The first one and a half months of this year have contained a lot of nerdy new releases that I’ve seen and I wanted to give my thoughts on them. So there.
SHERLOCK HOLMES -I know this came out on Christmas, but I didn’t see it until after the new year.
A very exciting love story about a closeted gay couple, trying to solve an incredible mystery!
Seriously, a big part of this movie’s charm was the odd “tension” between DOWNEY JR., and LAW. I think GUY RITCHIE and gang were having a lot of fun with that notion and at points, it becomes the tail that wags the dog. It’s a little more cheeky than your usual interpretation of the famous detective, but a fun one nonetheless.
In a future sequel, I’d like to see the couple come “out” and maybe even tackle the issue of Holme’s much written about, cocaine dependency. Now THAT would be interesting!
There have been so many movies about the apocalypse lately, but who saw one about the end of days for all VAMPIRES coming? Not me.
In the future, the majority of the world’s population is made up of vampires. They’re pretty much exactly like humans, except they drink their espressos with blood instead of cream. Unfortunately, when the supply of red stuff starts running out, things really begin to “suck”.
Very cool new morphing of both genres from the SPIERIG BROTHERS that felt a little like an old CARPENTER movie at times. Awesome WILLEM DAFOE performance too.
THE BOOK OF ELI
The new post-apocalypse western/samurai film from the very talented HUGHES BROTHERS, was the graphic novel styled equivalent of last year’s superior, THE ROAD. Entertaining and well acted, but not nearly as moving, emotionally.
DENZEL WASHINGTON is the lone warrior and keeper of the only existing copy of the Bible. It’s his mission to keep it out of the wrong hands and he’s willing to chop off a few to prove it.
LEGION
Just when you thought you had seen enough END OF THE WORLD movies for one month, here comes a movie about God saying “FUCK IT!” and declaring war on the entire human race, by sending an army of angels to kill us all! Jesus!
This could have been really great, but it isn’t. An unmarried, pregnant, chain smoking, white trash waitress has humanity’s last chance inside her belly. Trapped inside a diner in the desert, it’s up to a rouge angel, armed with a lot of guns, to save her and the rest of humanity.
Like a cross between THE TERMINATOR and DEMON KNIGHT, only not nearly as exciting as either. More like a graphic novel version of DOGMA. Save us!
FROZEN
I do not ski. The few times that I’ve gone, I did not enjoy it very much. It always seemed really dangerous and that there was a strong possibility of something disastrous happening at all times. I always felt better when I was inside somewhere, safe and warm. This movie will not bring me back to the slopes anytime soon.
FROZEN is the worst all-time ski trip ever! It’s about two guys and a girl, stuck on a ski lift. That doesn’t sound like a very exciting premise, but the movie is amazingly suspenseful. ADAM (HATCHET) GREEN keeps the horror building and building and gets a lot of mileage out of one simple, primary location. The perfect winter horror film. Very cool!
THE WOLMAN
Development issues, a director change and a pushed back release date made me skeptical about this new adaptation, but I really enjoyed it a lot.
JOE JOHNSTON does a nice job of creating an old fashioned style monster movie, that’s in the great Universal tradition, while adding copious amounts of blood and gore along the way! The transformation sequences, as well as the overall look of the werewolf, were a great blending of old school prosthetics and modern CGI. Bark at the moon!
That’s it, so far. I still have a few more to catch up on. This weekend I’ll be seeing the long awaited SHUTTER ISLAND, along with HUMAN CENTIPEDE (which I missed at last year’s SCREAMFEST) at the Cinefamily. Should be an interesting contrast in horror. Nerd out!
Planet Of The Nerds 