Kyra Kyle's Scare Dare Challenge

Hello, WORLD!! This morning, reading the Chicago Red Eye, I saw one of my favorite journalist issue a challenge (See the nature of the challenge here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/kyles-files/2010/10/kyles-files-scare-dare-2-in-3d.html). Here's my emailed response:

Hey, Kyra! Now you KNOW movies is my deparrtment and I love a great horror movie! Have you seen Mulholland Drive? While not really a horror movie, it certainly scares the hell out of me! Seriously it's pretty good. I know your time is limited so I'll make this a quick list of ten good ones from within the last 10 years:

1. Feast (2005): This movie is in the vein of Scream (makes plenty fun of the horror cliches, characters & the genre itself) but with actually monsters! Funny & scary.
2. Dead Silence (2007): While mainly just a so-so movie, the twist of this movie puts it over the top into a decent horror movie.
3. The Skeleton Key (2005): See my comments on the movie above? Copy and paste those here.
4. House of the Devil (2009): This movie is a throwback in every sense of the word! It has an 80's feel to it. The end is quiet but efficent.
5. The Mist (2007): Stephen King is my idol! He is the reason I write today. To bad his movies are never better than the books...until this one. The ending here is actually better than in the book!
6. Audition (1999) (JAPANESE): I'm cheating here; this is more than 10 years old. I still get chills everytime I think of "Ki Ki Ki Ki". No details here, just watch it. Speaking of cheating...
7. Don't Look Now (1973): I know right:1973? Trust me on this. When I was a kid it scared me for the normal reasons. Now that I really understand it, I scares me more. With Donald Sutherland.
8. Nine Dead (2010): Not really a horror movie; more like the first Saw. 9 strangers are chained in a room by a man who plans on killing them, unless they figure out how they are all connected.
9. Martyrs (2008)(FRENCH): For YEARS, we have looked to Japan for great horror movies. This French movie is about 2 tortured women. It's not how they're tortured, but why that scares!
10. Inside (2007)(FRENCH): A pregnant woman is stuck inside her house because a demented woman is trying to kill her. This movie has some of the most surprising scenes I've ever seen.

I hope I listed a few movies you haven't seen yet and if so, I hope you enjoy them. That was a great question though because it had me thinking hard of the best horror movies I've seen in recent years. Thanks Kyra!

(BTW: I turned your question and my response into one of my blog posts. I hope you don't mind.)

Smokkee Singleton

STORYTELLING (2001). A BIZZEE Pick.

Hello WORLD!!! I haven’t done a movie review in a minute but since I’ve been movie going a lot lately, I figured I better pick up the pace a little. I just seen SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, a great movie with a great cast. A few of the cast members stand out for various reasons. One of the uncredited cameos was Clifton Collins Jr, who played the drug dealer Rupert in RULES OF ATRACTION and Cuba Gooding Jr’s partner in DIRTY. His role was very short but funny in here and I’m surprised I spotted him. Another familiar face was Mark Webber, who played Steven “The Talent” in SCOTT PILGRIM. I’ll admit it took me a minute to place his face though; after doing a bit of research, I found out he starred in a little known movie called LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN (not bad but it won’t be a BIZZEE pick either) which also starred his SCOTT PILGRIM costar Brandon Routh. Doing a little more research, I found the movie which I knew and respected for: Todd Solondz 2001 masterpiece, STORYTELLING.

What can I say about this movie? Well I saw it one night not knowing anything about it or the director but I was hooked from the beginning. It is a movie of two separate tales. The first tale, simply titled FICTION is a about a college student named Vi (a young Selma Blair) with a handicap boyfriend (Larry Clark’s KIDS villain Leo Fitzpatrick, showing a little depth) who has an argument with him regarding their teacher, played wisely without any type of emotion by Robert Wisdom (no pun intended). Right after the argument, Vi runs into the same teacher and that’s where this tale turns weird. Anything else about this half of the movie is a spoiler but if you have heard anything about it, it’s the scene that this scene sets up, which may be brutal for some of the audience (I won’t say who). As a writer I can not think of a better more satisfying ending than the one that occurs here.

The first story was called FICTION but it dealt with non fiction. The second, longer story is called NON FICTION but it might as well be fiction. The always enjoyable Paul Giamatti is a film maker who has plans on releasing a documentary on a high school student named Scooby (PILGRIM’s Mark Webber). In the scenes with his parents, John Goodman is hilarious. Documentary turns out to be a hit, but not how Scooby expects it and THEN tragedy hits in the most unlikely of ways. Look, I don’t recommend any bullshit, but I guarantee that one of these stories, if not both, will have you discussing it the next day. Definitely a must see. That’s it for now, WORLD, but I’m sure it’s enough for now! 

SAW: The Best Horror Series Ever? Maybe….

Hello WORLD!!! I’ve been thinking about writing this ever since I saw SAW 6 for the first time a while back but a small piece in Tuesday’s Chicago Red Eye furthermore made my think my opinion is right. The snippet read: “It may not be the greatest horror movies of all time but the SAW films are…the most successful horror movie series of all time. The 6 movies have netter $733 million worldwide….”. WOW!! Even with the dozens of FRIDAY THE 13THs, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREETS, HALLOWEENs and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD & all of there sequels, it took just 6 movies to take that title, with the seventh set to be released in October around it’s usually date, which is Halloween. In my opinion, SAW and it’s sequels are one of the best movie series of all time PERIOD. Yeah, I said it! Not just in terms of horror movies but including all genres, it is right up there with some of the best movie series ever. Think about it; each SAW from 1-4 was absolutely pitch perfect as far as story telling goes and the twist endings, especially 1 and 4, were brilliant without cheating. SAW 5 was probably the weakest movie in the series and it had a great plot. I think the misstep with 5 was the direction of the story going away from Jigsaw and into **I DONT DO SPOILERS SO SEE THE DAMN MOVIE FOR YOURSELF!!!**, which was kinda stupid but setup part 6 to be absolutely fantastic BUT…..  I’ll get right back to that.  In the meantime, I’ll admit that this year’s SAW 3D is probably the most anticipated (by me) SAW in the whole series. What makes this series so good? Well, here is my theory on the good & great movies in general: a good movie is a movie you wouldn’t mind seeing again while a great movie is a movie that makes you want to see it again after you just saw it for the first time. Most of the SAW movies fits the latter description and if not that then the first description. Conversely, a bad movie is one you don’t want to watch again PERIOD.

I haven’t really talked about SAW 6 that much for a reason. I enjoyed the movie, that much is clear, but it isn’t a flawless movie. I hate spoiling movies so I can’t go into too much detail here but the ending isn’t quite possible is it? If everything that happened in 3 and 4 are to be believed, then there is NO WAY that 6 could even have happened! Does that stop it from being a great movie. Not at all. I enjoyed SMOKING ACES to death and there is NO CHANCE IN HELL the big reveal of that movie is even possible. Besides that, there’s movies like David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE and Terry Gilliam’s BRAZIL that I also love & I watch repeatedly but I couldn’t tell you what either one of them is really about. Who really knows what those movies are about besides the directors? I also love INCEPTION but there’s been so many theories on the meaning of that movie that it almost seems like we’re debating a religion instead of a great movie. BTW:It is a great movie whether all the interpretations are valid or not, but I suggest you see it for yourself before you past judgement. I got a true understanding of it on the first take! 

That’s all I wanted to say, WORLD, but let me check to make sure I said it: The SAW franchise is the best series of all time and definitely a contender for best horror franchise ever. Yep I said it! That’s it for now WORLD, but ain’t that enough? Well, it gotta be until I catch up with Jigsaw, for the last time, this October.  

Top 5 CURRENT Next Level Directors

Hello WORLD!!! I got my mind all set on seeing either INCEPTION (at the Imax, of course) or SALT today and watching which ever one I don’t see on Sunday, sandwiched between DESPICABLE ME w/my daughter Adria tomorrow on Saturday. I’m really leaning toward INCEPTION because of the director, Christopher Nolan, who directed one of my Top Ten favorite movies of all time, MEMENTO. If you seen this movie, you undoubtedly saw it more than once before you got a full understanding of it or you saw it multiple times and STILL don’t have a full understanding of it. Either way, I’m more than sure you enjoyed this movie, as you have most of his other movies, including THE PRESTIGE & last years smash hit, THE DARK KNIGHT. To be sure, he is one of the most sought after directors now, but definitely not one of your typical directors. I would categorize Mr. Nolan as a NEXT LEVEL director; a director that is not above taken risks. He would be in a class by himself if not for trailblazers like Sam Peckinpah, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and the likes. These directors told unconventional stories (like Kubrick’s CLOCKWORK ORANGE, 2001) or common stories in the most unconventional manner (like Spielberg's adorable alien classic ET or Scorsese award winning reimagining of the mobster genre, THE GODFATHER) So, who are the best Next Level currently making movies? Here’s my list:

5. Todd Solondz: You might not have heard of this director before, but I have a feeling he’ll be mentioned with the greats in no time. To prove my point, watch his movies STORYTELLING, HAPPINESS, and his debut film WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE. STORYTELLING is an instant classic that if you have not seen, then I strongly recommend you go watch before you even finish this blog post!

5. Christopher Nolan: The current IT director has not had many hits in his career. He has only made 7 movies starting with 1998’s cult classic FOLLOWING. Besides FOLLOWING, the other 6 movies could be considered hits. These hits include one of my Top Ten (& a future BIZZEE pick), MEMENTO (2000), the Al Pacino / Robin Williams powered INSOMNIA, and the Christian Bale / Hugh Jackman vehicle THE PRESTIGE. In my book each of his 6 previous movies, besides INCEPTION which I haven’t seen yet, are worth owning or at least worth multiple viewings. We’re going to end the discussion of Nolan’s skills on that note; not even mentioning how HUGELY successful his Batman reboot has been….

4. David Croenberg: I’ll admit, there are a handful of movies by this director that I haven’t seen yet, NAKED LUNCH, SHIVERS, & THE BROOD among them, but the ones I have seen have been strange but satisfying. The fact that he started out in 1969 w/ STEREO and hasn’t slowed down yet is a testament to his longevity; he just released a his take on modern mafia movies with EASTERN PROMISES last year and has a plan to release another feature next year. Without knowing any details, I’m sure it can be no stranger than VIDEODROME, his remake of THE FLY or his Steven King penned classic THE DEAD ZONE.

2. Quentin Tarantino: Do I even have to explain who he is? The most recognizable name on this list, which movie of his has been conventional and has NOT been a hit? Nuff said!

1. David Lynch: The UNDISPUTED master of WTF?!?! movies and OMG directing these days is David Lynch. While I’ve seen his last movie, INLAND EMPIRES, over a 100, I cannot explain it nor do I even try to understand it anymore. That does not make it any less than the beautiful movie experience it is. Oh, and did I mention that his MULHOLLUND DRIVE is ranked higher than MEMENTO in my top ten movies of all time? If you haven’t checked out those movies or his classics like BLUE VELVET or WILD AT HEART then you owe that to yourself too.

Well, that’s it for now WORLD, but isn’t that enough? My take on INCEPTION & SALT next Monday!   

There is no Plan B

Great casting meets non-stop action! This is technically my first impression after watching The A Team.
When I learned about this remake, I quickly anticipated the actors who would fill-up the shoes of the characters and how they would give justice to their performances.
The cast. When it was revealed that Liam Neeson will play Hannibal Smith, I predicted that he would suck on the role (because I was rooting for Bruce Willis to play Smith).
But after watching the film, I could not even imagine Bruce Willis as Smith because of
Liam Neeson's knockout performance. Quinton Rampage Jackson filling-up for Mr. T's character, B.A. Baracus, is a good choice compared to earlier rumors that Ice Cube was considered for the role. Bradley Cooper as Face is just OK. But the character who steals every scene he was in is 'Howling Mad' Murdock, brilliantly portrayed by District 9's Sharlto Copley.
Patrick Wilson also gave a noteworthy performance as the film's bad guy.
(I enjoyed watching him in this film than in Watchmen and Hard Candy)
The only miscast in this movie was Jessica Biel as a DOD agent. She looks ridiculous playing that strong character.
The plot. The movie stayed true to the TV series. War veterans (Vietnam updated to Iraq) on the run clearing their names for a crime they didn't commit. They were apprehended but broke out of prison to get even with the guy who set them up. So expect a lot of cat-and-mouse sequences. The one scene that stands out was when the team escaped from a blown C-130 plane. Anyway, if you're looking for a fun and entertaining action flick, forget the plot of this one and just enjoy the ride because The A Team is a brainless-action-comedy-CGI fest kind of movie with lots of funny one-liners. But absoultely better than the G.I. Joe remake.
If you want a more enjoyable actioner with a good script, character development and action-comedy-CGI fest, go and rewatch James Cameron's True Lies.
But The A Team, fairly enough, qualifies as an entertaining film.
I just hope the producers wouldn't mess this one up by making an unecessary sequel!
There should be no Plan B for this film.
Once is enough!

BIZZEE Picks: TOP 5 GENRE BUSTING MOVIES

Hello, WORLD!!! Smokkee here. Yesterday, I reviewed the controversial STRAW DOGS and I called it a "one of the greatest examples of a GENRE BENDER" movie. Sometimes I call movies like a GENRE BUSTER. What kinda movie is it? Just like the name says, it's a movie that can't be confined to any one genre or a movie that transcends more than one genre. STRAW DOGS is such a movie; it could be considered a horror movie, a thriller, a romantic dramedy (I know I laughed a lot even if the laughs were inappropriate). Anyway I got to thinking about it after I posted "Is it the greatest?" Now that I thought about it, while it is still a great example, it isn't in my top 5 of all time. I can think of at least 5 that's better. They are in no particular order:

MALICE(1993): Off hand, I would that this early vehicle for a young Nicole Kidman is THE best example of a genre bender. To try and describe this movie is hassle in itself. What starts out as a murder mystery quickly becomes something else much more darker. How can you get darker than murder? I have no idea but this does it. The fact that the mystery is solved and the murderer is arrested half way through the movie does nothing but push this movie into a completely different territory and it's here that this movie really transcends any type of description. A true must see, this movie is one of the few movies that sent a chill up my spine that has done so without the element of horror involved, the ending of this movie STILL sends a chill up my spine and I have no idea exactly why. Sidenote: I would have also mentioned Kidman's first starring vehicle DEAD CALM but that movie is easily a physiological thriller with just bare traces of any other type of movie. Still both are must sees.

FROM DUST TIL DAWN(1996): OK, NOW it's easily defined as a horror movie. THEN however, it was taboo to even mention anything after the first half of the movie. This movie starts off as a buddy-criminals on the run-comedy-drama-hommage to the popcorn munchers of the 70's- type movie before it steers into what is clearly a horror movie. Watching the first half only, there is no way you would be able to tell me what the movie was about or how it would end. An interesting note is that the the beginning part which is so hard to categorize is directed by Quentin Tarantino who made another hard to categorize movie in PULP FICTION while the horror part was directed by his frequent collaborator Robert Rodriguez.

MULHOLLAND DRIVE(2001): How could I put together a list like this and NOT use a David Lynch film? Not. Quite. Possible. My personal favorite Lynch movie is as hard to describe as anything else on this list, but I could have easily used BLUE VELVET, ERASERHEAD, or his 2006 IDKWTF is going on INLAND EMPIRE instead of this beautiful but deadly movie. It stars a pre-KING KONG/THE RING Naomi Watts as an aspiring starlet who offers to help a beautiful young amnesiac played by Laura Elena Harring. Well, that's the premise of this movie...or is it? This movie has so many interpretations and Mr. Lynch most certainly clarified any one thought about what this movie is actually about so who knows. The only thing I do know is this is the only movie that came with a set of 10 clues from David Lynch himself to figure out WTF is going on; trust me you'll need em!

MOMENTO(2000): OK. So technically you can call this a psychological thriller but really, once you've watched this mind fuck of a movie and you've figured out what's really going on, can this still be considered a thriller? I doubt it. I consider it a case study on the effects of trauma on man, a revenge movie,& a mystery of the highest order. The only movie in recent years that comes close to the paranoia that this film projects is SHUTTER ISLAND and although I loved that movie, it pales in comparison to this Christopher Nolan directed masterpiece. Another must see.

AUDITION (1999) If you have heard anything about this Japanese masterpiece from Takashi Miike besides the fact that the audition of the title happens early in the movie, then somebody has ran their mouths too much. This is one of those films where you're suckered in then surprised from behind. The movies quiet confident way of character establishing undermines what lurks beneath this movie's surface. Everybody who I have suggested this movie to, even those who don't like subtitled movie experiences, have all agreed this is one hell of a movie! Miike also directed some of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen, including ICHI THE KILLER, DEAD OR ALIVE, ONE MISSED CALL (see the Japanese version & avoid the American remake at all costs!)and an episode of the Showtime original horror series Masters of Horror titled IMPRINT, which was supposed to be scary but was so disturbing Showtime decided not to air it.

Well, that's not ALL the movies that I call GENRE BUSTERS or BENDERS, just some of the better ones. Maybe I'll add another 5 movies to it, or maybe not, who knows. All I know is this is it for now, WORLD, but isn't this enough?

STRAW DOGS, directed by Sam Peckinpah,1971 (A BIZZEE Pick)

Hello, WORLD!! This is my first review in a minute. Have ya missed me? Well never again. I promise to post a movie review every day or at least 7 times a week. I also promise that each movie will be a worthwhile movie, one that doesn't waste your time, UNLESS the movie is so bad I feel like it's my duty to warn you off!! Also I got other critics going in on movies on this page now too. So, to differentiate from my fellow critics, my movie reviews, or other type of reviews, will be called BIZZEE picks. Clear? Cool!!!! Let's begin with a classic that you might soon be talking about again.*************************************************************************
In 1971, 5 years after his breakout role in THE GRADUATE, Dustin Hoffman appeared in a movie by director Sam Peckinpah called STRAW DOGS. Hoffman, who has since went on to one of the most respected Hollywood careers & Peckinpah, who had one directed one of Hollywoods most greatest Western movies, THE WILD BUNCH (1969) and would go on to direct 1 of the greatest crime love story's of all time the next year, THE GETAWAY (1972). Anyway, this is one of the greatest examples of what I call a GENRE BENDER because there is no one genre that describes this movie. In some eyes, it's a coming of age story. On many levels it plays like a drama but the end is pure horror on so many levels. The story, based on the novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm (1969) by Gordon Williams, concerns David & Amy Sumner, a couple comprised of an American man and his young British wife (Hoffman and the absolutely stunning Susan George), who leaves the USA, for some reason I wasn't quite clear on, to live in her childhood home. Complications arise at the arrival of the natives who come to spruce up their home; one of the natives is infatuated with Amy, which leads to some complications... Look, I could go into detail about this movie but this is one of those movies where it is best not to know what happens EXCEPT FOR ONE PART that I feel all women who watch may need to hear about. Midway through this movie, Amy is brutally raped by 2 of the guys and this one scene alone makes this movie as complicated as any I've ever seen, which leads to more complications. The ending feels, well, like the only way this movie could have ended but it's as painful as the rape scene itself in many ways. There are so many conflicts that are going on that one may need a score card to see who's actually on whose side. The reason I recommend this movie aside from the fact it's one of my personal favorite movies is the fact that it's due to be remade starring James Marsden & Kate Bosworth (both of whom can be found in the god awful SUPERMAN RETURNS) in February of 2011. PLEASE see the original before you see what is bound to be a butchering of one of the finest, most controversial of Peckinpah's career. That's all for now WORLD, but isn't that enough?