Dead Silence (2007)

“Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children; only dolls. If you see her in your dreams, be sure you never ever scream; or she’ll rip your tongue out at the seam.” Oh yes, really scary. This ladies and gentlemen is the poem from the movie Dead Silence - one of my favorite horror movies. It’s about a ventriloquist who dies and comes back to haunt everyone who made fun of her.

Mary Shaw, the local ventriloquist in the sleepy town of Raven’s Fair, was accused of killing a young boy after one of her shows at the opera house. The little boy had made fun of her during her show claiming that he could see her lips moving. However, Shaw proved him wrong. After the show was over the little boy went missing and they accused Shaw. The town hunted her down and killed her, burying her in a cemetery with her so called “children.” These children were all of her dolls that she created by hand. She had over 100 vaudeville-like dolls. All but one doll was buried – Billy. Billy was a special doll that could talk and move on his own because he was made with human body parts.

Billy was left on the doorstep of Jamie Ashen’s apartment, but Jamie’s fiancée found him. She thought it was just a gift until it killed her in her own bedroom. Billy then followed Jamie around haunting him and his friends. Jamie was finding information about Mary Shaw and the doll, Billy trying to stop him. Jamie also went and talked to his father about Mary Shaw, for he lived during the time of Mary Shaw’s career. Mr. Ashen had a very odd coloring to his face and his girlfriend/housekeeper was very queer along with it. Jamie wasn’t too sure about her so he stayed quiet about sharing information.

Eventually a cop gets onto Jamie and tries to figure out what he is doing and if he killed his own fiancée. He figures out what he has to do in order to get rid of Billy and stop the madness in Raven’s Fair so he runs from the cop, leading him to the now abandoned opera house. There they find the hidden passage to Mary Shaw’s workshop along with every doll she has ever made in glass cases on the wall. The legend said that they were all buried, so why would they be on the wall? Mary Shaw put them there and made Billy. The cop ended up dead because he screamed when Mary Shaw’s ghost found him. Jamie manages to escape the opera house after he finds the body of the little boy that had gone missing oh so many years ago, along with pictures of everyone Mary Shaw had killed in order to use their body parts for her dolls.

The opera house burns down along with every doll and secret, except one – Billy. Jamie returns to the Ashen home to find his father slumped over in his wheelchair, not moving. He checks him out and his entire spine and inside are missing – he was turned into a doll. Who by, may you ask; The girlfriend and housekeeper who is a relative of the mad Mary Shaw. Jamie dies at the end of the movie when he figures this out.

As always, for a better synopsis, and pictures I recommend IDMB:

Got to say, even though it sounds completely foreshadowed and expected, none of this was able to be figured out. I didn’t see any of the parts coming. That’s why I love this movie so much. However, one of the reviews I read for this completely disagreed with me. They say the movie was, “More tasteful than recent slasher flicks, but Dead Silence is undone by boring characters, bland dialogue, and an unnecessary and obvious twist ending.” Not in my opinion! But hey, It’s just an opinion, right? No harm intended. To read more about this review here is the link: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dead_silence/#

Anyway, back to the movie. I would definitely recommend this movie to people in the mood for a good horror movie that will make them jump. It really makes you think about what is going to happen and what can’t happen in real life. Not like a doll will actually come after you and haunt you trying to kill you – HA! I honestly have to say it isn’t the best horror movie, but its high on my list. Stay tuned for more blogs by me, I promise better movies are to come!

Catch That Kid (2004)

Catch That WHAT!? Kid???? Is that the title?? Really? Interesting. Then I watched the movie. It kind of makes sense. I’ve never heard of this movie before, yet it has one of the most famous actresses starring in it. Of course, she was really young then, but who is this actress you may ask? It’s Twilight’s very own – Kristen Stewart.  The movie starts out showing Maddy, a young girl whose mother works as a bank security system creator, climbing a water tower.  Her friends help her father, who works as an announcer at a local go kart race track. Her father has a heart attack, later at home, and needs surgery that costs $250,000. Unfortunately, her family didn’t have the money and become very worried about him.

Maddy wants both of her friends to help rob the bank her mom is building the security system for, and they think she’s nuts. Both Austin and Gus (played by Max Thieriot and corbin Bleu) fight over Maddy throughout the entire movie. They both like her, but she doesn’t feel the same in return, she only thinks of them as good friends. She tricks them into helping her rob the bank by giving them each a half of a heart necklace, telling them she has the other half, when in reality, the boys have each others. (It was really amusing to watch that part.)

The next day, Maddy goes to work with her mom and takes pictures with her phone to get an idea of what goes on and how the system works. She is told all of the pass codes, which wasn’t a very smart idea. Gus is the one in charge of learning the floor plan. He goes to the bank and pretends to be an abused child who needs the floor plans for a project at school or he will be beaten by his father again. The woman at the front desk falls for it and gives him a giant sculpture of the building that was on display, since she cannot get a hold of the papers. Austin is in charge of the computer hacking, and the dogs that are part of the security system. He goes to a Rottweiler specialist to learn about them, but only ends up running out of the parking lot, terrified of them. After Gus get a hold of the model, Austin regenerates a holographic floor model (mind you, these are some smart kids!!!!), and shows Maddy and Gus where they have to do, and what is on which floor of the building.

The night of the party, Maddy has to babysit her baby brother, but she brings him along to rob the bank. They all meet up and sneak into the party, then climb to the second floor without being seen. They manage to get past both security guards and get to the vault. They were almost caught at least three times during the movie. Gus and Maddy finally get to the vault and realize there is no way to reach it. Gus then triggers a holographic ring to rise from the floor which triggers pull out safe deposit boxes from the walls, big enough that they could be steps. Maddy climbs up these boxes and then climbs using a crack in the wall all the way up to the vault, hanging from the ceiling. She breaks into it, after almost falling to her death, getting the $250,000 for her dad’s operation.

They get out of the building just in time to escape on go karts that Gus supped up that are just about as fast as a car. Right before they leave, the boys find out she lied to them about the necklaces and they leave her stranded to flee the bank alone. Unfortunately, they get caught by the police and they have to run. Thanks to Gus’s supped up go karts, they manage to escape the police, but then they realize that Maddy is still their friend either way, and they go back to help her.

The movie ends with Molly, Maddy’s mother, claiming that it was a test for the security system, and that it was planned. After the robbery was spilled out on the news stations, a giant line of people come to the race track and donate money to Maddy and her mother, giving them enough for Maddy’s father’s operation… AWW! Now isn’t that just an adorable ending? I still prefer horror movies. I might watch one for next weeks blog. Anyhow, I will, as always recommend IDMB as a better resource for information, so heres the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337917/

Which reminds me, I found an interesting blog/review about this movie by Roger Ebert (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040206/REVIEWS/402060302/1023) and he called it a “heist movie involving 12-year-olds.” I totally agree. It isn’t the message that children should be receiving in their young age, because it can lead them to breaking the law. Especially robbing a bank! He also says later, “Catch That Kid" doesn't have the flash of "Spy Kids," but it's solid entertainment -- better than "Agent Cody Banks.” I also, must agree with this. Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks were SO much more exciting than this movie. I must admit that this is not one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I would not suggest it to children because of the influence it gives. As Roger says, “A heist is a heist, and a good one works no matter what.” So TRUE!

Jennifer's Body (2009)

This week I took a step up from the comedy genre and went to semi-horror. This week I saw a very interesting movie called Jennifer’s Body. It stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, and Adam Brody. It’s about two teenage girls, one popular; the other not, who grew up together, are best friends, and go to the same high school. Jennifer Check is the popular cheerleader who is always the talk of the school and guys are always after her. Her not so popular best friend, Needy Lesnicky, dates Chip Dove and is looked down upon by everyone except her boyfriend and Jennifer.

A popular band, Low Shoulder, is playing at a nearby bar and Jennifer and Needy decide to go.  The bar ends up burning down during the band’s performance due to an alcohol spill and a spark from the guitarist’s amp. Jennifer and Needy meet the band outside and the band tries to take the two girls with them. Needy knows it is a bad idea and doesn’t go. Jennifer calls her a chicken (to be language appropriate), and leaves with them in their van. Along the way she realizes they are part of an occult and believe in witchcraft and myths. The band’s lead singer, Nikolai Wolf, leads them out into the middle of the woods; Jennifer bound and tied, where they stab Jennifer in the stomach after chanting an unknown ritual to turn her into a flesh eating monster.

                Jennifer goes missing for a few days, Needy beginning to wonder what happened to her, when Jennifer suddenly shows up at her house, covered in blood after killing a random person in the town. Needy helps her get cleaned up and lets her stay the night. Throughout the rest of the movie Jennifer seduces guys to meet her at a private location and kills them to keep her looking young. Needy begins hallucinating at the same time that Jennifer is feeding, because they share a bond through a golden heart , best friends, necklace, found around Jennifer’s neck. One of these hallucinations is when Needy and her boyfriend finally have sex, and she ends up leaving him high-and-dry.     

                Later, it’s the school dance (maybe prom?) and Jennifer finds Chip walking to the dance. She tells him lies about Needy and convinces him to go with her. They go to an abandoned building with a disgusting pool inside where Jennifer tries to eat him. Needy realizes it when she is waiting at the dance, Low Shoulder performing there. She runs off to find Jennifer biting down on his neck, blood spilling out of Chip’s neck. Needy tries to save him, but he ends up dying from the sever bite wound.  Needy decides to get revenge and breaks into Jennifer’s house, and stabbing her in the heart with a large box cutter. After that, the movie shows Needy in an insane asylum, breaking out, then going after Low Shoulder and killing them all. The credits roll, with images the police took of the murder scene – what a way to end it, right? HA! I don’t think so…

                Some of you may not agree to my summaries, but hey, I tell it like I see it. Once again, I have to suggest IDMB for summaries, since they are the number one review site. Here is the link to Jennifer’s Body review specifically, if you want their take on the movie, along with other random pictures I didn’t feel necessary to include in this blog. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1131734/

                Right after this movie, I became curious to see what other people had to say about it. So I started looking up and reading some interesting reviews about it when I came across one that compared the movie to Juno, a popular movie also directed by Diablo Cody, and Transformers, where actress Megan Fox also starred. The next few paragraphs I will just be quoting some of Jim Vejvoda’s blog on IGN, but to read it fully yourself, here is the link: http://movies.ign.com/articles/101/1019379p1.html

                Now then, Jim states in his blog that, “There's nothing remotely scary, original or even interesting about Jennifer's Body as a horror movie; there are no inventive kills, no building of tension, all the scenarios play out with dulling predictability, and the special effects are cheesy, TV-level quality.”  I HIGHLY disagree. There are some parts in the movie that made me jump, but others made me laugh, hence why it is called a HORROR-COMEDY. I will admit that I do agree with the special effects being cheesy, though.  Some you could tell that there were machines being used, like the floating at the end of the movie. You could actually see the clothing was being tugged on where the chords were holding them up – LAME.

                In conclusion, I think this movie was pretty good – I wouldn’t give it five stars, but it’s kind of entertaining to watch when you are bored at home, unless you are an extreme oh-my-god-i-am-in-love-with-megan-fox fan, then you are obligated to watch it. Tune in next week for another review. Hmm…maybe I’ll change it up a bit. You’ll just have to wait and see!

Mr. Deeds (2002)

Who-da-thunk it? Adam Sandler, a big time actor, playing a small town guy who falls in love with a woman who is working undercover as his girlfriend, after he inherits billions of dollars. Which movie is this I am talking about, you may ask? It’s “Mr. Deeds.”

                Longfellow Deeds, played by Adam Sandler, works as a pizza delivery guy in a small town and a part-time card poet. He learns that he is a distant relative of billionaire, Preston Blake. To fully inherit the 40 billion dollars, he moves to New York City, where Blake’s former associates and workers show him around the city and try to figure out how to get their hands on Deeds’ fortune. The news media soon hears of Deeds and Mac McGrath (producer of the show) wants the inside scoop. He sends Babe Bennett, played by Winona Ryder, undercover with the alias, Pam Dawson, to try to sweep Deeds off his feet. He quickly falls in love with her, even writing his own poem in a card for her. The night Deeds plans on proposing to her, Mac McGrath announces on the show that “Pam Dawson, Deed’s alleged girlfriend, is actually Babe Bennett, a producer here.” Longfellow Deeds then goes home, leaving his fortune and Bennett alone.

  

                Bennett soon realizes that she did fall for him, and goes to his hometown to confess and try to explain everything. She ends up falling into a frozen lake where she almost drowns, only to be saved by Deeds himself. They then find out that Blake’s former associates plan to shut down Blake Industries for good, taking the large fortune with them. Bennett shows up with Preston Blake’s diary where he states that he and his maid had an affair, and later a son was born. Turns out the son was actually Emilio Lopez, Blake’s butler.

                The ending to this movie was what was really interesting. It ended with Emilio giving Deeds 1 billion dollars, where Deeds spends it all on fire-engine red Chevrolet Corvettes for his entire hometown. One guy, who cannot see well, and is somewhat homeless, drives it right into a tree. Then the credits start to roll. What kind of ending is that?! I mean, yes, it was a comedy movie, but that wasn’t funny. For a better summary, I suggest going to IDMB, they probably have more details than I do because I don’t pay attention to detail so much as I do to mistakes and dumb acting in movies. Here is the link to their page on  Mr. Deeds: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280590/

                I read another blog earlier today by Gunther Heinrich on MadMind movie blogs. He had a very interesting take on the movie. He says that he could barely sit through the first 15 minutes of the movie because he thought it was so bad. I, on the other hand, could not tear my eyes away from the television screen, even though I thought it was a poorly made movie, too. To quote him exactly to help understand what he felt, he said the following: “Oh boy. This movie is not hard to swallow. It’s impossible to swallow. After 15 minutes I couldn’t continue to watch this shit and ruin my life by wasting my time on it.”  (Sorry for his language!)

                I continued reading this blog, only to find that Heinrich and I were very different. He says, “Those kinds of movies,” referring to romantic comedies, “ always use the same patterns which are in fact that much alike that even a nerdy Star Wars geek wearing glasses of epic proportions would have problems to spot the differences. On the one side we have the big city filled with moronic yuppies. They are smart, good looking and therefore astonishing assholes while wearing the well known “I’m with stupid”-t-shirt pointing to its wearer.” In my opinion, I think that anyone could understand even the sheerest stupidity, especially in this movie. To read more of Gunther Heinrich’s blog, here is the link: http://www.madmind.de/2010/02/28/an-endureview-mr-deeds/

                In conclusion, I think that Mr. Deeds was an overall OK movie. I wouldn’t recommend it to people to watch unless they were an Adam Sandler freak, of course. I can honestly say I do not have a favorite part, because it wasn’t completely interesting to me. This is because I’m more of a horror/thriller kind of person, not comedy or romantic comedy.  Watch it if you want to, or not that’s cool too. Just a reminder to come back next week for another Cina-Blog!