28 Weeks Survives Itself
28 Weeks Later:
Follow-up to 28 Days Later sans
director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland (The Beach,
Tesseract). Although after six months the rage virus is at last
wiped out in London, the discovery of Don’s (Robert Carlysle)
presumed dead wife resurrects the virus again, putting his recently
returned children in harm’s way along with the entire region. What
could have been a disastrous film manages to perform respectably if
ultra heavy on the gore/horror. Danny Boyle remained connected with
the project as producer and managed some second-unit directing.
Read the Complete Review.
Scanner Moves Darkly Under the Radar
A Scanner Darkly: What are the chances of getting Robert
Downey Jr, Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson, and Winona Ryder together in a
movie that costs under $10 million? Just ask director Richard
Linklater, as he was able to do just this in this animated adaptation of
the Philip K. Dick story about a not-so-distant future filled with drug
addicts and despair.
Read the Complete Review.
Knocked Up ain't no Knock-Off!
Knocked Up Looks
like The 40 Year Old Virgin was no fluke. In fact, with
Knocked Up, writer-director Apatow improved on its predecessor:
Success-minded production assistant Alison (Katherine Heigl) celebrates
her promotion to on-air personality with a night of alcohol, dancing,
and a meaningless hook-up with underachiever shlub Ben (Seth Rogan). His
inability to even get the condom part right leaves Alison pregnant by
the absolutely wrong guy. Their awkward managing of the situation could
have been a one-joke flick, but in the right hands it is masterfully
funny. Read the Complete Review.
Lost
in the Forest of Copycats
Pathfinder: Sure, it was overshadowed by 300, and
looked more like a genre knock-off, but there is something engaging
about this stylistic tale of a Viking boy is left behind to be raised by
a native tribe in North America.
Read the Complete Review.
Grindhouse ... oh, what
could've been
Grindhouse: Grindhouse attempts to revive the over-the-top
exploitation double features of the 1970s. However,
it just doesn't happen. One of the best thing about exploitation
films is their lack of budget, their lack of appropriateness, and the
unforgiving drive to offend with relentless abandonment by any means
necessary. This 2007 "grindhouse" revival seems all to aware of
its budget and its need for commercial success.
Read the Complete Review.
Spidey 3 Spins a Deceitful Web
Spider-Man 3:
Spider-Man 3 spins an
intricate web of deceit, trapping the viewer in its web, fooling us
into believing that we should like this movie. Ultimately,
however, SM3 lacks an entertaining story, compassionate characters
and, well, humanity. It's just way to over the top with the
special effects.
Read the Complete Review.
"Last King" Conveys the Man
Behind the Madness
The Last King of Scotland:
Previously a
respected documentarist (his One Day in September won an
Oscar), Macdonald humanizes the story of Ugandan president and
madman Idi Amin’s rise to power by telling it through Amin’s
naïve, if idealistic, Scottish physician.
The Last
King Of Scotland
was shot on location in Uganda and utilizes archival footage for
yet another layer of authenticity.
Read the Complete Review.
NDEPENDENT EYE:
An Undead Hell-bound Hayride
of Absurdity.
Zombie Farm: Zombie Farm is
what Grindhouse should have been. It's extremely
low-budget, but nevertheless wildly entertaining. A must see
for fans of the zombie, low budget, and horror genres..
Read the Complete Review.
"Borat" Charms and Alarms,
but is the Joke on Us?
Borat: Hapless Kazak TV
reporter Borat Sagdiyev is sent to the U.S. to discover why America is
so great, with the resulting documentary intended to improve
life in Kazakhstan. Borat’s a seeming innocent “stranger in a
strange land” who often charms and then alarms those not in on the joke.
Read the Complete Review.
"Science is a Pure Magical
Wonder
In The Science
of Sleep, artist Stephane Miroux slips effortlessly between
the waking world and the world of dreams. And because this movie is
brought to you by the man behind The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind, the visuals that represent those dreams are vivid and
whimsical—pure magic wonder. Read the Complete Review.
INDEPENDENT EYE:
Are These "Pirates" Ready
for the Mainstream?
Pirates of the Great Salt
Lake is the enjoyable tale of two socially estranged
wannabe pirates seeking treasure on the Great Salt Lake.
With subtle, but poignant humor, the story is more of a drama
than might be expected.
Read the Complete Review. |