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The Ten Best Vampire Movies of the Modern Era

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The Ten Best Vampire Movies of the Modern Era - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Features > The Ten Best Vampire Movies of the Modern EraFollow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Features March 20, 2009The Ten Best Vampire Movies of the Modern EraPosted by CoolerKing in Features, Lists

With Underworld: Rise of the Lycans opening earlier this year, Let the Right One In winning awards right and left (but getting snubbed by the Oscars), and every casting rumor about the Twilight sequel, The Twilight Saga's New Moon, turning the internet into a message board-posting rampage, blood-sucking creatures of the night are the "in creature" for 2009. A few years ago it was all about zombies and maybe Benicio Del Toro can bring it back to werewolves with The Wolf Man, but we are undeniably in the year of the bat.

With that in mind and with Twilight hitting DVD this Saturday, March 21st - stores will be open for midnight release parties across the country on Friday night, for those who love teen vamps and miss late night Potter parties - it got us thinking about our favorite vampire movies and doing something that everyone loves to do - list-making. Looking over the entire history of dozens of bloodsucking flicks seemed impossible and it's really hard to compare Nosferatu to Fright Night, so we decided to narrow the scope to only the ones made in the last quarter-century. Believe it or not, that still left dozens of choices.

Before you fanboys and fangirls start going crazy, we'll get this out right now – Twilight is not on the list. We're interested in where this franchise is going (especially with a new director) but, to be honest, there were better vampire movies than this tween phenomenon. Even Stephenie Meyer and Catherine Hardwicke would probably admit that. You can also keep 30 Days of Night and, if you even think it counts, I Am Legend. Neither film is that good. Sorry Josh Hartnett fans. And Legend fans? The sky is a different color in your world than mine. I’m talking to you, Ben Lyons.

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Honestly, narrowing it down to ten was tough. We tried to span the entire era and represent the breadth of the genre with our choices. From the atmospheric chills of films like Guy Maddin's take on Dracula or Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In to action-driven films like The Lost Boys and From Dusk Till Dawn. As for near-misses, Guillermo Del Toro's Blade II, easily the best of the three Wesley Snipes movies, Day Watch, and even the original Underworld have their kinetic thrills and legions of fans but they didn't quite make the list. More arthouse crowds might champion The Addiction or Nadja and they're not completely wrong, but they're just barely not top ten material. And there's certainly a subgenre of vampire-comedy that clicks with highlights like Nicolas Cage's Vampire's Kiss and, yes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and those films were considered but didn't make the top ten.

With movies that much fun on the outside, there's got to be some bloody good times in the top ten. Grab some garlic, sharpen your stake, and try not to invite in strangers.

- Brian Tallerico

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10. Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary (Guy Maddin, 2002)

If you don't know who Guy Maddin is, get thee to Facets, Specialty Video, or someplace else that specializes in cinema outside the norm. How far outside? Maddin's Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary is a silent film, an homage to the entire history of the vampire genre that was originally filmed as a TV movie for CBC television but was released theatrically stateside. Virgin's Diary is a silent interpretation of the performance given by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet based on Bram Stoker's Dracula and it's absolutely mesmerizing. Maddin has often been inspired by early films, including ones before the development of sound in film, and Dracula uses several old devices, including title cards, screen color choices, and even Vaseline on the lens. But Maddin also clearly uses some modern effects. It's the perfect blend of new and old and one of the best from one of the most innovative directors of the '00s.

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9. Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige, 2000)

Thanks to the whole "modern era" thing, we can't include the original Nosferatu but we can't exclude a movie about the making of that seminal classic. Featuring the best performance of Willem Dafoe's career, Shadow of the Vampire presents a fictionalized account of the making of the horror classic that asks the odd question - what if Max Schreck, the man who played vampire Count Orlok, was a creature of the night himself? Director E. Elias Merhige and his great cast perfectly balance comedy, drama, and general creepiness with their very original take on not only the legend of the vampire but also his impact on the early days of cinema. It's kind of like Tim Burton's Ed Wood meets Nosferatu. And, yes, it's as great as that sounds.

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8. From Dusk Till Dawn (Robert Rodriguez, 1996)

There are essentially two different kinds of movie vampires. On one hand, you have the isolated monster in his castle, longing for his true love and lamenting his centuries in solitude. The other is the bad-ass, bloodsucking, S.O.B., a creature who'll rip out your throat for fun as much as for sustenance. From Dusk Till Dawn is the latter. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez delivered a thrill ride for vamp fans, proving that there was still life in the idea of bloodsuckers as action movie villains and blasting the self-seriousness that the subgenre had taken on recently with films like Interview with the Vampire and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Clearly inspired by several other movies on this list, Dusk Till Dawn was a blast for horror movie fans and has held up surprisingly well over the years.

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7. The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987)

A film that hasn't held up quite as well but definitely needs to make the list - if only for what it did for the genre - is Joel Schumacher's kind-of-dated The Lost Boys. With roles that defined the careers of Jason Patric, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, and Kiefer Sutherland for years to come, Lost Boys brilliantly merged two of the most popular genre trends of the mid-'80s - the horror comedy and the coming-of-age story. Honestly, vampires were arguably never more popular in the history of film than they were in the mid-'80s with Fright Night, Near Dark, and The Lost Boys. All three need to be mentioned in a top ten list of the best vampire movies of the modern era. Here's the first.

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6. Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994)

Vampires came back to the forefront in the early to mid-'90s with two hugely high-profile art pics in 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula and 1994's Interview with the Vampire. These films were the opposite of the horror/comedy trend of the '80s in that they were played with deadly seriousness and were more of a throwback to the days of Nosferatu. Interview is not a perfect film but there's so much to like about the storytelling, direction, and, yes, performances. Even Tom Cruise.

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5. Cronos (Guillermo Del Toro, 1993)

If you're late to the Del Toro party, having learned about the great Mexican director from films like Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, do yourself a favor and go back and revisit arguably his two best movies - The Devil's Backbone and Cronos. The latter is his debut and co-stars the big red guy himself, Ron Perlman. The film is about an antique dealer who finds an ancient device that essentially turns him into a vampire. Moody, atmospheric, and very dark, Cronos clearly heralded the arrival of a talented new filmmaker when it premiered at Toronto in 1993. A decade-and-a-half later, Guillermo Del Toro has a loyal following and is prepping to do The Hobbit. Check out where it began with one of the best vampire movies ever made.

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4. Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985)

If you had asked me to write this list when I was thirteen, Fright Night would have been at the top. Heck, if you had asked me to list the best movies ever made, Fright Night might have been at the top. I loved this '80s action/adventure/comedy flick, a perfect example of the kind of tongue-in-cheek horror they made more often in the era of Ghostbusters and Gremlins. Come to think of it, why DON'T they make as many mainstream horror comedies anymore? It's weird. Watching it now, what I love about Fright Night is its recognition of the fans. It's a film about a horror movie fan made by horror fans for horror movie fans. The adoration of the genre comes through in every frame. Director Tom Holland was chosen for Showtime's Masters of Horror primarily for Fright Night (secondarily for Child's Play and not at all for The Temp).

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3. Bram Stoker's Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992)

Yes, Keanu Reeves is goofy and no one likes to think anything positive about Winona Ryder any more, but before you knee-jerk response to this choice, check it out again. Coppola's Dracula is a grandiose spectacle of a film, which is exactly what this story demands. Over-the-top set pieces with ridiculous dialogue not only work for this kind of material, there's no other way to pull it off successfully. Gary Oldman gives one of the best performances of his career, and we'll take Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing over that Oscar host any day of the week. But the real key to the mesmerizing charm of Bram Stoker's Dracula is there in the design. The bloody, insane, gorgeous design.

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2. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

I hate it when critics and viewers try to claim all of a certain kind of horror movie is the same. There is a wide variety within the subgenres of "zombie movie," "ghost story," "slasher flick," etc. and snobby people often lump things together. As if this list hasn't proven the unpredictability within the "vampire movie" already, take the case of Let the Right One In. Tomas Alfredson's riveting adolescent drama couldn't be much more dissimilar from the over-the-top style of #3 or the action extravaganza of #1. Where most movies about bloodsuckers are action or horror flicks, I would almost call Let the Right One In a vampire drama. It's a beautiful dissection of adolescence and longing for a true relationship, even if it's with a vampire.

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1. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987)

It's been twenty years since Kathryn Bigelow rocked our worlds with Near Dark and yet it is still one of the very first movies I think of when I hear the word "vampire", modern era or otherwise. Near Dark is a masterful combination of varying themes and ideas from vampire mythology as a whole, playing off both the allure and danger of being a creature of the night. Who hasn't thought about being sucked into a more exciting world than their own? Face it. Being a vampire would be pretty cool. Hanging with Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen all night at biker bars? Sign me up. Near Dark is a Western/horror/biker movie hybrid that feels like nothing else in the subgenre of vampire flick. It stands alone. It is weird, unusual, riveting, action-packed, romantic, old-fashioned, gory, clever, and exceptional. Near Dark rules.

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What do you think? Mad that Twilight didn't make the list? Are you one of the two people in the world who think Van Helsing is an underrated gem? (No fair voting for your own work, Mr. Jackman.)

Sign up for a MyVideoHound account today, post a comment, and let us know what YOU think.

Bookmark/Search this post with:Posted by CoolerKing in Features, Lists - March 20, 2009 at 12:03 AM Good One!Report Abuse
lunagoth at Jul 03 2010 19:01:51It's good to know that Twilight didn't make it. I think it's the most 'unvampire' vampire movie (what kind of vampire that doesn't have fangs and walked around under sunlight?).This list really based from quality not popularity. The_Ten_Best_Vampire_Movies_of_the_Modern_EraReport Abuse
newmoviesdvdreleases at Aug 07 2009 07:57:17With Twilight hitting DVD shelves at 12:01 am Saturday morning, it raises the question - where does Stephenie Meyer's vamp love story fit into the modern vampire genre? ---- Well.. lets see..It doesn't! vampireReport Abuse
haddin at Jun 23 2009 10:35:21Star in your own personalized vampire romance novel! YOU select the heroine and hero and best friend. Full-length novels starring YOU! ______HADDINPersonalized Vampire Romance Novels from Book By You! Oscar SnubReport Abuse
VioletSharp at Mar 26 2009 16:03:12Let the Right One In was snubbed really by Sweden, not the Academy. Each country is allowed only one entry for Best Foreign Film, and Sweden submitted "Everlasting Moments" instead. What Is A Modern Vampire Movie?Report Abuse
Plazmatix at Mar 22 2009 20:20:58I'll be frank and say that a lot of the time, I despise top ten lists...movies I hate are often listed and the good ones are left out.For example, Coppola's Dracula should not be on the current list. The actual title was Brahm Stoker's Dracula, but how can that be when key elements like opening the story with a back story of Dracula (not in the book), Dracula coming out during the day (not in the book), and Dracula being beheaded by Mina at the end of the story (definitely not in the book). All of that plus the mostly bad acting (of course, except for the Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins) makes this version of Dracula a joke.Also, the idea of "modern" going back to the 80's limits some excellent films like Polansky's, The Fearless Vampire Killers, George Romero's, Martin, the impressive Blacula (which rises above of the blaxploitation of the era to be a frankly scary vampire movie...a rarity of the genre), and House of Dark Shadows (though basically a rehashing of the TV series Dark Shadows, it was an excellent movie and another scary one).I think starting from the 80's limits the vampire movies than can be on any list because that was about the time they started to become so bad. Lost BoysReport Abuse
flickeringmyth.com at Mar 21 2009 15:31:36Enjoyed the list but for me, The Lost Boys rules! Good listReport Abuse
musicgeekmusic at Mar 20 2009 18:49:43Can go with most of your choices except Coppola's Dracula. Dracula is NOT a romance and Dracula DOES NOT cry. CorrectionReport Abuse
moviefan1111 at Mar 20 2009 16:46:46Great post. I need to see some of this. The only change I would make is Guillermo Del Toro's nationality. He is not Spanish, he is Mexican. Post Your Comment Tell a Friend about MovieRetriever.com Email your friends, Invite them to join the MovieRetriever.com community to create and share movie lists and review them. MovieRetriever.com members can:
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Looking Back at James Cameron's Titanic

2011-04-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

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The 2010 Oscar Race To Date

2011-04-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

We're more than halfway through the year, so we should have seen more than half of the nominees in all of this year's Academy Award categories, right? God I hope not. Of course, we all know that most of Oscar's favorite children are released in the final quarter of the year, but there are usually a few nominees found in films released before August 1st. Notable nominees that were out by now in previous years included The Hurt Locker, Up, Frozen River, The Visitor, The Dark Knight, La vie en Rose, Away From Her, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. What could those nominees be from this year? What's the state of the race today? Let's take a look at a few of the major categories as they stand right now.

There's a chance that we've already seen all of the nominees in this category, something we won't be able to say again in this entire feature. We have undeniably seen two of the likely three (last year there were five but I don't think we can expect that to happen again) in How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3. They're IN. So, what's the third film? It could be Despicable Me if the Academy wants to spread the wealth to Universal. The film was well-liked enough and a hit with audiences. I think the highly-buzzed The Illusionist from the director of the nominated Triplets of Belleville will take that final spot but if Sony Pictures Classics bungles that campaign then Gru could finally get the respect he deserves and we will have the rare category that was filled by nominees with release dates prior to 8/1.

Last year it was The Hurt Locker vs. Avatar in both of these categories. So which films so far this year have a similar buzz? Inception certainly has the scope and remarkable ambition of sound design that it's likely to show up in both categories. Action films commonly appear here, especially blockbuster ones, so don't be surprised if Iron Man 2 or even Salt pops up. Other dark horse candidates are Clash of the Titans, Alice in Wonderland, and Green Zone, although all three are either too strongly disliked, too marginal a choice, or both. Finally, animation often makes an appearance and it seems possible that Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon will be multiple nominees. Expect one of them to multiply into at least one of the sound categories.

Can we just give it to Inception now? Seriously? I mean is there any way that the scene where Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) fights security in zero gravity could possibly be topped? Personally, I think the film is a more momentous achievement of visual effects than Avatar merely for how brilliantly and seamlessly they work toward the final product. If Inception isn't nominated here, someone cheated. But what else? Alice in Wonderland made a mint and was HEAVY with special effects. Don't be surprised if it sneaks in. I don't think anyone was blown away by the work on Iron Man 2 but summer blockbusters often fill out this category. Which means The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Prince of Persia are screwed. They weren't big enough hits. Although with very few effects-heavy films on the horizon (other than the Potter film which seems a lock and the TRON movie), don't be surprised if a dark horse like Clash of the Titans or Burton's Alice sneaks in.

Inception is a masterpiece of editing. It's a sure thing here. And it's looking lonely. I adore Thelma Schoonmaker's work on Shutter Island but will it be too old to be remembered? I'm hoping that Scorsese's wildly underrated film sneaks into a few categories and this could be one of them, especially given her peers adoration for her remarkable career. After that? Slim pickings. Editing often matches up with Best Picture and most of the big boys in that category are coming later this year. Expect Lee Smith and nominees from three to four films we haven't seen yet, depending on the strength of the campaign I'm praying that Paramount is planning for Shutter Island.

Here's where Alice in Wonderland could get some love or this often-unpredictable category could pull out a nod for the historical accuracy of Robin Hood. They like period pieces. As with most tech categories, Inception is in. After those three? Nothing. The final two and possibly more will certainly come from the rest of the year.

I know. Broken record – Inception. Wally Pfister's been nominated three times before and this is arguably his best work. Robert Richardson's use of shadow, light, and space in Shutter Island is arguably even better than Pfister's and I hope it doesn't go forgotten. There are a few power players left to come including Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life), Roger Deakins (True Grit), Anthony Dod Mantle (127 Hours), Rodrigo Prieto (Biutiful), and Matthew Libatique (Black Swan). After Pfister and, hopefully, Richardson, they'll probably make everything else released so far this year easy to forget.

With two very strong contenders, arguably "locks," in this category this early in the year, I guess we should consider ourselves lucky. Lisa Cholodenko's script for The Kids Are All Right has apparently sunk in hard with liberal Hollywood and seems almost guaranteed, probably more than any category for a film that I expect to be a multiple nominee. Will Academy members see Inception as a purely technical film and ignore Christopher Nolan's labyrinthine script? I doubt it. I think they're both in. And they're joined by three films most of us haven't seen yet. The only possible exception is Chris Provenzano, C. Gaby Mitchell, and Scott Seeke's acclaimed-and-buzzing work on Get LowCrazy Heart wasn't nominated in this category. And that's a better script. but I think that film will be seen as purely an acting piece.

Only one lock so far – Toy Story 3. I know, I know, adapted from WHAT? All sequels are adapted as the story is based on characters created by another film. It's a debatably stupid rule in that something as unique as Toy Story 3 certainly requires a different skill set from adapting the last Harry Potter book. Whatever you think about the distinction, it's IN and a frontrunner for the win. Considering how often that animation plays in these categories, How to Train Your Dragon shouldn't be ruled out either. And Debra Granik's Winter's Bone has the kind of love that pushed Frozen River into this category. Don't rule that out at all. Finally, I'd love to see Laeta Kalogridis' brilliant take on Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island but that seems unlikely.

First, my favorite performances that I know have no chance in Hell of being remembered in six months time – Michelle Williams & Patricia Clarkson in Shutter Island, Rebecca Hall in Red Riding 1974, Rebecca Hall & Sarah Steele in Please Give, Vanessa Redgrave in Letters to Juliet, and Imogen Poots in Solitary Man. Who might be remembered? There's a rumor/hope that Focus is going to push Annette Bening into Supporting Actress for The Kids Are All Right so as not to compete with Julianne Moore (and it's arguably more accurate as Moore is in more of the film). Wherever they put her, she's in. What about her co-star Mia Wasikowska? Less likely. And what of Marion Cotillard, the emotional core and femme fatale of Inception? I know she's likely to be on my ballot but probably not enough Academy members. That means that unless they make the Bening switch, we haven't seen a single nominee in this category. Good news when one considers what to look forward to this fall but pretty pathetic.

This category has been hard to fill out in recent years but there have been a few that I love that will almost certainly be ignored – Ben Kingsley & Jackie Earle Haley in Shutter Island, Niels Arestrup in A Prophet, Jonah Hill in Cyrus, and Tom Hardy in Inception. The last two winners for Best Supporting Actor were from summer films – The Dark Knight and Inglourious Basterds. Will it be a hat trick? Not unless something really shocking comes out of The Expendables. In all seriousness, we have probably not seen a single nominee in this category, much less a winner, just like Supporting Actress. If Focus can keep the wave of support for The Kids Are All Right rolling through awards season then it certainly wouldn't be too stunning to see Mark Ruffalo deservedly nominated but even that seems unlikely with the amount of Oscar bait still to come. Some have buzzed Bill Murray's work in Get Low but the role isn't emotionally resonant enough to linger through ballot time. After that? Nada. It's possible that we've seen the WINNER in lead actor and actress in Robert Duvall and one of the ladies from The Kids Are All Right but we haven't seen a single nominee in either supporting category. Weird.

Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank, Catherine Keener in Please Give, and Dakota Fanning in The Runaways – all great, all with as much of a chance of a nomination in this category as I have. Luckily, there are a few nominees here already in theaters. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore from The Kids Are All Right would compete for the WIN if the Oscars were tomorrow and they may still do that in six months unless Focus pushes one to the supporting category. And the buzz around Jennifer Lawrence's performance in Winter's Bone is deafening in much the same way Carey Mulligan's was last year. It's very possible that we've seen 60% of this category, more than any other major one. We certainly haven't seen 80%. There's some love for Mother and Child but I'm not sure it would even register on the radar if the nominations were due tomorrow much less months from now. And it looks likely that Tilda Swinton will get screwed again. She should have been nominated last year for Julia. She probably should get nominated this year for I Am Love. Deja vu for one of the best actresses working today.

There have been some great performances in small films that have no chance of registering beyond maybe a critic's citation or two – Paddy Considine in Red Riding 1980, Tahir Rahim in A Prophet, John C. Reilly in Cyrus, Colin Farrell in Ondine, Ben Stiller in Greenberg, and arguably career-best work by Michael Douglas in Solitary Man. As for nominees that potentially have a chance, one of the biggest stories of nomination season will be Leo vs. Leo. His work in Shutter Island and his work in Inception both deserve and will earn strong consideration. For some reason, I'm picturing a situation not unlike a few years ago when everyone thought that Leo would get nominated for The Departed and he ended up with a nod for Blood Diamond. It seems clear that Inception will score more nods than Shutter Island, but I'm going out on a limb and saying now that Leo will deservedly get a spot in the category for the latter. Of course, it might not matter as I believe we've seen our Best Actor winner already and he ain't named Leo. Robert Duvall's work in Get Low stands among the best career performances from one of the best actors that ever lived. If the Oscars were tomorrow, Duvall would be a slam dunk and I think he might still be at the end of the year. As for the other three nominees, some power players have fallen flat (Russell Crowe in Robin Hood, Matt Damon in Green Zone, Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland), leaving the category wide open for fall contenders.

They can't screw Nolan again this year. It just won't happen. He's in. His peers will recognize that Inception is the labor of love that more directors should embrace and encourage. Is there enough love for The Kids Are All Right to get Lisa Cholodenko into this still all-boy's club? I doubt it. That's an acting piece and Lisa could get a writing nod but I don't think she's in for director. Same for Debra Granik, who I expect will be ignored for Winter's Bone in favor of the power players like Joel Coen, Julian Schnabel, David Fincher, Terrence Malick, Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh, Peter Weir, Edward Zwick, and Darren Aronofsky – all with films left to be released this year. Is there room for Scorsese with that remarkable list of potential future nominees? Doubtful. And despite the love for The Ghost Writer, I also doubt that anyone's going to risk the stigma associated with the recent drama surrounding Roman Polanski. Which means that we've seen only one of the Best Director nominees of the year. No wonder we all think this one sucks so far.

Let's approach this category a bit differently. What would the ten be if we could only vote through films released so far?

Get Low
The Ghost Writer
Greenberg
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
Please Give
Shutter Island
Toy Story 3
Winter's Bone

It's a tough list to fill out. Immediately, we can cut the underseen-and-unlikely-to-be-campaigned Greenberg and Please Give. They're really just on the list above to fill it out and I couldn't bring myself to put Iron Man 2 on it. That leaves eight. The Ghost Writer is great but there's NO WAY that they're nominating a Polanski film (don't bring up The Pianist … times have changed since then for the public perception of Roman). Down to seven possibilities. Get Low and Winter's Bone have a lot of fans but will probably play just as acting nominees. Guaranteed nominees if the Oscars were tomorrow but unlikely in six months. That leaves only five. After waiting so long to nominate a second animated film for Best Picture, will the Academy really nominate two this year? It's not as much of a stretch as you might think considering the undying love for How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3. The latter is IN (in fact, it might win) and I think that might push out the former. That leaves Toy Story 3, Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right, and Inception. Scorsese's great thriller will pop up in a couple categories but won't have the overall support to get a slot. I expect that The Kids Are All Right will get enough writer and actor support to land in the top ten and Inception is a LOCK. Anyone who tells you differently is crazy. It may not be a lock to win – in fact, I doubt that it will – and may not have been a lock in the days of five nominees, but it's guaranteed enough tech nominees that it's in with ten choices. So, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, and Toy Story 3. Three nominees by August 1st. With less than half of the year to go, we have 70% of our Best Picture nominees yet to be released. It better be a strong Fall season.

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MovieRetriever's 100 Greatest Movies: #34 Sunrise

2011-04-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

The plot of Sunrise was adapted to Hollywood conventions from a naturalistic novella by Hermann Sudermann. It is wrong, however, to assume the changes were all for the bad, as so many critics have done. The film's plot is neither hopelessly sentimental nor melodramatic. It is true that Carl Mayer and F. W. Murnau, with a free hand from the studio, changed the tragic ending of the novella to a happy one for the film. This change can be viewed as an improvement upon Sudermann's gratuitously ironic ending of having the young husband's death occur after the couple's reconciliation. If not viewed as an improvement, the popular-art convention of the happy ending is certainly no worse than the naturalistic one of culminating a work with a tragic twist whether it is apt or not. Also the third party of the love triangle was, in the novella, a servant girl and, in the film, is a vamp from the city. On the basis of this change, all too many critics have accused Mayer and Murnau of setting up a simplistic "good-country" and "evil-city" polarity; however, they forget that the couple's experiences in the city, with all its modern delights, bring the husband and wife back together – or perhaps together for the first time. The plot allowed Murnau to draw upon his background in art history and literature, and above all it offered the basis for a cinematic narrative par excellence. This plot was made for the camera, especially in motion, and for the radical oscillations of lighting and mood that are so conducive to a temporal art like film. In such fertile soil, the talents of cameramen Rosher and Struss flourished.

Human characters, in Sunrise, are secondary to the true protagonist – the camera. The scenes in this film are neither conceived as a staged work, like so many silent films, nor as slices of actuality on which the camera allows us to spy. The premise of the film is that the camera will move; and that it will have any excuse to move. Plots and characters seem pretenses for movement and light; boats, dance halls, trolley cars, and other city traffic – not intrigue and love – are the true forces of motion in Sunrise. Akin to the ballets created by the avantgarde in the Paris of the 1910s and 1920s, patterns of movement seek their raison d'etre in the slimmest threat of plot. In addition, the camera (and the cameramen) have been allowed so much freedom that the camera soon takes on a life of its own. Even when the camera is at rest or pauses within a shot, the effect is electric.

According to the testimony of Rosher, Murnau was obsessed with capturing the play of light, especially as it occurred on the surface of the lake – either in nature or in the studio. Water, boats, moonlight, and reeds are pretenses for capturing the fleeting effects of light, much in the same way that clouds and waterlilies are used in Claude Monet's last paintings. Indeed, the film's frequent use of mist, dim lighting, and blurred exposures reminds one of Monet's work. This impressionistic concentration on light is not just limited to the scenes of the lake; in the city, glass replaces water. In the famous restaurant scene, lighted figures are seen dancing behind a glass window; people move in front of the window and are reflected in it; and the camera moves to catch the reflected light from different angles. The effect is shimmering.

A frequent complaint concerning Sunrise is that the film is divided into disjointed parts and stylized scenes often clash with more naturalistic ones. Murnau compared his own narrative structure to that used by James Joyce. Just as in Ulysses, there is a radical shift of style to match the spirit of different episodes; so too, in Sunrise, is there a fluctuation between the actual and the artificial. Murnau may have had another source for his scene-structuring in the German Expressionist theatre – especially in the works of Ernst Toller, where naturalistic scenes alternate with expressionistic ones. There are few films that depict such an astute sense of the spirit of place and the events that occur there, as, for example, where the husband secretly meets the vamp, and passes through a studio-set marsh with a broodingly low horizon lit by a moon shining through the haze. Also, the trolley ride taken by the husband and wife gives the sense of a location shot made in daylight; the joyful effect is complete down to the bouncing of the trolley car. The trolley soon moves into the city, actually a studio backlot construction, that is scaled larger than life in order to convey the awe of the country couple who are seeing the city for the first time. The actual only seems to be so. Acting, like the lighting and the sets, is conceived of scene by scene. Murnau took great pains in making the actors' gestures and facial expressions fit the moment; therefore, the styles of acting fluctuate between the naturalistic and the expressionistic. And over all there is the evermoving mercurial camera. In every way, each scene is contrived to have its own particular mood, and each fits with another like pieces of Byzantine mosaic.

Hollywood fell under the spell of Sunrise, and under its influence the camera took wings, only to have them clipped by the limitations of primitive sound equipment. In the long run, however, the lessons of Sunrise resurfaced in such films as John Ford's The Informer and Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. The camera searching through the night and fog for a reflected gleam of light was a thematic and formalistic motif in these films. On the one hand, Sunrise culminated film's silent experience; but, on the other, it foreshadowed the first maturity of sound.

Release Date: 1927
Rating: Unrated

Starring: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Bodil Rosing, Margaret Livingstone, J. Farrell Macdonald, Ralph Sipperly, Jane Winton, Arthur Houseman, Eddie Boland, Gina Corrado, Barry Norton, and Sally Eilers
Director: F. W. Murnau
Writer: Carl Mayer

Source Citation: Farnsworth, Rodney. "Sunrise." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 1: Films. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 1169-1171.

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MovieRetriever's 100 Greatest Movies: #52 Double Indemnity

2011-04-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Although James M. Cain's memorable novel of crime and passion, The Postman Always Rings Twice, predated his equally potent, similarly themed Double Indemnity by almost a decade, it is Indemnity that has proven the more influential, due largely to the uncompromising and suspenseful film writer-director Billy Wilder made from it. Wilder's film remains the model for just about every film noir of this type (Born to Kill, The Prowler, The Pushover, Body Heat, et al.) to come our way since.

Cain's novel was translated to the screen with the full force of the author's ugly tale of lust, greed, and murder intact. In fact, the film version is in many ways tougher than its source. Wilder's intention to make it so prompted his longtime partner, writer-producer Charles Brackett, to back away from the project even though he and Wilder were one of Hollywood's most successful teams. Brackett found Cain's book distasteful and felt the film would be little more than a "dirty movie." He told Wilder to get another collaborator. Wilder tried to get Cain himself, but the author was busy on another project, and Wilder opted for Raymond Chandler instead.

Chandler detested working with Wilder and disliked the final film. Cain on the other hand totally approved of what Wilder had done to his book, even considered it an improvement. The two works are certainly different. In addition to changing the names of Cain's main characters (in the book they are Walter Huff and Phyllis Nirdlinger), Wilder changed the ending and altered other aspects of the story as well. Whereas Cain unfolded his tale in a linear manner, Wilder revealed the fate of his protagonist in the opening scene. Insurance investigator MacMurray arrives at his office mortally wounded and confesses into the dictaphone of his colleague, Robinson, the murder plot and insurance scam gone awry that led to MacMurray's downfall. Wilder cuts back to the dying MacMurray several times, but for the most part the film unfolds as a series of flashbacks showing how MacMurray got embroiled with femme fatale Stanwyck in a scheme to murder her oilman husband, make it look like an accident, collect a bundle on the husband's double indemnity claim, and run away together. But when their scheme began to unravel, their relationship fell apart, and they wound up shooting each other. (In the book, the lovers get away with the crime because the Robinson character who is hot on their trail has no proof, but are doomed anyway due to their growing mistrust of one another.)

Cain loosely based his novel on the real-life Roaring Twenties case of Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray who conspired to murder Snyder's husband for $100,000 in insurance money. Snyder and Gray were caught and went to the chair. An enterprising newspaper reporter smuggled a camera into the execution chamber and snapped a shot of Snyder moments before the juice was turned on. The ghoulish shot caused a furor when it was published in the paper. Wilder wanted to end his film with a similar scene showing MacMurray's execution in California's gas chamber. The scene was shot, but Wilder decided against using it; he felt it to be too strong and anticlimactic as well. He replaced it with the trenchantly written and beautifully performed final confrontation scene between the self-destructive MacMurray and the fatherly Robinson that movingly concludes this exceptionally fine and biting film noir. As MacMurray slumps to the floor, he tells Robinson how he'd been able to elude the dogged investigator. "Because the guy you were looking for was too close, Keyes. Right across the desk from you." "Closer than that," Robinson responds emotionally as the film fades to black.

Release Date: 1944
Rating: Unrated

Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber, and Clarence Muse
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler

Source Citation: McCarty, John. "Double Indemnity." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 1: Films. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 346-348.

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Cloverfield's Comrades: VideoHound's Top Ten City-Wrecking Movie Monsters

2011-04-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Cloverfield's Comrades: VideoHound's Top Ten City-Wrecking Movie Monsters - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Lists > Cloverfield's Comrades: VideoHound's Top Ten City-Wrecking...Follow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Lists January 22, 2008Cloverfield's Comrades: VideoHound's Top Ten City-Wrecking Movie Monsters Posted by CoolerKing in Lists, Features

Now that the low-budget Cloverfield broke all January box office records, you can expect two things from Hollywood — a flood of new movies told from first-person POVs (romance movies recorded on cellphones, crime movies filmed on ATM security cameras, and so on) and a big, big resurgence in the skyscraper-sized monster genre.

And, as cynical as we can be, we have to admit that Cloverfield revived our long-gestating love with the creature feature and made us revisit some of our favorite man-in-suit, downtown-destroying monster movies of old. Here's a quick glance at VideoHound's top ten best-loved city-wrecking behemoths in movie history:

The nuke-u-lar picnic pests — radiation-giganticized ants, that is — from the 1954 classic THEM! GM CEO Roger Smith, scourge of Flint, Michigan, in Roger & Me (1989) Godzilla, destroyer of Tokyo (and mortal enemy of Raymond Burr), in Godzilla (1954) The Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man, the ultimate sugar-coated Fleet Week nightmare, in Ghostbusters (1984) Bruce the Shark, the archnemesis of Amity's Chamber of Commerce, in Jaws (1975) The Kevin Bacon-hatin' Graboids from Tremors (1989) Rodan, Godzilla's red-headed step-child and cousin to Pterri the Pterodactyl, in Rodan (1956) The Mighty Kong from King Kong (1976) — a much maligned production which gets extra brownie points for the blatant horniness Rick Baker brought to his performance as KongStripe, Kingston Falls' mogwai anti-christ, from Gremlins (1984) The Han River's mutated catfish/velociraptor from The Host (2007) Bookmark/Search this post with:Posted by CoolerKing in Lists, Features - January 22, 2008 at 4:01 PMMovieRetriever.com members can:
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Movie Review: Bright Star

2011-04-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: Unknown

2011-04-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: The Girl From Monaco

2011-04-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: The Girl From Monaco - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Movie Reviews > Movie Review: The Girl From MonacoFollow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Movie Reviews
July 3, 2009Movie Review: The Girl From MonacoPosted by Turk182 in Movie Reviews

Anne Fontaine's The Girl From Monaco is a lovely piece of fluff, a clever and sexy comedy that plays like a summer day in the south of France – lovely and enjoyable while you’re in the moment but ultimately somewhat forgettable. Monaco is the kind of lighthearted farce that art house audiences have come to expect from the phrase "French comedy" and it's mostly delightful with only a dark turn in the final act that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the piece and a bit too little weight to the entire proceeding. But the three principal players are excellent and the film has a breezy, sexy tone that's a lot harder to pull off than it looks. Well maybe not in France.

The three players are a middle-aged attorney, his square-jawed bodyguard, and, well, a seductress. The attorney is Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini), an average nice guy in his mid-fifties who has been tasked with defending Edith Lasalle (Stephane Audran) against accusations of the murder of a Russian. Naturally, when murdered Russians come into play, protection becomes a concern and Lasalle's son (Gilles Cohen) hires a bodyguard named Christophe Abadi (Roschdy Zem) to make sure the good lawyer survives long enough to do his job. Bertrand can't even believe he needs a bodyguard and laughs at the very procedural Abadi's techniques, including establishing a security perimeter around every room he enters. The early act in which this odd couple is defined features some clever laugh-out-loud material.

The odd couple develops a friendship that's tested when the gorgeous weathergirl in town Audrey Varela (Louise Bourgoin) develops an interest in Bertrand in the second, sexier act of the film. Could this vivacious, daring, unbelievably hot young woman be falling for the fiftysomething lawyer? Or is there some other form of distraction going on here? What better weapon to send against your competing attorney than a sex bomb? Christophe immediately senses that something is wrong but Bertrand doesn't believe it. How does the bodyguard protect his client from a fate he kind of wants to embrace with open … something?

The sexy young thing and the older gentleman is a story that has been told several times before – and often by the French – but the dynamic at play with the bodyguard makes this a more interesting film than many of its threesome peers. And all three of the players are excellent, bringing something unique to this light-hearted farce. Luchini’s timing is well-known by now but Bourgoin really stuns in her film debut. Of course, the film requires a lot of suspension of disbelief and I wish a few of the more prominent relationships had a bit more dramatic weight and an emotional undercurrent or two, but The Girl From Monaco is not that kind of film.

Ultimately, The Girl From Monaco isn't the most memorable French film of even the season, much less the year, but the light tone of the piece makes for a pleasant, sun-kissed diversion. With gorgeous backgrounds and nicely underplayed characters, The Girl From Monaco should satisfy any summer moviegoer looking for a European alternative to the American product crowding the marketplace.

Rating: THREE BONES

Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: July 3rd, 2009
Rating: R

Starring: Fabrice Luchini, Roschdy Zem, and Louise Bourgoin
Director: Anne Fontaine
Writer: Anne FontaineBookmark/Search this post with:Posted by Turk182 in Movie Reviews - July 3, 2009 at 12:07 AM Write a comment. Be the first to comment on this blog. Tell a Friend about MovieRetriever.com Email your friends, Invite them to join the MovieRetriever.com community to create and share movie lists and review them. MovieRetriever.com members can:
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MovieRetriever's 100 Greatest Movies: #71 The Philadelphia Story

2011-04-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Philadelphia Story is one of the most successful and best loved screwball comedies of the classical Hollywood era. It is based on the 1939 Broadway production of Philip Barry's play which starred Katharine Hepburn. The film employs the 1930s screwball plot device of the idle rich whose wealth has blinded them to the simple joys of life and the worthiness of middle-class values. Tracy Lord is the arrogant Philadelphia socialite who is planning her wedding to a stuffy social climber when her ex-husband, C. K. Dexter Haven, arrives at the mansion. Haven is a charming millionaire who openly displays his love of life and his disdain of pretentiousness while he secretly longs for the reunion with his ex-wife. Jimmy Stewart and Ruth Hussey are the reporters from the scandal sheet Spy Magazine who have been assigned to cover the wedding. Anti-romance, verbal and witty relationships, and the tendency to poke fun at the rich are all in abundance providing humorous distractions and obstacles to Tracy's and Dexter's final reconciliation.

Director George Cukor here shows his preference for understatement in romantic comedies through his emphasis on plot and performance. Following Frank Capra's example in It Happened One Night and his earlier success Holiday, Cukor employs a screwball comic style which avoids explicit romance between two leading characters. He instead pits them against each other, creating romantic courtship through character tensions.

Because the audience knows that the characters are Hepburn and Grant, two movie stars who have been paired before in Cukor's Sylvia Scarlett and Holiday and Howard Hawks's Bringing Up Baby, the audience is predisposed to want them to get together. Cukor plays with this expectation throughout the film but especially in the famous opening scene: Grant is tossed out the front door; Hepburn appears at the door where she breaks one of Grant's golf clubs; she tosses the clubs after him and slams the door; Grant returns to the door and rings the bell; when Hepburn answers, he pushes her in the face.

Not a single word is spoken in this scene. Its comic success depends as much on Hepburn's star image as on the superb timing. During the latter 1930s, Hepburn headed the list by the Independent Theatre Owners Association of "box-office poison" movie stars. Critics found her grating, "mannish," or too intense. Cukor, who had directed Hepburn in five previous films, said that she was unattractive to audiences in the late 1930s because she "never was a 'love me. I'm a lovable little girl' kind of actress. She always challenged the audience, and … they felt something arrogant in her playing." In The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn and Cukor capitalized on these aspects of her image, turning them to Hepburn's advantage by establishing Tracy as a haughty, inflexible snob who becomes lovable when she exposes her underlying vulnerability and fragility.

The Philadelphia Story broke attendance records at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The critical and popular success of the film was especially sweet to Hepburn, who had selected the film as a vehicle for her return to movies after a two year hiatus. After Holiday and Bringing Up Baby had brought her additional negative reviews, she angrily left Hollywood. Hepburn vowed to return only if the role and circumstances were right. The Tracy Lord character in The Philadelphia Story not only provided the right role, but it afforded Hepburn the opportunity to create the right circumstances. During her Broadway stint in the play, she acquired the movie rights which she then sold to MGM in a deal that guaranteed her the movie role of Tracy Lord and choice of director and co-stars.

The Philadelphia Story's success led to its remake as a film musical in 1956. Though High Society features music and lyrics by Cole Porter and stars Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Grace Kelly, it lacks the sparkle and comic tautness of the original.

Release Date: 1940
Rating: Unrated

Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young, John Halliday, Virginia Weidler, Mary Nash, Henry Daniell, Lionel Pape, Rex Evans, Russ Clark, Hilda Plowright, Lita Chevret, Lee Phelps, Dorothy Fay, Florine McKinney, Helene Whitney, Hillary Brooks, Claude King, Robert de Bruce, and Veda Buckland
Director: George Cukor
Writers: Donald Ogden Stewart and Waldo Salt (uncredited)

Source Citation: Rabinovitz, Lauren. "The Philadelphia Story." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 1: Films. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 938-941.

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Welcome to the Awards Watch Blog! (Gift Bags for Presenters Only)

2011-04-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Awards Watch Blog! (Gift Bags for Presenters Only) - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Awards Watch > Welcome to the Awards Watch Blog! (Gift Bags for Presenters...Follow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Awards Watch December 30, 2007Welcome to the Awards Watch Blog! (Gift Bags for Presenters Only) Posted by CoolerKing in Awards Watch

Congratulations! You've stumbled upon the VideoHound Awards Watch Blog! (Your trophy will be arriving in the mail in the next 3 to 7 years. All awards acceptance speeches will be made by Pauly Shore who lovingly accepts the award in your behalf.)

Our purpose on this blog is to try to keep track of all the multitude of film awards being presented throughout the year (we'll be really busy in January-March, not so much in August); rant, moan, and complain about who won what; and make our own predictions and proselytizations about what we felt was award-worthy in this year of film.

To get us started, here are the winners of this year's National Board of Review Awards.

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW AWARDS

BEST FILM: No Country For Old MenBEST DIRECTOR: Tim Burton, Sweeney ToddBEST ACTOR: George Clooney, Michael ClaytonBEST ACTRESS: Julie Christie, Away From HerBEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordBEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby GonBEST FOREIGN FILM: The Diving Bell and The ButterflyBEST DOCUMENTARY: Body Of WarBEST ANIMATED FEATURE: RatatouilleBEST ENSEMBLE CAST: No Country For Old MenBREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR: Emile Hirsch, Into The WildBREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS: Ellen Page, JunoBEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby GoneBEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (tie): Diablo Cody, Juno and Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real GirlBEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old MenCAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Michael DouglasWILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD: Robert OsborneCAREER ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger DeakinsTHE BVLGARI AWARD FOR NBR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: The Great Debaters and PersepolisBookmark/Search this post with:Posted by CoolerKing in Awards Watch - December 30, 2007 at 5:12 PMMovieRetriever.com members can:
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Movie Review: Get Smart

2011-04-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: The Fighter

2011-04-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: The City of Your Final Destination

2011-04-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: The City of Your Final Destination - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Movie Reviews > Movie Review: The City of Your Final DestinationFollow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Movie Reviews
May 28, 2010Movie Review: The City of Your Final DestinationPosted by Turk182 in Movie Reviews

With the reunion of the great director James Ivory with star Anthony Hopkins, who appeared in the director’s Howards End and The Remains of the Day, The City of Your Final Destination starts off with the promise of the kind of well-acted human drama that they don’t make that often any more, even on the arthouse scene. Add great actresses Laura Linney and Charlotte Gainsbourg to the cast and it’s enough to get the right cinephile as excited as a Twilight fan reading a new Stephenie Meyer book. And the opening scenes of The City of Your Final Destination hint at a gorgeously shot film that one hopes will be matched by the incredible insight of Ivory’s best work with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who won Oscars for her adaptation of A Room With a View and Howards End.

Sadly, the follow-through never lives up to the set-up. The City of Your Final Destination is a beautiful film and the performances, particularly those of the more experienced cast members, are expectedly excellent, but the story is nonexistent and the dialogue so self-conscious that the entire proceeding becomes as numbing as someone reading a mediocre book aloud. The City of Your Final Destination features very few character exchanges that feel genuine and the whole film sinks under the weight of its own pretension. Ultimately, the film best serves as a cautionary tale about how the best actors and most luscious cinematography of the most beautiful locations can still turn out a dull film if the script doesn’t work.

Based on the 2002 book by Peter Cameron, The City of Your Final Destination tells the story of a biographer’s quest to tell the story of a legendary author named Jules Gund, a reclusive man who wrote only one novel but became so beloved that his family now lives on a massive estate in Uruguay that not only feels like a part of another country but another time. The family denies Omar the biographer’s (Omar Metwally) request but he’s pressured by his girlfriend (Alexandra Maria Lara) to go to Uruguay and convince the Gunds of the importance of his work. There he meets Jules’ bitter widow (Laura Linney), a more-friendly older brother (Anthony Hopkins), the brother’s lover (Hiroyuki Sanada), Jules’ lover (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and that woman’s daughter (Ambar Mallman). The bulk of The City of Your Final Destination consists of exchanges between Omar and one or two of the ensemble listed in the previous sentence as he learns about the past and present of the Gund estate.

These people aren’t typically exaggerated eccentrics but their exclusion from society makes them hard to relate to as an audience member. As Linney once says, “I was beginning to think there was no one else in the world.” Omar has clearly been designed as the reader/viewer’s eyes into this unusual sub-society that still lives under so much of the shadow of its suicidal patriarch but the young Mr. Metwally never develops an interesting character of his own. He’s all response and it’s often to a world so over-the-top in its representation of wealth that it nearly borders on parody. At one point, Omar encounters the sullen widow sitting in a room of artwork and cracking walnuts, to which she responds, “I was just eating my breakfast.” The gorgeous estate and luscious cinematography make for a film that’s almost too beautiful in that even actors as talented as these can’t find the humanity.

Most of the time. There are still moments where Linney, Gainsbourg, Sanada, and Hopkins shine through the pretentious artifice. There’s a great scene between Linney and Gainsbourg where the former takes passive-aggressive stabs at the latter about her new flirtation with the young writer. Sadly, Omar pops in and puts a wet blanket on the proceedings. It’s a pattern of the entire film. Every time it threatens to get interesting, it stops. Until, eventually, it no longer threatens.

Rating: TWO BONES

Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: May 28th, 2010
Rating: PG-13

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Omar Metwally, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Alexandra Maria Lara
Director: James Ivory
Writer: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Bookmark/Search this post with:Posted by Turk182 in Movie Reviews - May 28, 2010 at 9:05 AM Write a comment. Be the first to comment on this blog. Tell a Friend about MovieRetriever.com Email your friends, Invite them to join the MovieRetriever.com community to create and share movie lists and review them. MovieRetriever.com members can:
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Movie Review: Anvil! The Story of Anvil

2011-04-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: Anvil! The Story of Anvil - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In     Home > Blog > Movie Reviews > Movie Review: Anvil! The Story of AnvilFollow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Movie Reviews
April 8, 2009Movie Review: Anvil! The Story of AnvilPosted by CoolerKing in Movie Reviews
It's early in 2009 but you probably won't see a more enjoyable, uplifting, simply fantastic documentary this year than Sacha Gervasi's great Anvil! The Story of Anvil, a sublime film that could be pitched by a studio head as "American Movie meets Metallica: Some Kind of Monster". If you know how great those two docs are, buy your tickets to the rock show that is Anvil! before it sells out. Humorous documentaries like Spellbound, Young@Heart, and The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters have developed cult followings over the last few years after making a splash on the arthouse circuit. I expect Anvil! to be one of the most widely beloved docs of the next several years. It's a blast in every way.

In 1978, Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner formed the soon-to-be legendary metal group Anvil!. These two genuinely talented young men would quickly find themselves near the top of the heavy metal wave that took the world by storm in the early '80s. Anvil! The Story of Anvil opens with several of Anvil's peers, including Lemmy of Motorhead, Slash of Guns 'n' Roses, and Lars Ulrich of Metallica, speaking nearly in hushed tones about the talent on display whenever Anvil was on-stage. Of course, as any good music fan knows, most of the bands that shared a stage with Anvil went on to superstardom and could still live forever on the royalties from their biggest hits. Not Anvil. Despite pounding away at what they love to do for years (and producing twelve albums), the band still hasn't found their breakthrough. But they're not giving up. They may be all be fifty now, but they still have a dream, even if it's going to kill them.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil opens with a nightmare of a tour in which the band plays small European shows for which they don't even get paid and look like they're barely keeping their sh*t together. Suffering through the worst tour since Spinal Tap almost seems to light a fire under Lips and Robb. They get back in the studio with the '80s producer who got them closest to superstardom for a thirteenth album that they hope will finally allow them to live their high school dreams. But Robb and Lips are getting old, tired, and frustrated. They often fight like an old married couple and know that they're running out of turns at the mic.

More than any movie in a very long time, Anvil! The Story of Anvil brilliantly captures the human drive to fulfill a dream against all odds. These men have been feuding, rocking, and touring for decades. You could say they're just pounding their head against the wall and, during a heartbreaking fight when Lips realizes he's not getting paid for a just-performed gig, you might want to shake your head at why they've wasted so much of their lives. But when do you give up on a dream? And how? And when you see the people who still follow Anvil and you see glimpses of possible fame in their future just around every corner, can you really blame them for wanting to give it "just one more try"?

It would be easy to under-value the quality of Anvil! The Story of Anvil. One could say that director Gervasi found a great story and simply filmed it. One would be wrong. Most directors would have over-played the goofy, Spinal-Tap angle of Anvil and sold the doc as a comedy. While it is very funny, what elevates the documentary about the rock gods that grew old is that it never makes fun of them. Gervasi neither idolizes nor ridicules Lips and Robb. They're just out there, doing their thing, and you can take from it what you will. Everyone who has ever played air guitar much less dreamed of rocking out in front of thousands of screaming fans will find some of themselves in Anvil! The Story of Anvil. It's the documentary of the year so far.

Rating: FOUR BONES

Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: April 10th, 2009
Rating: NR

Director: Sacha GervasiBookmark/Search this post with:Posted by CoolerKing in Movie Reviews - April 8, 2009 at 5:04 PM  Write a comment. Be the first to comment on this blog. Tell a Friend about MovieRetriever.com Email your friends, Invite them to join the MovieRetriever.com community to create and share movie lists and review them. MovieRetriever.com members can:
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Box-Office Wrap-Up: Megamind Conquers the Weekend; Unstoppable Closing In Fast

2011-04-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Box-Office Wrap-Up: Megamind Conquers the Weekend; Unstoppable Closing In Fast - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Hound News > Box-Office Wrap-Up: Megamind Conquers the Weekend;...Follow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Hound News November 15, 2010Box-Office Wrap-Up: Megamind Conquers the Weekend; Unstoppable Closing In Fast Posted by Turk182 in Hound News

Maybe the mostly positive reviews went to that big blue head of his, but it worked with audiences: Megamind again led the box office, earning the top spot for its second weekend with $30 million. Will Ferrell and company bring the film’s total earnings to $89 million … still a bit short for its $130 million budget, but certainly nothing to sneeze at. Meanwhile, Denzel Washington’s thrill ride Unstoppable earned a respectable second place in its opening weekend with $23.5 million. Also starring Chris Pine (Star Trek) and directed by Tony Scott (True Romance, Enemy of the State), Unstoppable looks to be a solid contender. Third place goes to Due Date; the Robert Downey, Jr./Zach Galifianakis buddy comedy, panned by critics, isn’t keep audiences away. It earned $15.5 million in its second week, bringing its total earnings to $59 million.

The fourth and fifth spots go to two more debuts this weekend, the sci-fi alien invasion flick Skyline and the J.J. Abrams-produced Morning Glory, respectively. Skyline earned the wrath of critics, but scored $11.7 million in ticket sales, while the Rachel MacAdams and Harrison Ford comedy garnered enough chemistry to earn $9.6 million. For Colored Girls dropped off 65%, from third to sixth, in its second week with $6.8 million, bringing the Tyler Perry drama to $30 million. Based on the Ntozake Shange play, the independent film has already earned back profit from its $21 million budget.

Audiences are still going strong to two more veterans of the board; the star-studded action-comedy Red turned in an extra $5.1 million for seventh place, giving it a healthy $79.8 million in its fifth week. In its fourth week, Paranormal Activity 2 scared up $3.1 million for eighth. This brings the Paramount low-budget shocker to $82 million; quite a feat for a film that made back its budget this weekend alone.

3-D rounds out the ninth and tenth spots. The seventh (and reportedly final) blood-splattered Saw film managed $2.8 million in its third week, surviving bad reviews from critics and audiences alike with $43 million in the bank, while the Jackass 3D crew garnered $2.3 in its fifth. Even at #10, the 3-D antics of Knoxville and gang have proven they can still draw a crowd; with a total of $114.7 million, it remains the top grosser on the list … in more ways than one.

By Seth Paul

Weekend Box Office (11/12 - 11/14)

Megamind ..... $30.0 Million Unstoppable ..... $23.5 Million Due Date ..... $15.5 Million Skyline ..... $11.7 Million Morning Glory ..... $9.6 Million For Colored Girls ..... $6.8 Million Red ..... $5.1 Million Paranormal Activity 2 ..... $3.1 Million Saw 3D ..... $2.8 Million Jackass 3D ..... $2.3 Million

Bookmark/Search this post with:Posted by Turk182 in Hound News - November 15, 2010 at 1:11 PM Write a comment. Be the first to comment on this blog. Tell a Friend about MovieRetriever.com Email your friends, Invite them to join the MovieRetriever.com community to create and share movie lists and review them. MovieRetriever.com members can:
Rate moviesWrite your own reviewsCreate your movie watch listsShare lists with the community Already a member? Community Favorites 1 Inception (2010) 2 How to Train Your Dragon (2010) 3 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) PG-13 4 Toy Story 3 (2010) G 5 Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach (2009) R

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Movie Review: Iron Man 2

2011-04-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: Land of the Lost

2011-04-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: The Last Song

2011-04-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: Humpday

2011-04-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: Julie & Julia

2011-04-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

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Movie Review: She's Out of My League

2011-04-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Movie Review: She's Out of My League - VideoHound Blogs - VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever @import "/files/css/9197d6f2ad0604dab9242ff0136bc6fe.css"; @import "/sites/all/themes/videohound/css/style.css"; Join Now Already a member? Log-In Home > Blog > Movie Reviews > Movie Review: She's Out of My LeagueFollow Us: Blogs Home Hound News Awards Watch Features Movie Reviews DVD Reviews Lists Interviews Trailer Watch 100 Greatest Movies Recent Blog Posts 1. Movie Review: Sucker Punch 2. Movie Review: Jane Eyre 3. Movie Review: Paul Videohound Blog Archives March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010View more >>October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008January 2008December 2007 Print Email Del.icio.us Digg it Movie Reviews
March 12, 2010Movie Review: She's Out of My LeaguePosted by Turk182 in Movie Reviews

I really, really wanted to like She's Out of My League. Star Jay Baruchel has been stealing scenes for years in films like Tropic Thunder and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and the concept of the film sounded like the perfect vehicle for this talented young man to drive to stardom. So, it pains me to say that the wheels come of this comedy pretty quickly and Baruchel is left with nowhere to go.

Baruchel plays the sweet-but-awkward Kirk, a TSA employee at an airport in Pittsburgh. He's very slowly getting over a break-up with the horrendous Marnie (Lindsay Sloane), who is still close enough friends with Kirk's awful family that she's at the house all the time and even goes on family vacations. Kirk's surrogate family (and the one that's much better to him than his actual bloodline) is comprised of his three best friends at work – the sweet Devon (Nate Torrence), studly Jack (Mike Vogel), and over-the-top Stainer (T.J. Miller). Into this circle of testosterone falls the beautiful Molly McCall (Alice Eve), the kind of girl who mostly exists primarily in male fantasies. To be brief, she loves hockey and looks great in lingerie. Despite all human understanding of "dating leagues," this "hard 10" falls for Kirk, a “5” at best. Kirk's friends can't believe it. His family thinks it's some cruel joke. Even Molly's bitter friend Patty (Krysten Ritter) can't understand it. All of the discussion about the oddity of this beauty dating this beast leads Kirk to second guess his future with Molly and make some really bad social decisions. Comedy ensues.

Clearly modeled after the "hot chick, funny guy" formula of Judd Apatow comedies like Knocked Up, She's Out of My League is far from a complete disaster. Most notably, Baruchel makes it out completely unscathed. In fact, the piece would have been far worse without him. Torrence has a sweet comic sensibility that works and Ritter actually steals her scenes with an abrasive energy unlike anything else in the piece. As for the rest, Eve is still just a pretty face to this viewer, Miller overplays every single punchline, and Kirk's family is nothing but a series of cliches. There are a few moments that work and I liked the overall sweetness of the piece in that it's about valuing your self-worth over external appearances or what other people tell you to think but good intentions only get you so far in a comedy that’s not producing actual laughs.

The problem with She's Out of My League is that the script by Sean Anders (who made the similarly problematic Sex Drive) and John Morris and the direction by Jim Field Smith are nowhere near Apatow quality. It’s more American Pie sequel quality. In particular, Smith never finds the rhythm for the piece with some scenes going on far too long and others feeling cut short. The movie has an unusually jerky quality like a song that's just a bit off tempo. Every time I thought it was developing a comic pace, it would stumble, most notably in a few extended, ridiculous gross-out scenes late in the film that Baruchel and Torrence recently revealed were added in reshoots and were a massive mistake. The film only works at all because of the heart brought to it by Baruchel and when the story devolves into bits about his bodily fluids or pubic grooming, it really, really loses its way.

Even though it's not a good film, I almost hope She's Out of My League is a hit because I think some of these cast members, particularly Jay Baruchel, are talented and I'd like to see them in a better project. Much worse films have made tons of cash and I'd hate to see a studio become gun shy about casting Jay as the lead again (or even working with Torrence, Ritter, or even Eve). The failure of this film has nothing to do with him. He's like an MVP hitter on a team made up mostly of lovable losers. Sometimes it's fun to root for the underdog, but you still need to recognize when they lose the game.

Rating: ONE AND A HALF BONES

Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: March 12th, 2010
Rating: R

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, Krysten Ritter, T.J. Miller, Nate Torrence, Mike Vogel, and Lindsay Sloane
Director: Jim Field Smith
Writers: Sean Anders and John Morris Bookmark/Search this post with:Posted by Turk182 in Movie Reviews - March 12, 2010 at 2:03 PM College Research PapersReport Abuse
johnclick2325 at Jul 21 2010 06:55:17I think it's got all the elements we could want in a Hollywood-style movie: Charming characters, plot twists, tons of gags, an incredibly beautiful leading lady, sumptuous sets and locations, and an overall sense.http://www.flashpapers.com Post Your Comment Tell a Friend about MovieRetriever.com Email your friends, Invite them to join the MovieRetriever.com community to create and share movie lists and review them. MovieRetriever.com members can:
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