It’s that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It’s The Day New Movies Are Released.
Cloud Atlas
I’ve yet to experience and/or endure Cloud Atlas – and I am looking forward to it – but am I crazy to get a definite Movie: The Movie vibe from it? With its expansive cast bouncing from era to era over an elephantine 172 minutes, it must feel like it is every movie ever made crammed into one experience. Whether this will prove effective for you or I is still yet to be determined, though I’m neither surprised nor disappointed by the 65% Rotten Tomatoes score its received thus far, with comments ranging from high, high praise to calls of it essentially being rubbish. They’re probably all right. Get ready for Prometheus, Part II – this time sans emergency surgery.
Dylan’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 88%
Chasing Mavericks
Here’s the summary from IMDb:
“When young Jay Moriarty discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, exists just miles from his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson to train him to survive it. ”
So what you’re telling me is that this is the area of Point Break between the climax and the denouement, when Bodhi journeys to Australia to catch the Wave of the Century?
What? You’re not telling me that? Well, that’s too bad, then, because I’d have been on board if you were. As is, I have very limited interest in this, since Gerard Butler isn’t enough to get me into a theater, even with Elisabeth Shue on hand as well.
Dylan’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 17%
Silent Hill: Revelation
Answer me this: is the first Silent Hill film worth a watch? Not being into horror films all that much (or video games), I of course haven’t experienced SH in any media. The first film being a video game adaptation doesn’t exactly add interest, knowing how well those turn out. But at the same time, I seem to recall hearing (from Nick, at the least) that it’s among the best video game adaptations of all time. So I suddenly think it must be a good horror film. “Not so!,” says the 29% RT score, however. So which is it?
One thing that I’ve found funny is just how ignorant I was of this Pyramid Head guy, who’s apparently a big deal. Thing is, I walked around both the Phoenix and San Diego Comic Conventions this past summer, seeing at least one person dressed up as him at each one. The whole time, I thought he was slightly menacing-looking, but mostly stupid-looking, and I only put together that he was from Silent Hill (and supposed to be ooohhhh-aaaaahh! scary) in the span of the last couple weeks. Sorry, folks – he just looks dumb, even with his giant sword-thing.
Congrats to star Adelaide Clemens for winning the Michelle Williams look-alike award, though.
Dylan’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 16%
Fun Size
This film is opening in the second-most theaters this weekend with ~2,800, after Silent Hill: Revelation‘s 2900+.
Um…what? What is this? Lemme guess – it’s being marketed to tweens. I blame the awesomeness of DVRs and minimized television viewing in general (rather than my old man-ness) for my general ignorance of select wide release films. There used to be a time when the thought of a wide release film creeping up on me would be insane, but these days it’s a near-weekly occurrence. At first blush, it really does bother me (“I’m so out of touch!!”), but after making excuses involving DVRs, having a two-year old, not watching as much TV and the like, I generally feel better about myself. Hey, I just did that – I feel great!
Dylan’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 3%
Wayne (6)
Mette (4)
Nic Cage (4)
Sebastian (4)
steve (4)
John (3)
Nick (3)
Chip Lary (2)
Dan (2)
Silent Hill is widely regarded as the best video game film currently, not just from me. I mean, it doesn’t have a terrible amount of competition, but it’s pretty damn good anyway. The first half is more mystery/thriller, and the horror comes in more second half.
It ain’t perfect, and I’m on record saying the ending blows. But hopefully my mind will change on the ending with the sequel, which will actually explain and build on it.
Silent Hill does have its detractors, and most will automatically write it off just for being a video game movie (i.e. the majority of RT). But it’s worth giving it a chance. It’s solid.
From what I’ve gathered, the games are very psychological. The monsters are all physical representations of the characters’ psyches and backgrounds, including Pyramid Head (who is scarier in context than he is walking around a Comic-Con). And the stories unravel like a horror-noir as all the puzzle pieces fall into place and you suddenly realize what everything means. The first film is similar in this way, as well.
I’m about to lay down some spoilers for the second Silent Hill video game where Pyramid Head first appears. Just in case that matters to anybody who might be reading this.
You’re absolutely right about the games having psychological ties to the game protagonists. In Silent Hill 2, our protagonist is James Sunderland. He comes to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife Mary. We find out at the end of the game that James had killed Mary to ease her suffering of a terminal illness she had for three years. Pyramid Head is a representation of the guilt he has over this and is modeled after an ancient executioner. Pyramid Head can be seen numerous times throughout the game raping creatures and subsequently murdering them. After James meets a woman who reminds him of his wife, Pyramid Head eventually kills her. When she comes back from the dead, Pyramid Head kills her again. All the while chasing James as well. All in all Pyramid Head is a manifestation of James’ sexual repression and guilt over the death of his wife.
And this is why it’s wrong to have Pyramid Head in any Silent Hill project outside of Silent Hill 2. He’s only connected to James Sunderland because James Sunderland created him as his own form of punishment. The problem is the creature became too popular, so he gets shoehorned into projects he has no business being in.
Twitter: agracru
October 26, 2012 7:53 am
So, Cloud Atlas. Let me break that one down for you: go see Cloud Atlas. The thing is, nobody should be seeing it because some people are having near-religious experiences watching it or are otherwise finding themselves awestruck by it (I find myself in the latter category; I loved it). Instead, they should be seeing it because it’s one of the most unique experiences you’ll have in a theater this year.
And, yes, again, I do think it’s utterly fantastic. I think it’s a huge, sprawling film with simple codified messages that comes together with really perfect cohesion, and I think that’s a big reminder as to why the Wachowski siblings (with Tom Tykwer!) are such valuable filmmakers. That’s maybe a good second reason to see Cloud Atlas, but apart from the fact that it shows off just how good the Wachowskis are when they want to be, it’s just a singular filmgoing experience.
Also coming out today: Pusher remake. The original film is very good, and while Luis Prieto’s reinterpretation is solid, it’s also basically the exact same film. In other words it’s not something you really need to pursue.
Oh, and if this helps you any, the first film was written by one Mr. Roger Avary, who is also responsible for such films as True Romance and Pulp Fiction.