Anatomy Of Hell (2004, NR)

I watched a couple of horror movies this week and a couple of French movies this week and all were horrifying.  This French-language film (Anatomie De L'Enfer in the original tongue) probably horrified me more than anything else I've seen recently.  I mean... it had some decent qualities, but it was very graphic in its depiction of the subject matter (which would generally be considered indecent qualities).  It starts with a straight woman shuffling through a gay bar, bumping into a man to get his attention and cutting her wrists in the bathroom (the scene and a brief conversation afterwards make it clear that this was a cry for attention rather than an actual attempt to die).  The man has a great disdain  for women but clearly does have some human compassion, as he took her to the hospital after she cut herself and he made sure she was OK afterwards.  The rest of the movie is the monologues/dialogues/interactions they have as she pays him to come over and "tell [her] what [he] see(s)" (the female form, etc).  I think the title refers to his idea of a woman's body.

Warlock (1989, R); Warlock: The Armageddon (1993, R)

You've got the dubious treat of a double-feature review of the first two (there were three apparently, but the third had a different lead actor and diverged a bit in story) Warlock films.  Julian Sands plays a/the Warlock, convicted witchcraft (deal-with-the-Devil variety rather than the friendly Earth-child variety that you're more likely to encounter in real life), and he somehow gets into a time vortex that throws him into modern day (late 1980's at the time of filming) California.  The intended method of his execution was the funniest part of the movie for me: hanging and burning over a basket of live cats (like several other elements of this film, they never explain what the cats were for).  The synopsis/tagline for the films says he's the Devil's (favorite) son, but the story itself leads me to believe that this is meant in a figurative rather than literal sense.  The first film has Richard E. Grant (the snotty butler from Gosford Park) playing a whip-wielding witch hunter Giles Redferne, slightly reminiscent of the hero from a Castlevania game; he's sort of a Kyle Reese to Sands' Terminator (1984).  The Warlock wields magical powers and intends to gather pieces of an arcane artifact with ill intent and Redferne and the first modern-person to encounter Warlock, Kassandra (played by Lori Singer, who was also featured in Footloose) try to stop him.  It's not clear how Redferne got to the current era.

Ten Inch Hero (2007, R)

The title refers to a sandwich, sicko, get your mind out of the gutter!  OK, maybe there is a double entendre there, but it doesn't refer to any specific character(s).  This is a soft comedy, not quite drama/comedy though it's got some definite non-goofball elements.  It's got nudity, but not nearly as much as I expected based on the subject-matter-implication of the title (one scene, lower-fronts occluded).  It's about a girl named Piper moving to southern California to study art in college (and she has a peculiar interest in this one family/house though she is too shy to approach), and starts working at a local sandwich shop.  The shop is owned by and employed with quirky college town type characters (here I mean "character" in the personality sense, not in the story element sense)... think The Anarchist's Cookbook, but far less annoying to non-punk-type viewers.  Each employee has one major personality element that defines them and though they verbally jab each other they also love each other as a family.  I didn't expect much from this movie, and in that mindset the story is actually good.  It's sort of a... not quite coming-of-age movie, those are more of early/mid teen years... more of a becoming-who-you're-going-to-be-in-the-world movie.  Like a college developing-personality movie even though only one of the main characters is a college student (as far as we know) and her student aspect is not a focus of her character.  Acting was OK but not great, and the script didn't seem too demanding on the cast.  My favorite scene involved a man out to purchase feminine hygiene products (it was as good as ever I can imagine such a scene being).

The Adventures Of Tintin (2011, PG)

The Adventures Of Tintin is a computer animated feature film about a young early 20th century newspaper reporter who goes on adventures.  The character - English in the film, Belgian in the original print material - is from European comic albums by a Belgian under the nom de plume Hergé and that were later made into cartoon adventures (short-ish).  This particular adventure involves Tintin, his faithful dog Snowy and sea captain Haddock trying to beat the bad guy to find the mystery behind a 17th century lost ship and some non-lost models of it.  Tintin is not Batman in terms of brilliance or fighting prowess, but he is brave, competent and willing to get in there and get the job done.  I'd been told that this movie was good, but I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would.

First and foremost I have to say that the animation in this movie was gorgeous.  The textures were great (particularly Tintin's sweater, also at one point Tintin held a paper pamphlet that I could have sworn was in my own hand).  The faces were a great midway between animation and realism that is visually pleasing, expressive and not creepy.

Buried (2010, R)

Buried is the ultimate “closed-room movie”.  The entire story from start to finish takes place within a buried coffin in which the lead character played by Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder, Green Lantern, but don't hold that against him) finds himself.  And the movie is really tight!  He finds a cell phone (with the displays all written in Arabic as he is in Iraq, a language he does not understand) and he has a lighter and a flask.  With the few items at his disposal and the calls he makes and receives, we get a good idea of his character/situation (other than the obvious).  Tension is maintained the whole time, which is quite a feat for an hour and a half in a box.  His actions and concerns make a lot of sense for his situation.

I first saw Reynolds in Van Wilder and really liked it, and later he was one of the only things I liked about X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Much like with Robin Williams, I am much impressed with his dramatic roles (The Nines and this film).  Reynolds is the only actor shown in this film though there were a few voices (well scripted and acted) on his phone.

If you liked Phone Booth or The Devil, you’ll love this story.  It's got high-tension, but no humor (unless one comment from him makes you chuckle), so it's not like his more famous roles if that's what you're looking for.  For me the movie is 4.5 stars.

Cherry (2010, R)

Judging it by the cover and the title I expected this film to be a raunchy, goofy, lame comedy about a guy trying to loose his virginity.  I have never been so pleasantly surprised in my life.  Netflix lied to me: it's not a comedy.  It's a piece about a 17 year old intellectual named Aaron who graduates high school early and is starting his freshman year at an Ivy League university.  His mother is very controlling of his life and though he enjoys art and is good at it, she insists his course-load consist entirely of academic/engineering classes (his intention is not to avoid engineering and do solely art, but to include it).

I was most impressed by how accurate it was to the experience a lot of people have when first transitioning to college life.  While the specifics of his situation are mostly particular to him (though not unheard of for others), the generalities are pretty universal.  He's in an alien environment, mostly in charge of himself for the first time, along with other 18-year-old animals unleashed into their own pseudo-society.  He adapts to the continuously strange environment as best he can, meeting new people and experiencing new things.

Aaron is played by Kyle Gallner (The Haunting In Connecticut, A Nightmare On Elm Street [2010], Red State).  Through much of the film Gallner's face has the same grimace that leads me to believe that the actor is actually in chronic pain.  But that works for this movie because he was/is supposed to be uncomfortable or downtrodden in these scenes.  And there were a couple moments in which he demonstrated that he can form a nice smile as well.  Unlike his previous performances (which were not bad), this one got to show a little more range in his capabilities (quite possibly because he's the lead actor in a character piece).


"When I'm happy, my face goes like this."

Comparing this to other films I've reviewed, this film is most like The Four-Faced Liar and Shrink. 

If you liked Art School Confidential then you should love this movie.  For me, it's 5 stars.