The February Trail

New movie trailers! Mostly big blockbuster effects type films that cater more to thrill impact rather than substance, but we the audience love them anyway.

Franklyn
I have no idea what this is about. But it reminds me V for Vendetta, albeit an extra prettier version. Btw, I love V for Vendetta.
Release: February 20, 2009

Terminator Salvation
In this film we finally get a glimpse of the oh-so infamous after effects of judgment day. Plus, we'll all see the rebel leader fighting(/training?) the rookie who will be his future father in past who died while saving his mother after he knocked her up with him. Haha, just had to type that out.
Release: May 22, 2009




Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Bigger robots, bigger action, bigger film? Definitely. Better? Eh. Remains to be seen.
Release: June 26, 2009




G.I Joe: Rise of the Cobra
Definitely looks cool, but I'm a little worried about the over the top computer graphics, too much CGI does not make a nice eye candy. Speaking of eye candies, Channing Tatum anyone?
Release: August 7, 2009




Dollhouse
And for a different kind of treat, we have a tv promo! There has been a huge hype about this upcoming tv show, Dollhouse, and I have to say that I'm quite excited myself. It premieres this February 13, 2009 on the US television network, FOX. I just hope FOX won't cancel this like they did Joss Whedon's other awesome show, Firefly. The show stars Eliza Dushku, Olivia Williams, Tahmoh Penikett, Harry J. Lennix, Fran Kraz, Dichen Lachman, and Amy Acker.

***

And remember folks, don't judge a movie by its trailer!

"Taken" Film Review

When my friends told me about Taken, I thought I was going to see a broken father out on a desperate search for his precious daughter and in the end we’ll find a heartwarming, tearjerker reunion. Well, this movie isn’t quite what I expected.

Taken is an action-thriller film directed by Pierre Morel in 2008. The film stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, and Katie Cassidy.

Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills, an ex-spy who retires from his dangerous job to be closer to his daughter Kim, played by Maggie Grace. Ever the adventure-seeking teenager, Kim goes to Europe for a vacation with her friend Amanda, played by Katie Cassidy. After arriving, the girls are immediately abducted by a dangerous gang known for drugging female tourists to traffic them as prostitutes. Bryan Mills then uses all his ex-spy skills to look for his daughter amongst the vapid throes of an Albanian gangster.

Taken is by no means a drama, it is a frenetic action thriller that sucks you in its frantic pace and brutality. I found Liam Neeson’s portrayal of a loving father hard to swallow after seeing his character stoically shoot an innocent woman to compel her husband to talk. A woman who even cooked him dinner. I honestly didn’t appreciate the blatant split personality of Neeson’s character. One minute ever the desperately broken father, the next a pseudo-James Bond who is older and harsher, who had no qualms whatsoever about torture and murder. Having said that, I can’t imagine any other actor playing the character. Liam Neeson has a face made for stoicism, and Taken is full of it. In every sense.

I didn’t realize that it was Maggie Grace who played Kim until I saw her name in the credits, for one thing, I thought Grace was a little too old to be playing a 17 year old character, so I assumed that it was only an uncanny resemblance to the actress who induced a million eye rolls in The Fog. But alas, it really was her. As someone on her last year of teenagedom, I was offended that someone would portray a 17 year old like a wince-inducing petulant 12 year old.

I was admittedly very impressed with Taken’s bone-crunching fist fights and takedowns, as would any other action junkie. The film delivers thrill factor easily, and the audience may certainly appreciate being thrust into a heart-pounding ride. It even induces a few goosebumps and body tensing moments. But the whole Taken film has a shameless air that people who actually care about what they’re watching may not care for. Confused? So am I, a little. The point is that after watching this film, it leaves you somewhat breathless, and partly wondering on whether or not you just wasted 87 minutes of your life on a brutal show which pretends to have a story.

Bryan: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
Marko: [after a long pause] "Good luck."

"The Alphabet Killer" Film Review

Within the drama of The Alphabet Killer lies a true story, and you cannot help but feel a churning in your stomach when you realize that those brutalities actually happened to some young girls in the real world.

The Alphabet Killer is a thriller movie directed by Rob Schmidt in 2008. It is based on the true stories of the murders in Rochester, New York during the late 1970’s. It stars Eliza Dushku, Cary Elwes, Michael Ironside, Bill Moseley, and Timothy Hutton.

(Contains Slight Spoilers.)


The movie immediately opens with a foray into an abduction of a young girl. It’s haunting enough, and certainly disturbing. Most of the film’s atmosphere is constantly grim, which is admittedly apt since raping and murdering several girls is obviously not a light subject. The Alphabet Killer is an effective movie, as in it is satisfactory in its cinematography, sounds, lighting, special effects, and the characters do have the ability to intrigue the audience. The shaky camera, gloomy air, and eerie music does add a lot to the feel, it resembles the film Zodiac, but modern and bluer, if that makes sense. Eliza Dushku as Megan Paige, the protagonist, fits into her role like it was made just for her. She plays the damaged, earnest detective more than well, and she gives a hauntingly sympathetic performance as we follow her character’s roller coaster ride into an absolute hysteria and mental breakdown. Mucho kudos to her. However, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Cary Elwes, who plays Kenneth Shine. I’ve never even been to New York, and I can tell how horrendous his accent was with his British slant shining through occasionally. The other cast members also give their fair share of brief, yet exceptional performances.

The Alphabet Killer may come off as a supernatural horror flick when you judge it by its promos, posters, and trailers. And although it does spook its audience once in a while, the “spirits” that we see are actually an insight into the mind of a schizophrenic. Those ghostly apparitions seemed to only serve to douse the film with some actual horror and thrill factor. Still, it was impressive how those apparitions blurred the lines between realism and supernaturalism so that the audience can go with either way. Like I said, I think The Alphabet Killer is an effective movie. It delivers a good amount of thrill and realism that audiences may engage themselves in, and it has a story that is truly worth knowing about. However, the film has its share of errors in being an affective movie. A story about a serial killer raping and murdering several young girls can certainly affect a person, but with Megan Paige’s distracting schizophrenic delusions, the main theme of the film somewhat gets deluded as well. It’s a struggle to pinpoint exactly what those hallucinations are supposed to tell us, if it’s supposed to tell us anything.

Overall, the Alphabet Killer is a satisfactory film. It was like a two hour cop tv show episode (and I happen to really like cop tv shows), only a bit more intense, a bit more interesting, a bit more creepy, and just a bit more everything. Extra kudos again to the actors, specifically Eliza Dushku. The only thing that I prominently disliked about the Alphabet Killer was the ending, and no, it’s not just because of the fact that I’m a sucker for happy endings. But the last few scenes of the film had the potential to be an ultimately heart pounding conclusion, instead, it was a total cop out that harshly teased its audiences to wait for a sequel. Which begs the question, is the sequel worth watching? Sure, we want to see how our tortured heroine would finally fight her persistently creepy demons, and we definitely want to see the bad guy die a horrible, horrible, horrible death, but my spite for the cop out ending might just convince me not to watch the second film at all. Yeah, I was that pissed.

Oh, who am I kidding?

I want to see the bad guy die a horrible, horrible, horrible death.

Megan is trying to calm a gun-wielding man down.
Megan: You know what they're calling this out there? Hostage situation.
Glen: Those Fucking bastards!
Megan: You know what I see? An argument. Does that make sense?
Glen: (quietly) Yes
Megan: And what do you think Elizabeth?
Elizabeth: (indignant) He tried to rape me!
Megan stares at her.
Elizabeth: Which, I guess, led to an argument.

Back To Business

Audientication is now fully active! The next post will be up in a few hours, I just need to exist in real life for a little while longer.

Next up:

"The Alphabet Killer" Film Review

Be right back!

"Changeling" Film Review

It’s no wonder why Changeling received great reviews when it premiered in the 61st Cannes Film Festival early last year in May.

Changeling is a period drama film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood in 2008. The film is written by J. Michael Straczynski, and stars Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Gattlin Griffith, Jason Butler Harner, and Amy Ryan.
(May Contain Spoilers)

The story of Changeling itself, which is based on true events, is truly compelling on its own. The actors’ performances only add another level of depth to the film. Angelina Jolie deserves every letter of praise she gets. She performed with endless grace and poise truly reminiscent of a lady in the 20’s era. Jolie managed to convey an innate strength and earnest tenacity to her character, even when she was nose to nose with a psychopathic killer, was thrown into an insane asylum, and was verbally manipulated by a man who was supposed to protect her. Jason Butler Harner as Gordon Northcott was amazing. Normally, that type of bumbling clumsiness would get on my nerves, but Harner delivers an eerily pathetic plight to his psychotic character that makes you want to slap him in both fury and pity. John Malkovich, as usual, is enigmatic yet magnetic. Jeffrey Donovan as J.J. Jones, the police captain, is every bit the charming snake that we all love to hate, and hate even more because his clean cut prestige is completely wasted by his lack of a heart and soul.

One of the best scenes I loved in the Changeling film was in the first few minutes wherein we get to see the relationship between Angelina Jolie’s character Christine Collins, and her son Gattlin Griffith’s character, Walter. Christine and Walter exhibit a quietly intense dependence on each other. One of the little details that clearly show this love is when Christine and Walter were on the bus. The bus stops at Walter’s school, and as he leaves the bus to enter the school, Christine escorts him off the bus, affectionately ruffles his head, and returns to the bus again to continue her journey. It was completely illogical because she could have just said her goodbyes without having to get out of the bus, but it was also the obsessive fussing that clearly shows a mother’s instinctual love, the need to be as close to your child as long as possible even if it’s just a mere few steps. Another one of the best scenes I loved, of course, is the court scene wherein the Captain and Police Chief totally got what they deserved, I also loved the part where Christine confronted Gordon Northcott before the day of his execution, it was intense, disturbing, and goosebumps worthy.

The detailed arrangement of the whole set to emulate the 20’s ambiance and design was absolutely riveting, everything was so perfectly coifed and pressed to a believable 20’s era casual glamour. The music was also great, very in tuned with the emotion of the scene. Overall, Changeling delivers a heavy story with a heavy message, and it does so without making the audience faint with the heaviness.

Changeling is as much about a missing child and his mother’s desperate attempt to find him, as it is about the shameless corruption of people in power, and the constant demeaning of women. A film that wraps itself around all of these issues, and successfully tackles each one and does even more, deserves an extra kudos. And I’ll leave that extra one to the Oscars.

And remember folks, a mother’s love always wins.

Christine Collins: "He's not my son."
Capt. J.J. Jones: "Mrs. Collins..."
Christine Collins: "No, I don't know why he's saying that he is, but he's not Walter and there's been a mistake."
Capt. J.J. Jones: "I thought we agreed to give him time to adjust."
Christine Collins: "He's three inches shorter; I measured him on the chart."
Capt. J.J. Jones: "Well, maybe your measurements are off. Look, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this."
Christine Collins: "He's circumcised and Walter isn't."
Capt. J.J. Jones: "Mrs. Collins, your son was missing for five months, for at least part of that time in the company of an unidentified drifter. Who knows what such a disturbed individual might have done. He could have had him circumcised. He could have..."
Christine Collins: "...made him shorter?"