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Reviews
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
In defense of "A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)"
Let me preface this by stating that the haters of this film have been out in full force trashing it before it had even opened for viewing; critics had blasted the "horrible, banal, acting", "hackneyed jokes and predictable scares", and "the inappropriate historical back-story of Krueger".
Unlike most of the critical reviewers, I have seen the entire film franchise of Nightmare on Elm Street from part I to Dream Warriors and yes even, Freddy V Jason, and I am here to say with confidence that this film not only does justice to the historical precedents set by the original, but furthers its future existence into the next realm of this new decade. Let's be frank, Freddy needed a new start, an introduction to a whole new generation of dream frightened teenagers. The idea of Freddy is still as fresh as ever and its repackaging was much needed. I feel like the director and the cast did a great job of reinventing the film franchise while also paying homage to past Freddy films.
Now, in response to the criticisms': This movie has strong performances by Rooney Mara as Nancy, Kyle Gallner as Quentin, and of course Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger. I was never a big fan of the original Nancy, but this movie provides great character development of Nancy, and allows the audience an opportunity to gradually sympathize with her, and eventually root for her in the final sequences. It was a strong, underplayed, performance by Rooney Mara. Kyle Gallner almost steals the show as a medicated, emotionally damaged, friend of Nancy. His acting is both tortured and genuine, which is apt for the horror movie. He may turn out to be the "Johnny Depp" of the new Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Ever since I saw Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschac in Watchmen I have been in love with the guy, and when I heard that he was cast as the new Krueger, I thought there wasn't a more appropriate actor in Hollywood for the role. He is, in a word, perfect. Now, I am not comparing him to Robert Englund, who was masterful as Krueger for all the previous films, but Haley has the potential, in future films, to take the franchise to a new level.
The jokes are what make Freddy Kreuger so unique and endearing. Yes, it is kitchy, but they serve a vital role in the film's success, in that periods of brevity allow the audience to catch its collective breath in anticipation of the next scare, which, despite what the critics have wrote, does catch you off guard at times. If there were a recording of these critics' viewing of the film, I'm positive you'd have seen some eyes wide open, mouths gaping, and body shaking from these jokers. As far as the historical back-story goes, it is a serious subject that perhaps should have been dressed down a bit for the film, but in today's era of Rob Zombie's Halloween and the Dark Knight, character development and realistic back stories describing current psychological underpinnings of characters are a necessity in today's age. This is why I believe this film is not only solid, with justice paid to the original, I also believe this franchise has great potential to be treated with some degree of seriousness in terms of the psychological explanations of Freddy's motives. Overall, I gave this film a 9 out of 10 because while there still is room to improve, it is a solidly acted, visually impressive, nicely directed beginning to the Freddy Krueger franchise.
Mean Guns (1997)
Every impulsively aggressive teenager's wet dream
Filmed almost exclusively inside a 20 story building, this movie focuses exclusively on the end result of 100 gangster screw jobs done to the wrong man played wonderfully by Ice-T. If you are a fan of wrestling's battle royal or Royal Rumble, or are a fan of end-of-the-world genre's this movie will whet your appetite, as it a microcosm of end of the world movies, with the last man standing being Victorious and able to do as he pleases (that is, leave the gang world, or become head honcho) This movie is excellent if you view it without a critic's mind and watch it to free your suppressed anger and impulsive violence towards the world. -Al
Smoke (1995)
Keitel's finest role
If you were ever to imagine Harvey Keitel if he'd never acted, this is what he would be doing. The quintessential "cool", Harvey is at his most human in this role as a cigar shop owner in Brooklyn. Showing his tender side, he has hired a 'slow, mentally impaired' local from the neighborhood to sweep the pavement. His shop is a place where people with a revolving interest of Cigars, go to hang out and talk about life, love, and bullshit. It is the epicentral natural dialogue through which each character speaks that makes this movie so warm, humorous, and incredible. A great movie, 5 stars all around. -Al
Amores perros (2000)
Powerful
Gripping, powerful, moving, saddening, hope-inspiring. This movie grabs you by the toes and hangs you upside down for the length of the film and keeps you still to the movie. If you do not speak Spanish well, your eyes move back and forth from the bottom to the focus of the screen trying to grasp the whole scene, dialouge and moving pictures all. It truly is a captivating work of art. If you've seen 21 grams you know what to expect. When I found out that the director Alexandro Gonzalez did both movies, after the fact, I was not surprised. Worth seeing, you will not be disappointed with the film; you may or not be disappointed with the story.
-Al