Hold on to hope

I had the opportunity to watch The Ruins DVD, a new horror release from an early spring movie in 2009. I think this movie, a book adaptation, had some cleaver visuals and unforeseen viewer traps but overall suffers in transfer from big screen to small.

A pair of boyfriend/girlfriend couples follow a likable German to a Mayan temple hidden in the jungles that his friends traveled to a few day earlier. The lure of one last great trip before heading back home to responsibility and school is to great a temptation.

The pyramid is secured by locals and after a heated mis-communication the travelers find themselves climbing the ruins to escape. Upon reaching the top they find the remains of the Germans friends tents and belongings and a sense of dread begins to escalate. Without giving away the plot device or the end, the movie begins a steady decent into helplessness.

Thanks to the Scream series over a decade agao, horror movies follow particular trends and The Ruins is the latest in the 'No Hope' category which follows the 'Torture/Gore' trend lead by Saw and Hostel and in some respect the remakes of Texas Chainsaw of the last five years. I am hoping that this trend ends. Recent others in 'No Hope' trend is 28 Weeks Later, a week sequel to a better 28 Days Later and the remake of Dawn of the Dead with Ving Rhames. The thread in these movies is that regardless of the obstacles overcome, and some of them are quite creative, the ending shows all our heroes being killed.

I enjoy horror movies yet can not get on the 'No Hope' bus. Does there always have to be a heroes arc? No. Does there always have to be one person who makes it? I'd like to think so, which is why even though its harder for me to watch the Torture/Gore movies like Hostel, I enjoy them more.

Regardless of a person being a half full or have empty glass disposition, everyone wants to win in the end. Movies that deny the satisfaction that moviegoers come to expect and leaving them morose and regretful the remainder of the day are not the same as those that truly scare you into leaving a light on at night. Give me the fright of going to bed after watching watching Nightmare on Elm Street the first time. Give me the sense of the unexpected when walking into a woods at night, like Jason does in Friday the 13th. Tell me that no one makes its...thanks don't need to watch that now.

Crash DVD

The one thing I like about netflix is that you can queue up movies you know you would not choose at a store. I am trying to see all the Best Movie Oscar DVD's that I have missed and Crash came up; a Best Picture by director Paul Haggis and staring a rich cast with Matt Dillion, Thandie Newton, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle and Brendan Fraiser among others.

The movie is a non-plot that intertwines several characters lives over a few days as they live in LA just after 9/11. Haggis was praised for his 'unflinching' look at racism and bigotry. I though the film was a horrible example of over exaggeration and self aggrandizement. This very much reminds me of American Beauty, another well praised movie, supposedly describing an 'unflinching' look at suburban life, yet was sullen, over wrought and completely unredeeming.

There is no denying that Haggis touched on several important topics, racism of the LAPD, the judgmentalness of wealthy political elite, the hardships and confrontations non-whites have when confronted with other minority sterotypes and language barriers. The manner in which he does so does not engraiate the watcher to any of the characters. In fact I can't imagine any rational person watching these characters and not feeling repulsed by them.

These are not how people react with others, yet Haggis makes it seem we are all this way. The movie did not end with me deeply introspective of how I treat others. It left me feeling morose that some people think this is the norm.

more WANTED is NEEDED

WANTED starring James McAvoy, Angela Jolie and Morgan Freeman has rocketed to one of my top movies of the year. I have sorely missed a hardcore R-rated action movie that did not rely on humor as a tension breaker. Definitely a movie to be seen on the biggest screne possbile. I am not the most original movie buff, so if its a tired cliche' than okay but I haven't heard it yet, this movie is very much a mix of Matrix and Fight Club.

McAvoy (Last King of Scotland) is Wesley Gibson a schmuck who lets the whole world step on him. Knowing this, he still allows it, wallowing in his apparent ambivilance but finds some kind of nobility in not being able to cope with life.

Once Wesley's character has been established and the backstory put into place, Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Freeman (Shawshank Remption) along with a cast of background characters introduce Wesley to The Fraternity, a centuries old group of assassins who can bend reality and move their bodies at superhuman speeds.

Its in this montage that we get a bloodier version of Fight Club and a ground in Hollywood reality version of the Matrix. I often wondered throughout the movie why more emphasis was not made on physical ability of the assassins in chase scenes but I suppose there needed to be some mortal drama that needed to be fullfilled for the story to continue.

Theaters are much too crowded with good gun oriented action movies however they are either horror based such as the zombie genre or incorporate the funny sidekickor humor based release. Then neutered to PG-13. WANTED is a curse filled, bloody, violent movie. The begininng and end of the movie end with a end of special effects that redefine the reality of sniping combat with CGI. The ending is certainly set up for continuing sequals which I think should happen based on the $62 million opening weekend.

If this DVD comes out with a commentary track starring any of the main actors and filled with special features this could be the disc to get or give come Christmas.