Posted on

The Ten of 2012

During the last month of the outgoing year and sometimes stretching into the first week of the New Year, people like me – who talk about movies – usually post lists of what they thought were their favorite movies or least favorite movies or what they are looking forward to in the next year. Generally, these take the form of a “Top 10” list. I thought about doing one but then came to the realization: I only watched ten movies for all of last year – at least for reviewing purposes. Instead, I’ve decided to list those movies with some of my own meandering thoughts on each.

Continue reading “The Ten of 2012”

Posted on

REVIEW: ‘The Collection’

Arkin (Josh Stewart) goes up against the new hidden face of evil in "The Collection"

It’s no secret to my contemporaries, I am a horror snob. For the most part, I keep my recent viewing list to a select list of strong films that challenge me mentally and emotionally. It’s quite a shame really since some of the more delightful delicacies of the horror genre are so deliciously low. You shouldn’t always have to eat filet mignon constantly – every now and again you need a nice big juicy burger with a big kosher pickle and French fried potatoes.

In that case, serve me up a nice order of “The Collection.”
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘The Collection’”

Posted on

REVIEW: ‘The Possession’

Clyde (Jeffery Dean Morgan) rummages through his daughter's box in "The Possession".

Somewhere out in the universe, in a vast Jungian conceptual tangle is a library. In this particular library – since it is an imaginary construct – there are only two books. One thin volume is a collection of foundational stories: these stories are the basis of ever told. The other is a massive tome that, in a less fanciful environment, would fill all the world’s libraries.

This is the thesaurus.

It contains countless variation of the core stories. A rare few of these variants are something special – evolutionary leaps in the material that make it better than the original. Most, however, are pale shades of its progenitor. Neither better nor worse, they could, at best be called, “unnecessary.”

Such is the case with “The Possession.”

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘The Possession’”

Posted on

REVIEW: ‘The Apparition’

Patrick (Tome Felton), Kelly (Ashley Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) get their fear on in "The Apparition".

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who stopped talking midway through a sentence? Not the comfortable shorthand that comes with a long term friendship but the half-mad ramblings of a drunken stranger at a party – you know the type. He’s the guy that hems you into a corner with no one in eyeshot of rescuing you. But wait, there’s more. Occasionally, your incoherent companion has a moment of clarity and in place of his mad ramblings, you now have abject tedium.

The cinematic equivalent to this would be, “the Apparition”.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘The Apparition’”

Posted on

REVIEW: ‘Rites of Spring’

Rachel (Anessa Ramsey) has no choice but to hang around for the "Rites of Spring".
Rachel (Anessa Ramsey) has no choice but to hang around for the "Rites of Spring".
Rachel (Anessa Ramsey) has no choice but to hang around for the “Rites of Spring”.

A good solid rule for most movies is, “Make sense.” Even the most avant of garde films makes sense in their own kind of way. If a film doesn’t have a claim to that particular edgy conceit, then one would think it would be that much easier to follow that simple directive.

However, it’s something that “Rites of Spring” fails within its first ten seconds.
I never recovers.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Rites of Spring’”