SECOND WEEK OF FEBRUARY 2012

Something big happened on Sunday right? It wasn’t a big awards show, that I do know. It was an election. Those aren’t until later in the year.  A celebrity didn’t pass. I know there’s something. Something happened Sunday but I just can’t put my finger on it.  Oh well. Probably wasn’t that important anyway.  Oh wait! I remember it was Puppy Bowl VIII!! How could I forget all the cuteness that is puppies and kittens tossing around the pigskin?  Such an adorable sight and just in time too with the re-release of a Disney canine classic this week.  To go along with this week’s re-release we’ve also got a twist on a holiday classic with two stoners, an alternate look at who really was behind Shakespeare’s work, a British drama that has taken the country by storm, a documentary that tells the story of an ape raised my humans, and the penultimate chapter in one of the most popular teenage vampire series

If any of these titles tickle your fancy be sure to click the cover art on this page to purchase them through Amazon and help keep our site going.

LADY AND THE TRAMP [Diamond Edition]

Whenever I eat spaghetti and meatballs a little part of me always thinks of the candlelit dinner in LADY AND THE TRAMP. And really who doesn’t? Nearly everyone has grown up with this Disney classic and the spaghetti eating scene, especially the ending where the two end up eating the same strand of spaghetti and end up kissing has been recreated so many times, most notably of course being on the Fran Drescher hit TV series THE NANNY. It’s such a sweet, romantic gesture and Disney is opening up their vault again so you can enjoy that scene and the rest of this wonderful movie on Blu-ray and DVD.  The Diamond Editions of Disney’s 1955 Lady and the Tramp will be available in a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo Pack Diamond Edition, 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD Diamond Edition, and DVD. In addition to being available on crystal clear video, it comes jam packed with bonus features including a dramatic recreation of Walt Disney’s story meetings, three never-before-seen deleted scenes, a never recorded song, a making of featurette, the original storyboard version of the film and so much more!

A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR CHRISTMAS 3D

Feeling a little down now that the major winter holidays are over? Well fear not friends as New Line and Warner Home Entertainment are bringing Christmas back with the home video release of  A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR CHRISTMAS. After taking an interesting trip to White Castle in 2004 and escaping from Guantanamo Bay in 2008, the boys are back to celebrate Christmas the only way they know how. Why by having a crazy trip of course! This time it’s through Manhattan to replace Harold’s father-in-law’s destroyed Christmas tree before he finds out. And any Harold and Kumar story wouldn’t be complete with a visit from Neil Patrick Harris in all of his depraved glory.  This hilarious and raunchy Christmas story is being offered in two Blu-ray options - a two-disc Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet Digital Copy edition and a three-disc Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet Digital Copy edition. Both versions come with two featurettes and deleted scenes, plus the 3D Blu-ray includes an extended cut of the film so you can enjoy a white Christmas just a little bit longer.

ANONYMOUS

In seventh grade I went through this period where I was all about Shakespeare. Every book I bought was either his plays or some text that made his writing more contemporary.  It was around that time that I also fell in love with Baz Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. I remember arguing with my English teacher that the Harold Perrineau’s portrayal of Mercutio in Luhrmann’s version was more impactful than Franco Zeffirelli’s 1964 version. I was a wee bit obsessed. But in my obsession I did come across many rumors that Shakespeare didn’t actually write many of his plays.  Many speculated that Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford, may have written his plays and Roland Emmerich chose to focus on one such theory in his film ANONYMOUS.  Focusing on De Vere, the film presumes that De Vere wrote many of Shakespeare’s dramas while under the influence of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex Rebellion. Not many took to kindly to Emmerich’s version of history as many of the film’s ideas were underdeveloped but for those interesting in seeing a different take on Shakespeare’s legacy, Sony Picture Home Entertainment is bringing ANONYMOUS to you on Blu-ray which also comes with commentary by Roland Emmerich and writer John Orloff and three behind-the-scenes featurettes.

DOWNTON ABBEY: Season Two

DOWNTON ABBEY is one of those shows that seems to have come out of nowhere.  All of a sudden this British drama has infiltrated the public consciousness winning Emmy awards, Patton Oswalt live tweeting episodes as they air each Sunday on PBS, a multitude of tumblr sites that mashup DOWNTON with various shows and musicians like Downtown Archer and Downton Abbeyoncé, where DOWNTON ABBEY meets Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child lyrics, and a hilarious SNL commercial for the SPIKE version of the show.  I have yet to experience all that DOWNTON ABBEY has to offer but for all the fans and those curious to see what it’s all about you can now watch the second season of the lives and loves of the Crawley family and their servants on Blu-ray. The second season PBS Home Entertainment has brought DOWNTON ABBEY: Season Two to Blu-ray. Most notably starring Maggie Smith from HOOK the new season picks up in the middle of another disaster, World War I, as the men and women of Downton do their part on both the front lines and the home front. What’s more, the brutality and intensity of war seem to inflame more familiar passions – love, loss, blackmail, and betrayal – leaving family and staff alike to struggle in an ever-changing world, against a host of new demons. This three-disc set comes with three behind-the-scenes featurettes that give you deeper look at recreating such a period drama.

PROJECT NIM

Last summer everyone was raving about Fox’s RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and it’s touching story about an intelligent ape raised by kind humans only to then be turned over to cruel ones and have his gentle nature turned into something far darker.  Little did some know that a similar experience actually took place in real life and was recorded in the documentary PROJECT NIM.  It tells the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who became the focus of a landmark 1970s experiment to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. But as Nim’s natural instincts take over and the humans around him fail to protect him, PROJECT NIM uncovers the unflinching and extraordinary journey of one animal thrust into human society. A highly regarded film that was on the short list for Best Documentary for this year’s Academy Awards, PROJECT NIM is available on DVD this week through Lionsgate and features an audio commentary and two behind-the-scenes featurettes to provide even more insight to this compelling story.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 1

Even I was a bit non-plussed by BREAKING DAWN – PART 1 I couldn’t help but say “ohmygoshohmygoshohymgosh” when I found out it was coming out on Blu-ray this week. It’s the TWILIGHT purist in me that gets so excited over it. Coming out this Saturday, February 11, the next installment follows the marriage of vampire Edward Cullen to human Bella Swan and the dangerous consequences of their union. Lionsgate and Summit Home Entertainment are presenting BREAKING DAWN – PART 1 in Special Edition Blu-ray, two-disc Special Edition DVD, and for the die-hard fan a collectible “Bella’s Wedding Dress Edition.” All editions contain commentary by director Bill Condon, Bella and Edward’s wedding video, three TWILIGHT character features and a six-part behind-the-scenes documentary, enough bonuses to tide over any TWILIGHT fan until the final installment comes out this fall.

Which will you be adding to your rack?

The poster is courtesy of an Argentinean website called Cine 1. It’s a pretty simple poster with some cool-ass aesthetics. The way the image is printed makes the flick seem pretty urban, resembling some graphitti using some stencils and some leaking paint. It looks like it’d be the cover art of an album from some hard rock band. I like the image, but the continued confusion of the marketing for this flick is getting irritating. The first poster was just dark, the banners were clean and colorful, and now we’re getting some extreme sports look. I’m getting frustrated, that’s for sure. Oh yeah, and it’s pretty clear the Untold Story is more important than Spidey himself.

I feel like despite the shitty marketing campaign, I haven’t yet been deterred from wanting to watch this 21 JUMP STREET flick. That last poster with them at the prom was funny, but this new one (via the ImpAwards) seems so damn generic. It’s them, running away from explosions, with guns. What is there to this poster that can really draw anyone’s attention? Not only is the image not all that interesting except for a very awkward-looking picture of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, but it’s a bad Photoshop job similar to that shitty AVENGERS EW Cover. The tagline might make some folks crack a smile, but that’s possibly the only merit I can offer it.

This last poster is from a movie that I’m least anticipating, but I surprisingly like it. This new JOHN CARTER poster, courtesy of the ImpAwards, is yet another Photoshop job. It’s simply cut out from the trailer and thrown on this cool background. This background could be a cool desktop wallpaper. What I like about it is that the poster didn’t go towards the obvious direction. Instead of marketing the flick on Taylor Kitsch’s “stardom” and good looks, it went for a more interesting aspect of the movie, the alien that resembles something out of STAR WARS. It definitely causes a little more intrigue than if it was just another photo of John Carter is action pose.

There is conflicting evidence of whether or not the flick will continue. Two sources spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, one which says that with that delay, the flick probably will not go back into production, while another source was more optimistic and said that the script will be rewritten and the flick should be back on track by next year.

Prior to that, the flick had issues before when Paul Feig dropped out of the director’s chair because of creative difference with Working Title, leading them scrambling to find Cattaneo.

Both BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY and BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON were based on books by Helen Fielding about an English publicist named Bridget Jones and her frustrating adventures. She is a middle-aged English women who has trouble with her fluctuating weight and issues with finding love. Both flicks banked about $200 plus million in the box office, with the first one being a critical success giving Renee Zellweger an Oscar nod for Best Actress.

This entire article went way over my head because I’ve never seen one BRIDGET JONES movie before and I don’t really plan to. I’m not a fan of Renee Zellweger, I don’t find her that attractive and I don’t think she’s that talented. Then again, getting a nod really helps in her favor. Otherwise, I don’t think I’m in the target demographic of BRIDGET JONES considering the fact that I’m not a middle-aged English woman.

Well, it looks like they just replaced the Collins with a cute little redhead by the name of Jane Levy, according to Deadline. There’s a massive resemblance to Emma Stone, there. Well, at least I think so. Anyway, she is supposed to be the lead in the movie, a drug addicted girl whose friends hold an intervention for her at the cabin.

In very related news, they cast what they call their “male lead,” in Shiloh Fernandez, according to Variety. Details are scarce of what character he will play, but it should be too hard to figure out considering there’s only two male characters in the main cast. One of them is the mechanic and the other is speculated to be the one to cause the demons to be unleashed. Which one of these sounds like the lead? Yeah, I guessed at the one who stupidly lets out the demons as well.

THE EVIL DEAD is a reboot of Sam Raimi’s trilogy from the 80′s that often mixed humor with horror as it centered on the exploits of Ash, played by Bruce Campbell, fighting against demons and ghosts released from a evil ancient book called the Necronomicon. The remake is being overseen by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell for the Ghost House Pictures banner, with Fede Alvarez directing and co-writing with Rado Sayagues, and Diablo Cody doing some script-doctoring.

It’s hard to pass any judgment of whether or not either of these actors will do a good job. Checking in on Jane Levy, she’s starred a few TV shows like SHAMELESS and SUBURGATORY. Reading up on her, critics have lots of good things to say about her, calling her the breakout star of 2011. Checking in on Fernandez resume, his biggest role was in that dreadful RED RIDING HOOD movie. Other than, some small roles here in there. In general, it seems like Raimi is trying to amass a good-looking group of kids, without much regard for box office draw.

Well, it doesn’t look like there’s going to be much consideration about it because Variety is reporting that the producers have given the go ahead for Gareth Evans to start on the sequel, with the lead Iko Uwais returning to reprise his role. The sequel is tentatively titled BERANDAL. The producers expect this flick to start filming late this year.

Overall, there isn’t many details about where the flick will go from the first, because accordingly, there wasn’t any real opening for a sequel. It’s safe to say that it will probably follow the adventures of Uwais’ character. THE RAID follows a group of SWAT team performing a raid on a building that is the home of a notorious drug lord. Apparently, shit goes down and it seems like an all-out fight to apprehend the boss.

In a massive move by Sony Pictures Worldwide, Deadline reported that they just pre-bought the distribution rights for BERANDAL for the US as well as Latin America and Spain. Talk about jumping the gun, but it’s a smart move, guaranteeing them business should the RAID do insanely well when it opens (which it should). Lots of faith in this movie and now franchise, I mean, aside from the flick being released later this year, there’s also that U.S. remake that Screen Gems is doing.

So it goes without saying that the original crew behind the movie is looking to continue the story with a sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who have been working together since the first SAW movie, are looking to return with Jason Blum back as producer. No news yet though of Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson returning to star.

The story follows Byrne and Wilson, a married couple with three kids, moving into a new house. The seems a bit strange at first, but nothing really alarming. But then their eldest child goes into a coma without any medical explanation, and that’s when shit seriously gets scary. At first, they think it’s the house, so like any rational family that we don’t see in haunted house films, they move. Unfortunately, in this case, it wasn’t the house.

I would probably say that I’m a big fan of the movie. I wouldn’t put it on my top list of flicks to consider re-watching because the third act of the movie was so damn weak. Some people didn’t like the starring role of Darth Maul in the flick, but I was able to ignore it and really enjoy the pacing and the creepiness of the first half. Unfortunately, like many other opinions, I feel like by the time it came to explain all the occurrences, Wan and Whannell were completely out of ideas and pulled some shitty material out of their asses. (Get it?) Aside from that, I’d be curious to see what Wan and Whannell come up with for a sequel to a movie that didn’t look like it needed one. I’m not 100% against this sequel, but I’m not for it either. Yeah, the cowardly approach. That’s it.

In the first update on it’s development since the summer, Deadline is telling us they just got a writer on board in Matt Lieberman. (I suppose it must have been a tough sell to some of the better ones.) Lieberman is known for graduating the Disney Writers program and penning a direct-to-video sequel to DOCTOR DOLITTLE, entitled TAIL TO THE CHIEF. Dimension expects the flick to be out some time in the summer of 2013. At least the original producer, David Foster is on board.

It really looks like Dimension is trying ever so hard to make this a family flick with Lieberman and Hill both having credentials very immersed in that genre. But having just seen the flick the other day, it wasn’t as much a family film than you would expect. I mean, sure a lot of the humor was geared towards children and there’s nothing raunchy about it, but they shouted “shit” almost every chance as if  cursing made them feel more adult than they actually were. Plus, the themes of the movie weren’t complicated, but it was pretty existential and not what some kids would want to be thinking about when they’re seeing this cute robot do funny shit.

The original 1986 flick is about a military sect who develops five prototype robots meant to be used for the Cold War. One of the robots, Number 5, is struck by lightning and suddenly becomes conscious and as he says, “alive.” The military sect who put money into the project wants to retrieve the robot and either destroy or reprogram it. But Number 5, knowing he’s alive, refuses to be “disassembled” and seeks help from Stephanie (Sheedy) and eventually convinces his creator Newton (Guttenberg) to help him in his quest to be free.

Although Daniel Radcliffe has hung up his robes and wand he just can’t seem to leave the world of the supernatural behind just yet. Abandoning the magic but retaining the ghosts and spiritual world, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is his first big screen outing since the HARRY POTTER franchise and follows Radcliffe as he portrays Arthur Kipp, a failing London lawyer and widowed father. Arthur longs for his dearly departed wife but must find the strength to continue so he can be there for his son. He is tasked with visiting a small country town to settle the affairs of a recently deceased woman before he can enjoy a vacation with his son. Once in town he notices that all the children are kept inside and everyone seems to be rushing him right back out.

After obtaining all the necessary paperwork from the woman’s estate manager Arthur ignores the townsfolk’s pleas to return to London and decides to stay a few days to review additional paperwork found at her isolated manor. After much persuasion he is able to obtain a ride out to the dilapidated manor.  While at the house, Arthur experiences strange visions, hears far off noises and begins to uncover the house and the town’s spooky secret, the woman in black.

From the opening scene in which three little girls jump to their deaths we are immediately sucked in to the film’s creepy, gothic country vibe. The antique dolls the girls play with have hyper realistic eyes that feel like they could come alive at any minute. Shortly thereafter their heads are crushed in as the girls step over them to head to their deaths. This, followed by the bloodcurdling scream of their horrified mother, and the slight view of a woman’s black veil lets you know exactly what you’re in for. Some scary shit is up ahead. The foggy country town is noticeably empty as everyone hardly ventures outside and keeps their children locked up. The people are hostile and absolutely spooked by the vengeful ghost that haunts their town. The deceased woman’s estate is isolated and overgrown. Nearly every corner is filled with darkness, cobwebs and knickknacks, prime opportunities for objects to randomly turn on and people to pop up out of nowhere. Upping the gloomy and creepy setting is general lack of background music or score that amplifies the sound of creaky floors or a particularly loud rocking chair and further builds the goose bump inducing atmosphere.

Both to its benefit and its detriment is the use of jump scares. Most of the scares come from things suddenly appearing and often in quick succession. Normally this would make the film predictable but the scares are done in such a fashion that it gives you just enough time to recover from the last scare before another major one comes along and it’s terrifying every time. There are other instances where it isn’t a jump scare that makes the scene scary but rather the extent to which Arthur will go to try to rid the town of its ghostly inhabitant. One particular scene involving a late night trip to the marshes had me holding my breath and clinching my seat in anxiety.

While his character is isolated for much of the film, Daniel Radcliffe holds his own and remains committed to his role. Instead of relying on inner monologue to express what’s running through his mind as things go bump in the night, he ably shows varying degrees of interest, concern, curiosity, horror and terror through his mannerisms and facial expressions. In the slightest adjustment of his cheeks or furrowing of his eyebrows he switches from emotion to emotion effortlessly. Even though he is a bit young to have a son he still carries this great concern for his son and a deep sense of loss for his dead wife.

Radcliffe is also supported by a great cast, particularly Ciarán Hinds and Janet McTeer as the town’s wealthy couple who show Arthur some courtesy and fill him in on the town’s tragic history. Hinds’ Mr. Daily tries his hardest to believe that all these deaths are superstition but can’t help but feel deep down inside that something sinister is at hand. McTeer is just bat shit crazy as Mrs. Daily, a woman who hasn’t gotten over the loss of her little boy to the woman in black and channels spirits. She has moments where she channels her son’s spirit and frantically scrawls on whatever surface is nearby that are both frightening and heartbreaking to watch as we quickly see Mr. Daily try to contain both his wife by heavily medicating her.

This tightly paced film comes to a most satisfying end that fits with the lore of the woman in black, adding to the beauty and simplicity of the story. THE WOMAN IN BLACK is a haunted house movie that gets it right. It’s got an interesting background, creepy setting, sympathetic protagonist and genuine scares. It sticks to its guns, never trying to be more than it is making it a downright chilling horror film. I haven’t seen a horror movie in some time that has been filled with as much suspense or made me want to hide in my chair as much as THE WOMAN IN BLACK and, for the sake of my nerves, I hope I don’t see another one like this for a long time.

There’s still a lot to get excited about in the superhero genre. This year alone, we finally get THE AVENGERS, Marvel Studios’ culmination of all the hard work that went into creating this movie universe where superheroes and their villainous counterparts seem right at home (we’ll pretend to forget about IRON MAN 2). After that, we get the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, which should put quite the exclamation point on a series that had to come a long way on the road to recovery after the damage done by BATMAN AND ROBIN. Last year, we had the excellent Marvel duo of THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA to keep things going on the right track, as well as 20th Century Fox breathing new life into the X-MEN franchise they all but killed themselves. However, in the midst of all those successes, we get saddled with the likes of GREEN LANTERN, which was a failure of cosmic proportions, a reboot of Spider-Man just five years after the last trilogy of films wrapped that no one was demanding and another GHOST RIDER that stands to most likely be even worse than the first. As a result, criticism of whether or not the superhero well is running dry is quite fair and justified on some levels. Sequels and reboots seem to be all that’s left after the rush on comic book properties that brought forth subpar visions of Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, the Punisher and others destroyed so many of these characters on the film front.

Then something unique like CHRONICLE comes along, and gives you hope that there’s still a lot of life left in those superheroes. Directed by Josh Trank and written by Max Landis, CHRONICLE is a bare bones superhero tale at its very core. Gone are the glossy costumes and overcomplicated plots by evil doers, replaced by a trio of teens who stumble upon some type of foreign object that looks a lot like Superman’s baby ship buried beneath the ground one night outside of a high school party and emerge with extraordinary powers. However, as impressive as the powers being put on display by Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), CHRONICLE is at its best dealing with the emotions that teenagers deal with in navigating through the social hierarchy of high school, coupling that with the responsibility that comes with being able to manipulate objects in space, including yourself into patterns of flight.

These are three kids that you can find in just about any high school in America. Steve is the popular kid at school. He dates a cheerleader. He’s a shoo-in for Senior Class President. He’s a star on the high school football team. He’s “It” roaming the halls on a daily basis. But what does he really have beyond a bunch of kids thinking he’s cool as shit? How many true friends does he really have in the bunch? Who can really lay claim to knowing who he is, outside of the easy labels his high school accomplishments have placed upon him? Beyond that, you have Andrew, who is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. For all intents and purposes, most of his peers would see him as a loser. He claims to be shy, but it leads more to him isolating himself further from his classmates than anything else. He’s the guy who just doesn’t fit in, and he’s typically picked on as a result, either because he’s seen as a weak target by the bullying type or because he’s just so socially awkward that it’s too easy not to take advantage of. Then there’s Matt, Andrew’s cousin, who is too cool for school, and might as well be too cool for everyone else, too. He has this elitist attitude about him that parties and cliques and the usual high school activities are beneath him, which creates his own problems as far as fitting in. All three have connected with others on a personal level, but somehow these three kindred spirits managed to find each other through this freak occurrence.

In typical high school dumbass fashion, they have no respect whatsoever for their powers. They’re throwing baseballs at each other in the hopes of being able to stop them mid-flight before they can make contact. They can use telekinetic powers to move objects with their mind, starting out with Legos before graduating to parked automobiles, toys and shopping carts in a rather funny toy store sequence. Their powers operate like a muscle, or at least that’s what they believe… the more they use it and work it out, the stronger it gets. But quickly they learn how it can come to harm people if they’re not careful about using it, with Andrew sending some redneck tailgater off the side of the road, through a guardrail and into the hospital. We can already start to see the seeds being planted as to which of the three will begin using their powers in anger, turning into the de facto villain of the film, when they begin to believe they’re a greater being than the average human. For CHRONICLE, that’s quite alright, because the predictability isn’t so much an obstacle, because you’re too emotionally invested in the film’s characters to be distracted by the fact that you know the next beat of the story. You’re locked into the realness of these characters, and you want to ride it out to the end with them, no matter what.

DeHaan’s Andrew is the one with the most depth to him. After all, it’s because of him that we get the whole found footage concept incorporated in the film, as he’s bought a camera and decided to film everything. We never quite get a clear answer as to why, since he makes such a purchase before he has super powers, but it could have something to do with capturing his last moments with his dying mother or documenting the physical, verbal and emotionally abuse he endures regularly from his drunk of a father. With this glimpse into Andrew’s home life, we get a better understanding of who he is, but more importantly where he comes from, which ultimately shapes who he’ll later become in CHRONICLE. He’s not a bad kid. He’s just had a shitty home life, bringing the nature versus nurture argument into play as far as who is better served to deal with and control their powers.

The film’s third act is really where things rise to a new level, after having established the characters for the first third of the film and their powers right smack in the middle. This is where sides get drawn, feelings are examined even deeper and you get a true sense of each character’s true self. Have the powers changed them, or are they just amplifications of what was always there to begin with? The film’s climactic battle has traces of the Superman/Zod fight from SUPERMAN II all over it (always a good thing), although this is much more grounded in reality… or at least as grounded in reality as a movie dealing with real-life superheroes can be. This is a full-blown super battle, which is executed quite well by Trank on an emotional level. It’s not about how cool it looks at times, though that’s certainly a bonus. This is about who wins and who loses, and those stakes are given importance by creating characters we have no trouble identifying with. We care what happens to them, which lends added weight to how the story resolves itself. If only more films could pay attention to giving us people we can become invested in during the story… CHRONICLE goes for the substance more than the style, which is why it works.

As for the style itself, I could have done without the found footage model. I can see why it’s used, to capture these characters on a more personal level, drawing you further into their story, making that connection with you as if you’re there with them every step of the way. However, for the first time, I found myself distracting by the shakiness of the handheld camera at times. Plus, because they can make objects float in mid-air at will, the camcorder style of filming becomes a cop out, with basically the reason for Andrew’s camera shooting everything now being reduced to no good reason at all. It works better when CHRONICLE factors in video surveillance camera footage or footage of what’s being recorded by police helicopters or news cameras, but, because the story is strong on so many levels, had it been filmed in a more traditional manner, I don’t think it would have taken away from the effectiveness of the movie.

CHRONICLE is a really good film, and, especially if you’re into superheroes and comic books, I would strongly suggest checking it out. Even if you’re not, there’s enough solid character work to draw you into the personal details of these three guys as they figure out how superpowers can work for, not against them, through the end of their high school careers. As Uncle Ben famously stated, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In CHRONICLE, some learn that lesson in a much harder way than others. However, I get the feeling director Josh Trank really felt the impact of those words the most, because, when you head into making a superhero movie, there are immense pressures to make it really good, because anything less than that is unacceptable in the fanboy community. Well, Trank need not worry any more, because with his power to make a superhero flick, he responsibly made a good one.