Cinema Alliance Movie Reviews

Admittedly, films of this nature are always a tough bet with me since The Exorcist is my favorite horror film and the one that set the bar for this subject matter in the first place.

Produced by Sam Raimi, the script is based on a supposedly true story of a family who experienced a demonic possession with their daughter over a period of 29 days. The events in the film portray the steps of the possession and the exorcism that followed. The writing is well done and has a strength and conviction to it thanks to the delivery of a mostly strong cast. The way the story plays out is gratifying and has a little curve ball thrown at you at just the right time.

It’s lacking in terms of originality to be sure, nothing we haven’t seen before to some degree. Many of the visual effects are really well done and there are some genuinely creepy moments but nothing that I would classify as shocking or terribly frightening (I’m a bit de-sensitized though, just FYI). I think that’s where it also falls flat because there are parts of the film that just feel and look fake. Such as the episode with Emily in the yard; she looked more like a kid trying poorly to be goth moreso than someone possessed.

The actors mostly put in some great performances, especially Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the father and Natasha Calls as Emily. Kyra Sedgwick plays the mom well and I love the surprise of Matisyahu as Tzadok, nice touch. The only weak link in the chain is Jay Brazeau who’s performance as the professor comes off cartoonish and a bit over-the-top to the point of distraction.

If you’ve seen The Exorcist you may understand where I’m coming from when I say this film lacks the intensity and realism of the classic, but if you haven’t seen The Exorcist, check out The Possession before you become de-sensitized like me!

reviewed by Sean McKnight

A movie about the movie Nosferatu essentially, Shadow of the Vampire is a really interesting angle as to what happened behind the scenes. The story revolves around the filmmaker Friedrich Murnau (portrayed by John Malkovich) and his obsession with realism while making Nosferatu. So much so, that he hires a vampire to play an actor playing a vampire. Did you get all that? It took me a minute there too, but I think it’s brilliant nonetheless.

The cast and crew have no clue as to the true identity of the actor portraying Nosferatu – Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe) as he’s a method actor who constantly stays in character. They’re all supposed to respect his methods so they play along even though they start disappearing or becoming “ill” on set.

One of the cool visual aspects to the film (besides the amazing old castle sets and spot-on wardrobe design and makeup) is the way the film blends from current state to what the film ended up looking like – black and white with a tight iris, grainy quality, and shutter-spuddering speed to it. It plays like the original from 1922.

Everything about this film is tight – the writing, directing, editing, acting, everything. It looks like it was a blast to make and the actors are amazing to watch. John Malkovich is arrogant, crazy, obsessed, and just amazing as Murnau. He should be with WIllem Dafoe setting the bar as Max Schreck / Nosferatu. I’d say this is his tour-de-force performance but he’s had numerous so we’ll just add this one to the list. Udo Kier and Cary Elwes and Catherine McCormack are all engaging actors and play their roles with great flair and style as does the excellent Eddie Izzard.

Original, interesting and highly recommended, check it out.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

Although it’s not the best named film from a marketing standpoint, don’t let the title fool you, Layer Cake is a suspenseful drug-fueled, intense thriller. Akin to Snatch (but a bit more straight-forward stylistically) the story of Layer Cake revolves around deals gone bad, revenge, double-crosses, lunatics with bad tempers, and a problematic love triangle. Interested yet?

The writing is well put together with some expected plot points; most stories like this feature some of the same story-driving components. However, what’s interesting here are the twists, which there are a number. No spoilers, you’ll just have to watch out for them; one thing I will tell you is that there are more than one.

Style-wise, the visual elements are reminiscent of a European film, there’s a slickness and grittiness to it at the same time. The opening sequence with Daniel Craig’s VO is especially enjoyable to watch as the environment morphs and unfolds. They use technology well to draw you in with some great motion graphic effects.

Speaking of Craig, he plays the lead with no name and plays it well. Not so much Bond-like in here (this is from 2004 by the way), a bit more vulnerable and unsure of himself but trying to be smart and confident at the same time. He pulls it off well. There’s some great support with Tom Hardy before he was Bain and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore from the Harry Potter films) among a strong cast.

On a side note, this film’s got a pretty cool soundtrack to boot.

You can catch this one On-Demand, it’s definitely worth a look see.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

Since I recently reviewed The Dark Knight Rises, which is being heralded as the pinnacle of the Dark Knight series and a brilliant conclusion to Chris Nolan’s epic trilogy, I thought I’d go in the opposite direction and review Batman and Robin.

Unfortunately, this particular film is considered the opposite to Nolan’s vision in many ways. Meaning, while his series is among the best comic book movies of all time, this particular installment in the series would be the worst. And when I say worst, I don’t mean just as a comic book movie, I mean one of the worst movies, ever.

Let’s break it down…

Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin is much more akin to the TV series from back in the day than it is like the current version. B&R is cheesy, has some of the hokey camera angles, and it looks like they raided the TV show’s set for some of the costume designs albeit slightly more modern. While the TV show had a campy charm, this just comes off cheesy in terms of design and presentation.

Then there’s the acting. Most of the actors put in performances that are just way over the top (see Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy) or patched together with constant one-liner moments (see Ahhh-nuld Schwarzengger as Mr. Freeze) that just don’t add anything other than empty catch-phrases to an already lame script. Clooney as Batman / Bruce Wayne just doesn’t work either. George Clooney is a good actor but is wasted here as he just sort of phones this one in and plays his standard George Clooney. No need to waste too much time typing out how bad Chris O’Donnell and Alicia Silverstone are, so I’ll stop there.

Soooo lame script, lame direction, lame acting, lame, lame, lame…

The only favorable comparison I can make between this version and The Dark Knight Rises is that they both have Batman and Bain. That’s about it. This best thing we can do is just continue to watch the Chris Nolan versions while we try to forget this one ever happened.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

Pixar continues to hit ‘em out of the park with their latest endeavor Brave. Brave is the story of Merida, a young princess trying to reclaim her life from her obsessive mother who rules over every aspect of her life, including who she marries. Merida decides to take control and sees a witch to help by providing her with a spell that will change her fate by changing her mother. Her mother changes, but not in the way expected and the 2 are forced to work out how to get past the tests they both end up facing as a result of their choices.

Sounds deep, right? It kind of is really, surprisingly so actually. That’s one of the things I love about Pixar’s work, is the rich layering. Not just visually, but storyline, character development, everything, they’re just so damn good at everything. Brave is no exception as the story is one we’ve heard before but told in a fun, compelling and even philosophical way when you get to think about in retrospect.

Visually, Pixar just keeps raising the bar in terms of tech achievements with this environment being so natural and realistic looking it’s hard not to think these things are digital, not organic. The details and richness of the environment and animation is stunningly well done. One of the things they’re particularly good at is the subtle things. Like the way people’s faces move to convey emotion, it’s especially pronounced in here with the way the characters react and gesture with their faces. So good you don’t notice it as being this artificial, animated image, and that’s the point.

The voice over talent is great and includes: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson. The directing and storytelling style are up to Pixar’s usual standard and don’t disappoint.

This is a good one for adults and older kids (it is PG by the way, not G), worth seeing it in the theater if you can catch it.

reviewed by Sean McKnight