revcosmo

I'd never read the comics this film was based on, but it struck me as a somewhat intriguing idea... a group of vampires (i.e., monsters who can only hunt at night) discover perfect prey in a Alaskan town that endures a full month of night every year.

Sounds like a kinda clever premise for a horror movie, right? Well, it might have been, if 30 Days of Night had anything more than an remotely interesting premise to go on. The acting, script, set pieces, costumes, and special effects were all laughably bad. I should note that I'm a big fan of some really bad horror movies... but for a bad horror movie to be enjoyable, it has to avoid the cardinal sin of being boring. Not only was 30 Days laughably bad in just about all critical respects in which a movie can be bad, it was also painfully dull to watch. The characters were so poorly drawn there was no reason to care what happened to any of them, not the humans, not the vampires. It's hard to say who were more vapid or annoying, the humans or the vampires.

The humans suffered from stilted and silly dialog and bad acting, the vampires suffered from lousy makeup jobs (one of them looked like Trent Reznor in drag) and a ridiculous "language" (it sounded like they were speaking Klingon). Also, the plot never developed at all beyond "there are baddies coming to get us"... no explanation as to where the vampires came from. Which might have been alright, if there had been any successful development of suspense or fear; but there was not. Just some pretty gory deaths, which in this day and age of ultra-violent horror movies, is just not enough to base a movie around by itself.

There were some funny bits, like the vampires Klingonesque dialect and silly appearance, and some rather enormous plot holes (planes can't fly in the dark, eh?). But unless you're just looking for something to play "Mystery Science Theater" with, stay away from this steaming piece of junk.

El Laberinto del Fauno is one of those films that was on the road to brilliance, but got lost somewhere along the way. The fact that it did not fulfill its potential makes it a frustrating experience, which unfortunately detracts from it's overall beauty. Masterfully shot and directed, it's the story of a young girl caught in the madness of 1940's fascist Spain, who retreats into a colourful fantasy world, which eventually proves to be either her demise or salvation, depending on how you look at it.

There are several scenes of particularly impressive creative vision, however they fail to add up to a cohesive whole. The fantasy world isn't explored in enough depth, but the scenes of it that do exist are breathtaking. The war-based scenes though are often heavy-handed and are not connected well enough to the fantasy scenes. Furthermore, while the characters are all beautifully developed and acted, the plot tends to meander and fails to engage to a satisfying degree.

With some editing or a script rewrite, this could have been a veritable classic. Sadly though, in its present state, it just leaves us wondering what a marvelous film it could have been with a little more effort.

Oh my, I can't believe there are actually people who liked this stinker. I'm having a hard time deciding where to begin, because there was SO much wrong with this movie. The script, the plot, the acting... WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?? Donnie Darko is a clichéd mess of a teen angst film that tries to be deep and edgy, but rather ends up being sloppy, dull, and derivative. Jake Gyllenhaal plays your typical outcast teen, a character done better in hundreds of films of the past 30 years or so. He escapes his social torments by doing bad things for an invisible rabbit. The whole rabbit deal can't decide if it's trying to be funny or creepy, and it comes off as neither, just kinda stupid.

The surprise ending just made me wonder why I had to sit through an hour and a half of this drivel, when it all could have been over in 5 minutes.

Bleh. Not often does a movie make me feel like someone has stolen a portion of my life. Donnie Darko accomplished that in spades.