Paranormal Activity

**** (out of four)

After years of idiotic slasher films, torture porn, and bad remakes of Japanese ghost stories I was losing faith in a horror film's ability to scare me. A movie like "Pandorum" is kind of fun but never shocking or terrifying. I thought that maybe the days of being truly frightened by a film were over. Then I saw "Paranormal Activity."

No hyperbole can do justice to how truly scary this movie is. A classic horror film like "The Exorcist" is frightening but you never forget that you're watching a movie. Like "The Blair Witch Project" did ten years ago, "Paranormal Activity" presents its story as true, showingus edited but supposedly real footage. A studio disclaimer at the beginning thanks the San Diego police department and the families of Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat for their cooperation. No other credits are shown.

As a child Katie was haunted by a ghostly presense. After many years it seems to have returned in the form of strange happenings around the house. Her boyfriend Micah, determined to get to the bottom of the paranormal activity, buys a video camera in the hopes of catching something on tape while they sleep. The story is shown through the lens of Micah's camera as he attempts to document the strange phenomena. The fact that Katie is terrified doesn't phase him; all he cares about is getting his footage. At first the occurances are seemingly harmless: keys move, doors open by themselves. Things don't stay that way for long.

Writer/director Oren Peli never breaks the illusion that this is a documentary as the story unfolds in front of Micah's camera. The action never leaves the house, and only two other characters ever intrude. One, a psychic (Mark Fredrichs) provides necessary exposition, but the film belongs to Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston. Their performances are natural and don't feel like acting, which adds to the realism of the movie.

I won't go into detail about the plot because I don't want to spoil it, other than to say that the film earns its inevitable, terrible climax. I will end with a warning. If you don't want to be frightened, don't go see "Paranormal Activity." It is one of the scariest movies ever made.

District 9

**** (out of four)

"District 9" is an amazing film; visionary, exciting, and completely original. I haven't felt this way about a science fiction movie since I saw "The Matrix" ten years ago. "District 9" isn't going to revolutionize the way movies are made the way "The Matrix" did, but it does herald the arrival of bold new talent in the form of writer/director Neill Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley.

Twenty years ago an alien ship arrived at Earth; not over a city like New York or Los Angeles, but over Johannesburg, South Africa. When authorities force their way into the ship they find a population of grotesque aliens. The creatures, apparently a worker caste, are sick and dying, apparently unable to function without their leaders. The aliens are quickly relocated to a walled off area called District 9.

That Neill Blomkamp chose his native South Africa as the setting of this story is no accident; the parallels he draws with Apartheid are evident in the way the human natives treat their new neighbors, whom they nickname "Prawns." The Prawns are quickly shunned and anti-alien legislation relegates them to the status of second-class citizens. The resemblance of District 9 to the trash-strewn and dusty ghettos of Johannesburg during Apartheid is haunting.

Cut to the present, when a Halliburton-like defense contractor has been charged with moving all the aliens out of District 9 to a new "relocation camp" far outside the city. A middle manager named Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is put in command of the force sent into District 9. The first part of the movie is filmed like a documentary, as Wikus moves throughout the camp issuing eviction orders to the helpless extraterrestrials. Then the hapless bureaucrat comes into contact with an alien substance and...

I won't spoil it. One of the joys of this movie is how the story twists and turns, but earns every surprise. Conspiracies are revealed and unlikely friendships are formed. Sharlto Copley's performance anchors the film; this is his first feature, and the transformation he undergoes, both literally and figuratively, is incredible. An Oscar nomination is unlikely but not undeserved.

The effects are seamless, the music is pitch perfect, and cinematographer Trent Opaloch transitions beautifully between the documentary style and more traditional narrative. The parts add up to a magnificent whole, making "District 9" the best film of the year so far.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

***1/2 (out of 4)

Fanboys of the "Harry Potter" books beware: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" strays further from the source material than any of the previous movies did. There are two important things to consider in adapting a novel. Is the overall narrative arc maintained and is the spirit of the story preserved? In the case of the sixth "Harry Potter" film, despite the changes, the answer is a resounding yes.

As the danger from Lord Voldemort increases, Hogwarts becomes an even scarier and dangerous place than before. Director David Yates and his crew abandon subtlety here, bathing the castle in grays and greens and cloaking every corridor in shadow. The result is the darkest of the films thus far, and appropriately so; the books have become more grim with each volume as J.K. Rowling's original audience has grown up along with Harry. The young wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) becomes obsessed with exposing Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) as a Death Eater and not just the rat he's been throughout the series. Felton is given his first real chance to shine in the role, eliciting sympathy from the audience even as he plots the downfall of Hogwarts headmaster Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon.)

Gambon has finally made the role of Dumbledore his own, stepping out of the shadow of the late Richard Harris, who portrayed the aged wizard in the first two films. Harris was absolutely perfect for the role, but Gambon's interpretation has finally truly become Dumbledore. He and Radcliffe share a lot of screentime as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of Voldemort's past, most importantly his relationship with an old potions teacher, Professor Slughorn. As played by Jim Broadbent, Slughorn steals the show as a man harboring a deep secret and a terrible sense of guilt.

The peril doesn't just come from Death Eaters, as all the students are swept up in the hormonal dangers of adolescence. Some of the best scenes involve Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) dealing with their blossoming romance, as well as Harry's feelings for Ron's sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright.) It's these scenes that demonstrate how these young actors have grown since the first film. It doesn't hurt that they've had a string of very good directors to nurture them, most notably Alfonso Cuaron.

The film is exciting, funny, scary, and tragic. It hits all the right notes and any changes made enhance the movie, which is what a good adaptation should do. David Yates has really hit his stride as a director of these movies. He gets the material, and I have no doubt that the last two films are going to be a fitting end to the series. This is a fine movie, and the second best entry in the series behind "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." And that's saying something.

(500) Days of Summer

**** (out of 4)

"(500) Days of Summer" is a wonderful film; poignant, funny, heartbreaking and true. In a lesser movie the unorthodox narrative structure might overshadow how perfectly the film captures all the nuances of a relationship from start to finish, but in this case it makes the movie even more moving.

The story is simple; it chronicles the relationship, from beginning to end, of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel.) The title refers to the 500 days of their relationship from the first time Tom sees Summer across the office until...well, I won't spoil it. The story jumps around to different days and different moments of the relationship, and the brilliance of the movie is how the structure makes the overall narrative thread even more satisfying.

Tom writes slogans for a greeting card company, having left his dream of becoming an architect behind. One day he sees the new secretary across the office. Summer is everything he's ever wanted in a woman, and even though she says she doesn't want a relationship, he falls head over heels in love with her. The scene after their first night together completely captures the elation of a new relationship, because every guy feels like Han Solo at some point.

The performances of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom and Zoe Deschanel as Summer are key to the success of the film. It is Tom's story; Gordon-Levitt is a subtle actor, and like Paul Giamatti or Philip Seymour Hoffman he can convey layers of emotion with a glance or a slight movement. Deschanel is radiant as Summer and you can understand why Tom falls for her. She makes Summer sympathetic even as she is breaking Tom's heart.

According to the Internet Movie Database the film's writers, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber have only one other screenplay to their credit: "The Pink Panther 2." How any one could have seen the extraordinary talent of these two buried in that movie I don't know, but thank goodness someone gave this one a look.

The film is full of moments both hilarious and cringeworthy, and the reason they feel so heightened is that we've all experienced those moments, either from Tom's or Summer's perspective. It's been a long time since I've been so fully invested in characters like this. "(500) Days of the Summer" is one of the best films of the year.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
* (out of 4)

I grew up with the "Transformers" cartoon and really enjoyed Michael Bay's 2007 film. It had its problems, but it captured the essence of the show, and that was that these robots were alien and awe-inspiring. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" leaves behind everything that made the first movie good a popcorn flick. Not only that, but it revels in insulting stereotypes and toilet humor, and reveals things about Michael Bay that we'd rather not know.

The plot is so convoluted as to be nearly incomprehensible and there is no meaningful character development. This could be forgiven in lieu of visually amazing effects and scenes of giant robots fighting (because let's be honest, that's what we shell out our ten bucks to see,) but the editing is so frenzied and the robots' designs so similar that it's impossible to tell the difference between any two Transformers. If you can't figure out who you should be rooting for, what's the point?

These complaints alone simply describe a bad movie, but what makes "Revenge of the Fallen" truly awful is the casual racism and sexism that pervades the whole affair. Two of the Autobots, allegedly for comic relief, have big ears, monkey proportions, gold teeth and speak in stereotypical ghetto voices. Megan Fox spends the entire movie running away from explosions in slow motion while in various states of undress that accentuate her most famous assets, none of which is a skill in acting. All the girls that Shia LaBeouf's Sam meets at Princeton (or Harvard, or Yale, I'm not sure) seem to be supermodels, which I'm sure is true to life at all Ivy League schools. The frat party Sam attends looks more like a strip club; I was in a fraternity in college, and never attended a party like that, even at fraternities that were cooler than mine.

I wanted to like this movie. I really did. What I learned from the experience (which could have been a good forty five minutes shorter, by the way) is that Michael Bay and his screenwriters believe the following: an attractive woman is defined as one who is anorexic, big buxomed and scantily clad; unfair black stereotypes are funny; dogs humping are funny, and one dog humping joke is not enough for one movie; pot jokes that were old when "Half Baked" came out are still funny; and giant robots with giant testicles are very funny, but not obvious enough unless John Turturro makes reference to "alien scrotum."

To quote one of my favorite critics, Roger Ebert, I hated this movie. Hated hated hated this movie. It's obviously aimed at twelve year old boys, but I weep for the future if this what twelve year old boys really want to see. Here's a list of movies that are also aimed at twelve year old boys: "Star Wars," "Iron Man," "Spider-Man 2," and even the first "Transformers." These films are infinitely better than "Revenge of the Fallen." Please see them instead.

Greetings, fellow denizens of the internet, and welcome to the first edition of my movie review blog! I hope to update at least once a week with a new film review. Occasionally I'll review an older film that I've seen on Netflix, but I'm going to try to keep it current with movies in theaters. My first review is for "Terminator: Salvation." I know it's about a month and a half old, but the review has been gathering dust and I wanted to share it just the same. Enjoy!

TERMINATOR: SALVATION
* 1/2 (out of 4)

You know a movie is in trouble when the first scene makes you giggle. If you’re watching a Judd Apatow movie then giggling is appropriate. This is not the case if the movie in question is a somber, post-apocalyptic adventure. And so it goes that “Terminator: Salvation” is doomed from the start.
The film opens in the present day as a death row inmate named Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) signs away his body to science. The cadaverous scientist who comes calling is played by Helena Bonham Carter as if her character from “Fight Club” really was dying from cancer. The scene is meant to be intense and dramatic but is so awkwardly played that when Marcus suddenly kisses her and then says, “Now I know what death tastes like,” it is impossible not to laugh.
Fast forward to the year 2018. As anyone familiar with the series knows, a defense computer system called Skynet became self-aware, and seeing humans as a threat, started a nuclear war that wiped out most of humanity. It builds an army of terminators in an attempt to finish the job, and all that stands in its way is a ragtag resistance led by John Connor (Christian Bale), prophesied messiah and constant target of various terminators since Arnold Schwarzenegger first said he’d be back twenty five years ago.
The plot involves Connor attempting to protect young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), another soldier who is destined to go back in time and become Connor’s father. If Reese dies in the future, he can’t father Connor in the past, but if Connor never exists then how can he…oh, never mind. The plot exists solely to connect the action scenes, which are impressive. With so many movies relying heavily on CG it is refreshing to see a film that relies less on computers and more on stunts and practical effects. The action is only exciting if the audience cares about the stakes, and what the filmmakers have forgotten to do is create characters that we can care about. Bale does an admirable job of looking grim, but not much else. Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted as his pregnant wife, and although Sam Worthington is a charismatic actor, we are given no reason to sympathize with his murderer turned (supposedly) good terminator. This is not a good thing since the story revolves around him for most of the movie.
The filmmakers throw just enough references from the original trilogy that you sense an attempt to please the fanboys, but they feel forced and take you completely out of the movie, particularly when Bale snarls “I’ll be back.” When the one cameo finally appears toward the end of the movie, all you can really do is shrug. “Terminator: Salvation” is not a terrible movie, and on a technical level it is quite good; but the thing that made the first two films superior was the relationship between the terminator’s intended target and the one sent to protect them. This is missing from “Terminator: Salvation,” and the film never grabs you.