about experiencing what Will Smith's character goes through. At this, the movie succeeds very well.

I Am Legend is the story of a viral cure for cancer gone horribly wrong. As the film opens we see a television interview with a scientist who has succeeded in modifying a deadly virus so that it cures disease instead of causing it. The initial reports are extremely encouraging, with thousands of cases of cancer completely cured.

Of course we know what the final outcome will be and watching that news segment will cause you to cringe in your seat.

Review: No Country For Old Men

By Vic Holtreman
Rating:

4.5 out of 5

Short version: Another fascinating and unpredictable character-driven movie from the Coen brothers.

I went into No Country For Old Men only knowing that everyone has been talking about how excellent it is, but not really knowing too much about the plot. As it turns out, it was different from even what little I thought I knew about it.

Going into a film by the Coen brothers you always know that you're going to get some interesting characters and an unconventional story, and it's no different here. No Country For Old Men is all about the characters and as far as story goes, it's one of those films that you really can't predict what's going to happen next.