2007: The Year in Movies (According to Steve)

Top five movies of 2007:

5. Hatchet
This movie probably ranks higher on my list than it should, but my experience seeing it screened at the November Horror Hound convention was far and away the most fun I've ever had seeing a horror film. Sure it's sophomoric and silly, but it also throws down the gauntlet to all other genre fans and film makers out there. Let's forget about all of the remakes and J-Horror inspired dreck and let's get back to what made us fans in the first place: bloody, irreverent fun!

4. No Country for Old Men
I'm always pretty psyched for a new offering from the Cohens, but I have to admit that this one left me a bit baffled watching the closing credits. I was so mesmerized by Josh Brolin's and Javier Bardem's performances that I never realized it wasn't even their film. Definitely an awesome movie, but one that requires a good deal of discourse over dinner afterwards.

3. 30 Days of Night
The shaky-cam sequences got a bit tiresome, but this movie hit everything else squarely on the head! The typically irksome Josh Hartnett turns in a performance that is actually decent, and the story is as engrossingly ruthless as it is novel. Get ready for the glut of vampire-centric horror films and meet me in 2009 when we'll all complain that none of them were nearly as good as 30 Days of Night.

2. Eastern Promises
Cronenberg has an affinity for stories dealing with infection and disease. Most often it's a literal breakdown of the human form, but in his latest couple of films he's been focusing more upon the metaphorical infection caused by deception within relationships. In A History of Violence we see Viggo Mortensen playing the role of a bad guy posing as a good guy. In Eastern Promises we get Mortensen playing the reversal of that role as an undercover agent infiltrating the Russian mafia. It is, hands down, the best performance of the year in a film that too few people got out to see. Sure it was marketed as an "edge of your seat," thriller type of movie, but it also has the best action I've seen in years. Amazing stuff that everyone needs to check out.

1. Grindhouse
Are you really surprised? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's a movie that was made for people like me. I revel in classic exploitation cinema, and the idea of bringing that primal attitude toward entertainment into the multiplexes makes me giddy. Don't get me wrong, this stuff isn't Bergman. But that's the point. It's visual storytelling boiled down to its essence. It's all bang and zero pretense. It's cinema as a communal thrill ride, something that you don't get to experience at theaters today... ever... and that's sad.

Five also worth noting:

Black Snake Moan (In a year infatuated with recreating 1970s sleaze cinema, Craig Brewer serves up a slice of the real deal. Forget Pulp Fiction; Black Snake Moan is Samuel L.'s tour de force.)

The Simpsons Movie (There were lots of complaints about this being little more than an hour-long version of the television series. To this I say, "What did you expect?" For umpteen years The Simpsons has been one of a very few consistently great shows on the tube, and the movie is a suiting complement to that legacy.)

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (Yes, it was straight to video. Yes, some of the acting is sub-par. But this low-budget indie (I would guess that licensing the Talking Heads for the closing credits cost more than the whole film) does the whole "post-modern horror" thing better than the big studio offerings.)

300 (Far and away not my favorite film of the year, but still a groundbreaking piece of work. Each individual frame could stand on it's own as a captivating piece of art .)

Hot Fuzz (Didn't dig Shaun of the Dead as much as others, but I'll have to go back and give it another chance after enjoying this one as much as I did. It's a bit sad that the Brits are better at spoofing American genre films than we are.)

Five biggest disappointments:

Halloween (I never really viewed the original as the untouchable genre masterpiece that many others do, but even I felt violated after watching this steaming log fester on screen for an hour and a half. Shame on you, Robert Zombie.)

Spider-man 3 (So much has been said about this train wreck already that it seems like a waste of breath to spell out the list of offenses committed by Raimi and Co. on this outing. Suffice it to say that the third installment was overstuffed... with extra cheese.)

Beowulf (Crispin Glover was excellent as Grendel, but that's pretty much the end of the compliments I can extend to this film. In its best scenes the CG characters were a nifty gimmick. In its worst, they looked like characters that weren't good enough to make it into Shrek the Third.)

Mr. Bean's Holiday (Every year there's one movie that I'm ashamed to admit that I went to see. This year that honor goes to Mr. Bean's Holiday. I don't know what it is that made the original television series so funny, but in two attempts they have yet to translate it to the big screen. )

Ghostrider (I would have preferred a big screen adaptation of Ghostwriter to this abysmal chunk of crap.)

Top five I wanted to watch, but didn't ... yet:

The Mist (Wasn't really interested in seeing this one until I heard everyone talking about "the ending." Now it's killing me, and I have to wait until it's released on DVD.)

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (A doc about the former Clash frontman would have piqued my interest on its own, but the fact that it was directed by the same guy who brought us The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and The Filth and the Fury makes me ashamed for not tracking this one down while it was in theaters.)

I'm Not There. (I'm not one of those guys that goes nuts for Bob Dylan, but the idea of six actors (including Cate Blanchett) playing Dylan at various points in his career is interesting.)

Redacted (Brian De Palma revisits the themes laid out in his 1989 film Casualties of War within the context of the current war in Iraq. It's a rare opportunity to watch a legendary filmmaker meditate on the inhumanities of war at two different points in his life)

Five most anticpated in 2008:

Cloverfield (Regardless of how good the film actually is, this one is already a testament to the power of viral marketing. Only the man behind Lost could promise us absolutely nothing and have everybody ready to queue up for a ticket.)

Be Kind, Rewind (Contemporary blockbusters remade with Michel Gondry's craft corner aesthetic? A pack of wild (hand-crafted, patch-work) horses couldn't keep me away.)

Diary of the Dead (George A. Romero goes back to making movies on his own terms, and the early word is that the result is some of his best work in recent years.)

Choke (The first Chuck Palahniuk novel to be given the movie treatment since Fight Club. Hopefully if this one is half as good as Fight Club we'll get Invisible Monsters too!)

The Incredible Hulk (Yeah, I know. The prospect of a complete series reboot after one film is a bit unsettling, but the Hulk is just too good of a character to not get a second chance. Plus, have you seen the cast list? Tim Blake Nelson, William Hurt, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler and Edward Norton as Bruce Banner!?!? I've got high hopes for this one.)

Mmmmm...

Just thinkin' about it makes me want some chocolate milk real bad.

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2007: The Year in Movies (According to Tricia)

Top five movies of 2007:

5. 300
Groundbreaking filmaking techniques alone make this film worth its place on the list. But I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the aesthetic, the actors too. I've been intrigued with Greek and Roman history and mythology since my days on the quiz bowl team in middle school. And Gerard Butler pulls off an amazing transformation into the inspiring and awe-inspiring Spartan king, Leonidas. The trend of turning graphic novels into films continues to be a successful one.

4. 30 Days of Night
This movie does for vampires what 28 Days Later did for zombies. It makes them scary again. Not sexy. Not charming. Darn scary. Josh Harnett is surprisingly good as the hero. And this indie movie's old-style ways of implying supernatural action, rather than trying to show everything via CGI, shows up the year's other big vampire flick, I Am Legend (see biggest disappointments section).

3. Grindhouse
Robert Rodriguez' Planet Terror beats the pants off Quentin Tarrantino's Death Proof in my book. But it was all fun to watch, and these two deserve huge amounts of credit for bankrolling their own visions and thumbing their noses at the establishment.

2. Eastern Promises
David Cronenberg has a unique view of the world. Some of his movies work for me, some don't, but all of them make you think. This one works to a fabulous degree, and Viggo Mortensen is awesome. You think you know mafia movies? Think again.

1. No Country for Old Men
This is, in my opinion, the Cohen brothers' best film to date. It's dark, existential, powerful and sad. And it reminds you that there are brutal, unstoppable forces in this world that you just have to pray never cross your path. "You can't stop what's coming," the main character (played suprisingly poignantly by Tommy Lee Jones) is told. To think you can, his brother says, is "vanity." So you have to find your own path based not on a misguided sense of duty but on what's the right path for you and those you love. And every time you make a decision, you have a chance to change that path.


Five also worth noting:

Zodiac (An interesting look at investigative journalism, newsrooms in the 1970s, and one of the great American unsolved mysteries.)

Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton + Johnny Depp = worth watching nearly every time.)

Amazing Grace (A story you probably don't know but should.)

The Namesake (From the director of Monsoon Wedding and Vanity Fair, Mira Nair. A great study of family, culture and personal identitiy.)

Broken English (Directed by Zoe Cassavetes, starring Parker Posey and Drea de Matteo. Another great study of finding one's own personal identity.)


Five biggest disappointments:

Ghostrider (I like comic book movies, and I had high hopes for this one. Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendez and bad CGI crushed those hopes.)

Beowulf (It's one of the ultimate classic stories. It's the very definition of epic. So why did the movie fall so flat? And why didn't they better utilize the 3-D technology?)

Vacancy (When the movie ended, I couldn't believe that was all there was. Ugh.)

I am Legend (Overall, I enjoyed watching this movie. But afterward, when I got to thinking about all the things that didn't work, my disappointment just kept growing. Note to filmakers Artfully implied action is better than cheesy CGI. But implied story lines that never amount to anything are confusing at best. I do have to say, though, that the Fresh Prince has come along way.)

28 Weeks Later (I loved 28 Days Later. Had this sequel not had that to live up to, I might have enjoyed it more. But it did, and I didn't. Maybe we should have left well enough alone.)


Top five I wanted to watch, but didn't ... yet:

Ratatouille (It's about a cute rat that cooks. And it stars Patton Oswalt as the voice of that rat. What's not to like?)

3:10 to Yuma (I love Christian Bale. Not so much Russell Crowe. But this movie intrigues me.)

Hot Fuzz (I'm a sucker for British comedy.)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (I'm a sucker for history.)

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (A look at the life of the former frontman of The Clash, one of the most influential punk bands, who died just as he was restarting a career as a singer with something to say, unlike too many of them.)


Five most anticpated in 2008:

Dark Night (I loved Batman Begins. I love Christian Bale. And Heath Ledger's Joker looks creepy and awesome!)

There Will Be Blood (Supposed to come out this year in limited release. Daniel Day Lewis in another twisted anti-father-figure role, from the looks of it.)

Vantage Point (The trailer twists my stomach in knots. I hope the movie can live up to it.)

Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry. Jack Black. Let the wacky fun begin!)

Burn After Reading (Next up from the Cohen brothers -- woo-hoo!)

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(Long Overdue) Horror Hound Wrap-Up!

We're quickly approaching the month mark as far as waiting for a recap of the experience that was Horror Hound Weekend V.2.0, so I figured that I had better get it up before I lost all recollection of what exactly went down.

The first time around (in July) we only went the first day, but had such a great time that I sprung for the entire weekend. I dropped some serious coin, but when all is said and done, I have to admit that it was completely worth it! Here's a day by day breakdown of our weekend:

Friday (Day #1)

We arrived in Indy and made it to the showroom as quickly as we could. First on our list was to meet was Roddy Piper. I was never a huge wrestling fan, but the movie They Live is one of my favorites of all time. So, I wanted to be sure and get a chance to meet Piper. As a coincidence, Piper was scheduled to be in Marion on the following Saturday, so I was excited to actually have something to ask him about. When I got up to his table I shook his hand and asked him about appearing in Marion... and he was completely stumped. He had no clue what the hell I was talking about. It was pretty awkward. He signed my still, we shared a little small talk and I was on my way.

Not the best start to the experience. Quite frankly I felt a little bit dirty afterward. You'll notice that didn't post a pic of me with Piper. That was because he was charging $25 for a picture with him. $25! And the fact that his handler had to whisper how to spell my name in his ear was a little weird as well. I mean, my name is "Steve." Not exactly a Bumper Stumper, folks.

I chalked Piper's ignorance of his much hyped local appearance at the EWF Arena to Marion's perpetual bad luck with announcing big events and then later finding out that they were never gonna happen in the first place... but then, after the fact, I found out that he did come to Marion! The very next day! Not 24 hours after the man expresses complete ignorance of Marion, IN and the EWF, he shows up talking about how important it is to show support for these young wrestling organizations. I dunno. It just rings a bit hollow to me. A pretty disillusioning experience. You can read the C-T article about the Marion appearance over here. Or, even worse, you can chek out the shocking, straight from the horses mouth 4-1-1 on the Marion appearance, here. Yikes!

As we were waiting to meet Piper, I was a little saddened to see David Naughton sitting all alone at his table. So as soon as we finished with the Piper debacle we went over to meet him. He was super nice and signed my American Werewolf in London one-sheet. I pointed out to him that Jacob was wearing his Dr. Pepper shirt in honor of meeting him and he offered to sign that for him as well. A pretty great guy!

Afterward, we decided to roam the floor a bit and do a little shopping. I stopped by the Synapse Films booth and picked up a copy of Thriller: They Call Her One Eye autographed by Christina Lindberg. Of course, she was originally supposed to be at the convention, but cancelled late in the game due to medical problems. I was bummed that I was not gonna be able to get my pressbook signed, but it's nice to have the DVD. Oh yeah... I got a t-shirt as well.

Next, Michael decided that he wanted to get Michael Berryman's autograph. He was pretty hard to miss in the show room and not just because of his appearance. He was all over the place chatting up fans and vendors. We stepped up, Michael picked out a picture for him to autograph and he just started talking to the boys and I like we were long lost friends. Really he was a super nice guy. He asked the boys if they had skipped school (which they had) and even asked them if they'd like to get a picture! After I had snapped their shot, I shook his hand and said "Thank you." and he asked if I would like a picture too! I can't say enough good things about this guy. Too cool!

After that, we took all of our loot back to the room and got ready for the first film we had planned on seeing for the weekend. I had been wanting to see Hatchet since its initial release, but as soon as I heard that they'ed be screening an uncut version at Horror Hound I ceased all attempts to see it beforehand. I have to say that I'm glad I did. Seeing this film with so many horror fans and two of its stars in attendance was just unreal. It was a pretty great movie, but being free to cheer and clap for all of the gory violence made it all the better. The DVD comes out on the Dec. 18th and I suggest that everyone goes out and rents... no, buys it!

That was it for day #1. We retired to our rooms knowing that we were gonna be gettin' up at the buttcrack of dawn the next day.

Saturday (Day #2)

With a wake-up call from my mom, we got up at 6:00 am and went down to wait in line to get tickets to meet John Landis. Let me say that again... we waited in line to get tickets that guaranteed us the chance to meet him. The line to actually meet him would c ome later in the day. But first thing in the morning, we waited from approximately 7:00 am until 10:00 to get the tickets.

The time actually went pretty quickly. I met a guy from Fort Wayne and we talked up some serious horror nerd minuiae for a solid three hours. Not something that I get to do everyday... or ever... so that was fun. After getting our tickets we returned to the room to wait until 12:00 when we could go down and wait in another line to actually meet John Landis.

When we got down to the showroom, the line was HUGE. No joke, even though we were like sixth or seventh in line to get tickets, we were like the 250th person in the line to meet him. We waited an additional three and a half hours to meet him, but it was completely worth it. He signed my American Werewolf in London one-sheet, a convention poster and even warned Michael of the impending horrors awaiting him in adolescence. Too funny! Then as we were getting our pic snapped, he yanked Jake over into the shot too! Take a close look. He's got a death grip on Jake's arm. This was far and away the highlight of the convention!

We had a little bit of time before lunch, so we figured it was a good time for Jacob to get Shawnee Smith's autograph. Her line was pretty long, but Michael and I waited with Jake so that we could snap a pic when he got up to her. A few minutes into our wait, we noticed Sammy Terry coming into the show room. Michael and I had missed him the day before and knew that we had to get in line right then if we had any intention of meeting him. So we split away from Jacob with instructions that he was supposed to call when he was getting close to the front of the line. Well, we hit the front of Sammy's line at the exact same moment Jacob was meeting Shawnee Smith. So, sadly, we didn't get a pic of Jake with her. I did, however get a picture with the legend of local horror programming, Sammy Terry!

Next we went out to meet Tricia, her mom and sister for lunch. We went to Bazbeaux Pizza, and I only mention this because if you've never been there you need to go. Seriously some tof the best gourmet-type pizza around. Check it out.

When we got back, we were a little bit late for the next film we were planning on checking out, but just outta pure luck we made it just in time to catch a little bit of the panel discussion for Beware the Moon with Paul Davis, John Landis and David Naughton. It was fun to hear Landis talking about the film and answering fans' questions.

After the panel, we stuck around to check out The Zombie Diaries which we probably shouldn't have done. It was pretty much a steaming log. When you've created a zombie movie that can't even hold the attention of middle school boys... you are indeed a failure.

Sunday (Day #3)

Our last day at the Con was primarally a shopping day. I picked up a couple of DVDs and the boys bought some things too. I bought a copy of Tom Savini's Grande Illusions which I had wanted since I was Jacob and Michael's age. He signed it and posed for a quick pic with Michael. Also, we stopped by to meet Kane Hodder and Tony Todd who both had major roles in Hatchet. Tony Todd assured us that he'd be back for Hatchet Part II. I can't wait.

On the way home we stopped at the Imax to check out Beowulf in 3D. It was pretty but didn't really come close to living up to the advance hype I'd read. Honestly, if the film hadn't been in Imax and in 3D, I probably wouldn't have liked it at all. That being said, though, Crispin Glover was pretty amazing as Grendel!

Anyway, that's the story of our weekend. It was a blast and we can't wait until the next one in March. They've already announced a few names and it looks like there's gonna be a Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 and Return of the Living Dead reunion. Pretty amazing stuff. I better start saving my pennies now!

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