Art by Trevor Gentry Birnbaum
The Escape Clause
Tag Archives: E
Evil Aliens (2005)
About five minutes into Jake West’s “Evil Aliens”, I was already sinking low into my seat wondering what I was watching. It begins as a simple horror film. Two people are having sex. And they’re abducted. The man then experiences one hell of a violent anal probe that tops off the sick fuck fest known as “Evil Aliens”, and I was having fun. Led by an utterly vivacious news reporter (Emily Booth), a group of cameramen and reporters head out into the countryside to investigate a case of abduction, and alien pregnancy they suspect is bogus, that will essentially lead to one hell of a bloody skirmish that makes up most of “Evil Aliens”.
En Passant (2005)
Ellie Parker (2005)
I mean, sure, making a film about actors struggling to make it in the system is an age old formula and even antiquated by today’s standards. After all the cheap attempts by Steven Soderbergh with crap like “Full Frontal”, and “Unscripted”, there’s really not much “Ellie Parker” provides in terms of original comedic material spoofing the audition process. Even with Naomi Watts as its star, there’s really nothing to take away from this experience. I was very disappointed after watching “Ellie Parker”. I’d spent many months anxious to see what Watts had up her indie bone, and to discover she really had nothing there, was a true disappointment.
Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl (2002)
Imagine if Dr. Seuss combined genius with Edgar Allan Poe, with Tim Burton bouncing ideas off of them, and what do you get? Well, if you’re lucky you’d get Evelyn, the cutest evil dead girl, a demented fairytale with the mood and color you never get in films anymore, the mood and color that’s missing from the horror genre today. Many call this basically a rip from “Lenore the Living Dead Girl” comic book, and perhaps that’s true, but “Evelyn” is such a sick and demented short film I had so much fun watching that I didn’t really care.
Elektra (2005)
Going in to pissed off fan boy mode in 3, 2, 1: So, here’s a history lesson in case you wanted it or not. Elektra, pre-Hollywoodization, was a beautiful but incredibly vicious warrior. She had depth, and personality and humanity, and was forced to turn against her beliefs when Bullseye, the psychotic killer murdered her beloved father in front of her eyes. Elektra blamed Daredevil for not helping when he could have and trained with the Hand to become a warrior. She returned to stalk Daredevil and fell in love with him. She was killed at the hands of Bullseye and returned as an undead warrior, more vicious than ever. All of this made possible by Frank Miller.
Elf (2003)
What ultimately turns “Elf” from an okay movie to a good movie, is Will Ferrell. Will Ferrell gives such a good performance here and is both laugh out loud funny and endearing presenting such a conviction with his role and commits to this character giving a wide eyed exuberance throughout the entirety of the film, even when facing adversity and hardship. What “Elf” essentially has going for it in the long run is its sense of innocence approaching family and Buddy approaching the real world. The film, while a story about an man who thinks he’s an elf discovering the real world, it’s also about losing ones innocence and grasp on their inner-child.