I find it’s very hard to display any sense of malice or distaste for something like “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” which is so harmless and adorable in its presentation with simple animation and such an uncomplicated story. It’s the closest thing to quality for me that Disney’s created in years. Disney’s creativity and imagination has all but diminished over the years, except for when it applied to “Winnie the Pooh” and its many spin-offs. Though Christopher Robin is all but MIA in this film (appearing in the credits briefly), “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” is still a very entertaining and guilt-free story about friendship that often echoes “The Fox and the Hound” except less heartbreaking.
The United States of Leland (2003)
“Elephant”, a truly disturbing film examined teen murder, the ability of a person to pick up a weapon and murder another person whether justified or not, and continue to do so, and it examined it where none of it made any sense. “United States of Leland” examines that same concept, and though it’s the same basic approach, it’s still a pretty damn good film in the end. Is it so hard to believe that many times there’s just no reason for something bad that happens? For many people, it is. There has to be a reason for everything these days, and what’s most disturbing about this film is that basically there’s just no reason for murder sometimes.
Masters of Horror: Deer Woman
Don’t you hate it when Native American legends about man killing seductresses come true? I know I sure do. Director John Landis’ tale conquers that common American problem with a unabashedly cheesy, but still entertaining entry in to the “Masters of Horror” series that never takes itself seriously. As basically all of these stories, there’s a woman on the road killing travelers, truckers and any horny man that comes on to her, and these guys fall for her hook line and sinker. It’s not hard to buy the fact that these men fall for this female’s tricks since the actress Cinthia Moura is utterly hot, but it’s a wonder if these guys ever saw a noir film learning about femme fatales.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Believe it or not, I was hopeful for the remake of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. While I was never a fan of Tim Burton (I’ve always considered him over rated), I was hoping Burton’s take on the story would be entertaining and very amusing, but alas, Burton botches yet another remake. For those whom may not remember, Burton completely botched the remake of “Planet of the Apes” which went from a thought provoking allegory about society to a dumbed down teen science fiction film. Now, granted, I did give it a good review, it was based mostly on the cast and make up.
Either way, don’t believe the excuses of the hardcore Burton fan boys, this is a remake in every sense of the word, but Burton goes in the hall of fame of directors whom just couldn’t top the original masterpiece.
Japanese Story (2003)
Toni Collette can carry a movie as we’ve seen in “The Sixth Sense”, and she can play supporter and steal the show like in “Shaft” and “About a Boy”, so I take every chance possible to watch new movies starring this always likable and very versatile indie actress, and “Japanese Story” is the perfect example of her just amazing acting skills she presents with every film she’s in. Despite its title, it’s not foreign, I’m sorry to tell ya, folks, like “La Femme Nikita”… oh wait that is foreign… moving on–as I said, it’s a culture clash, and quite a good one at that; they’re opposite. The two people we meet here are completely opposite all in nature, culture, and refinement.
Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead
Richard Matheson’s short story does get a very kinetic bit of treatment by Hooper’s often surreal direction here. The world in “Dance of the Dead” is a world where even death isn’t the end, and even the bodies of the once living are used as entertainment in a world run by teenagers who do nothing but get high and wreak havoc on the world. Robert Englund has an especially serpentine-like walk-on role as a wicked DJ who runs the show from behind the scenes and seeks personal finance by the misery of others. “Dance of the Dead” can tend to be a twisted and gruesome look at the post-apocalypse world. It’s pretty hard to think of a very good Hooper production after “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Poltergeist”, because I’d say Hooper really hasn’t scored a slam dunk in a good long while.
Doom (2005)
I don’t play video games anymore. Yes, call me a freak all you want, but I’m not the one spending over five hundred dollars for a ridiculous new game system that will be obsolete in two years. Either way, I used to play video games, but the game “Doom” was never my milieu. It was too much of a fast-paced game and I never gained interest, but I know the basic gist of the narrative involved. So, you can imagine my dismay with the utter abysmal alterations made to the storyline turning it from nihilistic action horror to cookie cutter action science fiction (and don’t feed me that “But it’s based on Doom 3” crap).