Director Henry Selick’s take on Neil Gaiman’s vision of a magical world of the macabre is probably one of the most sinister animated films I’ve seen since “Monster House.” Henry Selick takes the same American Gothic motif and injects it in to a classic formula of a young girl finding a magical world being exposed to all the oddities at the director’s disposal. Gaiman penned the grossly underrated “Mirrormask” and essentially provides us with the exact pacing and eye catching creatures and machinations paired with some top notch animation that works as a mixture of claymation and computer animation that gives the dark atmosphere a peculiar more original taste.
Tag Archives: C
Chainsaw Maid (2007)
Around four months ago I deeply considered reviewing “Chainsaw Maid” for the site mainly because I thought it was so well made. These days I’m almost sorry that I opted out of reviewing “Chainsaw Maid” because it’s become somewhat of a cult hit. How did this happen? The animation is rigid. The claymation basic, and the story is so incredible one note, and yet when all is said and done I’d actually sit and watch a ninety minute live action version of “Chainsaw Maid.” What’s the big deal about this movie? Well, as a person who can’t speak Asian, the director, and writer are basically unknown to me, and there’s a strong character motivation in spite of the fact that there’s zero dialogue.
Cool Hand Luke (1967) (Deluxe Edition DVD)
The first time I ever saw “Cool Hand Luke” was on cable, on a Sunday evening, edited, and filled with commercials. And yet all of the quality managed to be retained in spite of the obvious differences a network version would possess. And it still managed to earn its place as one of my top ten movies of all time. Possibly one of the greatest movies ever made embodying everything that a good movie for men should be made of. From clever dialogue, male bonding, some of the most memorable sequences ever filmed (Newman really ate fifty eggs?), and social undertones that I take away after every viewing. Lucas Jackson is that embittered war veteran, the man who is considered a war hero and yet hates his country with every inch of his being.
CJ7 (2008)
I’d like to tell you that “CJ7” is Stephen Chow’s answer to “E.T.” but as we all have come to know, Chow would never be about providing ordinary kids entertainment that we’ve seen before. “CJ7” may have the same formula when you get down to it, but Chow gives his own spin on it and it works. It’s a healthy dose of menace, adult edge, and over the top fantasy that has become a dead art in family films and director Chow takes every chance to flex those elements with his own take on the boy meets alien tale. On the flipside, Chow also tries to tell a genuinely emotional tale about a poor down on their luck and father and son struggling to get by living in a junk yard and eating day old food, while character Dickey’s dad always tries to teach him about life and how there are simply no short cuts. Especially when you’re poor.
Cannibal Ferox (1981)
Watching Ruggero Deodato’s “Cannibal Holocaust” was an experience that I still remember with fondness. I sat with the DVD in hand at my television with a pit in my stomach and prepared to finally view what is considered one of the most controversial and taboo films ever made. And I wasn’t disappointed. Watching “Cannibal Ferox” was a different experience altogether. Maybe it was because the movie is not as good as the aforementioned horror film, or maybe it’s because Umberto Lenzi approaches this horror flick from a sexploitation angle with sensual women ravaged by cannibals instead of the mock documentary style as Deodato’s film.
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! (1974) (DVD)
Okay, so I don’t celebrate Easter, and I don’t particularly subscribe to the principles of Schulz’s comic and its strong religious themes, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with “Easter Beagle,” yet another classic Charlie Brown episode involving the gang and, what else, Easter! While Linus creates another sentient figure out of a holiday called the Easter Beagle, anxiously awaiting its gifts and bounty, Marcy and Peppermint Patty try to grasp the concept of coloring eggs while wasting food in the most disturbing of manners. Believe it or not, Marcie can’t figure out that you have to boil eggs before coloring them.
Cloverfield (2008)
We live in an age where we’re always watching someone. Cameras watch us, guards watch the cameras, surveillance videos keep an eye on potential criminals, we watch people on web cams, we pay to watch women undress for us, we peer into celebrities’ lives through tabloids and candid cameras, we watch reality shows built around surveillance cameras and hidden video, and we’re constantly being watched by our government who keep us monitored and at close range, so it was only natural that horror movies would grow to reflect that. “Cloverfield” is one in the “Blair Witch” formula that doesn’t try to give us a film, but more purports to give us actual home videos through the eyes of average upper class New Yorkers and keep us watching through a camera lens. Through this camera, we are the voyeurs.