THE CRAZIES.

My excitement for The Crazies elevated within just the last couple days when some pretty good reviews started to surface. So I was pretty hyped for the film before I went to see it. And I really need to go see it a second time... but not for the reason you think.

I had probably one of the most annoying theater experiences tonight. Let me explain. First, I'm sitting there waiting for the previews to start, and in walks the Crazy Girl. From those who don't know or haven't been around here that long, the Crazy Girl was one of my students from student teaching that drove me insane... mostly because she was. And I heard her say not long after she stepped in "I have to kill myself now," followed up soon by "I'll explain later." I know exactly what she was talking about. Once she takes a seat--right in front of me--the lights dim and the previews start.

Enter two of my most annoying (current) students rushing in, having snuck in to the movie (as it's rated R, and they aren't old enough yet). Girl #1 is one of my loudest, most annoying, and most offensive students. Every other word out of her mouth would make a sailor blush, and she tends to yell everything with not a care in the world for other people. Girl #2 is just strange--she's a weird mix of bubbly and obscene... again, with very little consideration for others. Now, these two girls also happen to know (and have probably slept with) half the movie theater staff. And they also have this love/hate relationship with a few of them (which I get to hear about every 5 seconds during class). These two girls decide to sit next to me. At first, Girl #1 sits right next to me and never shuts up. And about 5 minutes into the previews, declares "This is boring," and pulls out her mp3 player, holding it up for all to see its shine and blasting the music for all nearby to hear. Once the movie starts, however, they switch spots, and Girl #2 sits next to me. She proceeds to, quite literally, never take her hands or eyes off of her cell phone, texting the whole damn time (and then try to ask what happened during the movie that she's not paying attention to). And both of them have to comment, rudely, about every person that walks into the theater late, as well as every little movement that happens on screen.

This is when a few big girls brush past us and sit on the other side of me and be nearly as bad. They constantly talked at the screen or prepped themselves for scares like they had never seen a horror movie before.

Anyway, the two girls (my students) leave to go to the concession stand (mostly to bother the workers). That was a good 5 minutes or so. But then they came back and continue their never-ending annoyances. And outside the classroom, I couldn't really enforce anything or take up their electronics (though I could cuss at them). And they just laughed at me if I told them to put their stuff away or move somewhere else. It really wasn't until almost exactly the 1-hour mark that the security cop guy came in and pulled them out (as I later found out, after the movie, for harassing the concession stand guys, as well as sneaking in to an R-Rated film). So the last 40 minutes or so of the movie were about all I was really able to focus on.

This leads me in to my review. The movie is about Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant); his wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell); his deputy, Russell (Joe Anderson); and his wife's co-worker, Becca (Danielle Panabaker). After a plane crash into the local water system, Sheriff Dutton starts to notice people in town go a bit crazy. They zone out and get violent. And when the military shows up, it takes them double time to try to stay alive, as the military is after anyone and everyone, not just the crazies (who are after anyone, as well).

As far as I could tell, the movie was pretty good. I couldn't get into the atmosphere and mood of the film until an hour in, but that wasn't the fault of the film. And once the girls left, the movie pulled me in almost immediately (which isn't hard to do, when the first scene after they left is the car wash scene). The beginning of the film had me at a loss with its transitions, but--again--I do not think that was the fault of the film. I missed so much in explanation at the beginning, I'm lucky I understood as much as I did.

The acting was pretty good as well, especially from Timothy Olyphant, who almost always impresses. And I've noticed a trend. If you want your horror movie to be good, especially when it has everything going against it, cast Radha Mitchell. Seriously, think about it. Vin Diesel versus aliens doesn't sound like a winner... but Pitch Black is awesome. Video game movies hardly ever work, but Silent Hill is amazingly creepy. Remakes, especially of the horror variety, are rarely good... but this film worked. And all star Radha Mitchell.

The scares are good. It's not a gore-fest (there is blood, but it isn't excessive). There are some jump-scares, but it also goes old-school horror with people just standing in the background or playing at expectations. I particularly loved the car wash sequence--maybe because it's mostly when the movie truly began for me--but really because it throws you into that fear of the unknown. With the windows soaped up, you just caught glimpses. You really had no idea what was going to happen next. It kinda goes up there with Adam's Capture in the original Saw (the camera flash scene).

I can't say too much else about it. I really need to see it again, and I'm sure the score would be higher in that case. Really, it was such an ironic movie (at least with the title) to have this happen in. I went to see crazy people and they all flocked to me. But whatever. For now, it is what it is. And it was entertaining.


A Keanu 'Whoa'

(P.S. Wasn't that hand/knife kill like... one of the coolest kills ever?)

SURROGATES.

I finally got around to seeing this movie... but because pretty much everything you really cared to know has been said about it already (and partly because I'm about as lazy as the people in the movie), I'm not gonna do a full review. Instead, I'll just pretend that I'm a surrogate for one of the "Haiku Review" blogs out there. If you want a review in one line, it would be: "I should have gone with my gut and seen Zombieland again." Otherwise, here's a review in 5-7-5:

Acting was awkward

It was too predictable

Good idea, bad script

Stop Saying Okay! Okay.

(P.S. And anyone else totally confused by the entirety of the third act?)

2 In 1: Miss Potter and Finding Neverland.

This 2 In 1 focuses on movies based on two famous children’s authors with even more famous works of literature. Both movies also tend to have a bit of magical realism played into it, for better or worse.

Miss Potter.

This film is based on Beatrix Potter, famous for writing and illustrating the children’s story The Tale of Peter Rabbit. But the movie, really, isn’t about that. However, it’s hard to pinpoint what the movie is about. It really isn’t a story about her rise from nothing to fame, because she starts off rich and gets published in the first scene of the movie and then begins to gain fame within the first 30 minutes. It’s more of a love story between Beatrix (Renee Zellweger) and her publisher, Norman (Ewan McGregor), as well as her friendship with Norman’s sister, Millie (Emily Watson)… as well as her relationships with her parents. So if I were to be asked what this movie is about, I’d answer ‘the many relationships of Beatrix Potter.’

Obviously one of the major faults of the movie, to me, is that it has no clear purpose. The movie moves as an almost breakneck speed, leaving no room for plot, character development, or chemistry. It moves from scene to scene adding more tidbits on the life of Beatrix Potter without really extending on any given moment besides its importance on the surface level. There was no real chemistry between Zellweger and McGregor. There was only a marginal bit of chemistry between Zellweger and Watson. But none of the characters really grew. They all stayed exactly the same, including Beatrix. Sure, she moves on with life and eventually stands up for herself… but she did that numerous times in other different ways as shown in the movie. There needed to be a lot more to the movie, especially on the character of William Heelis, who has all of 4 or 5 scenes in the entire movie, but turns out to be highly important in Beatrix’s life. His complete lack of screen time gives the audience no ability to attach to him or actually care about what the heck happens (much like with any character in the movie). And then within the last 15-20 minutes of the movie, it continues to go in a completely unimportant direction before abruptly ending. There’s no real conflict or climax to the movie. It’s just like “moments in the life of Beatrix Potter.”

As for acting, I felt Ewan McGregor and Emily Watson did the best job. Renee Zellweger, though I’m not sure why, got on my nerves. Something about the way she acted the part was just irritating. Not to mention she came off as clinically insane for most of the movie. It was interesting, at the least, how her pictures kept coming to life via her imagination, but they really didn’t make too much use of the idea (except in one scene to show a mental breakdown, though, as I said, she was arguably already mentally unstable anyway).

I usually talk about a movie more than this, but I honestly don’t know what else to say about it. The movie was at least somewhat entertaining for the most part, though it had a lot of flaws to me, and the last 20 minutes or so was pointless and needed a lot more meat to it. The best visual is toward the beginning when the young Beatrix is picturing her parents getting into a pumpkin-carriage being led by giant rabbits (and driven by a mouse, if I remember correctly). I really didn’t care for Renee’s acting in the part, and the movie could have just used more of a plot in general. That’s about all I can say on that.

Feed Me, Seymour!

Finding Neverland.

How is it that this movie only won a single Oscar again (and only for Original Score, at that)? J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) is a failing playwright, much to the chagrin of his producer (Dustin Hoffman), with a failing marriage with his wife, Mary (Radha Mitchell). But when he happens across a family headed by widow Sylvia Davies (Kate Winslet), with four boys including the much-troubled Peter (Freddie Highmore), both his life and his imagination find a sudden spark. Even against the wishes of Sylvia’s strict mother (Julie Christie), and through all the slanderous rumors against Barrie’s true purposes with the family, the friendships strive on as Mr. Barrie creates his masterpiece, Peter Pan.

There’s so many wonderful things about this movie. The acting is magnificent, from Johnny Depp all the way down to Freddie Highmore (I would argue that this and August Rush are his two best films). Johnny Depp is great and diverse as usual, as well. The only slight buggy bit was when he kind of dropped the accent to do a pirate accent at one point, which made it more reminiscent of Captain Jack than of a proper Scotsman. The actress that catches my attention the most, though, is Radha Mitchell, who really seems to be one heck of a diverse actress. I mean, she’s played a troubled, badass ship pilot in the Sci-Fi/Horror flick Pitch Black, she’s played the worried mother in the Horror film Silent Hill, and now here she is playing the snotty English woman. It’s just fun to see the range she can take and still do well in (we all know Johnny Depp is pretty much the same, but I’m talking in the terms of actresses here. There aren’t many actresses out there who can do these vastly different roles and pull them all off well).

The sense of imagination/magical realism in the film is handled very nicely, as well. It isn’t played up like J.M. Barrie is insane or whatnot, but simply opening his imagination and inviting everybody else to join him in doing so. My favorite bit, which really shows the contrast between characters, is when Barrie and his wife are going to bed in their separate rooms. Mary opens her door, which is just to a dark bedroom, while J.M. opens his door to a bright, flowery meadow. There’s quite a bit of symbolism between reality and the imagination imagery, which is handled nicely (especially toward the end when Kate Winslet ‘Finds Neverland’, so to speak).

The music was beautiful, obviously, since it won an Oscar for it. This is really a short review, as well, because there’s not much more to talk about. The movie was handled very well on all fronts, and it’s a shame that it was relatively ignored. It’s just a beautiful film overall.

Royale With Cheese