There really isn’t much of anything directors can do with the vampire sub-genre anymore and that’s been a given for horror geeks for a long time. I’m repellent to any and all vampire fang films that come to the forefront and I’ve made it a rule to carefully dissect most fang films after constant turkeys passed my way. Thankfully “Let the Right One In” isn’t your average vampire movie. And while it’s trite to make such a declaration the truth remains: “Let the Right One In” is a different vampire film and one I loved with every aching horror geek bone inside me.
Cinema Crazed's Worst 10 of 2008
10. Space Chimps
You know, movie geeks make a lot of noise about films in theaters that are great and barely ever receive the attention crap like “Meet Dave” does, but every so often when a new movie scarcely gathers any kind of promotion at all, there’s a reason for it. A damn good reason. And “Space Chimps” is that prime example that some studios may hold films back because they’re just terrible and barely watchable. Cheap animation and a virtually non-existent plot pretty much destroy any semblance of potential this one-note premise has from the starting gates, as “Space Chimps” only clocks in at a lean eighty minutes and feels endless with its horrible voice acting, lame gags, and a twist in the second half that is not only surprising but clumsy in its delivery as if the writers just didn’t know where to go creatively after the chimps were actually in space. I always enter in to an animated film with a healthy sense of optimism (I even gave “Doogal” a chance!) but in a summer that brought us “Wall-E,” talking chimps and NASA propaganda simply doesn’t cut it for me.
Religulous (2008)
It took me eighteen years to finally discover what a crock religion is. There it is, all of my explanation I feel I owe anyone who questions my belief system. While lampooning religion can be fun for only so long, “Religulous” is a film I think should be seen mainly because whether you like it or not spawns truths and puts the religious in the hot seat to discover what god and or religion is. What is god? How did he come to be? I’ve never a response without some sort of unsure rhetoric or descent in to the old clichés about his coming to be without ever providing a solid answer.
Wall-E (Single-disc Edition) (DVD): Widescreen Edition : Disney Eco-friendly Packaging
Before you start in on what the best movie of our year has been so far, I’ll just declare straight that “Wall E” may not only be the best movie of the year, but also one of the finest PIXAR has ever created. Intelligent and bold without alienating its target audience, “Wall E” is that movie that dwarves talking animals flicks blowing away the likes of chimps in space and a kung fu panda. “Wall E” is a magnificent global conscious adventure about the utterly adorable helper robot who doesn’t know that he doesn’t have to clean up what was once considered our home planet.
Resident Evil (Biohazard): Degeneration (2008)
Sure it watches like a compilation of cut scenes from past games, and sure in some cases it’s an attempt at a reboot for the series, but all I could think about while watching “Regeneration” is: Was this so fucking hard to do for fans and general horror fans? We had to suffer through three really bad derivative quasi-horror films and now we’re given a virtually completely animated movie that just gets it right. Why is it so hard to release this and let us endure Paul WS Anderson’s butchery in the first place? “Degeneration” pretty much sums up its goal from the opening shot where WilPharmacy’s have taken over the city leaving where Raccoon City left off.
The Greatest Fan Film of All Time (2008)
Jacob Drake is probably one of my favorite independent animators, because while the character models tend to be crude at times, there’s a certain dynamic charm they obtain to where the art slowly evolves in to outstanding models of figures and men that only add to the silliness and inherent great sense of humor engrained in the movie that is “The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.” For a sequel and a fan film the folks now working outside the defunct Bullcrank studios, “The Greatest Fan Film” makes good in its word of being a funny but epic finisher for a small group of independent filmmakers now seeking their own niche in entertainment.
The Dark Knight (2008) (Deluxe Edition DVD)
There have been almost two editions of “The Dark Knight” on both DVD and Blu-Ray. I’m happy to admit that they’re all warranted releases. Not only does Warner give us one of the best comic book movies ever made along turning Batman in a tragic tale of becoming a hero in situations he’s just not sure he handle. Take for instance the explosions in the hospital. What I love about the joker here is not that he has a distinct love for violence and doesn’t come with a sub-plot where we’re supposed to sympathize for his life story unlike the “Spider-Man” movies where villains couldn’t just be villains.