SESSION 9

 

SESSION 9: C+

I wanted to give this film a better grade, but I cannot because of the weak ambiguous ending. On many levels it scores on a B or even an A level. The acting in particularly sticks out. David Caruso and Stephen Gevedon gave outstanding performances, along with solid performances from the rest of the cast.

The visuals in this film worked well, accompanied by music that fit the mood, enhanced the tone & gave substance to dialog.

The story was well constructed, keeping the audience in a cat and mouse game of continuous guessing. Unfortunately the big reveal that we all waited for only left us with more questions.

Was Gordon insane from the get go? Was Gordon possessed and taken over by the spirit of Mary? Was Phil even a real person? Was any of this real?

It's not that ambiguous endings cannot work, because they can. I don't feel it did here though.

This entire film felt like a great set up, but one that never executed into a polished finish. Major points off for that.

SUPERSIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN

 

SUPERSIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN - A

A courageous & dynamic documentary that takes a good, hard look at the ugliness & corrupt world of capitalism, with a centralized focus on chicken producers.

It's a secret that has been kept hidden behind a wholesome image of propaganda, skewed facts, misinformed stats & outright lies. Morgan Spurlock fearlessly exposes the wolf in sheep's clothing with a dedication to honesty that cannot be shaken by threats of consequence.

In a day in age where the sociopathic demeanor of money at all costs seems to be the mindset of even those we deem moral, it's nice to know at least some people such as Morgan Spurlock take a stand against the sickening idea of normalizing such behavior & mindset.

LUNA: SPIRIT OF THE WHALE

 LUNA SPIRIT OF THE WHALE: B

This ended up being a solid little flick with good performances out of everyone involved. Adam Beach, the main protagonist gave a convincing performance as the former drunk who returns home to find out he is more of a leader than he ever dare dream. Jason Priestley plays the part of the villain very well. Conniving, sleazy & fake. You just want to slap him. Then there's Graham Greene who seems to nail the serious, ticked off, take no shit Native American better than anyone else.

This film isn't going to win any awards, but it's a fun little film to check out if you have time. One of the few on Vudu's free list worth watching.

ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT

 

ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT: A

A well put together, no holds documentary that took a deep look into a horrific series of events that took place in the 1970's.

In this day in age we like to pretend that the world was at one time a better place, but a dive into investigation we learn that it never was. It simply was a more hidden environment, compared to today's overexposure.

Documentaries such as this reveal that what we think is unique to our modern day in terms of terrifying, sick and disturbing happenings, has always been present, even if kept from the public eye.

The stories involved around this case are surreal. They're so bizarre and unrealistic, that it's difficult to believe that these things were real and they really did happen. In fact, it goes to prove that as terrifying as our imaginations can sometimes be, it is the realism of what can be, or worse yet, what was, that is truly frightening.

In the last eight months, I personally went through a unfortunate event where I discovered someone that I knew, trusted and befriended for 10 years, turned out to be a monster. You feel so stupid, having been fooled, yet what I went through was nothing in comparison to what these people dealt with.

This is a story that has so many twists and turns that you find yourself pausing for a moment and rewinding to make sure that you heard it right.

If you're looking for a documentary that illustrates how messed up this world and some of the people in it can be, by all means, this is a must see.

THE CAR: ROAD TO REVENGE

 THE CAR: ROAD TO REVENGE = C-

Sometimes films can be difficult to categorize. This was most certainly a B film, but an upper-class B film. Cheesy writing. Cringe-worthy dialog. Cheap, laughable special effects. It had all of the characteristics of a film that screams, "make fun of me and laugh for hours at how carny I am!"

Yet on the same hand it had redeeming qualities that when the film wasn't trying too hard to be utterly ridiculous, gave it a hint of charm. The characters were at least somewhat interesting if not dare I say intriguing and the actors playing the roles, despite how nonsensical and absurd, played the parts professionally.

In all honesty with revision, this film could have been good. It had potential in a lot of areas but suffered most from an unfocused plot without any direction.

If anything this film is a perfect example of how difficult it is to get original and fresh material made in Hollywood. It's clear that no-one on this project had any connection to THE CAR (1977) or desire to make a follow up film based on the premise of the original.

It was it's own film, completely unconnected that simply threw in a Lincoln Continental in order to get the backing, the funding and the green light to make a film. That's the only connection this film had to THE CAR (1977) and the only reason it had that connection.

DEADLY WATER

 DEADLY WATER: D-

This film is so bad that Vudu can't even advertise it correctly. The film's description is that of a deadly octopus but in the film they actually fight a giant squid.

The writing in this film was outright laughable. Nepotism slams hard as it is clear that the only reason Charlie O'Connel has a job is because of his brother Jerry. I'd call him the discount bargain bin version of Jerry, but I think it's safer to say after three weeks they'd change the sign from "FREE!!" to "PLEASE TAKE".

The film sets him up with a decent story of revenge but as the film progresses he seems more obsessed with scoring with the new hot chick he just met than he does in garnering decades worth of vengeance.

The dialog in this film was so bland and delivered in such a monotonic tone. This was just plain awful.

A HAUNTED HOUSE

 

A HAUNTED HOUSE 

B 

A fun, run of the mill horror parody from the mind of the Wayans' brothers that for the most part played it safe with a formulaic script & go-to laughs comedy. It took a handful of risks throughout the story, some that paid off and others that did not.  Not near as good as the SCARY MOVIES, but still fun enough for a single viewing.   

USS INDIANAPOLIS: MEN OF COURAGE

USS INDIANAPOLIS: MEN OF COURAGE = A-

Inspiring, educational, decent on historical accuracy, this film was one I found to be enjoyable. I felt that Nicolas Cage gave a solid performance. I wouldn't call it his best, but I thought he did well. Other performances were good as well, although at times contrived.

I appreciated the relationships throughout the film, although I felt some of the more interesting ones didn't get as much attention as they could have. The racial tension between the two black men & the one white man was quite intriguing. I felt the most rewarding part of the film was when the three of them celebrated their survival together in the hospital.

Only two complaints about the film. I didn't at all appreciate the deliberate plagiarism taken from PEARL HARBOR. There's an assortment of ways they could have handled the relationship between two of the supporting characters in their love triangle. Their was no need to carbon copy.

I also found the accounts taken from the real life soldiers to be quite interesting & wish some of their stories of fighting back against the sharks would have been shown in the film. They talked of how they'd find blunt objects & jam them into the sharks eyes. I would have liked to have seen that portrayed on the film. Instead it gave off a vibe that they just laid their completely helpless with no fight.

Which leads me to my final praise of the film. I did enjoy the actual footage & how it was explained that the captain received the proper exoneration many years later. I enjoyed the photographs.

LA BAMBA

LA BAMBA

B

It's funny. I actually remember sitting down to watch this like in 1990 or 1991. It was either ABC or NBC or CBS that used to do "Saturday Night's movie" or something of the sort. LA BAMBA was on and I was watching it when my dad came in and wanted to watch some sort of race instead.

So here we are nearly 30 years later, and I finally sat down to watch it! Yea!!

I thought Lou Diamond Phillips was brilliant. Took the role and ran with it. Did an excellent job of capturing Ritchie Valens movements, mannerisms and demeanor.

The story was good. Simplistic yet inspirational and motivating.

The music was really good.

DISMISSED

Add caption

DISMISSED: C-

A rather contrived story full of a lot of unrealistic scenarios and conveniences to move the plot forward rather than allow it to progress naturally.

The performances of the actors, especially the antagonist Lucas played by Dylan Sprouse and the protagonist Mr. Bentley played by Kent Osborne were very strong. Although Mr. Bentley made decisions & choices that no trained professional in the world of education would ever make, they were still believable due to the strength of his performance.

The biggest gripe anyone ought to have with the film is how much effort and time was put in to weaving an interesting, captivating and mesmerizing problem...and how little time and effort were put into the solution.

Lucas carefully calculates a grand plan to ruin Mr. Bentley's life and the simplicity of its foil felt as lazy as it did easy.

An anti-climatic ending, resolution can at times be overbearing, yet here it wasn't even sampled. The abrupt ending did nothing positive for the film.

Suspenseful enough to lure you in, with a cast that will keep you seated. Yet by film's end you'll wish they had done more with the supporting characters, especially Mr. Garrett and you'll leave wondering why they didn't.