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."

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men
Starring Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly MacDonald, and Woody Harrelson

Precise, pestilent and perfect. "No Country for Old Men" lures its watcher in close and bites him from behind. In the year's masterpiece to top, the Coen brothers adeptly create a beautiful, shocking film full of breathtaking cinematography, quick dialogue, characters that are both paramount and futile, and thrills that go beyond the genre of a thriller.

Set in 1980 Texas, we follow three braided storylines: Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) and his wife Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald), Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). The Moss' life revolves around getting past the next bill, but when Llewellyn comes across a drug-gang battlefield, he also falls upon a case of two million dollars - it's actually the same case and amount as the money case in "Fargo," the Coen Brothers previous work of perfection. Sheriff Bell is after the psychopathic lunatic Chigurh, who, on occasion, flips a coin to determine whether you're going to die or not.

Every second of this movie is beyond expectation, and every decision of film-making is beyond predictability. Jones adds to his 2007 repertoire ("In the Valley of Elah") with another well-defined performance. The role of Carla Jean is any understated actresses dream of playing, and MacDonald quietly delivers an unbelievable display of female rigidity, particularly her final scene which is beyond perfection and could earn her many nominations for supporting actress. Brolin commits to the performance of his lifetime. He and his character are unstoppably determined and risky, but the buzz and praise has to go to Bardem. He is so eerily calm as the psychotic mass murderer that chills run down your spine every time he graces the screen. There are scenes so grueling and terrifying that your heart begins to race while his is strangely in tune. He is fantastic and will win the Oscar.

Though there are still a handful of movies to see this year, "No Country for Old Men" tops the list so far. It's an instant classic and an instant favorite.

Grade: A+

The Mist

The Mist
Starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Alexa Davalos & Toby Jones

"The Mist," a collaborative film based on a Stephen King short story, follows the story of one small town supermarket-goers who find themselves trapped behind cartons of milk, cash registers, and buy-one-get-one-free sales when a mysterious mist comes their way. It's not just any old fog; this is something supernatural - a killer. But what does this mist hold? As the always entertaining Marcia Gay Harden, who single-handedly holds this movie up, says, "It's death."

Of course, when a story holds a dangerous secret, like what is inside the mist - oh, don't say "fog"; the actors never do - an audience creates its own assumptions about what is killing the people of this small town Maine (of course, a King detail). Aliens? Demons? Vampires? Ghosts? Who knows! I would have loved to see nothing in the mist - not that nothing was killing the people but that there was no CGI. This could have been a great ode to old time thrillers if we didn't see the strange looking 3-D monsters. They weren't even scary. It was kind of like "Jurassic Park" meets "Jumanji."

Led by Thomas Jane, half the cast flops, while the other half pull their weight and then some. Harden is phenomenal as the Old Testament-preaching, psychopathic Mrs. Carmody who rallies against Jane's people and tries to stop everyone from leaving the supermarket. She also goes on a mission of God to find a sacrifice. This leads to bloodshed. "Infamous'" Toby Jones is very likable as is "Feast of Love's" Alexa Davalos. Other than those three, no one really shines, and Jane doesn't have a good scene until the end.

The most fascinating parts of "The Mist" were it's character struggles and debacles. Harden plays such a powerfully horrible woman that the audience cheered when she got her share of karma. Also, the last five minutes are incredibly powerful and irrevocable, allowing "The Mist" to not be lost from our memories.

Harden is a star. Jane is lackluster. And the film is fun to watch.

Grade: C+

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-

Mr. Brooks

Mr. Brooks

Starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook & William Hurt

"Mr. Brooks" sends us in many different directions, both good and bad, both needed and excessive, both explained and confused. Directed by Bruce A. Evans, a director with a short resume, the movie is fun to watch, and at times (though some won't admit it), it's pleasing for us the people die. It's about a very important, very wealthy business man, Earl Brooks, played devilishly by Kevin Costner, who has a seductive tendency to murder random men and women, according to his initial interest in them and according to his inner Mr. Hyde, his libido named Marshall (William Hurt). Marshall appears to Brooks whenever a killing tendency arrives, whether it's driving his car or eating ice-cream at a restaurant. He is also the mastermind of the murders that Brooks commits. William Hurt is impressively cool as Marshall, having a blast with the character's urges towards Brooks, and the fact that no one can see him.

In comes the conflict. Conflict #1, played by Dane Cook (who's successful as a not-so-comedic role), is Mr. Smith, the man who catches Brooks in the act, but doesn't turn it over to the police. Instead he wishes to go with Brooks to murder. Conflict #2, played by Demi Moore, is Detective Tracy Atwood, a tremendously rich cop who has been tracking down the Thumbprint Killer (Brooks) for almost her whole career. When Brooks makes a comeback to killing, after a two year "break," Atwood is desperate to track him down and Smith is desperate to kill.

The storyline of "Mr. Brooks" is actually a very well developed script. It has a dark humor to it, only brought out through Hurt's sex/blood-driven Marshall, and a deep sense of forgiveness for Brooks. Each character has his or her subplots, that fit - for the most part - quite well with the main story. For example, Detective Atwood is going through a horrible divorce where the sleazeball ex-husband is asking for more and more money. Not only is this fun to watch, but later, it cuts nicely into Brooks' and Smith's stratagem. However, the underplot of the Hangman (a killer who just escaped from jail), proves a little excessive with the already packed script, though it does have a loud bullet brawl near the end.

Though the most intriguing story is that of Brooks and his family. His wife Emma (Marg Helgenberger) is loving, supportive, and completely unawares of what Brooks does, either because she's a senseless housewife or Brooks covers up his tracks (which he does). Then there's their college-bound daughter, Jane (Danielle Panabaker), who comes home after dropping out of college. Hmm... wonder why? So does Earl and Emma. First, she couldn't handle it. Then, she's pregnant. Finally, two detectives show up at the house to ask Jane questions about a murder at the university. Marshall and Brooks believe she's guilty; that she has the same addiction to killing as they do, well, as he does.

So why is this movie not top notch? Primarily, it was the end that ruined it for me. Both cliche and predictable, I wanted to scream obscenities for giving us a bunch of bologna to chew on the way home. Also, Demi Moore was a dead weight when it came to giving her character that extra umph she needed. Her scenes became dull and long-winded because it seemed like she didn't give a damn. She didn't even flinch when she just flew out of a speeding van, landed on another car, and was getting serious stitches in her head! And where was the bandage? And why was she swimming? That was a ridiculous mistake.

"Mr. Brooks" was a feel-good, humorous thriller that pleased and annoyed all that the same time. And as the old lady who walked out with me said, "My God, I feel awful. I feel like I committed all the murders!"

Grade: C