Category: Films

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 6: Favourite Horror

Dennis June 15, 2011 No Comments

There are many different films that could be qualified as horror films that have scared the crap out of me. When I was younger, before I was a teenager, Fright Night and Salem’s Lot really did it. The Exorcist and Pet Cemetery scared me when I just hit my teens, and later I remember being very disturbed by Event Horizon, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the likes of Japanese horror films like Audition. From the time of Fright Night to now the fright I felt has changed. When I was young I was frightened at what they showed me, now I’m scared of what they don’t. They say imagination starts hyperactive and gets duller and duller as you grow older, but with me it seems to have worked the other way around. I don’t need much nowadays to let my imagination run rampant with it and take me into the deep waters of dread.

One of the best examples of showing little and therefor scaring me more was The Blair Witch Project, in which three people get lost in the woods of Maryland while they’re researching the legend of the Witch of Burkittsville. The films doesn’t show anything overly frightening, but it leaves a lot to the imagination. A lot. This is the reason why I really like this horror film, much more than the overly gory films that have come to dominate the horror genre.

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 5: Favourite Action

Dennis June 10, 2011 No Comments

This is the fifth day of the 30 Day Movie Challenge and I’m starting to notice a trend; I don’t know how to categorise films very well. I don’t know what constitutes a drama or a horror or a thriller and I certainly don’t know what falls within the boundaries of an action film. The easiest ones that come to mind are Predator, Aliens and Terminator, thought the last could also be classified as a sci-fi. But then, does Heat fall in that category? Sure, there’s a lot of action in that film, but to classify it as such does the film a disservice, I feel. I deeply appreciate the Bourne films, but again I think their depth goes beyond the classification of an action film. And then there are films like Platoon and Apocalypse Now, which certainly transcend the simplicity of an action film.

So I’ll go for Predator, a film I already gave quite a long-winded review for.

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 4: Favourite Drama

Dennis June 9, 2011 No Comments

Having peeked at all the questions in advance, I probably find this question one of the hardest to answer, mostly because I don’t really know what falls in the category “drama.” Anything that’s not predominantly action or comedy, I suppose. Also, I think a dramatic film should deal with weighty, meaty topics. I think The Royal Tanenbaums is too comedic to be a drama, but it does deal with substances that have gravitas. See what I mean? Is Fight Club a drama because it deals with multiple personality disorders and many other considerable subjects? Hard to answer that one.

There so many drama’s that I’ve enjoyed and I’m hard pressed to name a favourite; Festen, Hana-bi, Leaving Las Vegas, Bad Lieutenant, Dog Day Afternoon, Donnie Darko, Leon, The Pianist… I think I will have to go with The Fountain. Not because it’s the best, or because it’s got endless rewatchability, but because the last time I saw it I needed two days to recover from it.

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 3: Favourite Comedy

Dennis June 7, 2011 No Comments

This is another really difficult category, since I’m not entirely sure what counts as a “movie.” I’ve decided to include stand-up comedy specials, mostly because it makes it really for me to make a choice. When I was about 12 years old I was sifting through several of my parents’ VHS tapes, probably looking for a tape that I could use to record something else. I came across a video tape that I never watched and it had Eddie Murphy’s Delirious on it as well as Steve Martin’s The Lonely Guy. I had never seen either of them. I first watched The Lonely Guy and then continued watching Delirious. I couldn’t get through the first ten minutes of it without laughing so hard I fell of my chair and started wheezing. I immediately called my best friend to tell him to come over. I rewinded the tape to the start of the show and we watched it again. I have never laughed so much in my entirely life.

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 2: Least Favourite Film

Dennis June 6, 2011 No Comments

So I decided to cheat and do a few posts per day. :)

The least favourite film I’ve ever seen is not an easy one to name because there have been so many that I didn’t like. I suppose that the least favourite film should have the least redeeming qualities; bad acting, shitty editing, lousy story, etc. Unfortunately, if it really would have been that bad I simply would’ve switched it off and not watched more of it. So instead of picking my least favourite, I’ll pick the one that was the most disappointing to me.

No matter how you set up your film as a film maker, there has to be some consistency. If you tell us that women can fly and men can eat stone, then fine, but then within those rules and convines remain consistent. That was the reason why I was so incredibly disappointed in the film Revolver by Guy Ritchie. I had pretty high expectation of Ritchie’s work after Lock, Stock… and Snatch, but it wasn’t just that he didn’t deliver with Revolver, but rather that after twenty minutes I thought I had gotten stuck in a David Lynch film without the internal consistency of a Lynch film that helps you suspend your disbelief. Revolver was probably supposed to be mysterious, but instead it was just frustrating. The acting was terrible and one dimensional and it couldn’t be saved by veterans Ray Liotta or Mark Strong.