Sanctum

  I hope the film industry does not think they can continue to fool the public by making sub-par films in 3D to draw the crowds into the theaters. with out the 3D label, I am positive many of these  “techno” films would gain half of their audience. I hope we get back to letting the actual film do the walking instead of the computer program used to create it.
I have to be honest. I fell asleep 1hr 15min into this film. I woke up and had no desire to go back to the point I fell asleep and finish the movie. So, I can only make comments on what I have seen. Seeing that I fell asleep, should tell you SOME feeling I have toward the film created by James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) as the next 3D film to continue this new fad. The actors are all relatively unknown and Australian which makes it easier for us to accept them dying off in the caves of S. America.
Explorers go into the biggest unexplored caves in hopes of finding a route to the ocean. Missing the call for a storm leaves them struggling to escape rising tides, twisted turns, decompressing, and claustrophobia from the confined spaces. Due to the fact that they are underwater cave-diving, the need for oxygen plays a huge rule….will they make it out in time?!?! I actually don’t know. Like I said, I missed the last 25 minutes of the film…. who knows????
Elementary Grading Scale: Needs Improvement
1-10: 5

The Rite

I always get scared when I see a young woman act possessed. Fortunately, I have only seen this on the movie screen, I think. Bizarre languages, contortionist-like movements, and the hollow eyed, pale skinned, twitchy possessed woman leaves me frightened almost every time. I find myself watching movies with squinted eyes, hoping that having my eyes half open will allow me to close them faster at the scary moments. And lucky for me, I think movies are great when they can draw this type of fear from just a group of actors and film crew trying to portray what the writers were hoping would  scare us. The Rite does a great job creating as much realism as possible as to what an exorcism, an exorcist, and the possessed might really look like and deal with…. Viewers beware. 

Another demonic possession movie to keep me up at night…. Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) and  Colin O’Donoghue (The Tudors) star as priests commissioned to exorcise the escalating amount of demons from unknowing people throughout Europe. Hopkins plays Father Lucas Trevant, a priest with years of experience freeing people from their demons. O’Donoghue stars as Michael Kovak, a priest still in school but considering leaving and walking away from his faith. He believes  that evil is “not real” and becomes oblivious to fear of the devil’s tricks. Considering all the demonic happenings are psychological issues needing a therapist allows him to assist in the exorcisms without the fear that so many other priests were avoiding. Lo and Behold, Father Lucas (Hopkins) becomes the possessed and Hopkins does what he does best…..scaring the crap out of us…..

Elementary Grading Scale: Progressing Satisfactorily

1-10: 7

The Way Back

A true story starring Jim Sturgess (21), Ed Harris (The Abyss, Apollo 13), and Colin Farrell (In Bruges, Miami Vice, Minority Report) taking place in a Siberian Gulag during World War 2. After being sent to the prison camp in  wintery, desolate Siberia, a group of prisoners make their way out of captivity into a whole new dangerous world filled with blizzards, never-ending forests, and a terrain void of food. Picking up a poor homeless girl along the way, the struggle for survival intensifies as they attempt to evade capture, find food, and push each other forward to safety. In the attempt to escape the Communist Bloc, they head south trying to get to China, only to find that the Chinese were under a Commie Regime as well. Next stop….. India.

Peter Weir (Master & Commander) directs the incredible story of survival, The Way Back shows what men are truly capable of when pushed to the limit. The escape through Russia, Mongolia, Tibet and then India was eye-catching to say the least. National Geographic backed this film and their expertise at finding great shots of landscapes and nature SHINES through. Extremes of hot and cold along with epic landscapes added to the story to really give the viewer a sense of what these men were going through.

Elementary Grading Scale: Exceeding Expectations

1-10: 7.5

Black Swan

Not much to say. This one was a little too much for me in all aspects. I don’t know what to call it…. too “artsy”, “risqué”, “bold” for my tastes.
I like Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta The Professional, Star Wars, Garden State), USUALLY. I like Vincent Cassel (Oceans 12, Shrek), USUALLY. However, I cannot say Darren Aronofsky ( Pi, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream) went far off kilter from his styling as a director. I did not expect it to be so explicit, however. Mila Kunis does a “good” job of playing Portman’s nemesis/alter-ego. It took me 20 minutes of pondering after the film to decide what to say about the movie and I am still at a loss…
The twists were great and I can now say I have had a look into the competitive, visceral underworld  of NYC ballet…but the scenes that you pray you never have to sit through with your family (awkward moments) don’t really ADD to the film…. read the book instead (probably better) as books usually are….
Elementary Grading Scale: Progressing Satisfactorily
1-10: 6??

My Soul to Take

In general, I like Wes Craven (The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street I, II, III, IV, V, VI…….) Sad to say that the best thing about THIS film, was that it was less than 2 hours long. 1 hr 47 min, take away the intro and ending credits and its nearly 1 hr 40 min, but not a  GOOD 1hr 40 min.  I felt as though this was a movie I had JUST watched, Chain Letters, but it had its own twist. Instead of “anti-technology” this film had the returning soul of serial killer bent on killing the children born on the day of his death….  The film was made for 3-D viewing so some of the gory murders were made a little bit gorier and when you were at the theaters, blood spatter seemed a tidbit “splatterier” (New word).

    Nothing new. Classic stupid kids thinking “it won’t happen to me” and the following murder soon after. Don’t waste your money. Not much to say about this. Sorry Wes.

Elementary Grading Scale: Needs Improvement

1-10: 4

The Mechanic

Simon West directed a film which tried to capture the vibe of some of Guy Ritchies best films, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. This was a re-make of a Charles Bronson film from the 70’s  which did not need redone… it was good how it was. Unfortunately, I felt some of the intense and supposedly “cool” moments seemed to be a little “forced”. Jason Statham, Ben Foster, and Donald Sutherland star in a film dealing with assassins with feelings.

Though emotions are supposed to be withheld in the world of taking people out anonymously; when it comes to the life of a dear friend, killers cant help but have some feeling. Arthur Bishop (Statham) gets the secret order from his boss to kill Harry McKenna (Sutherland) who was his mentor and also the Father of Steve McKenna (Foster) who Bishop must now take in himself and mentor. Steve, Harry’s Son, does not know that Arthur killed his father and it tears at Arthur until the end as how and when to tell him that he killed his dad…… Teaching Steve the way of the assassin leads to many unique ways to kill people in the world “deserving” death.

An okay film filled with cliché assassination plots, much like The Specialist, The Assassin, and The Shooter.

Elementary Grading Scale: Needs Improvement

1-10: 5