The Film Genie's Universe

A hilarious and witty horror comedy pulls the old switch-a-roo on the old College Kids vs Hillbillies cliche.

I only watched this because I am a massive fan of Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball's Steve the Pirate and Firefly's Wash) and of horror-comedies. Another film I thought would just be a simple time-passer turns out to be my favourite comedy of the year. With the horror-comedy genre expanding exponentially over the last decade, thanks the to likes of 'Shaun Of The Dead', the 'Scream' franchise and so many others, the old conventions are starting to run dry and new ideas are becoming scarce. 'Zombieland' proved an original story could still be found employing an enemy reinvented more times than Katie Price's bosom. 'Piranha 3D' added new technology to it's mindless carnage in an effort to boost ratings. So what new and exciting concept can be offered to horrorphiles around the world? Or will the classic themes just be reproduced over and over?

 PREFACE TO THE REVIEW:

You may be wondering why a film made in the '60s has suddenly appeared amongst the Silent Epics from the early twentieth century in a systematically chronological review blog. The main reason is that I have just finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's 'Space Oddessy' quadrilogy and wanted to refresh my memory of a film I can only partly remember from childhood. I am a huge fan of novel-to-film adaptations ranging from Minority Report & Jurassic Park to Salem's Lot & The Lord Of The Rings and I love to see how selections are made in what is required on screen and what cannot be portrayed, often with characters changed and entire narratives being rewritten. This particular case is unique in that Clarke and Kubrick co-wrote their own version of the same story simultaneously, often passing ideas between each other; Clarke would watch the daily rushes and notice a completely new take on a character or vise-versa. Of course the books hold infinitely more detail and explain every aspect of the ambiguities that make Kubrick's film so special: What exactly are the monoliths? Why does HAL go homicidal? What the hell is going on for the last 20 minutes? Perhaps someday I will look into both stories and discuss the pros and cons of being presented with too little or too much information but for now I will review Kubrick's film as it's own entity

IMDB Top 250 Review - 2001: A Space Oddessy (1968)

Creating questions that he does not answer, Kubrick's vision of the future combines elegance, camera trickery and a whole lot of nothing.

The only thing I could remember from this film from my only previous viewing (as a preteen I may add) was that there was a computer with a red light, the spaceship spun around and some monkeys bashed some bones to the tune of what I only knew as "that music from '2001'". That and the numerous parodies from such places as 'The Simpsons', 'Family Guy' and Ben Stiller's 'Zoolander'. I was also a little daunted when I saw the 141 minute running time but felt great anticipation in watching a film that I enjoyed so much as a novel. I am also as inept on Kubrick as any Silent director so this is a new awakening for me. OK, so I've seen it before and read the book, but as far as I know, this is my first time watching a Kubrick movie with the passion for film that I now have.

Artistically spectacular yet morally unsettling, 'Sunrise' is a fairytale full of matrimonial hardships and reconciliation.

For the first time since starting this challenge, I was definitely out of my comfort zone with 'Sunrise,' given that I hadn't heard of the film, director or any cast members before the start of opening credits. It does, however, give me the most unbiased and non-preferential perspective from which to write this review. Unfortunately for Murnau, 'Sunrise' holds another first - I wasn't completely bowled over. Don't get me wrong, the use of visual trickery is as beautiful and innovative as anything up to George Lucas' 1977 movie about forces, robots and an asthmatic Batman, but my main issue is that storyline holds very little realism when the plot deals with such sensitive subjects as domestic violence and adultery and is therefore open to all kinds of interpretation.

OK, so I know the main reason for this blog is to post my reviews of the IMDB Top 250 list and expand my knowledge of film but I watched a movie yesterday and simply had to give my opinion.

Why on Earth did these two versatile and respectable actors sign up for this piece of crap?!? OK, so there's the money but they could at least think of the dent in their reputations too. And maybe they'd always wanted to work with each other but they could have held out for something that won't go straight into the bargain bin at Blockbuster. I only bothered with movie this because my girlfriend, Sophie, had been visiting Venice at the time of production and she happened upon Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie filming 20 meters across a canal from her and wanted to spot the scene when we watched it. Wow, were we disappointed.