KrowbOy

The Crow: Salvation is a very good movie, not even close to being the masterpiece The Crow is but it's the best sequel you can ask for. There has been a lot of press about Salvation's release and I to am puzzled as to why it's basically direct to video, the producers blame Dimension and politics and yes Salvation is grim but I don't know how true that statement is. The Crow: Salvation is, in my opinion, the most violent of The Crow movies, some is over the top and some is pretty grim stuff but hey it's all good. Eric Mabius seemed a strange choice to some cause he doesn't have the look of what you think of as the typical Crow good guy BUT he is very good at what he does, ranging from fights to anger, sadness...all are touched upon and he delivers in all areas. Kirsten Dunst does good also, I don't think she was bad like some reviews have said, she does seem kinda off in some scenes (the graveyard comes to mind) but she does fine. It's hard to explain Fred Ward's character because it will give away plot details (which honestly isn't hard to figure out anyway) but he does well and has some funny lines also, Fred's been a cool actor for a long time playing in some quirky movies like Remo Williams, Tremors and it's sequel, and Cast A Deadly Spell. Jodie Lynn O'Keefe's role isn't big at all and she doesn't have much to do but she's beautiful and the scenes she has are effective and the scene where she and Mabius are playing around doing fake karate is cute and touching, actually that whole scene is one of my fave's especially when Alex is at her grave talking about wanting to be with her but he can't...it's really touching and sweet, yes to those confused that and the karate scene are the same...you'll understand when u see the movie. The look of Salvation is closer to part 1 than 2 was and yet it has a look all it's own, Salvation is grounded more in reality than the first 2 were but the city is still dark, gritty, and depressing, and the sets were cool...especially the execution chamber with the words on each wall. The rest of the cast does fine with what they have but it isn't much, they are all paper thin bad guys with few characteristics to distinguish differences between them other than the way they die. Which brings me back to the violence, no I don't have a problem with it and am not talking about it to warn you because violence in movies does NOT make people kill others (what movies did Hitler and Stalin watch). Yes Salvation is the most violent Crow and it's not all fun some scenes are closer to the violence in Taxi Driver than The Matrix. But we do get some cool scenes like when Alex shoots himself in the mouth and the camera goes through the mouth as the wound heals and also the scene where Alex and the Dale Midkiff character are in the car and hit a bus and both fly through the windshield but I kinda think The Crow: Salvation is a little brutal but it's all good. Credit must go to Bharat Nalluri for making a cool looking movie with pretty cool camera work and effects and also credit Marco Beltrami for making a really good score that doesn't ape Graeme Revell's but is something all it's own. The ending is really good also but I pretty much figured out who was the man with the scarred arm (which was cool but also too derivative of The Fugitive) but another cool thing was his room looked like it was out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the stuffing room in The Lost Boys, but anyway the end was cool how the bad guy manipulated Alex into thinking maybe he did kill Erin...it was weird. And the end credits play over the new Crow symbol like the credits played over the Batman symbol at the end of Batman Forever. Oh and to just throw it in here it was cool that the markings if Alex were scars and not the paint like in 2 (which had really no reason for it other than cause it was part 2). I'm sure some will give Salvation hell because The Crow is so sacred to them but I say let the series live on and not die. Brandon Lee did give a truely great performance in The Crow and it's a tragedy that he died but I will not hold that against Salvation or City of Angels (which was kinda sucky). I do think Salvation could have been better with a little more money invested in it but that would be in the sets and scope department but then again I like Salvation a lot and Eric Mabius is a gifted actor (for further proof see Black Circle Boys). I hope to see more of Bharat Nalluri and hope he doesn't drop of the face of the earth like COA's director (Tim Pope what are u doing these days). The Crow was better yes because ALL of the characters were better drawn and Brandon's death which I'm not saying was good for the movie but did make the movie more of an emotional experience...it IS a masterpiece and no Salvation is no masterpiece but it is a great movie experience. You won't come away giddy (it is a Crow movie remember) but like part 1 you will come away thinking of Life, Love, and Death.

I remember first seeing Hardware late on night on cinemax and thinking it was gonna be some really lousy mess. Well that was probably about 6 years ago and still today it's one of my fave movies. Granted it's cheesy at times but it's also pretty intense and very artsy. Richard Stanley will always be one of my favorite directors just because of this movie, from what I've heard he was a music video director before this movie which explains why it's so cool looking (regardless of what some say I love when music video directors get a chance to direct movies). The acting ranges from good to o.k. (William Hootkins who played in the similar Death Machine goes from being the nastiest talking pervert to singing a really goofy song...which is the movies lowest point). The movie was very low budget but looks awesome, the production design is very good as are the effects. It looks like Blade Runner or maybe The Crow with a red/orange filter used to film every scene which gives it a gritty, bleak feel. The cyborg effects are pretty good also, it's filmed in a way that is similar to Alien, quick cuts and covered in darkness which can make the effects look better but also make the cyborg more menacing. And if you're looking for gore u found it here. I had a field day with all the blood effects...people get cut in half, eyes get squished, people are drilled, and there's a really trippy death scene at the end which is gory and poetic at the same time...oh and the cyborg goes to town on one guy's dead body with a chainsaw appendage that it has. Some reviews bitched about style over substance and lack of substance but Hardware is what it is....a really good horror/sci-fi movie. I read an interview in fangoria with Richard Stanley a few years back when he was unfairly fired from Island of Dr. Moreau and he said he was gonna have to do whatever he could to make a name for himself again after that incident and if all's true he did some kids movies last year and all but now he's supposed to come back with a sci-fi movie called A Season Of Soft Rains...hopefully more people will see what a truly gifted and talented director he really is. Now only if we can get an uncut version of Hardware on DVD.

Being a Ridley Scott fan for just about all of my life I was looking forward to Hannibal not only because it was the follow up to Silence of the Lambs but because he made it and did it hold up to my expectations? The answer is a big fat yes. The movie will probably get bad reviews from critics and some viewers because of the simple fact that it is the follow up to Silence (like some did last years Blair Witch 2 another good movie). But if Silence is day then Hannibal is night, they are that different in look, style, and tone. Most will be wondering if Julianne Moore will be able to fill the role of Clarice Starling after Jodie Foster passed. Well thats a yes also and I can honestly say that not for a second after Julianne Moore appeared on screen did I think about Jodie Foster. Granted the Starling character is very different in this movie but it has been 10 years and she's a more mature and broken in character (for lack of better words) but yes also she doesn't have as much to do in this movie and spends a lot of time looking over old photo's and paper's on Lecter. Anthony Hopkins gives another awesome performance as Hannibal Lecter, but this time Lecter does (in typical hollywood fashion) have those quips that all famous horror characters seem to have. But thats cool because the character is just as interesting now as he was then. I won't go into detail about the plot because if you're reading this I'm sure you already know it but it follows the book very close....as close as it needed to in my opinion. The look of Hannibal is breathtaking but thats always a given in a Ridley Scott movie so we need not go into that except that this movie is very different from Silence in that it's not all gloomy and has the fall season look of Silence, it's sunny and warm (it's set in July anyway) and the Italian locations add a lot for look and atmosphere. There is even a scene where a thief is stalking Lecter through the streets and they are so crowded and smokey that they brought back memories of the crowded L.A. in Blade Runner. Gary Oldman stars as Mason Verger the only victim of Lecter's who survived, hidden under Greg Cannom's excellent makeup effects you will never know it's him but still he gives a good performance and shines through. But Giancarlo Gianinni is the best in the movie except for Mr. Hopkins and the scenes they have together are really good and I really didn't want to see him die. Which brings me to the violence in Hannibal. When I read Hannibal I said they would never be as graphic as the book but boy was I wrong. We all know Ridley doesn't shy from the red stuff and it flows here. Which wasn't a problem for me because I loved every minute of it and I can't think of a movie thats been this bloody except for some with the work of Tom Savini. And people complain about that. I mean really how the hell can people complain when the movie is about a guy who eats people....go figure. There are some chilling scenes also like one that plays on a t.v. and shows Hannibal attack a nurse and the one that stood out for me is when Pazzi is at the opera and see's Lecter in the audience and he turns and just stares back at Pazzi. The ending is different from the book as revealed early on but it is much better and the last part on the plane was really cool. I don't think Hannibal is as deep as Silence or Manhunter but it was more entertaining and not because it was mainstream because it sure isn't that but it was funny (yes funny Lecter has some great lines) and creepy and even kinda surreal and with the way the characters are drawn kinda Sheakespearian. I really enjoyed Hannibal and it is now one of my favorite Ridley Scott movies.....a worthy follow up to Gladiator for Mr. Scott and a worthy follow up to Silence of the Lambs....the wait was worth it.