Review: [Rec] 2

I liked [Rec], but I felt I had seen it all before. It was just another infection film to me. And while a good film, I didn't think it deserved all the praise it been getting. Then [Rec] 2 came and if I compare the films, [Rec] suddenly becomes a friggin' masterpiece.

Beware of spoilers.

The sequel starts where we left off, with a shot of Angela being dragged away. Then we move to what, a SWAT team? I don't remember, it's been a week since I saw it. They accompany a priest into the building. He needs to collect blood for an antidote. It's a whole frustrating process. Just scrape it off the wall or something!

There's a whole religious angle where the infected turn out to be possessed. Uhuh.. right. I bet that if you exorcise the hell out of them, they'll be perfectly fine. I really did not care for this at all.

Then there's the camera work. In the original, we see everything from Angela's cameraman's point of view. That's scary, cause we can't see what else is going on. Here, the SWAT team members have their own cameras on their helmets and we actually cut to their different cameras. I think this annoyed me more than the religious stuff. It just completely disregards the style of the first film. Why not shoot it as a regular film then?

And then there's the most infuriating part of the film: the teens. Yes, about halfway through, we move to three teens with their own camera who end up in the building as well. Smart move, assholes. In the end, they serve no purpose at all. It's just filler. Blah.

Why does everything have to have a sequel these days? Can't we just have a good film and that's it? The end? A 2/5.

Review: Trick 'r Treat

I finally saw Trick 'r Treat! The movie that was pushed back by Warner Bros., then shelved, before ending up as a direct-to-dvd release. I never understood why though as the trailer looked promising and there was good word of mouth.

I guess people took offense to the kid killing that happens in the film, but this movie definitely isn't worse than any random Saw sequel. I thought the movie was quite tame, even if it was mean spirited.

Trick 'r Treat is an anthology; there are different stories that take place on the same Halloween night. Characters do crossover into the different stories.

The film starts off very strong with Leslie Bibb and Tahmoh Penikett (Dollhouse) as a couple, with Bibb being the Halloween hater of the two. Lesson learned: don't be a Halloween hater. I was impressed director Michael Doughtery managed to create quite a lot of suspense in such a short amount of time. This segment is maybe 5+ minutes long (or short).

Next we have Dylan Baker as the town's principal, who also happens to be a crazed killer. This segment is particularly mean spirited, yet Baker pulls it off with a certain light-heartedness. IMHO, it's the best segment of the bunch as it's a realistic horror we're dealing with here: there could really be some crazy person putting poison or razorblades into your candy.

Then there's Anna Paquin and friends who are out and about in sexy costumes looking for a good time. This is my least favorite story. Without spoiling anything, I wasn't particularly fond of the way the story played out. I prefer realistic horror over the supernatural.

Then there was The School Bus Massacre. I do dig urban legends and this segment was well executed. However, to me, the end of the story felt so out of place. I think the first two stories set up a Trick 'r Treat world where we're dealing with realistic horrors so I found it disappointing when Paquin's story and the School Bus Massacre took a different route. If the order of the stories was changed, I might not have felt the same way.

The last story features Brian Cox as another Halloween hater, who gets a visit from Sam, a tiny trick-or-treater in orange pjs and a sack over his head. It's a freaky segment and Cox definitely learned his Halloween lesson.

Visually, the film looks amazing. Doughtery really captured the Halloween atmosphere. And overall, it was quite enjoyable while watching it. Though when the credits rolled, boyfriend and I just sat there in silence for a minute, unsure what to think. I don't know what it is, I guess the film doesn't work as a whole for me. But I'm not saying it's a bad movie. A 3/5.

I Can't Decide If I Like Shutter Island

Oh Shutter Island! I watched you yesterday and I still can't decide what to think of you. I can appreciate your visuals and botchy editing, yes both were very effective. I can appreciate the cast you ensembled, well, except for Leo DiCaprio (I'm just not fond of this guy and he feels out of place here). I can appreciate what you're trying to accomplish. It's just not working for me.

I didn't find DiCaprio's character all that interesting and didn't care much for his backstory, which, by the way, was a bit too much with nazi-Germany and the death of his wife. I was annoyed with Mark Ruffalo, a great actor who was completely wasted here. He basically does nothing the entire movie. And with the exception of Sir Ben Kingsley, the rest of the cast is wasted too. Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine, and John Carroll Lynch are barely in the film at all. Levine and Clarkson in particular feel pointless. Too much time is spent working towards the 'twist' and by the time we get there, we get a 5-minute explanation. The end. That's it. Yes, I'm aware of DiCaprio and Ruffalo's little conversation at the end, but it was too little too late. I was already checking my watch for the gazillionth time and telling boyfriend they should wrap things up already.

I really wanted to like this. And a part of me does like it, but there's another part that says this isn't a good movie. The thing is, I watched Pandorum (starring Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid) the night before and I really can't decide which is the better movie. At least that movie wasn't trying so hard.

Poster: more Piranha 3D

Oh noes! What happened here? I LOVED the French Piranha 3D poster, it was teaser-y and Grindhouse-y and I liked the font! And the tagline was better!

Via IMP Awards comes the US poster and it's just too much, you know? Besides the piranha overkill here, I just absolutely detest the title font. I can't explain it, but I feel rage just looking at it.

I don't like the tagline at all. I mean, the French poster said 'Sea, Sex and... Blood' and while that isn't the most original tagline in the world, it does sum up what Piranha 3D is supposed to be: a fun, cheesy B-movie. The above poster's tagline is just trying to cash in on the 3D trend. AND WE ALREADY KNOW IT'S IN 3D, IT'S IN THE DAMN TITLE!

And the poster is too glossy. If I was on Twitter, I would add a #fail.

This poster does give us a look at the cast billing. No one's billed above the title. Good. Then we get respectively Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Jessica Szohr, Steven R. McQueen with Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss. Sounds good to me.

I want this poster #4

(via Empire Online)

Another day, another cool poster! Here's the newest poster for Scott Pilgrim vs the World and this one actually features Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)! About time, I think! :)

I like this one much better than the teaser, featuring only Cera. I like the inclusion of Ramona and her seven evil exes. Especially, Chris Evans, he just makes me laugh.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is set for an August 13 release and stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, Brandon Routh, Kieran Culkin and Jason Schwartzman.

Poster: Piranha 3D

(via IMP Awards)

Here's the French poster of Alexandre Aja (Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes)'s Piranha 3D! I quite like it. It's Grindhouse-y and Jaws-y. The poster is perfect for a film that is supposed to be a fun, cheesy B-movie.

Only.. if this is the French poster, then why is the tagline in English?

Piranha 3D is set for an August 20 release in the US and stars Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Jessica Szohr, Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd, and Jerry O'Connell.

Scream 4, just stop it!

Scream 4, I'm this close to breaking up with you, because things are getting ridiculous. Zap2it is reporting that Ehren Kruger is rewriting the film. Let that name sink in. Ehren Kruger. EHREN KRUGER. The man responsible for gems such as Reindeer Games, The Ring Two (hate this one with PASSION), The Skeleton Key, Blood & Chocolate and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (I agree with Megan Fox, who said: "I'm in the movie and I read the script and I watched the movie and I still didn't know what was happening"). How this man is still working in Hollywood, I don't know!

He also wrote Scream 3, my least favorite of the original trilogy. Apparently, Kevin Williamson is out and Kruger has been hired to work his magic. Well, this explains all the script changes and Lauren Graham's exit.

Even Hayden Panettiere is not pleased with all the changes, reports Zap2it. And Hayden's been in a lot of stuff that wasn't.. good. Be worried!

In other news, Mary McDonnell (Donnie Darko) and Community's Alison Brie have joined the ever changing cast.