Movie Box Review

Well, fans of horror and fantasy - happy news for you! The full line up of films is now available on the Toronto After Dark Film Festival website. I went through the list of feature films and I can say I'm really impressed - they left some of the really juicy ones to the last minute and it is quite an exciting bunch!

From the newest released info these are the ones I am most looking forward to:

Alone / Faet (Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom)
Creepy looking thriller from Thailand exploring the scary possibilites of conjoined twins. The trailer freaked me out so much I couldn't watch it all. This is one I will not miss.

The Rebel (Charlie Nguyen)
1920's period film from Vietnam with some kick butt action and some familiar faces, this one will be a highlight for me.

and last but not least:

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Uwe Boll)
Uwe Boll is back with another film based on a video game, this time the cast line up includes Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Leelee Sobieski, Ron Perlman and Burt Reynolds. Words can not describe the experience of a Uwe Boll film (although I tried with my review of Bloodrayne), so I do anticipate this to be one wild ride.

The festival has got a great line up. Check out their site for more info and trailers for all 14 feature films. I will be attending the festival from Oct 19-25, 2007 and posting daily. See you in the dark.

Dir: Uwe Boll (Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Heart of America)
Cast: Kristanna Loken, Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez, Ben Kingsley, Billy Zane, Michael Paré, Udo Kier, Meat Loaf
USA/Germany, 2006

Seen: November 25, 2006 thanks to Rogers Direct

Reason to see: morbid curiosity. I heard such scandalous things about the director (including challenging critics to boxing matches) therefore I could not resist checking out the film.

I don’t even know where to start. Well, first off – look at that cast! Michelle Rodriquez, woohoo! Ben Kingsley, always a man of class. Then add in Billy Zane and Kristanna Loken it’s just a little bit of everything. Sometimes the language and accents are an odd mix of period and contemporary but I can live with that. There is a fair amount of violence and it is gory in a very video game way, but not to an extent where I found it brutal or disturbing and it tended to fit the action scenes. All and all I can I enjoyed this film, but I approached it really openly it’s based on a video game after all and with a female title character that kicks butt and goes for what she wants.

It was loads better than Dungeons & Dragons, that’s for sure.

Great Quote: “Plans are for humans”

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I’d watch it again
I recommend it to fans of fun period action films

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007

Dir/Writer: Rian Johnson (Evil Demon Goofball from Hell!!!)
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Nora Zehetner, Matt O’Leary, Noah Segan, Emilie de Ravin
USA, 2006

Seen: March 1, 2007 thanks to TMN

Reason to see: Curiousity, looked either smart or pretentious.

I was happily surprized after watching this film. The acting is excellent, the dialogue is fantastic and the plot is solid. I wouldn’t say it’s a scary movie per se but I would consider it a thriller, almost even film noir although it appears to be often classified as a drama. It feels like what Heathers was for previous generations, but omitting the Omigod! lines played in 100% straight faced with cryptically created dialogue. Brick is not an easy film to watch, there is a fair share of violence, disturbing ideas and high schooler’s doing things most people wouldn’t want to think they could do. When you add those things with the creative language I think it can be interpreted as pretentious, however I thought it worked perfectly as it never broke the world it created and each character rang true.

If you, like I, had moments of where do I know them from? The character Emily is Emilie de Ravin who played Tess in the TV Series “Roswell” and in lead character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the sweet Cameron from 10 Things I Hate About You, and I would have to say that his stellar performance here really puts him on the chart of one to watch.

Warning: Violence

Shannon's Overall View:
I thought it was very good
I’d watch it again
I recommend it, but note the warning of violence

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007

Dir: Mikael Håfström (Derailed, Ondskan / Evil)
Cast: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Shalhoub, Jasime Jessica Anthony
USA, 2007

Seen: July 9, 2007 at Scotiabank Theatre

Reason to see: Looked interesting and it is one of my films for Week 29 of See 1 film a week in the theatre for a year.

It is refreshing to see a scary film based on a strong story and that uses ideas to thrill in a genre that has been saturated with gore over the past few years. Initially it reminded me a lot of Identity but quickly established its own tone and focus. The main setting is a hotel room where ‘things go wrong’ and John Cusack’s character is one who does not believe in such things. It was great to see John Cusack really hold his own in this film, which is one of the things that make it successful considering the large amount of screen time he has. Other contributing factors to what makes this a solid film is the setting – a relatively normal room that easily creeps us out, and the excellent use of sound and music. Add to that original ideas and freaky visuals and you’ve got a pretty good scary movie on your hands.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I’d watch it again
I would recommend it to thriller and scary movie fans

16 minutes of preshow including 7 commercials and 5 previews (I Know Who Killed Me, I Now Prounouce You Chuck and Larry, Sunshine, Shoot ‘Em Up and the fifth I missed or they did not show the title but it may have been the Rob Zombie directed Halloween remake)

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007

Welcome film fans to the scary month of October! We associate different months with different things depending on our lives and the things we do, but October seems to be a time when it gets darker sooner, the cold starts to creep in and scary movies are upon us as we approach Halloween.

One of the thrills sure to be had this October is the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (in Toronto, October 19-25/07). I am thrilled to be attending this year and I will be sending you daily updates during the festival.

To get us warmed up for that, or chilled depending on your preference, I've got a bucketload of scary film reviews planned the first of which is already up: Resident Evil: Extinction. Many, many more to come so stay tuned!

If you have your own list of favourite scary films, I'd suggest you head on over to Ed Hardy, Jr site Shoot the Projectionist and participate in his The 31 Flicks That Give You the Willies. Make sure to get those lists in by Oct 13, 2007! I've already submitted my list (many of which are on my Scariest Movies of all Time list) and I am very much looking forward to hearing the films that freak out other people!

And I thought nothing could top Sept 07, but with all this fun stuff going on I think the days just keep getting better.

Dir: Russell Mulcahy (Swimming Upstream)
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Ian Glen, Ashanti Douglas France/Australia/Germany/UK/USA, 2007

Seen: Sept 22, 2007 at Scotiabank Theatre

Reason to see: Mostly, the timing was good and the first one was entertaining. This also counts as the second entry for week 39/52 in my #7 - See 1 film a week in the theatre for a year.

If you are looking for a good paced zombie action movie, it is very possible that Resident Evil: Extinction is for you. However if that is what you are looking for I would think it's likely you've already seen it! This film does have some good action sequences, a solid plot and acting. I was expecting more action sequences truth be told, but I think the ones they have fit the bill and were impressive and creative.

I was unfortunately unimpressed by some of the gender crap in this film. It almost seems contradictory to say that about a film that involves a kick butt female protagonist, and additional strong female characters, but it is true. This happens in a variety of scenes, some of which are believable and others which are not. I want to keep this spoiler free so I'll describe it as such: it was not so disturbing that I wanted to leave the theatre but it was jarring or inconsistent during those specific scenes.

There was another very odd thing I found about this film. Well, there was more than one odd thing but this was in terms of film something I'd not noticed before. A few of the smaller roles were played by actors whom had a striking resemblance to quite famous actors. For example, Iain Glen whom played Dr. Isaacs looks a lot like Hugo Weaving (check out the imdb links: Iain Glen here and Hugo Weaving here). I do wonder if it was intentional. I also found it odd how much Milla Jovovich appeared to be airbrushed - they could have been trying to go for the CGI feel as it's based on a game, but it seemed odd. She's gorgeous as is, I think they could have left it at that.

If nothing else, it did make me curious to watch the second film in this series, which was a result I was not expecting. I did not enjoy Resident Evil: Extinction as much as the original Resident Evil (for one, the original has Michelle Rodriguez!), however it is better than the likes of Ghosts of Mars.

Shannon's Overall View:
It was mostly entertaining, but would have been better without the gender crap
I'd give it another watch on TV
I recommend it fans of action/zombie films

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007

PARANORMAL ADVISORY "EXTREME FEAR" !