I could see my breath in a cloud of vapor last night. What does that mean? It means the season of big explosions and crappy taste is over! We find ourselves on the threshold of Fall, and a deliciously decadent feast of silver screen gold awaits us on the other side of 70* Fahrenheit.
My indulgence this season began recently with the new M. Night Shyamalan project "Devil". This is the first of a series he's calling the "Night Chronicles", where basically M.Night is passing his creepy ideas on to young writers and directors to create, instead of botching them himself. "Devil" is similar to the classic Agatha Christie mystery "Ten Little Indians" (aka And Then There Were None) in that there's a group of bad people stuck in one location and they start paying for their sins with their lives, one by one. As opposed to an island or mountain retreat however, these unfortunate sinners are trapped in an elevator, dangling twenty stories in the air.
Through the cryptic narration of a terrified religious (redundant, I know) security guard, we find out that one of the elevator occupants is the Devil in disguise, and he's going to have some sadistic fun with these trapped souls before he takes them all the way down. The fun of the movie is playing detective and trying to figure out which is the demon, but a predictable culprit, a saccharine redemption ending, and some lazy plot points hold it back from it's full terrifying potential. I think the claustrophobic tension more than makes up for any small problems though, and it had a group behind me whimpering and shaking our whole row of chairs with dread.
It's not the theology lesson Shyamalan wants it to be, but it's definitely an effective thriller. B.
Now, here are a few Fall movies releasing soon that I can't wait to see:
"The Town" - now playing - This Boston crime movie is written, directed, and starring Ben Affleck, and those who saw his last directorial effort "Gone Baby Gone" will know this is in fact a good thing. It co-stars Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, and Rebecca Hall, it's been destroying the box office for two weeks, and the general consensus holds that Affleck has created something tense, gritty, and altogether fantastic. Get some before it's gone.
"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" - now playing - In a time where we have less than 5-to-1 odds of a sequel even being watchable, I'd consider us lucky to have Oliver Stone at the helm with a cast like this. I also hear it's just as timely as the first. If you liked the original, why not?
"The Social Network" - Oct. 1st - This is the big one for me. Weeks before its release it has already garnered the elusive 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has drawn comparisons to classics such as Citizen Kane and The Godfather, and has been called an instant, decade defining classic the likes of The Matrix and Back to the Future. I would have seen it anyway just because it's a Fincher movie. Se7en & Fight Club, anyone? Sounds like a must-see.
"Let Me In" - Oct. 1st - An american remake of the incredible Swedish vampire movie "Let The Right One In", and "Twilight" it isn't. If it's anything like the original it'll be eerie, tender, violent, and romantic in all the ways "Twilight" tries and fails to achieve. See the original, then this one, then thank me on Monday.
"Black Swan" - Dec. 1st - This one is a little further down the line, but an intriguing one nonetheless. Supposedly it's a supernatural thriller set in the world of ultra-competitive ballet. Darren Aronofsky is one of the best in the business and has yet to make a bad movie going back through "Requiem For A Dream" and "Pi". There's not a whole lot I can say better than the trailer itself, so find one and watch it. Very weird.
-Dan
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