Gary Busey didn’t come back for the sequel? Was he holding out for more money or did his wrangler have a hard time tranquilizing him? In either case, much of “Gingerdead Man 2” is still just so damn inexplicable and confusing. Michelle Bauer plays Miss Polly who appears at a local film shoot with baked goods. Inside the box is Gingerdead Man. How did he get in there? Why is he there? Is someone sending him around to kill people? It’s never actually explained or remotely hinted.
Director Patrick Rea’s tale of sibling rivalry and back stabbing that progresses well in to the supernatural is a devious and fun little short film that I enjoyed a great deal. It’s a sick and slick look at karma and really does build upon a slew of characters, all of whom are slimy and very much based on self-gratification and self-preservation, blood bonds be damned.
What do you do when you’re the only person that can signal something truly dire looming in the darkness? How do you handle information that you can’t possibly comprehend? Would you rather not know what evil is coming forth, or do you put the information to good use? Director Colin MacDonald’s short horror film is teeming with foreshadowing and excellent dread that promises a great dose of terror and atmosphere fans will get behind.
Director Jacques Tourneur’s horror thriller is probably one of the most unique and menacing thrillers about a woman’s inherent ferocity and rage ever made. “Cat People” is filled to the brim with metaphor and symbolism, from the parallels of Simone Simon’s character Irena’s to a black panther stuck in a cage, right down to a kitten confined in a small paper box by Irena’s husband to be Oliver. After surprising her with the pet as a gift, the cat discovers that it hates Irena, and she it. More suitably though, the two aren’t kindly to being tied down and given to domestic masters.
When Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneaur conceived “Cat People,” the budget was low for anything truly spectacular, thus allowing them to get creative. Director Paul Schrader definitely has a larger budget and wider scope to deal with, resulting in a fairly forgettable remake. If you can call it a remake, mind you. All the mythology is lost in favor of a hyper sexual retelling that keeps the cat people and removes everything else. “Cat People” definitely fits the nostalgia bill for people who find Nastassja Kinski especially sexy, as Schrader soaks the film in a palette of neon colors and bold bright pastels while Giorgio Moroder’s score blares non-stop.
Director Justin Baird’s “The Big Kiss Off” is a very charming movie with a lot of good intent behind it. Often times good intentions count for much, but they don’t always turn around a good movie. The good news is that “The Big Kiss Off” strives to be a new age PI crime comedy, and works because it really does present within it a tight narrative that is interesting, even when it falters every now and then.
One thing that’s immediately noticeable is that no one says anything is “cool” anymore. I understand that you will hear people say “that’s cool,” which would appear to contradict what I just said in the previous sentence, but you’re paying attention now and that’s good.
Coolness is a complex and elusive concept. People are commonly aware of the designations of “cool” versus “uncool,” but are not always certain how exactly to apply these distinctions. Is Justin Bieber cool? Lots of girls want to bang him; he drives flashy, expensive cars (and gets pulled over for speeding!); he vandalizes public and private property; and he’s overtly disrespectful to authority figures. He meets several qualifications for coolness, but saying Justin Bieber is cool is kind of like saying McDonald’s salads are healthy.