January 31, 2008 by rfhicks.

During my previous visit to the local movie theater to see Alien vs. Predator 2 I had been curious about the previews for Cloverfield. The previews had shown a spectacular explosion set against the nighttime New York cityscape. The head of a decapitated Statue of Liberty was shown striking a high rise building and crashing on the street. I was lead to believe this would be an awesome science fiction thriller. I was wrong.

Before gambling $10 on a movie fare I visited the Cloverfield website seeking some sort of synopsis of the movie. I was disappointed only to find the two teasers or trailers I had seen at the theater during earlier visits. Perhaps they couldn’t afford to pay the webmaster with the $25 million budget that was spent on the production of the movie.

The first person point of view used in the movie could have possibly been an effective vehicle for laying the groundwork and developing the setting of the movie, even possibly introducing us to some of the characters. Instead we are left to sit and anticipate a change in cinematography where the movie will begin to flesh out and we will be given a story to assimilate. This simply doesn’t happen. We end up looking at people’s feet running across the ground and characters risking their lives running down dark empty subway tunnels when a nasty monster and it’s offspring are running loose.

In addition the director’s choice of using suggestive and foreboding 9-11 cinematography does nothing to fill the thrill vacuum that is persistent throughout the movie.

Moreover, I have heard in casual conversation that some theater goers complained of disorientation due to the movie being filmed entirely in ‘handycam style.’ Personally the disorientation due to the movie’s amateurish cinematography did not bother me. I was more disappointed than disoriented by this film.

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January 3, 2008 by rfhicks.

Once again I have spent my weekend away from my day job to watch the latest mutation of the Alien vs. Predator sequels of movies. This one is entitled Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem.

The movie begins with a Predator cruising the outskirts of the universe when he is suddenly assaulted by a face hugging juvenile Alien, his sworn enemy. This causes the

Predator to lose control of his spacecraft causing him to crash on earth.

From this point on we are introduced to a rather flimsy cast of earthlings that are caught in the midst of a battle between a Predator and an Alien. A father and his son on a hunting trip run across the stricken spaceship. They quickly become victims of the alien face huggers.

Meanwhile back in town several hours later the locals begin to wonder what happen to the father and son. The sheriff quickly rounds up a posse and and the townsfolk march into the woods late at night armed with flashlights. We are then introduced to another facet of this drawn out yawner of alien vs. earthlings melodrama when we find out the sheriff has a young friend that has just been released from jail and his looking to re-establish himself as a responsible citizen. We are then introduced to this recently released convict’s younger brother that his having romantic problems while working as a pizza delivery driver.

Ah, but wait don’t fall asleep midway in the movie or step out to have a smoke and perhaps a shot of booze to steer you through this mumbling mire of an alien vs. earthling melodrama or you will miss the all the action. We have the convict’s younger brother getting slapped around by the local homeboys during a routine pizza run. The homeboys pummel the poor pizza runner and chunk his keys into the sewer.

Later the two brothers return to the sewer to retrieve the keys only to encounter ol’ slimy breath having babies in the sewer muck or was it the homeless people living in the sewer and getting face hugged by the alien.
Well I am all confused now. Shucks did I tell you about the big fight at the power substation or was that before the convict’s younger pizza delivering brother went skinny dipping with his ex sweetheart at the local pool.

Then the power goes out and someone else gets killed. Oh well I have pretty much lost track at this point and then there some blood and another earthling skinned and hanged from a tree. Meanwhile the Predator is pouring blue glowing goop over the dead alien bodies.

Then the convict’s younger brother finds his keys and female soldier(Reiko Aylesworth) home from Iraq tells us not to trust the government or the National Guard.

And now for some famous words from this flimsy cast of characters: Ex-con Dallas(Steven Pasquale) speaking to the sheriff Eddie(John Ortiz), “People are dying. We need guns.” Eddie(John Ortiz), “The National Guard will be here soon.”

Don’t wait for this flick to come out on DVD, wait till you see it at a yard sale.

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December 14, 2007 by rfhicks.

I once again had an opportunity to see a so-called ‘controversial’ movie according to the mainstream Christian churches. The Golden Compass is a movie that is based one of three science fantasy books that comprise a trilogy authored by a British atheist named Philip Pullman. Whenever I hear that the mainstream churches and the local news media are upset about a particular movie that may have naughty subliminal undertones. I immediately dash out and purchase a ticket to see what all the fuss is about. Despite the fracas and hand wringing over the subliminal anti-religious message voiced by the church pulpits, it was ironic that not a single foul word was uttered during the movie nor did Nicole Kidman reveal a single glimpse of underwear or flesh.

Overall the movie was very mellow and beautiful with the maturity of computer graphics being able to render otherwise impossible worlds and situations. Other critics rate the movie highly with the exception of some that say the movie was a bit rushed preventing the characters to be wholly fleshed out. I myself think that I could have endured a three hour epic, but enjoyed the movie altogether.

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November 23, 2007 by rfhicks.

I recently had had the opportunity to go see Beowulf. The movie is based on a 6th century sonnet written in old English about a Danish king and his mead hall that is cursed by a demon called Grendel. We find that Grendel cannot stand the singing and merrymaking made by the Danish king and his subjects, so Grendel makes his appearances late at night at the mead hall to devour and bring about some peace and quiet to the neighborhood.

The news of the king’s distress somehow reaches shores afar.

Beowulf makes a journey to the troubled king’s mead hall and offers his services as a demon slayer. All the while the hero boldly declares, “I am Beowulf.” Members of the king’s court cast doubts on Beowulf’s blustery accounts of heroism and ask him why he was defeated in swimming contest against another legendary hero. Beowulf dismissed their doubts when he told them that he could have easily won the swimming contest if it had not been for the distraction of him having to slay a sea monster and make love to beautiful mermaid.

I won’t give away more of the story from here and tell you why I titled this article, ‘The return of the ‘B’ movie, that is Beowulf. One of the first impressions that ran through my mind after watching the movie was how it reminded of the reruns of the early 60s series of Hercules movies directed by Pietro Francisci. Beowulf shares many characteristics with this early syndicated television show such as , strong characterization, spartan use of dialog, and an evenly paced tempo. After seeing the movie I felt I had returned to a moment in my childhood where I had stayed up past my bedtime to watch an episode of Pietro Francisci’s Hercules.

I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone seeking to recapture a moment in the adolescence when one looked forward to staying up past there bedtime and partaking of some of the forbidden fruit of late night television.

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September 9, 2007 by rfhicks.

This past weekend out of sheer boredom and having a day off I went to see 3:10 to Yuma. I had seen some of the previews at the local theater while enjoying the ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’. What had sparked my interest in seeing ‘3:10 to Yuma’ was all the gritty gunslinger characters shown in the previews. It also appeared there would be some actions scenes. Putting these things together brought me to the theater with a ticket in hand.

As I got settled into the theater I had no idea what the core story was. Judging from the title I had the impression that the movie would be centered around a grand stagecoach robbery that would be the climactic moment in the movie at 3:10pm( plot time ). The movie’s opening scene introduced us to a poor young Arizona farmer with a struggling family that were facing eviction due to the construction of the Southern Pacific railway.

Nearby, and at a later time, we witness a dozen or so of grizzly bandits subduing and surrounding an armored stagecoach. We are then introduced to the star of the movie, Ben Wade, portrayed by Russel Crowe.

The movie moves forward from here with the bandits successful with the stagecoach robbery. The thieves then ride into the nearest town and announce that the stagecoach has been robbed. The sheriff and his posse saddle up and ride out to investigate while the villains laugh it up and have a good time in town.

Finally the sheriff and his men realize they have been snookered by the bandits and from this point the story revolves around Ben Wade’s capture and delivery to a prison train in Yuma. We are once again introduced to the Arizona farmer and his family as the posse that has captured Ben Wade spend the night with their prisoner, Ben Wade, in tow. Meanwhile Ben Wade’s henchmen are determined to deliver Ben Wade from his prison fate.
I leave the rest to your imagination from here. There is a some dialogue about 3/4 of the way through the movie where the actors are whispering and at this point I took a little nap till the guns started blazing again.

The $7.50 that I spent to see this movie wasn’t that disappointing and I stayed to the end. I’ll give this one 3 1/2 stars.

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August 19, 2007 by rfhicks.

The furious pace of technology has brought us movies being produced in record numbers as production companies adopt technologies that help them assimilate,edit, and even in some cases substitute simulated actors. I recently went to the local cinema to enjoy a matinée and take advantage of the theater’s air conditioning to escape the August heat of California. I have a mantra that if I don’t enjoy the movie at least I have paid $7.50 for a little quiet time and some cool air.

I recently saw The Bourne Ultimatum at the local theater and for the first time in a great while I have gotten to enjoy a movie that has solid characterization, logical story plot, lots of action, and an old fashioned clincher for an ending that makes you want to see the movie again. I had seen the other two movies that comprise this trilogy, The Bourne Identity and the The Bourne Supremacy, but this last sequel shared the action packed pace and the mystique of CIA operative caught up in spy operation gone bad. I thoroughly enjoyed the first movie. The second entry I enjoyed but left me wondering whether or not it might be a rehash of the first. The last sequel really got my attention when all of Jason Bourne motives were revealed and we got to peek at his past.

I won’t give away anymore of the movie and I hope you have a chance to enjoy it.

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