Movie Scum

In case it isn’t apparent, we at Movie Scum are big fans of David Fincher . He is, in my opinion, one of few standout directors currently working even if his resume does not have the broad appeal of a Spielberg or a Cameron. Perhaps it was my excitement upon hearing he was involved in the American version of The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo that drowned out any feeble complaints of another American remake of a foreign film. I have not read the Stieg Larsson novel nor seen the entire Swedish adaptation, so I bring no preconceived notions of the story to this film and can hopefully be as impartial as possible.

Way back in Episode 20 as we discussed movies based on true events, PBF brought up Zodiac saying it was well-directed, well-acted, and quite engrossing in spite of its lengthy runtime. Now, having seen the movie, I agree with all points above. And that is my review. Good night! Well, I might be able to get into a bit more detail. Centered around the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s in California, the David Fincher directed thriller is more based on the act of catching a killer through monotonous investigation rather than the murders themselves. This is quite remarkable even considering that the Zodiac murders could have merely been a blip on the radar if not for the killer taunting the police and news reporters with letters, phone calls, and bloody pieces of fabric. For anyone watching this expecting another Se7en out of Fincher, you will be horribly disappointed as this is the least straight-forward serial killer movie I have seen in quite a while. The thing that is truly eng...

Written by: PBF After watching this film and reflecting on it, I feel robbed. I feel like there should have been several hundred different things I should have felt that I did not. Similarly to my experience watching Feed , I felt like the subject matter of I Spit on Your Grave was treated with indifference. Jennifer is spending the summer in the country writing her first novel. She has rented a house by a lake. She stops at a gas station and the attendant is quite friendly. There are a couple of locals entertaining themselves over in the grass. When she arrives at the house she has some groceries delivered, and the delivery man is also very nice, and might be a little slow. What I assume is a result of a combination of boredom, sweltering heat and backwoods inbreeding, this group of men violently beat and rape Jennifer at 3 different locations and leave her for dead. This is something that they will soon regret in a terribly boring, anti-climactic fashion. Technically, this r...

A few years ago, I wrote a paper in college about real-life violence and how some people, erroneously in my opinion, try to blame movies and other mediums of entertainment for corrupting young minds. One of the films that was called out was Natural Born Killers for its glamorized presentation of the lives of a murderous duo. Kalifornia has a similar story but is told in a more sinister fashion. As David Duchovny muses in the film as aspiring author Brian, some people are born without the sense to know when they cross a line from the what-ifs of possibly hurting someone to actually doing so. Early Grayce, as played by the always awesome Brad Pitt , is one such person who enjoys life in the moment without much pause for consequence or reflection. When Brian and his other half Carrie ( Michelle Forbes ) plan to travel cross-country visiting murder scenes for Brian’s book, they hook up with Early and his girl Adele ( Juliette Lewis ) as a way of splitting gas money as both seek refu...

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.

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 believ...

Written by: PBF This movie is shocking! Yes, the fairly intriguing  premise and lackluster delivery is shocking to say the least. Feed introduces us to Phillip Jackson, an Australian detective as he is on a case in Hamburg. We watch as he discovers a man feeding another man his own penis. We then watch as he and his partner Nigel, move on to another project. They comb the internet in a sloppily paced and sort of confusing 10 minutes or so looking for a cyber crime worth mouthing off to the Captain and putting their badges on the line for. They find a site that has a live web cam of a man feeding a 600 lb woman. Phillip (luckily for the audience) explains to Nigel how this fetish works, and what feeders and gainers are. As Phillip explores and tries to gain access to the site’s restricted areas, he figures out what is really going on. This man is force feeding woman and taking bets on how long they will live and how much weight they will gain. Hooray, a cyber crime to solve! ...

Written by: PBF Repulsion is Roman Polanski’s first English language film. It is quite well done. Also, I am in love with Catherine Deneuve . Well, 1965 Catherine Deneuve. Carole (played by Deneuve) lives with her sister Helen. Helen, has a boyfriend, Micheal, who is married, yet spends a lot of time at Carole and Helen’s apartment, much to Carole’s dismay. It is clear almost immediately, Carole doesn’t like Michael and possibly men in general. Later we find out that this is an understatement. Carole has a boyfriend, or is dating a man named Colin, but tends to shy away from him and sometimes doesn’t even show up for dates. Carole goes so far as to throw away Michael’s razor and toothbrush because he puts them in her bathroom water glass. She doesn’t seem to have a hatred towards men so much as a dislike and even fear of them. This is indicated by actions such as vigorously wiping her mouth off as if it were dirty after being kissed and not letting Colin hold her arm. Helen an...

I have found that the opening crawl of a film saying "Based on True Events" means not only will the story be 90% fiction with a smidgen of reality but it will not be good. You might notice I did not file Wolf Creek under horror. While this is the common genre the film is placed in, I feel it is more of a dramatic thriller ala Breakdown or Vanishing. While there may have been some horrific moments in this film, it is not horror in my estimation. Set in 1999 Australia, Wolf Creek follows three backpacking kids as they make their way through the heart of desolation. Our trio, played by Nathan Phillips , Kestie Morassi , and Cassandra Magrath , set off to Wolf Creek, the site of a meteor crash. After their hike, they fall victim to the old plot trick, the non-working car. Seemingly a nice stranger comes along with the offer to help them fix the car and get back on the road. Sadly, the kind stranger is not as benevolent as he seems. Needless to say, this is forty minutes in...