Blu-Ray Dossier Volume 2.0: the Halloween Edition

“The Children of the Night… what (or vhat) music they make.”

Tis the season, the Halloween season that is. I thought that I would round up a few possible options for you Blu-ray pleasure with this edition of the Dossier. I’ve seen 4 movies recently and I’m about to tell you what I thought of ‘em but before I do here are the ground rules. As before (see: asdf) the movies are rated on a two round system; round one is all about the story and round two is all about the Blu-ray. That’s, that. Now open up your bag 'cause here come the goodies.

“Diary of the Dead” 4 Stars / 3.5 Stars. This is George Romero’s latest foray into the genre that he practically invented, the “Zombie Movie”. This is a smaller more personal venture and it is a turn for the better. His last movie, “Land of the Dead”, really didn’t do it for me. It had some great ideas but great ideas do not a great movie make. But enough about that, we’re talking Diary. The plot follows a group of college kids whose film project becomes a documentary of the first few days of the Zombie Outbreak. It made me jump a couple of time but, admittedly, that’s not all that hard to do. If you are a Romero fan this will make it’s way into your collection.

“Sleepy Hollow” 4 Stars / 3 Stars. I would like to go on record and say anything that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp make together is worth seeing, if not on the big screen then, most certainly, on Blu-ray. Burton’s Sleepy Hollow changes up the story but still makes it atmospheric with a suburban Victorian feel. Ichabod is no longer the schoolteacher / choir director, he is now a constable who has been sent to the little settlement to investigate a series of murders and thanks to a certain ghostly headless Hessian solider business is brisk. There is something about this story (Washington Irving’s original and Tim Burton’s interpretation) that strike a chord with me; it always reminds me of the fall season, of my childhood and why I never take covered bridges at night. A masterfully realized story but the jaw dropping Blu-ray factor only ranks an average.

“Poltergeist” 4.5 Stars / 4 Stars. This is a great example of what a horror film could be. Even after all the years since the film’s release and a few dated special effects – this movie works. The story is by some guy named “Steven Spielberg” and the director duties go to some guy named, “Tobe Hooper”. What an amazing marriage. The character development and acting are spot on the money. This one deserves to be among the pantheon of great horror movies for it’s creepy factor alone; which is, by the way, something woefully ignored by the lion’s share of today’s filmmakers. The Blu-ray quality stands out when you see the housing development where the story unfolds. If this is not in your collection then Halloween is, most certainly, a great time to rent it and to remind yourself what a decent horror movie looks like.

“Hellboy II – The Golden Army” 4 Stars / 4 Stars. This is one that is technically not a horror movie. Oh sure there are elements that are impossible to not recognize or ignore but, at it’s core, “Hellboy II” is the story of a heroes journey. Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite filmmakers working today. There is a reason why he is the man at the helm for “The Hobbit”. His attention to detail and story are evident from the first few frames and overtly obvious when the cast is at the Troll Market. It is simply beautiful. If you missed it the first time around check it out. It is part of my collection. It may not be for young eyes due to big monsters fighting each other in Manhattan and Ireland but if you can remember that it’s only a movie you will be entertained. Here’s hoping that Hellboy III gets a green light!

And there you have it; some Blu-Ray Dossier picks for Halloween. Rent some and see for yourself; but beware… “For even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf (or volf) when (or vhen) the wolves (or volves) bane blooms and the moon is full… and bright.”

2008 Summer Movie Wrap Up

My, my, my… what a summer it has been. As any fan boy, film nut or movie geek worth his salt will tell you is the most magical time of the year. The summer of 2008 is no exception save for the fact that the quality of the blockbuster has gone up. Amen. The studios bring out their A game at the summer solstice and oh, what a game it was.

I’m not a professional film expert, nor am I a professional writer; I’m just a guy with a laptop and a blog who knows what he likes. And what I like most of all is the story. “Serve the story” has become my mantra. Whatever medium or vehicular delivery the plot is passed from point A to point B – serve the story. Filmmakers, novelists, artists, cartoonists, puppeteers, song writers, actors, writers, directors, whatever; if serving the story is not their passion then they are in the wrong profession. Bottom line. There must be respect for the story and if the tale you are telling has something to do with existing characters that are already established firmly in popular culture, literature, or history – respect the character. If you want to tell your own story, fine; but don’t sacrifice the venture on a pyre of your own vanity in the process. Show some respect. Many of these characters have been around a lot longer than you and will be remembered long after your chance to progress their story has slipped through your fingers. Love the characters you write, respect them and serve the story. That’s it. That’s the recipe for success; primarily to successful storytelling but also to selling a lot of popcorn at the theaters.

Speaking of selling popcorn; to usher in the New Year I put together my summer movie picks for ’08. No pressure but if you are interested that can be found here: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/01/evil-chickens-spring-summer-movie.html. In this blog I picked my favorites for the upcoming movie season. When I wrote it Heath Ledger was still with us and we were in the middle of the writer’s strike. We were about to enter another uncertain year with a war going happening on two fronts and an uncertain economic future; well, why not start the year off with some comfort blogging? At the time I thought projecting my favorites would be a good idea. Now at the end of the season I thought I’d give you my favorite four films of the 2008 summer movie season. So without further ado; lets get down to business.

1. The Dark Knight will floor you and not just as a popcorn summertime movie. Its scope is far reaching and it is everything a Batman movie should be. It is truly a wonderfully realized piece of cinema. If the Academy ignores this one they should be stormed with pitchforks and torches. Here’s what I had to say about the movie then: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/07/dark-knight.html. I stand by those statements.

2. Iron Man was a wonderful way to start the summer. For this fan boy it was a close second and in a summer without Batman it would have easily taken the number one spot. They set the bar high right outta jump street. Here’s what I had to say on the film then: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/05/basking-in-after-glow-of-pure-geek-joy.html. I stand by those statements.

3. Hellboy II: the Golden Army was visionary and fun. It progressed the Hellboy story along by throwing in some neat little plot twists in between shots from one of today’s most imaginative filmmakers. Here’s what I had to say then: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/07/hellboy-ii-golden-army.html. You know what? I stand by those statements.

4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a lot of fun. It made me smile to see Indy make his way onto the big screen for another go round. I hope that it doesn’t stop with this one. There is so much more to do before Dr. Henry Jones Jr. hangs up his whip and fedora; and now that there is an heir apparent the franchise is ripe for the picking. Back when the movie came out instead of doing a blow-by-blow review I did a little recap on the “trilogy”. I was content with the fact that Indy had returned. My hopes were rewarded. If interested you can read all that jazz here: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/05/pssst-indy-iv-is-coming-soon.html. Mr. Lucas, Mr. Spielberg – Yes please, my I have another?

Of course one never knows how the marketplace will react to a film. Speed Racer immediately comes to mind. I thought that it would have wheels instead of hitting the wall like it did. I grew up watching Speed Racer; so did a lot of other fan boys so I was surprised that it didn’t work. Who’s to say why? Perhaps it was too high a concept? No. Maybe it was just too stylish for its own good? Maybe. Whatever the case it didn’t work. The public just stayed away. I’m sure that studios will be scrutinizing the whys and hows of it for years to come. It didn’t find its audience. It probably will on Blu-ray.

As for my favorites of the summer of 2008, well each one of these films served the story. As a result of that everyone was happy; the studios, the filmmakers and the fans both old and new. Each of these pictures will have a hand in selling a lot of Blu-ray players and HD TVs (don’t forget the magic number of 1080 p). I do not yet possess such equipment but would gladly test some if any company like a Panasonic or a Sony would like me to field trial such electronics under a wide variety of consumer situations and user conditions – well, just say the word.

I’m willing to sacrifice.

My Movie Wish List

“A work of art is never completed, just abandoned.” – Guillaume Apollinaire

That’s a great quote from someone I have absolutely no idea about of whom they are. I heard George Lucas paraphrase it by substituting the word “film” for “art”. Hold on a tick; let’s check out Wikipedia…

Searching…

Searching…

Ok, here we are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Apollinaire. “He (Guillaume Apollinaire) was a French poet, writer and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother. Among the foremost poets of the early 20th century, he is credited with coining the word “surrealism” and writing one of the earliest works described as surrealist, the play, “Les Mamelles de Tiresias” (1917, later used as the basis for an opera in 1947). Two years after being wounded in World War I, he died at 38 of the Spanish Flu during the pandemic.”

There you go; you learn something new every day.

Anyway, let me get back on topic; please forgive me Gentle Reader; I saw a bright shiny thing.

As a Fan Boy and Movie Geek it occurs to me that there are certain movies that I would like to see happen; certain films that just ache to be made – stories that deserve to be completed and told. The last blog got me to thinking what other movies need to be completed, or rather, which films would benefit from having their plots move forward. Sequels are rarely as good as their predecessor; that being said, here is a list of films that I would like to see come to fruition. Yes, the majority of this list may be pure adolescent wish fulfillment but I’m ok with that. I’ve always enjoyed the concept of being entertained at the movies – if I wanted to weep I’d watch the news. I would pay hard money on opening night to go see at the local multiplex and I think the viewing public would be too. Without further ado here’s my list in no particular order…

1. Blade Runner II. Ridley Scott needs to be at the helm once more. I want more replicants, an older Gaff (portrayed by Edward James Olmos once more) who is a Blade Runner himself and the final answer as to if Rick Deckard was a replicant or not. For the record – I think he was.

2. Snake Plissken. John Carpenter needs to come out of his self-imposed retirement and make this movie. Kurt Russell needs to reprise this role one more time. There were plans at one time to make “Escape from Planet Earth” but they fell through when “Escape from L.A.” went belly up in the theaters. It did well on DVD and the anti-hero, Snake has always been one of my personal favorites. I'm with ya Kurt... or rather, Mr. Russell.

3. The Dark Knight Returns. How’s this for a recipe – make the third film in the current trilogy with the Riddler as the bad guy and then take some time off. Really. Now transplant the exact cast and crew into the future and make Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns”. It simply could not miss. Amazing stuff and worth the wait.

4. Hellboy III. See: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/07/hellboy-ii-golden-army.html for all my reasons.

5. Iron Man II. John Favreau must helm and Robert Downey Jr. must reprise his role as Tony Stark – in fact, the whole cast needs to return. It has been reported that they don’t want to rush into a cookie cutter sequel and this brings a smile to my beating geek heart. With the momentum of Iron Man II they just need to keep rolling and make “Ultimate Avengers”. It looks like Marvel Films is gearing up for this to happen and I’m all a-tingle. This will Rock. Favreau should helm the project. He gets it; not only that – he wants to share it. “What’s ‘it’?” you may ask. ‘It’ is a love and appreciation for the characters and world of Marvel Comics. ‘Nuff said.

6. Mad Max IV. You could argue that Mad Max has already had his transition from losing his humanity (Mad Max), discovering that he is still part of the human race (The Road Warrior), and rejoining humanity (in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) but there is a part of me that just wants more. Mad Max needs to restart civilization; that would be a good destiny for Max.

7. King Conan: Crown of Iron. Sure Schwarzenegger is the governor of California but this is more important. Since the presidency in the United States is out why not a kingdom? Conan, in Robert E. Howard’s series becomes King so why not have it happen on the big screen? John Milius would be my choice to direct.

8. Evil Dead IV (or Army of Darkness II). Sam Rami must direct and Bruce Campbell must reprise the role of Ash. I’d love to see an older Ash up to his elbows in Deadite bad guys at the S-mart. Sharpen the old chainsaw and clean the boomstick. Groovy.

9. Indiana Jones. Yep, I don’t want to see it end and if the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull showed us anything, then there is still a lot of life left in this series. Now there’s another generation of Jones’ to keep up with.

10. Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League. This will never be made since I believe I am the only Buckaroo Banzai fan on the eastern seaboard. I’d love to see it happen but this is the long shot on a list of long shots. It would be great to see as many of the original cast reprise their roles for the twenty-first century though. Make mine Yoyodyne.

11. Goonies II. Hear me out – who wouldn’t want to see this film happen? It would need the original cast and their kids as they protect the “Goon Docks” from some new threat. If I were pitching it I’d call it “The Big Chill” meets… well, “The Goonies”. It would be a fun night at the movies.

12. 2061 – Odyssey Three. I’d love to see this one happen; of course I wish that Roy Scheider was still with us to reprise the role of Dr. Heywood Floyd. It would be great to see what the aliens from the monolith and the HAL 9000 are up to on the big screen once more. Hey – who knows, it could happen.

So there’s my dozen. I know that there is nothing new under the sun and it’s hard enough to launch anything that is ‘new’ in the movie marketplace today but still there’s a place in my matinee heart for these potential flicks.

So, did I miss anything?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Gentle Reader – DO NOT READ THIS if you want to remain spoiler free.

Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola have stumbled onto a great little trilogy IF number 3 is made (“oh please – oh please – oh please”, Evil Chicken said crossing his fingers across his chest). Hellboy II: The Golden Army is worth the price of admission and it does something that so many sequels forget to do; continues to move the story along. This is not an introduction but a continuation. Big Red (Hellboy) is a demon summoned by the nazis during World War II who according to Wikipedia (my favorite second brain) says, “...who finds himself fighting for the U.S. government and himself against dark forces, in a series of tales that have their roots in both folklore and pulp fiction battling a range of enemies from Nazis to Baba Yaga.” Yeah… that’s about right. Oh also, you should know, Hellboy doesn’t like what he is or the plan for his life. He is destined to usher in the apocalypse, a fact that seriously conflicts him emotionally since his intentions are usually good. He becomes the poster child for free will – he knows what he is but he continually chooses to do what is right. As an outward sign of this he continuously has to file down the horns on his head.

Ok, that being said…

Hellboy II moves forward the story of Big Red (Anung un Rama), Abe Sapien (a telepathic merman) and Liz Sherman, Hellboy’s pyrokinetic (controls fire with her mind) girlfriend. Much has been happening at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) since last we met the crew. Big Red is tired of hiding from the world in secret; Abe is about to fall in love and Liz (you remember this is a SPOILER LADEN blog, yes?) is pregnant and doesn’t know how to tell Big Red. Which is a shame since a long forgotten war is about to break out anew between the Elves & other mythkind and the humans. Guillermo has an eye for the fantastic – there is always something going on in Hellboy II; whether it’s the attack of the tooth fairies (yes, you read that right), the troll marketplace (which made me think of Harry Potter’s “Diagon Alley” on steroids), a battle with an elemental (that harkens to H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu lore), a meeting with Big Red’s own personal Angel of Death or the goblin built Golden Army – the visuals are stunning and something that you really haven’t seen before. There are moments where Big Red is challenged after he revels himself to the outside world and is not really excepted. The reaction that he gets is not what he expected, after all he is the good guy. Prince Nuada (portrayed masterfully by Luke Gross) asks Big Red why he fights for the humans when he has so much more in common with the opposition. When faced with this question Hellboy does not have an immediate answer – save for the love of Liz which roots him to humanity. On some level he’s a teetering on the edge of accepting his destiny of ushering in the end of the world. In the end he has gained control over the unstoppable Golden Army so he’s got the tools and the talent to do so – the mediating factor is Liz, his anchor and soon to be mother of their twins.

Oh it begs for part three – an amazing end to a very well realized series. The third, if green lit, will reportedly be a “heartbreaker” (according to Mr. Del Toro). We have the end of the world, the birth of the twins and whatever happens with Liz and Big Red to look forward to. I hope that it gets made – the story deserves it. Part of me wishes that Guillermo would make Hellboy III before he moves onto "The Hobbit".

Oh yes, I went there.

Hey, if you like having a good time at the movies go see Hellboy II. It’s no secret, I love Guillermo del Toro – the guy is good. He has one of the most unique visions in film today. Go support this movie because I can’t wait to see how it’s all gonna end.

I’ll see you at the multiplex. Oh, and before I go, after you see the movie if you are not reminded of Tom Cruise when you see the Elf Prince on the screen I’ll buy you a coffee.

Talk soon…