A Nightmare on Elm Street

We'll start with the original.

Cheesy, corny, whatever you might call it. This film is downright scary. Freddy (the killer, in case you didn't know) is literally everywhere he wants to be, even when your not dreaming? Odd concept, but it add to the dark, dark comedy in this. Everything we see in more current horror films, such as our never-ending Saw series, has its origins here. This may be why people still enjoy this movie, but for me its more of the Johnny Depp character, whose famous death scene is probably where the term "gory" came from.

A for the dirty jokes, C- for the lack of great acting, B for the scares. Give it a B and we'll call it even.

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As for the 2010 remake...

I think what makes this movie tolerable is the dream sequences and the effects used. And I can't help but mention the actor playing Freddy, Jackie Earle Haley, who is pretty damn frightening. However, I can't help but feel as though I've seen this movie before. Done well. Sigh...

D- - - - - - - -

Inception

Inception is art on the screen. Inception is complicated and subversive. Inception is crazy, fun, and captivating. Inception is, well...awesome.

Inception starts by trying to explain itself, allowing the audience to briefly come to speed with the new technology that allows a person to enter another's dream, whether to extract a memory, or plant a new one. Its hard to grasp at first, largely because the movie doesn't let us grasp the concept too quickly, it would rather show us what this technology looks like.

The visuals are what makes the movie. A room suddenly exploding with water, a fight scene in zero gravity, a decaying city crumbling into the ocean. These moments shine almost as well as the characters, making this movie memorable. 

Leonardo DiCaprio and his ensemble work well together. The characters are enjoyable and interesting, and the emotional moments are heartfelt. Even in an effects-driven movie, the people in it matter, which takes it beyond the normal scope of cinema. 

I admire this movie for its originality. Its jaw-dropping. B+ for the confusing parts

(I didn't elaborate much because I want to hear your opinions and questions about this movie. I definitely have answers for those who need them. More coming this week!)

2012 - Skip It

So many movies are just…eh.  2012 is just…eh. The effects are cool, but I mean, how many times can someone really enjoy the same characters escaping peril in the nick of time? (however, the earthquake in California scene is pretty cool.) Definitely do not see this movie for the acting; you will be thoroughly disappointed.  C-

Crash: 9/21/20

Its hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a big city. Most people, like myself, live day to day without encountering conflict, and human emotion is limited to what we, as human beings, have surrounded ourselves with. Crash opens with the poignant idea that when we lose our sense of touch, our ideal surroundings, that we crash into each other just to feel something. Its a hard message to listen to, hard to fathom. 'Crash' knows this, and paints a Los Angeles tragedy that few are willing to touch upon. Its easy to say this is a movie about racism, which it is, but there is so much more behind the masks the characters wear, which makes it all the more powerful when the mask is removed to reveal the broken creature underneath.

One of the more memorable moments is when Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), who previously molested the drunk wife (Thadie Newton) of a TV director (Terrance Howard) at a traffic stop, arrives on the scene of a car crash involving the same woman he previously molested. Despite his poor choice in the earlier scene, Ryan chooses to save her life at his own risk, and the woman's protests, before her car explodes. The power of choice, the good and the bad, leaves both characters emotional and confused, the final shot of the scene showing Ryan, with the smoke billowing in the background, staring away at nothing.

In my opinion, this scene expresses the very nature of the film and its message, that may be unclear to some people. Racism and stereotypes aside, this movie is about what happens not only when we, as people, collide, but when our baggage, our past, even our fears, collide together. Which makes it, in my opinion, one of the greatest films I have ever seen. Tragic, yes. But great.

The story, not without its flaws, is fabulous. The artwork on the screen is beautiful. And the actors bring the heat. A+