Director: Masyuki Ochiai
Writer: Luke Dawson
Producers: Doug Davison,Takashige Ichise, Roy Lee
Starring: Joshua Jackson(Benjamin Shaw), Rachael Taylor(Jane Shaw), Megumi Okina(Megumi Tanaka), David Denman(Bruno), John Hensley(Adam), Maya Hazen(Seiko) IMDb.Rated-PG13.
While driving on a dark road Benjamin and Jane accidentally run over a young woman, but after the police complete a thorough search no traces of the young woman can be found. The couple subsequently move to Tokyo on account of Ben's work as a photographer. Jane begins to notice some the pictures her and Benjamin took together are marred with a white cloud like streak, and this also applies to some of the pictures taken from Benjamin's photo shoots. In one instance, Benjamin's assistant(Seiko) noticed the streak on the pictures and tells Jane of "spirit photography", and recommends that she should see her former boyfriend who owns a spirit photography magazine company. Seiko's former boyfriend refers Jane to a local spiritual medium which Jane and Benjamin end up consulting after they both saw the ghost of the young woman they ran over.
During the film I struggled quite considerably to sustain a measure of interest. The film was entertaining intermittently because the sequence of events within the film were ineffectual in terms of potency. The supposed frightful scenes were not frightful enough and that left me seeking to be frightened. In absence of suspense there were no special effects to tickle the mind into amusement, but admittedly the pace of the plot was descent, but that still did not save the impotence of the film, for the horror element did not rise to the occasion. The death scenes were not extraordinary, and they were rather platitudinous. At minimum a film must be entertaining but this film was not so entertaining in my opinion. Shutter is small screen entertainment, and my kind heart will grade it a D+. Stay tuned, Movieporium.blogspot.com.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Movie Favorites: Red Dragon
This is a great film, that is smart, engaging, and it has Anthony Hopkins, what more can be said. There may be very brief commercial interruptions, but the movies is not censored with all things being equal.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Doomsday: The Grunge of Scotland
The film features Rhona Mitra(Eden Sinclair), Bob Hoskins(Bill Nelson), Alexander Siddig(John Hatcher), Craig Conway(Sol), MyAnna Buring(Cally), and Malcolm Mcdowell(Kane). Neil Marshall directed and wrote, and Benedict Carver, and Steven Paul produced the film(IMDb). Rated-R.
All is well in Scotland, but when the "Reaper" virus infected the population, the government decides to build a wall around Scotland serving as a moat to protect England and the rest of the British Isles. However, 25 years later, well after the authorities believed the virus was extinct they were surprised to discover that the virus had resurfaced, and with only 48 hours before the virus begins to infect England, Major Eden Sinclair was recruited to find a cure, but the cure is in Scotland where part of the population has become cannibals.
The action scenes of the film were cut way too often to fully appreciate them, especially some of the fight scenes after Major Eden and her crew had initially entered Scotland. Furthermore, the lack of proper lighting in Kane's laboratory made that particular fight scene even more difficult to enjoy. During some of the fight scenes I could not help but think of how much I enjoyed the fight scenes in Rambo, and how Sylvester Stallone could have helped with technical advice.
While watching this film if you are reminded of Madmax, The Road Warrior, or Escape From NewYork, that is because the director was trying to combine some of the elements of the post apocalyptic films of the late 70's and and early to mid 80's, according to Wikipedia. This was also a cool way to pay homage to those films. The Medieval parts of the infected Scotland (influenced by the movie Excalibur) was centered around Scotland's Blackness Castle. It was a little weird, but what helped assuage the weirdness was the transition of using the supply tunnel. The supply tunnel beautifully bridged the grunge world and the medieval world.
The script was adequate for what the film intended, and the acting was solid for what the film intended. Rhona Mitra was awesome, and her character was tough, but her toughness may have been more pronounced if she had more fight scenes involving hand to hand combat, because that seemed to have been a great strength of the character. Rottentomatoes.com has given the film 4.5 out 10, and according to Movies.com the fans gave this film a B and critics gave it a D+, and I will give it a C-. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.
All is well in Scotland, but when the "Reaper" virus infected the population, the government decides to build a wall around Scotland serving as a moat to protect England and the rest of the British Isles. However, 25 years later, well after the authorities believed the virus was extinct they were surprised to discover that the virus had resurfaced, and with only 48 hours before the virus begins to infect England, Major Eden Sinclair was recruited to find a cure, but the cure is in Scotland where part of the population has become cannibals.
The action scenes of the film were cut way too often to fully appreciate them, especially some of the fight scenes after Major Eden and her crew had initially entered Scotland. Furthermore, the lack of proper lighting in Kane's laboratory made that particular fight scene even more difficult to enjoy. During some of the fight scenes I could not help but think of how much I enjoyed the fight scenes in Rambo, and how Sylvester Stallone could have helped with technical advice.
While watching this film if you are reminded of Madmax, The Road Warrior, or Escape From NewYork, that is because the director was trying to combine some of the elements of the post apocalyptic films of the late 70's and and early to mid 80's, according to Wikipedia. This was also a cool way to pay homage to those films. The Medieval parts of the infected Scotland (influenced by the movie Excalibur) was centered around Scotland's Blackness Castle. It was a little weird, but what helped assuage the weirdness was the transition of using the supply tunnel. The supply tunnel beautifully bridged the grunge world and the medieval world.
The script was adequate for what the film intended, and the acting was solid for what the film intended. Rhona Mitra was awesome, and her character was tough, but her toughness may have been more pronounced if she had more fight scenes involving hand to hand combat, because that seemed to have been a great strength of the character. Rottentomatoes.com has given the film 4.5 out 10, and according to Movies.com the fans gave this film a B and critics gave it a D+, and I will give it a C-. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Hulk Trailer 2008
There seems to be very little buzz about the upcoming Hulk movie. While most are eagerly anticipating Ironman and Batman, the Hulk is set to release on June 13, 2008. From what the trailer allows us to see, the film already looks fun to watch, and the incredible Hulk is tailored as a force of goodness. The 03 Hulk looked impressive, but noticeably too florescent. In contrast, the 08 Hulk is dark green in appearance with more muscle definition. One key distinction noted in the trailer is the nemesis figure contrived by the film makers. The dichotomy of good against evil is ostensibly better defined, and if compared to 03 Hulk the antagonist was not as defined, albeit the antagonist did emerged during the falling action of the film. The Hulk is against tough competition this summer, and the trailer for this film may have been released a little late considering that the Batman and Ironman trailer has been in release for a while. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Semi-pro: Jive Turkey !
The film features Will Ferrell(Jackie Moon), Woody Harrelson(Monix), Andre Benjamin(Clarence 'Coffee' Black), Maura Tierny(Lynn), Andrew Daly(Dick Pepperfield), Will Arnett(Lou Redwood), and Andy Richter(Bobby Dee). Kent Alterman directed, Scot Armstrong wrote, and Jimmy Miller produced the film(IMDb). Rated-R.
Jackie Moon was originally a singer who had a hit single "Love Me Sexy." The proceeds from the single enabled Jackie Moon to buy a basketball team called the "Tropics" out of Flint, Michigan in the ABA(American Basketball Association). The team sucked, and when the ABA decided to merge with the NBA four teams were to be integrated with the NBA excluding the Tropics and the rest of the ABA. In a league meeting, Jackie Moon being dissatisfied with the terms, persisted that the conditions for entry into the NBA be based on performance, and then begins the race for the prestigious and highly coveted fourth place.
Seeing Will Farrell in 1970's fashion is funny in itself, but the overall movie did make me laugh. The humor in this film may appeal and satisfy the comedic demands of those who appreciate weird humor such as a man biting his hand because his team did not qualify for the NBA. Those who are not really into the sort humor that Will Farrell is known for, may see absolutely nothing funny about that. There was some subtle humor in the movie that went right over the head of movie-watchers, for example, when Jackie Moon walks into the night club with ice packs taped to his knees. Nobody in the theater laughed at that, but basket ball fans may have appreciated that because professional basketball players wrap ice around their knees court-side but never in night clubs presumably.
Potentially, the funniest part in this movie is the jive turkey scene. Besides the obvious careless play with the gun, another funny part of that scene is, Lou Redwood is angry about being called a "jive turkey" rather than a "cock sucker." This scene is classic and movie-watchers responded with incessant laughter. The scene where Jackie Moon fights the bear is also funny, but that scene is beat by the fight scene during the commercial break.
The script is adequate for what the movie intended be, which is a pleasantly stupid movie designed to make people laugh. Although as I walked out of the theater, one young woman mentioned the movie was not funny, the film still had an appeal that Will Farrell fans will appreciate. Now, was this movie funnier than Superbad? No, apparently not. The rhythm of the film was sometimes lost by the subtle humor mentioned earlier, and for this reason its either the audience was laughing really hard or just chuckling at parts that were mildly funny. The casting was great, and the chemistry amongst the actors was awesome, but this movie was simply entertaining, but according Movies.com fans and critics agree, Semi-pro deserves a B-, but I'll give it a C. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.
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