Leelee Sobieski (Joyride, Eyes Wide Shut) plays Ruby, a problematic teen who often takes her parents for granted and has a bad relationship with her brother Rhett. But one night while attempting to sneak into her house, she discovers that her parents have died in a car crash. They then come under the guardianship of what seem like the perfect couple, the Glasses, their neighbors. But what seems to be a perfect life at first turns out to be more than Ruby bargained for. Leelee Sobieski hams it up as the misguided teen / heroine who discovers her new foster parents plot early within the movie.
Tag Archives: Mystery
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
The laugh factor is very low in this. I’ll explain the plot crunch to you. Two dudes get slammed the night before, and wake up the next morning hung over. They then realize that their car is missing and now must go on a quest to find the car… There weren’t as much laughs as I suspected there would be. I was hoping to be in tears, yet only found myself lightly chuckle at a few parts. Ashton Kutcher is likeable in this, as he is in “That 70’s Show”. He does a good job.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
The good thing about “Blair Witch 2” is that it’s a head trip and major mind fuck that explores the ideas about fandom and how sometimes the ideas of fiction and reality can be blurred. The plus sides to this are the disturbing turns at violence that help accentuate the lengths some of the entities go through to instill a sense of reality, and while it doesn’t rear its ugly head until the shocking end, it leaves a very fine mark. True, this is not as innovative or awe inspiring as the original, but it at least aims for different and something that pays tribute to the first film more than anything.
It’s not an official sequel per se, presenting a meta-narrative where “The Blair Witch Project” was just a movie and popular. The people we see are in our reality. The whole reason why the kids go into the woods is because of the first one because they loved the movie so much. It provides a lot of memorable twists and turns at once. This movie illustrates the often blurry and always terrifying line between truth and fiction. That said, it isn’t a perfect movie folks. The acting is rocky and the characters are pretty uninteresting and one note. The dialogue is atrocious at times; there were terrible lines spouted out one after another and it was distracting.
“Blair Witch 2” is very beautifully directed, and conveys a unique Gothic tone in keeping with Eduardo Sanchez’s original horror film, and adding to the mythos of the Blair Witch. Joe Berlinger gives his film a very nightmarish feel and makes every element and plot twist feel like a fever dream where we and the characters are going mad. While the suspense is nil in the first half, the build up works very well and pay off is still quite great. I was initially left my jaw hanging down and just wanted to see much more about what unfolded, and if anything in the movie had a sense of rationality, since it blurs reality and eventually even universes as a whole.
Though I felt this would’ve benefitted with a better cast of performers, and a much better screenwriter, I got a real kick out of “Book of Shadows,” and think of it as a neat sequel that works in the way “Season of the Witch” did for “Halloween” as a tale from this mythology and not a direct follow up.
The Gift (2000)
I am a big fan of “Evil Dead” and Sam Raimi once again displays his skill for horror and movie-making brilliance. Though “The Gift” is tonally uneven, it’s still worth a watch if only for the mood and inherent dread present. The movie’s scenery is comprised of a country setting, but the entire landscape of the trees and bayou is so grim and dark like a painting. The night scenes are the best, showing off the odd structure of the Dali-esque trees and scenery. When a young rich woman, Jessica (Katie Holmes) disappears, Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) the local town psychic reader must investigate the murder, but to the relentless harassment of an abusive man named Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves) who is angry at her advice to his wife about Annie advising her to leave him.
The 6th Day (2000)
“The 6th Day” is below the quality of any other Schwarzenegger movie I’ve seen before. This plot is not entirely original, and it leaves a lot of room for the people to debate on the whether the concept of cloning is playing god or just another step in technology. I found it dull.
Terror Tract (2000)
“Terror Tract” is a fun, freaky, and creepy anthology filled with a trio of horror stories that, although derivative, pack a punch with their clever twists and top notch performances. John Ritter is an unusually quirky real estate agent named Bob who is showing houses to a newlywed couple on a weird neighborhood. We automatically get the idea that this is a weird neighborhood thanks to an incident involving a cat. From there, Bob begins telling our couple a trio of stories, one of which comes with every house he shows.