Let Me In

Let Me In is the American remake of the cult classic Swedish film, "Let the Right One In". The story is about a young boy who is bullied at school and becomes friends with a girl who moves in next door to him. Their relationship quickly becomes romantic and he starts to discover that the girl he is falling in love with is a vampire.
The movie was a very good adaptation of the original movie and while I never read the book, the majority of the story stayed the same across both films. I have to say that the American version did show a lot more violence and action than the Swedish version. This probably has a lot to do with the available budget each studio was given.
The American version keeps the intrigue, intensity, and the innocence that the first one exhibited. The love story between the two kids, while odd, is very innocent and sweet.
I really liked this movie and felt that even with a realitively unknown cast, the overall quality was very good. I give this 4 stars and would highly recommend it. Think Twilight but grittier with love less sexy and more pure.


The movie poster was found at: http://www.moviescribes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Let-Me-In-movie-poster.jpg

Case 39

Case 39 starring Renee Zellwegger and Bradley Cooper is a thriller/horror movie about a little girl who is perceived to be a demon. After a social worker (Zellwegger) discovers an abusive family and exposes their plans to kill their daughter, she takes the little girl in until the system can find a home for her. Quickly she begins to learn the girls real parents may have not been as crazy as they seem as people start dying and accidents become more frequent around Zellwegger.
The movie is not without its intensity and classic jumps, but the end was quite predictable. Even watching this in the daytime, there were several parts that freaked me out. Unfortunately the end was as predictable as any other satanic kid story.
I give it a 2 1/2 stars. It was freaky scary rather than gory scary but still left a lot to be desired from the story and the lackluster end. Its a good rental during the Halloween season!


Movie poster found at: http://www.trailershut.com/movie-posters/Case-39-Movie-Poster.jpg

The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days is about a woman who is falsely accused of murder and her husband who makes it his life's goal to get her out by any means necessary.
The premise sounds great and the previews show an exhilarating thrill ride. Unfortunately thats not what we get until the very end. The first half of the movie builds up the big adventure at the end. However it is a little too long and slow at the beginning. The second half of the movie really picks up and is very intense.
Paul Haggis (Crash) was the writer and director of the movie, however it did not showcase is normally high talent for dialogue and story telling. The question of the woman's guilt is only slightly teased. It should have either been explored deeper or left out completely. The wife also seems to be almost ok being stuck in prison for a crime she claims she didn't commit. Even as her husband is trying to break her out of prison, she seems reluctant to leave. It seemed unrealistic for a woman who claims the system failed her to be content with spending the rest of her life in prison away from her husband and kid.
Overall this movie was slightly below average. I give it 2 1/2 stars for how slow the first half of the movie was and the annoying wife.


Poster from: http://www.cinemovie.tv/cinemovie_new/images/stories/MoviePosters/the-next-three-days-movie-poster.jpg

Scream 4

After 11 years Scream returns to the screen!! I have to say that even though the last 2 were pretty bad, Scream has remained a great franchise in my opinion. The first one set the bar for pretty much the next decade of horror films. It was a healthy mix of the violence you expect in a horror movie and the intensity of a solid thriller.
Scream 4 was by far the best one since the first. It had all the original elements and there was even the classic line "Don't f*** with the original!" I find it hard to classify this as a horror film because really there was very little to be scared of. There were a few intense moments that make it more of a thriller.
The best part of seeing this movie (other than the bottle of Malbec), was the twists and the revelation of who the killer was! It had us guessing the entire movie and then that person would get knifed and we would have to search for the next killer. Even my wife who is extraordinary at ruining whodunnit movies was stumped until the very end.
After reading the news and seeing its dismal box office performance do not be dismayed. This movie was great. There was 0 promotion for it though unlike the first 3. After 11 years, people tend to forget or lose interest in sequels and the lack of advertising did not help either. I remember seeing only 1 trailer on the internet, no trailers in theaters, and not one tv commercial.
While this movie left something to be desired in the horror, scary department, the intensity, writing, and plot twists in the movie have earned it a 3 1/2 stars with me. I also always enjoy when they make fun of the horror movie genre and themselves. Its not neccessary to see this in theaters, but it definitely is a must see for anyone that loved the first one!

movie poster image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj97YVdRQe487jj8u1Nd0HzZgiWgnTnbfhuwo3DY0_lr-PasoIAn6zcAY8j8WByW84mzfmsEfScZTj7FJntu3_1n896xgClH3zJ6TXq4sz593WLJlcVZiDs56SFSzDONqhVEJCV38Hs2Qjl/s1600/scream+4+teaser.jpg

Attack on Darfur

This was not a widely released movie so I am just getting to this Billy Zane, Edward Furlong movie about the genocide that was allowed to occur by the international community.
While it is not the greatest script, it is extremely emotional similar to Hotel Rwanda.  It shows not only the atrocities of the sickest humans and the cowardice of the international community but also the heroic actions of a few who at least tried to do the right thing.
It is fascinating how George Bush and Tony Blair could invade Iraq but not see the need to save these hundreds of thousands of people. Its strange that Barrack Obama would push for international military action in Libya but no one would make a strong case to stop the genocide in Darfur.
It is not only sickening to see the actions of perverted and soul less men, but also to witness the cowardice of those we call leaders.
Darfur received a lot of attention due to hollywood advocates and timely films, but once again a genocide occurred and the world failed to care until it was too late.
This movie was gut wrenching but worth the watch to ensure everyone understands the atrocities that occurred again under our watch.

Movie poster from: pitaara.us

Arthur (2011)

This remake was sadly not as funny as its original. Even with Russell Brand's humorous timing and off the cuff comments, Dudley Moore's version was still better. There were some very funny parts, mostly extended scenes already seen in the trailer. Helen Mirren was fantastic in this version. After seeing her perform so well in many drama's and action movies, it was refreshing to see her comedic side. Russell Brand's real love interest in this movie, Greta Gerwig was unflattering and sometimes a little annoying. She played the quirky but fascinating love interest that Zooey Deschanel always played so well. Sadly she did not live up to Zooey's precedence.
Honestly the best part of this movie was one of the previews- a full trailer for The Hangover 2. I laughed harder during that preview than the entire almost 2 hour Arthur.
Even with the mildly humorous parts, I would only give this movie 2 stars. It was by far not the worst movie I've seen but if you miss this one, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Definitely a rental, at best.
Movie poster from: blog.80millionmoviesfree.com

The Source Code

Last Sunday we went and saw Source Code at the Drafthouse. For those of you unfamiliar with the Alamo Drafthouse, its a theater that serves food and drinks while you watch the movie making dinner and a movie very easy and delicious! Being an Austin staple, this theater though is very weird and does a lot of unique screenings and pre-show previews. Their pre-show is a compilation of videos that pertain to the movie. For instance, during the new Star Trek show, they would show clips of the old Star Trek TV show. Well before this movie they showed clips of Groundhog Day and other lesser known similar films. It really helped set the tone of the movie- Source Code is like an action packed sci-fi Groundhog Day! This was a very interesting movie, containing lots of twists and non-stop action from the very beginning. The cast all did very well, the script was great, and the idea was an old one with an enthralling twist. Its hard to talk about this movie, because I felt like the previews ended up not really showing you anything about the movie. You go in thinking you know what this is about, but the longer you watch, the more you realize you knew nothing when this movie started. So without spoiling anything, I will just say this. During the wrap up towards the end, they start explaining things. In my opinion, there was a fatal flaw in the timeline that ended up not making any sense at all. I understood the direction they were going and why they went that way, but I feel like they messed up the timeline. The very, very end though was really cool and well done. Unfortunately I am very picky with movies and the fact that they seem to have messed up the end a little, I am going to give this just 3 1/2. However, if someone can explain it to me to my satisfaction, I will definitely up it to a 4!

pic from: http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Source-Code-Movie-Poster.jpg