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Reviews
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Some supremely chilling moments, but don't expect too much
After hearing all the (what I now believe to be) hype about this movie, I was very excited to see the preview. While the movie was very inventive and very creepy at times, it's definitely a case of the whole being *less* than the sum of its parts.
The story line, about the recovered video of three college film students lost in the woods while doing a documentary on local supernatural happenings, is inventive and provides plenty of goose-bump inducing moments. The three main actors all do an *excellent* job, and each scene in and of itself is interesting. However, just because a scene is well done doesn't stop it from being repetitive, and too many scenes rehash something an earlier one has already covered.
The video, both hand-held and 16mm show the students increasingly getting on each others nerves as it becomes clear they are lost, and documents their terror each night when they hear unexplained sounds (and eventually more) in the woods around them. But there's only so many times I want to see them all losing it and yelling at each other. The strength of the movie is in the eerie nighttime scenes, and we could have used less of daytime bickering and more of what the movie excelled at. However each of these nighttime scenes didn't quite go far enough. They were always chilling, but never truly frightening.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot, because the mystery of what is happening, and what is going to happen is at the heart of this film. Suffice it to say that I was expecting more at the end than I got. The last scene had me gripping the arms of my chair, absolutely riveted. And then it ended. Abruptly. I think I can appreciate why the film's creators did the ending in the manner they did, but I was left wanting more.
In the final analysis, the film doesn't draw together, it doesn't cohere in the way it needs to, and that is why its individual scenes, wonderful in and of themselves, don't quite create as wonderful a movie in total.
Aliens (1986)
A great action film, but not the classic "Alien" is
This is one of the best 'edge of your seat' sci-fi action films ever made, yet the original "Alien" still emerges as the more groundbreaking and daring film.
James Cameron was careful to give Ripley a plausible reason to return for another bout with the face-huggers et al (and it's too bad the same attention to plausibility wasn't provided in the next two films.) By the end of "Alien", Ripley stood out as being the one character with the smarts we wish all horror movie characters possesssed. In "Aliens" she becomes a kick-ass action goddess, which makes for an enjoyable romp yet turns the movie into something more cartoonish than the original.
The original had style and atmosphere in spades. It wasn't afraid to take 45 minutes to really get going, and in that time we really got to know the characters. There were layers of interaction going on between the Nostromo's crew that are lacking in "Aliens". The marines are more simply drawn, but character isn't really what "Aliens" is about anyway. The addition of a prominent child character, normally the death knell to any good horror movie, is handled surprisingly well in "Aliens", and her relationship with Ripley is genuinely touching.
When Dallas, Parker, or Lambert died in the original, there was a visceral impact. Most of the characters in "Aliens" are far more expendable, and their deaths don't really have the same 'oomph', not only because they aren't as well-defined, but because the movie is so busy hurtling on to the next whiz-bang action sequence.
While the first movie's timing was more predictable for the hard-core horror-movie fan, "Aliens" is more inventive in keeping us on our toes, and in that way surpasses the original. However, we know Ripley is the heroine. In "Alien", we didn't know that, and so the tension was much greater because we didn't have a 'safe' character we could be fairly certain would live.
"Alien" was the true innovator, both in style and substance, with it's organic look and feel. "Aliens" smartly and effectively plays off of it. While not as atmospheric and layered, it's one heck of a ride for even the most jaded moviegoer.
Stay Tuned (1992)
A weak Hollywood parody of weak TV programs...
This movie aims to be a parody of television programming, but aims low and barely even hits that. Watching this movie is a bit like sitting with a friend who tells not-so-funny jokes, and then laughs really hard at them. I got the feeling the people making this movie thought they were being rather witty, but the end result didn't turn out nearly as clever as they thought it would.
Not horrible, and if you're in the right mood for utter fluff, it may be worth a look, but don't go out of your way to watch it.
The Day of the Locust (1975)
Has one of the most horrific scenes ever made...
I stumbled upon this watching cable one day, just minutes before the climactic riot scene. Even without knowing the set-up for it, I found it to be one of the most truly horrifying scenes I'd ever seen in a movie.
I finally had a chance to watch the movie again from the beginning, and found it by turns gorgeous, puzzling, chilling, and provocative. You could talk for hours with friends regarding what this movie is 'about', or what it is 'trying to say'.
The basic plot involves a young scene designer and aspiring actress in 1930s Hollywood. She is naive, manipulative, self-centered, yet full of life and hope. He falls in love with her, but she has no intentions of falling for him. Any plot summary about the surface storyline is almost beside the point though, because this movie is far more a study of human nature, both of individuals and of groups and crowds. It seems to be a movie about appetites as much as anything....hunger for fame, sex, riches, recognition; and about rage, both repressed and terrifyingly expressed.
Its pace is slow, and it is not light viewing. If you watch without paying too much attention, or wander off for five minutes here or there to get some popcorn or whatever, you probably will find it rather odd and rambling. But it's well written and complex characters will draw in the careful viewer, and by the time you do reach the end, it will leave you very, very disturbed.
Looking for something light and entertaining? Do NOT pick this one. But if you're up for a unique, powerful, and challenging movie, give it a try!