ubu507

Everybody's right. This movie is dumb, especially when it tries to be smart. It's not even that hot, which means it's unsuccessful on every level. I kept hoping Ghostface from Scream would jump into the frame with a knife and slash all these characters to bits. God thing it's not very long, which evidently this review has to be, even though I've said pretty much all there is to be said. O.K., the sound and soundtrack are bad, too. The attempt at an improvisational, French New Wave style comes off as undercooked amateurism. Neve Campbell is a lovely young lady with a lot of charisma, as evidenced by The Scream movies. It's a shame her career has never really developed, but it's probably because she chose to be in stinkers like this.

O.K., I admit it – I'm a big time Scream fan. When I first heard that Craven, Williamson and company were going to reboot the franchise, I was both excited and apprehensive, but by the time I got up from the midnight screening last night I was merely exhilarated. Scream 4 is fast, funny, furious and, quite simply, kicks ass. Starting off with a bravura opening sequence, the movie never lags, succeeding both as a sharp, ironic commentary on our serial killer besotted society and a brutally clever slasher film. What is often overlooked about the Scream movies by the critics who dismiss them as hackneyed horror with a thin patina of self-consciousness, is that, unlike most of their ilk, they are at the core traditional whodunits, with suspects, clues, red herrings, and, despite the blood and guts, no higher body counts than many Agatha Christie books. But to me what really distinguishes them is, gasp, the character development that most such flicks ignore, the effect of these crimes on Sydney, who has to somehow deal with the fact that she's a bug light for maniacs with knives, or Dewey and Gail who have to manage a relationship forged by horrific crimes, the kind that, as another character says, could only happen in the movies. Although nothing will ever match the unique kick of the first Scream, 4 is the best effort since, and, as such, one of my favorite movies of the year.

Well, yes, it's true there are no car chases or explosions in this movie and it wasn't boffo at the box office, but it does pack an emotional punch. Although The Wild Duck is not as well known in the Anglo world as some of Ibsen's other plays, it's considered his masterpiece in Scandinavia, and the writers do a very good job of adapting it for the screen. There are even a few gunshots, and the last one is as wrenching an experience as I've had in a long time. The film is dark in more than theme however, as the lighting seemed unnecessarily dim. The cast is mostly good, especially Liv Ullmann as earth mother Gina, but the usually excellent Jeremy Irons is miscast as the main character Hjalmar (here called Harold)-- he's just too lean and hungry to play the complacent, pleasure loving blow hard. Sorry it wasn't another "Mad Max" but as long as people can't find a local production of plays by hacks like Chekov and Ibsen, film makers are doing the public a service by bringing them well crafted adaptations like this.