Gavin Grades The Movies |
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by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 This movie has a title that would make almost anybody roll their eyes. Â It has a poster that would make everyone walk right past it in a video store...if video stores still existed. Â It's a horror movie about a group of college kids that go for a vacation in the West Virginia wilderness (like no college kids ever do) and have a bloody run-in with two hillbillies that are in a creepy old cabin in the middle of nowhere. Â The only difference is that the two hillbillies are just trying to mind their own business and be helpful but the college kids think they're psycho killers so they try to kill them. Â It's a clever little twist that makes Tucker and Dale vs. Evil a shockingly fun movie.
Although most of the cast if padded with talentless, barely attractive wannabes, the three main characters are recognizable faces. Â The damsel "in distress" is played by Katrina Bowden who's the goddess from NBC's 30 Rock and Sex Drive. Â The real stars are Alan Tudyk (Death at a Funeral, Knocked Up) and Tyler Labine (CW's Reaper, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) who are really talented, really funny character actors that have yet to disappoint in a performance. Â It's a good thing they're so good because they carry the movie on their shoulders alone.
I gotta give credit where it's due though and that's to first-time director/writer Eli Craig. Â I really appreciate movies that are horror films in the true sense of the word but flip the genre on its head to be funny and do it without making fun of it. Â Other films that have pulled that off are Behind the Mask and more famously, Shaun of the Dead. Â Tucker and Dale vs. Evil pokes fun at the slasher genre a little more than the other two but it still delivers on the gore. Â Impressive for a movie that was made with a crazy, small budget.
This isn't a laugh-a-minute movie that keeps you entertained the whole (pathetic) 88 minutes. Â It does drag at parts and it's sadly not above a dick joke here and there. Â But overall it's a decent horror comedy that takes a tired concept and twists it just a bit. Â It's almost like Halloween if instead, Michael Myers was just a nice guy trying to help teenagers to help him take the mask off, which they see as a threat so they try to kill him. Â That's the plot and it works. Â Sure it's one long joke and yes it does get stretched thin, but it's nice to see someone at least taking a risk and creating something original in the horror genre for once.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B |
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by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 I went to see this screening with my buddy Dave. Â As we were driving there we were talking about how the original Fright Night from 1985 used to scare us when we would walk by it on the shelves at the video store. Â This was when we were kids...and when there were video stores. Â When I finally got around to watching the movie that had a poster that scared me so much, I was relieved and disappointed to find out that it was more of a comedy than a horror movie. Â As I got older I grew to appreciate that they did both genres so well, but that made me nervous that a remake was going to be attempted. Â If the comedy wasn't there or the horror wasn't there, then I wouldn't want to be there either. Â Luckily for me, Fright Night from 2011 is something worth sinking your teeth into.
See, in the '80s and '90s vampire movies were still made that were fun. Â The Lost Boys, The Monster Squad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Love Bites, From Dusk Till Dawn, Blade...these were all movies about vampires that were a lot of fun to watch. Â Now they're all brooding and in love. Â They all have tortured, sad stories and lack the visceral violence that made us flock to the cinemas for the blood that we craved. Â I mean, how pathetic is it now that the most popular and highest grossing vampire saga of all time features vampires with no fangs and no blood?!!? Â Fright Night reclaims it all though and thank God it does!
The new version follows the exact same plot of the first one, where a teenager thwarts the attempts of his vampire next door neighbor who tries to kill his whole block. Â The teenager is played by Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, The Beaver) and the vampire is Colin Farrell (In Bruges, Horrible Bosses). Â They're also joined by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, Kickass) and a scene-stealing comedic juggernaut in David Tennant (Harry Potter 4, How to Train Your Dragon).
Coling Farrell is rapidly becoming like Brad Pitt to me. Â At first I hated them because I thought they were nothing but pretty faces in movies that have nothing to say because they lacked the talent to deliver good lines. Â But as the years go on, both actors have really impressed me with bold movie choices and stellar performances. Â Fright Night continues that tradition for Farrell, who seems like he really enjoyed playing the vampire Jerry...yes, Jerry. Â (Fans of the original will also be tickled to see a cameo from Chris Sarandon (The Princess Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas) who was the original Jerry.)
Another surprisingly great performance is from Mintz-Plasse, also forever known as McLovin, who is doomed to play a high school student for the rest of his life. Â He starts the film exactly as you'd expect but really impressed me with how he ended it.
What made the whole experience fun was the tone that was set by director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Mr. Woodcock). Â He incorporated some straight-up 3D gimmicks that you'd expect to see in a theme park attraction but made it work in the context of it all. Â It was gory, scary, fun and hilarious. Â Fright Night starts off a little slow but builds to a wonderfully satisfying orgy of blood and comedy by the end. Â It also does something I'm sure it didn't set out to do; it sends out a message to the vampire movies we're saturated with today: A little more biting and a little less sucking!
Fright Night  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B+ | | | Tags : Social : 107.9 the End, Anton Yelchin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Colin Farrell, Craig Gillespie, David Tennant, Fright Night, Gavin, Gavin Ferguson, Imogen Poots, KDND
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by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:20PM
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 Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas, Hollow Man) is an Oscar-winning actress and rarely performs in films anymore. Â So what the hell would get someone like her to not only agree to appear in a tawdry remake of an already tawdry film from the '70s but be the star of it too?!!? Â Probably the same thing that got Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Dawn of the Dead), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future series, Clue), Jerry O'Connell (Jerry Maguire, Scream 2) and Richard Dreyfuss (W., Close Encounters of the Third Kind), who not only show up in the film but reprise his amazing role of Matt Hooper from Jaws, to agree to be in it! Â I'm still not really sure what that something was though. Â Could it be gobs of money that was thrown at them? Â Doubtful. Â Maybe the naked women that run 50-yards-deep in some scenes for the film? Â Eh, I think they're above that. Â Or was it the chance to work with skilled French horror director Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes) on something that was made to purely be a good time at the movies and nothing more? Â Probably that. Â Piranha 3D is a throwback to when horror films were full of cheap scares, lots of boobs and buckets of blood. Â If that's all you want to see, then you won't be disappointed one bit. Â If there isn't a frame of this film that doesn't have naked women, shredded flesh or both in it, then it's showing off with some kind of campy, overt 3D effect. Â What's enjoyable about the film though is the level of commitment the actors give the characters. Â They sink their teeth (no pun intended) into the roles and don't over-play them but don't make you feel like they're coasting through it either. Â It's almost like a comedy duo where the actors are the "straight guy" and the film itself is the "funny guy." Â They're in on the joke but know the joke would be over if they didn't make you almost believe they didn't know it was funny. Â The gory violence comes on quick and once it does, the screen runs red with so much carnage that I can't remember when a film last delivered a comparable level. Â The pinnacle of the Piranha 3D is when the thousands of fish feast on the hundreds of college Spring Breakers in an orgy of chaos that is so excessive in not only violence but also scale and performances by all the scantily clad extras, that you can't help but to laugh at the thought of how much fun it must have been to film. Â However, as delightfully awful as that scene is, the movie lacks something. Â When a film intentionally sets out to be a cult classic, it's very difficult for it to stick that landing with A+ precision. Â Although the film is meant to be stupid and silly, if there's nothing to make people want to see it again, you don't get a cult film...you get something stupid and silly. Â A cult classic has to be something that's so much fun to watch it keeps you coming back for more and compels you to show all your friends. Piranha 3D wasn't that, but it gave a fair attempt. Â But I have a feeling that it's going to lose even more "cult" quality when it moves to DVD and has to be viewed without the 3D gimmick. Â Because seeing a piranha devour a human penis and then burp it back up just isn't the same in 2D.
Piranha 3D Â (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B- | | | Tags : Social : 107.9 the End, Adam Scott, Alexandre Aja, Christopher Lloyd, Elisabeth Shue, Gavin, Jerry O'Connel, Piranha, Piranha 3D, Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames
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by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:19PM
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 What is it about zombies that make people create such a natural tie-in to comedy? Â It seems that there have been more horror-comedies that were about zombies than any other monster movie I can think of. Â There will be lots of comparisons made of this movie, from first time director Ruben Fleischer, and the Simon Pegg classic "Shaun of the Dead." Â I'm a HUGE fan of "Shaun" and in my opinion, "Zombieland" stands up, toe-to-to with it; the only difference being that "Shaun" was the dry British version and "Zombieland" is 100% USAsskicking. Â The film starts off with a cold opening followed by opening credits that not only set the tone for the film, but sets the level of violence as well. Â This is not a movie for the squeamish. Â If there's some horrible act of violence coming up in the film that you just know they'll cut away from because it's much too graphic, guess again 'cause they're showing it. Â In fact a big part of the comedy of the film is the shock at how high they're willing to take some of the gore. Â The movie stars Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Emma Stone ("Superbad") and Jessie Eisenberg ("Adventureland" Â I guess he can't stay away from movies with "land" in the title). Â Eisenberg is still very new on the scene and he's apparently who Hollywood calls on when Michael Cera says "no" to a role because the two are virtually the same person. Â Just like Cera, he can play one kind of part, and that's the awkward, shy, funny guy and he plays it well. Â That's pretty much the cast of the movie minus a hoard of the undead. Â The only other person in the movie is a cameo that should go down in history as the BEST CAMEO IN ANY MOVIE EVER MADE! Â What the director, Fleischer, did in this was keep the film funny from beginning to end. Â He didn't fall into the trap of it getting too serious or too scary or too sappy at all. Â His #1 goal in this was to make sure you have a damn good time watching it and you're entertained; he doesn't fall short of that one bit. Â The only issue that it runs into is that it has a saggy middle act. Â It starts strong, ends strong and gets rather dry in-between. Â It's still very funny, but looses its zombie allure by not having any scares, jumps or action for about 40 minutes. Â Of course he makes up for that and then some with the climax. Â The credit in this film can be spread evenly all the way around. Â Not one actor carries it more than the others and they all seemed like they had a blast filming it...I know I would. Â If you have a strong stomach and a sick sense of humor, then "Zombieland" is your idea of a fun night. Â If you don't, well...let's be honest; a movie called "Zombieland" probably didn't appeal to you anyway.
Zombieland (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: A- |
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by Gavin
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:19PM
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 The writer and producer of this movie, Diablo Cody, was the person behind the Oscar-winning film "Juno," and in my opinion, is a writer to be respected. She has a great way of creating dialogue that sits in a world inbetween fantasy and reality, while keeping it very funny and thoughtful...much the same Kevin Smith used to do in the '90s. (Sorry Kevin, you had a good run.) But in "Jennifer's Body" that style got the tone of the movie wrong. You can't have a movie that is a horror comedy spoofing it one second and snarky the next. I enjoy both types but combining both in the same movie is just confusing. A movie like "Shawn of the Dead" was a perfect horror comedy because it was a great horror movie that happened to be funny.  There are some scenes in "Jennifer's Body" that are legitimately chilling.  It's easy and satisfying to have a demonic possession movie use long-lasting images stay on a screen with no action, just to freak you out.  And the star of the film, the stunning Megan Fox, seemed like she reveled in doing that.  You can see the macabre, blood-filled smile on her face is almost indistinguishable from whether or not it's the character "Jennifer's" or Megan's.  The same blurry line of real and fictitious emotion can be said for co-star Amanda Seyfried ("Big Love," "Mamma Mia!") and her looks of being creeped out.  Both girls are really good in this.  Director Karyn Kusama is also really good, although she lets her fascination with lesbianism get the best of her with a very sensual scene between the two stars that has absolutely no purpose in the film at all (although I did enjoy watching it).  The problem for this movie comes squarely on the shoulders of Cody and her ridiculous script.  I honestly feel like giving this movie a much worse grade than I gave it just to punish it for coming so close to being a good movie and then crashing and burning as badly as it did.  There is one single scene that was the tipping scale for me.  "Jennifer's Body" had me!  I was buying all of it and enjoying most of it until the scene that explains what happened to Jennifer that was so poorly done that it just made me angry.  It wasn't funny, it wasn't scary, it wasn't good storytelling.  It was lazy and stupid.  In fact it was so stupid that I didn't even care about what happened in the rest of the film.  I sat there half concentrating on the climax of the movie, while the other half of me was still dwelling on how a good movie could go so wrong.  Pity too since you'd think someone with the first name Diablo would do a great job writing a movie about the demons.
Jennifer's Body (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: C |
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