DRAG ME TO HELL

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There is nothing quite like having an entire movie theater to yourself. And I had just such an experience at today’s matinee showing of Sam Raimi’s latest DRAG ME TO HELL.

Though that said, DRAG ME TO HELL is obviously a film that plays to having the crowd experience. The jumps, and exclamations of the audience are part of the gestalt in a film such as this.

But having the theater to myself gave me a chance to evaluate Raimi’s film as a film, rather then just a theater experience. And as a film the first 2/3rd made me quite remember why the name Raimi is legendary. He remains an exciting, innovative filmmaker. You can see on the screen all the timing and experience he brings from his Indie days, his big budget days, even his TV days, and it makes the first two thirds of the film quite fun.

The story perhaps relying a little too much on gross out gags, for the juvenile audience, but it is an easily overlooked flaw. It is not perfect by any means but the first 2/3rd of the film moves at a brisk enough pace to keep you from looking at the seams of the movie.

SPOILERS:

However from the séance onwards, the film becomes a little too campy. The wire-fu possessed dancing dude, is pretty much where the film loses me (dancing characters appear to be Raimi’s Achilles heel. I say that to be tongue in cheek, because unlike many, while I agree the third SPIDERMAN was the weakest of Raimi’s trilogy, as a whole I quite liked it. And found the dancing sequence in that film quite enjoyable, however not in this film).

The possessed guy, assistant to the medium who tries to exorcise the demon, his whole appearance in the movie seems like what it is, contrived, and calls attention to itself in a bad way. He comes in and comes out to be the weakest portion of the film. So from that point on the film feels really forced, particularly the ending just seemed (the name of the movie to the contrary unlikely) slapped on to give the audience an unconventional ending.

I think with any ending [spoilers], the film has to earn that ending; has to earn its happy ending or earn its downer ending. This film did not earn its ending.

The ending felt, rather than coming out of the film we were seeing, as if it were there for no other reason then to appeal to an audience that increasingly confuses sensationalism and extremism with quality.

Being an optimist I think most films earn their happy endings. I’m a believer in happy endings. So for a film to have a downbeat ending, it has to, through the internal logic of the film, earn that ending. Films that fail to earn their downer ending, are films like THE MIST (its ending felt forced, and tacked on. But so did most of the film).

As far as examples of movies that earn their downer ending: DESCENT, Raimi’s own EVIL DEAD films, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, SEVEN, Carpenter’s THE THING, etc.

Unfortunately DRAG ME TO HELL’s ending is more MIST then DESCENT.

And I understand that studios increasingly gear films toward an audience that filmmakers are aware can’t appreciate plot, or subtlety, or even beauty, but just bodily fluids and banality.

So increasingly filmmakers crank out lowest common denominator films to lowest common denominator audiences. They create caricatures rather than characters, protagonists as objects for audiences to laugh at or feel superior to (for not being in their shoes). And I think that’s a dangerous itch to train the American public to get used to being scratched; to objectify and even enjoy the pain of the other. There’s a dangerous grooming of the audience that filmmakers are gearing their movies toward; a dangerous commentary about what our degenerating fictions say about our society’s degenerating freedoms.

But such pandering was not something I expected from a filmmaker like Raimi. And to his credit it’s not something I got for the bulk of the film. But unfortunately it is the ending that defines the journey, and I think the film swerved into oncoming traffic at the end.

The ending flew in the face of the internal veracity/logic of the film. How many blank sealed envelopes, with a round item in it are you likely to find in a car? It is illogical (in the logic of the film) that the protagonist would mistakenly pick up a duplicate envelope, or that such a duplicate envelope would just be sitting in the car. As soon as she lost the envelope, then found it again I was on the alert for just such an ending as we got. But I was hoping Raimi wouldn’t be as… slapstick as that.

And that is the perfect word for the ending, it felt slapstick rather than narrative, or emotive, or meaningful.

I think DRAG ME TO HELL is not a film that people who raved about it in the gestalt of the theaters, will judge it as favorably upon second viewing. I think the clumsy nature of the 3rd act, will be clearer when revisited.

An ending has to be a product of the convictions and craft of the filmmaker, as well as the strength of the script/story; and should not be an interchangeable thing. A film is not a video game, it shouldn’t have multiple endings. It is a narrative that should like a novel, build toward a singular end. DRAG ME TO HELL, its name to the contrary, felt untrue to its end.

So all in all, a film worth seeing just for Raimi’s directorial style, but a flawed film. It is a fun date/group movie for most of its running time, but just be aware the ending does not hold up.

**1/2 out of ****.

ORPHAN

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Saw ORPHAN last week with a friend, and in a packed theater, and it was a very odd experience for me. ORPHAN is a thriller with a creepy kid, that’s all you need to know going in. That’s all I knew. It is a technically pretty damn impressive film, that does everything it wants to do, with a nice twist I did not see coming, but I really did not enjoy this film. Because for all its craft, its cliches got on my nerves. (I’m going to avoid the central spoiler of this film, because it is great and you should see it for the twist alone, that said to discuss what I don’t like about the film is impossible without discussing a few other things about the film. So these are very minor obtuse SPOILERS, but they are spoilers, so go see or rent the film first, and come back to compare our takes on the film. You have been warned! )

F**K I’m sick of characters of color being in a movie just to buy it. SICK OF IT. It was piss poor filmmaking three decades ago, and it has just gotten to be a more pathetic crutch today. Which is why I’m such an effing fan of John Carpenter films. Wow, great movies, where the character of color doesn’t necessarily have to be the victim or the villain. And where he typically has more than one character of color. Imagine that? Man, I understand roles are hard to come by for actors of color, but seriously to all actors of color out there: pick your roles with some care!

Because when you, the actor, are silenced… shuffle off this mortal coil; they… the images, will continue to speak for you. Actors like Poitier and Belafonte and Roundtree and Williams understood this. And while this principled stance has made their careers shorter than they otherwise would be, it has also made cinema better than it would otherwise be.

Here endeth that rant.

Onto Cliche and rant two. The cliche of getting the upper hand on the villain, then turning your back on them. OH KNOW, NOT AGAIN!

The last time that was cool was in the first LETHAL WEAPON movie. It’s been done 5 million times since then, notice to filmmakers: IT IS NO LONGER COOL, INTERESTING, OR REMOTELY A SURPRISE so stop effing doing it! Grrrrrr! ORPHAN has this obligatory scene of “surprise the villain isn’t dead”, and it’s just lazy scriptwriting, lazy direction, lazy filmmaking.

And like I say, I quite like where the ending of ORPHAN begins to go, but that cliche just takes me right out of the film, and kills any enjoyment for me. And the whole movie is filled with frustrating and annoying cliches like that. Particularly the character of the husband is so stupid and whiny and blind, that I personally want to reach into the screen and strangle him. The actor Peter Sarsgaard is always such such a swarmy presence in his roles, though that did serve him well in the far better SKELETON KEY.

And the last thing that really kind of got me about this film, it’s really a very vicious film throughout. I mean, it’s bloody dark. Which is absolutely what the filmmakers were going for, but I have to say, I was pretty uncomfortable with the whole film. I’m no light weight when it comes to thrillers/horror, I’ve seen everything from UNIVERSAL CLASSICS to EXORCIST to SEVEN, Japanese Horror, Italian Horror, you name it, I’ve seen it. But a lot of this film revolves around violence around children, putting them in jeopardy, and while this has been done to good effect from films such as NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, LEMORA, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD, TOGETHER BROTHERS, etc., it’s always something I’m weary of. And here in ORPHAN there’s some really explicit violence, and implied violence, and language perpetrated around and at children. How parents of these young actors can be okay with their kids in such explicit scenes, I always find slightly disturbing.

All that’s on the bad. But on the good is that the performance of the cast, for the most part, is fantastic. Vera Farmiga as the mom, Kate Coleman, has been working since the 90s, but this puts her on the map for me. She completely ties you into this movie. CCH Pounder in a thankless role, delivers her usual solid and grounded performance (a great actress, who is typically underused). And the children Jimmy Bennett (The Young James T. Kirk from the new STAR TREK film, who only 13 already has over 30 film and TV credits to his name), and Aryana Engineer (in her screen debut) are excellent in really difficult and intense roles. But it’s the 12 yo Isabelle Fuhrman who is a revelation as the title character. It is an astonishing performance and one I would never have any 12 yo play. However in the long history of evil kid movies, without argument Isabelle’s performance takes the crown.

Director Jaume Collett-Serra, a Spaniard, with this his third movie marks himself as a pushing the edge director to watch. If he can avoid the easy cliches, and the predictable scripts, he may become a house-hold name. Based on this film I’ll check out his previous two films: HOUSE OF WAX and GOAL II. And finally moving onto the writers, the story was by Alex Mace, and screenplay by David Johnson. Their twist I quite liked but, like the director, the writers need to avoid the clichés and the well worn choices of the genre.

An interesting film, with some really unnerving scenes. Not a film I walked out of the theater liking, though my friend— she was more a fan of it then I, but I can not argue that it was compellingly crafted.

An intriguing film, definitely flawed, but overall very capably put together. I wouldn’t recommend spending movie prices to see, but it is definitely one you should rent and decide for yourself. And let me reiterate if I didn’t make it clear, this is not a family film. IT IS NOT FOR KIDS, and is totally deserving of its R rating.

Okay those are all the reviews for this segment. See you next time!

After many years of reading about Argento’s INFERNO I finally got around to seeing it. It starts off promising but ultimately meanders its way to an underwhelming, and more than a little amateurish conclusion. And I say that being a huge fan of Dario Argento’s early work. I think his DEEP RED is a masterpiece and films such as his 1969 debut BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (as masterful a debut as you’ll find, and something of a warmup to DEEP RED), and his subsequent films of the 70s, are close to masterpieces and all deserving of viewing. However as with many great directors of the 70s, that greatness would not extend into the 80s. In the 1980s director sweethearts of the the age of Aquarius such as Argento, found themselves scrambling to be relevant in an era of Reagonomics and Hollywood Blockbusters and sought to wrangle audiences with gore and excess over craft (And don’t get me wrong there are moments of brilliance in his post 80s work, TENEBRE while flawed, has some really masterfully composed scenes of… tension and horror, and I enjoyed his JENIFER for MASTERS OF HORROR, but on a whole they tend to fail to hold together). INFERNO is on the cusp of that transition from 70s craft to 80s gore, but its failure seemingly has to be laid more at the hands of just a half-baked film concept/story. First the good: Here as in SUSPIRIA the visuals are great. Argento’s use of primary colors, and the use of architecture and sets, drenches the film in this decadent dream reality. However unlike SUSPIRIA it is hampered by an inferior, and annoying score, and a weak and underdeveloped protagonist (The actor who plays the lead like most of the actors in this film, seemed like he had no idea what to do in-front the camera, and just wasn’t someone the audience could really connect with) and the same for the antagonist, the mother of shadows, who appears in the final act and whose final form is pretty darn laughable. All in all a mess of a movie, that has to be laid at the hands of Argento’s script. Those flaws noted, if you are an Argento fan the film is worth seeing for the visuals alone. C-/D+.

Then I realized my early work did have something special that audiences adored apart from what I humbly thought about them. They occupy a distinguished niche in Italian film history and probably always will.
Dario Argento

Following on the heels of my 2008 Podcast Winners, I’ve decided to do the best Audio Dramas of 2008 a little differently. I have five companies that stood out to me, as the best producers of Audio Dramas in 2008, and instead of doing them in one post, I’ll break them up into five separate posts. This being my first one. So my first, much delayed, 2008 HEROIC TIMES Audio Drama winner is…. drumroll please… CHATTERBOX AUDIO for their 2008 Halloween Show. Applause! Applause! Kudos to the current inner sanctum of Robert Arnold, Kyle Hatley, Dave Mickle and all of their cast and crew! http://www.chatterboxtheater.org I became aware of CHATTERBOX AUDIO early this year, pretty much on the strength of one production, their phenomenal SURFACING. Kyle Hatley’s SURFACING Part I is one of the strongest hours of audio drama I’ve heard, and I’ve heard a lot. It is staggering, wrenching, and stunning work! I highly recommend going to their site and listening to it, you will not be disappointed. It does tend to want to go overboard and be too much, too loud, too annoying, too abrasive, too everything…. but it manages to straddle that difficult line. Just barely though, because a lot of the characters push hard that annoying talkshow/overblown persona. Particularly the characters of Charlie, Barclay Roberts and Carolyn (played by Patrick Dulaney, Anthony Merchant and Ashlee Lepine) are just so… abrasive, and annoying at points it nearly takes me out of the program. I mean I get the point that the show is about people at their worst, but when all the characters are utter aholes, it makes it difficult to care or invest about any of them. Don’t get me wrong, all of the actors give phenomenal performances, it’s just if you have a story where you dislike the characters, when you put them in jeopardy the audience really doesn’t care about their jeopardy. Particularly evident with the character of Barclay Roberts. The character is just utterly arrogant, pompous, and unlikeable. The actor who plays Barclay, Anthony Merchant has a FANTASTIC voice and gives a great performance. Perhaps too good, because the character is written as this complete jerk. So much of an arrogant jerk, that I actively dislike the character. Jess Akin as Harold and Julane Havens as Amelia are the only characters that I find are in any way likable. But these hiccups are minimal, and the show doesn’t get bogged down on the hyperbole of the characters, and keeps briskly moving toward its conclusion. The measure of a great program is after you get done listening, you listen to it again immediately. I did that with this program. An early contender for best Audio Drama of 2009. That said I have to say Part II, unfortunately doesn’t live up to Part I. It falls on the wrong side of that line between passionate presentation and annoying sensationalism, and largely because of an extended scene with the aforementioned character of Barclay. The story gets bogged down in extremism, and overblown scenes, when less in this case would have definitely been more. The whole scene I’m talking about would have been much better, if dialed back a few notches, and if the ahole meter for everyone, particularly Barclay, was dialed back a notch. Possible spoilers. It’s an extreme scene that I won’t elaborate on except to say, if I’m in that position you are going to try a little harder to move that rock, before you jump to another, extreme and sadistic solution. You’re going to try a LOT fing harder! Seriously you ever heard of a lever? or mother’s lifting cars off their kids? I mean, goshdarn it you’re going to spend a good amount of time trying before you cavalierly and seemingly arrogantly jump to the most insane solution possible. The character of Barclay, comes off as a sadistic bastard in that scene, and is a character that you hope for a truck to fall on, or for lightning to hit and kill. Again, I think the actor performs the part great, fantastic voice, I just think it is a too abrasively written part. Anyhow suffice to say didn’t like the 2nd SURFACING episode at all. But that episode acknowledged, the first episode still stands as a phenomenal hour of audio drama, and is worth your time. As far as their other productions another fantastic one is their 2007 production of THE YELLOW WALLPAPER. It’s brilliantly performed by the lead actress, Jane Kilgore. Endlessly listen-able. Also THE CHILDREN episode from their 2008 Halloween show is very good. Infact when you take in the fact that the show was done LIVE, all of the six performances are frigging impressive. So while the BBC gets all the press for Audio Dramas, CHATTERBOX AUDIO, a Memphis, Tennessee based outfit, is definitely a company to watch. Swing over say hi, and tell them HT sent ya! .

Following up on my previous post, and after yet another disappointing Academy Award season, I’m going to give you an award that IS worth your time. THE HEROIC TIMES 1st Annual Welles Awards! Nifty title huh. I wanted to create an award show for this new generation of audio shows, podcasts and streaming radio. And while I toyed with a few people to name it after who had extraordinary voices, the great Paul Robeson, Paul Frees… I settled on naming it Welles after Orson Welles. Listening to Welles’ SHADOW episodes pretty much single-handedly got me hooked on audio dramas and Old Time Radio, and thereby New Time Audio Dramas and Podcasts. So without further ado, let’s give out…. THE WELLES AWARDS! 1st Category is Top Ten Podcasts of 2008, I won’t bore you with the hundreds of nominees I went through to compile this list (and this section is strictly for podcasts that are hosted, and or referential/review based in nature, be that movies, music, books, whatever. If you have a podcast, but it’s basically just an audio drama, it will be in the audio drama category. There’s some bleed over but that’s basically the division). So let’s get to the ones who made the Podcast list, these are in no particular order, but suffice to say if you see them below the shows were the best most entertaining podcasts I came across in 2008 (notice that “I” if you don’t see your podcast, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you, maybe I just didn’t come across you in 2008— how’s that for being a politician ). The best of the best ( And keep an eye out for next installment Top Ten Audio Dramas of 2008, and yes, you’ll find THE RED PANDA there): 1. COMICBOOK GEEK SPEAK- This US, Pennsylvania based show with nearly 600 episodes is one of the oldest, one of the longest lasting, and one of the most popular podcast shows and for good reason. For current fans of comics, lapsed fans, and curious newcomers this show is like hanging out with good acquaintances and is just a great way to stay in the loop on a hobby that needs all the inroads it can get. And again this show admirably illustrates the ability of the passionate amateur to be more in touch with the medium then the so-called professionals. In an age when the major comic companies are losing readers in droves due to bad will and poor public relations skills (particularly at a time when they should be taking advantage of the current Hollywood spotlight), this podcast has probably done more to introduce new and lapsed readers back to comics than all the corporate ’suits’ and gimmicks and stunts combined. 2. FREQUENCY OF FEAR- I’m cheating a little with this one as I became aware of this Arizona, US based variety horror/anthology/comic/music show in 2009. But I’ve listened to its 2008 episodes and they are great. It is really tailored to fans of old time radio and those old horror records, but if that’s you, you’ll love this show.- http://frequencyoffear.com 3. GEEK SYNDICATE- I became aware of these guys at the end of 2007, and have been a fan ever since. A two-man British podcast covering all things pop-culture, David and the Nuge providing one of the most enjoyable and informative shows of 2008. Their Buzz Aldrin episode being the funniest podcast of 08. http://www.geeksyndicate.co.uk/ 4. MONDO MOVIE- With 86 episodes and counting this 2 man British podcast covering all things of genre, cult, horror cinema is eagerly awaited every week or so. Shows are top notch entertaining, and informative too. – http://www.mondomovie.com/ 5. HORROR ETC- http://www.horroretc.com/index.html- The Canadians toss their hat in the ring, with this always entertaining two man podcast, covering horror films from classics to current hits. 6. COMIC BOOK OUTSIDERS- A brother podcast to GEEK SYNDICATE, this 2-man Brit show (do you see a trend here) is right up there with GS, but concentrates on under the radar, and Independent comics. Definitely Recommended- http://comicbookoutsiders.libsyn.com/ 7. B-MOVIE CAST- True to its title, this podcast covers classic B-movies, with a leaning toward horror, scifi, cult flicks. Well produced, it includes news, DVD releases, and the main course which is usually a pretty thorough interview of one or two B movies. Recommended! – http://bmoviecast.com/ 8. ISR- Indie Spinner Rack had a strong 08 with great Ted McKeever, Jeff Smith, Jeff Lemire interviews and great Indie Comic Reviews. (And peek back in 2007 for their Steve Bissette and Alan Moore Interviews. Two of the best interviews you’ll come across.) 9. THE LOST PICTURE SHOW- This Two-Man Brit Podcast (Nooooooo! Not another one! ) each episode explores a, if not lost, definitely under the radar film. But unlike other podcasts the films selected belong to no specific genre. They go from comedy to classics to cult. -http://thelostpictureshow.com/ And last but definitely not least 10. This slot is a tie between CRANKCAST and COMIC BOOK SAVANT , both shows that are very off the cuff, and can range far afield of comics but in very engaging and in very different ways. SAVANT particularly, as a one man show I find it to be… in places almost a meditation on life, and the living of it. I think all of us hope, that we can meet our… time in Gethsemane with grace. And here is one man who consistently amazes me with his ability to do that. You can find these podcasts at http://crankcast.net/ and http://www.comicbooksavant.com/cbs/index.cfm respectively. Well that’s it folks, the HEROIC TIMES WELLES AWARD Podcast winners for 2008!! Jolly Good Show (that’s my brit speak. Yeah I’ll keep working on it)! And here’s wishing all those podcasts a great 2009! And if you haven’t already received your really hokey award just keep bugging me till you get it. Next installment, best Audio dramas of 2009!

A picture of how the Academy Award losers really feel!

Honorable mentions:

WATCHING THE DIRECTORS- A wife and husband duo each show tackle a different legendary director. A great show, that unfortunately came to an end in 2008, however you can for now still sample their old shows online here… http://watchingthedirectors.com/

BATTLESHIP PRETENSION- Well produced show, with two friends giving their views on films and filmmakers. The reviews are hit and miss with me, but the shows are well produced. http://www.battleshippretension.com/homepage.php

RADIO FREETOWN- A streaming audio show, that covers classic African music of the 70s. It’s a must listen. Unfortunately went on hiatus in February, but old shows for now are still up. http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/RF

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I’ve been listening to ADVENTURES BY MORSE today. It is an oft cited series from the golden age of radio, that took me a while to finally sample. But I have to say, it earns its praise. ADVENTURES BY MORSE, was the brain child of writer/director/producer Carlton E. Morse and a followup to his earlier and much lauded I LOVE A MYSTERY serial. ADVENTURES BY MORSE being a fun, exciting, thrill a minute serial, that regales the listener with the adventures of Capt. Bart Friday, a private investigator who travels the globe, unraveling the world’s greatest mysteries. The series has been defined as a high adventure serial, and you would be hard pressed to disagree with that. This was written between 1944 and 1945, and is not just more exciting and worldly and informative and erudite, than most anything produced today (movies, tv, etc) it’s also far less formulaic. It has all the trappings of the formulaic, but Carlton E. Morse’s writing and situations and share inventiveness, sets these shows apart. And thankfully all 52 episodes (as well as 2 audition episodes) are still around to wow, and impress, and entertain… a new generation. You can pick these up a couple of places online, but be aware some of the episodes on Archive.Org are missing parts of the cliffhanger endings. Most notably in THE COBRA KING STRIKES storyline. Thankfully Radio Lovers.com has complete episodes. Now onto reviews of the first 3 storylines: THE CITY OF THE DEAD- The first 10 part serial is THE CITY OF THE DEAD, and introduces us to a great cast of characters, and a deep intriguing mystery, of a bell that rings where no bell is, a shrieking thing, a weeping man, and bodies that don’t stay buried. The show is too convoluted for its own good, you need a scorecard to make sense of the wrap up episode, but the awkwardness of the conclusion and some logic issues aside, the build up is fantastic. I couldn’t stop listening. An addictive, fun, and at times spooky serial. Great serial, well performed. Introduces Elliott Lewis as Captain Bart Friday. B+/A-. A COFFIN FOR THE LADY- Is a little more conventional mystery, as compared to the fantastic and ghoulish elements of THE CITY OF DEAD, but the 3 part A COFFIN FOR THE LADY is gripping, and entertaining in its own right. It’s the little things that Morse does so right, the weight he gives to people’s injuries, or the ‘you are there’ richness of his storytelling. I’ve seen and listened to so many shows about people getting tied up, but none has expressed it as the near crippling experience that Morse does in these few episodes. A lot of times in entertainment, there is no weight to the perils. Someone is stabbed in one episode, and is climbing mountains in the next, not so with Morse, he’s ever aware, ever making you aware, of the strains of flesh, and the demands of nature, which gives his plots a gravity, and his characters a reality, they would otherwise lack. A great little serial. B+. THE COBRA KING STRIKES- Returns to the ten episode format, and it’s a doozy. A new actor plays Captain Friday, David Ellis, but he does it effectively. Took me a couple episodes to get into his leaner, less gruff interpretation of Capt Friday, but his take quickly becomes perfect for this camaraderie rich storyline. And the sizable cast is fully realized and fleshed out, in this tale of a Cambodian odyssey to uncover the remnants of a once and perhaps future Asian empire. Captain Friday is onboard to put down any such uprising. While the Captain is the agent of suppression, there’s enough differing perspectives here to make the episode surprisingly rich, and surprisingly elaborate. This is the one that archive.org has butchered copies of, but it’s worth getting the full episode, as this one is every bit as engaging as THE CITY OF DEAD, and does it one better by having a great final episode. A recommended listen. A-. Well that’s our review for this installment. Head over to RadioLovers and Archive to check these shows out for yourself. And tell them HT sent you!

I’m always amazed how people get to this site. It is so cool, some of the people who have links to my site. Mr. Walter Koenig being the latest one. Thanks all, for the links. They are deeply appreciated. Okay onto the post: This post is some rambling notes for myself, so bear with it: I just saw REC the Spanish Horror thriller, I’m pimping a review to a paying site, so I won’t say much here except to say, I hated CLOVERFIELD and BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, all these found footage films; and REC avoids the weaknesses and pitfalls of all previous attempts at such a conceit, and manages to imbue it with real strength. The film is fantastic. And damn Hollywood for remaking it rather than just giving it a US release. People aren’t morons, at least most people; this subtitled movie would have done great in the theaters. But the suits in Hollywood are all greed and no taste. So we get watered down Americanized versions of great foreign movies. Typically inferior garbage, that only weakens the strength of the original film. I have not seen QUARANTINE. After being stupid enough to see the garbage that was THE STRANGERS rather than the French original, I’ve learned my lesson. I avoid Hollywood remakes, at least until I see the original first. So REC was worth the wait. Fantastic film. Unfortunately for those wanting to see popular foreign films, Hollywood doesn’t make it easy, because they want you to see their crappy US remake, and buy that version on DVD. So as of this writing, there are no region 1 DVDs available of great foreign films like REC. Thankfully as long as you have a region free DVD player, which you really should have, and access to a foreign DVD seller, you’re good. Because the rest of the world isn’t as crippled and locked down as the studios have the American market. In the rest of the world, they release foreign films theatrically, and release foreign DVDs. Imagine that. And that’s exactly what I did. I bought a region 3 DVD of REC, and it rocks. But realistically you shouldn’t be at the mercy of the studios regarding seeing foreign films and tv shows. It’s all greed. They take a popular foreign series, delay the release of any region 1 DVDs so instead they can feed you their crappy US remake, and their crappy DVD. THEN they release the original series on region 1 DVD! So it’s double dipping! They generate ad revenue on the broadcast of their remake. then they generate revenue on their remake’s DVDs. then they generate revenue on DVD sales of the original!!! It’s a ripoff! So I say screw em. Get yourself a multi-region Dvd, and then you’re not at the mercy of region 1 release schedules. And the funny thing about that is, even when they release foreign tv shows on region 1 dvd, often the DVD is edited and cut differently then the original series. An example of this being JEKYLL BBC series. The show as broadcast in the states was cut, and the region 1 DVD is also cut. So if you want to see this series as it was released you have to purchase the Pal DVD. And if you think the current DVD scenario is problematic, Bluray/HDDVD will further cripple your options, and put you further at the mercy of the studios. Which is why I’m in no rush to migrate away from the DVD. Hell there are enough DVD movies and tv shows I haven’t seen, that if they stopped making DVDs tomorrow, I would have enough used inventory floating around out there, to last me the rest of my life. So screw you Hollywood studios! Screw you FOX! So do your homework people, and don’t be deprived of seeing the films every other country gets to see. Take John Woo’s latest film RED CLIFF. There’s no reason that film shouldn’t have gotten a US Theatrical release. But the greedy studios again, they want to be able to double, triple, and quadruple dip. So you’re going to have to wait to see the crappy Americanized remake or edited version of RED CLIFF, a year after the original has made the rounds. Then they are going to sell you the crappy American DVDs of RED CLIFF. And only after they’ve raked in all this money on feeding you two years of crap, are they finally going to release the original “director’s cut” Region1 DVD of John Woo’s RED CLIFF. So you can wait two years for the Studios to feed you piecemeal John Woo’s vision. Or you know what, you can decide you want to have the same rights to see this film as someone in Thailand or London, and buy the DVD today. It makes me insane, how for such a supposedly free country, we are increasingly at the mercy of greedy fuckers. And I understand profit. I have no problem with profit. I have a problem when profit becomes a juggernaut of greed. A beast that eats away at the consumer, rather than just filling the needs of the consumer. And it’s even worse if the country producing the film, is not a western puppet. One of the best films I saw last year was the Cuban bio-pic EL BENNY. I raved about it in my review last year. This is a film that should be seen by everyone. Especially Americans. Because it shows the world as something beyond the sound-bites of our nightly propaganda. Unfortunately that’s the very reason many foreign films don’t get US releases, and don’t get DVD distribution. Which means some of the vital filmmakers of our age, Diop Mambety, Sembene Oursmane, their best films do not make it onto our shores. Are seen once, in a film festival, and then relegated to molding away in someone’s closet. The move to all digital cinemas, will further marginalize such filmmakers. It’s all part and parcel of the same beast. It’s really, to a fine level, policing the content of what each region is exposed to. This even goes to the concept of having alternate endings and versions of films, a fad that i wholeheartedly despise. It pisses in the face of cinema. Why is CITIZEN KANE a classic? Or why is the THIRD MAN a classic? Or High Noon or JAWS or BRAVEHEART or DO THE RIGHT THING or BLOOD SIMPLE? Because these films offer a singular vision. A shared and shareable vision. An iconic and unwavering vision. The fantastic ending of DOUBLE INDEMNITY comes to mind (and yes I know DI had an epilogue that was excised from the final version of this film. But the point is we did have a final version, and it is that one, singular version we saw, and those hard decisions that define a classic film). And because of this, if you are 9 or if you are 90, and you have seen a great movie, you’ve largely seen the same movie. And you can share the memories, the conversation or the wow factor of that movie. It makes you part of a singular conversation. You gasp at the same moments at the end, you wow to the same scenes. It is a cultural connectivity that is very important, and unites the viewers, even if you didn’t see that film in the same theater, or in the same time, or in the same country, it is still the same film, its beats are the same, and you have that in common. That frame of reference. In a world increasingly spinning itself apart, this shared cinematic conversation is a tiny way to keep ourselves together. Cinema then, as that shared endless place in time where all our rosebuds are lost, and all our rosebuds are found. As opposed to today with the move toward multiple endings. Which in the short term may seem an easy way for studios to triple dip as far as revenues, but in the long term it robs that film of its singular vision, its cultural connectivity. In the long term… it hurts film. Because suddenly two people can have seen the same movie, but each remembers different endings. And the film rather than being a unique statement, that is memorable for the very fact it has the balls to lock itself in stone, and lock you, the viewers together, instead suddenly is something ephemeral, and transitory, and… forgettable.

The very act of having multiple endings, negates the ability of a film to be a classic. Period.

It negates the very ability of it to be a film, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s the act of a lazy filmmaker.

Multiple endings are great for “choose your own adventure” books and video games, but cinema has always been the domain of men and women, directors, who have something lasting to say to the world. Multiple endings negates the lasting voice of cinema.

DO you sense I really fing hate Hollywood suits?

And the only reason is because I love Hollywood. I grew up on cinema. I love Cinema enough to defend it perpetually and criticize, perpetually, the small minded, fing trolls, who temporarily, find themselves in positions they are not worthy of, interfering with the course of a medium, that was here long before them, and will be here long after they and their works have turned to dust.

Okay, that ends my rant. I’m jumped all over the place, but in summation…

Screw Hollywood. Get an ALL-REGION Dvd player. Screw Bluray. Support International sellers, and international filmmakers and generally screw Hollywood.

Oh and pick up REC, great movie.