Reviews

With the current steady increase in Western knowledge of and interest in the Japanese supernatural, I think this film could earn a much wider audience. It's the tale of a samurai who encounters two fishermen who have trapped a mischievous tanuki and tell him they plan to kill and eat it. (Tanuki, or raccoon dogs, are real Japanese animals, but they are also a common form taken by shapeshifting prankster yokai, and this is one of those.) In his late wife's honor, the samurai buys the creature from the fishermen and sets it free. That night the tanuki, in the form of a human girl, appears in his room telling him of its gratitude and promising to protect him forevermore. Meanwhile, the samurai's no-good, drunken, womanizing son is plotting with his girlfriend to do away with dad and inherit his fortune... but the supernatural protector isn't having that! There follows a cavalcade of murders, apparitions, plots and counterplots, and a final battle in which a slew of classic yokai show up to wreak havoc. It is great, spooky fun, with a very satisfying ending. I wouldn't call it horror, but any fan of the "Yokai Monsters" films or Miyazaki's "Pom Poko" will feel right at home with it.

In every way this film improves on its immediate prequel, The Force Awakens. I attribute that to the previous film's careful, almost shot-for-shot recreation of Episode IV, the original SW film. While I enjoyed TFA a great deal, and I understand the reasoning of essentially rebooting the franchise by reintroducing all its main themes and plot points, it did feel a bit over-familiar to a long-time fan. But The Last Jedi takes off from that beginning at top speed and delivers an exciting ride full of twists, dangers, spy missions, humor (rather a lot of that!), possible romance, and drama. Mark Hamill is excellent as a bitter and reclusive older Luke who slowly rediscovers his hope for the future. The new characters all step up to stronger roles, with an intriguing subplot between Rey and Kylo Ren and a great turn by new arrival Rose. There are important discussions on the workings of the Force and the place of the Jedi, and an ending that seems to leave the Resistance at its lowest ebb but contains great hope from unexpected sources. I did think it tried a bit too hard to be snarkily funny, and it plays very fast and loose with physics, but i don't think those are major flaws in a film that is so very much fun.

--Seriously. When I saw Massawyrm at Ain't It Cool News say this, I wasn't quite sure how it could be so, but having seen it I agree completely. A lone man of peace on a spiritual quest, whose disciple in turn takes up his blade (not gun!) and carries on the fight? Classic. Look at the visual design and choreography of the hand-to-hand fight scenes; absorb Washington's beautiful performance as the calm, ascetic Eli, all soft-spoken certainty, not some evangelical fanatic but a true warrior mystic. Even the trope in which an evil man tries to steal spiritual power and pays a dear price is more East than West. Don't get so hung up on the surface religious aspects of this one that you lose sight of its true soul; pay close attention to the bookshelf.

I honestly thought he would treat this much-loved and admired classic with some respect. Guess I'm naive. It certainly looks gorgeous, but that's almost regrettable in a film that's otherwise so utterly, grindingly, gone-to-hell stupid. Awful performances (except by Gabriel Macht as Our Hero, who looks great with his wide earnest eyes and buff physique, and handles the lines about his love for the city with fine, tough conviction), jaw-droppingly overdone dialogue, what seems like hours of totally unnecessary comic material ...man, it's just dreadful, and a great disappointment to me. If I ever buy the DVD I'll only watch it with the sound turned off.

Poor Will Eisner must be spinning in his grave tonight.

Nasty and mean-spirited. Only one sympathetic character in the whole thing, and he doesn't survive. Some of the native DC paranoia bits are funny, but when you can't care if a single person in the film gets what he or she wants, it's hard to enjoy any of it. I know lots of people love "The Big Lebowski", but I know what I thought of it: unpleasant people doing awful things to each other for no good reason at all. This one's much the same.

I swear, the Coens are brilliant when they're good, but when they aren't.... phew. And this is the only Coen film I've ever walked out on.

Now that I've seen "The Happening" I'm genuinely puzzled by the bad reviews I've been reading. I think this is a fine, tense, frightening film, filled with an overwhelming sense of mystery and dread. Reminiscent (to me) of both "The Birds" and "The Blair Witch Project", it sets the inexplicable forces of Nature Herself against us, and if you've ever wondered what might happen if the Earth finally did get sick and tired of us, well, so apparently has M. Night. I'm sure I've never seen a film where the ordinarily peaceful sounds of rustling leaves and wind blowing through the grass became so fearsome. Yes, there's no explanation for what happens (of course not: if something like this did happen, what explanation could we possibly get, and who from? the Delphic Oracle?); yes, the deaths are shocking, though not excessively gory; but it seems to me that the film devotes all its energy to a single-minded paring down of the cast to one small, simple family group, and leaves its single note of hope right there. With stark, spare cinematography and top-notch sound editing, this is one keen little razor of a cautionary tale, with an oh-my-god final sequence.

For many months I had no hopes for, or interest in, this movie whatever, expecting just another explosion-loaded summer gadget-fest for the tech fanboys. When I heard the buzz on Downey's performance I decided to see it, but I still had no expectations in particular. Well, I got a surprise and then some, because this is one heck of a smart, funny, rockin' movie. It has huge kinetic energy, and stays on course throughout, never sinking into the trap of a long, dumb, drawn-out special-effects brawl (I'm looking at you, X-Men III); the Iron Man suit is a ***real suit*** from the wonderworks of Stan Winston, not CGI, thank heaven!; music choices are very cool (Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized", yeah!); casting and acting are excellent (Gwyneth Paltrow gets high marks); and Downey's performance is simply a marvel--pun only half intended!--perfect from start to finish. From his fast-talking hyperactive demeanor and the edgy, nervous intelligence of his eyes to his expressive face and understated body language, he really IS Tony Stark, completely believable as a high-tech genius used to living on his mind and nerves (and alcohol) alone. (I'm guessing the buff physique is just something he cultivates to make sure he looks good in those expensive suits.) Playing Stark as a wired 21st century media star instead of the outdated stereotype of the suave high-living playboy is a brilliant stroke, and his crisis of conscience is completely convincing without being at all maudlin or overdone. --Downey's just great in this, and I publicly apologize for not having had any confidence in him, cos this could not have been played better.

To top it off, it's even got a relevant and topical anti-military message, raises touchy subjects like American foreign policy and war profiteering, and has a surprise cameo after the credits (do not leave early!) that raises all sorts of speculations for the future. =)

---Man, I had the best time at this movie. It's a complete kick, and much, MUCH better than I expected.

What an insane movie! I saw it in a criminally tiny Saturday afternoon audience (four people) and we all had a terrific time. Don't expect sense, great acting or original dialogue, just go for the kicks and enjoy. A totally deranged, over-the-top splatfest with hideous viral deaths galore, some of the best post-holocaust punk makeup and chase scenes since Road Warrior, brilliant use of 1980's dance music (Adam and the Ants, Frankie Goes to Hollywood--the placement of Siouxie and the Banshees' "Spellbound" and a Fine Young Cannibals track at the punk barbecue is simply inspired), a coliseum battle-to-the-death, a bizarre interlude in a Scottish fiefdom that feels as if the movie took a fast detour into the Shire, and the coolest star turn by a UK car since Harry Potter's posse made one fly. All of it snapping and crackling with so much kinetic energy and wild creative freedom that it's hugely exhilarating. We were still giggling like maniacs an hour after the movie.=) It's just such fun to see a director decide to go full-speed over the edge like this. It's not great art, but trust me, if you enjoyed Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Planet Terror, Escape from New York/L.A., and/or any recent zombie movie, you can't miss this one.

This is a film that will make you ask some big questions. Questions like 'what creates people with no human feelings?' and 'what can one person do about the existence of true evil? is there anything? should one try?' Tommy Lee Jones' character, honest and decent Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, is a long-time lawman from a long line of lawmen, but the kinds of crime and criminals he faces these days have left him emotionally, mentally and spiritually exhausted and bewildered. (--Like, I dare say, a lot of us.) His helplessness in the face of the grisly handiwork of the superbly played, formal and ice-cold psychopath Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem--and I will throw things at the screen if he doesn't win Best Supporting Actor for this stunning performance) is for me the emotional bedrock of this movie. I know people are impressed by Josh Brolin in this film, and I agree he's good, but for me his performance had nowhere near the complexity and subtlety of either Jones' or Bardem's: one good man whose moral compass no longer gives him the guidance he needs, and one man so simply relentless that for him good and evil are decided by the toss of a coin. They're not so much adversaries as polar opposites, the forces of law and chaos playing against each other at a distance, and I'm glad the Coens didn't settle for some falsely conclusive confrontation between them. It's a movie that doesn't give answers because there may not be any, a movie with no winner or loser; a movie that sets these painful questions in a gorgeous southwestern landscape and just looks at them, and helps you look at them too.

I love the Coen Brothers' work (well, except for "The Big Lebowski"), and I set this one right up on the shelf with their best. It's one I think no thoughtful person should miss.

A gripping, utterly ruthless performance by Day-Lewis that definitely deserves acclaim, but a script with no narrative arc, no resolution of anything, just a dead-end stop in nihilistic gore. Is that it? the single-minded pursuit of profit destroys sanity and morality? that's all we get?

I can hardly believe that I've seen this film compared to "Citizen Kane". There's no sense of epic futility and loss here, not even the soul-aching bewilderment of Sheriff Bell's last lines in the also-open-ended "No Country for Old Men". It just...ends. All we can do is hope the butler knows who to call next.

Not even CLOSE to Best Picture of the year.

I was really looking forward to this movie, and it didn't disappoint me a bit. It's got everything I hoped for: an original monster, a breathtaking pace, genuine shocks and scares, some poignancy, some mystery, and absolutely no snarky condescension or cheesiness. This is a stripped-down, kick-ass dynamo of a movie experience unlike any giant creature flick I've ever seen, and I've been watching them since the 70s. It takes a little time to set up and get rolling, but once it's out of the gate it doesn't let up for a moment. The use of the hand-held camera gives it terrific immediacy and believability, since we see only as much of the creature and its rampage as the characters underfoot do. They're a pretty typical batch of well-heeled kids, used to getting immediate information on everything, and when they're suddenly plunged into violent chaos they react with terror and confusion. Yet despite that, they attempt a heroic rescue, acting with the kind of courage ordinary people show in the face of disaster every day. (Yes, some sequences do evoke the imagery of 9-11, but I wish people would quit sounding so indignant about that; surely it's off the sacred list and into the pool of legitimate film topics by now. The Cloverfield/9-11 = Godzilla/Hiroshima analogy ought to be enough to settle the point.) I liked them a lot more than I expected to (in fact I completely choked up when one character had to give his mom some very bad news) and felt completely pulled into the headlong rush of the story. It's as convincing a portrait of an event like this as I can imagine, and will leave you gasping for breath. I only have two credibility quibbles, in fact: the overly-helpful soldier and the apparent army of available helicopters. But those are minor. [[--I'm not going to say anything about the monster, except that it's none of the things people have been speculating it was, it's 100% cool, and I can't wait for the action figure.]] --I can't imagine anyone who really loves daikaiju cinema being disappointed with this: it's a fine, scary piece of work. Too nihilistic? Could be, but these are dark times, and we already know this film was intended to mirror the right-now dread and tension of our War on Terror landscape. There's no reassurance from those in power, the military doesn't know any more than the characters do, and all you get in return for facing the worst is the close-up rush of the adventure. Which, after all, may be all you ever get.

I've always wanted to watch these two as a double feature, but never got around to it until they showed up in tandem on "TCM Underground". Hard to believe, but JJMFD --which should be JJMFGD, as mad Maria is the Baron's granddaughter, not his daughter--actually makes the Dracula flick look orderly and coherent by comparison. Despite a few unexpected touches of actual Old West research, it's a total mess of incoherence and head-scratching absurdity. Casa Frankenstein is portrayed in all long shots by the same very obvious matte painting, brains that were apparently brought all the way from Austria (Austria?) are left sitting out on the shelf in the Southwestern heat, no one can maintain their foreign accents for more than a line at a time, and the lab setup is so ridiculous--painted military helmets and an assortment of zapper-doodads--that all one can do is laugh at it. Despite a wooden performance as Jesse by John Lupton, both the female leads throw themselves at him (we suspect this serves to deflect any possible snickers about the relationship between the outlaw and his hunky, bare-fisted-boxing sidekick). Nestor Paiva came a long way from playing the savvy, knife-flashing Captain Lucas of the Rita in the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" series to this bit part as a saloon keeper, but still gives the role some integrity and substance. But the performance to watch--really, the only reason to watch this train wreck--is the memorably named Narda Onyx as Dr. Maria Frankenstein (not, for some reason, von Frankenstein). With her blazing eyes, impassioned delivery, long smouldering gazes at the beefy object of her research, and refusal to leave even the least twig of scenery unchewed, she's just delectable in this insane role (sadly, her last) and no fan of cinema-du-fromage ought to miss her performance. If only you didn't have to sit thru the rest of this movie to see it.

This thoughtless, reckless, noisy mess is an insult to the X-Men, their history, and anyone who has ever cared about them. I simply cannot imagine the line of thought that led to tossing aside one of the finest comic book story lines ever written--the deservedly famous Dark Phoenix Saga--in favor of this travesty. It would take me a lot more than 1000 words to go into any detail on just how much is wrong with this movie, not only as an X-Men adventure but even as competent film-making (is it day or night when Magneto performs his biggest stunt of the film? Why can't Rogue and Colossus hold onto their respective accents for more than a word or so per sentence? Why, for heaven's sake why, does Jean/Phoenix spend 90% of the movie JUST STANDING THERE?--except when doing things she would not, EVER, do?),--Man, it's sad to know Marvel has so little respect for one of its most successful and best-loved teams that it will let them be treated this way in public. (Yes, I know this movie made metric tons of woolongs last week. Yes, I know Marvel was thinking "ka-ching" and not "our beloved X-Men deserve the best". But...can't help but wince when the people you grew up with behave so heartlessly at the first excuse.) (Good things: 1. Kelsey Grammar's entire performance. 2: Ian McKellen's wonderful voice. Bad things: Everything else. I mean everything.)

Can't help echoing a bunch of the other comments here; this is one of the most --maybe even THE most--fun, high-energy, and surprisingly touching and endearing movies in the rock-horror genre EVER. I would never have expected to use the words "touching and endearing" in reviewing a movie that contains so much gore and detonated skulls, but so help me Dead Elvis, this baby has its head and heart squarely in the right place. It sincerely BELIEVES in the life-saving power of true love, loyal friendship and rock'n'roll, and it puts itself on the line to prove it. Enough people here have run down the basic plot, so I won't: but, holy smoke you guys! Laser-beam-firing anti-zombie guitar picks! Flame-shooting microphones! Flame-shooting motorcycles! A magic whistle that calls The Coolest Garage Rock Band on Earth, Guitar Wolf (OWOOOO!) to your aid when all seems lost! Hordes of lurching blue zombies muttering "zuuunoo..." (yeah, that's Japanese for "braaiiin...")! and, geez, that transcendent moment when G. Wolf yanks a katana out of the neck of his guitar like that avenging sister in "Zatoichi" and **slices a spaceship in half**!! What more could you possibly want?! How about a wonderful little cross-gender romance? Got that, too!--and the moment when G. Wolf (who BTW I think does an excellent job of playing himself, as do his bandmates B. Wolf and D. Wolf) strikes a heroic stance and counsels our hero, Ace, to believe in love and not in boundaries made me cheer out loud. I guess people who like their zombie movies grim and ugly won't care for it (their loss); but anyone who loved "Six-String Samurai" or "Samurai Fiction" or the BRILLIANT anime "Samurai Champloo" ought to love this (it's got some zombies too); anyone who loves "Rock'n'Roll High School" ought to love this; aw heck, anyone who believes in the power of rock'n'roll ought to love this. Do not miss it. You will automatically become cooler just by spending time with this little gem.

It's plain to see which side of the life-and-death divide Tim Burton's heart is on. The living, in Cousin Tim's universe, are stuffy, status-obsessed, grey people who frown upon music, deviations from the norm, and the frivolous notion that couples about to wed should--the very idea!--LIKE each other! Whereas downstairs in the land of the dead, skeletal barkeepers sing up a storm, there's hot jazz, dancing, bright colors, and (maybe not so surprisingly) very warm hearts. Heck, the dead even have cuter dogs (a common Burton theme and true again here). Victor, a very proper young man so non-morbid that he collects--and then releases--butterflies, accidentally finds himself married not to his living fiancée Victoria, but to the winsome and lovely Emily--whose only failing as a wife is her residence outside this mortal coil. (Tell ya the truth, though, he's not good enough for her; he's just too uptight, and the never-ending party vibe in the Ball & Socket Tavern seems to give him, well, butterflies.) How did sweet Emily end up a Corpse Bride? Will she be avenged? Can Victor and Victoria find their way back to each other and a subdued, proper, contented (but bloody boring!) life? You will have a great time finding out, cos this is a complete gem, funny, touching, dark and sweet, with the prettiest ending I've seen in years. It really did make me both laugh and cry, and I hardly ever get to say that. Tim, darlin', I forgive you for Willy Wonka; this one will go straight into Goth hearts worldwide and last for ages. (footnote: kids in the crowd we saw it with actually got up and danced in the aisles to the cookin' jazz in the closing credits! ever see THAT before? maybe the dead can even show us living stiffs how to have a good time. =)

With 1998's "Cowboy Bebop", one of the most acclaimed anime TV series ever (go read the comments index for it here on IMDb if you don't believe me!), Shinichiro Watanabe became a creative force to watch out for. The innovative energy, drama and beauty of "Bebop" are carried forward in his second original series, "Samurai Champloo". Fans have been quick to look for similarities between "Bebop" and "Champloo" (even the titles have clear parallels), and it's true there are some: the assembly-of-rootless-loners cast of characters, the dramatic and cinematic visual style, and especially the importance and integration of music into the storytelling mix--in SC's case, everything from hip-hop beatboxing to Ainu and Okinawan folksong. But "Champloo"'s differences from "Bebop" are much more interesting than its likenesses. "Bebop" is drenched in melancholy and regret, dreams of the lost past and the future that couldn't be. "Champloo" is all about facing the future, the wave of change, the onrush of history that can't be stopped, and how three kids from widely diverse backgrounds--not even friends when they set out-- find themselves right on the crest of that wave. We're in Edo Period Japan; since 1638 the Tokugawa Shogunate has banned contact with all countries except China and Japan, a ban that lasted two centuries. The outside world can't be kept outside forever. Even the long-respected samurai class is losing its power, and there's restlessness in the land plus accompanying pressure from the Shogunate on all sides. Through this uneasy landscape (rendered in lushly beautiful watercolors that might remind you of Miyazaki) wander our cast of characters: outlaw ronin Jin, a gifted swordsman, stoic, disciplined and heartbreakingly gorgeous, devoted to the bushido code but exiled for killing his sensei; Okinawan wild-boy Mugen, orphan, former pirate and brilliant innovator, whose fighting style mixes everything from Brazilian capoeira to break-dancing, and whose feral-child innocence faces the toughest tests in the series; and teahouse waitress Fuu, spunky, compassionate and packing a lot of secrets, who rescues the two swordsmen from the executioner's block and enlists them on her quest to avenge her mother's death. On their long walk from Edo to Nagasaki they'll see a lot, face a lot of trials, starve, quarrel, save each other's lives, break up, re-bond, and become inseparable. Except that Jin and Mugen still swear they'll fight to the death one day, and no one (not even Fuu) is saying anything about the Sunflower Samurai, the object of Fuu's quest.

Have I made this sound like a straight historical drama? I ought to mention that it can be hysterically funny as well as vividly bloody, contains knockout fight scenes and anachronisms by the carload (the aforementioned break dancing and beatboxing, Jin's Armani glasses, the appearance of landmarks not built till the 1900s...), has made me cry more times than any anime since "Bebop", and has sharp things to say about the heavy hand of authority and tradition on groups as diverse as gay men, married women, foreigners, aboriginal natives and illegal aliens. It's unfailingly beautiful to look at (well, 95% unfailingly) and listen to, delectably well-written, and simply brilliant. When it gets to America, go find it.

If, like me, you think Lupin III's gang are just as engaging characters as the master thief himself, this is definitely one of the movies for you. Like 2002's "Episode Zero: First Contact", which tells the story of the gang's first meeting from the viewpoint of Jigen Daisuke, this story is focused on another member of the crew, the enigmatic samurai Ishikawa Goemon. About to marry, Goemon finds his bride and her dowry both abducted by the Fuma ninja clan, and must--with the help of wedding guests Lupin and Co.--battle through all obstacles to get her back. I'm biased here, as deadpan Goemon has long been my favorite member of Lupin's crew, but I honestly think there's enough Lupin hijinks here to keep his fans happy as well. Car chases galore and the dogged but humane determination of Inspector Zenigata keep the energy high throughout. If you like animated martial arts action, though, this is the primo Lupin movie for your collection, as Goemon is the star and fights several terrific sword battles. Extra-cute character designs and fluid animation by Tokyo Movie Shinsha add to its charm. A real treat.

I'm seeing far too much use of the words "corny" and "cheesy" to suit me here. There was VERY little cheese in this flick as I understand the word (and I am a devotee of MST3K, so I think I know cinema du fromage when I see it). OK, so maybe we've seen enough movies with Nazis as occultist villains: still, Mignola wrote it that way, and I am happy to see a movie follow its source material so closely (points for including a Spear of Destiny that looked just like the bloody real thing!). I have seldom seen Lovecraftian monsters done so effectively--only LOTR's Watcher in the Water comes close. (And as a lifelong Creature from the Black Lagoon fan, I was personally delighted to see old Blacky updated as a bookish recluse with a Threepio accent.) I thought Perlman's world-weary, stoic workingman attitude was *far* from the melodramatic, "tortured lone hero" pose that some are accusing him of--he's just a hardworking guy who's unlucky in love and tired of watching TV alone with his kittycats. (Nowhere near the stock, pasted-on torment of a cardboard character like Blade, IMHO.) I suppose one *could* say that having him fight off monsters with one hand while saving a box of kittens with the other was corny, but (a) we already knew he loves cats, and (b) it was sweet, darn it! C'mon! Show me where it says big red bruisers can't do the sweet thing sometimes. =) I'll even admit that the last five minutes had me scratching my head--I get really tired of the "Vast Enormous Evil Universe-Destroying Ritual Foiled At The Last Instant" plot--but, well...

Overall I just loved this movie. It is so good-natured and well-intended (all Hellboy's important motivations spring from love for someone), its humor is so gentle, and it just doesn't have that cold hard internal edge that I am so weary of in big SFX action movies (Blade, Blade II, Underworld, ad nauseam..) . Like its hero, it's a big powerhouse with a soft heart.

I've seen a lot of vampire films but never one like this. Tense, dark tale of a pregnant girl who thinks she's selling her unborn child to a rich family with inheritance issues but comes to realize that what they really need is something a whole lot worse. With terrific use of color AND lack of color (look how the scenes in Claire's house are all shot in the same bleached-out reddish sepia, like partly-washed-out bloodstains), neat twists on Gothic horror conventions, nasty use of garden implements, and an overall Blair-Witch-meets-Texas-Chainsaw vibe of unnerving low-budget conviction, this is a cheap but effective little chiller. Vamp fans who've stayed in the familiar Eastern European and urban American traditions should definitely give this Filipino-based oddity a try.

There's just no excuse for this. It takes the script of "Dance of the Damned" and remakes it virtually line-for-line and scene-for-scene, with much worse actors (Charlie Spradling doesn't even approach the vulnerability and desperation of Starr Andreeff in the same role, nor is she as good a dancer), with gratuitous fight scenes pasted in and the best touches pointlessly removed, and gives the original --to which it is 90% identical-- no credit whatsoever. Shameful in the extreme.

If you like this one, you need to see the far superior original (it is available on VHS) and experience what this movie is really supposed to be. If you don't like this one, you have taste, and I imagine you've seen "Dance of the Damned" already. Good for you.

(p.s.--I applaud kipper-2 who recommends Denise Duff's performance in "Subspecies 4" as a superior portrayal of the suffering vampire. I second that recommendation and add a rave for Duff's work in ALL the Subspecies films. She is a gem.)

Anyone who's read my Subspecies reviews knows I'm a big fan of those films and of the work of Denise Duff, so I was really looking forward to the arrival of this project. Well, I have to say it's not great, but I'm willing to cut Duff some slack; it shows a lot of style for a first project, she's clearly been a careful student during her projects with Full Moon, and I'll definitely be interested in any further directing work by her.

Though at FM she only worked on the Subspecies series, this movie seems more influenced by FM's other, more Gothic vampire epic "Vampire Journals", with James Horan as Jonathan almost a dead-ringer (sorry) for that film's Jonathan Morris as Ash (hmm, name coincidence?). Good-guy vampire Jonathan, whose lover Caroline died in his arms at the hand of a jealous husband, seeks her reincarnation and finds her as modern-day Victoria Thorn (Duff). No doubt Victoria is the one: she's not only been having nightmares of Caroline's death using the exact same footage we see in Jonathan's flashbacks, but she also has a jealous husband, this one a murderous psycho who's just gotten out of jail and serves gruesome notice that he has no plans to respect the judge's restraining order. --You can see exactly where this is going to go, but it's fun to watch it get there. Duff knows how to sell a vampire film: she wants to make a Gothic romance, but also knows you have to toss in some gore and nudity to keep the stake-and-slash crowd happy, and manages a fair (though not ideal) balance of the two elements. It's also a kick to spot the little Subspecies homages tossed in here and there, like the documentary on "Prince Vladislas of Romania" and the Nicolaou's Used & Antique Books shop. --The pacing's slow, some of the acting is dire (especially: Duff really should have reined in Mr. Thorn's teeth-gnashing psychotics), there are some awful lighting/scene matching glitches, and the token attempt at historical backstory is so lame it made me cringe (excuse me? crossbows and voodoo priestesses only 100 years ago? That's 1903!) But overall I enjoyed it; Horan and Duff are likeable and convincing in the leads, there are some nice visuals, and I'd call it well worth the time of any fan of Full Moon's vampire tales. I congratulate Duff on getting this project on the shelves and hope she will direct again in this vein (--sorry, couldn't resist).

(p.s.--I *loved* the careful note in the end-credits assuring the viewer that the role of "dead cat" was played by a slipper.)

This is a real find, a sharp, noir tale of isolation and loneliness on both sides of the mortal divide. Stylish compositions and lighting, made more effective by a storyline set entirely at night, shape the story of Stephen, a world-weary, centuries-old vampire drawing closer to his longed-for death by feeding only on already-dying women. The victims remain alive but develop an intense bloodlust which soon wraps the city in an epidemic of slasher murders, each needing blood at the same time as all the others (in a striking scene, one woman, trapped in prison at the moment that her sisters are killing, desperately tears open her vampire wound and drinks her own blood). Only the latest victim, Michelle, a terminal cancer patient with whom Stephen has fallen in love, is spared the craving. Michelle tries to save Stephen, but soon both the police and her jealous husband are closing in... The frequently half-naked female hunters add a fetishistic touch (but there's plenty of male nudity as well), and scene after scene takes place in red-walled rooms or tiny pools of light surrounded by pitch-black, neon-studded darkness and wet gleaming streets, lending an overall stark and haunting vibe. If you're a vampire fan but plush Gothic romances and big-budget killfests both leave you yawning, seek this one out.

Reading through the preceding comments it strikes me that many people are evaluating this film on what it's not. It's "not as good as Sixth Sense" or it's "not really about alien invasions and crop circles" or it's "not an action film like Independence Day" (--for which we should all be thanking our preferred version of the Supreme Being, in my opinion!) And many more are missing points that are perfectly clear (ahem: the reason Gibson's character doesn't want to use cusswords is because he was a minister, not because he's incapable of rage: his outburst to his kids later on is *perfectly* believable).--I don't know what movie all these folks saw, but the one I saw was one of the best this year, and doesn't need to apologize for anything it's not.

The phrase that keeps coming to my mind is Fox Mulder's "I want to believe." So much of this movie is about belief and faith, about people's willingness--and unwillingness--to believe. Graham Hess' loss of his wife has caused him to lose his faith, not only in God, but in life; he can't believe. Little Morgan unhesitatingly accepts a writer's speculations about the nature and intent of the alien invaders; he needs to believe. People around the world take shelter (as in the classic War of the Worlds, which is referenced) in places of worship. But M. Night is not leading us toward religious faith only, but toward a much wider sense that "there are no coincidences" --that there is reason to believe in fate, destiny, a vast and mysterious web that connects even the most seemingly unconnected details.

There is tremendous build-up of fear and suspense, and a surprisingly large dose of humor (Gibson in particular does topnotch work in that regard: I loved his "Raar! I'm insane with rage!" routine as he tries to intimidate what he thinks are trespassers, and his speech to the pantry door). The depiction of one family's response to a worldwide crisis --barricade yourselves indoors, devour reference books and watch CNN 20 hours a day; heck, I know I would--was completely believable. But the real process of the film is Graham's slow re-examination of his wife's death, especially of her last words, and his eventual understanding that they meant much more than they seemed to mean; that there really are no coincidences, and that even this seemingly random tragedy was a sign, with great meaning and gifts to give. It's not a head-snapping twist ending like the ones in Sixth Sense and Unbreakable (OK, there, even I did it =), but just as profound and breathtaking in its implications.

And that's not even mentioning the superb craft of the film itself, its sheer no-background-noise silence in which the least sound is magnified, its shadows and subtlety and use of patterns in everyday life to convey the sense of signs all around us. (--dig the curtains and the doorframe; dig the test pattern Merrill sees on the TV when all channels have ceased broadcasting; does any station in the USA still use those? but you know M. Night couldn't resist using it because of its wonderful arcane look, like a crop circle itself, or some sort of mystical sigil...)

From my new favorite director, a gem that deserves your attention.

I'll try to avoid echoing other comments here and cut straight to the chase: This is not perfect, but MAN it's so close. I had some trouble with the pacing, which seemed a bit slow to me--as if they weren't quite sure how to work with a feature-length timeframe; I'm still a bit hazy on just how the villain's threat was resolved, which I'm usually not after a CB episode; and gosh, *why* isn't "Tank!" on the soundtrack? Songs with words just don't cut it in a CB score. --But honestly, those seem like such small problems next to everything that's wonderful about this movie. It has all the stuff you love about Bebop the series: the brilliant, flashing action and fight sequences, the character interaction, Spike's nicotine jones =), the gorgeous cinematic visuals, and the dreamlike melancholy that underlies even the funniest moments. The villain, his grip on the fantasy/reality divide completely erased after a genetic experiment on Titan, makes a neat counterpoint to Spike, forever haunted by his dreams of the perfect future he once believed in. Jet's protective concern for his reckless teammates was never better painted than in a scene where he blusters about how much happier he was without any of them and couldn't care less where they are, only to pounce on the phone's first ring like a worried mom on date night. There's just a *little* more of Faye's skin for the fanboys (but only a very little bit more, honest! we're not talking topless here! x my heart!), Ed has a trick-or-treat encounter that would never make it to American TV, and even the Big Shot duo put in an appearance (despite having absolutely nothing to say).

It's not intended as a wrap-up or finale to CB the series; it occurs in between episodes and should be thought of that way, as an experimental episode both different from and similar to the original sessions. Kind of like an extended jam on an established theme, with improvisations, in the true bebop style.

Really can't add much to the knowledgeable original comment, but wanted to say what a handsome looking film this is, with striking, stylized sets and lighting. Even the slight fading of the Technicolor hues (at least in the print I saw) seemed more an asset than a failing. (And of course one has to give beauty marks to any film featuring the gorgeous Cyd Charisse!)-- Overall, just lovely to look at, especially the "Cyrano de Bergerac" sequence.