Movie Info:
Writer: Frank Darabont , Stephen King (story)
Director: Frank Darabont
Cast: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Sternhagen, Nathan Gamble, Alexa Davalos, Chris Owen, Sam Witwer
Rating: R
Studio: Weinstein Company

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: November 21, 2007
DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $23.95

Back in March, Ashtyn did the review for the standard release of The Mist. I had watched this movie with her and I liked it then. I’m a fan of anything Stephen King oriented. If the screenplay is written by him or if the story is based on one of his works, then I’m probably going to check out the movie or TV miniseries at least once. I’ve seen everything from the good (such as Carrie and Firestarter) to the bad (Dreamcatcher anyone? It was an excellent book, but a rotten movie). What I’ve come to realize is that, overall, Stephen King has such a twisted mind, if his work is represented well in film form then the film will be amazing.

The Mist wasn’t just an exceptional film. It’s one of those jaw droppers that leaves you reeling well after the credits roll. I didn’t see the ending coming. It was a complete shock and yet it made absolute sense. Stephen King is a serious mofo. He loves to play with the human mind, that much is clear in most of his work, but especially in The Mist. While King didn’t write the screenplay to this movie, Frank Darabont follows the plot of King’s story almost exclusively.

The Mist is truly a gem amongst a horror genre that has a dwindling amount of entertaining content. While The Mist isn’t gore-filled (though there are some gross moments in relation to the mist-filled creatures), the real horror is in the desperation felt (you could actually see yourself reacting the same way as the characters do) by those trapped in the supermarket, especially when it is clear what they’re up against.

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Writer: Barry Levy
Director: Pete Travis
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Bruce McGill, Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony
Release Date: July 1, 2008

**I’m going to warn you right now – This review possibly contains spoilers.

Once again the box office and the critics disagree. I am one of those critics that usually won’t go with the flow. I liked Vantage Point. A thriller in the best sense, the interwoven storylines, while inevitably predictable in theory give you just enough information throughout each segment to keep you wanting more.

While I thought I had figured out part of what happened I didn’t know why it had happened. The simple reality of the why left me slightly shell shocked. Could it be that a film was echoing the sentiment of the millions of Americans who spoke of the embattled and embittered war we’re going through right now?

I hate to give away what’s going to happen. Still, down to the vary last seconds of the film, all of the stories that tie into what seems like one event come together to paint one whole picture. When watching Vantage Point, I sort of felt like I was looking at one of those puzzles you have to figure out. Every few minutes a foggy piece of the puzzle becomes clear until every piece is revealed. With every second that passes in this heart pounding drama, new information comes into light and the mystery of ‘who’, ‘what’, and ‘why’ eventually is revealed.

I don’t know what critics seem to want from these types of movies because I felt Vantage Point hit the nail on the head when it came to getting down the “thriller” aspect of the film without pause. Either way, I liked this film and I’m already going to recommend it though for more information on the film, you should continue to read my review.

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Writer: Casey Robinson, Dashiell Hammett, Lenore J. Coffee, Howard Koch, John Collier, Joseph Than
Director: Irving Rapper, Herman Shumlin, Edmund Goulding, John Huston
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor, Hatte McDaniel, Olivia de Havilland, Charles Boyer, Miriam Hopkins, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Bros
Release Date: April 1, 2008

Throughout her career, Bette Davis dominated the silver screen. She starred in some of the best movies to ever be made, particularly in the 1940s era of filmmaking. This period of her career was where she was in her zone more than any other time.

It was during this period when Davis would be nominated for five consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actress. Between the years of 1938 and 1942, Davis was nominated each year. She would go on to be nominated for an additional four oscars. Over her career she would be nominated for eleven Oscars; one would be a written in nomination, two would be wins, and the rest would just be nods at her supreme acting talent. During her time as an acting powerhouse, in her prime, she would be known as the “Fourth Warner” and would briefly be named the president of the Academy. While she was only the president for a brief time, she was the first female president that the Academy had.

Bette Davis was one of the actors most deserving of the title ‘movie star’. She was a firecracker with immense talent who created the perfect persona of the evil and devious broad better than anyone ever has or could. On this, what would have been her 100th Birthday, Warner Bros and Fox have both put out Collectors box sets of a collection of some of her best films. This set, put out by Warner Bros includes The Old Maid, The Great Lie, All This and Heaven…Too, In This Our Life, Watch On the Rhine and Deception.

Being a Davis fan this set was an absolute treat for me. I am ashamed to say that I hadn’t seen many of these films, but they have quickly become favorites in the few times I have seen them to prepare for this review. This set is impressive for a number of reasons, the biggest being that many of these movies have not been released on DVD prior to this point.

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Writer: Frank Darabont, Stephen King
Director: Frank Darabont
Cast: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler
Rating: R
Studio: Genius Products
Release Date: March 25, 2008

There are three surefire words/names that will get me to want to watch a movie. One of those is horror and the other two are Stephen King. I will admit that some of his ideas have not transferred well onto screen (does Dreamcatcher ring a bell?), but movies like Carrie, Cujo, and, more recently, 1408 were absolutely fabulous. All I knew about The Mist was Stephen King was involved. As a fan, that was really all I needed to know to be ready to enjoy an evening of suspense thanks to the master of horror.

I have to admit, I was shocked. This is what horror is meant to be. It’s thrilling and chilling, but not necessarily in the ways you expect. It’s ironic and unforgiving, much like life, and it’s utterly shocking. At the end, I just sat there baffled. I understood what had happened and yet, I couldn’t believe it. It made me realize why I love Stephen King’s work. He really doesn’t seem to conform for anyone or anything. While so many horror movies these days are trite and unexciting (The Saw Series and House of 1,000 Corpses excluded) The Mist hits home dead on and offers a film that horror and suspense lovers will not want to miss for anything!

Release Information:
This Stephen King venture was handled by Frank Darabont. If you’re a huge King movie fan you may recognize the name from such masterpieces as The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. This is the third time the duo has worked together and while those other films were good, this step into the more horror end of the suspense genre shows that the third time is the charm! King’s novella was not an entirely new concept for a horror movie. You have elements of a biblical apocalypse, for starters, and so the possibility exists that the movie may seem like something you’ve seen before. However, with the grace of a King and Darabont pairing, the movie comes out tasting as bittersweet as you might expect.

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Writer: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Date: March 18, 2008

I am Legend is an interesting film right off the bat. Knowing that this is a movie that has been made twice before with lackluster results made me surprised that this film got a chance in the first place. Both The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man ended up getting some pretty bad reviews overall.

The majority of fans of Richard Matheson’s novella, I Am Legend, assumed that there would never be a film that could do the written work justice. Studios held out because they wanted to be sure that this time things would be different. Considering the other two outings, I can’t say that I blame them.

It got to the point where nearly everyone in Hollywood (whose anyone, anyway) ended up attached to this project in some manner. Lead character Robert Neville could have been played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, or even George Clooney. However, it was Will Smith that would take on the part and bring it to fruition. Fans of the story seemed worried that this I Am Legend would end up being as bad, if not worse, than the last attempts.

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Writer: Harold Pinter
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Michael Caine, Jude Law, Harold Pinter
Rating: R
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 11, 2008

As a remake, this movie had the ability to be either excellent or a flop. In this case, I am told that it heavily depends on whether or not you have seen the original film. I have not seen the original, so all I was able to go one was the performance of Michael Caine and Jude Law. Anyone who has seen either the original or this one, knows that is because in Sleuth there are only two actors. The entire movie rests on these two men’s shoulders. Offering drama, comedy, and some thrilling moments of conniving pranks, Sleuth was able to make me laugh and keep me interested throughout the entire film.

Jude Law especially caught my attention, though this is not the first time that he has done that in a film. Law is one of the most interesting actors of his time. His character, and his acting here, is both enigmatic and spellbinding. In the original film, Michael Caine actually played the role that Jude Law has in this remake. Now he is in the role of the older gentleman rather than the younger. As you might expect with anything that Michael Caine does, the results are beautifully crafted from the movement of his arm to the power in his dialogue. Caine is a power player when it comes to acting. He knows how to make all the right moves while making it look absolutely effortless. Two men could not have been better suited for a movie such as this.

Release Information:
Despite cattiness by the fans of the original film in relation to making a remake of it, many were hopeful thanks to the big names that were associated with this project. Harold Pinter (The Handmaid’s Tale) was the screenwriter on this project. According to reports, much of this screenplay was changed in little ways from the original. Being that Pinter had never seen the original that could explain why things were changed as they were. However, these are not things that will affect you if you have not seen the original.

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Writer: Joby Harold
Director: Joby Harold
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard, Lena Olin, Christopher McDonald, Sam Robards, Arliss Howard
Rating: R
Studio: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: March 4, 2008

Awake is one of those movies that plenty of people have seen, but few will hold onto after they have seen it. It reminds me of one of those movies that when someone mentions you say, “Oh right, I’ve seen that.” However, it’s not one of those things that you watch 100 times over. The premise has amazing promise. It is frightening just in thought. The idea of waking up during surgery and not being able to move scares me witless. I am sure it does most other people, as well. In fact, when I was looking for someone to watch this with me, all the men I knew adamantly refused because they were all chickens. There was no way they were watching this. So, I had to do it on my own. There were moments of creepiness, but those ended quickly and the movie was fair. There were faults, as there are in just about any movie, but it wasn’t bad.

The premise would have been better suited with a plot that was airtight. There were problems, moments of slight boredom, and then there were a lot of good moments. Having the main character spend a huge portion of the film on the operating table made the plot somewhat tricky. Obviously, by the name of the film, you can figure out the character is awake, but there is a lot that will need to be pieced together. While the acting is fair by all included cast members, the story needed more work to be one of those absolutely haunting films that you cannot turn away from.

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Writer: Tony Gilroy
Director: Tony Gilroy
Cast: Tom Wilkinson, Michael O’Keefe, Sydney Pollack, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney
Rating: R
Studio: Warner Bros
Release Date: February 19, 2008

Right before the Oscars, I opened up my copy of Michael Clayton with sheer anticipation. Knowing George Clooney was up for an Oscar for this movie was all I needed to get me in the mood. I would have wanted to see it anyway, because Clooney offers a magical sense of old, classic Hollywood that just doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve been watching Clooney’s career ever since his days on Facts of Life and ER. I even find amusement knowing that he was Sparky the Gay Dog on South Park. I am a fan of more of his movies than not, so when they come out I look for them. The main thing I wanted to see with Michael Clayton was how good Clooney was and if I thought that he would waltz away with the Oscar in such a competitive male actor year.

After watching Michael Clayton I can honestly say that this should be his year. Of course, I say should because Daniel Day Lewis starred in There Will Be Blood and it is hard to beat such an amazing competitor. This does not take away one thing from the film though. George Clooney puts in a stunning performance and the supporting actors in this film back him up 110%. Michael Clayton flows like a perfectly oiled machine. The movie builds you up with just enough drama and suspense until you hit the climax and are brought down nicely. Films generally do not get much better than this.

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