Re: Track the Films You Watch (2007)
Mortuary (2006)
Viewed 1/15/2007 (first viewing)
Murky, muddled, Tobe Hooper mishmash about a widow and aspiring
mortician who moves into a dilapidated funeral home with her two
children. Too bad the place was built on cursed ground! The half-
baked plot includes deformed mutants, bile-spewing zombies and dead
teenagers to little effect.
out of
Tamara (2005)
Viewed 1/15/2007 (first viewing)
Middling entry in the revenge of the living dead subgenre adds a dash
of
Carrie. A mousy girl with an unpopular anti-drug stance is
accidentally killed by her high school peers during a cruel prank.
She then comes back from the dead, the hottest zombie since
Return
of the Living Dead III, looking to dish out some justice and score
with her hot English teacher.
out of
Near Death (2003)
Viewed 1/15/2007 (first viewing)
A group of parapsychologists investigate the supposedly haunted home
of a murderous movie director and find it inhabited not by ghosts, but
flesh-eating ghouls. Not a bad premise, but laughably cheap.
out of
Psychopathia Sexualis (2006)
Viewed 1/16/2007 (first viewing)
These tales of sexual perversion and repression in Victorian times are
alternately funny, disturbing and sad. Double-bill this with
Of Freaks and Men.
out of
The Calamari Wrestler (2005)
Viewed 1/16/2007 (first viewing)
Cult item from Japan has a giant squid mysteriously appearing after a championship wrestling match to defeat the champion in an unscheduled bout. Is this tentacled fighter the reincarnation of a former wrestling champion? Played straight even though it's quite obvious
the squid is played by a man in a suit. Just bizarre.
out of
Topkapi (1964)
Viewed 1/17/2007 (first viewing)
Light-hearted heist flick from Jules Dassin has a motley group of
thieves scheming to steal a priceless bejeweled dagger from a
Constantinople museum.
out of
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Viewed 1/17/2007
Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey are Merchant Marines battling Nazi
subs on the high seas in this exciting WWII actioner.
out of
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
Viewed 1/17/2007 (first viewing)
Todd Solondz' indie hit about a junior high school girl who is picked
on at school and unsupported at home. Painfully accurate account of
what it's like to be an outcast.
out of
Storytelling (2002)
Viewed 1/17/2007 (first viewing)
Lesser outing from Todd Solondz is told in two parts: in "fiction," a
white college literature student writes an account of her tryst with a
black professor and in "non-fiction," an angst-ridden teen becomes the
subject of a documentary. Engrossing, but it never seems fully formed.
out of
One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
Viewed 1/18/2007 (first viewing)
Early effort from Akira Kurosawa chronicles a Sunday in the life of an impoverished young couple. They tour a house they can ill afford, play baseball with children, try to attend a concert (only to have scalpers buythe last of the tickets) and mull over their future. Entertaining change of pace from the director even has him breaking the fourth wall!
out of
All These Women (1964)
Viewed 1/18/2007 (first viewing)
Ingmar Bergman farce (!) has a stuffy critic visiting the home of a famous cellist in the hope of getting biographical material. Unfortunately the cellist's coterie of lovers prove to be a formidable obstacle, frustrating and humiliating the critic at every turn! Light and frothy, with touches of Fellini and Tati. Lovely photography by Sven Nykvist.
out of
Flesh Freaks (2003)
Viewed 1/19/2007 (first viewing)
Or,
Hey Mom! Look What I Did With That Camcorder You Got Me For Christmas! An archaeological expedition in South America accidentally unleashes a plague of alien-spawned zombies. Super cheap production adds elements of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the usual zombie recipe. If the results are like this, maybe we would be better off controlled by aliens!
out of
SARS Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis (2004)
Viewed 1/19/2007 (first viewing)
Wacky, frenetically-paced action comedy about a young hero recruited
to save a kidnapped girl from mobsters. But the apartment building
she's being held in has been infected with a deadly strain of the SARS
virus that turns its victims into flesh-eating zombies! AND there's a
giant snake that meows! Aided by his eccentric master and a hot
female scientist, can he rescue the girl and fight off the badguys,
the zombies and the snake? More importantly, will she put out for
him? Bizarre plot twists, transsexuals, anti-drug messages and the
deux ex machina to end all deux ex machina are just some of the items
on display in this cartoonish Thai outing.
out of
A Little Trip to Heaven (2005)
Viewed 1/20/2007 (first viewing)
Maudlin mystery thriller set in Minnesota but filmed in Iceland by director Baltasar Kormakur. Forest Whitaker (sporting a dubious and inscrutable accent) is an insurance investigator looking into a mysterious death; Julia Stiles is the potential million dollar beneficiary. Not bad, but it never really gels. Stiles isn't quite convincing as trailer trash and I'm not sure what Whitaker was going for with that funky accent.
out of
Blast of Silence (1961)
Viewed 1/20/2007 (first viewing)
Noir gem about a lonely hitman who arrives in New York City to take on a new assignment. But he starts to have doubts - and hopes - when he runs into an old acquaintance. Familiar material is handled in a gritty, realistic fashion. The hard boiled narration is by Lionel Stander!
out of
In My Skin (2002)
Viewed 1/21/2007 (first viewing)
A woman becomes obsessed with a wound on her leg and soon begins mutilating herself in this grisly but
not especially compelling character study. If you think picking scabs is gross, stay far away from this one.
out of
Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998)
Viewed 1/21/2007 (first viewing)
Spanish romancer about a young boy and girl who fall in love at first
sight only to have their love challenged at every turn by a string of
odd coincidences.
out of
due to the always annoying Zellweger. I am not at all surprised that this was written and directed by the man who wrote and directed The English Patient.
