Scream 4 (2011)

“New Decade. New Rules.”

Fashion, music, and film have changed in the 21^st century, as well as the rules of survival. Nowadays, all bets are off.

Scream 4 is the much anticipated third sequel from Wes Craven’s 1996 Scream. It follows main protagonist, Sidney Prescott, who returns to her hometown of Woodsboro, California on the anniversary of the killings from the original film to promote her new book. However, things take a turn for the worst when two more murders on the eve of the anniversary put Sidney right on the radar for suspects. And all bets are off.

I have been waiting for this film ever since the end credits of Scream 3 and honestly, it was definitely worth the wait, but I absolutely wished it was better. However, just like all the other films, it contained a lot of meta references, this time referencing reboots and remakes. According to two geeks (homage to Randy from the original film) reboots take a whole new direction where it follows the new rules that have formed in the new decade, such as: virgins can die, the killer records the killings, and anybody, even Sidney, can die. I also loved how it took a remake direction, mirroring the status of the film and the events going on in the film; the killers were patterning the kills from the original film.

This film featured a whole mess of blood and guts. A lot more gore than the others. And I think this also pays homage to the growing amounts of blood in certain horror films such as Saw and Hostel.

The satire in the film was a bit off and in a lot of times I thought I was watching a parody rather than a slasher flick. There were some scenes that I just thought were plain ridiculous.

Now, to get to the cast and acting. It featured a great cast of seasoned Scream actors and newcomers. I love how Neve Campbell has this attitude to her that she’s scared, but she toughs it out, but she is still scared shitless. I also love how the newcomers really got into the role. They didn’t try to be your typical dumb blonde with big tits, but instead they would scream and yell and try to fight off but they still had their guts ripped out.

Scream 4 really is an improvement of the last film, but you don’t fuck with the original. I give this film a 3 out of 5 and it’s out now in theatres. For the die hard Scream and horror fans, I highly recommend it, but for you guys who watched all three the week before this film came out, don’t watch it.

8 Mile (2002)

“Every moment is another chance”

Everybody has a goal. No doubt about that. But there is always something that is always trying to prevent you from achieving that goal. Sounds kind of like a movie right? A movie about making it big. With a rapper? Sounds good.

8 Mile is the 2002 film starring Eminem as Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith Jr. whose main goal in life is to become a rapper, but every time he goes up on stage “he drops bombs and he keeps on forgetting” and chokes. But the film dives deeper into his love life, his family life, and his everyday life in Detroit, Michigan.

When I first heard of this film in third grade, I was under the impression that this film was actually based in Eminem’s life; mostly because of the subject and the setting of the film. And then I read that the film was about a man’s goal in life (not based on Eminem) that was blocked by a geological, and psychological, border, 8 mile. However, despite the few mentions of an actual 8 mile in the film, I did not gather that this border of Detroit prevented Rabbit of accomplishing his goal. What I actually did gather was that there was this man with a goal in life but had to overcome other problems. To me, it was basically another week in the life of a hoodlum, but with some sort of twist.

He had this goal of becoming a man and forgetting about his past life. He loved his friends, but he didn’t. He loved his family, but he didn’t. His excuse to escape was becoming a musician. Music was pure escapism, not entertainment.

Eminem really surprised me in this role. He proved that he wasn’t just a great rapper, but also a good actor. It also sucks that he hasn’t gotten any new film roles. Kim Basinger also did a good job in her role as an alcoholic single mom. She pretty much is white trash. I read this review that she didn’t seem like someone who would live in a trailer, but that’s why it’s called acting. And she actually portrayed someone who seemed like they shoot up heroin every day and live on the streets eating the bird shit off the floor. Oh, and Brittany Murphy was also…very good. I don’t want to criticize her without feeling really bad.

8 Mile is a well made drama about getting priorities out of the way to escape your problems. It teaches people to take things in life and turn it into factors of your own escape, not something that you enjoy. I give the film a 4 out of 5 and you can buy it on DVD or watch it instantly on Netflix.

The Orphanage (2007)

“No secret stays locked away forever.”

You build a life with secrets and everything seems to be okay. But soon, those secrets need to be unearthed. And sometimes, they result in a very tragic loss that drives you to your darkest fears.

The Orphanage is a 2007 Spanish horror film about a woman who moves her family into the orphanage she grew up in as a child. After a strange visit from a social worker regarding the adoption of her son and his illness, mysterious occurrences start to happen that result in the disappearance of her son. Soon after, the mother starts a frantic search for her son that reveals a horrifying secret of her home.

Horror films today often are sequels or remakes that deal with killers and ridiculous amounts of blood. But this film really does deliver the terror. At times, it’s really creepy. It’s something like a classic haunted house movie like The Haunted, but with a twist.

The story to me was very simple but had an interesting hook. It seems that there was more to the story once the son went missing. What brought alive the story was obviously the acting. The actress who played the mother was very good and going crazy and what not. It’s usually the real moms who bring the terror to the screen when playing this type of character.

The scary scenes didn’t really happen until the last third of the film. The mother brings alive the orphanage to ask the little kids where her son is. And sure enough, the ghosts start to appear. It’s these very small moments that send chills down your spine.

The Orphanage is a frightful film that has some very gothic thriller elements laid out in them. I give it a 4 out of 5 and you can buy it on DVD or watch on Netflix.

Knife in the Water (1962)

“Looking for this?”

Never pick up a hitchhiker.

Knife in the Water is critically acclaimed Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski’s debut feature. It follows a couple on a bright summer morning who reluctantly pick up a hitchhiker. After much talk between the characters, the husband invites the young man to join them on their boat trip for the day. What follows is a very claustrophobic sailing trip where both men vie for the women’s sexual attention.

Knowing Polanski and his knack for psychological horror, this film to me was at first a disappointment. But, I need a film to sink in, and when it did I suddenly realized the tension that was growing between the husband and the hitchhiker. They had a rivalry going on between the film and both tried to, I guess play some sort of game, where they would win the wife.

I felt really claustrophobic while watching this movie. Most of the entire film takes place on a boat in the middle of the sea. And it gets worse when they resort to the little room of the boat due to heavy rain. The way that Polanski directed these scenes revealed a very tight, closed setting where there wasn’t enough room for both guys, just one for the wife; this closed setting really brought out the tension and the suspense building up to the fate of the hitchhiker, and the climax as well.

The acting in this film was average, I guess. There wasn’t really nothing big to act on. It wasn’t a drama to cry in or a horror film to scream in, but it was a film to fight in. The husband’s character was mean and dominating over the hitchhiker, treating him like a slave and always insulting him that he wasn’t good for anything. Meanwhile, the hitchhiker would take this treatment, only to impress the wife, who, by the way, just sat by idly and seemed to enjoy the competition. In other words, she was a whore.

Knife in the Water is considered one of the best debut films of a director and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1963 Academy Awards. It is a well made film with rival and sexual themes. I give it a 5 out of 5 and you can buy it now on DVD or on Netflix.

Dogtooth (2010)

“Canine”

We all think our parents are the worst parents in the world. They never let you go out and they’re always keeping you on surveillance and what not. But always, you never ever know how lucky you really are.

Dogtooth is the disturbingly hilarious Greek drama about a husband and wife who keep their three children locked up in their gated home. The three children – who are not given names but instead referred to as “the eldest” or “the youngest” – are forced to keep within the home’s perimeter and compete in “games” where whomever is named winner gets certain prizes, such as picking the night’s entertainment. However, the kids create their own little alternate universe, which started to get shattered once their father – who is by the way the only one who leaves the premises to work at a factory – brings in an outsider set out to cure the only boy’s sexual urges.

This film is very, very odd and disturbing. The children are very much older, the youngest being around her mid teens and the oldest perhaps even in her twenties. The lack of knowledge they had bothered me because they knew virtually nothing. Whenever they would hear a word associated with “the outside”, their parents would create their own definitions, for example “zombie” is “a little yellow flower” and “pussy” is “a light switch”.

Very, very disturbing.

The title refers to the body part that determines when a person is finally able to venture out to the world, according to the parents. Throughout the whole film, each child tries their best to be the “winner” and be the first to basically escape their prison-esque life.

While considered a satire, I find the humor to be very subtle and not very directly stated. I would instead smile whenever something ridiculous (but not funny in the traditional sense) is on scene. And in a way, it does very much ridicule, I guess you can say, overprotective and overbearing parents.

Dogtooth is by the far the best film I’ve seen from 2010 (although it was released in Greece in 2009) and an outstanding achievement in foreign cinema and cinema in general history. I give this very strange yet brilliant film a congratulating 5 out of 5, and you can catch it now on DVD or Netflix.

Irreversible (2002)

"Time Destroys Everything"

Time is very pivotal and shouldn’t be played with or not taken granted for. A lot can happen in a night, even in five minutes. One second you’re in this vibrant mood, and the next you’re in this revenge mode.

The film Irreversible takes place in one night in the city of Paris. The story is told in reverse chronological order. The story is about two men who set out to get revenge on a man who raped one of the man’s girlfriends. It’s told in thirteen different scenes.

I absolutely loved this movie. One thing I enjoyed was the cinematography. In the beginning scenes, the camera was very shaky and constantly twisting and turning, which is guaranteed to cause motion sickness. The direction that Brazilian director Gaspar Noe took was also a very helpful contribution. He portrayed this fun Paris night as an everyday you or I might have. He then turns it into a very horrific tragedy that results in a even more tragic outcome. But because of the non-linear narrative, this is reversed.

The music was also very good. In the beginning sequence, the electronic beats that were playing in the midst of anger and impatience were superb. The artist was Thomas Bangalter, who also in the music group Daft Punk.

This film is considered the most controversial film of 2002, and maybe one the most of this past decade. Halfway through the film, a very brutal rape scene happens. I honestly didn’t have a huge problem with it, but when I started to think about actual rape, it hit really hard. The scene lasted around nine minutes and was by far the most important scene in the film. Also featured in the film was a lot of gratuitous content, from homosexual S&M bars to unsimulated oral sex. Although very experimental, I think this film doesn’t cross that thin line between art and porn.

This film was very well made, but it was a little too much for me with the camerawork and the sexual content. I give the film a 4.5 out of 5 and you can purchase it on DVD or watch it on Netflix.

Mary and Max (2009)

“Sometimes perfect strangers make best friends.”

I’ve always wanted a pen pal, but not one from online. I’d rather have one by mail. Although, it’s kind of a risk now with all the child molesters and everything, however, sometimes perfect strangers can become the best of friends over the course of years.

Mary and Max is a stop-motion animation film about a little Australian girl, Mary (Toni Collette), who starts a friendship with a New Yorker, Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman), after sending him a letter asking where babies come from in America. The two then start sending each other letters, with their life usually being explained and narrated by the letters they write.

The one thing I love about this film is the animation. To me, films have a greater effect with animation or full on CGI special effects. The stop motion animation added a more child-like feeling to it, almost nostalgic because it reminded me of films such as James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. However, this isn’t for the kids; there are a lot of mature themes that are discussed and explored in the film.

The overall mood of the film really brought alive some childhood trauma of bullying, loneliness, etc. Mary is a little with neglectful parents and no friends, while Max is a much older autistic man who also has no friends. Because the film took place in the 1970s, the only means of communication were by mail, which in me did spark up some pre-technological good ol’ days. What also really matched the mood was the animation, which was made very dark and had a very messy setting. Australia was really sunny and just seemed too much of a hell hole, while New York looked like a city overrun by the homeless people. Now this is a compliment and brings out a realization that even in the darkest times, great friendships can emerge.

Voice over isn’t necessarily acting, but it should be given acknowledgement. Hoffman really does give a good job voicing over the role of Max. The facial expressions that the character has and the way he handles things under stresse is given more light due to the tone of Hoffman. Collette also gives a perfect job, voicing over a really gentle tone to very fragile yet vigilant woman.

Mary and Max is a very sweet film that might remind you of a past or current, yet old, friendship. With great animation, mood, and voicing acting, I give the film a 4.5 out of 5 and you can buy it now on DVD (also on Netflix).