justjinni

what's new on dvd?

well, since i'm laid up, now is a good time to watch movies! i have a stack of movies to get to from the last few months, but i thought i'd start with some newer ones...



okay, we all know i'm a wrestling junkie, and in case you didn't already know, the rock is probably my favorite of all time. now that he has transitioned to movies, i have made it a point to watch every one he's made. i didn't always love the movies, but i always loved the rock in the movies.

now, in the case of faster, i loved the movie just as much as i loved seeing dwayne johnson in the movie. the plot is simple: driver (johnson) is released from prison after serving a ten year sentence, and immediately sets about killing the people responsible for murdering his brother. it is revealed through backstory that the brothers were involved in a bank robbery, and were betrayed by a rival crew. driver's brother was killed, and driver himself shot in the back of the head...leaving him with a couple of cool scars, and a steel plate in his head. in prison, he bacame the baddest man on the planet, which means the people he is hunting don't stand a chance.

that's all the plot you need to set everything in motion. the film has a very strong kurosawa vibe to it, so much so that i would almost classify it as "neo-samurai cinema." driver is cold and without remorse when it comes to the task he has set before him, but he is also precise...never reckless. the innocent are spared, the guilty punished. the film also sets nice correlations between the chracters: johnson, as driver, is a good man hurtling headlong towards damnation. bill bob thornton, as "cop," is a man trying to atone for the sins and be a good man. adewale akinnuoye-agbaje is a pious man who, destroyed by the atrocities he participated in, has punished himself by giving over to god, and helping boys stay away from the path he once walked. oliver jackson-cohen is "killer," a world renowned hitman, who wants to finish this last job and retire to start a family. and lester speight is "baphomet," an unrepentant killer who operates with a sense of honor and respect.

the movie is smart, straightforward, and brings the action hard and fast. it also doesn't attempt to be too intricate...it knows what it is, and charges merrily forward.

i loved it!



i'm not going to attempt to convert anyone into jackass fans if they aren't already. you either like it or you don't.

that being said, i will confess that while i never watched the tv show, i have loved the movies. and i think this one might be my favorite. far less aggressive and mean-spirited than part 2, this one goes more for silliness and fun. even the gross out factor is far, far less than the last film (although there is still plenty of vomitous behavior!). on the making of, most of the crew attributes the change in attitude to steve-o's sobriety, but i think there's more to it than that...

there's a sense of nostalgia and finality throughout the whole film, almost as if the cast was trying to eulogize an old friend. you can see the closeness between the cast members, and even see "bro-pairings" between several members. yes, they hit each other, hurt each other, and call each other profane names. but still, you can see that there's no malice towards each other in their actions. they're just boys roughhousing with each other, and loving every minute of it.

the skits and stunts are pretty fresh, with the boys making full use of the 3-d cameras they had at their disposal. also, the phantom camera makes numerous, and hilarious appearances. especially nice to see was everyone laughing and cheering each other on after the stunts...you can tell they all really wanted to be there...even april and phil!

the final montage, showing the boys as children, then their first appearances on the tv show, then as grown men on the set of the third film, is really quite sweet and touching. it makes you think about just how much they have changed, and also reinforces the feeling that we've seen the jackass crew together for the last time.

if so, i think they are definitely going out on a high note!



now, i've discussed my distaste for remakes of classic films. but even more than that, i hate remakes of modern films.

i was disgusted when i heard that let the right one in was going to remade, especially since it hadn't even debuted on dvd in the u.s. yet!

now...i loved the original swedish movie (which was itself based on a novel). i thought it was melancholy, bittersweet, stark, and beautiful. none of these descriptives really apply to american studio motion pictures.

but...i was proven wrong.

the story, about a bullied boy named owen , and his new neighbor, a seemingly young girl named abby (who is, in fact, a vampire), is all of things that the original movie was. it is apparent that the filmmakers were not seeking to change anything, they simply wanted to make the movie more accessible, and increase it visibility. kodi smit-mcphee is perfectly cast as the awkward, outcast owen. and chloe grace moretz once again shows a disarming poise and ability that seems so contradictory to her cherubic little girl face.

the movie is adequately gory to keep itself well within the horror genre, but stays far elevated above the basic material. its ambiance is cold, moody, and almost dreamlike, and the sparse use of musci keeps the tension very sterile and quiet. a dread creeps throughout the movie, as we build towards what we know will be a showdown that might just kill owen or abby. the real question after the credits roll is whether we've seen that showdown...or is it yet to come?

the movie is amazing. watch it already!


til next time...