judithfessbeggler

Ryan Reynolds stars as George Lutz, who moves his family into a dream home on Long Island only to discover the house holds a terrible, haunting secret. If you've seen the original 1979 AMITYVILLE HORROR, any of its sequels or rip-offs, or especially, Kubrick's THE SHINING, you know the rest. George begins to hear voice, the family seems ghosts, and at times, people seem "possessed". I expected far worse- there's been a glut of inept, nonsensical horror films released in the past few months (DARKNESS, CURSED, THE RING 2) but the 2005 AMITYVILLE HORROR is actually well-paced, and effectively scary, with a surprisingly believable performance by the former VAN WILDER, Ryan Reynolds.

I really enjoyed the first act of this film, a film that goes completely awry after a promising set-up. A Brit (Martin Freeman) learns his home is scheduled to be bulldozed in order to make way for a new highway. Moments later, his best friend (Mos Def) arrives and reveals that he's actually an alien, whisking him away on a spaceship seconds before the earth is blown to bits. There are clever (if totally obvious) parallels between our own industrialism and the earth's destruction- but as soon as the third rock from the sun explodes, the movie goes downhill. The heroes bounce from planet to planet, meeting strange new extraterrestrials with cultures that all seem to be odd parodies of our own- but the good jokes are lost somewhere amidst a jumble of confusing ideas and gags that just don't work. Martin Freeman is especially annoying, John Malkovich is wasted in a scene that goes nowhere, and Sam Rockwell is the only cast member who gets any laughs whatsoever in a frantic and totally disappointing adaptation.

"Titanic" the film could have very easily been as big a tragedy as "Titanic" the ship. A three-hour-plus period piece that couldn't make its original release date (July 1997) and still ranks as the most expensive film of all time, "Titanic" seemed certain to sink when it was finally released in December of 1997. Its opening weekend was unremarkable- it barely reached the top of the box office and made just 10% of its budget back in that first 3 days... but then something amazing happened. Word-of-mouth has never been more explosive than in the case of "Titanic". For four straight months, the film dominated the world's box office, as audiences everywhere, young and old, male and female, were swept up by a perfect juxtaposition of adventure and romance. By breaking every box office record and sweeping the Academy Awards, "Titanic" was bound to garner a backlash- which may explain why many people seem to write this film off. But try to remember the first time you saw that CGI iceberg hitting the deck (before the Celine's theme song saturated the radio or Leo's face covered the magazines) and you have to agree that "Titanic" is truly breath-taking.