It was the mid-90s; probably 1995 or 1996. I was over at a friend’s apartment, sitting around watching TV. We were both a couple years out of high school, rather aimless, but full of big ideas. Out of the blue he said, “Oh! I forgot! You’ve got to see this movie! This guy’s girlfriend…she sucks thirty-seven dicks!”

Now, if this were a perfect world, I wouldn’t responded, “In a row?” Alas, the universe did not provide me with the appropriate line, so I simply said, “Good enough for me!”

And for the next hour and a half, I watched Clerks for the first time. And it resonated. Big time. After all, my friend and I were Smith’s ideal audience. I was a college student, working part-time at Sam’s Club and trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do with my life. My friend was bouncing around from shit job to shit job, aspiring to be a professional musician, but without the true skills to back them up. We were, to use a clichéd term relevant to that era, slackers.

As luck would have it, my friend had also rented Smith’s second flick, Mallrats, which we immediately dug into. From there, I became a pretty big fan of Kevin Smith’s work. Not the über-fan who buys tons of merchandise, hangs on his every word, and travels to Comicon just to see him speak. More like an “ardent appreciator”. Though, admittedly, Smith’s work influenced a bit of my personality and humor back in those formative years when the characters who populated movies like Mallrats and Chasing Amy seemed to be drawn straight out of my life. I own all of his movies (including Jersey Girl), listen to the bulk of the shows on his SModcast podcast network, and at least skim through his mountains of tweets on a daily basis.

Despite all of this, I wasn’t sure I would like Red State. In fact, I feared it would be a mess. And it’s not because it wasn’t a comedy. I’ve read plenty of Smith stories that stray from the laughs and get downright serious. Hell, his Batman book “The Widening Gyre” was a masterpiece, showing a side of Bruce Wayne that nobody’s ever thought to explore in such an intimate way. But there were warning signs with Red State. The Weinsteins, usually home to all of Smith’s film endeavors, passed on the flick, forcing him to search for outside investors. Furthermore, no one from his traditional stable of players was set to be cast in the movie. And though real heavyweights like John Goodman, Melissa Leo, and Michael Parks were eventually announced, I wasn’t certain that Smith could get their best. And finally, the initial reactions from the Sundance screening were a real mixed bag with some claiming that Red State was a rambling, jumbled movie that didn’t know what it wanted to be.

I’m not going to preface this any further: Kevin Smith’s Red State is the absolute best movie of his career. (Which is terribly depressing considering the fact that he’s planning on giving up directing after his next flick). The movie is tense, uncomfortable, sharp, fascinating, and wonderfully-produced. And yes, for those Smith fans who aren’t comfortable with the idea of him not doing a comedy, the movie can also be very funny at times. The cast he has assembled is brilliant, with the aforementioned Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, and John Goodman delivering the standout performances. It’s a movie that will stick with you for days, and one that I can’t wait to see again when it hits theaters in October.
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I was just a kid watching reruns of some classic TV shows from the 1960s, but I remember this opening monolog as well as William Shatner’s classic intro to Star Trek.  “Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aide Kato, and their rolling arsenal, the Black Beauty. On police records a wanted criminal, the Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner and publisher of The Daily Sentinel; his dual identity known only to his secretary, and to the district attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides the Green Hornet!”

Believe it or not, The Green Hornet has been around for quite some time. He first appeared as a popular radio series that ran in the mid 30s through the 1950s. He later would grace the big screen in two successful movie serials. And then, of course, ABC would bring this crime fighter to televison in 1966 and 1967 during the height of the Batman crazy. Since then, one could only find the Green Hornet in televison reruns or the pages of some indie comic books. That is until Director Micheal Gondry and writer/actor Seth Rogen have delivered this hero to the big screen; and in 3D, no less. The big question is in this day of hit-or-miss super hero genre films, can Rogen and company deliver on one of my most beloved crime fighters? 

The cool thing about the Green Hornet (aside from his bad ass car, the Black Beauty) is he’s not your typical crime fighter. Instead of donning a mask and going out publicly to bust the bad guys, Britt Reid dons a mask and acts like local criminal. This allows him and his trusty valet Kato to get close to the criminals and break up their plans and let the police clean things up. 

The movie follows this formula quite well as Seth Rogen portrays Britt Reid. In the film, Britt is a spoiled playboy who inherits his father’s newspaper amd fortune after his untimely death. In his grief, Reid fires all of his father’s caretakers until he realizes that none of them can make a decent cup of coffee. ”Who used to make my coffee?”, he screams.  Well, that would be Kato (played brilliantly by Jay Chou) the former mechanic and secret martial arts wizard. Reid soon learns that Kato is a master inventor and has retro-fitted his father’s limo with bulletproof windows and other nifty gadgets. Together, they get drunk and head out to deface his father’s statue and in the process wind up breaking up a robbery. 

Reid comes up with a novel plan of using their new secret identities to pose as criminals so they can get close to the real bad guys. He uses the power of his newpaper to create the persona of the Green Hornet to generate attention and publicity. This does not sit well with the local crime boss, Benjamin Chudnofsky, (Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, from Inglorious Bastards) and he vows to kill the Green Hornet so as to not lose any more power. What follows is a funny-at-times series of car chases and bar fights that try and piece themselves together into a coherent film. 

I’ll be honest, I wanted to love this movie. I’m a big fan of the Green Hornet and Seth Rogaen has made me laugh more times than I can remember. While not the perfect choice for the lead role, I was hoping he could pull it off and provide some laughs along the way. (I’m hoping the same for Ryan Renolds as Hal Jordan in The Green Lantern film this summer). However, Rogen’s portrayal of Britt Reid for 3/4s of the film is down-right annoying. Rogen’s Reid is a spoiled brat who never takes anything seriously and is seemingly unaware that he is driving everyone nuts. This is not the Britt Reid I remember from my youth, and I’d be okay with that if it were genuinely funny. Sadly, oftentimes it’s not. And that just makes him unlikeable, a trait not associated with super heroes at all. In the last reel of the film, Reid “gets it” and begins to take his role of The Green Hornet seriously, and the last thirty minutes of the film are quite enjoyable. But I have to ask if that makes up for the first half; and I’m not so sure. 

Cameron Diaz portrays Lenore Case, Reid’s personal secretary. Case has a degree in criminology and unwittingly helps Reid and Kato plan their next steps as vigilantes. Case is an important character in the canon of The Green Hornet, and as one of two people who know his secret identifty she provides insight and helps the team.  Here, Case is a comedic love interest as both Reid and Kato want to date her and then begin fighting, jeopardizing their entire plan. In the end, they do reveal to her their secret identities, but there’s no time for Case to grow as that character and we are left making a huge leap of faith that she has bought into what Reid and Kato are up to.   

Christoph Waltz graces us with a fine performance after his Oscar-winning performance as the “Jew Hunter”.  Sadly, his talents are wasted on a trite script and an unusual desire to become a masked vigilante himself. I found this strange because as a confident suit-wearing bad ass he was perfectly menacing enough. I guess that wasn’t funny so they pursued this angle instead. 
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You know, I think I talked about most of this stuff already, but it’s too damn awesome not to be remembered for this year.  Let’s begin! 

Back Dynamite:  Okay, so technically the movie was released in 2009, but how many of us saw it in the theater? The awesomeness of this film became truly widespread when it was released onto DVD back in February. The internet was abuzz at the uniqueness of this film, and after at least six different viewings this year I can see why. The brilliance of this film isn’t in it’s clever writing, quotable one-liners, or how it never really takes itself seriously; no the magic comes in how every time you watch it you pick up on something new and funny. It has become my “go to” movie whenever I have company over, and I’m always thanked when the film is done. As of last week, this film was one of the few Netflix streaming videos that won’t allow you to have a Netflix party with. The reason? Everybody would be doing it as this movie is even more awesome in a  shared viewing. I don’t believe Netflix has the bandwidth available for the nightly Black Dynamite parties that would no doubt be going on.  Until then, I say you go just go and buy this film.  It will sit nicely next to The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Caddyshack.

The Walking Dead: You know, the sad thing about a zombie movie is after two hours the feature ends and we are left wondering what happens next. But what if we could watch what happens to our survivors for a long period of time? At least that was the concept behind the popular comic series developed by Robert Kirkman. For a comic, The Walking Dead is unique as it focuses far more on character development and less on the zombie hoard.  The zombies, in fact, act much like a dangerous natural element that the characters have to deal with and less of a plot element. The other cool thing about The Walking Dead is how real it is. People resort doing doing some pretty nasty things to one another in their quest to stay alive just one more day. Main characters come and go and we should expect that in a world where the dead rule the Earth. This past Fall, AMC released a six-part mini-season based on the comic. I was both excited and a bit anxious as to what we might see onscreen as Hollywood has a tendency to mess things up or dumb things down for their audience. But this was AMC, and the first episode stuck true to the comic storyline. And with over five million viewers, it was the highest-rated premier on AMC and became the most watched cable series for its demographic. The storyline would eventually split from the comic, but the overall tone and emphasis of character development over action stayed the same. AMC has picked up this classic for another 13 episodes, and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next. 

No Ordinary Family:  2010 had some great TV shows: Madmen, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, but this little show on ABC has become a guilty pleasure for me. The show is essentially a live-action version of one of my favoriute films, The Incredibles. The Powells are an ordinary, dysfunctional family who gain super powers after their plane crashes in Brazil. The father (Micheal Chiklis) has super strength, can leap several blocks, and is seemingly invulnerable. The mom (Julie Benz aka Rita from Dexter) is super fast, and as a scientist by trade she is more than curious about how they got their powers. Their kids (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett) have lesser powers as the girl can read minds while the son has become a Reed Richards super genius. There is a bit of Heroes-like mythology going on in the back-story, but the real strength of the show is the characters and how they interact with one another and grow from their new found abilities.  Whomever is writing the reboot of the Fantastic Four should pay attention to this show, as Disney and ABC “get it.” It’s campy and fun, and even the bit characters play their roles to the tee. Even the unlikely pair of Chiklis and Benz seem to pull off a believable couple together. Bottom line, the show is just plain fun, and I hope I get to see more of it in 2011.

Kinect: I’m one of those people Microsoft was targeting when they thought up Kinect. I don’t own a Wii, but I am interested in what it can do. But with all the shovel-ware and stories about it collecting dust, I could never get myself to drop the cash to jump into the experience. Kinect seemed like a more logical transition for me, and upon purchasing one last Fall I can finally understand what motion gaming is really all about. Folks can argue that there really isn’t a lot out there right now, especially for the hardcore gamers. I can admit that may be true, but I am also convinced that Kinect is here to stay and that the future looks bright for the peripheral. I say this for many reasons, but mainly because the tech just seems to work and there is something magical about gaming with no controllers. It has revitalized the gaming experience for my entire family, and for me that is well worth the money I paid for it. Here’s hoping that the new titles that come out for the system are as tantalizing and cool as Dance Central and Kinect Sports.

Red Dead Redemption:  I might piss off some Grand Theft Auto fans out there, but Red Dead Redemption is a better game.  In fact I do believe that it is RockStar’s BEST game yet and one that I can’t seem to stop playing. Maybe it’s the newness of the Old West that got me hooked. Or perhaps it was the amazing storyline and characters. Or maybe it was the surprise ending that got the internet abuzz with discussions. Whatever the reason, Red Dead Redemption is in my top ten list of favorite games ever played and the new DLC keeps me coming back to the environment for more fun partners.  Not to mention that the DGR night we had in the game, holding the fort from sleazebags on our server was quite frankly one of the best times I have had on Xbox Live ever.  Thanks guys (and Token). 

Inception: Christopher Nolan has proven that he’s the King of the Mountain when it comes to directing movies. Not only did he make us rethink how we view one of the most iconic super heroes of all time, but he can take us to places we never dreamed of before. Such is the case of Inception, a movie that is as close to perfect storytelling as I can remember. We follow Leonardo DiCaprio and his team into the world of the dream and are left wondering if what we experienced was ever real at all. When asked if he could explain what he actually meant by the end of his film he stoically explained, “If I did that it would ruin the entire reason why I filmed Inception. The movie is supposed to leave you questioning. If you feel that way, it did its job. The man is a stud, and I can’t wait for how he ends his Dark Knight trilogy and the upcoming Superman project.

Lost Finale: Never has a show left me feeling so satisfied and with so many unanswered questions at the same time. For six seasons we watched the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 unravel the mysteries of the strange island they were stranded on. The storytelling and acting were top notch, and the show spawned several podcasts as viewers tried to decipher the clues left behind in each episode. Whether you enjoyed the final episode or not, Lost and its canon have secured their place in our society and lore. Just the other day my colleagues warned us not to open the hatch when dealing with a sticky project. It is a show that I will miss, and one that I will also enjoy revisiting on BluRay. 

Mass Effect 2: This is my pick for the Daryl Awards this year. Why, you ask? No, not just because I can bone alien creatures (ohhh yeah) but because the character development in this game is so strong, I actually miss them when I am not playing. Bioware has simply mastered the dialogue tree and you can’t help but feel a connection to the characters in the game. That, and it’s the only game I can remember that built on my decisions from the previous game. Countless references to seemingly unimportant characters and my encounters with them solidify that the world of Mass Effect is uniquely mine; there are no two universes that are exactly alike. They fixed the combat system so things flow much smoother and no more tedious armor and weapon upgrade guessing games, just lock, load, and kick ass. Downloadable content for the title has been nothing less than stellar and the last installment (Lair of the Shadow Broker) dramatically changed the universe I play in. I have to wonder how the addition of that single piece of content will affect Mass Effect 3. That, my friends, is sheer brilliance in game design. 

Good BAD Movies:  As Hollywood searches for some creative ways to express itself without rehashing old ideas (thanks but no thanks Yogi Bear) certain directors have seemingly created their own genre by making really bad movies that are just plain FUN to watch. The story-lines (if any) are paper thin, the acting is laughable, and the effects are ridiculous, but for some strange reason they work. Maybe because these movies know they are bad and never try to be anything other than what they are. This summer, we saw what may be the goriest and most awesome killer fish movie of all time, Pirhana 3D.  A movie that took the 3D realm to new heights with 3D boobage (and mind you there was not one boob onscreen that I didn’t care to see, they were all excellent). It was campy and fun and one of the best times I have had at the movies this year. Later in the fall, I gathered my fellow DGR faithful for a Netflix showing of Bitch Slap, a movie that truly must be experienced in a group setting. The movie was awesomely terrible and one that I plan to enjoy with a group of friends over and and over again. Let’s hope that we see this trend continue as directors take their craft just a bit less serious. It may not make a good movie, but if we are entertained I certainly don’t care.     

Robot Panic:  I remember when I got the email from Hilden, “Hey Ryker thanks for submitting all this cool shit. Here’s access to the blog and keep up the good work.” Those that read my stuff know that I haven’t always been a good writer, in fact we might be able to make a pretty good argument that I’m the opposite. But at least I have the opportunity to contribute to a community that shares my interests and is pretty bad ass. I’ve also been blessed to help the guys do their live shows and that is a real treat.  I am always impressed with their passion in delivering a great show every week, and just how genuine they all are.  Last Summer we all got together at Moe’s for the 5th anniversary show and bonfire (sorry about your neighbor’s house Moe). It was one of the best times I have had all year; hanging with the good friends I have made here and enjoying a night together.  For the real magic in all of this isn’t in the articles I write, or the awesome shows the guys do, but it’s in the community that we all share. So thanks to all my friends here, your are truly amazing.  Here’s hoping for a great 2011!

Kevin Smith just posted this up on SModcast.com. It’s a trailer for his new flick, Red State. And it looks and feels nothing like a Kevin Smith movie.

Honestly? It kinda gives me a boner. How ’bout you?

If you want to see a bigger version, hit SModcast.com. I can’t embed the full size here without fucking up the site.

When I was a kid, the first bit of anime that I was introduced to wasn’t Sailor Moon or Speed Racer. It was a serial cartoon show called Star Blazers. Every Saturday, my brothers and I would watch as the crew of the space battleship Yamato traveled across the galaxy in serach of a cure for a dying planet Earth. While not a new concept to Japanese audiences, it was the first episodic cartoon I can remember. It had a kick ass story, amazing battle scenes, and a very memorable theme song. My brothers and I would often make Lego Yamato battleships including the dreaded “Wave Motion Gun.”

That was some thirty years ago, and despite an equally as cool sequel series, I never saw much of Star Blazers. It even took quite awhile for it to reach DVD under a completely different name. Back in Japan, however, the Yamato and her crew have enjoyed several fantastical adventures and many animated feature films, including Final Yamato dubbed as the longest animated film ever made (163 minutes, folks).  Universal concepts such as honor, sacrifice, and love for your fellow man made this show a success abroad and loved by those who could remember it here.

This Decemeber, the Yamato and her crew will step off the animation cell and into the world of live action. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki (Japanese Academy Awards winner and special effects wizard) the movie will star Takuya Kimura as Susumu Kodai and Meisa Kuroki as Yuki. There was a teaser trailer that floated around the net this summer, but only recently did the studio let us get a glimpse of what we could expect. There are only a few things that bring me more joy than that which celebrates things I loved in my youth. For many of the images, characters, and obvious movie plot points are taken straight out of the cartoon I loved as a kid. Even Susumu’s hair is spot-on from his animated counterpart. If you’re an old fart like me, or a fan of the Yamato, you can’t help but get goosebumps watching what I can only describe as a whole ton of awesome. I’m not exactly sure when we might see a US version of this film, but I might just have to catch a ride to Japan to check it out. That is if Godzilla isn’t attacking at that time.

http://yamato-movie.net/en/

Okay, raise your hands if you owned a train set when you were a kid. Okay, now you parents out there, do your kids watch Thomas the Tank Engine on a regular basis? I ask these questions to prove a point: despite its reduced use in our transporation system, almost all of us have a fascination with railroads. Maybe it’s the big powerful locomotives, or the intricacies and puzzle-like nature of the railroad tracks themselves, but somewhere deep down inside of all of us (yes, even you Moe) is a love for all things related to trains. Yet, when we look at popular culture, there have been very few films on the subject. Runaway Train (a great film in its own right) comes to my mind as the last decent film I have seen on the subject and that was a long time ago. So I was excited when I first saw the trailer for Unstoppable, Tony Scott’s latest film about a runaway train. The trailer had me hooked and I couldn’t help but get excited watching it. Luckily for all of us, the excitement in the trailer is about one-tenth the excitement you will experience on-screen.

Unstoppable is based on the true events of the “Crazy Eights” unmanned train incident in 2001.  The train left its Walbridge, Ohio rail yard and began a sixty-six mile journey through northwest Ohio with no one at the controls. Apparently, the engineer left his slow moving train in order to switch a line. However, this genius didn’t set the train’s dynamic breaking system and he watched in horror as the train sped away. Two of the train’s tank cars contained thousands of gallons of molten phenol, a toxic ingredient of paints and dyes. Attempts to derail the train failed, and police were unable to shoot out the fuel release valve. For two hours, the train traveled along at speeds up to forty-seven miles-per-hour until the crew of a second train coupled onto the runaway and slowly applied its brakes allowing railroad employees to eventually stop the train. 

Aside from some exaggerated tension and unique plot twists, this is essentially the story behind Unstoppable. What brings this story to life however is the incredible directing by Tony Scott and brilliant performances by both Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. We should all have a good feeling about this film going in, as Tony Scott is a master at placing us in surroundings and making us feel like we are there. He made us feel like we were in an F14 in Top Gun, and later took us several hundred feet below the sea in Crimson Tide. His movies generally leave me on the edge of my seat and Unstoppable is no different. Scott uses a variety of camera angles to build tension and give us a perspective of the raw power behind this speeding locomotive. The train itself becomes the main character and that’s not an easy task to accomplish. 

This is not to say that Washington and Pine merely phone it in and let the train do all the work. Their performances are equally as powerful. Washington plays an old-timer who is forced to share his shift with Pine, a rookie conductor who has apparently been promoted in the union because of family connections. Pine has his own problems to deal with as he’s been kicked out of his house by his wife. The tension in the cab between the two of them is very believable, and yet they must put their differences aside in order to stop the runaway train. Denzel and Pine work very well together in this film and, in a way, their characters are reflections of where they stand in Hollywood (the aging stud performer vs. the up-and-coming new guy).  Hopefully, as in the film, Pine can learn a thing or two from Denzel, because I can’t remember seeing him in a bad film. 

All-in all, Unstoppable is simply two hours of non-stop fun at the movies. Sure it’s a bit over-the-top, but what good popcorn movie isn’t? My wife and I were on the edge of our seats the entire time, and there was tons of applause at the end of the film. Unstoppable probably won’t win any Academy Awards, but I will say that is is by far the best film I have seen this fall; and I’m sure it’s better than a lot of the foliday films that are about to be dumped on us. So grab a friend or significant other and get on board for one hell of a ride!

Rating = 4.5 buckets-o-popcorn

When I was in college, we would often have special screenings of new release movies and serve as a “Marketing Test Audience”.  I got to see a whole bunch of cool movies before they came out, and the one that sticks out in my memory the most was Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  I remember telling all my friends how amazing this film was and how they should all go and see it. Since then, I have become a road warrior for my job (hence the lack of posts recently, sorry about that) and the antics of John Candy and Steve Martin as they deal with business travel still ring true today. So when I heard that Warner Brothers was releasing a similar travel buddy film, I ran out to the theater with high hopes. 

Due Date centers on Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) a traveling architect who is trying to get home to his wife Sarah, who is going to be giving birth to their first child. While arriving at the airport, he bumps into a fledgeling actor named Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis). The two accidentally swap luggage and through some very funny cirmstances end up on a “no fly” list. Ethan offers to drive Peter home in his rental car as Peter’s wallet has gone missing. Peter reluctantly agrees and the two of them share some zany adventures as they try to get home in time for the birth of Peter’s child.

This movie has some good things going for it. First, Zach Galifianakis is his usual funny self, plyaing the most annoying car mate you could ever imagine. Ethan is socially inept and completely unaware of how his actions and conversations make those around him uncofortable. In a large room, one could always walk away from such a person, but Downey is stuck in a small vehicle with him for a few days. It’s a similar to his role of Adam in last summer’s big hit The Hangover. Yet, underneath his annoying exterior we find a very humble and decent guy. One could say that Ethan is lost; dealing with losing his Dad and trying to define who is he is by going to Hollywood. It takes a lot of work to portray a guy who is so outwardly annoying and yet so inwardly fragile and Galifianakis pulls it off marvelously. Downey’s character is much simpler, and yet he manages to convince us of his inward struggle of wanting to strangle Ethan versus understanding who Ethan really is. 

Second, there are a couple of fantastically funny scenes in this film, including two that center on Ethan’s dog Sunny (who appearantly has learned a pretty nifty trick). But for me, these moments don’t come often enough as director Todd Phillips focuses on character-revealing dialogue to tell this story. I must say that this kinda caught me off guard, as I was hoping to see the ramped up crazy shit that we saw develop in The Hangover. But sadly, the movie doesn’t have the pacing or edge that made that other film work so well.  

John Hughes had success with Planes Trains and Automobiles by taking two opposite people and placing them into outlandish situations. These characters struggled to get along while battling what the travel world threw at them together.  It was overcoming these situations that created the friendship and the heartwarming reveal at the end of that film. In Due Date, we watch and laugh as the smart guy gets beat up and tortured by the antics of the dumb guy. This would be perfectly fine, except that we are asked to believe that some friendship is brewing out of that, and it didn’t quite work for me. 

Don’t get me wrong, Due Date is a funny movie, and there are just enough laughes to make your movie experience worthwhile.  But with the comedic talents of its stars and the pedigree of its director, this movie could have been so much more. It’s certainly a good date movie for a weekend matinee, but I would hesitate to pay full price or buy the DVD. 

Rating = 3 buckets-o-popcorn

Hollywood is notorious for taking great foreign films and remaking them into absolute garbage. Most recently, Steve Carrell held together a washed up script in a very unfunny Dinner for Schmucks. When it comes to horror flicks, Hollywood’s bastardizing of classic films just cant be beat. Take a movie we will be watching the last night of Sunday SHOCK Theater, The Vanishing. Hollywood took this suspenseful and terrifying classic and did the impossible: they made it boring. So when I first heard that an American version of Let the Right One In (A widely popular Robot Panic Summer Film Festival entry. Thanks Mitch!) was in production, I feared the worst. Even the summer trailers for this film portrayed it as a scary blood-and-guts vampire movie and not the deeply complex story that everyone loved. But then my wife called me over lunch on Friday and asked if we could see Let Me In.  She had never seen the original, so with the hope that I might get some scary movie cuddle action, I agreed. The end result of our date night was something I never expected. No, we didn’t make out like teenagers, although that would have been just as surprising, I found an American studio taking great care with an amazing story and producing a remake that is actually really well done.     

Let Me In tells the story of a lonely boy named Owen. His Mom and Dad are getting a divorce, and if that were not enough of a blow to his self esteem, he is constantly picked on by a bunch of bullies. So Owen spends his day eating candy and spying on his neighbors through a telescope in his room. Then one day, an old man and his daughter move in to the next door apartment. The little girl’s name is Abby and there is something quite strange about her. She walks around barefoot in the snow and she proclaims that her and Owen can’t be friends. We soon realize that Abby is a vampire and her father goes out at night killing people so she won’t have to. Strangely enough, Owen and Abby develop a deep friendship, one that is threatened as authorities begin to close in on her and her father. 

It’s rare that we get a smart horror film the likes of Let the Right One In. For what eventually happens to this unique young couple is the basis for what I believe to be one of the best vampire stories of our time. It is ironic, somewhat tragic, and very thought provoking. Normally, Hollywood producers would take a premise of such a this and add in their own ideas and change the story so the American audience would buy it. Apparently we are all too dumb to appreciate something smart like Let the Right One In. But in this case, the right studio got a hold of the rights to the story and treated it with a great deal of love. That studio would be Hammer Studios, well known for the classic vampire movies of the 1960s and 70s. Hammer has a lot of interest in a narrative such as this, and treating this vampire story right was a top priority. Happily, the story remains mostly untouched, and leaves you with the same feeling of thoughtful irony that the original had. I will admit, much of what we see on screen resembles the Swedish classic. The jungle gym where Owen and Abby chat is the same, the lighting of the apartment complex has that same eerie feel to it, and even the actor who plays Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) reminds you of his Swedish counterpart. 

One of the cool things about the original was its sparse dialogue and how Director Thomas Alfredson used facial expressions and body language to tell the story of the developing love story. While these conventions are not abandoned in this remake, Matt Reeves uses a lot more dialogue between Owen and Abby to help explain how each of them is feeling. I was afraid that something like that would happen, but pleasantly surprised at how awkward the dialogue was and how that help convey the awkwardness of the relationship. Trust that the script feels just as sparse, but adds just enough to make things a bit more interesting. 

Perhaps the best part of the entire film is Chloë Moretz’s (aka “Hit Girl”) portrayal of Abby. In the original, we get a clear sense that Abby cares for Owen, but has some ulterior motives. In this version, we see the same thing, but we get a greater sense that Abby has deep and genuine feelings for Owen. This added greater sense of the character for me and heightened the enjoyment factor for the film. Chloë uses her entire body to personify Abby and tell us how she is feeling. Her every movement is deliberate, and every smile both seductive and heartwarming. It is a performance I will not soon forget and I can’t wait to see more from her in the future. 

Now not everything in the film is perfect. The reveal of who Abby is and what she is ultimately trying to do comes way too early in the film. I, for one, appreciate that “ah ha” moment in the original where all the pieces came falling into place. That being said, this movie was incredibly well done and worth a look from both fans of the first film and newcomers to the story. As a fan of the original, I picked up on subtle nuances I had missed in my first viewing and greatly appreciated a unique approach to the story telling. As a Hammer fan, I could spot their use of tightly-framed shots that masterfully created suspense. Honestly, the remake solidified my appreciation for this wonderful narrative and how it ranks up there as one of the best vampire stories of all time. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the film and said it wasn’t what she was expecting. I had to agree; a good remake wasn’t quite what I was expecting either.

Rating = 4 Buckets-O-Popcorn

By now it’s no secret: I love scary movies.  And when I saw the Halloween decorations up at a nearby drug store I couldn’t help but get excited as my favorite time of year is quickly approaching.  Now John and I have some exciting things planned for the month of October, but we’ll let you know about them when the time is right.  In the meantime, I thought I might get my scare on and check out the latest demon-possession extravaganza The Last Exorcism.  So with a big old bucket of popcorn I sat in a very dark theater and dared this movie, “C’mon scare me bitch!”  Sadly, I’m not sure the movie heard me.  For as interesting as parts of this film are, in the end I was hardly scared. 

The film follows an Evangelical minister Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian).  Cotton has been preaching since he was 10 years old, and is much more of a showman than a real minister; he uses magic tricks in his sermons and often gets his parish to say amen to the most absurd things.  His father taught Cotton to perform exorcisms and he did his very first one when he was a young boy.  Cotton is making a documentary of his exorcisms to prove a point; not that exorcisms are real, but that they are in fact a hoax.  Cotton admits that nearly every one of his exorcisms was a fake and that he felt his services were more like that of a shrink than a real man of God.  But after reading about a young girl who died during an exorcism Reverend Marcus wants to expose the industry for what it is in order to save lives.  So Cotton takes his small crew with him on a trip to the backwoods of Louisiana, documenting his last exorcism.  Of course, strange things happen and Cotton must deal with his waning faith as he deals with what appears to be something very real. 

Directed by independent filmmaker Daniel Stamm, the movie was shot entirely on a handy cam and is presented as “found footage.”  By now we have all gotten used to the gimmick that is the handy cam movie.  Last year’s hit Paranormal Activity showed us how effective this style can be when you leave it alone and let the audience fill in the blanks.  Other film such as June 09 and The Blair Witch Project have fallen short of the mark as these films tend to reach for things and present the audience with ideas and notions that aren’t quite there.  This movie seems to suffer from this same fate as it struggles with being “found footage” and a Hollywood film. 
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