Not So Random Film of the Week: The Lovely Bones

Posted on December 16, 2013 by geelw

Hey, kids! Happy Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and all that rot! I had to open one of my presents early in order to tell you what my brain and eyeballs say about it, so here you go. This post is my little contribution to The Cinematic Katzenjammer’s Not-So-Secret Santa Review Swap. It’s definitely not a holiday flick (nor a joyous one), but you never know what you’ll get from Saint Nick when he drops something down your chimney. You just need to review it and hope you do a good job at it… OR ELSE. Anyway, grab some eggnog, pull up a comfy chair, put the pet of choice on your lap and read on!

I have a particular problem with most ghost stories in film thanks to zero continuity or lineage in the mythos from one tale to another across the globe. Yes, I’ve seen dozens of great films from mildly spooky to downright scare me under the furniture freaky in over 46 years of watching movies, but their level of effectiveness is more due to great writing and acting than these tales making any sort of logical sense from one to another. That said, after watching it twice, I can very safely say that The Lovely Bones is a beautiful looking, wonderfully shot and mostly terrifically acted movie that for me, was manipulative, frustrating and not at all satisfying to watch.

Even Brian Eno swiping his own music from tracks on Here Come The Warm Jets (one of my favorite albums) and adding them to his often ethereal score can’t save this film from its weaknesses. Then again, maybe it’s me being cranky here? After all, Peter Jackson and I have some unspoken grief beef ever since 1996’s The Frighteners made me want to strangle myself in my sleep after I saw it and the overkill of way too many CG effects and too much trying to be too funny and too serious simultaneously beat a whole theater of paying saps into a blue-green hued coma. That said, this 2009 film makes that old one look a lot more palatable and enjoyable in comparison… Continue reading →

The Four Horsemen Have Been Busy @ The Movies For Ages. You Should Be Very Pleased About That.

Posted on October 18, 2013 by geelw

So, Nick Powell over at The Cinematic Katzenjammer asked for contributors this month to write up a post or do something creative using The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as a starting point and any horror-themed movies that happened to fit one or more of their particular talents. I decided to have a bit of fun picking four films (one for each rider) and pointing to moments in each that to me, define the essence of their namesakes. They’re not all horror films, but if you’re in the right mood you’ll see the horror in parts of them.

Amusingly enough, the devil has gotten his due here as well. ALL of these were done up as Random Film of the Week entries at one point, but three were lost when I misplaced a USB thumb stick with a ton of other fresh content I’d done for the site a few years back when it was on Blogger. One good reason for me doing this post was to kick myself in the butt hard and get on to full rewrites soon of those three.

In addition, I’ll warn you now that the Fifth Horseman (Spoilage!) is on board. So if you haven’t seen any of the four flicks listed here… you’ve been warned in advance. Which is unusual in this day and age, as spoilers usually just spill out and all over you in the oddest of places. Hell, I heard the end of Gravity from a yakky lady babbling like a jerk on her cell phone in a grocery store a few days ago. I wanted to throw a large can of low-sodium black beans at her head, but I’d be typing this from a jail cell, it was the last can of that brand on the shelf and I needed it more than her head needed a two-pound can-sized impression in it.

Anyway, saddle up and get ready to ride (or duck behind something and hope you’re unseen)… we’re off! Continue reading →

Have Blogathon? Will Travel!

Posted on July 6, 2013 by geelw

OK, screw this damn hot as the sun under the sun weather. it is KILLING my productivity a bit too much. Well, I have a ton of notes for posts, but when I read them, my brain starts baking up like a Sunday ham (“Got any ham? Ham, ham, ham…”). Anyway, I think it’s a case of familiarity breeding contempt here. Or in plainer English – I’m working so much on my own stuff that I think I need a little challenge. All this heat is making me nuts, but I think I can contribute something to another or three of those fancy movie “blog-a-thon” thingies I’ve been seeing pop up.

I submitted to one already (see, see!) and I think I’ll get a nice kick in the pants if something new tickles my Fancy (which is picky as hell, aren’t you, Fancy? Yes, you are! Yes you are!). So, that’s where you come in, fellow talented typists of pedigree. I’d cook up my own blogathon, but I’m already project heavy here. That said, I do have a bunch of already written Random film of the Week and Random Film of the Week(end) plus a few other reviews on the site that might do for a new airing out link elsewhere. I can also write up something custom for an event (no wedding speeches, birth or bris announcements – let’s keep things in the ballpark where I have a chance of hitting something).

Anyway, feel free to let me know if you know of or are in fact, hosting one of these shindigs and I’ll gladly contribute. I just signed up for one that happened to pop up on another (and much bigger deal than my) blog as I was writing out this post(you can join the fun there as well!), so that’s one down – more to go…