Watch out for Shatner! Halloween Review

I watched this film as I am preparing to shoot a short horror and I was looking for inspiration. Though my film is B quality and intentionally funny at times, I was still looking for ways to bring more horror elements to the film. Since I dont watch slasher films, Halloween is probably the only one I have seen, I didn't really know what to except. To cut the story short, I was a little disappointed in Halloween and Im starting to think slasher films are just not my cup of tea.

The opening is quite good a long shot from Micheal Myers POV as he sneaks into his sister (babysitters) room (after she has her way with her boyfriend) and stabs her (to death?). See this is where one of the problems arises, and there is a chance my friend and I just talked through the explaination (while making fun of the girls in the film, more on this later), but I was never sure who got stabbed at the start. It appeared to be Micheals babysitter, and it kinda seemed like she died (trying to think back to the body count listed on IMDB, I believe it implies she died), but then I didnt get the connection to the Babysitters Micheal Myers is after for the rest of the film. I guess he just has a thing for killing babysitters (John Carpenter specificaly wanted the audience to be unable to connect on any level with Micheal so we cant really know this). For a while I thought that Micheal Myers was back to kill his babysitter (based on the confusing tagline on the back of the DVD case saying something about Myers coming back to kill his babysitter again or maybe because I believe that is the plot of the Rob Zombie remake). But it seems that, that wasnt the case, he just simply picked out a group of 3 teenage girls to kill at random.

For a lot of the film (what appeared to be too large a portion) the film follows these three girls who for some reason are all stuck babysitting on Halloween night for a bunch of parents that I guess the budget couldnt afford us to see. In fact, the budget also couldnt allow for more than about 3 kids to ever be seen trick or treating showing that Halloween in this small town is quite lame. So anyway as I said, my friend and I laughed through quite a bit of this as the girls in true horror movie fashion talked about how they were going to hook up with their boyfriends while babysitting (as they never talked about anything but boys), and in one great incident one of the girls spills something on her clothes and I though it may appear she just had a little spill, she strips down to her underwear, just to be safe (by the way the kid she is babysitting is in the other room comatose as ever watching a movie). So this girl then runs around with an oversized shirt (I forget where she found that) and her underwear for a while.

Throughout most of this interlude with the girls Myers is in the background, drifting in an out, the girls catch sight of him standing ominously in the shadows, then he disappears. It is pretty creepy and well done, though it did seem like Myers was doing more standing around then anything else. I mean at one point you see him standing outside a window looking in at this girl, and then he just walks away, and like 15 - 20 minutes later he comes back for her. I guess he is planning out his actions but come on, I wanted to see this guy gut people with a knife, way does he just stand there all the time?

When Myers does start his attack is it creepy, scary and entertaining, exactly what the audience is looking for, so for that reason this movie does well.

**SPOILERS**

However... now this might be because I dont watch slasher movies (as it seems that this is a common occurance), but why wont Micheal Myers die? Nothing in the film leads the viewer to believe he is anything more than some deeply psychotic man, but psychos were not bullet proof last I checked. Alright so as Myers is trying to finish off the last of the girls, he runs into some problems as she has a bit more of a fight to her. Myers takes a sewing needle to the throat and goes down, all is good... but wait here he comes again, so the struggle continues and Myers gets stabbed (in the chest I think) and goes down again. But this is still childs play apparently because he just gets up like nothing happened. Then the calvery arrive and Myers appears to take a bullet to the head and stubbles into the bedroom, guess it wasnt in the head because when they walk into the bedroom he is standing there like nothing happened. So he gets shot 4 more times, cashes through the bedroom window and falls 2 stories onto the front lawn. At this point I turned to my friend and said, "If Myers isn't lying on the danm ground when they look out that window, I am going to be pissed." You can probably guess how I felt.

The Academy Awards - My Reactions

Well, the night was dazzling and the awards rocked, but there are still some things that need to have attention drawn to them. This is really in no order, just a list of my general observations, opinions and reactions to the unfolding of the evening.

Well first of all, I spent all night giggling at Danny Boyle, who was also giggling and looked as if he would explode from joy at any moment all night long. You could see how proud he was for Slumdog and he really does have the spirit of a little kid. Hugh Jackman was hilarious, I love that man and although he would disapear from the show for long periods of time, my respect for him tripled with the song and dance routines, I almost died at the 'I Am Wolverine' line. Penelope Cruz looked beautiful in her vintage dress and was so eloquent when she recieved her award, it was very nice, and Angelina Jolie's earrings looked like something you get from one of thoes 25 cent toy machines....or the dollar store.

Now onto my reactions to the actual awards:

I kicked ass in my guessing, as you can see. Slumdog got everything, which really was the icing on my cake. I still feel that Mickey should have got his award for Best Actor, but I'm sure after his speech at this years Film Independent's Spirit Awards probably clouded their favor towards him (BONUS: video linked of his speech!). I really disliked a lot of the presenters this year, and the fact that they each presented like 2-4 awards at a time, when Robert Pattinson from Twilight came out I almost threw my drink at the television. They definatly cut back on the skits a tad this year, but I think they made up for it with the amazing recognition for Slumdog and getting to see Jackman and Hathaway sing away! And thats pretty much all I can think about right now, other than the fact that everyone on the cast/crew of Slumdog Millionaire is beautiful and I love each one of them very very much!

As promised, Mickey Rourke's Acceptance Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og3tN7P6oKI

Yes.

7 BAFTA's, 4 Globes, and 8 Academy Awards.


Suck it.

The 81st Academy Awards - It is written

Yeah its been a while, I've been busy and whatnot, forgive me please. Even though my Oscar party got shafted, I'm still going to kick ass and win with my votes. Unlike with the Golden Globes, I'm gonna choose with my heart and will pretty much start setting things on fire if Slumdog doesn't take everything, EVERYTHING!

Best Picture-Slumdog Millionaire
I will be very suprised and outraged if this doesn't win.

Best Leading Actor-Mickey Rourke
I agree that his competition is Sean Penn, but I think Mickey needs this one, and he worked hard to get it.

Best Leading Actress-Kate Winslet
Although I may not like it, she seems the natural pick for leading actress.

Best Supporting Actor-Heath Ledger
No comment needed, Gumby pretty much summed this one up.

Best Supporting Actress-Penelope Cruz
Definatly a shoe-in for this one.

Best Director-Danny Boyle
Darn tootin!

Best Original Screenplay-Milk
I'm torn between this and In Bruge, but I think the story of Milk deserves to be recoginized

Best Adapted Screenplay-Slumdog Millionaire
Although I feel this is a toss up against The Reader, this definatly deserves it.Best

Cinematography-Slumdog Millionaire
Absolutely stunning, better take it.

Best Editing-Benjamin Button

Best Art Direction-Benjamin Button

Best Costume-The Duchess
I'm making a wild guess here, I always pick the one with the most complicated costumes, usually the period pieces.

Best Makeup-Benjamin Button
Figure they have to toss the dog its bone.

Best Original Score-Slumdog Millionaire
Its a wicked score :D

Best Original Song-Slumdog Millionaire (Jai Ho)
It took me a bit to decide which of the two songs should get it, but I think this one is more iconic as the ending music.

Best Sound-WALL-E

Best Sound Editing-The Dark Knight

Best Visual Effects-The Dark Knight

Best Animated Film-WALL-E

Best Foreign Film-Vals Im Bashir

Best Documentary-Man on Wire

Best Documentary Short- Witness from the Balcony of Room 306

Best Animated Short-Oktapodi

Best Short Film, Live Action-Grisen

Gumby's Oscar picks

Here we go, after much deliberation I have finally made my picks.

Best Picture
-Slumdog Millionaire

All the buzz is around this movie so unless the Academy wants to pick another film simply to be different, Slumdog is going to be the winner.

Best Leading Actor
-Mickey Rourke

There is some competition from Sean Penn, but I think Rourke will go home with the hardware.

Best Leading Actress
-Kate Winslet

Seems odd how Winslet could win a Leading Oscar for a role that got her a Supporting Globe, but she is being hailed as the front runner. So I will go with the flow and pick Winslet.

Best Supporting Actor
-Heath Ledger

There is no way Ledger isnt going to win, especially since his three year old daughter will recieve the statue after the ceremony. The Acadamy is not going to make a three year old cry (at least I dont think so)

Best Supporting Actress
-Penelope Cruz

The Globes let me down on this pick, but I'm sure the Oscars will get this one right.

Best Director
-Danny Boyle

Another sure thing.

Best Original Screenplay
-Milk

I'm a little unsure on this one, but I think Milk will trumph over Wall-E (and In Bruge)

Best Adapted Screenplay
-Slumdog Millionaire

This story was too well written to not win this award.

Best Cinematography
-Slumdog Millionaire

Best Editing
-The Dark Knight

With the snub from the major categories for The Dark Knight, I figure it will win quite a few of the technical awards, starting with Editing.

Best Art Direction
-Benjamin Button

With Slumdog taking all most of the major categories, Benjamin Button as well as The Dark Knight, are likely to take home quite a few of the technical awards.

Best Costume
-Benjamin Button

I'm thinking it's Button or Australia, but I dont think Australia is going to win the only Oscar its nominated for.

Best Makeup
-Benjamin Button

I am torn here, it's either Button or The Dark Knight. Aging Brad Pitt, or the Joker (I know who would win in a fight, but that hardly counts here). But I'll go with Benjamin Button on this one.

Best Original Score
-Slumdog Millionaire

I picked Bejamin Button at the Globes and was let down, and it seems that Slumdog is the front runner here once again. So I will learn from my mistakes and pick Slumdog.

Best Original Song
-Slumdog Millionaire (Jai Ho)
With Peter Gabriel protesting the event I dont think they will reward his actions with an Oscar, so its between the two Slumdog Millionaire songs, and I feel "Jai Ho" is the stronger of the two.

Best Sound
-The Dark Knight

Best Sound Editing
-The Dark Knight

Best Visual Effects
-The Dark Knight

Again like best Make-up its Benjamin Button or The Dark Knight, but I will go with Batman on this one.

Best Animated Film
-WALL-E

Like every award presentation this year, WALL-E will win, no doubt.

Best Foreign Film
-Waltz with Bashir

Just like the Globes, Walts with Bashir seems to be the critics favorite.

Best Documentary
-Man on Wire

A very acclaimed documentary, seems to be a shoe in here.

Best Documentary Short
-The Conscience of Nhem En

No clue here, never watched any, so lets just pick at random.

Best Animated Short
-Maison en petits cubes, La
Once again, never saw any, so Im taking a shot in the dark here.

Best Short Film, Live Action
-Grisen

A final shot in the dark, never say any of these.

Oscars

Tonights the big night, the Oscars. And its time for a rematch between the Cinephiles. I came out as the champion of the Golden Globe pool, but we all know that the Oscars is the true competition and therefore tonight is where one earns their true bragging rights.

So stay tuned as each Cinephile posts their picks for this years Oscars.

5 Films by Luis Bunuel

5 Films by Luis Bunuel

My first introduction to Bunuel was on a website where they had listed the most shocking scenes in film history. A film was on the list that I had never heard of, Le Chien Andalou, as a film buff always in search of something new, I looked into this film and there I discovered Bunuel. Though the first film I actually watched was L'Age D'Or, I became fascinated by the uniqueness of Bunuel's style, with surrealism. Now that I have watched a handful of Bunuel's film I felt it necessary to introduce others to this famous (though unknown to most people) director.

So here I present a review of some of Bunuel's classics, a collection of films unlike any others.


Le Chien Andalou
The most famous short ever made. Le Chien Andalou is based on a pair of dreams by Bunuel and Salvidor Dali and finding the meaning of this film is like finding the meaning to a dream, try all you want, but you can never be sure you actually found it. The film centers around two lovers but it could hardly be said that the film is about these lovers, the film is essentially plotless.

The most famous scene that of the eye being slit by a straight razor (held by Bunuel himself) is said to represent the assault on the senses that the audience is about to experience. From there the film meanders through a series of distantly related scenes. The only words in this silent film offer insight into the pausing of time, though the text suggests an improbably passing of time and only furthers Bunuel's assault on the audience. It is a film that shows the full possibilities of film, of the tricks that can be played on the audience. The film that deconstructs cinema by offering a film without a plot, a series of interconnected but severed scenes both meaningful and meaningless and a narrative timeline that though stated, is completely improbably. But since the film declares this passing of time, how can we say it didn't happen?

This is a wonderfully imaginative film and Bunuel's first attack on the public (something he would continue throughout his career). A must for any true cinephile.


L'Age D'Or (The Golden Age)
The followup to Le Chien Andalou, though Dali is also credited with the writing he has claimed many of his ideas where ignored and cut. This film caused so much controversy it was banned for nearly 60 years in some countries. The film was seen as lewd and blasphemous, the scene combining religion with the Marques de Sade is enough to get a film banned today, let alone in 1931.

L'Age D'Or follows more of a plot (again about two lovers, though they are only actually in the middle portion of the film) then Le Chien Andalou though like any surrealist film, it still leaves a lot to interpretation (though this film unlike Le Chien Andalou appears have placed more meaning behind its scenes). Some ideas are subtle and require a careful eye, while others (such as the wagon cart moving unnoticed through the upper class party) are a little more straight forward. L'Age D'Or starts to show off the oddly absurd sense of humor found in Bunuel's later works while at the same time offers some striking and powerful scenes.


Viridiana
I didn't know what my initial reaction to this film was; I just didn’t know what to say about it. It is not like the previous films mentioned, it is not a surreal film, it is a serious drama, and a powerful one at that.

Viridiana is a young woman who just before her convocation visits her sick Uncle at his request, as she may never see him again. Due to the events that occur at her uncle's house she decides to turn away from the church and seeks to help those less fortunate instead, so she takes in as many homeless people she can find and gives them a place to eat and sleep.

The homeless people are a great bunch of characters; they are poor, unhealthy, opinionated, discriminating, fun-loving, carefree and hateful. They are not just a group of beggars that we look upon with sadness or shame. They are real complex people and a truly memorable bunch.

The beggars look upon Viridiana with kindness, they admire at her beauty and kindness, but with the Uncle's son inheriting the estate Viridiana can only give the beggars the barn and guest house to live in. The beggars are still treated like dirt by the son and the other people at the estate and tensions begin to flare up between Viridiana and the son, as well as among the beggars themselves (as they feel certain individuals should not be welcome into their home).

A very deep and complex film (though somehow still a simple story) about a beautiful woman who is confronted by her religious believes and the events and people of the world around her. A woman confronted by what people want from her, what people want in life, and what she believes she can provide, about what she wishes to provide. A film that will most likely leave you feeling similar to me, simply unsure how to feel about what had just happened.


The Exterminating Angel
Roughly 20 guests are invited for dinner following a play. But when the dinner ends the guests begin moving to the living room for some music and to socialize, wherein the guest suddenly find themselves trapped. Every time a guest attempts to leave the room something happens that causes them to turn back into the room. But there is nothing physically preventing them from leaving the room.

Tensions flare, starvation and survival seep into their minds as the guests wait days for the rescue team to save them from their imprisonment. But it appears that the rescue team is unable to enter the house.

Bunuel works wonders with the guests. It is simply amazing how he works all of them into the story, giving them all a unique personality and perspective. The camera work is also superb, drifting among the guests, exiting and entering conversations as the viewer moves throughout the party (and later the dinner room). Giving the viewer the impression that they are themselves a guest of the party, drifting among the guests, learning who they are, catching parts of the conversation and then moving on to meet more people. The story is just amazing, the film flawlessly works all of the guests into the brilliant script.

The film (like many of Bunuel's works) is a satire of the upper class and their customs as well as a satire of human nature when faced with survival (the superstition and despair everyone turns to in the face of death). But unlike serious dramas about survival the viewer realizes that these guests are not trapped, and can't help but laugh at their foolishness (because when you take away the actual threat of death, all their actions just seem foolish). The film also works to satirize the actions of humans, how politeness, policy and curtsey, if followed by everyone, can bring a complete standstill to society. A surreal masterpiece of satire.


The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie focuses on a group of individuals as they attempt to have a meal together. A wonderful send up of the upper class in France who were often a target for Bunuel. Though there is food, these individuals just cannot seem to eat a meal as the man-made constructs of society or human nature seem to always find a way of getting in the way. So while people starve in the world from lack of food, these individuals don't eat because customs within society prevent them from eating.

This is another one of Bunuel's surreal films. Though each characters actions are justified and there is an actual a reason these individuals cannot eat (unlike in The Exterminating Angel where there is nothing preventing them from leaving the room). However the reasons become more and more absurd as the film progresses to the point where it all seems unreal (and sometimes is).

The film also gains an unreal quality due to various dreams and stories told by the characters. In one scene a solider just sits down at the table and asks if they would like to know his life story, and then processed to tell it. In another scene someone is asked to tell the guests of the dream he had the night before. These are all things the people would not normally just blurt outright. Though they are important, people do not just say these things, they usually hint at various things and eventually, usually reluctantly, they tell their story of life or of a haunting dream. This is how characters in a film act as well. Characters don't just explain themselves directly, they develop, the audience learns who they are throughout the film. But not with these characters in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. They are all too willing to be heard, to be understood, they don't wish to wait, they wish to act now, to speak now. It is a quirk of communication where one thinks because of curtsy or customs that they should not simply speak.

An absurd, ridiculous, hilarious, shocking, frustrating, surreal film.