Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Genre

Horror

Director

John Carl Buechler

Country

USA

Cast

Kane Hodder, Lar Park Lincoln, Kevin Spirtas, Susan Blu, Terry Kiser, Susan Jennifer Sullivan, Elizabeth Kaitan, Jon Renfield, Diana Barrows, Jeff Bennett, Heidi Kozak, Larry Cox, William Butler, Staci Greason, Craig Thomas, Diane Almeida, John Otrin, Jennifer Banko

Storyline

Years after Tommy Jarvis chained him underwater at Camp Crystal Lake, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is released from his watery grave by a telekinetic girl (Lar Park Lincoln), and the killing begins again.

Opinion

It's Friday the 13th so what a better day to attack Jason Voorhees and the franchise? Let's hope Jason won't come and get me. Jokes apart, this film wowed me , they really got creative this time.

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood has some ideas, and some real suspense but it's executed in a pretty bad way.

After the discreet sixth chapter, Jason Lives, this installment will always stand out thank to its innovative element, the psychic and paranormal abilities of the protagonist - compared by many to Carrie, but I wouldn't know since I haven't seen the film or read the book. Her powers will be useful to cope with the threats of Jason, but also will be fateful as they'll bring Jason back from the deaths. 

Once again, the main problem is the plot, always the same damn plot whose repetitiveness and predictability begins to bore, and with the same stereotypical characters whose only purpose is being unintentional sacrifices to the murderous fury of Jason. The killings are predictable as they were in the previous chapters, but this time they also lack in gore.

The makeup is probably the best part. Jason is a "beautiful" rotting cadaver with a visible spinal cord, rib cage poking out, and the unmasking scene is both shocking and awesome, revealing Jason's putrefied face that is more than just a skull. Jason should keep the mask on next time though, he is really ugly.

Kane Hodder begins his run as Jason Voorhees, and his portrayal of the serial killer is more scary than ever, and I must say, beneath the makeup, he wonderfully expresses the evil wrath of Jason. That's basically the reason why he is the only one who became famous for playing him. Lar Park Lincoln also gives a good performance, even though she is close to tears most of the time. 

Unfinished Business (2015)

Genre

Comedy

Director

Ken Scott

Country

USA

Cast

Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, June Diane Raphael, Ella Anderson, Britton Sear, James Marsden, Nick Frost

Storyline

Hard-working small business owner Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn) and his two associate, Tim McWinters (Tom Wilkinson) and Mike Pancake (Dave Franco), travel to Europe to close the most important deal of their lives. But what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every way imaginable - and unimaginable.

Opinion

Given the awful reviews all over the internet, I wasn't expecting much from this film, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good this film actually was. Okay, maybe I'm being too generous.

Suffering from a poorly written script, Unfinished Business does have its moments, but the humour is not always on point.

The plot is always the same trite, seen thousands of times, and totally lacking in originality - it's like The Hangover met Eurotrip -, yet the film manages to entertain a little - or not bore, which suits better in this case - through the misfortunes affecting the three main characters.

Like most comedies these days, the film does not spare vulgarity. On one hand the language is a bit more chaste than usual, but on the other hand the film "recovers" with sex and nudity scenes. 

Writer Steve Conrad, the same guy who wrote The Pursuit of Happiness, should probably work on more serious projects, as he appears to be awkward when it comes to writing comedies. When watching this film it comes to the attention that he is not able to write jokes. Vince Vaughn running in a woman's jogging clothes will never be funny, nor will be laughing at someone just because of his last name.

Also, the subplot with Vaughn's family is unnecessary since it's not properly developed, and shouldn't have been included because it feels completely out of place in such a film.

However, the performances are able to increase the level of the film. Just a little bit. Vince Vaughn does a good job, but he once again plays that character he does in every film he does. Tom Wilkinson's talent is definitely wasted here, but he give a solid support to Vaughn. Dave Franco really impressed me. I, like everyone else, am used to see Franco playing this pretty douchebags with egos bigger than Kim Kardashian's butt, and finally seeing him in a different role, playing an awkward, shy and mentally challenged guy was pleasing.

I have a question for my American readers. Why do you guys always portray Europeans as sex freaks?

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Genre

Adventure | Drama | War

Director

David Lean

Country

UK | USA

Cast

William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, André Morell, Peter Williams, John Boxer, Percy Herbert, Harold Goodwin

Storyline

After settling his differences with Japanese POW camp commander Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), British colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) cooperates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors, oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

Opinion

I start by saying I've seen this film only once, yesterday, and my opinion might change on a second view, but I don't think this movie is as flawless as people say. Hard to believe but even though a lot of people complain about its historical inaccuracy, this is not what I disliked about the film.

Indeed a great anti-war film, The Bridge on the River Kwai's weaknesses are the way the story develops, and the slow pacing. 

The film starts off well, showing how British prisoners of war were treated by Japanese - even though I don't think they were that friendly and solidary. It is quite brave I'll give it that, especially for its time. But then, it becomes a battle of wills between a Japanese commander and a British captive colonel, and the war vanishes to make room for pride. After becoming almost soporific, and dragging out everything, the film comes back to life with the William Holden side plot, that raises the interest and provides some relief. Ultimately, however, the film stumbles again with an overlong jungle crossing.

However, the film is an excellent critique of war, and instead of turning people, especially commander Saito and colonel Nicholson, into villains, the film does make a powerful statement on the madness of war. That's it, madness, not horrors, or monsters, just madness.

Alec Guinness delivers a tremendously powerful performance as Nicholson, and helps us to understand his character's motivation. Sessue Hayakawa gives a brilliant performance as Saito but he is overshadowed by Guinness. William Holden does a good job but frankly he pales when compared to the others. 

Quotes

Major Clipton: Madness! Madness!

The Book Thief (2013)

Genre

Drama | War

Director

Brian Percival

Country

USA | Germany

Cast

Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer, Nico Liersch, Sandra Nedeleff, Hildegard Schroedter, Rafael Gareisen, Gotthard Lange, Godehard Giese, Roger Allam, Oliver Stokowski, Barbara Auer, Heike Makatsch, Lein Liam, Carina Wiese

Storyline

While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse) is forced to live with adoptive parents Hans (Geoffrey Rush) and Rosa Hubermann (Emily Watson). She will eventually find solace by stealing books and sharing them with others, especially with Max (Ben Schnetzer), the Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster family.

Opinion

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A few month ago I read this beautiful, extraordinary, moving book called The Book Thief, written by some Markus Zusak. Never before I felt so engaged, and enchanted by a book. It left me speechless, and I've been thinking about it quite a lot, more, however, than I usually do. I loved every single aspect of the book. The characters. The plot. The tragic, yet beautiful ending. The Death.

Then last night I watched this film, and I could barely make it through it. Probably one of the worst screen adaptation ever made, Percival's The Book Thief is a tedious, bloody awful film.

The film is bad on so many levels it's hard to explain, but I'll try. First of all, calling a cinematographic adaptation a thing that barely follows the book, and basically skips half of it, leaving tons of important events, and scenes behind, is an insult. The script jumps from a thing to another, and it's impossible for someone who read the book to follow. 

One of the strong elements of the book is the creative narration. Instead of just using a third-person narrator, Zusak used Death and he was able to offer a unique perspective on all the death and dying occurring during this dark period in history. In the film, Death is barely there, she just shows up at random. Furthermore, the final image of Death walking along the streets is nothing but inappropriate, and completely disconnect from the content.

The characters, what a mess. Every single character, even minor ones, has a strong development in the book. Here, there is no character development, and you feel completely disconnected to all of them. Rudy is annoying, and acts like a jealous boyfriend, and his relationship with Liesel is so downplayed. Then, when he dies at the end of the film, it does not have the same emotional charge that it should have. Actually, it has none.

As if all of that wasn't enough, the film doesn't even manage to capture the horrors of Nazi Germany, and that's really bad considering this is an American and German production.

The acting pops out like a dandelion in the snow, but I must say that none of the actors looked how I imagined the characters. Despite the awful script she had to work with, young Sophie Nélisse does a good job in the role of Liesel Meminger. The other young lead, Nico Liersch, also does a good job. Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann and Emily Watson as his wife do their best to save this unsavable mess. Ben Schnetzer does not an awful job as Max, but he is less convincing than the others.

The sad thing is that this film could have had Oscar written all over it, but it is just a waste of time and money. Do yourself a favour, avoid this film and read the book, instead.