Assorted Thoughts

So yeah, just some random thoughts I wanted to put down. I've seen alot of movies these past couple of weeks so I decided to throw in some bite sized review (I'll probably ramble on anyway). But anywho, here they go.

The Lovely Bones

When I first saw the trailer for this I thought it looked very interesting, as well as the fact that it had Peter Jackson, a director who has heavily influenced me, behind the camera. I went out and read the book and enjoyed it immensely, finding it a great tale about growing up (even if the main character is dead), grief, and family. So of course after reading it I ran off to the theaters to check it out. Most of the reviews I read about this film tore it apart, and it failed at the box office, and it seems like the only person to escape from it unharmed was Stanley Tucci, who got an Oscar nomination out of the deal.

So after watching the movie, I must say that as a film I enjoyed it, but as a book adaptation it failed. This film ran about 2 hours which surprised me seeing how it came from Peter Jackson, but it seemed throughout the film that he was scared of going over the two hour mark, chopping stuff out and condensing it as much as he could. The thing that suffers most from this cut and paste filmmaking is the end, which has to be one of the most rushed endings I've ever seen, and the message of the story gets passed over due to this. Another weak point in this film was the heaven scenes; I enjoyed them in the book because it seemed like a very unique, realistic heaven, which impressed me because there is always such a high risk of cheesiness when it comes to doing heaven. But in this heaven seems like a bad acid trip, complete with bad CGI.

But there are also many strengths with this film, a great example is the performances. The above stated Stanley Tucci steals the film as the creepy Mr.Harvey; Tucci creates a villain you really hate and are disgusted by, but one you also can't take your eyes off. Mark Wahlberg does well with the little the script gave him as the father,he severely tones down his badassness as well as creates a very sympathetic and tragic character. All of the child actors are spot on, I was especially impressed with the girl playing Susie, the main character. Susan Sarandon gives a great performance as the alcoholic grandmother and Rachel Weisz does well given that she had even less to work with character wise than Wahlberg.

From a filmmaking angle, Peter Jackson shows why hes an Oscar winner. The entire film is filled with beautiful shots, and even many disturbing ones to balance it out. Jackson's fetish for slow motion is very evident throughout, though he uses it perfectly to build suspense.

But as said earlier, this is one film that could have greatly benefited from a longer running time. Many subplots from the book are axed completely or brought up and not resolved, many things are re-ordered, and massive changes are made. It seems like Jackson got too caught up in the murder aspect of the plot, which is compelling but far from the main focus of the story. As I said, in the end he struggles to wrap up all of the storylines created and it just feels forced, though this could have been much worse in a less capable filmmaker's hands. Overall a strong film, but much got lost in translation.

Dead Snow

I just finished watching this film and I have to say it was by far one of the most fun horror films I've watched in some time. The plot is pretty basic, a bunch of norweigan college kids head to a cabin in the mountains to party, and end up coming across a bunch of angry Nazi zombies. Thats right, Nazi zombies. Genius.

While really not presenting much new, it plays with convention enough to make this fun, escpecially in the stalk and chase scenes and kill scenes. The zombies are by far some of the most unique zombie designs I've seen and I was really glad to see classic undead zombies and not virus zombies (though these guys do run, talk, and use weapons).

But one of the main strengths of this film comes from the characterization. A big flaw with horror films nowadays is that they take cardboard cut out characters, throw them in a situation, and then kill them with no change or further developement of them. This film takes the time at the beginning to build up each character and make them unique, and by the end you do end up loving every one of them.

A big flaw with the film is the gaping plot hole of why the Nazis are undead, but you kinda ignore that and bask in the blood splattered glory of the film. Speaking of blood, this film had alot of very fun and unique death scenes, both zombie and human alike.

Hot Tub Time Machine

My buddy got tickets to an advanced screening of this film, which turned out to be way advance since I just found out there's still two weeks until this hits theaters. I went in expecting a dumb, no brainer comedy and got... a dumb no brainer comedy, but it surprised me by having alot of heart behind it.

After their friend Lou "accidentally" attempts suicide (long story), a group of middle aged buddies and a twenty something nephew of one of them take Lou up to their old hang out spot at a skiing resort. Soon they end up partying in the hot tub only to find out its a time machine that takes them back to 1986. Hilarity ensues.

I fucking loved this film, the dialogue and performances were spot on, and the 80's references were all over the place. I liked seeing the often supporting players (with the exception of John Cusack) getting a chance in the spotlight, its hard to say who I enjoyed most. Craig Robinson was hilarious in a central role after stealing scenes in supporting roles in various other comedies, Rob Cordroy may have stolen the movie as Lou, the asshole friend (we all have one of those). And despite never being a fan, I have to say that Crispin Glover has a pretty funny cameo as a bellhop, maybe the guy should try doing more comedies just to show that he can do more than just "creepy". Chevy Chase does well in a cameo as well, though I wished he was given more to do.

At its core is a pretty basic party movie, but I was surprised to find that it was a story about friendships, do-overs, and midlife crisis. But thankfully the film doesn't get too bogged down by the mushy stuff, and though its not groundbreaking in any way, it was still a fun comedy.