Category Archives: movie review
Saturday at the Movies: Chernobyl Diaries
Chernobyl Diaries is the latest “found footage” style horror flick to hit the big screen. Released this week to theatres, it stars a cast not worth mentioning led by director Bradley Parker in a significantly forgettable debut. The only notable name in the movie is Oren Peli, the screenwriter behind the Paranormal Activity Movies – and from watching the flick, it’s painfully clear that this movie was sold based on Peli’s previous efforts.
Chernobyl Diaries tells the predictable story of a group of young American tourists who, desperate for adventure, place their trust in a foreign adventure tour guide who offers to take them to Pripyat. Pripyat gained notoriety when it was flagged as a ‘safe’ zone near the Chernobyl reactor; tourists began to come in just to see the town’s state of abandonment, since being evacuated suddenly during the disaster.
The allure of seeing this authentically creepy historical artifact sucked me in to this movie just as the hapless victims are sucked in to the contrived plot. I’ll keep the spoilers to a minimum but really, I think you already know exactly how Chernobyl Diaries plays out.
The Wicker Tree Tests My Faith
The Wicker Tree is the sequel to the cult classic The Wicker Man and if you were a fan of the original, writer/director Robin Hardy is also responsible for this curious theatrical follow up. Starring nobody reputable, you might recognize Graham McTavish as the bad guy. But other than one fantastically short and relatively hardcore scene, the most exciting moment is the 30 second appearance from Christopher Lee, a weak throw back to the original. Otherwise, prepare for a movie about reborn Christian missionaries who fall prey to a Scottish conspiracy to cover up an environmental disaster through Paganism… WHAT?! Yup.
Oh and worth mentioning before you make the jump… The Wicker Tree is a follow up to the original 1973 version, and not the Nic Cage version (Seth, how is he NOT in this movie?!?)
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Saturday at the Movies: Shame
Shame is the latest from Steven McQueen, a writer/director who is known for boldly dramatizing intense subject matter (as in his last movie, Hunger).
Starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, I expected nothing less of Shame… but wasn’t totally prepared for its depth of psycho-sexuality. Certainly not a film for the shy or sexually repressed, Shame is a steep descent in to the tortured psyche, and the needs that drive us towards others.
Watch this Alliance movie trailer and read more after the break…
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Saturday At The Movies: Beerfest
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us and what better way to celebrate than with a cold boot full of beer? And perhaps the best movie to compliment that yard of ale, Beerfest.
This was the movie that first introduced me to Das Boot (uh, the second) but according to the interweb, “Beer boots, or Bierstiefel, have over a century of history and culture behind them.”
The story goes that a general once promised that if his troops were successful, he would drink from his own boot; and to avoid having to follow through, he had a glass boot made instead. Whether or not beer is your drink of choice, Broken Lizard’s Beerfest is a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the art of intoxication.
Michelle Williams Shines In My Week With Marilyn Blu-Ray
I don’t know about you, but the whole time I watched Dawson’s Creek, I never thought the girl next door would go on to receive three Oscar nominations by the time she was 31. Not that there was anything wrong with Dawson’s Creek. At least, Season 1. I’m pretty sure I jumped off after that one.
I digress.
While the show’s other leads (James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson) have gone on to other roles and varrying degrees of success, Michelle Williams has become one of the most sought after, gifted actresses of her generation. I would never have thought the girl next door would be able to portray one of the most beloved superstars of all time, but Williams is utterly awesome as Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, which is out on DVD/Blu-Ray today.
