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The Strangers (2008)
Pretty Okay
This movie was pretty good. The tension/suspense and pacing were wonderful but it had issues too.
I got lots of good scares from the jump scenes and creepy moments but in retrospect it was All so cliché! They used every cliché in the book, extremely well, mind you, but none of the ideas were original.
The final few scenes were extremely disturbing and probably the most interesting part of the movie to me.
So much stuff was predictable though.
The ending was IDIOTIC though. Terrible, terrible, cheesy, grade-z horror ending. Seriously they could have just finished the film with the second to last scene and it would have been SO much better.
Liv Tyler explained in the bonus features how she had never experienced that kind of fear before, that paralyzing, I-just-heard-a-sound-in-my-house-better-go-get-a-knife feeling, which was SHOCKING to me. She played it SO well. The movie as a whole had such a realistic nightmare-ish feel to it, as the events unfolded it was just as i would imagine it happening to me. Liv Tyler basically did everything i would of, she was so realistic.
The look of the film was nice too. A beautiful 70's ranch house pallet of dulled oranges, greens, browns and reds all covered in deep shadows.
All in all, i rated this movie an 8/10 with deductions for clichés and the horrible ending, but now I'm not so sure as if i might even rank it lower. It was definitely scary but not inventive or new.
The Way We Get By (2009)
How do you get by?
I was not prepared for this film. It is really hard to handle.
I'd like to say that this film is in-your-face, but without the usual vulgar connotation that comes with the label. Instead, the film is in-your-face in that it is relentless. It refuses to soften anything, or candy coat it. It's like an icy cold shot of truth into your bloodstream. This movie hands you your mortality on a platter and says, "Here ya go, deal with it." The film follows the stories of the Maine Bangor International Airport Troop Greeters. Bangor International Airport is the first major airport coming into the country and the last going out. The greeters focused on are elderly men and women, some of them veterans, who have dedicated their lives to thanking those who serve.
The two things I walked away from this movie with were an overwhelming pride of being American (i had a strong urge to run out there and hug a soldier myself), and a depressing fear of old age.
I cried a lot during this movie, toward the end. If you've never thought a lot about growing old, losing everything, losing everyone, then you should see this movie.
Really, it wasn't just about troops at all. It was about our own deaths here at home. It was about depression among the elderly. It was about how you deal with death. Hence the title The Way We Get By.
I think it's important too, because nowadays it seems there's so much negativity about America. What this movie made me realize is that even if you don't support the war, the least you can do is support a soldier. Even if you hate this country, love it for allowing you to hate it. I appreciate this country so much, I feel so blessed to live here, and this movie made me feel so much more patriotic than I think I ever have felt.
How do you deal with death? How do you deal with watching your brothers and sisters walk off into a battlefield? How do you deal with watching your body deteriorate, your friends and family and lovers disappearing, until all you're left with is a memory of a slowly crumbling past? How do you get by? I highly encourage you to see this movie.
Coraline (2009)
Gorgeous, gorgeous visuals
If anything, you need to see this film just to SEE this film.
The distance stop-motion (as well as 3D) technology has come is staggering.
The entire movie, visually, is a feast. It's dripping with color, and the sets are so beautifully, and ingeniously designed. (At one point, in a climactic scene I actually gasped when the set underwent a genius transformation)
The movement of the characters, the quality of the shots, the detail, the DETAIL, and the atmosphere are astounding.
As for the actual story it's alright. It kept me pretty interested but for some reason it felt just slightly lackluster, and the visuals were really what managed to capture me.
Brilliant film, I almost urge you to see it just to make the amount of work they must have put into it worthwhile.
The Grudge (2004)
America + Japan = Confusion
I was so excited to see this film because I had always heard it was very scary.
What's interesting about it is that it is a Japanese film they decided to bring to America, but they actually filmed it IN japan with the original crew! I think this made the film... more Japanese (which is probably why it managed to be fairly successful unlike most Japan-to-America horror movie flops) but it also made it a bit inaccessible to American audiences. The difference in what scares the Japanese culture and what scares the American culture felt present throughout the film. This worked well in moments when they meant to capture the nervous fear of the main character: a frightened fish in a big, busy, unfamiliar, Tokyo pond.
The storyline was quite confusing as well. In typical Japanese fashion it is extremely complicated and confusing. The beginning of the movie is actually the middle of the story and from there we move constantly forwards and backwards until, at the end of the film, we see the ending and beginning of the whole story. This constant flipping through time was very much confusing for me. Also, I didn't think some things were explained so well and I had to ask my friend to explain them to me (she had already seen it, as well as the sequel which apparently reveals more of the story).
Overall, there IS plenty for American audiences to love, tons of freaky imagery and macabre details which a healthy splash of jump scenes.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Beautifully adapted, filmed,
This movie was easily the highlight of 2008 for me. The cinematography was vibrantly colorful, energetic and beautiful. The story was engaging, eye opening and emotional.
After seeing the movie, I picked up the book to read, and let me tell you... kudos to whoever adapted THIS movie from THAT book. It's a completely different story and much better.
This film offers not only entertainment but a beautifully crafted message.
I definitely recommend seeing it.
Oh and by the way, the soundtrack is AMAZING!