Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (by Dave Machado)

*This review contains spoilers

I'm not what you would call a "Harry Potter Fanatic." I've never read any of the books and have only seen each movie once. In fact, I hadn't even seen any of them until last summer when I caught up on the previous 5 when The Half-Blood Prince came out in theaters. By the time I was all caught up, The Half Blood Prince was out of theaters making Deathly Hallows my first theatrical experience for the franchise. In a way, I'm kind of glad I waited until now to see one of these movies in the theaters because Deathly Hallows is the best Harry Potter movie so far and as of right now, one of my top 3 favorite movies of 2010. It's quite a feat for any movie to be this good, but it's simply astounding that this is the 7th movie in a major franchise.

I envy kids who grew up watching these movies. As each one came out, the themes kept getting darker and darker, perfectly matching the ages of the fans who were most likely to see the film. (I understand this probably also holds true for the books but since I haven't read any, I can't speak on them. Let's just say that I agree J.K Rowling is a genius for creating these stories.) I was a little too old when the first movie came out and I wrongly brushed it aside as childish fantasy nonsense. While I do admit the first couple films are not exactly deep like the latter half of the series, they were still surprisingly entertaining. They are also essential elements to the arc of the entire series. Everything that comes before The Deathly Hallows helps setup the emotional core of this film. It's something rarely accomplished in a long running series and the filmmakers should be rightfully applauded for it.

The one thing that struck me the most about this film was the way it was shot. Everything has a sort of gritty look to it. There is very little Hollywood slick on display and most of the action scenes use the "Bourne hand-held" camera style to very positive results. It helps pull a movie about a young wizard trying to defeat an evil sorcerer down to reality. This also has the added effect of making everything seem much more dangerous. These characters are no longer children and you can sense the actual danger they are in. By leaving behind the polished look of the earlier films, it helps give it a more adult feel, making it seem like any of these characters (aside from our main three of course) could fall at any minute.

Speaking of death, there is a lot of it in this film. One thing that I sort of had a hard time dealing with was the fact that a few of the major deaths occur off-screen. We only hear about the deaths instead of actually seeing them. I would have thought that characters such as The Minster of Magic (Bill Nighy) and Alastor (Brandan Gleeson) would have been given better treatment. I understand that these movies are to be told through the viewpoint of Harry Potter so it almost makes more sense to hear about the death the same way Potter would, but since we see other scenes that don't involve him, it was an odd choice to me. I can respect it though as it forces the audience to pay attention, something I always hope for in a movie.

But the most punishing death of all was that of the little house-elf, Dobby. I believe this is only Dobby's second appearance in the film series. He first reached almost Jar-Jar Binks levels of annoyance in The Chamber of Secrets, though I always had a soft spot for him due to his sad demeanor and low self-esteem. Luckily, they completely redeem the character this time around. They make him the emotional core of the movie's climax only to have it all taken away so fast due to Bellatrix's knife. Dobby's last lines about being happy to be with friends, as he lay dying in Harry's arms, actually made me cry. Normally I would be angered at a movie for making me cry at the death of a fictional CGI house-elf, but I was completely blown away at how perfectly they nailed that scene. My only complaint is that the movie then had one scene too many. I understand they need to get people pumped for next year's Part 2, but if the movie ended on the burial scene at the beach, I'm pretty sure I would have stood up and clapped (while stealthily wiping away tears from my eyes).

It's been said in pretty much every review written about the Harry Potter series, but the filmmakers really lucked out that the core cast (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint) have grown into good actors. Rupert is finally given some heavy lifting to do in this movie and is able to do so in a way I didn't think he would be able to do. He is still excellent at the occasional (and much needed) comic relief but his character gets a welcome layer added to him. Daniel and Emma are also given lots more to do (dramatically speaking) and play every scene perfectly. The silent scene of Harry getting Hermione to dance only to have them resume their despair once the song is over is an excellent example of how these young kids have grown into great actors. It's going to be really interesting to see how they fare outside of the Harry Potter Universe.

It's amazing how large the cast of the Harry Potter movies has become. They bring so many characters from previous films back, though some for simple one-line cameos. I found myself going through the metaphorical search database in my head every so often, trying to place where I've seen this character before. As I stated earlier, I've only seen each movie once, but luckily the movies have such memorable characters that I never had a problem identifying an important character. This was also due to the almost unbelievable feat of the series keeping the same actors for most of the cast (save for one actor dying, which I guess is understandable).

This movie sets up the finale perfectly as it left me wanting the second half to start right away. It seems that while this movie took a wonderfully slow approach to storytelling (as a way to build the characters up in ways the series hasn't done before), next year's finale will be an all out battle. The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, as a standalone film, is great. As the penultimate entry in the epic Harry Potter series, it's a masterpiece. These movies will be talked about for years to come the same way people talk up the original Star Wars trilogy as being the defining pop culture series for a generation. Is it July 15th, 2011 yet?

You're Welcome,

Dave

Xmas Xtravaganza of Xmusic: Day 1 (by Dave Machado)

It's officially the Holiday season so I thought I would start a new series to help guide us safely to Xmas Day (where we celebrate the birth of Jason X). Each day, I will showcase one song that I enjoy as a way to expand upon the list of Holiday music you listen to each year. I'll also give you a few fun facts about each song to help you appreciate the significance of it.

Day 1: Christmas Night of the Zombies (by MxPx)

"Christmas night of the living dead!/Their face is green and the snow is red!"

What better way to start this series than with the ideal Xmas song for someone like me. It takes the joy of Xmas and combines it with the even greater joy of zombies. I was first introduced to this song when I purchased the Holiday album A Santa Cause, which you will be hearing much more about as the days go by. Christmas Night of the Zombies is loud, fast, original, and awesome. If you ever wanted to hear a Christmas song about shooting zombies in the head with a shotgun, then this song is for you. Now if only someone would make an entire movie based on this two and a half minute long song.

Fun Facts:

• This song is based on the real life Christmas Eve Zombie Epidemic of 1983.
• If you listen to this song 5 times in a row while driving in a car, you will become awesome.
• Contrary to popular opinion, most Zombies actually celebrate Hanukkah.
• This is the only song worth listening to by MxPx.

You're Welcome,
Dave

15 Things That Would Get Me To Read George W. Bush's New Memoir (by Dave Machado)

George W. Bush's memoir, Decision Points, was unleashed into the wild on Nov. 9. Since I have no interest in reading this book, I decided to have some fun and give you my list of 15 things that would have to happen in order for me to consider buying this book:

1. The audio book was narrated by Gilbert Gottfried and contained copious amounts of laser gun sound effects.
2. The entire book was George W. Bush reviewing his favorite 80s action movies.
3. The title was changed to Megashark vs. Giant Douchebag.
4. The book was a whodunit thriller about a detective (George W. Bush) trying to find the culprit who ruined America. (Spoiler alert: it was him.)
5. It was ghost written by Josh Blue.
6. The entire book was a written apology to mankind (both past, present, and future).
7. Every paragraph break was filled in with pictures of Katy Perry's cleavage.
8. George W. Bush spends the entire book trying to coin the phrase "Presidential Sweets."
9. Lots of pug pictures.
10. It was a Choose Your Own Adventure book where every time you make the same decision Bush did, it leads to a "...and now you're dead" page.
11. Every chapter ended with the words "Skeet Skeet..."
12. All the color pictures in the middle section have Bush replaced with the black kid in the wheelchair from Malcolm in the Middle.
13. 3 Words: Full Frontal Nudity.
14. It was 700+ pages of George W. Bush talking about how silly he feels about having been so religious while in office. He then embarrassingly reveals his regret over letting his religious beliefs cloud his judgement when trying to make decisions for our country.
15. It was a memoir of George A. Romero.

You're Welcome,

Dave

DVD Review: Splice (by Dave Machado)

I always find it disheartening when certain types of movies are thought of as just brain candy. They get incorrectly labeled as superfluous distractions that may be entertaining but leave us with no real substance to digest. I'm typically a big fan of these movies and find lots to chew over where many others find emptiness (see: Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World). It's usually the "B" movies that get this unfortunate label as certain people are not able to see past the gimmicks and get to the heart of the story. Splice is one of the better examples of this that I have seen in a long time. While I fear some may be put off by the sci-fi elements of the story (which are fantastic), once you are able to get past that, you are rewarded with a rich story that wrestles with multiple philosophical issues while also being one of the best movies of 2010.

Splice centers on scientists Clive and Elsa (played by Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) who are employed by a large corporation and tasked with creating organisms that will lead to important medical breakthroughs. To do this, they have successfully spliced together the DNA of multiple (non-human) organisms in order to create a new species that can be studied in order to possibly find the cure for all of life's greatest diseases. When they are told that they are to stop splicing and focus on getting the protein that is needed from their current specimens, they decide to go off the books and experiment on their own. By adding human DNA to their already successful organism, they are able to create a new life form that is both highly intelligent and possibly dangerous beyond anyones imagination.

If years of sci-fi movies have taught us anything, it's that all instances of humans playing God will end tragically and/or violently. Splice is no exception. In fact, the movie plays tribute to the original God of cinema, Dr. Frankenstein, by having the main characters named after actors from James Whales's 1935 masterpiece, Bride of Frankenstein. The new organism created in Splice ages at a very advanced speed, giving Clive and Elsa the idea to let it live so they can view the species entire lifespan in a short span of time. One of the great things about this movie is seeing how the creature, named Dren, evolves over a short period of time. At key points throughout the movie, we see that this creature has developed numerous defense mechanisms that make it very difficult to put down.

The best thing about Splice to me was that it was able to incorporate a surprisingly human subplot regarding the way victims of abuse tend to become their tormentor as they grow up, usually without even realizing it. It was amazing how they snuck that idea into an already overloaded movie without causing it to seem like the cast and crew bit off more than they could chew. Between philosophical debates about the obligation of mankind to do everything in our power to further our species, even at the risk of harming what cannot easily be described as other lifeforms, the movie takes a very smart left turn and grounds the story in some very human drama. It all unfolds in an organic way that to me never felt forced. It's amazing that Splice works as well as it does, which I think causes me to have more respect for it than other sci-fi movies that take the more expected route.

There were a few things I didn't like about the movie, namely the final act, which has a twist that is too easily telegraphed and causes the movie to delve quickly into a generic horror setup. It was disheartening to see such a smart sci-fi movie that deals with very human issues boil down to a "stalk and kill" climax. Luckily, the payoff puts the movie back on good footing, but for a while I was afraid the whole thing was going to implode. Certain characters become far too expendable and it seems they were almost shoehorned into the movie specifically for the final few "horror" scenes. These complaints, along with a bit of hammy acting from the supporting cast, are certainly not large enough to ruin the movie. 

I hope more people give this movie a shot. I get tired of always saying that, but typically the movies I love the most are the ones that need a bigger audience in the first place. Fans of sci-fi will love this movie unconditionally but I think even those who typically shy away from these types of films should give it a shot. Splice challenged my perception of right vs. wrong while also providing one of the coolest sci-fi creations (Dren) that I've seen in quite some time. Help celebrate unique and intriguing storytelling by seeing Splice. I have no doubt we will be singing it praises years from now as a true classic of the genre.

You're Welcome,

Dave

Video Game Review: Read Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (by Dave Machado)

I love zombies. Anyone reading this who knows me knows this is a true statement. I also love Red Dead Redemption. After playing through it this past summer (I take my time with games I love, as I don't want them to be over), I realized it was easily my favorite video game of all time. So it may surprise you to know that when I first heard that Rockstar Games would be releasing an add-on to Red Dead Redemption that would feature zombie play, I was skeptical to say the least. But as word slowly came out that it wasn't just throwing zombies into the landscape and having you run around to kill them, but an actual separate story taking place in the Read Dead universe, I began to warm up to the idea. By the time Undead Nightmare was released, I was officially hooked and couldn't wait to reenter the world of John Marston that I loved and missed so much. Now that's I've spent a few hours playing it, I can say for sure that Rockstar made the right choice and have created one of the most fantastic examples of downloadable content for a game I have ever seen.

I was hooked into Undead Nightmare right from the opening cut scene. Acting as if the final few missions of Red Dead Redemption didn't happen, we see John's wife and son waiting for him to arrive from some errands late at night. He arrives without fanfare, though they are all a bit concerned that John's uncle has not returned home yet. They decide to wait until the morning due to the storm and head off to bed. We then cut to the middle of the night and John's uncle, now in zombie form, bursts into the house, attacking John's wife Abigail before John is forced to take him down. Abigail is seen bleeding from being bit in the neck and John calls his son Jack outside to help his mother. Abigail then proceeds to turn and bite her own son, causing John's family to become raving zombies. After securely tying them up, John head's off to the nearest town to find a doctor and hopefully a cure for his very sick family. Welcome to John Marston's Undead Nightmare.

I really love the idea of Rockstar not treating this as a sequel or feeling the need to shoehorn the real ending of Red Dead Redemption into the beginning of this story. That this game stands on its own as a separate universe. I would love nothing more from Rockstar than to have this be the beginning of a franchise of one-off games that take the characters from Red Dead Redemption and place them into different stylized genres. Who wouldn't love to see John Marston taking on alien invasions or solving a whodunit murder with Noir undertones? I would easily pay $10 every 4-6 months if it meant a new alternate-universe adventure with the characters I have come to love.

Everything from the original game has been slightly tweaked in order to create a true horror atmosphere. This leads me to believe that the makers are true zombie fans and not just cashing in on the current craze of adding zombies to preexisting games. The big difference between what Rockstar did and what others have done before them is that they did not simply drop zombies into the world of Red Dead Redemption. Instead, they took the characters and settings of Red Dead Redemption and dropped it into a zombie apocalypse. Everything is different, towns are left in post-apocalyptic ruins, everything has a rotting green tint to it, and even the soundtrack has been given an upgrade, giving it a late-Hitchcock era feel, complete with piercing violins.

The laws of zombies are held pretty much in tact. If you want to take down a zombie for good, you better aim for the head, otherwise you may just knock it off its feet.  It will buy you some time, but it's going to pop right back up and keep coming after your delicious flesh. Also, if you are too late in saving a fellow survivor and they become zombie food, don't turn your back on their body. As long as their head is intact, they quickly rise back from the dead as well and will attack. The only other way to take them down is by using your new torch, which will roast their bodies until their brains are burnt to a crisp and they topple over with a satisfying "Thump." Whenever you come upon a horde of the undead, it becomes a fun challenge to take them all down properly using only the few weapons at your disposal. 

Most of the undead hordes you find will be attacking the familiar towns from the original game. There will be a few survivors helping you "cleanse" the town and once that is done, you are rewarded with ammo, guns, and other fun items to help you later on in the game. It's worth noting that money and the honor system have both been done away with. What good are money and honor in a world where the undead walk the earth? Now, killing an innocent, living survivor purely for his extra ammo holds no more weight than blowing away one of the nasty undead. It's a fun and believable exclusion from the original game that really helps create the illusion that you are now playing in a new kind of world.

Luckily these typical zombies are not the only new villains. There is also a few more "evolved" creatures that will take a bit more thought putting down. Zombies such as the Boomer, Charger, and Hunter... oops, wrong game. I meant to say that zombies such as the Retcher, Bruiser, and Bolter add an extra challenge, usually when you least expect it. While I joke about the similarities between these super zombies and the ones in Left 4 Dead, it was still a good addition from the folks at Rockstar as a way to keep the player always on their toes. I would have liked for something more original but to be fair, the new zombie types are only similar in a very generic way, as none of them are exactly the same.

One other thing to look out for while trying to save the world are the new breeds of zombified animals. So far I have encountered undead bats, boars, bears, and bwolves (I couldn't think of another "b" animal I saw yet). They don't seem to behave much differently than before (though bats are a new breed in Red Dead to begin with) but it's still cool to take them down. There are some other mythological surprises as well, best of which being the dreaded Bigfoot! I've yet to see the creature myself but I have run into a crazy old man shooting in the woods telling to me be on the lookout. While none of these animals have an impact on the main storyline, it is just another way that Rockstar has gone out of their way to make the world of Undead Nightmare the best I've ever seen in a video game.

I doubt you need me to tell you explicitly at this point, but if you own Red Dead Redemption, you need to buy Undead Nightmare. It is such a great expansion to an already perfect game. Priced at only $10, it makes for one of the best deals you can get. Even if you don't own the original yet, now is the time to pick them both up. You will not regret it. I'll give a quick update once I complete the game (I'm only a couple hours in at this point) but I just needed to sing its praises now to help get the word out. I love zombies.

You're Welcome,

Dave

DVD Review: The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (by Dave Machado) (More Parentheses)

For those who have yet to hear about The Human Centipede (First Sequence), let's get right down to business. It's a movie about a mad German scientist who sews three people together in order to create one living organism that shares a single digestive track. If this sounds like it may be too much for you to handle, then it most likely is. Now I typically enjoy horror movies that revel in the sick and perverse so I was very excited to finally see this movie. I built up how disgusting it must be based on the hype it was getting and ultimately, I did what I was afraid I would do. I over-hyped the sickness factor and when the movie was over and I had yet to feel any physical reaction to what was on the screen, I was oddly and sadly disappointed. 

That's not to say it's a bad horror movie. In fact, it's a pretty great achievement in original storytelling. But in the excitement to see the movie, I made the subconscious decision to wrongly base the movie on its gross factor instead of the actual storyline. I can see how some people would not be able to sit through a viewing based on the subject matter though. But if you've made it through the Saw or Hostel series, then this is a good step up to something that feels more organic and not a genre gimmick ("torture porn").

The thing that really makes The Human Centipede stand out as a great horror movie is the creation of a new horror icon, Dr. Heiter (played by Dieter Laser). The movie takes place in Dr. Heiter's home country of Germany, and if generations of pop-culture stereotypes have taught us anything, it's that Germans are creepy. While it's easy to roll your eyes at a cliche evil German mad scientist, it's the little things that make the character stand out. I was afraid during the whole movie they would add some Nazi-sympathizing trait to Dr. Heiter but luckily that is never the case. They also don't make him so over-the-top that you start to root for him the way we typically cheer on the evil monster in current horror movies. We are simply dealing with a mentally unstable former surgeon (primarily known for the separation of Siamese twins, how ironic!) who has decided to torment a group of humans in one of the most inhumane ways possible.

The victims themselves were one of the few problems I had with the movie. We are introduced to 2/3 of the Human Centipede early on in the film. Two young women, Lindsay and Jenny (played by Ashley Williams and Ashlynn Yennie), are on a trip through Europe and are planning a night out in Germany. On their way to the party, they hit pretty much every possible horror movie cliche that leads them to Dr. Heiter's house, all the while being a very irritating duo to focus on. They get lost on a fairly deserted road at night and then get a flat tire, only to discover they have no cell signal and the one car that stops is a weird fat German guy who wants to have sex with them. So once he drives away, they decide to just walk through the woods but it becomes very cold and begins to pour. That's when they randomly appear in front of Dr. Heiter's house and ask for help. He then proceeds to help by drugging them and tying them down to hospital beds.

It was fascinating how irritating I found these two characters to be. I would have expected a movie like this to really make the victims sympathetic early on so you felt for them later. Knowing what would become of them, I actually caught myself thinking "Jesus, I can't wait until their mouths are sewn to an ass so I don't have to hear them anymore." I then realized two things: I may need therapy and I think that's the point of this movie.  It's almost as if the director set out to make them annoying to the point of you not caring about them and then putting them through something so horrific that you completely switch gears and realize how terrible you are as a person for even wishing them harm in the first place. It's a fairly brutal experiment but it pays off and makes the movie a much more powerful experience.

I also enjoyed the decision of having the 3rd victim be a Japanese male who spoke no English. It makes sense in that the doctor needed victims with little to no connections inside Germany but it was a surprise that they would have it be someone who cannot speak English. It sort of continues the trend of worse case scenarios for these two women. The male, Katsuro (played by Akihiro Kitamura), actually ends up being the voice of the victim later on in the movie as he is the "head" of the centipede. While I'm sure there is much to discuss from a feminist and sociological viewpoint of having the two women simply become the legs and continuation of the digestive system of this new "creature", it mainly worked for me because it continued the horrific victimization of these two women we have been following since the beginning of the movie.

We never learn much about Katsuro. We are first introduced to his character as he is being dragged out of Dr. Heiter's car, unconscious. We never see how he was caught or what he was doing in the area. He is a character that Lindsay and Jenny (and the viewers of the movie) are never given a real connection to until he is literally connected to the them later on in the film. The women have their voice taken away due to the surgical procedure, left to only muffled cries for the rest of the movie (much to Heiter's dismay. He realized too late he should have also removed their vocal cords when he was setting everything up). They are now part of one creature that they cannot even understand, as they do not speak its language. Everything about their humanity has been stripped away, they are truly just the excess pieces needed for the centipede to get around.

As you can see, this movie covers lots of dark territory. It's a movie that can be extremely difficult to get through for some. For me though, it was nowhere near as difficult as something like Antichrist was. Unlike that movie, The Human Centipede is a movie I can actually recommend to any horror fan who is looking for a good original story. It's interesting to note that a sequel is already lined up for 2011. I wonder how they will be able to top the torment of this movie other than adding more victims (which could backfire as the viewers then have to spread their sympathy between more people, causing it to have less of an impact). I have one suggestion that would make it a far worse experience, which can be summed up in one word, "pregnancy." For now, I suggest giving this movie a try. It's not high art (don't expect a Criterion release), but it's still an interesting movie and, due to its originality, is one of the bright spots within the horror genre in the past few years.

You're Welcome,

Dave

Rant/Rave: Perfect Movies (by Dave Machado)

Analyzing movies is nearly impossible to do on an objective level. Everyone has different opinions of what makes a movie great and even your own mood can easily impact how you view a film. Try watching a comedy on a day where you are feeling a bit grumpy and you may end up spending most of your time rolling your eyes instead of  actually laughing. I've only been causally reviewing movies for a few months now and already I've noticed that my initial reactions to movies may have been more related to how I felt at the time of writing compared to the movie itself.

I typically try very hard to go into a movie with positive expectations. I use a very optimistic approach when viewing a film in that I would rather focus on the one great moment in a movie (no matter how small that may be) than simply consider it a failure. I still feel like it's good to point out a film's faults as constructive criticism but typically as long as there is one good memory I have of that film, then I consider it worth seeing. Movies have so many outside variables stacked against them that it's a rare occurrence for me to finish a film and not be able to think of one thing that could have made the experience any better. These so-called "Perfect Movies" come around only once in a great while. In fact, my initial thought was to showcase these perfect movies as an on going series until I realized I couldn't even think of enough to make the series last more than half a dozen entries.

The idea of perfect movies came from the fact that as a relatively new film lover, I've been catching up on all the classic films that people consider to be the best of all time. I would go through movies on the A.F.I. Top 100 or in Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" series and while I usually loved the movies I saw, I couldn't consider them "perfect." While I typically enjoyed all of them, there were always a few key things that caused the movie to lose just a little bit of steam. I'm not saying these movies are not deserved of such high praise, but I think my initial reaction was that I would be continuously blown away by how perfect these movies are. I don't think perfection is the true goal of cinema but I became intrigued and began to think about what films I would actually consider to have reached that level of perfection.

So the first thing I did was set-up the criteria for what I would consider a perfect movie. It's pretty simple actually. It's a movie where no scene is wasted and there is nothing included in the film that drags it down or causes it to grind to a halt, even for just one scene. It's a movie that is all hits and no misses, no matter how small the miss actually is. A movie may be ground breaking and/or world famous, and can easily be considered a 5 star classic, but that doesn't make it perfect. I'm not saying all movies should be held to this standard, I simply think it's interesting to discuss which movies fall into this category. I say discuss and not list because as I already stated, trying to analyze movies is not an objective exercise. You may not agree and in fact some of you may even hate the movies that I consider perfect. You are wrong of course, but at least you have the ability to feel that way.*

I can already feel the tension in the air as I write this (though I may be confusing that with the constant state of fear I live in) so let's get to the fun part, which is what I consider to be some examples of perfect movies. For now, I am just going to give a short list as their inclusion alone perfectly sums up my thoughts. Depending on the feedback I get, I may do an in depth analysis of them at a later date. But just know that I consider everything about these movies, from start to finish, to be essential and interesting:

• Bringing Up Baby
• The Night of the Hunter
• Children of Men
• Airplane!
• Back to the Future

Those are 5 examples of what I consider to be perfect movies. There may be more, but not many. So now I turn it over to you. What are some examples of your perfect movies? Share your list and if I haven't seen it, I promise to give it a try and do a write up on it. I don't think we should go into every movie expecting perfection, but when we happen to find it, it's really one of the best discoveries you can have as a film lover.

You're Welcome,

Dave

*Just kidding.**

**No I'm Not!

DVD Review: How To Train Your Dragon (by Dave Machado)

How To Train Your Dragon is the type of movie that 3D was invented for. Unfortunately for me, I missed the boat on the theatrical release and ended up seeing it at home on DVD. While I enjoyed the movie, I couldn't help but think I was missing the experience that made How To Train Your Dragon one of the best reviewed movies of the year. The story and visuals were consistently top notch but when the flying/fight scenes came into play, I spent more time wondering how great this would be in 3D and less time being fully immersed in the action. While I think that did slightly sour my take on the movie, I still believe it is a solid movie and belongs in the same group as this year's other animated achievements, Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me.

How To Train Your Dragon is essentially a "boy and his dog" movie, but placed in Viking times and with a dragon instead of a dog. We begin the story as the Viking village is being attacked. The voice over on screen goes through the list of dragon types as we see the village slowly destroyed as the Vikings try to mount a defensive attack. Amidst this chaos, we are introduced to Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), the young apprentice of the local blacksmith (Gobber, voiced by Craig Ferguson). He is a small and scrawny boy who feels left out of the action due to his small stature. He has secretly built a contraption that can take out any dragon and during the confusion of the attack, is able to sneak away in an attempt to prove his device works. Naturally on his first try, he hits and takes down a mythical Night Fury dragon (we are told it is so fast, no one has ever seen one), said to be the most dangerous dragon of all.

Of course the dragon falls from the sky far away from the village and no one else is around to see Hiccup make the hit. During his victory rush, he mistakenly causes more trouble, forcing most of the dragons to successfully leave with the village's food supply. It's at this point that we realize Hiccup is actually the son of the lead Viking (Stoick, voiced by Gerard Butler). The next day, as Hiccup is finally allowed to attend Dragon Slaying Training (much to the chagrin of the other kids in the village, who view him as a loser), he tracks down the dragon he captured and finds him tied up in the ropes he shot at him. He can't bring himself to kill the dragon however and unties him instead. This slowly leads to a bonding experience between Hiccup and the dragon as Hiccup discovers that the dragon's tail was wounded in the attack and he can no longer fly for long distances. Hiccup then takes it upon himself to use his experience as a blacksmith to create a contraption that will allow the dragon to fly again. In doing so, he begins to learn more about the nature of dragons, thus helping him become his village's greatest dragon master.

One of my big problems with the movie was the decision to cast young American actors in the roles of the kids. It seems all the adult characters have a nice thick Scottish accent (which in itself is a questionable decision as I am not 100% sure that is historically accurate), yet all the kids simply sound like the celebrities voicing the parts (Jack Black, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, etc...). I guess in between Dragon Slaying lessons, they have a voice coach teach these kids to lose their parent's accents. I understand this is a pointless thing to complain about because from a business standpoint, you need known actors to sell an original kid's movie and you can't then hide the actor's voices behind fake accents. But it did take me out of the movie a few times as I spent more time trying to place the familiar voice with the actor behind it instead of focusing on the story at hand. My only other note regarding the voice acting is that I typically found Jay's performance of Hiccup to be too dry and sarcastic, especially in moments of danger. The character had a very monotone reaction to certain scary situations that left me rolling my eyes instead of being on the edge of my seat.

What the movie lacks in voice performances it makes up for in visuals and tone. The movie has some really beautiful scenes, specifically when Hiccup is flying on the back of his dragon. There were many times where in addition to being swept up in the action on screen, I was also thinking of how amazing a theme park ride based on this movie could be. Again, I'm sure these scenes were even more spectacular in 3D but luckily the sheer beauty of them still transfered well to a viewing at home. The movie also has a surprisingly dark tone and goes places I really did not expect it to. I'm thinking of one part in particular near the end of the movie that while a little too convenient of a way to mirror two characters stories, was still a very adult way to handle a kid's movie. It was very refreshing to see another quality kid's movie not rely on stale pop culture gags as a way to get kids interested in the story. Instead, it simply focused on a very mature story in a way that is easily accessible to a younger audience while not alienating the older ones. This is typically Pixar's golden formula so it was good to see Dreamworks continue to follow in their footsteps (after the very enjoyable Kung Fu Panda) and make an animated movie that is truly timeless.

I would have liked to see more of Hiccup's transformation from outcast to hero, specifically how the views of his peers changed over time. I had a hard time grasping how much time took place between the beginning and end of the movie as everything seemed to happen really fast. I get that animated movies are typically made for viewers with understandably smaller attention spans so the focus is always on having it be around 90 min, but I feel How To Train Your Dragon would have really benefited from a few more scenes here and there to give the story a better sense of time passing. Despite these minor issues, I still greatly enjoyed How To Train Your Dragon and am very glad it found a large audience this year. I hope the audience continues to grow and maybe we will even eventually get a re-release in theaters before the inevitable sequel so people like me can enjoy it the way it was meant to be seen, on a giant screen in glorious 3D. 

You're Welcome,

Dave

Event Recap: Rock and Shock 2010 (by Dave Machado)

This past Saturday (Oct. 16) I made the trip to the DCU Center in Worcester, MA in order to attend Rock and Shock 2010 with 3 friends. I went last year for the first time and had been counting down the days for this year's edition since before I even got home from 2009's event. Luckily all that waiting paid off because Rock and Shock 2010 was an all around improvement to the already awesome convention from last year. I got to meet/see several horror icons and was also able to witness one of the most truly bizarre performances I've ever seen, courtesy of the Charles Band Road Show.

Going in to Rock and Shock I had a small list of people I was looking forward to meeting. Luckily I was able to control my impulse to buy autographs from everyone and kept to that small core group of people (George Romero, Adam Green, Danielle Harris, and Adrienne Barbeau). It was pretty surreal meeting George Romero. I'll admit to being fairly tongue-tied whenever I meet someone famous but it was even worse in this case. I was barely able to utter even faint praise due to my brain simply shouting over and over again "GEORGE ROMERO! GEORGE ROMERO! GEORGE ROMERO!" Luckily I at least had it in me to ask for a picture so I have proof that I did not imagine the whole ordeal. I also had him sign a cool Italian poster for Night of the Living Dead which needs to be framed ASAP.

While it was indeed memorable to meet George A. Romero, the coolest person I got to meet at Rock and Shock was director Adam Green. I went in already being a huge fan of Green's work as I think all four of his movies are great. However, as I waited in line, I caught something on his desk that made me realize just how awesome he actually is. At the front of his table was a little hand-written note that read something to the effect of "I do not charge for autographs and pictures because I love you." This is actually a huge deal because most people there were charging between $20-$30 for an autograph. Knowing that he is not there to make extra money but is there simply to interact with the fans made me respect him more than I already did. Of course I wasn't able to express any of this due to my awkwardness at meeting famous people but I was at least able to tell him that I loved Hatchet II. He also posed for a quick picture and signed a Hatchet II poster that will be hung up in my living room very soon.

Danielle Harris was also really cool to meet. It was nice hearing the genuine thanks from both her and Green when I told them I loved Hatchet II when I saw it in theaters. She also signed the same Hatchet II poster that Green signed, making it one of my favorite pieces of horror memorabilia I now own. I also loved getting to meet Adrienne Barbeau. She was extremely nice and thankfully had a Carnivale picture that she then signed. I know she is mostly known for her roles in Escape From New York and Swamp Thing but I was such a huge fan of that show that I had to go with that one instead. I followed the trend of being too shy to say much so I wasn't able to tell her how sad I was that Carnivale got cancelled prematurely but was at least able to get a good picture with her. It's worth noting how crazy it is that she still looks good at 65.

Luckily, getting in line to meet these people is only part of Rock and Shock. Another fun aspect that I was looking forward to was the large number of vendors selling every piece of horror related merchandise you can possibly think of. It's dangerous how easy it is to spend a lot of money at Rock and Shock. I tried to show at least some level of self-control and only bought 6 DVDs. I was able to get copies of out of print movies The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Popcorn, and The Mutilator. The guy at the booth selling the DVDs was the same one that wrote an article for the amazing HorrorHound magazine devoted to out of print DVDs so I took his word when I asked him for suggestions. I haven't had a chance to watch these yet but I'll be putting my thoughts up once I do. I also picked up 3 Full Moon Direct DVDs (Gingerdead Man, Gingerdead Man 2, and a compilation DVD of movies featuring killer puppets) that were being sold be Charles Band after his Road Show performance, but I'll get to that a bit later.

The other great part about Rock and Shock are the Q&A sessions they have with the horror guests in attendance. I was able to get a standing room spot for the Halloween Remake panel. It was a fun session featuring Danielle Harris, Scout Taylor-Compton, Dee Wallace, Kristina Klebe, and Eileen Dietz. Due to being at the back I wasn't able to hear every answer but all the women were pretty candid which made for a great panel. Once it was finished, I was lucky enough to find an open seat in the front row where I then stayed for the Adam Green and George Romero panels. 

Green continued to be the MVP of the convention by bringing Blu-Rays and t-shirts to pass out to those who asked questions. There was obviously talk about the MPAA situation for Hatchet II but luckily the audience was asked to respect the fact that Green can't talk openly about that due to legal reasons and the issue was then pushed aside in order to focus on Green's actual films and not the controversy surrounding their release. I was very happy to hear that his next film will be an anthology piece with 3 other horror directors titled Chillerama and is scheduled for release in 2011. Green said his segment is titled The Diary of Anne Frankenstein and was shot in Black and White and in German. This is now currently my favorite movie of 2011.

Next up was Romero's panel. Even though I had already seen him earlier in the day to get his autograph, it was still amazing to be in the same room with him for a Q&A session. My night was then made when I was able to ask him a question (I had been trying since the beginning of the Adam Green Q&A to get called on). There wasn't much news to come out of the session but it was still just a cool thing to be a part of. It made me really appreciate how much he's actually accomplished as a director. I look forward to discovering more of his non-zombie catalog as the only ones I've seen so far are Martin and The Crazies.

The night then wrapped up with the Charles Band Road Show. Charles Band is a long time director/producer/distributer of B-movies. He runs the Full Moon Direct company that is known for the Puppet Master franchise along with movies like The Gingerdead Man. His Road Show is a sort of Q&A session without any Qs and just As. He had some great stories about how he got his start but the real meat of his presentation was focused on some amazing Gary Busey stories since Gary starred in Gingerdead Man (as the voice of the title character). We all know Gary is insane but it's still great to hear new stories that solidify that fact.

The climax of the show was a crowd participation skit where he called on three volunteers to act out a scene on stage. He mentioned there are usually lots of props for this part of the show but for some reason that wasn't the case for Rock and Shock so everyone had to just pretend. The basic story was that an evil monster was in the electric chair and his brother and girlfriend were there to say goodbye. Once the chair flipped on, the brother would then grab the ass of the girlfriend because it turns out the brother is the one who turned the evil monster into the cops so he could then seduce the girlfriend. The monster sees this and breaks out of the chair and in a fit of rage, begins killing the audience by shooting lightening out of his hands. The brother goes to stop him but gets knocked down. We are then told the only thing that can calm the beast are the boobs of the girlfriend, who must show them to the audience to make the monster stop. She then flashes the audience and once the monster sees this he is turned into a mumbling weakling who repeats "boobies" over and over again while on one knee, reaching up to his girlfriend's exposed body. Please reread this paragraph with the knowledge that everything I typed happened with 3 volunteers on an empty stage with no props.

Once that show was over, all my friends and I could talk about was whether or not the girl who flashed the audience was a plant or not. I likened Charles Band to a snake oil salesmen from the old west days, in that he must have made sure that at least one girl in the audience would take him up on the offer to star as the "hot chick" in his little skit. While I don't think the girl was an actor or someone who travels with him, I'm convinced he found her walking around Rock and Shock earlier in the day and set it all up. So while she show took an unexpected sleazy turn, it was still an excellent ending to an already excellent day. The Charles Band Road Show is something I will not forget for a very long time. 

As I left Rock and Shock, I couldn't help but be a little sad. Don't get me wrong, I had tons of fun and didn't regret anything. The sadness however was coming from the fact that I would now have to wait 1 full year before I get to go to another Rock and Shock. Sure, there is Monster-Mania in Cherry Hill, NJ in March and August of 2011, but even that is a long wait. I was simply wishing that there were more East Coast conventions to go to throughout the year. I eventually realized however the more conventions they had, the less special it would all become. Going to Rock and Shock is like entering a whole new world compared to the one I live in during my daily life. It is entering a world where people dress up like zombies to meet George Romero and no one looks at them in a weird way. I admit that I loved being in that world for one day but I'm pretty sure if I lived in it much more than that, I'd start to go a little crazy (and be completely broke). 

You're Welcome,

Dave

DVD Review: Greenberg (by Dave Machado)

I went into Greenberg not thinking I would enjoy it that much. I had seen mixed reviews and based on my mood yesterday, I wasn't sure I would be able to handle a dramedy that was a slow character study with an unlikable lead. I'm glad I stuck with my plan to watch it though because Greenberg is a very enjoyable movie that I am surprised has not gotten more attention. It's not a perfect movie by any means but it is well acted and contains very interesting characters despite some of my annoyances with their arcs. While I feel the movie may be a bit disposable in that I doubt I will ever have a need to revisit it, it's still a good movie that I recommend to people looking for a smaller and more intimate movie experience.

Ben Stiller, the star of Greenberg, does a great job as the lead. He plays Roger Greenberg, a 40 year old who is sort of wandering through life without a plan after having just spent a short stint at a mental hospital. He comes back to California from New York City as a way to wind down and is staying at his brother's house who is out of town due to a family vacation. He quickly begins a pseudo-relationship with his brother's assistant (played perfectly by Greta Gerwig) who was given instructions to help out Stiller's character with anything he needs. 

Roger is a very blunt and idiosyncratic character who is prone to random outbursts. It's a character who has never seemed to fully mature and continues to live in the past. This can be a very hard character to pull off but I felt like for the most part Stiller nails it. This could have easily been a very hammy performance but he reigned it in just enough to make the character fairly sympathetic. I've heard complaints that Greenberg (the movie) is not enjoyable because of Greenberg (the character) but I strongly disagree with that. I was intrigued by Roger and the cause of his actions. While the character may have some odd quirks only seen in indie films (He writes numerous letters of complaints to businesses throughout the movie.) it was still subdued enough to make you believe someone like this could really exist and not alienate everyone around him (Something Roger is constantly on the verge of the entire movie.).

Stiller's performance is also helped by the fact that the characters he has to interact with are equally well acted. As I mentioned before, Greta Gerwig was a perfect choice as Florence, the assistant that Greenberg falls for. She's a young actress who I had only previously seen as the friend in House of the Devil who I remember being impressing by despite the small amount of time she was on screen. She really blew me away in this movie though. If Greenberg is going through a mid-life crisis, then Florence is having what would constitute as a quarter-life crisis. She is 25 and has yet to find a real purpose in life. She is the assistant to Greenberg's brother but other than that we don't know much about her life other than that she is an aspiring singer. The movie largely depends on the chemistry of these two semi-lost souls and fortunately Stiller and Gerwig were able to pull it off in a manner that seemed effortless.

Greenberg is a movie that mostly succeeds due to the performances and not the story. I wonder what this movie would have been without two actors of this caliber. Say what you will about Ben Stiller but between this and the relatively recent Tropic Thunder, I still think he has a lot of talent that is typically wasted in broad comedies and kids movies. Anyone who disagrees should really check out Greenberg. It's a shame this movie didn't get a large audience because I fear it means Stiller will take less chances like this again in the future. If you can put aside some of the films non-subtle quirks, you'll find that Greenberg is a solid movie and one that you won't regret giving a chance.

You're Welcome,

Dave