Just Watched Movie (2011)

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Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever-While attempting to sort out their own melodramas, a group of teens tries to fight for their safety after a batch of water contaminated with a flesh-eating virus is accidentally delivered to their prom and starts to violently attack the partygoers. Well, it's a little bit better than the original, but that's not really saying much since both aren't really all that great. Granted, it's way bloodier and has some really great sequences here that the original didn't have, but frankly far too much of the film feels like it's a coincidence merely to present it's story that eventually, it all just gets tiresome trying to accept such gross stupidity and contrivance to make it's point. Add onto that the fact that this one focuses way too much on teen drama and social status rather than the horror and it gets old rather quickly. This could've been a decent as the last half with the infected bleeding buckets around the school while they try to stay uninfected make for some good times, but it's too flawed to be anything else.

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Wolvesbayne-Turned into a werewolf, a man teams up with a group of hunters tracking down a race of vampires looking to reincarnate a vicious vampire queen that will overthrow humanity and bring them back to prominence. A rather jumbled plot here, with a lot more going on than what really should be happening, and hardly any of it makes any sense or really feels justified in it's inclusion. Even more troubling is the fact that there's not a whole lot of plot discussion given out as time goes on, rather it's all given at the end and never really does a good job blending it all together. That is somewhat made up for by the rather fun amount of confrontations here, since it appears to be a war going on with both sides and it definitely feels that way here, especially given the amount of bloodshed given. While there is some fun to be had here with the resurrection scenes, it really can't overcome the jumbled mess of a story though.

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Piranha 3D-When an earthquake releases a horde of prehistoric, man-eating fish in a small Arizona lake, the sheriff's department tries to keep them from attacking the gathered masses at the area celebrating spring break on the water. Absolutely phenomenal film here, this one was just a full-on blast and I really don't have much here that counts as a flaw. Tons upon tons of gore, plenty of nudity, action, suspense, cool creatures, lame CGI, this one really had it all. Just to nit-pick, this one had some woeful set-ups that look retarded in normal 2D that were set-up to be in 3D and tend to come off as contrived, yet that is just a nitpick to try to grasp at something. Overall, this here was a nearly flawless entry and one of the better entries to come along in a long time.

Ten Tigers from Kwantung-A group of kung-fu students assemble together to track down the gang of thieves and murderers who had killed their parents in combat years earlier. Well, it's not a real classic like it should've been, but this kung-fu epic certainly has enough merit to warrant a watch. The fighting is still incredibly good and has enough creative and inventive choreography to keep them interesting and exciting, though there's a decided lack of pace here that keeps this from reaching the lofty heights it very well could've gotten to. Many times it just seems to wander around in confusion over what it's supposed to accomplish by having the group spy on the perpetrators they know are guilty, thus showing a lack of action from time-to-time. It's still good enough to be of some interest, though it is somewhat flawed.

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Haunting at the Beacon-After moving into a new apartment building following the disappearance of her son, a woman and her husband find the area's grisly history of suicides is sparking an increase in ghost sightings and that something may be after her. Rather predictable from the outset, as nothing really sticks out here as being all that original or unique and it tends to wander down the same exact roads done hundreds of times in these kinds of films, where the woman maybe telling the truth or not and those around her are totally unsupportive. It becomes far more enjoyable during the last half-hour, when a twist comes along that really spices things up and makes the film far more enjoyable, as there's some good hauntings, nice make-up work and more that are highly enjoyable. However, all the Lifetime style drama not only causes it to be too little too late, it also makes it stick out like a sore-thumb as being inconsistent with the rest of the film as it comes barreling out of nowhere with a ham-fisted introduction to turn it into a horror film. It's still pretty good, but it is flawed.

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Freakshow-After arriving at a carnival and finding them to be potential targets of their con game, a group of friends learn the group of freaks has deadly intentions whenever they're double-crossed and try to get out before they all fall victim. Not really all that memorable, mainly because it's a cheapo-feeling remake of the original, complete with the same situations, twist and overall feel that it featured, though the results aren't the same and manages to wait until the end to do that. It's really hard to stay interested in what goes on since it's not really doing anything new or really doing anything that makes it interesting when it's going about itself, but the ending is where it gets all that back with some good kills, stalking and more. Just a little too late though.

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Splice-After creating a humanoid hybrid in a medical lab, a group of scientists try to keep it from affecting others as they try to understand how it lives. A rather lame attempt at a horror film, this one instead turned into a Sci-Fi film the second it left the one person it attacked alive and by the switch later on to focus on studying the creature instead of letting it go out and kill. The continued focus on their married life and the rules of the company to keep their experiments in working order also diminish the horror aspect, and eventually by the time it's a full-grown specimen the rampage doesn't really mean anything. I'm sure if I really care enough, I'd find massive flaws in the science (I'm usually pretty good at it, but I guess growing disinterest lowered my skills) and overall, this one was left a dismal failure and not really worthwhile.

[Fenril]

Seen a bunch of art films (I keep finding that term too vague, but nothing else quite fits; these three aren't avant-garde cinema, for insance):

- 29 palms. French production concerning a couple's strange journey to the titual desert town, their intense (or frantic) relationship and an horrible incident that destroys them.

This is one movie I'm not sure I "get", if there's anything to get --see, I can like movies where the characters don't do much of anything and can understand if it's a story about ennui, an existential diatribe, anything.
But this movie doesn't quite seem to be about existential boredom, the characters just seem to be there. The fact that they can barely understand each other due to a language barrier (she speaks almost entirely in French, he in English) is an interesting idea in principle, but here it made me wonder why these two are together in the first place. Especially since they both seem deeply neurotic.
Finally, the ending has been compared to what you'd see on filmmakers like David Linch, Fabrize Du Welz and even early Wes Craven... maybe, but it makes no sense (and I don't think the point was that it's senseless... there seems to be a point to it, but I can't figure out what).

So, I dunno, either this movie is just not good or I missed something. I'd like to know what anyone else who saw this thought of it.

- En ganske snill mann. Norwegian dramedy about the trails of a recently-released convict, his attempts to recconect with his estranged son, somehow hold a job and a home, and a misterious debt that two of his friends urge him to pay.

Very charming story about the ups and downs of life with deceptively simple characters that are sympathetic one moment and throroughly despicable the next. The title can be roughly translated as "A kinda good man", which describes the title character perfectly.

- Le quattro volte. Practically silent Italian film concerning the last days of a shepherd, the first days of a goat and the life of a tree. All of whom may be the same soul.

Poetic examination of the old life-and-death (and rebirth) cycle that manages to be thoroughly entertaining with a minimum story and almost still photography.

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Hallettsville-While attempting to look in on a family house before it gets sold, a group of friends find themselves the victim of a murderous spirit who has far more sinister plans for the group than they initially figured. Not really all that spectacular, mostly due to the fact that this one doesn't exploit it's pretty decent premise for all it's worth. This one could've been pretty good with it's storyline about the hauntings within the house, possession and such, but instead it manages to focus on the kids and never really gets anything going since we're stuck dealing with their issues that aren't interesting or even appropriate in the film. That leads to the final part of the film generating anything good, which is actually somewhat decent with some pretty good encounters with the spirit and a pretty god bit of innovation in having outsiders who they stumble upon believe their story instead of just writing it off as demented rambling, which adds a sense of realism to the film. Still, this one could've been much better.

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Dorian Gray-When a young aristocrat arrives in London and begins to indulge in a life of hedonism and excess, he finds he doesn't age physically despite trying to harbor a deadly secret that will shatter his image forever. Dull, utterly horror-less Horror/Drama that, one again, falls victim to that one singular, nearly inescapable aspect of recent British horror films, a dreary pace that drags stuff out far longer than it should by showcasing scenes that have no horror in them yet are supposed to be presented as such. Watching a person drink, smoke, do drugs and engage in orgies with highly unattractive women while everyone around him wonders why he still looks the same isn't horrific, yet that seems to be the entire crux of what passes as horror in the film. That the mystical painting isn't shown at all until the end might have something to do with that, and the total lack of explanation for such an event is also glossed over, and it's not until the final ten minutes that something starts happening, and while it's good stuff with the reincarnated spirit and the grand old-school Gothic burning-down-the-house scenario, it's too little too late.

Detention-Stuck in a high school detention class during a torrential rain-storm, a group of friends find themselves subjected to a series of ghostly visits and incidents in an attempt to seek retribution for a past incident involving their parents and try to get out before they're all killed off. A pretty nice haunted-school style ghost film, filled with a ton of cliches but never really managing to make them noticeable until pretty late in the film. That the school location is actually pretty creepy and manages to hold a place of suspense is a bright spot here, as it comes off as a perfect spot for ghostly activity and makes for some good times with it stalking the group throughout the grounds. There are some problems, though, in that the reason for possession in most cases goes unexplained when a twist late in the film makes it totally worthless as well as taking way too long in it's set-ups when they tease something only to not deliver as well as not come through on the kill, making some scenes seem to last forever yet the film is really quite brief. Overall, though, it's really not that bad.

Forget Me Not-When a group of friends find themselves the target of a mysterious series of ghostly accidents, they find that a coma-patient is instructing a ghostly demon to kill them off one-by-one and must find the cause of the anger before they're all killed off. Actually a rather impressive effort here, as this one manages to pull off a rather nasty twist (rather than just being killed, the deceased are erased from the survivor's memory except for the main heroine, which is never explained why and becomes a point of contention within) yet this is handled nicely and never really develops into a point of logic inconsistency within the film, altering events and the outcome of the film rather than the usual complete befuddlement when they're mentioned with no recollections of them. With some rather nice stalking scenes, a couple of decent hauntings and some atmospheric situations, this one really manages to overcome the aforementioned-problem and the lack of gore.

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Psycho Beach Party-After joining up with a gang of surfers and their lifestyle, a woman fears that the serial killer running rampant through the group may be herself when she falls victim to a split personality and tries to stop it from continuing before all of her friends are killed. A pretty decent mixture of 60s Beach movie and slasher, though the fact that the stalking scenes are non-existent and never developed while the beach-party aspect of the movie is allotted full time to develop and go through it's paces clearly shows the slasher angle is just that, an angle used to give it a bit of individuality and distance itself from the pack. Still, it's not unwatchable, as the psychosis is pretty clever and generally pretty funny, the gay subplots are given enough room to be heard without overwhelming everything and the final revelation of the killer is pretty enjoyable. Still, had it done more with it's slasher setting, it could've had something really enjoyable instead of being just decent.

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The Wild Man of the Navidad-After a series of strange attacks and incidents in a small town, a group of friends get together to hunt down the malicious beast stalking the residents and put an end to it's reign of terror. A pretty disappointing Bigfoot entry, this one really could've been quite good had it managed to keep attention and focus on the strange attacks afflicting the towns-members instead of the ungodly amount of time with the residents and their problems. Not that a little info isn't bad on them, but they come at the expense of the creature attacks as it's mostly getting a complete history of the locals before stuff starts to happen, and the creature doesn't start getting in on things until just under the hour mark. Those are really good, with some pretty brutal attacks getting in some pretty decent gore shots and the day-time setting for the whole film is rather pleasant, if only the creature's costume would've looked better.

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Spliced-After watching a cursed horror movie, a teenager begins to think that the killer from the film is stalking her and making her wishes come true, forcing her and her friends to find a way of stopping the maniac before it kills them all. Somewhat entertaining and enjoyable slasher that's got some good stuff working for it, mainly in the sense of this one being completely unsure where this one goes. From the fact that there's a degree of uncertainty about the events going on, from the fact that rather than just out-right kill the victims this one tends to just warp a saying from the heroine, which makes for some pretty good times once the revelation is made, as well as generate some fun in the stalking before it comes when the pattern is just starting out. As is usually the case, the film it's based upon is pretty interesting and enjoyable, and only a rather lame subplot about her dreams and a weak ending lower this one slightly.

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Triangle-While out enjoying a cruise, a group of friends get stranded on the water and are rescued by a mysterious, abandoned ship, only to find themselves trapped in a nightmarish reality that none of them can prepare for and try to find a way off the cursed ship. This was a pretty tough one to get a handle on due to the fact that this one deals with changing worlds and different times, so it's nearly impossible to figure out what time you're in, especially since this one manages to wrap itself around the different time periods at once, so generation 3 is interacting and affecting generation 1 so to speak so it all just gets utterly complicated and head-spinning confusing. While this is pretty original and comes off as being intelligently-done, that's still a lot to take in. That also manages to make the film pretty bloody with all the different generations getting killed off, and the atmosphere works pretty well, it's just way too confusing.

[Fenril]

I liked that Triangle turned out so mind-boggling (through in my opinion the core story isn't that complicated: the woman will stop at nothing to get back home to her son, even if she herself tries to stop it), I enjoy movies that challenge the viewer.

Meanwhile, got to see:

- The descent, part 2. A survivor from the previous movie is dragged back to the mountains to help find the other missing spelunkers. Or what remains of them.

Not at all a bad sequel, this takes a while to get going and the cast this time isn't quite as interesting; once it gets going it manages to stay in the same vein as the original, with grueling setpieces, darkly humorous callbacks to the previous film and a few gleefully nasty twists. The ending is another slightly weak part that seems to want to set up another sequel, but other than that it's a very entertaining splatter film.

And if the first movie was notable for its all-female cast this one does a good job setting up the women as the more ferocious combatants without making the men look (too) weak by comparison.

- Inception. A corporate spy is hired for quite the ambitious heist: plant an idea on the heir of a business mogul by invading his very dreams. But the spy's own subconscious may well prove the downfall of the plan and his ragtag possé.

I had avoided this movie because I wanted to first get ahold of a very similar French movie that came out about a year ahead (I might review that one later).
I enjoyed this one, through as far as thrillers about dreams go, this one was a bit too mainstream for me (everything is neatly explained, the ambigous ending is set up such that everybody can draw whatever conclusion they feel comfortable with and the dreamscapes are more "Hollywood megabudget" than "Marvelous fantasy"), but it does a very good job with what it sets out to do, which is telling an entertaining heist story that happens to take place in dreams.

Christopher Nolan (Memento; The prestige; the Insomnia remake, the latest Batman films) isn't a great artist in my eyes, but he's a very good artisan, and never dissapoints in that regard.

- Las marimbas del infierno [Hell's marimbas]. A marimba [traditional musical instrument] player loses his job as entertainer and decides to join a Heavy Metal band with the intent of creating an entire new musical genre fusing the tropical rythm of a Marimba with Death Rock.

Based on real-life story and one of the few Guatemalan movies that ever received international distribution, a great character-driven tragicomedy.

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I don't really find that enjoyable at all, I find it frustrating. I spend too much time trying to piece the plot together myself and either miss it given in the film itself or just find myself not enjoying the film because I've got a lot invested in other activities. There's a difference between being smart and being confusing, and this was confusing.

Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour-Visiting a friend in a small town for the weekend, a teen comes across a family haunted by the actions of a past resident and tries to help a curse laid upon them from coming true. Tweeny-bopper horror film (I think there's only one curse word, there's no gore and no violence, and there's only one person over the age of 25 that has more than 3 minutes of screen-time for their role) yet it still manages to maintain a sense of watchability. There's still some storyline problems, most notably the fact that the lead in the film's full title really does nothing beyond keeping the investigation going and becomes a spectator in the film's finale, the finale itself is over in so short of time you miss what happens out of sheer shock and disbelief, and there's a ton of flashbacks, in addition to all the tame-ness of the film itself, yet it makes for a pretty inviting mystery, there's some suspenseful stalking scenes in the end and it's a lot more in keeping with more violent horror efforts with what it's trying to do, just a little bit too tame to accomplish it.

Rumble in the Bronx-Not a whole lot to really say here, this was perhaps the last of the Jackie Chan films I've needed to see uncut, now there's still a few I need to see period, but I think with this it makes it uncensored for everyone one I've seen at all.

Derailed-An agent trying to shepherd a high-class defector across a foreign country onboard a train finds it even harder to accomplish when a team of terrorists hijacks the train for the chemical weapons on-board. Beyond the fact that the plot makes little to no sense (why is there chemical weapons being transported on a passenger train filled with innocent civilians?) this was a highly impressive Van Damme effort. Lots of great chasing and shoot-outs here, some quick fights but thankfully it's made up for with quantity over quality, and even have a pretty good opening car chase complete with lots of pedestrian wreckage and a couple explosions thrown into the mix. Overall, one of his better DTV efforts.