Hey folks, Harry here with our other faithful reviewer at Sundance, Castor.. who seems a bit grumpy in the following 3 reviews - All I know is that I really would like to see all three of these. I'm dying to see 28 DAYS LATER - It feels like I've been writing introductions for reviews of it forever and I just hope that Fox Searchlight plans on releasing it in the United States, especially after its wonderful performance in the U.K. And any movie with a featured role for Don Cheadle... well, that's enough right there to get me into THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND... As for NIGHTSTALKER - well, I have a fetish for watching Serial Killer flicks, so good, bad... I'll see it. Besides... it's got Danny Trejo... killleeeerrrrrrrr....
Hey Harry,
Back with another three (three and a half is more accurate) reviews from the
Sundance Film Festival. Sadly, however, these are among some of the worst
films I have seen thus far at the festival. So without further adieu, here are
my reviews for 28 Days Later, The United States of Leland, and a semi-review of
Nightstalker.
28 Days Later (3 out of 5)
Director – Danny Boyle
Writer – Alex Garland
Cast – Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns, and Brendan Gleeson
After a terrific first half, 28 Days Later turns into a rather mediocre horror film that does not come close to the holy Romero Zombie Trilogy.
The film opens with a group of animal-rights activists breaking into a research lab to free the caged chimps. Before opening the gates, a scientist tries to provoke them not to do it. The chimps are apparently affected with a virus known around the lab as ‘rage’ and they cannot dare let the virus escape the lab. However, the group of activists let the chimps free anyway and, twenty seconds later, one of their members is affected, spitting blood out of her mouth with dark red eyes. 28 days later, the virus has spread much further than any could ever imagine.
The film starts off with Jim (Cillian Murphy) waking up in a hospital to find out that everyone appears to have evacuated. He walks out on the streets of London to find the entire city deserted and begins putting clues together as to what happened. After meeting a small group of survivors, including Selena (Naomie Harris) and they break the news that the hope of survival is discouraging. After meeting up with a father and daughter (Brendan Gleeson and Megan Burns), the four of them make way for a military base that may be the only chance in continuing the human race.
As a film directed by Danny Boyle, it is stylish throughout with a few scares early on to make even die hard horror fans jump out of their seats. A scene in a tunnel on the way to the military base is the best example here, surprising you with the unexpected and then unleashing a horde of the infected seen very effectively through shadows. Cillian Murphy as the hero of the story is both good and one of those cool British actors you expect to find in a Danny Boyle film. And for the horror fans, the violence and gore is plenty and comes in buckets.
Sadly though, anyone who has seen Dawn of the Dead will be rather disappointed. Boyle is most likely making homage to the George Romero films, especially with scenes involving experiments on the zombies being directly out of Day of the Dead, but as a gifted filmmaker I was expecting more from him. Nothing is wrong with his style here, but it is the context that makes the film suffer. Having the infected able to move faster and spit blood is not going to set this much higher above than any other zombie film. Sure, it is better than Resident Evil, but not the zombie film fans of the genre have been waiting for.
In the end, 28 Days Later is a step above your mediocre zombie film and
will mostly work to hold off your patience for Dead Reckoning.
The United States of Leland (2.5 out of 5)
Writer/Director – Matthew Ryan Hoge
Cast – Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Jena Malone, Kevin Spacey, and Michelle Williams
Yet another ensemble cast in a Sundance movie that may have you scratching your head asking, “why wasn’t this a better film?”
Leland Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling) is sent to prison after stabbing a retarded kid twenty times and saying he did it for “all the sadness in the world.” His prison teacher, Pearl (Don Cheadle), finds him fascinating with insight and intelligence that seems far above the other inmates. His best selling author father, Albert (Kevin Spacey), could really care less for what happens to Leland and only wants to be there for his mother. His girlfriend, Becky (Jena Malone), is the sister of the kid he stabbed to death, and has enough problems of her own to know how to make sense out of any of it. The other sister, Jennifer (Michelle Williams), and her boyfriend Allen (Chris Klein), are more affected by the death and their future together becomes an issue itself. It is in Leland’s journal that all of his writing is reflected in every one of these characters and explains actions the way they really are and humans being human.
With a great performance by Don Cheadle and a promising film debut by Matthew Ryan Hoge, one wishes this were a better film than it actually turned out to be. With such a large group of characters each given the same amount of screen time, it is a difficult task to make the viewer care about each story and where they might lead in the end. The screenplay also jumps back and forth in time, but in no way benefits the film and instead makes it harder to really follow the decisions some of these characters make. Some important elements seem to have been left on the cutting room floor since the ending is sadly a bit of a letdown and turns another character into a murderer without really giving any real reasons behind their actions. Everyone in the cast does a good job, but at the rate of the films pace it would need to be nearly an hour longer to pull off the themes and meanings it is trying to make.
Leaving the film, I would suggest that this was a promising project but
way too ambitious for a first time filmmaker.
Nightstalker (avoided rating)
Writer/Director – Chris Fisher
Cast – Bret Roberts, Roselyn Sanchez, Danny Trejo
This isn’t a real review for this movie. I feel, if I’m going to take my time out and type up reviews for this or any site I will have to suffer through some films no matter how bad they are. I have suffered through a lot of crap in my movie-going days, some such as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, or Dog Days at last years Sundance. Having sat through the utter crap that were those movies, I feel it is only when you reached the end of the film can you give the most honest and understanding review of just how horribly bad movies can actually be and your dreadful experience. By saying that, I couldn’t review this movie simply because the half hour I saw before getting out of my seat and leaving was one of the most painful experiences I have spent in cinema. Yes, it drove me completely mad at just how bad this film was. Good God, this was like that one visit you had in your life at the dentist when he started drilling on your cavity before the Novocaine hadn’t fully kicked in yet. If I were to just imagine staying through the film for its entirety, I can only imagine I would be writing the exact same review Roger Ebert wrote for North, saying, “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.”
This film was supposed to be about the true story of serial killer Robert Ramirez. He does crack, drives around the city listening to satanic head-banging music, does some more crack, drives around some more listening to the same music, stops and kills someone, dumb police including Danny Trejo investigate, back to Ramirez doing more crack and driving around listening to satanic head-banging music, etc. He also sees demons in the back of his car which seem to be provoking him into going on these murderous rages. Yes, this is a wannabe Oliver Stone who seems to have no idea what the hell he is doing.
Every filmgoer will most likely remember that one movie that they first walked out of. For me, at the age of 21 and sitting through high piles of shit before, my first walk out is Nightstalker.
As for the filmmakers, it is late in the festival and Matthew Ryan Hoge was the only one still hanging out at his movie showings. He seemed like a very shy person and didn’t say much, getting the Q&A following his film over as fast as possible. I did, however, see Steve Buscemi leaving a theater. While he was heading towards my direction I only nodded my head and he just looked at me and did one of those lil Buscemi head nods back. A very brief and quick moment, but it still brought a smile to my face. Be back late tomorrow night with reviews for Owning Mahowny, deadend.com, City of Ghosts, and Tupac: Resurrection.
Take care,
Castor
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