Hadean Reviews

Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)

The state of Hollywood movies...

[19 October 2001]

Don't you hate those movies that *could* be amazing but end up failing completely? I found myself feeling quite angry at the end of Riding in Cars with Boys, in large part because of the way addiction was portrayed. I don't consider addiction funny at all and I was really insulted by Drew Barrymore's performance. I hope that Beverly Donofrio's book is more realistic, I think the studio toned the addiction down for a PG rating. And for that I think it completely failed as a film.

Vincent (1982)

An amazing piece of work from Burton's earlier days!

[5 October 2000]

A friend sent me a digitized copy of this short film from the net... and I'm so glad he did! It's a wonderful, almost perfect, little film with so much imagination put into it! I especially love the mix between fantasy and reality, which is so much the craze nowadays... I only wish it could have been viewed by a larger audience, by, say, putting it as a short film at the start of one of Burton's feature-length claymation films.

New Nightmare (1994)

Not to bad.

[17 September 2000]

A better sequel to Wes Craven's original work then the previous 5 Nightmare on Elm Street movies. This one takes the original rules about Freddy and horror and twists them around a bit - interesting to watch at least. This and the original are the only worthy Nightmare on Elm Street movies (perhaps the third and Freddy's Dead if you're willing to stomach them). Not a great movie in the least, but if you like to watch Freddy Krueger, and don't mind some repetition from older aNoES movies, then this should be a good way to widdle some hours away.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Saved the best for last?

[17 September 2000]

I honestly don't think so. I may be getting old, but after watching this movie again since it first came out, I have to say that yes, it was a cute romp in the fields of olden-day horror, but it definitely wasn't the best of the Freddy-movies. The explanation of his killing was good, but the explanation of his becoming a super-natural monster was not... could the writer not think of any human-based story instead? It would have been much better if they could have used a myth that already has a lot of backstory then try to create an entirely new one that, in my opinion, was extremely weak (and looked just plain silly - was it just for 3D effects??) The early murder sequences seemed much too long, as if the director couldn't fit anything better in the movie (perhaps more scenes of the main character being inside Krueger's head would have been nice... speaking of that, did anyone see any similarities between Freddy and The Cell's serial killer? Horrible childhoods, self-mutilating, etc.? hmmm).

Anyway, like I said, good schlock horror movie (even with Roseanne and Tom in it), but definitely no memorable horror movie.

Frankenstein Unbound (1990)

A good try, but...

[17 September 2000]

I'm not sure, but it would seem that the director tried his darndest to create something honestly special and enthralling, but it would seem that it just didn't happen. A few notable problems being that:

1) There's obviously quite a lot of suspension of disbelief that must happen... unfortunately, though, when trying to comment on society, you should not be creating another world to create the comments in.

2) Where's the sympathy for the monster? It was the central theme of Mary's entire book, yet there is no feeling of pity for it.

3) When working in low budget movies, and trying to create a honest-to-goodness good work, it's generally best to avoid limbs being ripped off for no good reason (why would the monster bother to rip off it's own arm to attack someone when it is surrounded by steel pipes and machinery?)

Okay, I'll quit... While making the list, I realized there are a lot more things wrong then I had originally thought. Interesting idea that just didn't work (why does it remind me of Hellraiser 4: Bloodlines?? I don't think that's a good thing...)

Blue Steel (1990)

Femme Fatales...

[16 April 2000]

It would seem Kathryn Bigelow loves those Femme Fatales - my favourite being Angela Bassett from Strange Days. But anyways, back to Blue Steel - I loved the use of the colours, the "machoness" that Curtis could portray so well, the excellent use of the running chase seen, instead of the stereotypical car-chase seen in most cop movies, the amazing beginning and ending scenes... but I had a slight problem with the movie (that dropped it a notch or two): the development of the bad guy (Eugene) - although he did a great psycho, reminding me of Taxi Driver almost every time I saw him (not exactly a bad thing), didn't have much of a buildup - his back story was non-existent... actually, the same goes for Curtis' pretty-boy partner (who was probably cast simple for his looks, which is always a bad thing)...

Ah well, although slow (which is Bigelow's style), the movie has awesome (in the original sense) acting and editing.

Satan's School for Girls (2000 TV Movie)

Just finished watching it, and I wish I hadn't...

[13 March 2000]

The only good thing I can say about this movie would be that they didn't fall into the "witch's are evil" trap by calling the girls "satan worshippers" (even though I doubt the general public knows a difference)...

And for the bad... I could go on forever, but I just finished watching Ninth Gate, and, the story, in comparison, well, is extremely lackluster... It's nothing but a teenage (..) romp of culturely-defined beautiful women (who act fine for a TV movie) surrounded by bad script writing, cheezy clichés, and special effects that just didn't need to be there.

I feel bad for knocking a made-for-TV-movie, since we aren't expected to have a wonderful movie, but why does ABC have to push these clichés in our faces? They could have just replayed Rosemary's Baby if they wanted to show a movie about Satan.. (I've referred to two Roman Polanski movies in this review, is that a good thing?)

I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)

Fantastic Film

[14 July 1999]

This movie was written by Barbara Gordon and is the story of her Valium addiction, withdrawal and recovery.

This movie is really accurate in regards to the pharmacology of her addiction and its really excellent in the portrayal of the therapy process as well.

I think that it is one of those great movies that is *true*. The movie is about real life and it is fantastic. It has integrity as a film. The cast is exceptional, and I dig Dianne Wiest in this movie especially. I also really enjoyed Geraldine Page's character... she reminded me of Maude from Harold & Maude, another favourite movie of mine...

Oz (1997–2003)

Unbelievable moving television...

[30 June 1999]

Just by checking out the acting careers of half the actors in this show, you'll see that you will be moved by the characters on screen... I personally love that Sister Marie is from West Side Story, one of my favourite movies of all time (don't ask me why, it just is... I always loved Romeo and Juliet stories I guess - mmm, the actor who plays Augustus played Mercutio in R&J - weird)... Although IMDb doesn't show it, most of the actors here have stage experience, which I believe is a wonderful thing to have - with it, they can move the audience by their actions alone. The show, albeit disturbing at times, has so many tinges of reality (some of which we don't want to see) that it has made me cry on several occasions (and I don't cry easily, I may add). Sure, it may not be the most realistic prison drama, but it is a wonderful portrayal of humanity-in-a-bottle.

I suggest checking on HBO's site on the show, it has interviews and histories of most of the actors, which is definitely a good read for fans of this show...

Some people may think that rape, large amounts of drug use, crucifixion, slow/cruel murders, extreme violence, vulgarity, etc. are too much, but my opinion: Oz is attempting to show what happens in reality, and those things happen more often then we are led to believe (honestly)... And the best part, unlike other shows on television, the violence, sex, religion and language are not shown in any "bad" way (violence isn't shown as good, etc.) and so I believe that it should not be censored at all (for example, the vulgarity in a show like South Park, which I must admit I once liked, is praised in the show, without any feelings to what the words mean). eek, I just compared Oz with South Park, I think I'll stop writing now *sigh*

Foxfire (1996)

Another guy... who actually cried.

[22 April 1999]

I know women who have lived lives similar to the people in this movie, and it reminded me of them so much. This movie, which does contain some unoriginal pieces to it (which movies don't?), literally made me cry - I fell in love with it. The girls grouped together because they loved each other, and not for "lesbian" ways like some other people who've written on here have mentioned, but in a way of deep heartful respect and trust for each other. My girlfriend watched the movie with me (I first suggested the movie, by the way), and she cried as well, reminded of her past no doubt.

It was a lovely film of women coming of age, going through their rites of passage as it were, and was needed in our glut of male-only movies. I'm listening to the Colorado high school shootings now, and I feel that we need more of these rite of passage movies and less gun-toting movies, we need to get in touch with who we are as people... and this movie definitely touched on that subject well.

Return to Oz (1985)

Dark, grim, and more authentic then Wizard of Oz!

[7 January 1999]

Return to Oz starts off with Dorothy being depressed, and her aunt sending her to a quack psychiatrist who plans to use her for a test subject for his new electro-shock therapy... And the dark, grimness of the story spirals down from there... This movie was so unbelievable (and dark) that I can honestly say it shocked and moved me more than Wizard of Oz did (and I will go as far as to say that Fairuza Balk was a better Dorothy to boot). The movie is loosely based off of two of Baum's continuing Oz stories, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz and contains a complete new cast of characters, although the Tin Woodsman and Scarecrow show up for the finale. Anyway, the story deals with an evil Nome King who resembles the rock eating fella from Neverending Story II, a witch named Nombi and freakish, almost hallucinogenic baddies named Wheelers, since they "walk" around on long stilt-length lens connected to wheels... There's people turned to stone, talking chickens (well, one), deadly deserts and cinematography that is still really great! Although probably not suited for the young children (who might prefer happy singing and dancing), this movie is a great realization of Baum's stories, and a great movie altogether!!