There’s nothing more annoying than books and lists that promise movie fans movies they’ve never seen or should see, only for you to find a list of the same old titles. The good thing about “Hidden Horror” is that it promises 101 movies you likely never saw, and surely enough as someone whose seen it all, I found some interesting gems in this book. To make things better, the underrated films really are some of the most under appreciated films I’ve seen in a long time.
Much of Scott Cooper’s revenge drama is based heavily around themes that set our characters down a path where they’re doomed from the moment we meet them. Harlan DeGroat, played Woody Harrelson who is terrifying in the role, is a man that stains everyone that he runs in to. And he becomes especially a stain on the pair of brothers, both of whom struggle to find some way out of their pitiful go nowhere lives. Everything in “Out of the Furnace”: leads right in to DeGroat, who isn’t just a villainous scum, but also revels in being a violent monster.
It’s a shame to see a movie filled with so much talent all to add up to absolutely nothing. “Boiler Room” trots out a who’s who of really good actors, many of whom were in vogue performers that eventually got their due. I’m especially a fan of Nicky Katt. That said, “Boiler Room” is a crummy retread of “Glenngarry Glenn Ross” sans the plays on “Death of a Salesman.” Ben Affleck appears twice to give a really raucous and loud speech to perspective stock brokers, and really you can’t help but think that Alec Baldwin did it better.
I admire director Tyler Benjamin’s ambition to create a documentary that chronicles what it’s like to be a horror fan. “I Heart Monster Movies” is a simple and very low budget look at the horror convention scene in Portland and some of what many horror fans within that region have done to celebrate their love for the genre. If you’re a Portland denizen, “I Heart Monster Movies” will definitely help you to decide where to visit that’s associated with your beloved genre. If you’re just a random horror geek, “I Heart Monster Movies” is a passable time filler.
While Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” is assuredly a film that will split audiences down the middle as to what its intent is, I’d dare say it’s a film for both fractions of audiences. While it is a movie somewhat based on spiritual themes, it’s also a perfectly fine film that the secular audience that is more fascinated in character themes and the inherent conflict faced by Sandra Bullock’s character Dr. Stone.
This is a television sitcom, but basically on Jimmy Stewart’s terms. A sitcom that really side steps the live laugh track, “The Jimmy Stewart Show” is a pastiche of Stewart’s old fashioned sensibilities, with a touch of new world mentality that creates a unique and quaint culture clash. Stewart doesn’t mind breaking the illusion every now and then, opening the series with two introductions, narrating the early episodes to help establish characters, and in one instance Stewart’s wife (Julie Adams) asks “Why can’t we get along like those families on TV?” To which Stewart quickly glances at the camera with a smirk. “The Jimmy Stewart Show” won’t be for everyone, but it’s definitely not a terrible series, either.
So someone realized at the Cartoon Network that there was really nothing else they could do with the “Teen Titans.” It was a fantastic show, albeit an acquired taste, but it ended when it had to end. The Titans defeated their biggest foes, there was a huge war, they came out victorious thus it ended its narrative. So someone took out all of the anime, chibi, and goofy comedy from the series, omitted the action, science fiction, and rich characterization, and basically just decided to feed us “Hai Hai Puffy Ami Yumi” all over again, except with the Teen Titans in place of Japanese pop stars. Goody.