Artificial Intelligence and EAGLE EYE

The new Dreamworks action film EAGLE EYE is definitely an action film in the vein of such films as VANTAGE POINT, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, or THE INTERPRETER but filtered through the lens of Steven Spielberg (who is one of the producers on the film) so the story is loose and fantastic and the action is fast and suspenseful. The main reason I wanted to see this film is because of actor Shia LaBeouf who has come unto his own since DISTURBIA, TRANSFORMERS, and INDIANA JONES 4.

I’m not giving anything away (since the plot is so transparent) when I reveal that the film is about an artificial machine/program that takes over when it believes that the government has acted immoral when it comes to recent terrorist actions. It decides to use everything in its power to manipulate people and things to help it overthrow our current government. It may sound a lot like the recent film STEALTH but it’s routes in sci-fi are much more down-played.

Even with the “by-the-numbers” script on hand EAGLE EYE is extremely entertaining from beginning to end, due in part by the great cast assembled which also includes Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, than Embry, Michael Chiklis, and Billy Bob Thornton. This being said, EAGLE EYE is also highly forgettable like many of the other action films released thus far this year (i.e. BABYLON A.D. and MAX PAYNE, among others).

The film was written by John Glee, Travis Wright, Hillary Seitz, and Dan McDermott and directed by D.J. Caruso.

Keira Knightley as THE DUCHESS

THE DUCHESS just shows that actor Keira Knightley can do just about anything if she puts her mind to it. This period story about Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire’s (Knightley) life as a mother and a political figure among sexual scandal is far from an original concept but writers Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders Thomas Jensen, and Saul Dibb (who also directed) presents a captivating story of a woman who would sacrifice everything for her family even giving up her one true love.

When Georgiana marries the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes) she thinks her life will be perfect but it soon becomes clear to her that her husband only married her so that he could have an male heir and that he would rather take the maid-servants to his bed then his own wife. This leads to Georgiana’s increased involvement in politics and where she falls in love with a man from her past Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper). Through this illicit affair Georgiana will learn the true meaning of sacrifice as she must confront a man who has power to undo her entire life in a world where women are seen as nothing more then property and a means to continue the male lineage of an overbearing husband.

Although a beautifully filmed movie I found THE DUCHESS to be nothing more than a very good period film in which Knightley does a fantastic job (as she did in SENSE & SENSIBILITY and ATONEMENT). The rest of the cast is capable but it is Charlotte Rampling as Lady Spenser (Georgiana’s mother) that makes an impression as she delivers the quintessential Lady. I really wanted to love this film but neither Fiennes or Cooper make an impression on me so I couldn’t really relate to what all the fuss was about.
Nevertheless, THE DUCHESS is one of the better period films that I’m sure will do marvelous things for Knightley in the future.

"If It's Halloween, It Must Be - " SAW V: A Review

There are a lot of people out there whom after four SAW films would like to think that the series has run out of steam and that there just isn’t even anything else left to say with the series or characters, but in true SAW tradition you never know or can see the whole picture until the filmmakers of SAW want you to see it.

Avid fans of the series have come to expect a lot from the series in terms of complex and gruesome traps for the victims not to mention a morality tale that gets turned on its head in the closing moments of each film revealing details that you (the audience) never saw coming (pun intended). I for one enjoy the SAW films and await diligently each Halloween for the next installment of the series as these filmmakers are the only ones continuing to produce horror films for the Halloween haunting crowd (the other Oct. 2008 releases were THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY and SPLINTER with QUARANTINE an early release – slim pickings if you know what I mean). Instead, Halloween/Oct. has become the dumping grounds for bad comedies and even worse action films (i.e. MAX PAYNE).

As an avid fan of horror films and the SAW films in general I won’t discuss the details of the new film only that they are taking the franchise in a darker direction (as if it wasn’t dark enough already) and they are stepping up the police’s involvement with the story as (and I’m not giving anything away here) Det. Hoffman (who was revealed in the last film to be working with the Jigsaw killer) must tie up loose ends in order to cement the legacy of what Jigsaw, aka John Crammer, was trying to accomplish.

Although the new film is under a new director with David Hackl this new film maintains the same quality and style of the previous films and has a twist ending that still is hard to believe yet more satisfying then the one from the last film. It’s got to be extremely hard to continue producing these high quality horror films with such high standards year in and year out. The SAW films have become pop culture and have transcended it’s original meager roots to be an event not to be missed each Halloween season.
Although interest in the continuing saga seems to be waning (just look at the box office receipts between the second SAW and the forth SAW) there are still enough people interested enough to stick with it where ever it may go including me because what else do I have to look forward to – MOLLY HARTLEY 2?

CITY OF EMBER: A Film That Should Have Had the Lights Turned OFF On It

Fantasy films have been on the rise since the success of THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and studios have been buying up popular fantasy novels left and right so there is little wonder the Jeanne Duprau’s novel “The City of Ember” would be next up in line. What is surprising is the film adaptation of the novel CITY OF EMBER is such an uninspired, paint-by-numbers drab film with little heart and even less imagination. This is surprising considering that the screenplay is by Caroline Thompson, who helped bring to life EDWARD SCISORHANDS (1990), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991), THE SECRET GARDEN (1993), and THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993). Those films were fantastic fantasy films whereas this one is a muddled mess.

The film concerns the city of Ember, which was built underground 200 years prior in order to save humanity from the devastation from the world above. The original Builders of Ember set a timer on the city so that after 200 years the generations that knew nothing of the world above would have a blueprint on how to escape Ember when the time came, only the instructions which were passed down from mayor to mayor have been lost and the people of Ember know nothing of the world above.

Now the city of Ember is crumbling under old age and the fact that no one to fix anything that was built 200 years prior escapes them. As Ember falls apart under the threat of loosing the power that keeps the city’s light on draws near it is up to Doon and Lina (Harry Treadway and Saoirse Ronan, respectfully) to escape Ember using the instructions of the city’s original Builders in order to save the people they love.
At a production budget of approximately $38 million the film looks even cheaper then that with the bad CGI. The film has good production design as the city of Ember is crafted with great care and a distinctive look but besides the weak screenplay the great supporting cast is given little to nothing to do in the film, which includes Tim Robbins, Bill Murray, Toby Jones, and Martin Landau. The leads Treadway and Ronan actually do a good job in the mediocre film and will help younger audiences enjoy the film but this still won’t erase the fact that CITY OF EMBER just isn’t all that good of a film.

MAX PAYNE, A Forgetable Video Game Adaptation

Films based on video games are generally not very good and this is no exception with the new Mark Wahlberg film MAX PAYNE. The film is about a detective Max Payne (Wahlberg) who after witnessing his wife and child’s death buries himself in the cold case files where he becomes a pariah to all the other officers on the force. When the becomes dragged into the investigation of a death woman who stole his wallet he becomes entangled with gangsters and the existence of a drug that makes people invincible, while some suffer horrible delusions and visions of a world inhabited by demons.

If you think I’m giving something away by revealing any of this, trust me, the film is very transparent with its story and you’ll see everything coming long before they decide to reveal it. It’s sad that films based on video games have been so bad (i.e. DOOM, SUPER MARIO BROS., or STREETFIGHTER) through the years and even with a big name like Wahlberg attached this film couldn’t have been elevated other then mediocre film that it is. Also on hand is Beau Bridges, Chris O’Donnell, and Ludacris (who is the only one that you don’t laugh at during the entire film).

The action is fast & furious and the special visual effects are top notch (which are the only things saving this film from becoming complete trash). I do have to admit that the ending was very well done especially considering how much I hated the rest of the film and how long it took to a point in the film was wasn’t completely ludicrous (forgive the pun). As much hype as they gave to the film you’d think that something more interesting would have come out at the end but maybe we’ll just have to wait for the next video game adaptation.

QUARANTINE: One of the Scariest Films of the Year!

With only four major horror films being released this October (the others being SAW V, THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY, and SPLINTER), QUARANTINE, the America remake of the Spanish film REC, is one of the highlights of the Halloween season and one of the best remakes to come out in quite some time. Although the original REC has yet to be released here in the states (due to the fact that the studios don’t want people’s expectations of QUANTANTINE to be judged by the original film), QUARANTINE comes off as a suspenseful and altogether terrifying experience.

Angela Vidal and her cameraman Scott (Jennifer Carpenter and Steve Harris, respectfully) are doing an expose on firefighters particularly Jake and George (Jay Hernandez & Johnathon Schaech, respectfully), who reveal that most of the calls that they take are mostly as EMTs. As Jack and George reveal their seemingly uneventful lives on the job, a late night call comes in to the firehouse giving Angela and Scott the opportunity to catch the boys in action on the job. They soon arrive at an apartment complex in which several tenants have been hearing a woman screaming in her apartment. With the help of some police officers, Jack and George break in with Angela not far behind. When they try to help the screaming woman she attacks them injuring one of the cops. This attack leads to the revelation that something isn’t quite right and their fears are soon realized when they are unable to leave the building due to the fact that the police have the building quarantined off and they won’t tell the trapped inhabitants why.

One by one each of the inhabitants of the apartment complex become infected with what appears to be some sort of fast acting killer virus and emotions become even more escalated when they can’t leave and the building becomes infested with more of the infected. As time runs out and hope is no-existent, Angela and Scott must find a way to survive until help comes…if it ever does.

Like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, CLOVERFIELD, and DIARY OF THE DEAD, this film is told completely from the perspective of Scott’s camera, which at times is very impressive considering how much the camera is always on the move. These types of films have been on the rise as of late and don’t seem to be waning in the slightest. Written by John and Drew Dowdle (based on the REC screenplay by Jaume Balaguero, Luis Bardejo, and Paco Plaza) and directed by John Erick Dowdle QUARANTINE is one of the best remakes in quite some time and one of the best genre films of the year mainly because it never forgets to create suspense and terror while also telling a compelling story. With so many genre films seemly going for the shock-gore moment it’s great to see a film that actually is suspenseful and terrifying. Definitely, one not to be missed.

Graphic Novel Review: MARVEL ZOMBIES 2

I’m not one for reading anything that the comic book company Marvel has put out in almost a little over a decade but when I heard that writer Robert Kirkman had his hands in the original graphic novel I couldn’t help myself. This was the man who brought horror back to comics with his phenomenal ongoing series THE WALKING DEAD, so, if he was behind the series it couldn’t be all that bad. Point of fact is that the first MARVEL ZOMBIES series was an unquestionable success, so, who am I to be the one to say that there was no need for a second series.

MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 opens years after the first series ended in which all the superheroes of the Marvel universe became infected with a zombie plague turning them all into flesh eating zombies who practically devoured everything on Earth. After eating the Silver Surfer and Galactus, the surviving zombie-superheroes flee Earth in search of more food. In this new series the zombie-superheroes have eaten everything that they can and now set their sights on returning to Earth in order to find Reed Richards dimensional machine that will allow them passage to another world so that they can find a new world to feast upon.

When the zombie-superheroes return to Earth they have a surprise in store for them as an aged Black Panther and Forge had assembled the last of humanity in a settlement that they refuse to let go to the menace of the zombies. Things get even more complicated as a zombie-Wasp has taken up refuge with the survivors and has learned how to live in peace without letting the “hunger” of being a zombie get to her. Now it’s a fight for survival as humans battle zombies, zombies battle zombies, and everything is fair game.

Kirkman presents a compelling story where there are no easy answers or solutions to what lies next for humanity. This is a theme he’s put to great use in his THE WALKING DEAD series and works on a much bigger canvas then that series. Sean Phillips’ artwork compliments Kirkman’s story perfectly. The story is filled with great references from Marvel’s history and will be a favorite with comic book fans.

Like the first series this series steps far beyond anything that most readers of Marvel’s comics is accustomed to which makes the series that much better and now that the creators realize that they have a hit on their hands this series is left open for the impending third story in the series. I recommend this to both fans of Marvel comics and those readers who just want to read a very good story. I may not read anything else that Marvel puts out but I’ll continue to read this series as long as they continue putting them out.