When I watched the original Scream, it scared me to the core. Granted, I was a lot younger then, but the concept of the ghost-face killer stalking innocent people and toying with them over their telephones seemed very plausible. There was no magic, no ghosts, no monsters, no witchcraft and this made the story very believable.
When I had heard that the horror movie franchise was being revived for Scream 4, I was curious to see how director Wes Craven would continue the tale of Sydney Prescott after so many years had passed.
Being a fan of the Scream movies, I was entertained. The story contained some funny moments and a great cast of characters. The list of actors who make cameos include Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin, and many others. However, the story’s comparisons to the original movie made it somewhat predictable and I did not find myself scared at all.
The story follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) as she returns to her hometown of Woodsboro years after she fell victim to the ghost-face killer. Sydney makes the trip to Woodsboro to promote a book she wrote about moving past the devastating events in her life. As soon as she returns, the ghost-face killer reignites his killing spree. The blend of classic Scream characters like Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) with the new faces Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Sidney’s cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) help to bring the past chapters up to present day. I also enjoyed the integration of current technologies in the story as well. The ghost-face killer is using web technology to stream the murders live online as they occur. This was an interesting concept to include which I liked. The higher use of cellular phones as opposed to landlines made it interesting and updated as well.
The story tried hard to tie this installment in with the past chapters. These exhausted references to the past made the story somewhat predictable. It also made the story feel like it was just a tired remake. It felt unoriginal. I also did not care for how the movie ended. It seemed a bit over-dramatic and not very feasible. It had me leaving the theater disappointed.
My personal grade for this movie would be a +C. I was entertained throughout the film and it kept me guessing the identity of the killer. I think the fans of the entire Scream franchise will enjoy it because they get to see their favorite characters revive their roles. However, my biggest complaint about the movie is that it did not affect me like the original. I was expecting to be scared. A horror movie should leave me scared. This movie did not. I did not find myself jumping out of my seat or checking underneath my bed before going to sleep. The predictability of the story made it less realistic to me. So my opinion of Scream 4? I hope they Scream no more.
This is a few days old but I’m just getting around to seeing it and wondering how it will turn out. It takes the old MK concept and puts a new spin on it… I’m sure diehard fans will flock to this movie, but I’m skeptical. Are you excited for this flick?
Whaaaaaaaaat? Seriously, how do you fit this many action “stars” into one movie? There is a stupid amount of badassness in this movie… so far the tally is: Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwartzenegger, and Randy Couture. They’re pretty much only missing Wesley Snipes, Jean Claude VanDamme, and the Rock. I thought this was going to be a parody action flick when I saw the ridiculous line-up. But since Stallone wrote/directed, maybe it won’t be a complete crapfest. After all, he did once win an Academy Award.
San Fran video DJ Mike Relm put together this cool trailer remix for Iron Man 2. Mike Relm does a crazy job mashing up audio with video in his DJ sets and this is just a small example of his talent. Iron Man 2 is out May 7th.
Not really sure what this is advertising in particular, but its cool. I guess the message that wearing Nikes can give you the ability to save your entire city from giant attacking robots? The jury’s still out on that one.
Be there May 2nd as one of the funniest animated shows on TV returns for its 3rd and final season. This trailer is set to the now classic “Exhibit C” by Jay Electronica. Get ready!
This new Banksy film is a little hard to explain, so I’m gonna let the summary do it for me…
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. The film contains exclusive footage of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work, on walls and in interview. As Banksy describes it, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed.”
Debuts April 16th in the UK, and select US dates forthcoming…
If I say Charles Bronson, you’d probably think American actor with a “tough guy” image, but that is not what you should think. Michael Gordon Peterson is the real Charles Bronson, the real “tough guy”.
I’ll keep this as short as possible, Michael Peterson changed his name to Charles Bronson to further his bare-knuckle boxing career. He is the most violent prisoner in England because he has spent 34 years in prison, 30 of which he spent in solitary confinement for attacking prison guards, inciting unrest, and a number of hostage situations.
Originally, his sentence was only 7 years for robbery in 1974. He was initially released in 1988 and only spent 69 days as a free man before being arrested again. You can read more about Bronson here, or watch the recently made movie about his life entitled “Bronson”.
The movie reminds me of A Clockwork Orange in its imagery and pace. I wanted to post this because it is a great movie, about an extraordinarily unique person, and not enough people have seen it. Watch it! Watch it!
In An Emasculating Truth, Oscar Boyson investigates what it takes to be a man in the 21st century. Statistics say male testosterone levels have been dropping 1% a year over the past 20 years, so Oscar made this documentary short to find out what could be causing it and what defines a “man”. The video is presented by Dockers and interviews some interesting characters such as Glenn O’brien.
I’m not the biggest fan of the Predator movie series beyond the first one, but when I heard news that Robert Rodriguez was at the helm for the newest installment, I thought it was worth paying some attention to. /Film has a 2 minute sneak peek of the director speaking on the film and showing some clips with stars Adrien Brody and Lawrence Fishburne. Hopefully this movie doesn’t suck. You can view the full thing here.
Famous designer and ex-creative director of Gucci, Tom Ford, tries his hand at Hollywood with the big screen adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel “A Single Man”.
The film, starring Colin Firth, Julliane Moore, and Nicholas Hoult depicts the lives of three individuals who are all in their own way “lonely”. Through the interactions between the characters, the inevitable feeling of human isolation is explored. The characters ages and genders vary, making the film easily relatable to almost everyone.
Even if the the story line isnt your cup or tea, the cinematography and visuals are quite impressive. This is a film that I would highly recommend to everyone. It is still playing at the Cedar Lee in Cleveland Heights. Check it out.
Aloe Blacc is an artist I’ve blogged about before, and his new single is the theme song to the new HBO show “How to Make it in America“. His last album is a slept on R&B classic in my eyes, and this new record is produced with all live instrumentation by a group known as the El Michaels Affair (you may remember them from the orchestral Wu-Tang covers they put out). This rip is from the show’s mixtape, but you can check the full version here. Judging by this track, another classic is in the wings!
