10. Trick ‘r Treat
Michael Dougherty’s love letter to Halloween experienced so many problems since its introduction that it took literally years for horror fans to finally be able to watch it. When they did the reception was mostly positive. “Trick R Treat” is a classic anthology film that perfectly captures the feel of Halloween and celebrates the holiday’s greatest elements. From urban legends to classic monster mashes, Dougherty pulls out all the stops to tell various stories, all of which are filled with twists that you simply won’t see coming. So brilliant is it that you’ll need to see it three times to fully capture the essence of its in jokes and tricks and treats. Dougherty’s ode to All Hallow’s Eve is a title that won’t easily be forgotten.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Yogi's First Christmas (1980) (DVD)
As an animated movie, Hanna Barbera could have done much better. “Yogi’s First Christmas” isn’t the worst animated movie I’ve ever seen but in terms of quality, it all feels like such a rushed product that was pushed in to production in time for Christmas. The line work is shaky, the coloring is bland, the character models are fuzzy and there are even a few errors that will give the keen observer a hard time.
Up in the Air (2009)
Ryan Bingham is panicking. It’s not that he’s losing his job. There are no dilemmas that are plaguing his family. Ryan is panicking because, for once, he has to settle down and face the fact that soon he’ll have to stop and take a catalogue of what his life has become over the last few years of his life. Traveling around the world, Ryan is the man companies hire to break it to employees that they have been terminated. And he prides himself in being ruthless and merciless in regards to emotions and insecurities involving people he just met and will probably never meet again. Ryan now has to take stock and decide what he has to do now that his company has decide to take its employees and bring them back down to Earth downsizing their traveling due to their slowly decreasing funds and productivity.
Julie & Julia (2009)
Based on true stories, Nora Ephron’s dramedy is actually based on two novels. This allows Ephron and co. to take parallel storylines and turn “Julie and Julia” in to a bonding ground for a lost woman and a budding chef, both of whom are starting their lives out in new places when we first meet them, and are about to embark on a rather interesting adventure involving food, changing the way they and others think, and fulfilling ambitions regardless of how grand or minute it may seem. Julie is a woman just starting out in her new job as a woman who takes complaints involving 9/11 in Queens. After days of listening to people’s problems, she decides to emulate her hero Julia Child pursuing a different kind of natural high after realizing her life hasn’t been taken advantage of after a meeting with her high powered best friends. Back in the forties we meet a young Julia Child who is just beginning to follow her dreams as a professional chef in Le Cordon Bleu.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
In the various trailers for director Wes Anderson’s animated film, the narrator claims that “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is open to everyone of all ages. But let’s face it here Wes, kids aren’t going to want to see this. In fact whether intentionally or not, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is so mature that you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone under eleven who would sit through this movie without falling or sleep or focusing on something completely disconnected. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is strictly for Anderson fans. It’s something that goes unsaid but is quite obvious if you really see what Anderson tries to do for the animation genre this year. He goes for fluid and often stunning stop motion technology and tells a story that features so many back and forth moments of pure dialogue that will go over the heads of most people.
Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Christine Jeffs movie is one that I really wanted to love and god knows I went in to it with a shit eating grin ready for something truly unique. Instead I was given something that fails to seize anything resembling an identity. Emily Blunt and Amy Adams are pretty darn good, even in a movie that’s pretty darn flawed. Blunt handles her American accent well and plays probably the most fascinating character in the bunch. She’s a slacker but is also fiercely devoted to her family. So devoted is she that she takes part in her sister’s cleaning business, a lucrative cleaning service that scrubs blood, limbs, and any other bodily fluid left behind in crime scenes. The two have a dynamic chemistry and that reflects on screen as a pure highlight.
Cabbie (2009) (2nd Cut)
Back in 2007, director Donlee Brussel submitted a film to our website called “Cabbie.” It was a short comedy about a cabbie played by Steve Gelder who approaches his job with passion and a stiff tongue in cheek attitude. The movie was less than watchable up viewing the short. Two years later, Donlee Brussel has taken his original twenty minute short comedy and reduced it to fourteen minutes with a heavily edited final product that has a more definite and even tone as opposed to the last cut that needed some drastic work on the comedic atmosphere and storytelling. Was this second chance worth it from Brussel? Honestly no.