Movie Scum

Written by: Digger Environmentalists will tell you that cars are evil. Now, almost all motor vehicles are inanimate objects, incapable of making any kind of moral or ethical decisions of their own, but when they do, cars usually are evil. Christine comes to us from the mind of Stephen King , which makes sense as the story is basically the same one as Carrie , but with a little Maximum Overdrive flare. The film is directed by John Carpenter , and stars a lovely 1958 Plymouth Fury as the titular character.* It is never made clear in the movie why the car is magically alive and has such a bad temper, but Christine's murderous rampage apparently began as soon as she rolled of the production line, smashing one man's hand with her hood, then killing another factory worker in her front seat. After this opening scene, the film jumps to 1978 in some random, all-american neighborhood where Arnie ( Keith Gordon ) and Dennis ( John Stockwell ) are on their way to school. The two

Written by: Digger This is the classic story of "Boy Meets Girl" except the boy is hearing a voice in his head guiding him on a revenge quest as he slowly transforms into a monster. The Beast Within is based on Edward Levy's novel of the same name and begins with something that, I have to admit, took me a little off guard. The film begins with Eli MacCleary ( Ronny Cox ) driving through Nioba Mississippi in the middle of the night with his wife Caroline. ( Bibi Besch ) Eli misses his turn and gets his car stuck in the mud, so he has to walk to the nearest gas station for a tow truck. (life sucked before we had cellular phones) While he's away, Mrs. MacCleary's dog runs out of the car and she goes chasing after it. She finds the dog, mangled beyond all recognition and is chased by a creature in the woods. She knocks herself out by running into a tree, and then, BAM, monster rape. We're not even ten minutes in and we've got a slimy beasty havin

Despite the lack of a “horror” category tag, this is very much a horror movie, one that is uninterested in raving serial killers and dealing instead with the frights of an inexplicably terrifying real situation. Now, being quite desensitized to standard horror fare, I can watch zombies and blood and maniacal torture with no problem. Frozen though was at times intense enough that I had to pause the DVD for a quick breather to break the tension. Sure, some of Frozen may invoke the classic suspension of disbelief for the setup, but the rest of the film is as real and nerve-racking as a movie can get. What starts as a fun day on the slopes becomes a dangerous situation as three friends are stranded on a chairlift halfway up a mountain. Initially they sit thinking that the interruption was just a fluke or power outage but as more time passes they come to the conclusion that they are stranded fifty feet in the air until the resort opens the following weekend.

Back when I was looking forward to the upcoming movies over the next few weeks, I remarked how Let Me In seemed to take only the essence of its source material and put a new spin on it. Having seen Let the Right On e In a few years ago and several hundred movies since, I did not remember certain plot points that came back almost immediately as I was watching Let Me In . But, being based on an acclaimed novel, also called Let the Right One In , precludes originality for fear of backlash by fans of the story itself. Anyone with passing interest in the original will not be surprised by the direction the story goes here but director Matt Reeves is still able to create a film that is quite mesmerizing. Taking place in early 1980s New Mexico, the story revolves around the chronically-bullied Owen and the odd new girl next door Abby. The two meet in the courtyard of their apartment complex and almost instantly become close friends as both have little in the way of other relationships.

Written by: Digger This is the legendary horror film that launched a million fanatics, as well as the careers of director Sam Raimi and cult superstar Bruce Campbell . This is the first, the original, The Evil Dead . When this movie was released, it was billed as the ultimate experience in grueling horror. At its heart, the story is constructed in the vein of an H.P. Lovecraft tale, involving an unimaginable evil force lurking just outside the realm of our reality, and trying to get in. The film opens with the audience's point-of-view skimming just over a bubbling swamp, then cresting over a wooded hill to peer at a yellow Oldsmobile driving through the forest. Inside are five young adults on their way to spend the weekend in the absolute last place anyone would want to be if they knew they were in a horror movie, a dilapidated cabin in the middle of nowhere. The group seems to be pretty up-beat about the trip though, in spite of a near head-on collision and crossing a

Written by: Digger An adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars, director Mike Newell's The Awakening shows us that there is nothing like a good mummy's curse to ruin your life and the lives of everyone around you. The first portion of the film takes place at an Egyptian dig sight where grizzled, hard drinking archaeologist Matthew Corbeck ( Charlton Heston ) is searching for the tomb of Queen Kara. He is there with his pregnant wife Anne ( Jill Townsend ) and his young, spry, and completely platonic assistant Jane Turner. ( Sussanah York ) Right from the beginning of the film we see that there is already noticeable friction between Matthew and Anne over his relationship with Jane. Anne has this wild notion that Matthew and Jane are spending some much time away from camp, in the hot, sweaty desert, because Ms. Turner secretly has a thing for Dr. Corbeck. On one such venture into the desert the pair stumble upon the tomb for which they had been s

As a young Puck, watching Friday   was a bi-weekly tradition to vicariously experience life in an urban environment filled with guns, drugs, and crazy-ass Chris Tucker . I am convinced that Tucker was created to play Smokey as he steals the show with his irresponsible, over-the-top mannerisms. Writer, producer, and star Ice Cube is no slouch either as the laid-back, unemployed foil to Smokey. Director F. Gary Gray takes the ordinary occurrences and extraordinary characters of the neighborhood and constructs them in way that come across in a perfect combination of wacky fun and cautionary tale with the issues of drugs and violence.

Written by: PBF In Movie Scum Episode #19, our good friend Kenny from United Front Gaming mentions George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead . The topic of that episode? Worst movies ever.  After viewing this, I would say that it is better than Diary of the Dead . Just barely. There is a place called Plum Island, that is inhabited by two families: The O’Flynns and the Muldoons. The Muldoons are especially happy with this arrangement, as they do not care for strangers. Plum Island is in the midst of the zombie apocalypse, as the events of Survival take place after the events in Diary. The Muldoons, led by Seamus, do not kill zombies. Rather, they chain them up and let them live, in in the hopes that there will be a cure so that their loved ones may live again. The O’Flynns, led by Patrick, prefer to dispatch anything that is undead. Much like a pro choice debate, this causes a rift and ultimately leads to Patrick O’Flynn being sent off the island. Patrick’s daughter convinces Seamus

Written by: PBF Apparently, I just don't get Jody Hill films. Supposedly, they are extremely funny, and just go right over my head. This is my new favorite math equation: unfunny movie + me realizing it is unfunny = I'm stupid. Well, according to message boards, anyway. Which of course, is where most film geniuses spend their time. Jody Hill, who wrote and directed Observe and Report , directed and co wrote The Foot Fist Way . Neither film have a lot going on as far as plot, and they have little else going on either. Foot Fist is about Fred Simmons ( Danny McBride ), a Tae Kwon Do instructor with a hot wife and a Ferrari. He isn't quite as cool as he thinks he is but he means well, and his students (young kids to senior citizens) like him. After finding out his wife gave her boss a hand job, he loses it a bit, and takes a road trip to meet his hero, martial artist and movie star Chuck "the Truck" Wallace. Wallace agrees to come to Simmons's students'

Written by: PBF Less Than Zero is a film adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. I have never read the book, but from what I can gather, the film takes many liberties, and much of the book is changed or left out entirely. So much so that when the movie was released, Ellis even refused to see it. After many years, Ellis changed his opinion of it, even stating that it would be a good idea to make a sequel to the film, based on his sequel to the novel called Imperial Bedrooms . The beginning of the film shows three friends, Clay (Andrew McCarthy ), Julian ( Robert Downey, Jr. ) and Blair ( Jami Gertz ) as they are graduating high school. They live in California and come from wealthy families. Clay and Blair are a couple. Clay goes to college, while Julian stays home to become a record producer. 6 months later, Clay receives a phone call from Blair asking if he will be home for Christmas. He tells her yes, and then has a flashback in which we learn that Blair al

With over a dozen films written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (not to mention the several dozen nominations and awards as well), it is fun to go back and watch their first venture into filmmaking and see the same traits that make their movies stand out now implanted in film over twenty five years ago. One of the most powerful movies I have watched over the past few years was the Coen’s No Country For Old Men and even with two decades separating them, I saw a lot in Blood Simple . that would come into play again and again in their films. The title comes from the novel Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett to describe the behaviors and actions of a person after a particularly traumatic experience. The first half of the movie is a slow burn as we are introduced to Ray and Abby, two budding lovers much to the chagrin of Abby’s husband who happens to be Ray’s boss. After Marty, the husband, receives confirmation of their adultery from a private investigator, he decides to have Ray an

Written by: PBF So, Jeff Anderson played Randal in Clerks and Clerks II . Now You Know is a movie he wrote and directed. I wish the memory of this movie would Randal out of my brain for me, much like his character did out the door for Dante. Now You Know is the story of Jeremy ( Jeremy Sisto ) and Kerri ( Rashida Jones ). The film opens after a (rather insulting to Anderson in my opinion) title card that reads "Kevin Smith Presents Now You Know" is presented to us. Jeremy is having a bachelor party and hints around that he has an announcement. Either to build suspense, or perhaps torment the viewer with the promise of something exciting only to let the viewer down, his friend talks him out of making this announcement so that everyone can continue to get drunk, bang the hooker and have a good time. Later, it is revealed that Kerri called off the wedding, but did not explain why. Rather than just asking why, a 102 minute film ensues in which we alternate back and forth

Well, fall is officially upon us. At least according to the calender as the weather here apparently has not gotten that memo. Currently, we are a mere seven days away from the tenth month of the year, one which is most commonly associated with fall foliage, chilly nights, and of course Halloween. But there is a great deal upcoming in the next few weeks other than Breast Cancer Awareness Month and my favorite Leif Erikson Day that will make this next month one to remember. 9. The Walking Dead Okay, so this technically isn’t relevant on a site dedicated solely to movies but that’s okay. Because this upcoming AMC television series looks more and more badass with every trailer, clip, and image that is released. Based on an immensely popular graphic novel series which I religiously flip through while in Barnes and Noble, this will be a weekly series that takes place after some kind of zombie apocalypse renders the majority of people mindless flesh freaks (did you like that?). If yo

Written by: PBF The Slammin’ Salmon is the most recent film that has been released by the comedy troupe Broken Lizard. This one was directed by Kevin Heffernan , as opposed to Jay Chandrasekhar , who directed the troupe’s previous films. “Slammin” Cleon Salmon is a former boxer that owns a restaurant called the Slammin’ Salmon (this will be the last mention of the film’s title). He bets the head of the Japanese Yakuza $20,000 in a rousing game of Japanese Albino Hunting and loses. He needs the money by tomorrow so a challenge is placed to the staff of the restaurant to make $20,000. The prize is $10,000 to the top waiter (don’t worry; it’s part of the comedy, not a plot error) while the punishment for the lowest performing waiter is a broken rib sandwich. Cleon is played by Michael Clarke Duncan, so as you may imagine, that is a large and painful sandwich. Broken Lizard has a small collection of films including Super Troopers and Beerfest . It seems like the more movies they

The late nineties was a good period for the not-quite-seventeen Puck as the underpaid teenage theater workers of the world cared more about discussing the merits or Chumbawamba or Alicia Silverstone and less about keeping young impressionable minds like mine away from gore and violence in R-rated movies. Thus, Digger and I were able to attend a showing at a long since defunct theater to see Event Horizon , our enthusiasm based only off of the plot synopsis and images I had seen online. To Digger’s recollection, we were almost literally blown away by the oppressively loud speakers in the theater but I was more taken into the relative beauty of the film. Now, don’t get me wrong, you cannot call Event Horizon groundbreaking or award-winning by any stretch but it has a special charm that still warms a place in the cold, dank chambers of my heart. One of my favorite aspects in just about any movie is a small, self-contained cast of characters. With the main crew eight strong, there is

Written by: Digger Before I get to the review proper, I need to point out that we are now living in a day and age where any random person can be driving down the road, look up, and see the words KICK-ASS plastered on a movie theater marquee.Much like Pluto being booted from its planetary status, it seems the word “ass” no longer counts as profanity. Unlike other comic book movies, the film Kick-Ass and the limited Marvel Comic series of the same name were developed simultaneously. Even so, there are some significant differences between the comic series and the film, which I will touch on as they arise. The story begins with New York high-school student David Lizewski ( Aaron Johnson ) asking himself, and the audience, why no one has ever tried to be a comic book-style superhero. In spite of the fact that he has no special powers or tragic past, and has to purchase a superhero costume on the internet, Dave genuinely wants to help those in need and make a difference in his commun

Written by: Digger Duncan Jones ’ Moon is a science fiction story in the purest sense of the term. It concerns the plight of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) working alone on the moon running a facility that mines Helium-3 for an energy company back on Earth. Inside of the first scene the audience is crushed by the sense of isolation shown to us as Sam has only GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) the station Artificial Intelligence with whom to communicate. Through the simple premise of a man alone on the moon, this film explores speculative technology that leads Sam and the viewer on an emotional and introspective journey of what it really means to be human.

Written by: PBF I love it when I find a movie I have never heard of, and it turns out to be good. Video X: The Dwayne and Darla-Jean Story would have you believe that you are watching actual events from a video shot by a couple from Kentucky. You aren’t, but the film does a damn good job making you think you are. Dwayne and Darla-Jean are starting a new life and heading to Little River, and are video taping the escapade.  While at a campground, they are robbed and all of their money is stolen. They are nowhere near their destination, and Dwayne refuses to go back home, and be ridiculed for failing on day 1 of their journey. They resort to stealing from a convenience store, and the plan goes horribly awry, and their vacation becomes a completely different kind of road trip. I will summarize no further, so as not to ruin the pleasant progression that occurs. I have yet to see a film shot in this hand held video style, ala Blair Witch Project , that successfully has me believe th

Written by: PBF I had never actually seen the entirety of Team America: World Police until today. From the creators of South Park is an absolutely hilarious, offensive, politically themed action movie parody, complete with their song “Montage” in which the lyrics describe what a montage is during a montage. Also included is “America, Fuck Yeah!” and quotable lines like “Derka derka derka.” Also, the film includes perhaps one of the most disturbing sex scenes, ever. Did I mention that there are only voice actors, because everyone is a puppet? Completely over the top, but not without a valid message.

Written by: PBF Dave Parker, the writer/director of The Dead Hate the Living! said that he wanted to make the most un-Full Moon movie that he could. Full Moon Entertainment has brought us such delights as Puppet Master , Killjoy and was a distributor of Gingerbread Man 2: Passion of the Crust. What Parker meant was, he wanted to make a film without small creatures and make a film that felt as much like a real movie as he could make it. I assume he meant “real” literally, as he also said he purposely made the film referential of the low budget genre. Believe me, the film is full of references. We have a group of young filmmakers shooting a zombie picture. Through some forced exposition we learn that this is the director, David Poe’s first movie. His best friend Paul is the effects guy, and his two sisters are actresses (although Nina Poe’s part was secretly given to Shelly Poe, because everyone hates Nina). The film location is an abandoned hospital, which, again through an awkw