Cloverfield

Cloverfield

Staring Michael Stahl-David, Jessica Lucas, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan & Odette Yustman

The question everyone wonders going into "Cloverfield" is: what the hell is it? Some aren't even sure if they should call "it" and it. However, it is... an it. In J.J. Abram's "Godzilla" meets "The Blair Witch Projects" kind of thriller movie, he unleashes a masterful monster unto the people of Manhattan. The key with the movie isn't the monster or the destruction; it's the characters and their finding humor in such a not-so-funny time.

The film we watch is the film we get. It's a videotape in the possession of he government now and we are important enough to view it. It follows a few happily young guys and gals through their surprise party for Rob who is moving to Japan. We are given some character insights (i.e. Rob is still in love with Beth who is now dating some other guy, and Jason, our filmographer, has an awkward crush on one random party-goer, Marlena).

Then Act II hits the island. Something is causing much havoc and chaos. People are screaming, dying, running. The ground is shaking. The head of The Statue of Liberty rolls down the street. Stuff like that. Throughout the rest of the film, we follow these poor souls on their journey to escape, except Rob, being all debonair, wants to rescue Beth. So they aren't trying to escape anymore and we get to see all the action from a civilian's point of view. It's great.

The home video cinematography is a bit nauseating at first, but most the audience adjusted - except the couple in front of me who left ten minutes into the film - and it adds to the effect of the reality of such an unrealistic event.

There were a few scenes in which I doubted reality, however. The building Beth was stuck in was next to another skyscraper that was leaning on her building. Did we not all see what happened on September 11th? Not possibly in my book, though I'm not physic pro. Also, when the few characters still alive are about to escape via helicopter, the monster, just as he's being destroyed, or we presume, by stealth bombers, decides to swap the damn chopper with his gigantic arm. This sends the craft in a spin and it crashes in Central Park, which we know from the government information that that is where they found the tape. You think anyone died? Hell no! They all survive a 75-foot plummet to the ground! Bull.

Anyways, if you're looking for a good time, aren't too squeamish, and don't care if we never find out where the monster came from (I think the ocean), then have fun with "Cloverfield."

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Starring Johanny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen & Jamie Campbell Bower

The themes are revenge and love, the symbols are blood and barber knives, and the motif is a barber chair that sends murder victims down a hatch, crunching on the stones below, only to be used for meat pies sold to the general public. And are we hungry! Tim Burton's film adaptation of the ground-breaking musical that showcased Broadway's darkside, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," does just as Todd's mechanical chair. We are shot down a hole of music that knocks us senseless, characters so interwoven that we fall for the spell of the unpredictable, and whole lot of blood. With original music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a most intricate composer, and the horrific unusualness of Burton, Sweeney's story unfolds beautifully.

The beauty of blood is shown in the very first scene. As we listen to the introductory music, we watch blood drip and flow through London's underground. London is dark. London is dangerous. With a sailor boy named Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), Sweeney (Johnny Depp) arrives after years of imprisonment and is out to kill the man who wrongly accused him, putting him away: Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). However, before he tries to hack the judge, he meets Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who owns a shop, selling "the worst pies in London," according to the song. Anthony falls in love with a young girl tucked away in a house. She is Johanna (Jayne Wisener), Todd's daughter and now captive of Turpin. We learn that Turpin wishes to marry the young Johanna, which of course puts pressure on Anthony to rescue her. We are also given other characters who play great roles in the rising of the plot: Toby (Ed Sanders), the boy who begins to work for Mrs. Lovett; Beadle (Timothy Spall), who weasels his way in and out of the streets, working for Turpin; Signor Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), who loses a barber contest to Todd (and later loses a bit more); and the beggar woman (Laura Michelle Kelly), the only character to sense the evil going on in Todd's barber shop.

Every actor and actress sings and performs incredibly well, bringing the musical's usual thrusting melody to a cold whisper. Depp is creepy as he was in many-a-film, and Rickman, Cohen, and the other cast members were are great, however, the real triumph was Helena Bonham Carter's Mrs. Lovett. Her voice is soothing and crisp, while her portrayal was desperately great. The newcomers caught on to Burton's oddities, particularly Jamie Campbell Bower. The usually dull innocence of Anthony was annoying in the stage production (I Netflixed it), but Bower - and I'm sure with the help of Burton - gave the role a wolfish sense, something wild and hungry, yet his voice was high and chilling.

And on top of all this, there was blood. Burton reached back to classic horror films and brought the red stuff streaming out. With every slash of the barber knife, it poured, sprayed, splattered. It looked great, and with significant killings, Burton changed the ways of his blood dripping mechanics. Bloody perfection.

It looked great, sounded great, and felt great. "Sweeney Todd" is at the top this year for it's ability to bring the stage to life on screen.

Grade: A+

Halloween (2007)

Halloween (2007)

Starring Tyler Mane, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon Zombie, Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell & Danielle Harris

Seeing the previews to Rob Zombie's remake of 1978's horror classic "Halloween" (originally directed by John Carpenter), it was difficult to tell if Zombie's version, bearing the same title, would analyze the past of the freakish murder Michael Myers, or if it was indeed a remake of the original. To my excitement, Zombie's version gives us both, and in doing this, he gives us a double-feature.

The first half of the movie plays out by giving Myers motive, feeling, and personality. To some, this may go against everything the madman stands for: silence, stalking, and mystery. However, the original leaves out motive, something that drives stories and makes for compelling twists and turns - all of which Zombie inserts. The pre-teen version of Myers, played by Daeg Faerch (one of the top creepiest kids ever), has a ton of problems. His dad's a bastard, his mom's (Sheri Moon Zombie) a stripper, his older sister doesn't give a damn, and he's constantly tantalized by school bullies. Apart from his slaughtering helpless animals and other demonic issues, Myers finds safety in his baby sister, Boo. (A possible allusion to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"). Evil lets loose on Halloween and kiddo Myers lets that butcher knife fly. He kills the bully, his dad, his older sister (who is reported to have been stabbed 17 times, the same number of times Tom Robinson was shot in "Mockingbird"), and her boyfriend. After being put into a mental institution and killing a nurse with a fork, Myer's mommy kills herself and the kid never talks again.

The pre-Halloween story lasts for near half of the movie and makes the film more about Michael Myers than about the original's heroine, Laurie Strode. When Myers breaks out of the asylum, and after killing his janitor buddy who lovingly calls the brute "Mickey," we enter the original 1978 plot - except there's a twist... and motive. Myers isn't just killing people for no reason at all - which, I admit, takes away from the original's unknowing terror - but he's out for someone in particular. He's kid sister, Boo. And he finds her alright. Zombie takes a leap by creating a subplot of Laurie Strode, played by spunky Scout Taylor-Compton ("Mockingbird" narrator!), as the teen version of Boo. After the bloodbath at the Myer's house, Baby Boo was put up for adoption and taking in by the Strodes.

Michael has a motive. He wants his baby sister back. But with an Oedipal twist and an intense climax that parallels and swerves from the original's "house-to-house" case scenes, Laurie doesn't understand that Mickey just wants to be loved. So he tries to kill her as well.

Zombie shows what a true mastermind can do to a perfectly classic film. He makes it his own, and in doing so, he makes it a great, fun, terrifying gore-fest. He even creates an interesting symbolic meaning and history to Myers' infamous mask-wearing. I just don't get why the hell it wasn't released ON Halloween!

Grade: A-