Movie roundup

Here’s a short dump of movies I’ve seen lately:

V for Vendetta: Well, that was disturbing.

Note to fascist totalitarian regimes: It’s probably a good idea to not pick black, red, and white as your colors—it’ll make your fascism a little less obvious.

Nightwatch: This movie deserves a much bigger audience than it’s getting in the States. The idea is that there are “others” among us, who look like humans but have powers, like vampires, shape shifters, seers, etc. The others are divided among the light and dark, and are maintaining a tenuous peace that is being threatened.

A cute thing is that they dubbed the film to English with Russian accents. If you’re into fantasy/vampires/werevolves/all that kinda stuff at all, you should check this out. I’m waiting eagerly for the next installment in the trilogy.

The Matador: I had high hopes for this one, but they were brutally crushed. Slow and doesn’t know what kind of movie it wants to be.

A terrible waste of Pierce Brosnan and his mustache.

Ginger Snaps: Brigitte and Ginger are Goth sisters in suburbia, obsessed with death. Then Ginger is bitten by a werewolf and things go from bad to worse.

Nice to see the werewolf used in the “classic” way as a symbol of puberty.

While a bit weak when it comes to special effects, Ginger Snaps does an excellent job with the teen angst—the first 15 minutes are pretty much what you’d get if you could melt down the whole of LiveJournal and pour the contents into a movie.

Evil: Yet another Swedish movie where nobody gets to be happy. Based on Jan Guillou’s autobiographical novel of the same name, the movie is about a young man with an abusive father who gets sent to a rich boarding school run by upper class fascists.

Well-made and intense, although the bullying is awfully hard to watch in places. Excellent job by the actor portraying the number one upper class bastard—you just want to punch him in the face.

The Ice Storm: For a change, an American movie where nobody gets to be happy. Drips with suburban angst, emptiness, and isolation.

Not exactly a feel-good movie. There’s a “key party” scene that will make you want to stab ice picks in your eyes.

Alien Versus Predator: Dear Hollywood executives: please stop snorting coke.

Ultraviolet: Shudder.

What’s really terrible is that this could have been an okay movie. The idea is stupid, but not too stupid, and the effects look good. And yet … shudder.