Fall Movie Preview!

So I haven't updated my movie page in quite a while, what with the business I've been going through with college nonsense. But hey! Who needs a college degree when you can lounge around on your couch and type away on the laptop all day, huh?

That was a joke. Kids, go to school.

On an unrelated and much less corny note, Summer is drawing to a very near close...although sad for anyone in school under the age of 19, it's a glorious celebration for the movie world! Finally, all the popcorn-popping mindless movies of the May-August spectrum are leaving...and entering are the Oscar-grabbers and intermittently "just-for-fun" enjoyable films. Although Summer ended with 2 spectacular mainstream masterpieces (District 9 and Inglourious Basterds), the time has come to look to the future for what seems to hold promise!

To begin, I'd like to point out a hugely produced and long-awaited little picture known simply as "9." What's especially intriguing right off the bat about 9 is the production team: Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands) and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted). This is a very odd yet exciting coupling of artistic and visual design, which only extrapolates the intensity of what 9 is already about: a group of various, miniature ragdoll-esque humanoid figures on a mission to save the world after the human race is destroyed. Judging from the trailer(s), 9 looks to be an epic film, and I don't just mean really good, it actually looks like it's on an epic scale. Giant robots and firefights galore, it's an ambitious and classic "Hero's Tale" modified for a modern post-apocalyptic setting. It also has an ensemble cast, including Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, and Crispin Glover. Appropriately destined, check out 9 when it's released on September 9, 2009!

Next is a new vampire flick entitled "The Vampire's Assistant," based on a part of the series of books known as The Saga of Darren Shan. Now, the first thing that popped into my head when i saw this (and I'm sure plenty of other peoples' heads as well) is that it seems to be trying to cash in on the vampire fad that has plagued us for the past year, thanks to the Twilight and True Blood crazes. However, after watching the trailer (and not having read the books), it looks to be a light-hearted fantasy comedy of sorts that distinguishes itself as a different and more original premise than the other vampire knockoffs of today. It tells the tale of a teenage boy who loves the mythological and realizes that a man in a "freakshow" circus act is actually a vampire. Enticed by the astounding history of vampire lore, he is easily convinced to learn the ways of the vampire. What's also interesting is that said vampire is played by the comical John C. Reilly (Walk Hard, Step Brothers). When I first heard about the film, I assumed it to be an overall seriously toned work, but after watching the trailer, it looks to have its funny moments as well as its dark ones. The movie shows some promise, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high. Look out for this one October 23, 2009.

And now, a film that I have been on edge about since the beginning of the year: Where the Wild Things Are. There are no words to describe how excited I am for this film to premiere, considering it's based on a beautiful childrens' book that I loved as a kid. Helmed by famed and beloved director Spike Jonze (Adaptation., Being John Malkovich), it looks to be quite a visceral exploration of human imagination and emotion. Most of all, the film just looks so incredibly lovable on so many levels and also seems to be enjoyable to children, teens, and adults alike. The book itself had so little dialogue that it'll definitely be a feat to turn it into a full fledged film, but a very welcome feat. Here's to loving Where the Wild Things Are on October 16, 2009.

Next up is a film that I don't feel too excited about: The Road. What strikes my interest is that it's based on a story written by Cormac McCarthy, the writer of No Country for Old Men. However, in the recent flood of vampire, zombie and apocalypse films, The Road doesn't really stand out all too much. What can be taken from the trailer is that it's set right after a disastrous event (most likely a disease or virus) that annihilated most of the world's population, and now a small family must fight for their survival through insane headhunters and (possibly) zombified creatures. Like I said, this would be all well and good if we hadn't seen this kind of film already so many times before. But, if it interests you beyond my own, look out for it on October 16, 2009!

Now I come to a film that I've already covered in a previous Movie Preview: Zombieland. Starring Woody Harrelson, Zombieland looks to be a B-Movie-esque style interpretation of survivors fighting off hordes of zombies in some sort of disastrous aftermath. What makes it special is its style and presentation, looking to glorify zombie-execution techniques and, well...just plain being a fun movie. Like the zombies you'll witness on-screen, it sure looks to be a mindless popcorn-stuffing thrill ride that you, hopefully, won't soon forget. But, it hasn't come out yet, thus it's too early to tell if Zombieland has what it takes to be a great film. It comes out on October 9, 2009.

Now we come to a wishy-washy looking movie called "Gamer" starring 300's Gerard Butler. The premise looks interesting: people can control inmates in an ultra-violent video game resembling a third-person shooter (similar to Gears of War) by moving their body and having the inmate/character move in the exact same manner. Obviously, it's posing some interesting questions about being able to control someone else's body and the morality behind it, but that same theme looks to be better done in Disney's upcoming adaptation "Surrogates." However, it does look to satiate the casual viewer's hunger for action and violence, and with that I cannot argue. We'll just have to see how well it executes its motives next this Friday, September 4, 2009.

Hollywood may not be the smartest group of people on the planet, but sometimes that can be looked as a good thing. Regardless of how the following film turns out to be, I can't get over the mundane and cliche title of it: Ninja Assassin. All strifes with taxonomy aside, Ninja Assassin certainly builds its premise within the confines of the anime-crazy junkies, but also in the general public's view of the "cool" ninja and the "cool" assassin ideals. Ninja Assassin, although mildly gimmicky, holds to its Japanese/Chinese roots by having mostly Asian actors and set in a (possibly mostly) Asian setting: that means no mullet-wearing Nicolas Cage with a sniper rifle on top of tall metropolitan buildings. Phewww. Jokes aside, Ninja Assassin may just be too gimmicky for its own good, telling a pretty bland, cliche, pseudo-coming-of-age tale of a boy being raised strictly and militarily in the ways of the ninja only to be betrayed at a much older age and swearing revenge. But, perhaps it'll succeed as a fun and inventive modern martial-arts picture? And the fact that it's being produced by the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix Trilogy) can't hurt either. We won't know until it comes out November 25, 2009.

Ahh you knew I'd get around to this gem...Saw VI. Oh when will it end? I'm sure all the retro rollerbladers of the 1980's and early 90's asked the very same question when it came to Jason Vorhees and Freddy Krueger. Most people complain about the Saw series as being a dragged out and immoral celebration of gore and torture, and while there may be some truth to that, Saw also tags an interesting story behind its relatively disgusting premise. Kudos to the writers for continuously making more story every time it seems it has met its dead end. No matter how much you may berate the film for its wrongdoings, chances are you'll probably end up seeing it any way, at least to get into the Halloween spirit. The trailer for Saw VI doesn't really hint at too much story evolution, but it does keep the tension that it raises every year with new traps and new, ugly yet creative ways of death dealing human destruction. What will the new installment bring us this year? You'll have to wait till October 23, 2009 to find out.

Now to break the mold and introduce a romantic comedy from the producer of Paris, Je T'aime: New York, I Love You; it's a cornucopia collection of 12 short films all with the universal theme of finding love, whether it's successful or not. It also has quite an all-star cast, including Shia LaBeouf, Christina Ricci, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Andy Garcia, Ethan Hawke, Cloris Leachman and even Natalie Portman who directs a segment! Now that's a mouthful. New York is certainly aiming to be a heartwarming, funny, and charming cinematic endeavor, much like Paris was. Opening October 16, 2009, be sure to check it out; surely at least one of your favorite actors is appearing in it.

Moving on from love, zombies, vampires, and the apocalypse, we enter another familiar realm of filmmaking: aliens. The new film starring Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, Ultraviolet), The Fourth Kind, showcases experiments done by Dr. Abigail Tyler in a rural town in Alaska. Her patients showed signs of various mental illnesses and outbursts and have claimed to have some sort of contact with aliens. If alien conspiracy is your cup of tea, then The Fourth Kind is right up your alley; judging from the trailer, the only thing that worries me about the film overall is that it may be a bit boring at parts, considering it is largely a collection of interviews. Also, the veracity of the film is going to be discussed for years to come, as I'm sure the Doctor's studies were...but you can watch the film on November 6, 2009 and come up with your own theories.

Speaking of theories, 2012 is a little film that may or may not have true evidence to back it. As you've surely heard, the world is ending around December 21, 2012, therefore a movie must be made to warn us! (and also dazzle us with an astoundingly high production budget). From the director of The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, 2012 tells the story of the cataclysmic event that will end the world and, possibly, the human race. It's a tale of, you guessed it, survival, but moreover the film seems to be a wildly expensive exercise in crazy special effects (as you could tell from the trailer's tidal waves, earthquakes, and even an aircraft carrier crashing into Congress). Will 2012 hold up beyond just morbid eye-candy? Find out when it hits theaters November 13, 2009.


Here's a worthy notable without a release date although it is scheduled to have its grand premiere on September 10, 2009: Creation. Creation is the biographical tale of Charles Darwin and his penning of "The Origin of Species." The film seems to set its focus on the "killing of God" idea that people had back then (and still do) in reference to his proving of evolution. Darwin is always a fun person to talk about and his works tend to strike up fun (if not battle-starting) conversation. The trailer shows Darwin in a very respectable light, and also shows that he isn't entirely sure of what his findings mean, but more that his colleagues egg him on to publish his findings and disprove the theory of God and even religions as a whole. His wife, however, is a deeply religious woman who fears for his life and her own if he makes his works public. It still has a "Coming Soon" status as of now, but I'm expecting it sometime this Winter.

Aaaand there you have it! Quite a varied array of films coming very, very, very soon to your nearest movie theater (or computer screen...jerks)! I hope you enjoyed my own personal take on the films, but I've barely grazed the surface of what there is to come in the Fall and beyond!

Kyle Shelton

District 9 Review: Makes Area 51 look like a Bouncy House

Aliens? Check.
Action? Check.
Blood and gore? Check.
Intelligent social commentary, originality, creativity, and outstanding special effects? Checkity check check.

Phenomenal new sci-fi movie? Super check.

These are all the workings of what surpasses the realms of a cheesy-yet-fun sci-fi flick and enters the extraterrestrial levels of true, awe-inspiring filmmaking. Coincidentally, these are all the workings of Neill Blomkamps breakout feature film, District 9, produced by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.

What makes District 9 more than just an alien shoot-em-up popcorn popper? It has a soul. District 9 is a movie that plays off several cinematic styles and masterfully interweaves them together into one feature that's sure to please the general public audience as well as intriguing the minds of those who really expect bigger things out of today's movies.

District 9 starts off as a documentary-style film, showcasing the mysterious UFO that hovers above Johannesburg, South Africa. Initially, military troops are flown in to investigate, and they find horribly malnourished life forms residing in the ship. After migrating them to Earth, the area they inhabited known as "District 9" soon becomes somewhat of a ghetto, with anti-alien extremists causing riots and starting a large campaign against the new citizens. 20 years later, a Multi-National Union member named Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is sent to District 9 to relocate the aliens to a concentration-camp style area over 200 kilometers away from Johannesburg.

As you can imagine, chaos ensues. Wikus is unintentionally sprayed by strange black fluid inside a tube found within an alien's shack. Progressively, he shows symptoms of being infected with something, and is soon hospitalized and found to have alien DNA in his body. This is where the documentary style of the film, opening with various interviews followed by camera footage of Wikus' operation, turns to the more narrative, traditional film style. However, you probably won't even realize it by how tightly the film grips your attention.

District 9 never lets you go, throughout the entire film. Imagine any good suspense or action film, and multiply its pull on you by about 1000, and you may be able to grasp the magnitude of District 9's influence on any given viewer. Quite honestly, the formula used for the screenplay is quite brilliant; giving you a back story on the present situation through realistic spectator commentary then switching to the actual events unfolding before your eyes then attacking your senses with exciting and energetic filmmaking, there exists no dull moments during the entire film. Even at its lowest points, you will be kept enthralled and entertained, wondering what will happen next.

While District 9 is a sci-fi funfest for any alien fanatics out there, it also serves as a more profound film, building upon aspects of real life problems like racism, apartheid, immigration, genocide, rioting, slum life and government power. It really makes you wonder how the world would take such an event as aliens coming to Earth on relatively civil grounds.

Alongside its deeper roots, though, lies what everyone is expecting: the action. And there is plenty of it. If you're a fan of aliens, robots, guns, explosions and blood/gore, you've picked the right movie. Limbs flying, firefighting, vehicles crashing...District 9 has it all for your viewing pleasure, and while the film does hold true to its "more than your average sci-fi" attitude, it still gives plenty of crowd-pleasing moments to get you even more involved in the already deeply-involving plot.

Also, kudos to actor Sharlot Copley who plays the main protagonist; he gives such an astounding performance that its hard to believe he's barely known in the film-world. To add to his magnificent and spellbinding act, most of his lines were improvised throughout the movie...yes, meaning he made up, off the top of his head, most of what he was saying, and pulled it off brilliantly.

What's more, Blomkamp made such great characters out of the alien race as a whole as well as the main alien you get attached to, Christopher. They feel incredibly real, which only adds to the overall feel of the movie: everything feels real. Besides their actual character and interactions, their rendering is exceptionally well done, given extremely detailed skin and facial expressions to make them uber-realistic. The plot is definitely plausible and District 9 tackles the ultimate "What if?" question with flying colors.

Hands down, District 9 is the best film of the Summer. It retains all the qualities of films like Transformers or G.I. Joe for the fun aspects, but still has a brain and a heart to embed it within the confines of sci-fi classics. 20 years from now, District 9 will still be heralded as the bar that needs to be raised in order for any new sci-fi film to hold even a dim light to it. Although some things are left unexplained, and a few holes lie within the overall plot, District 9 more than makes up for its shortcomings with a spectacular performance by Copley, exemplary special effects and a new, original story. These aliens are welcome...consider me a sympathizer.

9.5/10
Kyle Shelton

Inglourious Basterds Review: Quite Glorious, Actually

Ahh, Quentin Tarantino. Every film the man makes is his signature love note to all things cinema. Known for his fun crowd-pleasers, dark humor, over-the-top violence and ridiculous situations, he almost never seems to disappoint.

With a reinvented World War II B-movie/noir-esque presentation, does he still retain the same pizazz he has in the past? Or does he finally fall flat beneath the heaps of more entertaining cinema in the market today?

Quite the Glorious bastard Quentin is with his newly original "Inglourious Basterds."

Inglourious tells the initially unrelated but interwoven tales of revenge of Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and his troop of ravenous, vengeful misfits as well as the innocent victim of Nazi war Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent). After Shoshanna tries to hide from Nazi "Jew-Hunter" Hans Landa (Cristoph Waltz), he realizes of their hiding place and kills off her family, accidentally letting her go and run away. Years later, she is seen owning her own movie theater, unwittingly being pitted directly into the heart of the Nazi body when a German soldier garners an extreme attraction to her. Lt. Aldo Raine, on the other hand, is simply out to to "do one thing and one thing only...killin' Nazis." He, along with his Jewish-American covert squad of Nazi haters, formulate a plot to assassinate Hitler along with the Nazi hierarchy.

At its most basic, Inglourious is a simple yet fun roller coaster ride of revenge and blood-splattering hilarity. When examined on a deeper scale, though, it has its more creative and nuanced merit (similar to the stupid-fun style Kill Bill has on its surface, but its much more emotionally-rooted story and style found after appreciating it for more than its skin-deep beauty). Inglourious keeps all the Tarantino-isms: darkly comical situations, extremely heightened tension, long yet interesting dialogue, and artistically refined depictions of violence. Its all here...but even if you hated Tarantino's style before, Inglourious still deserves a chance if only for its last 30 minutes of utter brilliant filmmaking.

Within the film are several interesting cameos including Julie Dreyfus (Kill Bill), Mike Myers (Austin Powers), Eli Roth (director of Hostel), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and B.J. Novak (The Office), which propel the film into somewhat of an ensemble surprise cast. But the actual starring cast is what makes Inglourious even better than what it already is, specifically the performances of the lovable Brad Pitt, the intriguing Melanie Laurent, and especially the powerhouse performance of Christoph Waltz. It seems as if each of the characters (Aldo Raine, Shoshanna Dreyfus, and Hans Landa, respectively) were written specifically for each actor, as I couldn't perceive anyone else playing them successfully. Also notable is the fine talent of Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark, the seductive and famed actress who is a critical piece of the German resistance puzzle.

In the sense of story, its all played out masterfully, with certain characters knowing certain things for certain reasons and others not knowing said things for certain reasons. When you're not being treated to an enjoyable conversation or silly B-movie fare that Tarantino is known for exploiting, your blood pressure runs high on an indescribably tense scene that ultimately leads to a surprising, if not at least sensory shattering, climax. This is done both in the writing, which would make for an equally excellent novel, as well as the technical and physical execution of the directing and acting.

While Inglourious may not be for everyone's taste, Tarantino has once again proved that he has the talent and genius to produce such fine films. The pacing may be a little off, and the marketing for the film shines it in a light of nonstop action and ridiculousness. This may not be exactly what you get, because there do exist quite a number of long conversational scenes and drawn-out build-ups to any given climax. But, that's just the way Tarantino does his thing and its not a big problem to me. In fact, I would place this WWII exploitation dramedy up with the ranks of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. He always places so many subtle tidbits of fun (like having the film within the film "Nation's Pride" directed by Eli Roth or having the allusion to the title on Raine's rifle) that just make the movie cake that much more delicious.

In simple conclusion, Inglourious Basterds is probably the best film the Summer's mainstream box office has to offer and an irrefutably bombastic end to the Summer as a whole. Tarantino is the one-man Pixar; offering up an enjoyable dish whenever he can and making it last till his next, undoubtedly brilliant offering. Remembering that Tarantino has a peculiar yet artistic style and flare, go forth and enjoy Inglourious Basterds for all its glorious perfections (and also, rally to give Waltz some kind of large-scale acting award for his mesmerizing performance).

9.5/10
Kyle Shelton