Plastic Man (script) "Justin Clark returns with another script review, this time it's The Wachowski Brothers' 1995 draft of Plastic Man. Here's a look at what our own fantastic plastic man has to say, "It's unknown exactly why this project has taken so long to get off the ground, but what is certain is that if you thought The Matrix was the only thing the brothers had up their sleeves, think again..." (full review)
King Arthur "In every summer movie season, there is a select number of releases that live up to expectations. There are also movies, however, that fall far short of their potential, with plot holes so wide that audiences are unable to accept them as legitimate contributions to the summer movie season. Unfortunately, King Arthur is one of these disappointments..." (full review)
"Antoine Fuqua's lethargic directing is kind of a shame. His actors give good performances and perhaps with a little effort from him they could have in some small way overcome the dreadfully bland and derivative material they're working with. The Magnificent Seven is a Kurosawa knockoff, but an entertaining and memorable one. In someone else's hands, maybe turning King Arthur into a medieval version of that could have at least been a fun idea. For Fuqua, it's an exercise in dopey pretension. With every step King Arthur takes, it only unravels further until the final moments become so confounding there's nothing to do but hope Fuqua gives up and turns his camera ..." (full review)
"All of this has the look and feel of Britain in the Dark Ages, but while visually appealing, it still doesn't hook you in and keep you for the entire journey. Plenty of substance and style, but lacking in story and charisma, "King Arthur" fails to present an enjoyable tale. The concept that the legend surrounding Arthur are real is a novel, and albeit interesting, approach, but if this is the "true story," the legend has certainly overshadowed the history books..." (full review)
Without a Paddle "If you're looking to end your summer with a bang- and a good laugh- then Without a Paddle is for you. What more could you want? A great cast, great jokes, great story, a treasure hunt and a great moral to the story at the end that will have you leaving the theater with a smile on your face..." (full review)
America's Heart and Soul "A compilation featuring American citizens of differing degrees of achievements and passions, the documentary "America's Heart and Soul" should really be billed simply as a feature-length commercial for patriotism. It covers 20+ people in 85 minutes, which only leaves time for shallow, inconsequential portraits, rendering the film a misfire and its straightforward "Sam the Eagle" political intentions baffling..." (full review)
Ju-On "Here (and this is one thing that makes this film fantastically unique from most haunted house flicks out there), the emphasis is not on "cleansing" or "solving" or "helping" the trapped spirits: it's on "getting the fuck out in one piece". There is no "investigation" (or very little) into the curse that haunts the house, nor is there any unearthing of clues or exorcism of any kind. The tenuous connections between these characters (they simply need to have passed the same building to be implicated in this terror) make it nearly impossible for anyone to piece together the curse and its pattern, so all attempts to solve the case are quickly thwarted. As there is no story arc toward rehabilitation, formal logic is essentially unnecessary, and therefore emotional logic and consistency of atmosphere become the glue that holds the pieces together..." (full review)
"A film like "Ju-on" will evoke such a specific, ingrained reaction from the viewer that it is troubling to attempt to pin down my own. The infamous Japanese chiller is a nearly plot-less ghost yarn complete with a creepy kid and a haunted house. Yet there is no neat resolution or a freeing of troubled spirits at the film's end. The tone of the film is depraved, and the ghosts aren't the type to make you jump, then laugh. You will stare at the screen in abject terror as a character with barely any screen-time, someone you hardly know, is decimated by a black shape. You will close your eyes and see nothing but a dead face scurrying towards you, her arms propelling her otherwise lifeless corpse..." (full review)
