A Nightmare on Elm St Remake Teaser Trailer

The official teaser for the Nightmare on Elm St remake/re-imagining has just been released online and first impressions aren’t too bad. It looks like Jackie Earle Haley steps into the big shoes of ‘Freddy’ made famous by Robert Englund well enough. I think Jackie’s ‘Freddy’ is going to be different, from his look through to his voice and I dig that. Of course, a few of the more memorable moments from the original film are there (hand coming out of the bath, Tina’s bedroom kill) but in the end, this is still a Platinum Dunes project so it could turn out to be as pedestrian as the Friday the 13th remake. I can’t say I’m a fan of some of the visuals either and as Slashfilm have said, I want to see more elaborate dreamscapes, not just using blue and red filters on the camera. Bayer does nail plenty of silhouettes of Freddy though, keeping him in the shadows. I guess time will tell if this one will be successful enough but drop a comment below and let me know your thoughts on the teaser. HD version right here.

Tuesday, September 29 2009

Film General

Short Reviews #42

(500) Days of Summer (2009)
star star star star_half

A romance for pitchfork.com readers? Pretty much. Although the filmmakers let you know early on that “this isn’t a love story”, it stars indie darling and now Mrs Ben Gibbard Zooey Deschanel and indie film favourite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the leads, wearing vintage designer clothes, talking about indie music, falling in love, out of love, etc… It’s laid on a little thick at times but then again, what romantic flick isn’t? Director Marc Webb’s first big step into the spotlight has a lot going for it – the performances are great, especially from the leads, the script isn’t too cheesy for the most part and the structure of the story, despite jumping around, keeps on track and delivers the main points home. As the title of film suggests, this covers a relationship between two people for 500 days from the first meeting through to the end so don’t expect everything to go smoothly and as planned. The dynamic between the two characters is an interesting one and is sure to cause some debate, especially if you see this film with someone else. I don’t want to get into here too much but let’s just say I think all guys at some stage have been the Tom character and gone through what he has been through (or if you’re a little younger, are yet to go through). A film like this is always going to have its critics, but I admire Webb for attempting the indie vibe and making something fairly honest, brutal, sweet and refreshing all at once.

Observe and Report (2009)
star star_half star_empty

Surely I’m missing that side of my brain, the dark and twisted side but this Jody Hill creation didn’t make me laugh once! This from the man who gave us the hilarious Kenny Powers in the HBO series Eastbound and Down, serves us a bipolar Seth Rogan (who I have to say hasn’t made me laugh a great deal since Knocked Up) as a mall security guard who wants to prove to people he’s a “somebody”. And typically I absolutely love black comedies! Give me Fargo, Pulp Fiction and even Curb Your Enthusiasm (yes Curb!) any day of the week so maybe I’m not missing that side. Maybe the film is just crap. The two best things about this film are Anna Farris and Ray Liotta and incidentally, I think the whole reason Rogan signed on to do this film was so that he could have a fist fight with Liotta. A total misfire for Hill.

Year One (2009)
star star star_half star_empty

Definitely better than Observe and Report but not overly funny, Year One was directed by Harold Ramis who gave us the excellent Groundhog Day and Analyze This. This is probably his weakest film, most likely due to the very mediocre script and Jack Black and Michael Cera make a great comedy pairing, so had the material been better, it could have really been a modern classic. But if you’re looking for a passable way to spend a couple of hours and don’t mind the comedy styling’s of Black or Cera, you will find yourself having an OK time with this one.

True Blood: Season 2 (2009)
star star star star_empty

This second season of True Blood expands on the mythology somewhat, introduces a few new characters, includes the healthy doses of sex and violence as per season one, but ultimately reaches an anti-climax, which left me a little disappointed. There are some stellar moments throughout the season though and the lead up to the finale is quite interesting but I think the ‘possessed humans and their orgies’ scenes became tiresome after a while. Don’t worry, if you haven’t ventured into the series yet, that’s not really a spoiler. In terms of story plotting and seasonal arcs, I still think Joss Whedon did it better with Buffy but considering True Blood creator Alan Ball’s previous efforts were American Beauty and Six Feet Under, a show about vampires is still most likely very new material to cover. Looking forward to where season three will take me.

1408 (2007)
star star star star_empty

See, this is my kind of horror/thriller. Effective setup, generate lots of suspense and then let loose and have some fun! John Cusack stars as a writer who basically goes around the country debunking paranormal occurrences until one day he gets wind of room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. As Samuel L. Jackson so eloquently puts it in the movie, “It’s just an evil fucking room”. This is based on a Stephen King short story and it’s one of the more effective King thriller adaptations with clever and arresting visuals from director Mikael Håfström. Cusack is really good too, as it’s essentially him for the entire two hour run time (I watched the director’s cut). Håfström clearly takes some notes from Hitchcock and even Kubrick’s The Shining although it’s obviously cut together for modern times but if you like your thrillers, give this one a go.

Ed – I thought I had reviewed this one before on the site but my search doesn’t seem to have come up with it. I think I must have reviewed it on my Facebook page a while ago. Well here it is anyway :)

Tuesday, September 29 2009

Film Review

1408 500 Days of Summer Film Review Observe and Report true blood Year One