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irishninja1980
Reviews
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (2002)
What a joke
It's sad that so many talented, hard-working musicians out there have been busting their ass for years and can't get a break, while any soulless, talentless suburban poser can go on what is basically a nationally-televised karaoke contest, become the flavor of the month, and then be forgotten about six months later(unless you're Kelly Clarkson). I know it's already been said by another poster, but it's true: some of these people have played in small bands or had local solo gigs, some of them have potential, but the majority of them are a bunch of wannabes with no real talent. They don't have the dedication and desire it takes to build a lasting career in a notoriously fickle industry: they're in it for their 15 minutes of fame, and nothing more.
Boogeyman (2005)
Two hours of my life I'll never get back
I've been seeing the trailer for this for a week, and it looked decent, so I thought I'd give it a chance-and it ended up being an even bigger, more over-hyped disappointment than Exorcist: The Beginning.
The movie is about an 8-year-old kid named Tim who watches his father die violently at the hands of a monstrous entity known as the Boogeyman. 15 years later, he seems to be doing okay-he has a good job and a beautiful girlfriend, but he's still clearly traumatized from what happened to his father. He decides to face his fear by spending the night in his old house. Sure enough, the Boogeyman is waiting for him, and its up to Tim to finally lay him to rest once and for all. Unfortunately, the already razor-thin story line starts to fall apart about halfway through the film, and it ends up looking more like a generic version of Poltergeist than anything else.
Director Stephen T. Kay tries to compensate for the movie's lack of plot and characterization by giving it an overabundance of clichéd visual tricks including way too many false scares, super-fast close-ups(sorry but CSI does it MUCH better), and badly done CGI, and when the Boogeyman finally makes his cameo appearance at the end, I just couldn't stop laughing-the monster is supposed to be scary but he actually looks like a Blue Man Group reject.
Boogeyman is simply yet another case of a diluted, soulless outing made specifically for the MTV generation(I'm 24, yet I avoid MTV like the Plague!)-it looks impressive, but is watered down by a half-baked storyline and an emphasis of badly executed flash over substance.
Halloween II (1981)
one of my favorite entries in the entire series
I have an interesting way of looking at Halloween 2. I don't look at it as being better or worse than it's predecessor, because I don't think of it as a sequel-it's more like an extension of the original, so I look at them both as one movie. This started one night when I watched H1, then right as it ended, I popped in the Universal DVD of H2. Granted, there are a few errors here and there(a couple of minor anachronisms; in the first Halloween, Michael falls off the back balcony after being shot, here he falls out the front, plus the infamous "7 shots" goof), but then again, this was made 3 years later, so it's not going to be perfect. Beyond all that, however, the two of them go together very well.
H2 picks up right where Halloween ended. Michael is shot and falls out the window right into the yard, and is nowhere to be found when Dr. Loomis peers down from the balcony. Laurie Strode is taken by ambulance to the hospital and is loaded up on morphine(she is in a coma for half the film). The whole thing starts off at a somewhat slow pace-most of the first half is spent following Michael around as he tracks down his prey, following Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Brackett as they track down Michael, and following various hospital staff as they go about their work. Eventually though, Michael makes his way to Haddonfield Memorial, and as the body count starts to climb, so does the suspense. Adding to it all is a startling revelation about Michael's obsession with killing Laurie(they're long lost brother and sister. Two years after Michael was committed to the mental institution, their parents died in a car accident. Shortly after, Laurie was adopted by the Strode family, who asked that the records be sealed to protect Laurie, as well as themselves), and when they finally meet up, the film kicks into overdrive and leaves you on edge all the way up to the (literally) explosive ending-the scene where right after the operating room blows up, Michael slowly walks out of the fire and collapses-freaks the s**t out of me every time).
With Rick Rosenthal directing, H2 has a much darker vibe than the original, from the opening credits(another pumpkin, except instead of burning out when it gets close to the camera, it slowly rips in half to reveal a skull) to the more "gothic" sounding score(mostly piano in H1, here the synthesizers run the show) to a higher body count, not to mention a healthier dose of gore(a doctor found dead with a syringe sticking out of his eye, a nurse getting drowned in water so hot it makes her skin peel, Dr. Loomis getting stabbed in the stomach). Another cool little trick I liked-where the camera gives us Laurie Strode's point of view while she's loaded up on morphine, and the view is all blurry(another scene that always creeps me out-the one where it;s her drugged up POV watching Michael stab nurse Jill in the back with the scalpel).
The acting, while not great, is solid for a slasher flick. Jamie Lee Curtis, while comatose for most of the film, is great in her scenes, and while Michael was scary enough when he was played by Nick Castle, with Dick Warlock behind the mask he is f***ing EVIL. Jimmy(Lance Guest)seems like the only member of the hospital staff who gives a damn about Laurie(and he does a nice job of showing it), and of course Donald Pleasance(rest in peace, sir) turns in a stellar performance as our selfless hero, Dr. Loomis.
H2 could have effectively ended the Myers saga, but after H3 was so poorly received, Moustapha Akkad and Co. decided to bring it back........again and again and again. To me the first 4 are the best(and yes that includes H3: Season of the Witch), with H1 and H2 tied for Number 1. **** out of 5.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
I liked it, okay?
The first time I saw H3, I thought it was okay but I didn't know what the hell to make of it. Then I borrowed the novel from a friend of mine, that helped me understand the story better, and when I watched it the second time, I actually liked it. It's got all the classic Carpenter elements: creepy synthesizer score, surprise ending(Ellie turning out to be a robot), just an overall dark atmosphere. And as for not having anything to do with the first 2 Halloweens, THAT WAS THE POINT!!! John Carpenter and Debra Hill wanted to make a different movie every year, with a different cast and plot each time, but that each took place on Halloween, which actually wasn't a bad idea. But unfortunately nobody realized that at the time(and by the way, Carpenter's mistake wasn't putting the "Halloween" in the title, it was the "III" that misled everybody), so 3 tanked miserably and has been all but put to death by horror fans everywhere, which sucks because it's really not that bad: the witchcraft-meets-technology plot is a nice change from the tired "psycho killer who can't be stopped" routine. Don't get me wrong, I liked H4, and I think it's the last truly great entry in the series. 5 and 6 f***ed it up badly, just like Moustapha Akkad has pretty much done to this entire series. The whole Michael Myers story has gone just about every way it can(what's next, Halloween 9: Michael Myers runs for Governor of California?). But back to H3: if you can actually get over the fact that there's no Michael(except in the commercial for the original "Halloween" which plays while Dan Challis is drinking in the bar, and he watches Laurie walk up to the Wallace house while he's tied to a chair. Advertising one of your own movies within another one of your own movies-very clever!), no Loomis, no Laurie, no "Halloween" main theme, and see it for what it is-a unique and pretty f***ing cool piece of work-instead of judging it for what you thought it was "supposed" to be, give it a second chance. You might actually like it.