186 - The Hole (2009)

    After moving to a small town, a teenage boy and his younger brother find a strange gated hole in their basement, which doesn't seem to have a bottom.  They build a friendship with the girl next door, as they all experience creepy things - a spooky dead girl wandering around, a marionette clown doll moving around and attacking, and assorted other creepiness.
    I saw this back in 2011, and I finally got the Blu-ray for Christmas.  I've been wanting to show this to Cathy, since it's a horror movie, but it's not scary enough to keep her awake at night or anything like that.
    It plays like an extended Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode, but it respects the audience.  It starts off with some genuinely creepy stuff, and then as the plot takes shape, it gets less scary.  The last act isn't scary as much as is a cathartic finish.
    If I saw this as a kid, it would be one of my favorite horror movies.  The characters are really handled well.  None of them are idiots.  They don't make ridiculous decisions (with a minor exception, that I would expect them to be more scared by some of the things they see).  They aren't needlessly flawed.  The brothers quarrel and pick on each other, but it comes across as a natural thing.
    The picture is excellent on Blu-ray.  I love seeing the outdoor shots.  The colors are just amazing.  The dark shots didn't have the tint that I remembered seeing before.  The one bad thing I noticed was that in one shot, there were some flecks on the lens.  And some of the effects shots are a little off.  But for Joe Dante's style, it seems right.
    There are a few disappointments, and those are two mistakes.  When the electricity goes out, an iPod loses power.  And a water pipe is broken in one scene, and is fine when we see it again.

185 - Fletch

      An undercover investigative reporter is commissioned to kill a man.  After looking into the man, he finds a much larger conspiracy at hand, involving drugs, the beach, the police, plane tickets, bigamy, and a plot of land in Utah.
    I remember seeing the case for Fletch in the local video store when I was growing up, and the box was always memorable.  But I never wanted to watch it.  Even after hearing rumors about a forthcoming third Fletch movie, I never was compelled.  Maybe it's just that I haven't cared for Chevy Chase much.
    But I decided that I should see this, and I'm glad I did.  It's an unusual movie.  It's a comedy, but I never felt like laughing out loud.  There are some funny lines, and Chase is entertaining.
    What stood out about this movie was that the plot was much stronger than I expected.  It's an investigation, and it's hard to piece everything together, even as we learn things at the same pace.  I'm not sure how the story would hold up to repeated viewings, but as it is, it would be a fantastic movie if someone like Leslie Nielsen were cast as the lead.
    Also of note - Harold Faltermeyer did the soundtrack.  He's best known for doing the soundtrack for Beverly Hills Cop, specifically the piece Axel F.  This means that the whole soundtrack sounds like that.

184 - The Seven Year Itch

    Prior to widespread air conditioning, wives and children vacation in cooler climates for the Summer, leaving men in NYC to continue working in the heat.  A man working in publishing finds himself tempted by a girl who has moved in upstairs for the season, played by Marilyn Monroe.
    This movie is famous primarily for the image of Marilyn's skirt billowing from the subway grate.  That shot exists, but not like it appears in any of the stills.  She's usually shown from around the thigh down.  That isn't the most memorable aspect of the movie either.
    This was directed by Billy Wilder, who also handled Some Like It Hot, which really love.  Both of these movies have similar scripts, in a strange way.  They have a sense of humor, and a style of writing that is very firmly Wilder's work.  What this movie doesn't have is Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis doing spectacular work to carry the whole thing.  Most of this movie is Tom Ewell talking to himself.  He's good, but he's not fantastic.
    What makes this movie interesting is the use of fantasy sequences.  There are a lot of cutaway scenes where we see him playing out a fantasy.  Most of these reach into absurd, or surreal areas.  I wonder how much influence this movie had on the use of this technique.

    There are clear parallels between this and The Apartment, which I think I watched earlier this year.  Both are mostly about infidelity, and they have an ethical lead.  Here, there's something strange about Marilyn's role.  She's almost like a pixie or something.  I can't explain it, but she exists only to force the guy to learn something about himself.
    There's one gag in it that really floored me, and it's near the end.  The guy is trying to distract someone else from the kitchen, since the girl is in there.

"….What blonde in the kitchen?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know! Maybe it's Marilyn Monroe!"

Brilliant!

183 - Hope Springs

     An older couple attends a couples therapist in hopes of rejuvenating their failing marriage.
     I have no idea if this is supposed to be a comedy or a drama, or what.  Regardless of what it is, it sort of failed.  It's not a funny movie.  There are a few moments that have a tiny undercurrent of humor, but most of it wouldn't qualify.  However, it could be a comedy, if you think that what therapists do is funny.  Like, asking the couple to describe their sex life.
     It's dramatic, but not in an interesting way.  Like many romances, the movie pretty firmly blames the male for the couple's problems.  And he's an abrasive character.  However, there are a few hints in the movie, none of which get as much exploration as they require, which suggest that the problem isn't just his behavior.  It's that she's been sending him the message that he isn't doing anything wrong.
     I haven't paid much attention to Meryl Streep, and she's never stood out to me.  She's actually very annoying in this movie.  She doesn't break the fourth wall directly, but there's something about the performance that bothers me - like she's playing to the camera too much.
     Are there many movies that address the empty nest syndrome?  I'm not sure if I can think of any, but this certainly doesn't do it any services.
     Also, Tommy Lee Jones looks like he's gotten really old, really fast.

182 - Love Actually

     A collection of characters are involved in a variety of love stories, exploring a wide range of situations.
A very difficult movie to summarize. I think this is either the third or fourth time I've seen it, and I still have a hard time explaining how the movie works. I could explain a particular characters story, but the sum is greater than the pieces.
     I have one particular favorite moment in this movie, and it's when the American president is stood up to. We never learn anything in particular about what the issue is, but there is something appealing about the situation. I think I like it in a patriotic way. Moreso than the idea that the scene develops his romance.
     I wonder what I would have thought of this movie when I was younger.  I'm sure I would have identified with different characters.  While I currently like Hugh Grant's Prime Minister, if I were in college or high school, I probably would identify with the guy who longs for his recently-married friend's wife.
      This is a very good movie, but I still have a big problem with the big ending All I Want for Christmas is You.  It's not just the tasteless singing, it's the level of production.  Within the context of the movie, it doesn't make sense.

181 - Resident Evil

    Alice (I'm not sure if she's ever called this in the movie) wakes up in a deserted mansion, not remembering anything.  She runs into a military force that takes her into an underground research station, run by the Umbrella Corporation.  There's been a virus that has escaped, and the station has been locked down.  They go in to find out what happened, and hopefully recover a cure.
    I've already explained my strange fascination with the Resident Evil movies.  It doesn't make sense.  I don't like the games.  I don't even think these qualify as zombie movies.  I don't like the plot especially.  This movie is more in the middle of the spectrum.  I liked the last two movies much more than I liked the first two.  But this one is better than the second one.
    For a movie that came out in 2002, the effects are remarkably bad, at least when it comes to the Licker.  Every shot of it looks abysmal.  Most of the other effects fall into a fun, acceptable quality.
    It's strange that the most memorable sequence of this movie happens pretty early on.  When they're in the hallway with the laser line that goes around.
    There's one thing that I found very distracting though.  Michelle Rodriguez.  Her lips are huge!  Whenever they did a close up of her, I couldn't look at anything else!  I just tried to find an image, but she usually looks normal, except for when she purses her lips.

180 - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

    A musical focusing on two cabaret singers who take a cruise to France, and their respective relationships with men, money, and diamonds in particular.
    Noteworthy for starring Marilyn Monroe, I really didn't know much about this movie going in.  And it's fun.  But it's not… right.  The musical side of it seems restrained.  Very few songs.  There's a certain campiness to most of the movie as well, especially one musical number that takes place at a gym on the cruise ship.
    I also felt like the message of the movie seemed to be distorted.  There was one clear message near the end, but most of the time, it didn't seem like I was getting a consistent message.

    It's still a fun movie.  There are some inspired gags, notably the recurring jokes surrounding Henry Spofford III.  Some of the songs are fun, but none of them stood out as being memorable.  Despite the classic status of this, I'd like to see the material handled a little differently.

179 - Scarecrow

    Peculiar nerd Lester is bullied by a lot of different people.  After he dies, his consciousness (or something) goes into a nearby scarecrow, which kills a variety of people off.
    For a revenge from beyond the grave movie, this one has a whole lot of problems.
    First, and foremost.  The guy playing Lester looks like he's in his mid-to-late 30s, and is just wearing jeans to look young.  His hairline is receding.  He doesn't look like he's in high school.  This is a common problem in the movie.  Making things even more awkward is the problem that his mother looks like she's younger than he is.
    The guy playing the Sheriff looks like he's within 10 years of his daughter's age.
    The guy playing the farmer seems to be a pretty young guy that they put some dated glasses on to make him look older.
    This goes on.

    Characters don't really make sense.  This is a hard thing to explain, but there are many instances where characters make decisions that are counter to logic.  Some jock is picking on Lester while he's working at his job.  A girl comes over to defend him, and tells the jock to leave him alone.  Lester's boss shows up, and throws the girl out, with the explanation that Lester can handle it.
    There are bizarre lines, and at least two mentions of the word "cock."  This is really pretty rare, and it seems especially strange for a movie that has an absence of nudity.

(The corn rustles)
"Did you hear something?"
"Just the beating of my heart for ya, baby!"
"I'm serious, I think I heard something."
"Ah, it's probably just Chad and Morgan rummaging around."
"Look, Greg, I don't feel good about this."
"Oh, come on.  I'm feeling all crazy and hot and sticky!"
…
"Look, come on, just give me a little."
"Stop it, Greg."
"Oh, I can't stop now, look at my huge cock!"

    There's a fantastic newspaper headline that appears in the movie-

"Emerald Grove You Take His Own Life- Graduation Procceds as Planned"

    (Yes, it was spelled Procceds in the movie.)
    Most revenge movies have the killer going around killing those who wronged him.  In this case, he seems to target a wide variety of people.  Some good, some bad, and then there are some people that are just puzzling; like we have no idea who they are.  The person who actually killed Lester is not a victim of the scarecrow.

    This is a bad movie, but it was enjoyable for how strange it was.

178 - The Prestige

    The rivalry between two magicians around the 1900s escalates, and centers around a trick called The Transported Man.
    I don't think I fully appreciated this the first time I saw it.  But this time through, I grasped most of it.  Like a lot of Nolan's work, he likes to jump around in time.  He flashes back to prior occurrences to tie themes together.  There are lots of themes at work in the movie, and almost everything in it moves in parallel stories.  Most of the story seems to be built on an eye for an eye, but it doesn't actually play out exactly the way we see it.
    By the time the ending comes along, it seems like there isn't a way for things to end well.  And that's sort of true.  It's a bleak movie.
    I have a hard time writing about it.  It's a complicated movie, and it's hard to talk about without giving too much away.

177 - V/H/S

    An anthology of horror stories framed as being "found footage" VHS tapes.
    Like all anthologies, it's a mixed bag.  While I started off being a little disappointed by this one, by the end, I liked it much more.
    What I liked is also a weakness that will frustrate many viewers.  Most of the stories don't resolve everything you would like.  There needs to be a certain amount of interpretation to finish off the stories.  I feel this way when I read short stories.  Usually the author likes to pack a punch into a single paragraph, and I need to read it several times to decipher what exactly has been revealed - or implied.
    In the case of this movie, I actually liked this effect, and it may have been because the format made that approach make sense.  We only see what the person shooting it created.  We don't get to rely on third parties to offer explanations, or exposition to fill in the backstory.
    I'll probably give plenty of spoilers, since these stories are very short, and most of the plot points are either obvious, or things that develop in the first couple minutes of a story.
    The framing story is called Tape 56.  A handful of thuggish meatheads are commissioned to break into someone's house, and steal a particular VHS tape.  They don't know anything about the content, but the house seems to be mostly empty, except for a single room with a bunch of TVs, VCRs, and a dead guy sitting in a recliner.  There's an ending to this frame, much like most anthologies.  It isn't especially satisfying, but it's appropriate.
    The first story is called Amateur Night.  Three guys go out to a bar to pick up some girls, with the intention of filming their encounter.  One of the girls passes out after they get to a motel room, the other one is really bizarre.  I found the ending a little confusing, but there seems to be some speculation that the story involves a succubus.  I don't think that's right.  This story is decent, but it seems a little too obvious.  There's a similar story in Trick 'R Treat, which was handled much better.
    The second story is directed by Ti West, who also did The Innkeepers, which I obviously really love.  This one is called Second Honeymoon.  Like most of his work, it moves very slowly, and deliberately.  The story is good, and I could imagine it being an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents or something like that.  The ending isn't the spectacular twist that some have played it out to be, but it's certainly appropriate, and doesn't seem like a stretch.
    The third story has a poor reputation, but there was something I really liked about it.  Titled Tuesday the 17th, it starts off like most "dead teens in the woods" movies.  There's a reasonable twist about halfway through, and I actually like the idea of expanding that premise into an entire movie.  We're left with a lot of questions about the killer in this.  IMDB lists that part as being "The Glitch" and the wiki page for the movie describes him as "a red-faced silhouette obscured by tracking errors."  The killer seems strangely invincible, which isn't an approach that I like.
    The next one is The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger.  This one is an excellent story, which somehow makes me think of Richard Matheson's short stories.  The story has much more enjoyable photography, since it's portrayed as a series of Skype chats.  The girl thinks that her apartment is haunted.  I can't explain a lot of this story without detailing the entire thing, but I watched this segment twice, once in the movie, and once with Cathy.  It's creepy, it's got a touch of gore, and the effect is fantastic.  When the story ends, we are left with more questions.  My one complaint is that this story doesn't make sense to appear on a VHS tape.  Why would someone transfer a collection of Skype chats to a VHS tape?
    The last story is titled 10/31/98.  This one is a good, energetic one to end the movie on.  A group of friends attend a Halloween party, but they find that no one seems to be in the house.  After searching around for awhile, they find an exorcism - or something - being done in the attic.  They decide to try to rescue the girl, and as they try to escape, the house seems to come to life.  The effects in this sequence are fantastic.  The arms coming out of the wall are seamless, and the audience is left just as confused as the main characters.  The ending is a bit bleak, but it seems appropriate.

    So, obviously I'm very happy with this anthology.  I'm not sure if I'll buy it yet.  It isn't as artistically pleasing as Trick 'R Treat is, but I wonder if my fondness for this one will grow over time.  My enthusiasm for anthologies usually grows.

176 - We Need to Talk About Kevin

    Told in both the present, and flashbacks, the mother of a cruel and violent child wonders about both her relationship with him, as well as her responsibility.
    I don't know if I can have enough to say about this movie, because it avoids taking any clear positions.  In some instances, it's easy to think that the mother isn't being strict enough, and sometimes, she seems to be too mean.  Kevin isn't a good child.  He's outwardly hostile, in particular, to his mother.  To everyone else, he's sullen, but not actually bad.
    I think I understand what Kevin is doing.  He puts on a certain facade with most people.  Despite his cruelty to his mother, he does it mostly because he's comfortable doing it.  He's not having to hide himself.
    There is one scene where we see a glimpse of why Kevin is the way he is.  He's out playing miniature golf with his mother, and his mother says something fairly cruel about fat people.  Kevin points out that she's fairly harsh.  He also points out that it's where he got it from.
    The movie culminates (sort of, it's flashed back to throughout the movie) in a Columbine-like scenario.  Except that he's shooting people in the gym with arrows.  While we saw this coming, there's one more reveal.  After his mother goes home at the end of the day, she finds that both her husband and her daughter have been shot by her son.  Their bodies are out in the backyard, arrows still sticking out of them.
    While I had been curious about what happened to those characters, I assumed that a divorce had happened.  This is a much darker twist.
    It's silly to think that we can understand exactly what motivates killers.  Especially ones like Kevin, who have no primary motivation.  He spells this out on more than one occasion.  "The point is that there is no point."

    I'm not sure I could recommend this to anyone who has children.  Or anyone who is thinking of having them.

175 - The Woman

    A man finds a feral woman living in the wilderness.  He captures her, and imprisons her on his property, involving his family in the project of "civilizing" her.
    I read a few reviews of this over the last year, talking about how intense the movie was, as well as defending it as specifically not being misogynistic.  Of course, since I'm looking for horror, it seemed only natural that I should want to put it on my queue.  The prospect of this movie was a toss-up.  I like Lucky McKee, but I never have felt like watching any of his work more than once.  I enjoyed May, and I'm a fan of Sick Girl, but I've never wanted to revisit those.  The story was put together by Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum, I was enthusiastic to see Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, but I actually couldn't stomach the cruelty in it.
    So, I'm glad to say that I think this is easily the best thing that either of them did.
    I've read a lot of criticism of this movie on IMDB, and I found that the vast majority of the complaints were from people who thought that it was a wildly feminist movie, that focused on males being evil.  This is only true if you have the narrowest view of the movie.
    It's actually about an unsustainable power structure.  The father has built up a very secluded life, and most of his actions are built around asserting authority over others.  He also takes a few actions to conceal his failings.
    The Woman is just a catalyst, more of a harbinger of the end of his rule.

    There's a surprising amount that is left unsaid in this movie.  It's strongly suggested that his older daughter, Peggy, is pregnant by him.  People suspect this.  Her actions suggest it.  Some of his actions suggest it.  But the movie never makes it crystal clear.  This isn't a weakness at all, but it's peculiar.  There's a child that is kept with the dogs, with some sort of a strange condition, who has been raised to think that she's a dog.  We don't get much information about this either.  It's implied that the father blames his wife for this deformity, and that he holds the shame of her existence over his wife.
    It's easy to think that the son, Brian, is just as evil as his father.  This is hard to tell.  Since we only saw this part of their lives, we can gather that the father thinks that his son is the only worthwhile person in his household.  So he's probably raised his son to carry on his work.  This includes learning to dominate in order to assert authority.
    The movie is a little disappointing at the end.  Not the last shot, which actually feels nice, in a strange way.  I think I'd have liked it if the father weren't killed.  What would make the ending cathartic would be if we see him confronted with his crimes, and questioned by a higher authority.
    On the other hand, who's to say that would provide any relief?

174 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    The morning that Arthur Dent's house is demolished to make room for a bypass, the Earth is destroyed to make room for another bypass.  Dent finds that one of his friends is not from Earth, and they make a wild trek into space, accompanying Zaphod Beeblebrox and a handful of odd characters.
    I saw this when it reached theaters, and I remember being charmed by it.  The sensibilities brought to the production remind me of Terry Gilliam, not just in the sense of humor, but the scale of everything we see.  The design of the Vogons looks a lot like Gilliam's imagination.
    There are a few surprises for me this time through.  The plot seems far less random, and comes across much more linear than I remembered.  I liked hearing the "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" theme reprised a little throughout.  The only thing that seemed out of place was the insertion of the romance between Dent and Trillium.  While the movie doesn't dwell on it most of the time, it shows up during a few scenes, and seems most conspicuous during the mice scene.
    Still… like Watchmen, it's a movie that will never satisfy the most ardent fans.  But, also like Watchmen, I like it quite a bit.  Within the context of making a movie, it's hard to blame them for making a movie that adjusts a few things that won't translate well.