Rises

Well.

I take it that you have all seen this.

Let us look at the things I did not like first.

Maybe you could have seen a little more of Michael Caine as Alfred.

Why did he return with just one day left?

I did not like the way Marion Cotillard died – she is a fantastic actress but that was underwhelming.

Maybe; just maybe it could have been a little less depressing – in that he is broke/the take all the stuff from the Research and Applications Lab/ Alfred goes. But maybe that was how they could justify ending it.

Thats it. Feels like a mobile phone review where they say – pixel density is less; photos are not warm enough; 32GB but not expandable – all small problems.

First – to the cast.

Christian Bale – he doesn’t have that much of screen time. And not much dialogue as Batman either – which is a good thing as it felt really contrived in the previous two films. But; there isn’t much to fault in his performance. He’s put on weight again after the Fighter; which has to be unhealthy. Will miss him as Batman – as there will certainly be more films.

Michael Caine – who doesn’t like Michael Caine? With that accent?

Marion Cotillard – Chris Nolan has his favourites. But it is a very good list of them. I’ve scrolled through La Vie en Rose and while it looks depressing you can see a case for her winning Best Actress then. Read she has a case now even for her performance in Rust and Bone. Doesnt have much to do here; but still looks lovely – but that little mark on her forehead which you could see in Inception is still there. I am being very harsh.

 

Anne Hathaway -  There are a number of scenes in this film that deserve to be re-watched. I could use my video trimming techniques and compile all of Anne Hathaway’s scenes and watch them again and again. Since i first saw her act – and no that was not in Princess Diaries and i am not a paedophile – i felt that she is possibly the prettiest actress out there. I felt that she had put on a little weight recently; but she has definitely shed that to fit into that amazing suit – and the best view of the suit is when she is on the bike and blowing a hole in the tunnel towards the end. That Batpod turned heads in The Dark Knight. Took it to a whole new level here; including the amazing way the wheels spin. Just so much to like about this film.

When i read she would play Catwoman i was a little confused. I thought there were other actresses better suited to the role. Say Kate Beckinsale who was my first choice. But she does a fine job and i doubt anyone would have been disappointed. As is the case with all the actors in this; they are accomplished; talented and nearly all of them have been Oscar nominees or winners. Anne Hathaway is a front-runner this year for Les Miserables. If you don’t think they fit the role they prove you wrong. Coming to the role and it does lack a back story; when Bane does have one. But you do not know where her allegiance lies – as is the case with Catwoman. I thought Juno Temple was unnecessary in this film though.

Tom Hardy – Do you know that they are rebooting the Mad Max series? I haven’t seen any of them but Tom Hardy will play the title role that Mel Gibson played. Did you also know that Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell will be made into a movie? And it is Tom Hardy playing the main character Sam Fisher. From where has he popped up? A minor role in Inception; followed by a great turn as a boxer in Warrior (really good) and now he is everywhere. There isn’t much acting to be done here. But Nolan converted Bane from the dithering foolish giant into a visceral fighting machine. And i doubt I could think of anyone else who fit the profile. Bane does meet a soft end; but at least it is a smart one. Before the reveal of Talia al’Ghul; Batman does have the upper-hand as he is after the mask; but i didn’t think there was any chance of Bane losing a fair fight. So; cheat. In tune with how the Catwoman is and the only way. Still more believable than – No man can kill the Witch King of Narzgul and a woman kills him.

Gary Oldman – in this film Gary is just an Old man. Now since Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great that was fine.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Maybe Chris Nolan felt that if anyone had to continue this series – maybe even him if stuff doesn’t go his way – he could use Robin. Or maybe he was forced to use Robin somewhere. Still; this is a very good character that they have brought in. He is a bankable actor is Gordon-Levitt.

Liam Neeson – I saw Darkman recently. Weird seeing Liam Neeson 20 years ago getting emotional. A very small role but another actor i like.

Morgan Freeman’s there too. So is Cilian Murphy (watch Red Lights – decent film with De Niro). As i said the cast of this film is really good – all of them I like. I don’t like Maggie Gyllenhaal. I’m so so about Aaron Eckhart. And they aren’t here.

The Ending?

It isn’t Inception style where it could be one or the other. Michael Caine actually sees them in that Cafe in Florence. While I am a fan of sad endings this film (and the trilogy) did not merit one and i was actually disappointed that he died. He didn’t. He wanted out and he did it the right way. Plus Anne Hathaway is alive too. Maybe if they release ‘A Good Day to Batman’ in Italy like they did with Die Hard they could have both Batman and Catwoman. (a dig at a stupid plot in the 5^th Die Hard PG-13 film)

So much to look forward to.

Ive spent the last 2 hours nursing a bad cold. So no work done. Apart from showing everyone the Gangnam Style video I’ve gone through the whole (Yes whole) list of movies released in 2012 to at least find out which of them will be in the running for awards. Most of these movies release near the end of the year so there are assumptions involved; but some that have yet to be released have been screened in Festivals and have been critically acclaimed.

Just Movies. Actor and Actress thoughts within the text.

Movie –

1.       The Hobbit – I don’t like anything to do with Lord of the Rings anymore. I am sick of them. Every fucking day some channel is showing one of the movies and with this (and two sequels) coming out in the next 3 years there will be 6 films that will be telecast on these channels. No i am not saying they suck; just that i am sick of them. My brother is a big fan and i just think it has been overdone. Now – I will obviously watch this; since the movies were pretty good and it is essentially the same cast. Just hope it isn’t good enough to win Best Picture. But it will be up there somewhere. Getting this out of the way as I go chronologically from now on.

2.       Moonrise Kingdom – You have to wait till May to get a film which genuinely could be considered for Awards. Wes Anderson’s (The Royal Tenenbaums) film is about a summer camp and has a strong ensemble cast including Bruce Willis; Frances McDormand and Edward Norton. Since it deals with the nice things and is a ‘Nice’ film it will be nominated. The reception has been very good – universal acclaim. Will be available for download soon.

3.       Rock of Ages – I just finished downloading this and while the reviews are not that great musicals tend to get nominated to make up the numbers. Big cast with Tom Cruise singing.

4.       To Rome With Love – Woody Allen’s latest film stars him after 6 years. Another ensemble cast featuring the nerdy Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page and Penelope Cruz with Roberto Benignini; the reviews are that it is a typical Woody Allen movie. Typical Woody Allen movies get nominated.

5.       Lawless – Now we enter the month of August and things get serious. Lawless has a very strong cast – Shia LeBouef and Mia Wasikowska supported by Tom Hardy; Guy Pearce; the lovely Jessica Chastain and Gary Oldman. It is a Gangster film and has done well. The acting is apparently good.

6.        The Master – If you are not talking horror films; the ratings given by Roger Ebert and what i feel about a movie generally are the same. He was disappointed by The Master and that means I might be as well. But most of the other reviewers liked it and the acting is top notch – which is evident from the trailers. I however have liked all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films – except Punch Drunk Love which i am yet to see. Still; this will definitely be in the running. Hoping Joaquin Phoenix hasn’t acted that well; for reasons i will get to.

7.       Trouble With the Curve – Clint Eastwood acting in a film he did not direct for the first time since 1993. He might have seen some potential in this. Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake also star in the film – a sports drama about a baseball coach about to retire and his daughter. It has not received positive reviews from all quarters but I’ve heard Amy Adams is very good in this.

8.       Looper – No this is not in contention for awards. Putting it here because of the overwhelming critical acclaim it has received for its use of time travel in a correct way. This is one film all of us might enjoy.  Very highly rated – some reviewers say best Sci-fi film since Moon – which was brilliant. Great cast as well.

9.       Argo – In recent years there have been a lot of political thrillers and they have been made by renowned directors and have got deserved nominations. This one is helmed by Ben Affleck and has a very interesting trailer – hence an interesting plot. Based on a hostage situation in the 1979-80 and the CIA’s plan to free them. Critical Acclaim – and Ben Affleck has always got critical acclaim.

10.   Cloud Atlas – Brilliant trailer. 164 minutes long. A ten minute standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Wachowski brothers return with a stunning/epic film.  From reviews – which are mixed tending to positive – it will be a film that divides opinion; maybe too smart for some. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry headline the trans-time film which also has Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run/ Perfume) directing with the Wachowskis.

11.   Smashed – Smashed wont win Best Picture. Well maybe it wont as it too has been rated very highly. But Mary Elizabeth Winstead has a real chance at Best Actress. Simple plot – husband and wife like to have fun and get drunk.

12.   The Sessions – John Hawkes is a fine actor. Nominated for Winter’s Bone; his performance in The Sessions received not one but two standing ovations at Sundance. Helen Hunt also stars in this film about a poet who is paralysed from the neck down and hires a sex surrogate so he can lose his virginity. This film is winning awards so a nomination is guaranteed.

13.   Lincoln – A third Oscar for a non American? Possible? Speilberg’s Lincoln will be a front runner at most awards. It is a performance driven film and Daniel Day Lewis revels in them. A fantastic cast that includes Sally Field; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Tommy Lee Jones; Jackie Earle Hailey and potential Oscar hopefuls in Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Hawkes; I hope Speilberg delivers this time. The 65 year old hasn’t directed a live action film I would have wanted to see since Munich in 2005 (War Horse seems so boring and Indiana Jones is a part of a series) and he has not made a great film in 10 years. This could be it.

14.   Life of Pi – Ang Lee films get nominations. This has an entirely foreign cast (Tabu; Irfan Khan and Gerard Depardieu) and is based on Yann Martel’s novel. The trailer seems nice but since i have not read the book or have any idea I really do not know what to expect.

15.   Silver Linings Playbook – 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and in many critics eyes a front runner for Best Picture and strong cases for acting nods. This is a comedy Drama directed by David O’Russell (The Fighter). Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star and are supported by a cast that includes Robert De Niro. That Jennifer Lawrence can act everyone knows but if people are saying in a film this good she is the main reason to watch then she must be a favourite for the acting awards.

16.   Killing Them Softly – This just released in India – limited shows in theatres far away for me – but is releasing in the end of November in America. Weird. Because of competition from The Master it says. An all male cast headed by Brad Pitt supported by people who have played bad-asses somewhere or the other in James Gandolfini; Ray Liotta; Richard Jenkins and more this is a testosterone filled film that has been received favourably.

17.   Les Miserables – Fresh from winning Best Director for The King’s Speech; Tom Hooper returns with a musical based on the famous novel by Victor Hugo. A tremendous cast in this one; which will be released right at the end of the year to keep it fresh in the minds of the voters for the awards. Hugh Jackman; Russel Crowe; Amanda Seyfried (how she has grown from her Mean Girls days); Anne Hathaway (who cut her hair for his – but she does not look cute/prettier) and Helena Bonham Carter who somehow seems to be in almost half the movies I’ve seen.

18.   Promised Land – Gus Van Sant teams up with Matt Damon in this drama about sales people trying to buy rights to drill in a rural area. Also in this  are Frances McDormand and John (Jim) Krasinski (with roles like this and a few more during the year no wonder he has no time for The Office). The film has a limited release just before the year ends so it qualifies for the awards. With the competition I wonder why?

19.   Zero Dark Thirty – How many films this year will be directed by people who have won Best Director? Kathryn Bigelow (I saw Strange Days recently and liked it though Ralph Fiennes speaking in an American accent was hard to accept – still easier than watching Coriolanus which i have parked after fifteen minutes) directs this film about the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden. Shrouded in controversy this will make news and with Jessica Chastain as the main lead (Oscar?) I cant wait.

20.   Django Unchained – Like with Daniel Day Lewis and Lincoln; i know where my loyalties lie. No matter how good any of the above movies are; I want this to win. So many Oscar winning directors this year and my favourite of the lot has not won. I think with the content this will not give him that accolade and with the general content of Tarantino movies he wont be a favourite ever. Cool cast. Christoph Waltz; Leonardo Di Caprio; Samuel L Jackson (fixture) and Jamie Foxx as Django; this will be one hell of a ride.

There are some seriously good films coming this year. Big hitters.

Quentin Tarantino; Steven Spielberg; Tom Hooper; Kathryn Bigelow; David O’Russell; Ang Lee; Van Sant; Robert Zemeckis (Flight); Sam Mendes (Skyfall); Tykwer and the Wachowskis; Paul Thomas Anderson; Peter Jackson all have movies yet to come.

Christopher Nolan released the third of his brilliant Batman trilogy this year. Hell; even Genndy Tartakovsky (the guy who created Dexter’s Laboratory) directed his first film in Hotel Transylvania. That reminds me that i have not considered any animated films; and there surely will be one among the ten nominees.

For Best Actor you have Daniel Day-Lewis; John Hawkes; Brad Pitt; Tom Hanks; Joaquin Phoenix leading the race but someone will get nominated from the others; maybe Waltz in Django? Maybe even Bradley Cooper?

For Best Actress Amy Adams could pick from two films; maybe supporting for The Master. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jennifer Lawrence have a lot of support (both are so young – fantastic) and Jessica Chastain could get one as well. Maybe Anne Hathaway for her role in Les Miserables or Sally Field as Lincoln’s wife?

So much more to see before the awards season.

So much to look forward to.

The Horror Movie Genre - Part 3

 

Body horror makes me uncomfortable; even while writing about it.
So it is time to look at another more modern version of Horror films.

Found Footage.


Yes i've got The Blair Witch Project headlining this segment but Cannibal Holocaust was the first Found Footage film. I havent seen it. Read a lot about it and i have scrolled through it. It is the most controversial film ever made yes; but it is a landmark film. No humans were killed; but the animals were. I will leave it at that as a discussion on Cannibal Holocaust can go on forever.

Found footage films are not exclusively horror. This year had two releases in Project X and Chronicle that were raunchy and fantasy respectively; even if some people call Chronicle horror.

There was Zero Day in 2003. While not a horror it shows two boys planning to shoot up their school like the events in Columbine.

Another film that pre-dates The Blair Witch Project was Man Bites Dog. The excellent French film follows a film crew making a documentary of a serial killer.

Undoubtably it was The Blair Witch Project that made this genre so popular. Everyone has seen it; and everyone has freaked out. And everyone has copied the 'nosey-dripping' scene. While some of the success of the film is down to promoting it as having actually happened; it is well made.

There isnt a lot of leeway you get here. With handheld cameras having to be used the special effects and large sets are (mostly) cut out. Budgets are less and most of the acting has to happen for the camera. With everything having to appear natural there isnt any need for established actors as well.

Having hand held cameras means the camera can act itself. The camera can be jerked around; hit; dropped and each of these actions on the camera has an effect on the audience as in such films the audience themselves feel they are holding it and recording the situations. Plus such motion does increase the horror quotient.
It may go against the film-maker though; as you may remember that a number of people threw up at screenings of Cloverfield in the theaters because the camera moves about a hell of a lot in that film.

Now to the films that really got us scared.

When i saw REC i was blown away. As my love for movies and especially horror movies increased i became a test subject of sorts in college. It began with Saw (yeah people are too scared to see Saw). I cleared a number of films for my friends to watch and while i just told them this was scary i felt later i should have told them it wasnt. I had to walk out of my room when the characters entered the room at the top of the building (was it the attic? I cant remember) because of the religious undertones the film had developed then - I am an athiest by the way but i find religious horror pretty darn good - and i dont do that often. When my friends watched it in a group a couple of rooms away there were a number of screams and cool down walks and even a 'Paris Hilton' joke when the night vision comes on to ease the tension.

This is a brilliant film. It is one of the best; one of the 5 best horror films i have seen. When you have a pretty (Manuela Velasco is pretty) lead actress - maybe in a later post i will deal with the weak female lead that makes the movie scarier - and some very good and unexpected (not necessarily jump) scares you have a great movie. Scary children; the falling fireman; and the best use of the camera in Found Footage films.

REC 2 wasnt a disappointment and i liked it. The fact that the third film moves away from this genre into a normal cinematic perspective (although it starts as a hand held) is also a let down but its still the original creators making it.

The American remake expectedly wasnt as good. Jennifer Carpenter on screen always will remind me of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and here she isnt the one scaring you as she was there. Also the girl in the attic in the American one isnt half as scary as in the Spanish Original. That was incredibly creepy.

$15000.

Yes 15 thousand Dollars is all it took to make the film that has made almost 200 million dollars at the box office. Paranormal Activity was a blockbuster. A fad. Marketed with people's reactions in the screenings and almost wholly done virally.

I wont go into the complete logistics but it had a limited release earning half a million dollars. After viewers were asked to vote/demand for a wide release it got one to commercial and more importantly critical acclaim.

The director's own house; the actors' real names everything about the film was 'home-video'. But what else had Oren Peli done right? How could a film that cost about the same to make as your average car be such an unprecedented success - well i wont go into pornography but surely those films are major money spinners and this was almost on that level.

Like I mentioned before; when I posted about Alien and The Thing; the atmosphere in a horror film is a critical component. Roger Ebert (renowned film critic for those of you who dont know) sums up Paranormal Activity perfectly. He said most of the film has nothing happening on screen; but you dont get bored.
He even mentions - and i am of the same view - that silence and tension have the same or even more entertainment than frantic breaks and visual effects.

I am not a big fan of the over-the-top action and fantasy films. There are exceptions obviously but Michael Bay films have never been my idea of a movie day out. Watching a horror films with stalkers - and not necessarily Slasher films - is my idea of a good movie.

I had heard a lot about Paranormal Activity before i got down to watching it. I am glad to say i watched it after midnight with head-phones on to accentuate the tension and I would suggest you do the same. With headphones on it does increase involuntary signals to your head that you should be hearing something and in most of the film there is silence so you get uneasy; a tactic I use for all non-gore horror films as people screaming their lungs out in my ears isnt something i want. I first saw it with the alternate ending involving the police officers and then with the widely released ending.

The sequels to the film; Paranormal Activity 2 and 3; the latter being a prequel; lose the charm the first film had but are still worth watching. The budgets are $3 million and $5 million now as special effects have come into the picture (literally). But the anthology will go strong as a fourth film is complete and a fifth in the works.

Some other movies that fall into this genre that deserve a mention - not necessarily for quality - are -

A woman who wants to bring up her child needs money. So she becomes a stripper and in one of her first jobs she is kidnapped by a religious fanatic trying to cure her. On paper it sounds nice but the execution is pretty amateurish. There are a number of scenes in this film which are hard to forget; notably the self-castration scene. You heard that right.

Troll Hunter was a smart Norwegian film; Megan is Missing had a very pretty Megan (Rachel Quinn - In fact have you heard of a Rachel who isnt pretty?) and is based on a true story of an internet predator stalking girls. The Tunnel was a scary Australian film with another smart plot with a creature similar to The Descent (Ill get to that in the future). The Poughkeepsie Tapes was another film that promised a lot but was found wanting in substance towards the end. It was a documentary style film about the tapes found at the house of a serial killer.

How about this to end this section?

I liked watching the television show Ghost Hunters; even if they never actually found much in the name of ghosts but then again it is all about the tension isnt it? I would feel then that wouldnt it be a good idea if someone made that into a movie? You could do whatever you want with it and it is easy to show something like an episode of a show that went wrong.

Then up pops Grave Encounters!

What a creepy trailer! Will be some movie?

Not.

The biggest problem with Grave Encounters was that almost all the major scares in the film were in the fucking trailer. The concept of time lapse was well thought of but ends up being shallow. Still; worth the scares and there is a sequel coming up.

So; To conclude the Found Footage Genre -

Found footage allows you a lot of room to use the camera itself to provide scares.

It invokes a sense of real world occurences more than cinematic perspective films; which adds to the intrigue.

The simpler it is; the better it is. Special effects should not be a big part of such films but just should maybe increase the magnitude of an event that could be shown normally.

Because it doesnt cost much to make such films there are a lot of cheap; amateurish ones popping about.  

But there are some films worth waiting for. Like this one



The Horror Movie Genre - Part 2

The Body Horror Genre is a difficult one to come to terms with. I dont know what David Cronenberg is reaching for inside James Woods but it isnt good.

Yes Body Horror is all about special effects but tell that to the number of people who get nauseated at the sight of these things.

What is Body Horror?
Body Horror is where the horror parts are all something to do with something going visibly wrong with the human body. These films have no jump scares but the scares are undoubtedly visual and mental.

I have not been a big fan of the genre as the earlier films I've seen of Cronenberg repulsed me. But i consider it necessary that i mention all the horror genres here and of the few films i have scene that fall in this category i can come to a sort of conclusion.

I saw Brian Yuzna's Society as i was curious about the 'shunting' scene that has a lot of mentions in this genre. Boy was it gross. It is the sort of scene that makes you forget everything else that happened in the film.

Other films like Slither in 2006 and even Altered States in 1980 can also count as Body horror. Even The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as there are alterations to the human body in them.

But it is almost exclusively Cronenberg. I havent seen Re-Animator (yet) and i dont know anyone else except maybe films like Basket Case and Brain Damage.

Firstly Cronenberg stopped making such films since his 1999 film eXistenz which wasnt even a horror movie in itself but had the weird disfiguration/ something entering the body scenes.

Of his films the ones i have seen are The Fly; Videodrome and Dead Ringers. And Crash obviously.

The final two are not horror films as Crash is overtly sexual with some crazy sex (and i mean crazy) and Dead Ringers is just a drama in which Cronenberg couldnt help but put one trademark scene of Genevieve Bujold biting off a cord connecting the twin Jeremy Irons' characters in a dream.

The thing about Cronenberg's films is they always get straight to the fuckin point at the start. No need for a build up. Crash starts off with the sex and The Fly with Seth Brundle asking Geena Davis' character to come home so he can show her something.

Lets stick with The Fly. When i saw it first on TV in parts; my brother called the developing Seth Brundle 'Chocolate man' and my father would tell us to sleep or Chocolate man would come. That was effective for nealry 4 years.
I finally got down to watching The Fly in full 3 years ago and i could appreciate it.

Cronenberg's films were in the late 70s and 80s and people must have been very uncomfortable and grossed out watching these things happening to the human body - before the magic of computerized animation.
It is great that his latest films from A History of Violence to his latest A Dangerous Method are all very good but completely different from his early offerings.
BUT apparently his son Brandon just directed his own film Antiviral which is a body horror. In the genes?

The Horror Movie Genre - Part 1

Horror movies are not everyone's cup of tea.
It isnt even a case of you either love them or hate them.
People watch horror films because they want to get scared; i guess. And horror movies are rated in two ways.

The first way to rate horror movies is how scary they are. Jump scares is what people relate to horror movies; for me it is more psychological horror - more on that later.
The second way is by the ending. No matter what happens before the ending defines the movie. That is the case with thrillers as well; but horror movies HAVE to end in some way or the other and definitively. The ghost/spirit/murderer has to meet some sort of end.
Great build up poor/cliched ending = bad film.
Terrible build up great ending = good film.

As a fan of the genre it sickens me. As someone who aspires to become a film director but hasnt the means or the contacts it hurts to see a great idea wasted.

I wonder; the person who makes these films has to have an idea what he wants to show the audience. Then how can the final product go so wrong? Believe you me it is rare these days to find a good horror film; in fact the 70s and early 80s had some brilliant films which laid the foundation for the present directors; and most of the new horror films are unoriginal/ cliched or just remakes of those glorious years. These days the Far East make good horror films and they are remade almost always substandard.

I will start off with the Slasher subgenre.

What is the Slasher subgenre. To make it as simple as I can; it involves multiple murders of generally typecast teens by some unknown person who ends up being someone they know.
The murderer can be one of the teens themselves or someone's parents or some escaped convict. Even movies that involve sharks and other predatorial animals and aliens fall under the Slasher genre.
Wikipedia has a page dedicated to Slasher films and is an interesting read. I will not be rehashing anything from there and this will just be my views.

I will start with the Bad.

I have yet to see the original Prom Night. I did see the remake recently that was hyped up and i was disappointed. It was bleeding obvious who would die (almost in what order too) and who wouldnt by the time the characters were established. Lead white couple; black couple and secondary white couple. If you havent seen the movie; there are spoilers of sorts here but dont worry it wont do you any harm.
Ok so the secondary white couple will die first. Since the lead here is a woman; she will either survive or die last. So - from the black couple the guy will either survive or die second last. (not being racist here btw). It is just so obvious.

Thought i would mention Shark Night 3D here; when we saw the trailer we laughed as it showed an attack on the lead black guy and we felt that he didnt even survive the fuckin trailer! As it turned out he did.
Another point about Shark Night 3D is that the film could have been much better than it ended up. The idea was original for once but the acting - which is almost always below par for horror films - and just the way it was played was a real let down. It's like ordering your steak well done and finding it red in the middle.

Scream was a much better film. While it does fall short when compared to some of the great Original films like Halloween; Friday the 13th; Nightmare on Elm Street and the kind it is clearly the best of the latest bunch of Slasher films. Even the first sequel and the 2010 movie Scream 4 were well made.
What made Scream better than the others was it had smarter characters; especially Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott while most Slasher films have dumb teens who do not even strike a chord with the audience. When a character is strongly made then the audience wants the character to survive as well. I mean; who cared if Brittany Snow died in Prom Night? Or Paris Hilton in House of Wax?
Also; Scream created an iconic new villian in Ghostface. I wanted a Ghostface mask. The acting was good as it was a stellar cast if you consider the age group that the actors had to be; the scares were good and you genuinely did not know who the killer was. Kudos to Wes Craven and Scream deserved the plaudits and the money it earned.

But who can forget the movies that began it all? Halloween still is the best pure Slasher film ever made. It made a legend of Michael Myers as the masked truck driver who terrorizes a young Jaime Lee Curtis who needed a full ten years to diversify from her scream queen title in A Fish Called Wanda. Four years before that Tobe Hooper made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Another pioneering film based loosely on Ed Gein that was a major success.

 Or these two films; so popular they spawned a ridiculous number of sequels you couldnt keep up. There even was a (horrible) crossover and they have both had reboots. The concept of Freddy Kruger killing you in your dreams in A Nightmare ... and the hockey mask of Jason Voorhees are memorable hallmarks of this genre.

 

 Ah!
For me the best horror films are those which dont just fuck with your eyes but fuck with your mind as well. Ridley Scott's Alien in 1979 and John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982 (albeit a sort of remake of 1951's The Thing from Another World) are both films that do not fall exclusively in the Slasher genre. But that is what they are.
People are killed. And you dont know who is killing them.
But - in this case it is not 'Who' is killing them; but 'What'.
Both films have strong leads- infact even the 2011 prequel of The Thing had a very good performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and was a much better film than what people said - and they have a watertight plot.

What makes The Thing such a solid horror film is despite the plethora of visual scares the main sense of tension that the film creates is that the 'Thing' could be any one of the people in the film as it metamorphosises into the person or animal it consumes. They dont know who it could be and you dont know who it could be.

Both Alien and The Thing have a killer that makes you go - 'What the fuck is that thing?'.
Critical to the films is that you hardly see the creature. The thing in The Thing is only shown a couple times and H.R. Giger's Alien is never shown in full which leaves it to the audience to imagine what the whole thing looks like - This was a major source of disappointment in the poor David Fincher directed Alien 3 which has an amateurly animated Alien that looks like it had been pasted on the screen. In Alien 3 the alien is shown in full and it looks like a lizard bringing down the curiosity and hence the fear to almost nothing.

Also key to both films is the settings. While The Thing is set in Antarctica Alien takes it a step further and is set in space - the Tagline for Alien 'In outer space no one can hear you scream' is one of the best ever made. These are both claustrophobic settings and that transcends into the audience. These are clear signs of a well thought out production. Alien is to the alien genre what 2001: A Space Odyssey is to the science fiction genre; well ahead of the times and films so good that they are almost impossible to better despite being 33 and 45 (incredible) years old.

In conclusion; slasher films these days ask you to leave your heads at home and watch as people get killed. They want to scare you with someone popping up from somewhere and try to be smart by making the killer one of the cast. The best Slasher films are those where who does the killing doesnt matter - you know who the killer is in Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and you know something is killing people in Alien and the Thing. Or even if you dont know who the killer is; the development of the characters is important.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?

I want to be a gentleman one day. Till then its raven haired women for me.
I am a big big fan of Mia Kirshner BTW.

 Well, it is quite clear that i prefer black hair. I had to do a lot of digging to find Mia in Blonde, which is from a 2000 movie called The Innocents. I don’t like that blonde hair (May be a wig).

Mia in brown hair, also acceptable, which is an understatement.

Lets look at some other people in different colored hair.

Emma Stone is first. And i must say, even i couldn’t believe she was naturally blonde. (I must add however, that the new photos are quite nice)

Ready for a shock?

Hollywood’s most famous actress is a natural blonde. Now i bet you didn’t know that (neither did I frankly)

So is everyone’s favourite ummm ... vampire lover? This you might have known. Again, brunette always.

I saw a movie recently called Columbus Circle, and in that Amy Smart had dyed her hair black in the end. Maybe i am used to seeing Amy Smart as a blonde.

The gorgeous Rachel McAdams is also a natural Blonde. Looks really nice as a brunette.

Lindsay Lohan is Naturally Blonde as well, and you would know from her antics. In the middle picture, with black hair, she looks distinctly like Mila Kunis.

Katy Perry is also a natural blonde. I would like to add that i really like the second picture here.

In Sucker Punch, Emily Browning began blonde-ing, only to begin browning again, albeit slightly first for Sleeping Beauty.

 

If there ever was an exception to the rule of blondes being hot, there is Amber Heard. Did you know that this uber hot bisexual (LESBIAN!!) is actually a brunette? That is why some people should dye their hair blonde. Megan Fox should try it too.

Then there is the crazy awesome Milla Jovovich. I have no clue what her natural hair color is, i think black. And she dyed it blonde. Well Milla Jovovich can do anything she wants, and it will still be awesome. Apt photo the second one. Milla Jovovich is the standout example of how you can be super hot without having fake tits, see, even Maynard James Keenan agrees with me. Considerately, Killing me.

I am really bored aren’t I?

A Woman List

There aren’t many things i like to do more than to find new women in all walks of life that are in the public eye. Ill try and mention only those i have come to like recently and those i wouldn’t have put in any of my prior lists.

Michelle Williams really impressed me in her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, and with 3 films releasing soon (maybe?) and with short hair, Mia Kirshner is also alive and kicking but they aren’t on this list as these are the others.

Elena Anaya – Sex & Lucia and Room in Rome, but those are just titillation. I am not one to like the latin American, Spanish actresses but i like her, and Paz Vega. The two movies mentioned are fixtures on my hard drives, but then for an actress, acting is what counts. I really liked the 4 hour, two part Mesrine and maybe that is why i decided to keep her in this list. And she shares her birthday with ... ME! Remember that clearly as she was the only person i knew who had the same birthday as me when i made that list of celebrity birthdays. Another fact – related to Mesrine – is that the other lead actress in the first film, Cecile De France, also shares her birthday with me. Funny. Pedro Almodovar is the most renowned of the Spanish directors and he casts only the main actresses, hence Penelope Cruz is a fixture. His latest, The Skin i Live in, has Elena Anaya, and it was nominated for Best Foreign film. Downloading.

Isabelle Adjani – She doesn’t look pretty now at all, but in the late 70s and 80s she looked amazing. And she is a Two time Academy Award nominee. Similar to most of my favourites, it took one film. Here it was Andrej Zulawski’s surreal Possession, which i was raving mad about in college. Her performance won the acting award at Cannes. Plus she had a child with Daniel Day-Lewis. I have a new found admiration for French women & I really hate it that people have to age.

Ludivine Sagnier – Maybe you all know her. Water Drops on Burning Rocks? Some actresses sign these ‘Non-Nudity’ clauses for films but this one here definitely signs a Nudity clause. Just five minutes after she appeared in Mesrine, naked. Scrolled through this year’s ‘The Devils’ Double’, naked. Swimming Pool – half the film naked, and these are the English Language films only! If god exists, thank you for these women who are unashamed of their bodies. Maybe the best looking of all these French actresses, or maybe the hottest since i love Marion Cotillard.

Charlotte Gainsbourg – French! Her parents were very famous, mother British actress Jane Birkin and father Serge Gainsbourg was a famous French singer. Serge Gainsbourg was a womanizer and dedicated one of his songs to Isabelle Adjani, also on this list, and in 1984 released a song called Lemon Incest, which contained references to paedophilia and incest, featuring his then 13 year old Daughter! Talk about controversy! Charlotte Gainsbourg is possibly the finest example of an actress known because she can act and not for how she looks, which isn’t great. Plus she is a singer as well, and her song featured in FIFA 11 for that matter.  A fixture of late under Lars von Trier, ive decided to watch every movie of hers, but then i need the time.

Oh these French women. Take Lea Seydoux (MI 4, Midnight in Paris) , Clemence Poesy (Fleur DelaCour, In Bruges), the wonderful Juliette Binoche, the pretty Elodie Bouchez, Audrey Tautou, Laetitia Casta, Marion Cotillard, the most beautiful news reporter of all time Melissa Theuriau, Alizee Jacotey, ex-pornstar Clara Morgane,   Berenice Berjo (The Artist), Berenice Marlohe (Skyfall – the next bond film) and even  Eva Green, who is of Jewish descent and an atheist. American actresses can suck it.

BTW, apart from Berenice Marlohe, there is an English women playing one of the bond girls. Her name is some Naomie, and she was Calypso in the Pirates films (if you don’t remember just check, seriously). That is a high profile role really.

Bryce Dallas Howard – I really liked her in Manderlay, and having seen The Help & 50/50 as well, it’s been a nice introduction to Ron Howard’s daughter. After a role like Manderlay she should have got some starring ones, and you cant judge the acting talent of anyone based on one film alone.

Jessica Chastain – just realised she wasn’t in my earlier list. One of my favourites now, and i am backing her for an Oscar win in the near future. Al Pacino cast her in Wilde Salome – yet to be released – and recommended her for Tree of Life. She is in India right now, shooting for Kathryn Bigelow’s latest film. Thats the third closest ive got to one of my favourite actresses. (Sienna Miller was in Mumbai once and Camilla Belle was a block away at the Marriot).

Anna Kendrick – I haven’t seen Up in the Air, or the Twilight films. I have only seen 50/50 and as expected, it took one film. My word her face is spotless, like a mannequin for fuck sake. Downloaded Up in the Air and if she got an Oscar nomination for that, im going to love it, DESPITE George Clooney, who i don’t like, even though he acts well. Dating Edgar Wright, who directed the brilliant Nick Frost – Simon Pegg duo in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. And why do these actresses like to do voice-overs for animations, come in front of the camera with a face like that!

Evan Rachel Wood – well you’ve got to be barking mad to get engaged to Marilyn Manson, but who knows what he is like actually? I take it all of you have seen 11:14, and picture Evan Rachel Wood there and now, she looks like she’s lost half her weight. Has a number of movies under her belt (not figuratively) that i like, and there are a few i have and have to see yet, like Thirteen, S1m0ne, The conspirator, etc. Plus my interest was refuelled because of The Ides of March & Mildred Pierce – if you know what i mean. And - the kicker – cane out as bisexual. We love these confused girls. Keep em coming.

Rooney Mara – Didnt notice her in Social Network, although i read she got the plum role on that basis. Nightmare on Elm Street passed me by and all i said about the remake was that Jackie Earle Haley made a good Freddie Kruger. The original “Men Who Hate Women”, more commonly known as the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, had Noomi Rapace, who was wonderful in the role. But, you didn’t know Noomi Rapace. Yes ive flicked through some of her films but she seems a versatile actress. You watch Rooney Mara in these two films, or just look at her fucking face and you wonder – how the hell will she pull off that role? When you go into something expecting very little, if you get a few positives you feel happy. But what if you get the whole fuckin nine yards? I was immensely impressed – yes one film i know – and despite Meryl Streep and my fondness for Michelle Williams i would have planted the Oscar on her lap. If you saw The Fighter, you would see the role that Amy Adams played was one of a bitch of sorts, and Amy Adams plays Disney characters with aplomb as she is the happiest face in Hollywood. That was fantastic character acting and this performance exceeds that, as the role is complex, of a deranged female who has had a terrible foundation. You need to weigh in everything when it comes to appreciating a performance and on one side you have a Meryl Streep, who can play any role and has done it time and on the other you have a young actress who everyone presumed to be one of those one-dimensional, one trick ponies pulling this off. Maybe the fact that a movie with such adverse thematic content did garner Rooney Mara an Oscar nomination is testament to the appreciation she deserves. Fincher has signed on for the two sequels as well, and i am waiting eagerly. (There even is a Mia Kirshner connection here, as they both acted in successive episodes of The Cleaner)