In celebration of this, the greatest of holidays, let’s talk about horror. I’ve been curling up in my very few minutes of spare time reading Stephen King’s “Skeleton Crew,” primarily “The Mist”. King has his flaws, to be sure, but when he’s on, ooooh boy is he head and shoulders above everyone else. I’ve been a fan of his since I was 12, but I haven’t read a lot of his stuff, mostly because there’s just SO MUCH. He’s arguably the most prolific writer working. And this is considering he’s semi-retired now. And considering his biggest flaw is that he over-writes.

Which leads me to my favorite Stephen King adaptation, and my favorite horror movie, The Shining. It’s so deliciously freaky and unnerving, I never stop getting scared from it.

What are some of your favorite scary movies?

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It starts off strong, but slowly begins to deteriorate due to a) highly implausible choices and acts in the film’s second half, and b) exceeding repetitiveness.

There are good points: this is probably Steve Carrel’s best performance yet, and he’s easy to sympathize with. Messiah vet Sondre Lerche performs the soundtrack (and even performs on screen during the credits), and his work is suitably lovely. Dane Cook isn’t entirely wretched, and Juliette Binoche is equally lovely and frustrating as the woman Dan wants but can’t have.

But it all adds up to naught in the end, which is a shame. There’s little worse than a movie with a great first half and a bad second. It’s like watching a magician promise to show you a great trick, and then running away before he does it.

-Brian

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Well, the premier of The Office, was a big success (or so I think). I promised that this picture would be up weeks ago, but I slacked off a bit. So Enjoy!

Fall Fest is this weekend, so come out and carve up some pumpkins with us

-Lauryn
Special Activities

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If you had told me, or anyone, two years ago that Ben Affleck would make one of the best movies of the year, I would’ve laughed. Even a year ago, after his brilliant, Oscar-worthy work in Hollywoodland, I would have been a little skeptical. But needless to say, as the film’s amazing 92% on Rotten Tomatoes indicates, Affleck has done just that with Gone Baby Gone.

I’m skeptical about the film’s chances of being shown at Parmer: it’s language is incredibly profane, with several uses of words even I’m not comfortable saying (and if you know me, you know that’s quite the statement, I’m ashamed to admit). Also, there’s some violent content, but mostly the subject matter (which includes child abduction, rape, murder, etc..) is simply nauseating. It’s not gratuituous at all, but it’s incredibly disturbing and upsetting.

The film’s biggest strength is it’s casting-notably the use of real Bostonians as extras, these are people we rarely see in American movies. The lead cast is just as strong, notably Casey Affleck, who owns the whole show as the young, scrawny but incredibly brave and moral detective searching for an abdcuted child. It’s a performance miles different from his Robert Ford in my last post, and it’s just as good. In the space of a month, Casey Affleck has gone from reliable supporting player to one of the flat out best actors of his generation and I can only hope he’ll continue on the path he’s started out on.

Big brother Ben proves a surprisingly confident director. There are flaws to be sure, notable the fact that the film feels like it’s ending several times, including one puzzling moment about 45 minutes into the film. But that said, Affleck pretty much erases all the mockery he brought upon himself for J-Lo, Gigli and Daredevil with his work here. I’d love to see more directing from Affleck, who I think could just get better and better.

If you’re made of tough stuff, I urge you to check out Gone Baby Gone. It opened this Friday, and trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

-Brian

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My fall break consisted of relaxing, and doing what I love: going to the movies, and preparing for Lost Films spring schedule. I crashed with the wonderful Devin Thomas at Messiah’s Philly campus, and saw five movies over the course of four days. This may sound like a lot, but I’m disappointed I didn’t get to squeeze in two more: Michael Clayton, which has been getting some real solid notices as of late, and For The Bible Tells Me So, a documentary dealing with homosexuality in the church. I hope to see both at some point at least.

So where to start? How bout the very beginning?

Across the Universe (2.5 out of 4)

I love, love, love Julie Taymor. She’s one of our most creative directors working (someone give her a Harry Potter movie already), and her theatre output (she’s responsible for the beloved Lion King on Broadway) is just as stunning as her film output, which until now consisted of the insane Titus and the less successful but still fascinating Frida. Anyone who’s seen either film will never forget several scenes from either; the opening of Titus, the bus crash in Frida, and so on. There are of such a striking originality that is so often lacking in so many movies today.

Across the Universe, easily Taymor’s most accesible (and entertaining) film is also perhaps her most problematic. The reasons I love Taymor are all here: the musical number “Happiness is a Warm Gun” is just one of several numbers that are amongst the best musical numbers ever put to film. The acting is uniformly great; Taymor never gets the credit for getting such sterling performances out of her actors because of her creative eye, and that’s a shame. Indeed, the film is a technical marvel, with lovely cinematography, brave directing and lots of gutsy creative decisions. It’s easy to screw up all the songs we know so well from The Beatles, and Taymor avoids this almost entirely.

The problem with the film maybe lies with her love and respect for The Beatles-the movie is about an hour too long, bogged down with songs that, albeit wonderfully performed and directed, just don’t add anything to the story. Take for instance a twenty minute chunk of the movie, beginning with Bono singing “I Am The Walrus” and ending with Eddie Izzard as “Mr. Kite”. This is perhaps the most prolonged piece of craziness in the film, understandably, as the characters are drugged up and those are two of the most famous druggie Beatles’ songs. But the entire twenty minute sequence could be cut and no one would notice, and the film would be a faster, more satisfying experience. By the time the film gets to it’s (very satisfying) conclusion, it does earn the genuine emotion one will feel, but only just. Had the film shed some numbers, and been a little less repetitive, I think it would be not just Taymor’s best movie, but also, easily one of the best movies of the year. As it stands now, perhaps I just expected too much from Taymor, I’m sure most of you will love it and for good reason. I just think Taymor should have taken a page from The Beatles moptop days: keep it short and sweet.

Lust, Caution (2.5 out of 4)

Academy Award Winner Ang Lee returns from his Brokeback Mountain masterpiece with Lust, Caution, his notoriously NC-17 movie. Now, don’t you fret, you won’t be seeing Mr. Lee’s film at Lost Films in the spring; we’re not allowed to show NC-17 movies at Parmer. But to love film and ignore Ang Lee due to a rating is just sad. He’s one of the best filmmakers alive, and if he wanted the NC-17 rating, I have to believe he wanted it for artistic reasons. After all, this is the man who directed Sense and Sensibility after all.

So how is Lust, Caution? It’s long. Too long. There’s a half hour stretch at the end of the second act that is almost literally the same three scenes over, and over, and over, and over again. Lee has always been a filmmaker who’s enjoyed overly-long movies, but this was the first that I felt got almost deathly repetitive. At around 150 minutes, Lee’s movie nearly collapses before the all important third act. That it doesn’t is testament to Lee’s brilliant directing; his camera almost never rests, always moving, creating a genuine sense of unease and desperation. Also on Lee’s side are, by far, two of the best performances of the year. Tang Lei’s debut performance is astonishing, and she deserves the Best Actress Academy Award now. The always reliable Tony Leung is fantastic here, masking so much pain, desire and madness with just his eyes giving him away. Sex scenes aside, they are both astonishingly brave performances, and they elevate the film from being just fair, to being pretty darn good.

But not great. It’s too long, too repetitive, and it’s hard to even now why Lei’s character is even doing what she’s doing. Is it just because her friends are? That’s all good and well to a point, but surely that doesn’t go so far as to explain the near-psychological torment she is forced to endure?

I suppose I must talk about the sex scenes: yeah, they’re graphic, and they too are repetitive, but in this writer’s opinion they are not gratuituous. Leung’s character is so bottled up and so broken down that, at first, he practically rapes Lei. But through their sex scenes we meet a different man, one becoming increasingly more alive and loving. This begins to break down on Lei, who begins to feel the same for him. Their relationship is certainly a strange one, and obviously a doomed one, but that’s what Ang Lee does so well. Though covered in flaws, “Lust, Caution” is near perfect on the relationship front, and we should expect no less from Ang Lee.

If I had to rank Lee’s films, I’d do them as follows:

1. Brokeback Mountain
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. Sense and Sensibility
4. Lust, Caution
5. Hulk
6. The Ice Storm
7. Ride with the Devil
8. Eat Drink Man Woman

Into The Wild (3 and a half out of 4)

While watching the start of Into The Wild, I must admit I was not a big fan of Sean Penn’s directing. I felt it was erratic and cluttered, and if he had just kept it more simple it would have been so much more powerful. But as the story continued, I think Penn really found his voice, or maybe he didn’t and the film just took me on this stunning adventure.

I never read the famous book the film is based on, but if the film really portray’s Chris’s life accurrately, than all I can say is wow. It’s quite a story and is equal parts exhiliarating and terrifying. In this way, it reminded me a little of Werner Herzog’s wonderful Grizzly Man, although I would argue that Chris was a lot less mentally imbalanced than Timothy Treadwell.

The movie belongs 100% to Emile Hirsch, who probably could have a real good shot at an Oscar nomination for this performance. He’s fantastic, and totally inhabits his character. It would be easy to see Chris as some kind of hippie-hero, sticking it to materialism and the man. It would be just as easy to see Chris as a selfish brat, who never made contact with his family during his two year journey, and never even told them he was going anywhere. Hirsch manages to illicite both of these responses, and many, many more, which is no easy feat.

It helps that he’s surrounded by a phenomenal cast: William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone, Kristin Stewart, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and more. The real scene stealer however is Hal Holbrook. You have to wait two hour for him to appear, but he has a scene that reduced almost the entire Ritz Theatre to tears.

Also of note has to be Eddie Veder of Pearl Jam’s songs. I’m usually not so into songs in movies, but these original numbers suit the film perfectly, and almost act like another character in the movie. B-Side favorite Kaki King lends her guitar skills to the soundtrack, further cementing her status as one of the most exciting guitar talents around right now.

Everyone I talk to already seems to know how the movie ends, and I won’t ruin it for you, but needless to say it does pack quite the emotional wallop. It’s a big turning point for Sean Penn, I feel. He’s no longer just a great actor; he’s slowly but surely evolving into a very distinct and powerful writer/director.

The Darjeeling Limited (four out of four)

After the mixed bag that was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (a film I like more than most it seems), Wes Anderson returns with perhaps his most mature film to date with the India-based The Darjeeling Limited. At a brisk 90 minutes, the film may be the most overall solid of any of the Anderson entries. It features all of his trademarks quirks - the slow motion, the incredible soundtrack, the centered composition - but he also stretches himself in new and exciting ways. Most of the action takes place on the train, and it forces the film to rely heavily on the screenplay and the acting. Both of which luckily come up aces.

The screenplay is tight and focused, and the dynamic between the three brothers is a blast to behold. The film starts off fun and enjoyable, but a turning point in the second act plunges the film into some emotional darkness. Instead of throwing the film off balance, it strengthens the film, turning it into something more than a fun diversion about family.

The acting is fantastic as well. Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman are always great when working with Anderson (Schwartzman is particularly great in the Hotel Chevaliar short that can be found on iTunes for free), but the real star of the film is Adrien Brody, who finally as another great role after his Oscar winning turn in The Pianist. Brody is in many ways the heart and soul of the film, and there may not be an actor working with a more expressive face than Brody, and it’s great to see him try (and nail) his hand at comedy for a change. Indeed, the chemsitry between the three brothers is believable and extremely moving. A flashback sequence between the brothers is particularly powerful, both emotionally and comedically. It’s scenes like that that Anderson has become such a master of.

It may be the most assurred directorial effort of Anderson’s career. Scene after scene is beautifully composed and the camera’s movements feel less indulgent than in his past work. I’ve read some complaints that the film plays more like a series of short films than anything, and I must disagree emphatically. It’s a road trip movie, with different stops along the way, but each stop makes a change in the brothers, and there’s a definite arc at work in the men. By the film’s end (and perhaps an overly symbollic scene), it’s not exactly clear what will happen next, but we certainly get the sense that these characters we’ve come to love so much will be more prepared for it than the were when the film started.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (five out of four)

Now THIS is a movie. Andrew Dominik knocks his sophmore effort clean out of the park with this, not just the finest western since Unforgiven (it may be better), but it’s an all-out classic, and a masterpiece. After seeing it, I told my roommates it’s the best (new) movie I’ve seen since 2004, and now almost a week later my opinion hasn’t changed at all.

Unlike the other films I’ve complained about because of their length, Jesse James uses it’s length perfectly, establishing a mood that is equally haunting and heartbreaking. It’s not an easy trick to pull off, but Dominik does so with astonishing skill, helped in no small part by the great cinematographer Roger Deakins. This is probably the pinnacle in Deakins great filmography, and is one of the most flat-out stunning films to look at I’ve ever seen. A train-robbery at the start of the film is so stunningly shot, with billows of smoke being pierced by the legendary figure of Jesse James, it literally took my breath away. Also breath-taking is Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s magnificent score; it’s the best I’ve heard all year, and is another classic entry into Cave’s still young film score library.

Brad Pitt gives his best performance as Jesse James, but even his wonderful work is upstaged by Casey Affleck. Perhaps a little too old to play 19 year old Robert Ford, Affleck none-the-less worms his way under your skin. You won’t know whether to root for him, sympathize with him or want him to die a horrible death. It’s the best performance I’ve seen all year, and this seems to be Affleck’s big break out year; he was the best thing in Ocean’s 13, and he’s already been getting great notices for his performance in Gone, Baby, Gone.

If I had to make a complaint, it’s that two of my favorite actresses, Mary Louise Parker and Zooey Deschanel, are completely and utterly wasted here. Parker is given next to nothing to do, and Deschanel only shows up in the last 15 minutes of the film. Both are their normal, brilliant selves, and that’s exactly why it would’ve been nice to see them a little more.

The film is narrated with lovely prose taken directly from the source novel. We already know James’s fate from the title, and the narrator doesn’t skimp on any of the details, even well before we’ve seen them happen on screen. This story is a classic American story, both in it’s actual events, and it’s look at our desire for fame and applause, and what we’re willing to sacrifice to get it. At one point, when talking about the murder of James, Ford simply says “I expected applause”. It’s a devastating line, and will tear your emotions in too many ways to even mention.

To me, everything about this movie is perfect. We only get a movie like this once every couple of years I think. From the opening scene to the crushing freeze-frame finale, Jesse James nails every note it tries to hit.

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