THE EXPLOSIVE REVIEW

Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Melinda Dillion, Cary Guffey, Teri Garr, and Bob Balaban.

Directed By: Steven Spielberg.

Story:
In the opening of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, strange things are already happening before our eyes - First, in the Sonoran Desert, a lost squadron of fully operational World War II aircraft are discovered but its crew is still missing; secondly, two airline flights almost collide mid-air with a UFO in Indianapolis, Indiana; then, a three year old boy is drawn out of his home when his toys starting acting on their own behalf in Muncie, Indiana; and if all that wasn’t enough, the state of Indiana undergoes a large-scale power outage, during which an electrical lineman (Dreyfuss) soon finds himself caught up in a motorized pursuit of a group of UFOs.

The electrical lineman, Roy Neary, soon becomes obsessed with UFOs, for better and for worse - the latter especially for his wife, Veronica “Ronnie” Neary (Garr). Before you know it, Roy is making scale models of strange geologic formations he’s never seen before but has become fascinated with - the image in question here is that of a weird looking mountain. It’s not long before Gillian (Dillion), the three year old’s mother, bares witness to a UFO landing herself (to which her son is abducted) and begins doing the same thing as Roy. Roy’s eccentric behavior only gets worse, causing his wife to abandon him, taking the kids with her. Roy and Gillian, at the same time, soon spot something similar to the models they’ve been envisioning on a TV news show: The Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. The both of them, along with a group of others with similar visions, make their way toward the site; meanwhile, UFO activity all over the globe increases, making themselves more noticeable.

Characters:
*Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss): An electrical lineman who becomes obsessed with the UFOs.
*Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffant): French Government Scientist who’s investigating UFO activity in the US.
*Gillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon): The single mother of Barry. She also becomes obsessed with the UFOs much like Roy does.
*Barry Guiler (Cary Guffey): Gillian’s young son who gets abducted halfway through the film.
*Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Neary (Teri Garr): Roy’s wife who’s being driven insane by his obsession and wants nothing but for him to forget about it.
*David Laughlin (Bob Balaban): Mr. Lacombe’s assistant and translator.

Overall:
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was a much long-cherished film project for Steven Spielberg which had been in the works since 1973. The story and elements may sound and seem a bit on The X-Files side, but this is before X-Files and the material in question is handled a whole lot better here by Mr. Spielberg. Rather than putting the main focus on the aliens, he puts it on how life changes for Roy and Gillian because of the aliens and their presence. The script pulls enough strings to draw us into the minds of these two people, particularly Roy, and their life-altering obsession with the visions brought on by the aliens.

The third act is a special effects extravaganza. Yes, we do see the aliens; yes, they look somewhat similar to the ‘grays’ that we are all familiar with and have become accustomed to seeing in media, however, their appearance and execution is handled with much care and uniqueness, once again, a huge thanks to Mr. Spielberg. There is no war, explosions, or fighting to be found here, this is not “Independence Day”, this is the ultimate UFO obsession motion picture.

Rating: ****

Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Crawford, David Early, Richard France, Howard Smith, James A. Baffico, Rudy Ricci, Tom Savini, Taso N. Stavrakis, Marty Schiff, Nick Tallo, William George, and Larry Valra.

Directed by: George A. Romero.

Story:
Set approximately three weeks after “Night of the Living Dead”, the zombie plague has now escalated to new heights as opposed to the end of ‘Night’ where it seemed like everything was under control - A state of martial law is now in effect in all major cities of the United States, the plague has begun to spread overseas as well, some people are listening to what the scientists and media tell them, but many aren’t, many are reluctant to give up their deceased loved ones to be discarded of completely, adding to the ever-growing ranks of the army of the living dead spreading across the globe.

The story opens in a chaotic news station where all hell has broken loose, the hosts debate back and forth, old and incorrect information fills the TV screens, and people are abandoning their posts left and right. A News chopper pilot, Stephen Andrews (David Emge), meets up with his camera operator girlfriend, Francine Parker (Gaylen Ross), to steal a chopper and escape the ever-growing zombie threat. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia SWAT team is forcing a raid on a ghetto tenement building where its residents refuse to give up their revived loved ones for proper extermination. Part of this raid is SWAT operative Roger DeMarco (Scott H. Reiniger) whom finds himself in a more of a bloody massacre than he bargained for upon working his way into the building with his teammates. He soon runs into Peter Washington, part of another SWAT unit raiding the building, whom he connects with and offers a getaway ticket from the end of the world.

The two SWAT officers, the pilot and his girlfriend all meet up to escape Philadelphia via helicopter. The group flies cross-country Pennsylvania, stopping for fuel and supplies wherever they can and running into the undead everywhere they go. They soon stumble across a massive shopping mall in Monroeville, a suburb just outside of Pittsburgh, which the dead are already starting to invade. The group lands on the roof and set up shelter in one of the mall’s storage rooms on top. But what starts as a short break soon turns into a long-term stay as they decide to take over the shopping mall, blocking all the entrances with trucks, taking care of what’s left inside, and keeping the place all to themselves - And they have everything they will ever need right there.

Characters:
*Stephen ‘Flyboy’ Andrews (David Emge): The clumsy traffic helicopter pilot who needs a lot of practice firing a gun as well as getting his priorities straight.
*Peter Washington (Ken Foree): A big and tough SWAT team member who is pretty much the brains and backbone of the group.
*Roger ‘Trooper’ DeMarco (Scott H. Reiniger): A wildcat SWAT team member who’s close friends with Stephen and partners up with Peter.
*Francine Parker (Gaylen Ross): A news camera woman who is also Stephen’s girlfriend and is pregnant with his baby.
*Blades (Tom Savini): An important member of a biker gang that wants to loot the shopping mall.

Overall:
“Dawn of the Dead” is the best sequel since “The Godfather, Part II”, a classic piece of 1970s cinema that has been heavily praised ever since. The cast of four each hold their own. Romero once again casts an African-American hero and, just like the original, there is no mention of race anywhere to be found. Much like James Cameron did with “Aliens”, George A. Romero tops himself in many ways with this epic-scope horror sequel with its setting, gore, action, and characters.

The ending is not necessarily a happy one, but there is a slight glimmer of hope as not every single one of the cast members die, but their secluded shopping mall haven comes tumbling down in one of the most fashionable, disgusting, and action-packed showdowns ever depicted. The music is a huge plus this time around, much thanks to Dario Argentino and Goblin, while it does have a 70s streak, it is some of the most creative and unconventional tracks ever recorded for a horror film.

As the first sequel to “Night of the Living Dead”, “Dawn of the Dead” deserves its rightful place next to the likes of “The Godfather, Part II”, “Aliens”, and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”.

Rating: *****

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon, and Russell Streiner.

Directed by: George A. Romero

Story:
The story takes place around Daylight Savings time in 1982. Brother and sister, Johnny and Barbara are driving out somewhere in Western Pennsylvania to place new flowers on their father’s grave. Johnny starts teasing his sister who has a certain fear of cemeteries. A pale-faced tall man moves toward them at a snail’s pace as they bicker and tries to attack Barbara.

The man turns out to a reanimated corpse bent on eating their flesh. Johnny wrestles him to the ground and dies, leaving Barbara to fend for herself. She runs off and stumbles across a seemingly abandoned farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Inside, she finds yet another dead corpse (although not reanimated, this one has been disposed of by someone) and a few more dead guys find their way to the house. In an attempt to flee the shelter, she is saved by Ben who shows up in his pick-up truck and fends off the four or five zombies.

Together, they hold up in the house, which Ben begins to board up with all the wood he can find. They soon discover a few other survivors who are holding up in the basement - A bitter married couple, Harry and Helen Cooper with their unconscious (zombie-bitten) daughter, and a teenage couple Tom and Judy. They find a radio which informs them of a strange mass murder effecting the entire Eastern Seaboard where the unburied and recently dead are returning to life and attacking the living.

Characters:
*Barbra (Judith O’Dea): The lead female protagonist whom loses her brother to the undead.
*Johnny (Russell Streiner): Barbra’s brother who becomes one of the first victims.
*Ben (Duane Jones): The lead male protagonist who saves Barbra’s life just in the nick of time. One of the smartest people in the group.
*Harry Cooper (Karl Hardman): Husband to Helen and father to Karen, he and his family have been hiding in the farmhouse’s cellar the entire time. He turns out to be the most ignorant of the group and the most uncooperative.
*Helen Cooper (Marilyn Eastman): Wife to Harry and mother to Karen, she and her family have been hiding in the farmhouse’s cellar the entire time. She is the complete opposite of her husband.
*Karen Cooper (Kyra Schon): Harry and Helen’s daughter who has been bitten by one of the undead.
*Tom (Keith Wayne): Judy’s boyfriend, the both of them have been hiding in the cellar with the Cooper family.
*Judy (Judith Ridley): Tom’s girlfriend.

Overall:
Director George A. Romero drew some inspiration from Richard Matheson’s novel, “I Am Legend”, where a plague engulfs Los Angeles in the near future, turning everyone into vampire-like creatures, and came up with the skeleton of his first feature film, “Night of the Living Dead”. It is one of the first films in the 60s to use an African-American hero without one drop of racism or the mere mention of race throughout the entire film.

The protagonists battle not only the gathering dead people outside but themselves as well. One half argues that staying in the cellar is the safest course of action while the other half wants to stay above and finish boarding the place up. Little by little, things fall apart and the group gets picked off one by one, partly due to their own arrogance to work together. By the end of the film, the world has already ended for the group inside the farmhouse but as for the virus, we are led to believe that everything is under control as the government and local authorities give the impression that they are on top of the problem. But of course, that’s another story to be continued in the film’s sequel, “Dawn of the Dead”.

Upon release in October of 1968, “Night of the Living Dead” was highly criticized for its explicit content, aside from breaking new ground in filmmaking and the horror/zombie genre, making use of fairly simple special effects (i.e. Bosco Chocolate Syrup for blood, roasted ham for consumed flesh, second hand clothing for costumes, mortician’s wax for zombie make-up). It became known as the catalyst of the contemporary Zombie Apocalypse sub-genre in horror that the world has come to know. Shot on a budget of $114,000, the movie has grossed $12 million domestically and $30 million international after a decade or so of cinematic re-releases. Since its’ release in 1968, the Library of Congress has labelled the film as “historically, culturally or aesthetically important”.

Rating: ****

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Xander Berkeley, Katie Cassidy, Olivier Rabourdin, Holly Valance, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Nathan Rippy, Camille Japy, Nicolas Giraud, Gerard Watkins, and Leland Orser.

Directed by: Pierre Morel.

Story:
Retired CIA agent, Bryan Mills, ventures to Europe in search of his daughter whose been kidnapped by slave traders.

Characters:
*Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson): Retired CIA agent.
*Kim Mills (Maggie Grace): Bryan’s daughter who gets kidnapped.
*Lenore (Famke Janssen): Bryan’s ex-wife whom often disagrees with him.
*Stuart (Xander Berkeley): Lenore’s newly married husband who is a millionaire.
*Amanda (Katie Cassidy): Kim’s best friend who gets kidnapped with her.
*Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin): One of Bryan’s old allies who works for the French authorities.
*Sheerah (Holly Valance): A pop singer whom Bryan is hired to protect.
*Peter (Nicolas Giraud): One of the kidnappers; a charming Frenchman who deceives Kim and Amanda.
*Saint Clair (Gerard Watkins): One of the main villains.
*Sam (Leland Orser): Bryan’s best buddy and former co-worker.

Overall:
“Taken” is steroids-paced kidnap/crime/thriller that takes one too many camera shooting ideas from “The Bourne Identity” films instead of paying attention to effective films of this nature like “Ransom”. It has a protagonist that is very intelligent and professional at what he does, so percise down to the final detail. He is a very relentless killing machine who is capable of counteracting against every move, punch, kick, weapon, and vehicle. He may be a little too counteractive though.

There is simply not enough challenge set against the hero in this film. Every time the bad guys come up with a new trick up their sleeve to throw Neeson’s character off, he’s already a step or two ahead of them because he had figured it out beforehand. This happens quite often in the film and while it is entertaining to watch him do this, it feels a bit cheated in the end. It’s almost as if he gets the villains too easily.

I can guarantee that you will definitely route for Liam Neeson in this film as he outsmarts, batters, and bruises up every bad guy he comes across here. The first act is perfect but the rest of it is a breeze. Try “Frantic” or “Ransom”, two films which handled this type of plot much better.

Rating: ***

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, and Lara Robinson.

Directed by: Alex Proyas.

Story:
50 years ago, an Elementary school class buries their images of the future in a time capsule. Jump to present day, the time capsule is opened by the new students and John Koestler’s son receives a message with bunch of numbers on it which turn out to be dates of disastrous events that are to take place.

Characters:
*John Koestler (Nicolas Cage): An MIT professor of astrophysics.
*Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne): Daughter of Lucinda.
*Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury): John’s son.
*Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson): The young girl who wrote the numeric message 50 years ago.
*Abby Wayland (Lara Robinson): Diana’s daughter.

Overall:
“Knowing” is an original sci-fi/disaster film (surprise, surprise for 2009!) that tells of an apocalypse to come. See, the young girl who wrote the numeric message found in the time capsule was mentally ill and often heard whispering voices from beings that are not of this Earth. It is the goal of this so-called race of beings ,or rather ‘whisper people’ as they are called here, to warn humanity of future catastrophic events.

The numbers include the month, day, and year that the events are supposed to occur as well as the longitude and latitude of where it will occur. Oh yes and it also tells you the number of people who will die from a specific event. Every major disaster you can think of can be found within these numbers - September 11th, the Oklahoma bombings, everything and anything you’ve heard of in the past fifty years. However, there are three dates in particular which have yet to come and that is what the film focuses on. There’s an airplane crash involving a major highway jam, then there’s a major New York City subway accident that is reminiscent of (if not, more grandiose than) the incident in “Die Hard With A Vengeance”. The third and final event is the apocalypse itself and it comes straight from the Book of Revelations, involving a reenactment of ‘Noah’s Flood’ except this time, the water is replaced with fire (giant solar flare, anyone?).

“Knowing” is a film that keeps you piqued until the very end, wanting to know just what the heck is going to happen and what these characters are going to do about these inevitable events as the final one is the most challenging of all. The last ten minutes or so contain the most surreal, chilling, and haunting apocalyptic images ever depicted on screen (I won’t say much, but if you want to know the true definition of ‘global fire’, then you will find certainly find out here). There is a glimmer of hope in the very last shot and it comes straight out of the Book of Revelations.

Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne deliver very satisfying and sympathetic performances here. The story works for the most part, with the exception of the origin of the ‘whisper people’, that was a little awkward at first but takes some getting used to as the film goes on. The subway disaster feels a bit like a rehash of the one from “Die Hard With A Vengeance”, granted that “Knowing” does a lot more with its range of special effects, however, the one from “Die Hard With A Vengeance” was simply shot in a more realistic fashion. Nevertheless, none of this should stop you from seeing and enjoying this thrilling sci-fi/apocalyptic film.

Rating: ***1/2

Starring: Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzle, Gene Dynarski, Lucille Benson, Tim Herbert, Charles Seel, Shirley O’Hara, Alexander Lockwood, Amy Douglass, Sweet Dick Whittington, Cary Loftin, and Dale Van Sickle.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg.

Story:
The story opens with the sound of an engine starting up, that of the car’s. We follow along the road, via the car’s point of view, while listening to the radio as the driver takes heads out from the city, to the countryside, and finally, to the remote desert highways. The driver, played by Dennis Weaver, eventually runs into the villainous tanker truck which seems very persistent to stay in front of him. They even stop at the same gas station to fuel up; it is here where we begin to see bits here and there of the truck’s driver (i.e. his boots from beneath the truck). Then, later on, the truck follows him to a diner where he sees two-three men with the same exact boots with whom he suspects. They all turn out to be wrong guesses and the truck drives off again. Curiosity gets the best of our hero as he pursues the fear of the unknown, which the movie heavily plays on, until the two drivers are having it out by themselves on the highways as the flick approaches climax.

Characters:
*David Mann (Dennis Weaver): Middle aged businessman driving to an appointment.
*The Tanker Truck: A mean and big Peterbilt 281 model whose driver nearly goes unseen throughout most of the flick.

Overall:
Replace the shark from “Jaws” with a scary looking tanker truck and you have “Duel”, a film which marks the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s career. Released on television, the film is about a man who journeys cross-country in the west with his 1971 red Plymouth Valiant, only to be stalked on an almost remote and deserted road by a 1955 Peterbilt Tanker Truck, whose driver goes almost unseen throughout most of the flick.

The truck driver is always anonymous and unseen for the duration of the film, thus making it seem that the actual truck is the real villain, more so than its driver. It is also very notable how Mr. Spielberg decided to include multiple license plates on the truck’s front bumper, subtly suggesting that the truck may be a serial killer (i.e. possibly have run down other drivers elsewhere). Spielberg shoots the truck in ways that make it almost seem as if the machine is alive.

Being that this was a success back when it was aired on TV, the 74 minutes of film were extended into 90 minutes for a theatrical release in Europe one year later. These new scenes add a lot of more meat to the story, including Dennis Weaver’s character - A railroad crossing sequence, a school bus, and a telephone conversation with his wife. “Duel” may seem dated, but the content it delivers certainly doesn’t fail. After watching this movie, one can’t help but wonder what it would be like if Steven Spielberg was chosen to direct Stephen King’s 1986 flop, “Maximum Overdrive”.

RATING: *****

Starring: Malin Akerman, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, Danny Woodburn, Niall Matter, Dan Payne, Apollonia Vanova, Glenn Ennis, Darryl Scheelar, and Doug Chapman.

Directed by: Zack Snyder.

Story:
In an alternate 1985, vigilantes have changed and aided the course of history throughout World War II, Vietnam, etc. As the Cold War increases tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States, a group of former vigilantes investigate a murder conspiracy against one of their slain members and uncover something far more sinister.

Characters:
*Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman): The only woman in the ‘Watchmen’ group. She finds herself often caught between the odd but intelligent Dr. Manhattan and the human but normal Nite Owl II. She dresses like Storm from “X-Men”.
*Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson): The guy who looks like Batman in his outfit. He seems to have a thing for Silk Spectre II.
*Walter Kovacs/Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley): A masked vigilante who continues to be a vigilante long after vigilantes have been outlawed from the world. He narrates the whole story. This is the guy who looks like a cross between “Darkman” and Madonna’s Breathless from “Dick Tracy”.
*Dr. Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup): An omnipresent glowing blue superhero commissioned by the US government. He spends his time trying to solve scientific matters such as the energy crisis as well as trying to reunite with his ex-flame, Silk Spectre II. This is the guy who is kinda reminiscent of the villainous Apocalypse from the X-Men.
*Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode): Retired superhero turned millionaire whom has no problem making his identity public. This is the guy who looks like Chris O’Donnell aka Robin from “Batman & Robin”.
*Edward Blake/The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan): A vigilante commissioned by the US government. He likes to do things his own way. The whole plot is based around him as he is murdered in the opening scene, he is only seen through flashbacks after that (which sucks, by the way). This is the guy who looks like Robert Downey Jr.

Overall:
Wow, there is not one ounce of ADD present in any of this film’s camera shots, I am shocked about this, considering that 99.9% of all films today are usually diagnosed with those types of shots. Well, that’s one of the good points about “Watchmen”. That aside though, it’s a film with a unique and uncommercial approach that strives to stand out amongst most of the garbage you see out there nowadays, I have to give many props to director Zack Snyder for doing this, I would have never expected it.

The entire film is one oddly interesting visual extravaganza, it looks a lot like a graphic novel at times. Unfortunately, it’s let down by some things such as the fact that most of the movie is a flashback-esque story that’s set in the present, but 80% of the film is about the past. Snyder should have just did that story instead of the 1985 one; then, make the 1985 story as the basis for the sequel with the heroes retired and one of them murdered at the beginning, etc.

Also, some of these costumes are just plain out awkward. You’ve got a guy who dresses like “Batman”, a girl who dresses a bit like Storm from “X-Men”, a guy who looks like Chris O’ Donnell’s Robin from “Batman & Robin”, a guy who dresses like “Darkman”, and an omnipresent glowing blue man who often reminds me of one of the X-Men’s villains, Apocalypse. I’m not sure if the original comic creators intentionally did this as some kind of ode or symbolism to their identical counterparts or what. Hey, if that’s the case, I’ll just gather up Freddy, Jason, Michael, Leatherface, and the Fly, make characters that look similar to them, and call it “Boogymen”.

“Watchmen” does have a fantastic unspoken message about how a movie should be shot, however, I will definitely give it that. But this film, overall, would have faired much better if it wasn’t a mostly flashback type of story. Nevertheless, thank you very much, Zack Snyder, for reminding the new era of Hollywood that it is possible to shoot an action sequence without an annoying shaky camera.

Rating: ***

Starring: Gary Oldman, Odette Yustman, Ethan Cutkosky, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, Jane Alexander, James Remar, Idris Elba, Rhys Coiro, Carla Gugino, Aiden David, Conner David, Eric Flores, Atticus Shaffer, and Rachel Brosnahan.

Directed by: David S. Goyer.

Story:
A malevolent spirit known as a dybbuk refuses to leave the world and instead inhabits the body of Casey Beldon, plaguing her with nightmarish dreams, strange visions, and a ghostly child with big blue eyes. Casey seeks the help of a spiritual advisor, Rabbi Joseph Sendak, to perform an exorcism and rid the entity from her body.

Characters:
*Rabbi Joseph Sendak (Gary Oldman): A spiritual advisor who can perform a Jewish exorcism.
*Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman): The protagonist college girl who is being haunted by the dybbuk entity.
*Romey (Meagan Good): Casey’s best friend who happens to know a lot about voodoo, dreams, and superstition.
*Sofi Kozma (Jane Alexander): An elderly lady who is revealed to be Casey’s grandmother. It turns out that she had a twin brother who died as a result of Nazi experimentation, the brother in question happens to be the ghost/dybbuk who is haunting Casey.
*Matty (Atticus Shaffer): Casey’s neighbor’s son whom she babysits from time to time.

Overall:
I was surprised and pleased to see that “The Unborn”, written and directed by the critically-acclaimed and respected David S. Goyer (just thought I’d point that out to let you all know that this wasn’t directed by some stupid music video director like many movies are these days), is neither a remake or a book adaptation because hey, let’s face it, that is the automatic assumption nowadays. It is in fact a creation of Mr. Goyer, however, it’s not entirely original as it borrows from so many movies that it’s not even funny - “The Exorcist”, “The Omen”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, need I go on?

“The Unborn” is a downright cheesy horror flick with cringing dialogue, Mr. Goyer actually wrote and directed this? That’s hard to believe. Wow. Maybe he watched too many of the crappy horror movies that came out recently before he conjured this up. As with most horror pictures in the now era, it relies on boo and jump scare tactics with the occasional musical cue, no build-up whatsoever. The script tries to be clever and throw in some Nazi genetic experiment as the initial catalyst for all that’s happening, but it doesn’t work. Sorry, but the whole “my baby is possessed” or “my child is a demon” cliche is just that - CLICHE. If you feel you must go and watch “The Unborn”, just be sure to go home and UNwind yourself by watching a horror movie that came out before the year 2000 - You may not like everything you see, but you’ll have a lot better trouble than if you stick with the 2000s where a good horror movie is like a needle in a haystack.

Rating: *1/2

Starring: Derek Mears, Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Aaron Yoo, Amanda Righetti, Nana Visitor, Jonathon Sadowski, Ben Feldman, Nick Mennell, America Olivo, Willa Ford, Ryan Hansen, Juilianna Guill, Arien Escarpeta, and Travis Van Winkle.

Directed by: Marcus Nispel.

Story:
About 30 years ago, young Jason Voorhees witnesses the beheading of his mother by a camp counselor who was the last survivor of Mrs. Voorhees’ murderous rampage at Camp Crystal Lake. Now, in present day, a group of teens vacation nearby Crystal Lake in search of weed that was planted in the surrounding wood areas. The pack is killed by Jason, all except for Whitney, who is kept prisoner beneath the campsite due to the resemblance between her and his mother.

A month later, Whitney’s brother, Clay, has been searching endlessly for her. While searching near Camp Crystal Lake, he runs into some trouble with Trent who is driving his friends to his summer vacation cabin nearby. Jason Voorhees hunts them down one by one as Clay continues to search for his missing sister with the help of Trent’s girlfriend who is falling for him.

Characters:
*Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears): The looming and iconic hockey-mask wearing murder who needs no introduction.
*Mrs. Voorhees (Nana Visitor): Jason’s mother who makes a brief cameo at the very beginning.
*Wade (Jonathon Sadowski): A nerdy GPS-using, know-it-all geek who is very well-informed about Camp Crystal Lake.
*Richie (Ben Feldman): Wade’s buddy who doesn’t believe in the scary stories that he shares with him but does share the same desire to find weed in the woods and get rich off of it.
*Mike (Nick Mennell): A friend of Wade and Richie.
*Whitney (Amanda Righetti): Mike’s girlfriend who goes missing after her five friends get killed by Jason in the beginning.
*Amanda (America Olivo): Richie’s freaky girlfriend.
*Trent (Travis Van Winkle): Leader of the new pack of teens who are introduced after the first batch is killed. He’s the a-hole of the pack.
*Jenna (Danielle Panabaker): Trent’s far more sympathetic and caring girlfriend who seems to be more interested in Clay.
*Chewie (Aaron Yoo): An Asian dude whose nick name is the work wizard and that’s not just because he masturbates, according to him that is.
*Chelsea (Willa Ford): Nolan’s girlfriend.
*Nolan (Ryan Hansen): Trent’s best buddy and Chelsea’s boyfriend.
*Bree (Julianna Guill): A freaky white girl whom Trent cheats on Jenna with.
*Lawrence (Arlen Escarpeta): A funny, down-for-anything African-American dude whom makes his presence well-aware to everyone and is not afraid to speak the truth in a humorous way.
*Clay (Jared Padalecki): Whitney’s brother who is in search of his missing sister.

Overall:
When I first heard that this was going to be remade, rebooted, or whatever the heck you want to call it, I just wanted to smack myself in the head and say “Oh no, not again”, then I watched the trailer and thought to myself, “Typical, so sad”. But you know what? This remake totally surprised me. I think this remake could stand right up there with the new ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ films that came out in this decade, is it no wonder that they were also directed by Marcus Nispel who directed this?

If you’re looking for some new twist on the slasher genre, “Friday The 13th” doesn’t offer any of the sort, instead it accepts what it is and lets it be clearly known - Ridiculousness, death, dismemberment, teenage sex, party animals, and the like. That’s exactly what the franchise contained. This remake contains a huge amount of nostalgia and references to other films. Mind you, this is a remake of Parts I-IV in the “Friday The 13th” franchise, not just the first one.

There appears to have been some effort put into the death of the characters as many of them are quite impressive. They even put enough effort to make some of these faces in the cast stand out. The script adds a black and Asian character to keep up to date with the ‘movies of the millennium’. The plot of a brother searching for his sister is well written, executed, and adds a little more juice to this ‘Friday The 13th’ story to make it stand out.

Jason is now able to run, not as fast as the zombies from the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, but enough to make him more menacing and scary; he also has a somewhat sympathetic backstory now which doesn’t soften him in any way whatsoever. Also notable is the fact that he slowly obtains his hockey mask as the film progresses. The film has an open-ended climax, of course (what did you expect?) and, while I wasn’t left with a sense of “you’ve got to be kidding me”, I was left wondering how on Earth they plan to make one, two, five, heck even ten MORE films in this “rebooted” franchise and have them be as good as this one or the old ones?

Rating: ****

Starring: Peter Sellers, Robert Webber, Herbert Lom, Robert Loggia, Paul Stewart, and Dyan Cannon.

Directed by: Blake Edwards.

Story:
Businessman Philippe Douvier (Webber) has ties to the New York Mafia and is sealing a deal for a highly profitable drug-smuggling opeartion with them. Thinking he may be too old and therefore not up to the task, Douvier sets out to prove his worthiness by taking out Chief Inspector Clouseau (Sellers) once and for all. Douvier’s assassination attempts force Clouseau to dip into his bag of wits and tricks to thwart his new nemesis.
But when Clouseau accidentally slips out of one of Douvier’s biggest traps, he is deemed dead and his ex-boss Charles Dreyfus (Lom) is deemed sane and released from the mental asylum to be assigned to the case. Clouseau resurfaces and, with the help of Cato and Douvier’s mistress Simone, he seeks out his revenge on Douvier and attempts to sabotage his drug operation.

Characters:
*Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers): The one and only, the legendary bumbling French accented detective who survives without effort and gets into trouble almost everywhere he goes.
*Ex-Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom): Clouseau’s ex-boss who turned villain in the last film, he is now a crazed inpatient locked up at a mental institution. But soon he becomes reinstated as Inspector after Clouseau is believed to be dead.
*Cato (Burt Kwouk): Clouseau’s long-time tormented servant returns once again for more hilarious and torturous exercises.
*Simone LeGree (Dyan Cannon): Douvier’s very, very hot sexpot Mistress.
*Philippe Douvier (Robert Webber): An insecure drug lord who is intent on taking out Clouseau by any means necessary.

Overall:
As the sixth film in the ‘Pink Panther’ series, “Revenge of the Pink Panther” marks the last appearance of Peter Sellers in the role of Clouseau before his unfortunate death in real life - MGM never experienced box office success with any other film in the franchise after this one until the 2006 remake. This is also the third film in the series that has absolutely no relation to the Pink Panther jewel from the first film.

“Revenge of the Pink Panther” isn’t as shabby and hilarious as the previous entry, “The Pink Panther Strikes Again”, but it displays enough wit and humor to keep it afloat and make it just as interesting and funny to watch. Sellers’ character never gets boring and the comedy gags can still hit all the right spots, this time they range from Clouseau being robbed at gunpoint by a transvestite who eventually falls for the trap that was set for Clouseau, Dreyfus’ many accidental encounters with Clouseau, Dovuier’s assassination attempts on Clouseau, and much more.

The villain Douvier doesn’t top Clouseau’s arch-nemesis and former boss, Charles Dreyfus, who played the main bad guy last time around. However, fortunately enough, Dreyfus is definitely in this one and plays no small role either - Due to the events of the last film, his character was locked away in an asylum, but here he is deemed sane and released to solve the Douvier case after Clouseau is believed to be dead, but the truth is he’s still alive so both Clouseau and Dreyfus are unknowingly trying to solve the same case and keep running into each other. The Pink Panther series gets its revenge here with a barrel of laughs.

Rating: ***1/2