A New LJ Feature (Cause I'm Board)
At the Movies with Amanda, A Review Of Sorts:
Silent Hill
This isn't a synopsis, more like a commentary...
Preview Fun!: Ok, we got previews for…
The Omen (remake) - I remember sleeping on the couch while the old one was on, but I’ll probably go see the remake because it’s being released on 6/6/06, and that’s cool.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - This will probably be an ok movie, but the trailer made it look slick and there were a lot of fast, colorful cars racing around Tokyo. No Vin Diesel though.
The Da Vinci Code - Tom Hanks’ hair looks weird like that. I haven’t read the book. I might see the movie. Eh.
Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest - Dear God, why isn’t it July yet?
Opening Remarks:
The working title for this film was Silent Hill: Centralia. Now, if you’re from Pennsylvania, like as not you’ve heard of the town of Centralia, PA, under which a coal-fueled fire has been burning since 1961. The concept was used here, because let’s be honest, it’s just fucking cool (even though the town was set on a mountain in West Virginia).
As an aside, I only got 45 minutes into the video game because the camera angles were awkward, it was full of puzzles, and there were a lot of evil crawly things that my character was not equipped to kill. Yes, it was very realistic, but I’m remarkably bad at puzzles and brain teasers and quite frankly, if there’s a video game with monsters, I want ninja-skills, awesome weapons, or magic spells. Yes, I’m lazy, bite me.
Horrors!:
This was a good horror movie, even-more-so because I found out that most of their CGI was making fog and the environmental/setting effects. The baddies were all costuming and prosthetics, and when you first see one, it’s pretty intense. They also capitalize on the air-raid siren (used post cold-war in many suburbs as a fire siren) and its potential to bring nerves to a terror point. There was also a lot of blood and hardcore squirm moments, which is a good thing for a horror movie to have.
Not Thrilled:
This was not a good thriller movie, which is what it tried to be when it wasn’t being a horror movie. The male ‘lead’ was trying to hard to be Harrison Ford but wasn’t, or he might have been Harrison Ford’s yuppie twin. The other male ‘lead’ is a big putz, and spends his time putzing around, trying to decide on his accent, and saying cryptic things. The dialogue in non-horror scenes was lousy (a lot of folks were laughing) which is perfect for a horror movie, but not when they were trying so hard to be more. For example, the male lead retreating meekly home without calling the state troopers, FBI and/or squads of lawyers to sue the pants off the local police department.
Hotness:
The best hotness in this movie has got to be Laurie Holden who plays Officer Cybil Bennett, who we first see dressed all in leather as a motorcycle cop. She spends most of the movie in her blue police shirt and leather pants, %100 butch hotness. If I have any real friends out there, they’ll get me one.
History’s Mysteries:
I also enjoyed the ‘terrible event long ago with consequences’ factor. Once again, we learn that being a member of a wackmobile fanatical Christian-esque cult will end poorly for you. The abandoned-town thing was great (I’m one of the people who thought the only good part of ‘Blair Witch Project’ was the last five minutes in the abandoned house). The use of the miner’s gear and the canary in the cage was sweet too.
Leaves You Wondering:
How big is this backwoods WV county that they have their own orphanage? If it’s a county orphanage, why is it run by the church? Why did the male lead just go home after being shoo’ed away and not go right to the WV state troopers? If the fire/burning was in 1974 and the demon merges with the girl shortly after (note, her burns are still red/black in that scene), why did it wait at least 10 years, maybe more, to isolate the goodness and bring the baby to the orphanage? How did the nun know that the baby was who she was if she didn’t see the demon deliver it? If it was the demon’s idea to create the baby, how did the nun and the cop know about it?
The Big Finale:
I’ve seen that ending before, maybe it was in ‘The Sixth Sense’, or wait, maybe in ‘The Others’. Are they setting this up for a sequel? I know the male lead wants to be involved if it’ll be called Silent Hill: Litigation. All-in-all, an ok movie, worth the money (I got in as a student) for a bit of fun on a Friday night, and worth it for the horror part of the movie.
Top 5 Thoughts During the Movie:
1) I’ve got a headache.
2) Should I get pizza for dinner?
3) It’s freezing in here.
4) Maybe I’ll go clothes shopping after work on Sunday.
5) This is so much better than 13th Child: Legend of the Jersey Devil.
Silent Hill
This isn't a synopsis, more like a commentary...
Preview Fun!: Ok, we got previews for…
The Omen (remake) - I remember sleeping on the couch while the old one was on, but I’ll probably go see the remake because it’s being released on 6/6/06, and that’s cool.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - This will probably be an ok movie, but the trailer made it look slick and there were a lot of fast, colorful cars racing around Tokyo. No Vin Diesel though.
The Da Vinci Code - Tom Hanks’ hair looks weird like that. I haven’t read the book. I might see the movie. Eh.
Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest - Dear God, why isn’t it July yet?
Opening Remarks:
The working title for this film was Silent Hill: Centralia. Now, if you’re from Pennsylvania, like as not you’ve heard of the town of Centralia, PA, under which a coal-fueled fire has been burning since 1961. The concept was used here, because let’s be honest, it’s just fucking cool (even though the town was set on a mountain in West Virginia).
As an aside, I only got 45 minutes into the video game because the camera angles were awkward, it was full of puzzles, and there were a lot of evil crawly things that my character was not equipped to kill. Yes, it was very realistic, but I’m remarkably bad at puzzles and brain teasers and quite frankly, if there’s a video game with monsters, I want ninja-skills, awesome weapons, or magic spells. Yes, I’m lazy, bite me.
Horrors!:
This was a good horror movie, even-more-so because I found out that most of their CGI was making fog and the environmental/setting effects. The baddies were all costuming and prosthetics, and when you first see one, it’s pretty intense. They also capitalize on the air-raid siren (used post cold-war in many suburbs as a fire siren) and its potential to bring nerves to a terror point. There was also a lot of blood and hardcore squirm moments, which is a good thing for a horror movie to have.
Not Thrilled:
This was not a good thriller movie, which is what it tried to be when it wasn’t being a horror movie. The male ‘lead’ was trying to hard to be Harrison Ford but wasn’t, or he might have been Harrison Ford’s yuppie twin. The other male ‘lead’ is a big putz, and spends his time putzing around, trying to decide on his accent, and saying cryptic things. The dialogue in non-horror scenes was lousy (a lot of folks were laughing) which is perfect for a horror movie, but not when they were trying so hard to be more. For example, the male lead retreating meekly home without calling the state troopers, FBI and/or squads of lawyers to sue the pants off the local police department.
Hotness:
The best hotness in this movie has got to be Laurie Holden who plays Officer Cybil Bennett, who we first see dressed all in leather as a motorcycle cop. She spends most of the movie in her blue police shirt and leather pants, %100 butch hotness. If I have any real friends out there, they’ll get me one.
History’s Mysteries:
I also enjoyed the ‘terrible event long ago with consequences’ factor. Once again, we learn that being a member of a wackmobile fanatical Christian-esque cult will end poorly for you. The abandoned-town thing was great (I’m one of the people who thought the only good part of ‘Blair Witch Project’ was the last five minutes in the abandoned house). The use of the miner’s gear and the canary in the cage was sweet too.
Leaves You Wondering:
How big is this backwoods WV county that they have their own orphanage? If it’s a county orphanage, why is it run by the church? Why did the male lead just go home after being shoo’ed away and not go right to the WV state troopers? If the fire/burning was in 1974 and the demon merges with the girl shortly after (note, her burns are still red/black in that scene), why did it wait at least 10 years, maybe more, to isolate the goodness and bring the baby to the orphanage? How did the nun know that the baby was who she was if she didn’t see the demon deliver it? If it was the demon’s idea to create the baby, how did the nun and the cop know about it?
The Big Finale:
I’ve seen that ending before, maybe it was in ‘The Sixth Sense’, or wait, maybe in ‘The Others’. Are they setting this up for a sequel? I know the male lead wants to be involved if it’ll be called Silent Hill: Litigation. All-in-all, an ok movie, worth the money (I got in as a student) for a bit of fun on a Friday night, and worth it for the horror part of the movie.
Top 5 Thoughts During the Movie:
1) I’ve got a headache.
2) Should I get pizza for dinner?
3) It’s freezing in here.
4) Maybe I’ll go clothes shopping after work on Sunday.
5) This is so much better than 13th Child: Legend of the Jersey Devil.