Movies you shouldn't see:

Under Suspicion - stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman

This is one of those flicks that takes place in the one spot for almost the entire movie. I'm not holding that against it. Gene Hackman is...well, ok by his standards. Morgan's just so steretypically stereotypical in his role as a senior detective. I'm not holding that against it. Director Stephen Hopkins pulls out some beautiful moves from behind the camera, and he's got a decent filmography under his belt as a director with titles including Lost In Space, Ghost and the Darkness, Blown Away and Predator 2. This I won't hold against it.

Meanwhile, in plot land, fancy pants lawyer Gene gets called into the local police station to clear up some sketchy details on a statement he gave the police regarding a murder, that he discovered. Phew. Oh yeah, and we're in Puerto Rico by the way, so everyone is sweaty. Morgan's his usual intense, reflective, ticking bomb of a self trying to get to the bottom of it all. They clash. The dialogue is thick and fast, often painstakingly drawn out. Gene is wearing a bad wig. I can't and won't hold any of that against it.

Then there's the ending with all this potential to go somewhere. This I will hold against it. How many times should one waste one's time for a bad ending? Well, in this case, I've done it for you. Don't see it. 2 stars.

The Boys - stars David Wenham, Toni Collette

I can see where they were going with this. Intense drama about life on the edge and without remorse, but implying it rather than showing it. I really really tried to get into the pace of it, but it just wasn't going to happen. David is the overbaring eldest of three brothers who are all apparantly in their mid to late twenties and still living at home with a mother that loves them despite it all. They have no jobs and are barely living lives, and these are hard case kids too. It basically showcases the one day that David gets out of jail and the events that follow. Most of it is implied, leaving a lot of it up to your imagination, but you can tell that shit is going to happen.

And in the end its just overblown western Sydney stereotypes with short tempers and foul mouths. One clever thing they do is fast foward time-frames - 18 hours here, 3 weeks there - and you see things have happened. The boys being incarcerated is a pretty clear indication. The fact the film always returns to the 'now' basically means that whatever they're flashing to, stems from this day's events. This would've been good had they done more with the inuendo instead of just stares and glares and silence. I can't say I hated it, just disappointing. Not one for the "great aussie movie" pile. 2 stars.

Retro slasher flick of the week is none other than...

Halloween: The Night Michael Came Home - stars Jamie Lee Curtis

The first film to ever scare the crap outa me! And how bad's this, I had to watch it at school for class. CRAP! All the cool kids were sitting there laughing and going "watch this bit", and I'm paraletic with fear. I'd never known anything like it, and while its rare for a film to scare me these days, I still look back and think "man, that was scary".

Finally decided to pull it off the shelf and give it another spin the other night. I've gotta say, it hasn't dated well at all. Its definately 1978 and John "I love making scary movies" Carpenter is making his film debut behind the lens. But when you really think about it, this was ground-breaking stuff as far as horror movies went, the silent killer, the blood, the gore, the whole package was a new thing. So I'm thinking half the reason this wouldn't scare me (or anyone else) now is because what was once new, is now passé. I mean you put a killer in a movie with a big ass kitchen knife and just about the whole audience is going to go "its so done before". And it is. But this was the first, and most moderm horror (can you call them that?) flicks are just borrowing and rehashing what Halloween did first.

I'm proud to say this scared me when it came out, and as a result has probably made me immune to anything termed "horror" ever since. Exceptions to the rule are "Scream", man that had me jumping all over the place, and my girlfriend's fingernails in my arm; and the original "Nightmare On Elm Street" movies. I think I was still getting petrified right up to number 3. It just makes me hanker for some new horror blend, wonder if and what it will be?

This not too badly timed as the new one is out, Stace and I are doing a trade: she'll come to Halloween: Resurrection if I go to "Harry Potter and the whateveritisnow", I'm happy to do that for sure!  I'm glad I got to grow up with this though, 3 and a half stars.

I'm orf to get some sleep before volleyball. Hope you's all had a great weekend.

BH