Brittany Murphy

Brittany Murphy's last films to be finished up after her death include a made-for-TV movie called MegaFault, a spooky sexual thriller called Across the Hall, a possession thriller called Dead Line, and Abandoned, a mind-fuck up there with Spanish Prisoner. Something Wicked is still in post-production. Here follows the thoughts I have on what I've seen.

She's got scary collagen lips and eyes bulging out of her head, likely due to drastic working out and weight loss. I like her personality; I like when she plays crazy. In MegaFault, she's a scientist with a husband and daughter who is trying to save lives from the earth's upheaval. She is convincing, but the movie is pretty typical made-for-TV.

Dead Line is a step up from the corniness of the previous title. She's a writer, not quite as convincing as an intellectual loner. But when things start repeating and when she reacts to the potential ghosts/imagined issues around her, she does well.

Across the Hall is a serious thriller, where she's a woman screwing around with the feelings and bodies of two best friends. The jump scares are conventional, but the tension that is built up is top notch. There were a few times when I actually held my breath for fear of the character appearing on screen hearing me. Total suspension of disbelief.

I am just finished watching Abandoned, where she stars with Dean Cain as a girlfriend taking her boyfriend into the hospital for orthopedic surgery. The hospital is transferring all patients over to another location for reconstruction, and somehow her boyfriend slips through the paperwork and can't be found post-op. Is she having a psychotic breakdown due to her mother's death four months ago? Is her boyfriend a figment of her imagination? Or is there something bigger going on? I was caught up in the plot twists, though we've seen them all before, because of the believable performances, well-done sound design and subtle editing. Not sure about the hair/wardrobe, which seemed a little unrealistic, and all of a sudden springing an important plot point more than half-way through the film was a jarring note, but otherwise, this is definitely worth a viewing, especially being her last role.

SpielBay

In many ways, I am the opposite of the troublemakers known as SpielBay. They detest the machinations, repetitions, money-hungry smash-bash-and-grab cash movie-making practices of Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay and any other Hollywood types. I wait to have an opinion until the final product has arrived, maybe because I'm more comfortable participating in an audience scenario than as performer. Many times I agree that the old, pre-CGI films were better, but there are occasions when I can see the value of a remake, of a new retelling of a story that wouldn't be appreciated if it were only told in the old way. Hopefully we all take each others' opinions into account, and finally decide for ourselves what is of value to us, rather than making universal, snap judgments.


http://www.facebook.com/spielbay

http://www.youtube.com/user/Spielbay

I recommend watching their videos and other projects HIGHLY.

gods and monsters

--What is with religious, end-of-the-world spectaculars?

Just watched The Seventh Sign with a young Demi Moore. Same story as The Omen, The Prophecy, and most recently Legion: end of the world is upon us, who will sacrifice themself to save the rest of mankind? And with a title that is reminiscent of Bergman's Seventh Seal, no less. It seems the filmmakers believe that the subject matter is weighty enough, there needs to be no more put into it, thought-wise, humor-wise, entertainment-wise. Just "look upon me, and despair."

Even if these films are not remaking each other, it sure feels like a rehash, every time you see the same story. Why not go WAAAAAY back, to the times "when gods were petty and cruel..."

(pic from studiocut.net)

I also saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief recently. It felt more like I was hoping the remake of Clash of the Titans would be: light, introductory for those who haven't read the mythology, colorful and fun to watch. Although it was rated PG, it had enough (relatively) subtle innuendo, particularly coming from the mouth of the satyr, to satisfy the adult in me, while not dragging me down too far into the back story. I know fans of the books series protest any and all changes made in transferring text to screen, but what are ya gonna do? Absolute, unerring faithfulness to the source material will be criticized for not being snappy enough, not being visual enough, not original enough. Only thing to do is regard each as its own separate entity, and hope that both will be worthy of your affection. If not, think of it as a learning experience--you've discovered yet another thing that doesn't measure up, so the ones that do will be that much better.

I Spit On Your Grave.

I Spit On Your Grave (1978), originally called Day of the Woman. The original scarred me for life, since I was still in the movie-watching phase when I felt like everything that was convincingly portrayed on celluloid COULD conceivably happen to me. Between this and Last House on the Left, I was left with a very dark view on backwoods and rural sex practices. The cinematography was done so subtly in the first part, it seemed the cameraman was a peeping tom, getting thrills from watching our protagonist, almost documentary-style. The sound design is stark, not allowing us to get distance from the events on-screen, by limiting the score to source music only.

We get to know the female author Jennifer Hills as she settles into a distant country home in order to finish the story she's working on. Some "generous" locals decide to help their handicapped young hanger-on learn about sex, by stalking her and showing him how it's done. The movie shows them playing with her like cats with a mouse, letting her getting away, then brutally attacking her again. They finally leave her for dead, but somehow she survives her horrific injuries and goes home to heal.

The second half is the story of her revenge on the group of men, managing it any way she can. I've read arguments that this is glorifying rape, that this is a feminist film, that there is no message behind this movie because it is simply exploitation, and that the woman takes back her power at the end. Which do you believe? Is it a "grit your teeth and endure it" kind of story, or is there a bottom line?

I'm glad I saw the original, but I will not be seeing the remake, because as long as it conveys the same message, it's unnecessary. I did not enjoy the experience of sitting through it the first time.

Monday evening

week of May 25th, 2010

I watched a good chunk of the new releases yesterday. Alice in Wonderland, Leap Year, Cornered, and tried The Tooth Fairy but hated it.

AIW: not your typical story. Tim Burton makes it a return to Wonderland, after Alice is grown up. I've seen many adaptations (including the SyFy Channel one and Kate Beckinsale as a blonde one) and I enjoyed this version. Plus it was pretty to look at. But I didn't care about 3D-ness of it. Only 3D I've really loved is Spy Kids 3D.

Leap Year: Enjoyed this. Girl follows her boyfriend to Ireland where he's at a conference, so she can propose to him on February 29th. Gets diverted to Wales, then Dingle, because of bad weather and has to find her way to Dublin. Predictable and shallow yes, but sometimes that's all you want from a movie. Comforting.

Cornered: Group of friends who own/work at/spend time at a failing convenience store lock up for the night and play poker upstairs. Find an unwelcome visitor and start dying in the methods they had come up with during a theoretical conversation earlier. Again, not terribly deep, but kind of satisfying. If I want a really good slasher film, I'd go for Sorority Row instead.

Predators

Predators. Directed by Nimród Antal, produced by Robert Rodriguez. Eight people wake in free fall to find themselves hurtling towards an alien planet, equatorial jungle in nature. These humans are played by Danny Trejo, Topher Grace, and Adrien Brody among others. They even are assisted at one point by Laurence Fishburne!

Rather simple story of trust, co-operation, ambiguity, power & control. Fun joyride of who will survive (Ten Little Indians-style) and how. I'm going to have to watch it over again from the beginning, paying more attention to see if hints were dropped earlier as to the ultimate ending. I suspect there is more to it than at first viewing. Love, love, love the casting, the set dressing, the makeup, the sound design...

Saw it with a few fans of the franchise, who noticed several tips of the hat to the original Predator, and said this was a companion story, not a reboot of any kind. I also learned it totally ignored the Vs. Aliens series.

And...I would like to lick honey off Adrien Brody's six-pack.

causes of zombification

Rewatching the remake of The Crazies today, thinking about how many other zombie/infection movies start with the water.
Found another post listing a few of those watery films here: ALL THINGS HORROR.
So I went on to think about examples of other virus/unexplained source of a zombie-mutating horror.

• 28 Days Later (2002)/28 Weeks Later (2007)
• [Rec] (2007)/Quarantine (2008)
• Dawn of the Dead (1978)
• Day of the Dead (1985)
• Demons 2 (1986) - yeah well, demons released from the TV count as zombie-like behavior.
• Dead Alive (1992) - the bite of the Sumatran rat-monkey (pic from gutzngory.com)
• Night of the Comet (1984) - was, of course, the gases of the comet passing through earth's atmosphere.
• Night of the Creeps (1986) - aliens (pic from forum.dead-donkey.com
• Night of the Living Dead (1968) - unexplained
• It Came From Outer Space (1953) - aliens
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978, 2007) - aliens
• Return of the Living Dead (1985) - government cover up of unexplained fluid
• SLiTHER (2006) - aliens (pic from moviestudio.wordpress.com)

and of course, Stephen King's Dreamcatcher (2003), which uses all of the above, essentially.

If you were to make a zombie (or zombie-like) film, which cause would you choose? or would you leave it ambiguous?