Movies today, SA!
Three new films open in South Africa today: a whimsical family adventure, a horror-thriller remake and a dark drama rich with social commentary. The last film on that list is the only one that piques my interest.
No doubt the big box office winner of the weekend will be family film Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the sequel to the 2006 smash hit. True to the spirit of sequels, everything is bigger this time around, from the A-list cast to the special effects, to the slapstick silliness.
Ben Stiller is back as failed inventor-turned-security guard Larry, who relocates to Washington DC when the New York Museum of Natural History is closed for renovations, and all its exhibits are put into storage at the world's biggest museum complex. Chaos ensues when the New York and Washington exhibits all start coming to life.
Joining returnees Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and many more are Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Ricky Gervais and Seth Rogan.
Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is sitting currently at 41% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, which admittedly is a higher score than I thought the film would receive.
If you're in the mood for something darker, there's the remake of the 1972 Wes Craven horror-thriller, The Last House on the Left. A family relocates to a quiet rural area only for their teenage daughter to be kidnapped, tortured and raped by a ex-con and his friends. Caught in a storm, the thugs seek refuge in the family's home, and once the parents discover their guests' true identities, they seek violent revenge.
I saw the trailer for The Last House on the Left at the cinema this week and it disappointingly seemed to outline the entire film. The Last House on the Left looks to be a polished entry in the torture porn sub-genre, with plenty of sadism and degradation on display.
Again, The Last House on the Left received a higher Rotten Tomatoes rating than I was expecting (particularly for a horror film), and it's currently sitting at 42% Fresh. According to critics The Last House on the Left is a slick-looking film, very gory, brutal and distasteful to watch. But hey, you may be into that kind of thing? And at least it's reality-based horror without the usual supernatural silliness (e.g. creepy long-haired little girls).
Finally there's Blindess, based on the novel of the same name by José Saramago, and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Fernando (City of God, The Constant Gardener) Meirelles.
I've spoken about the film before but basically it chronicles the social breakdown that occurs when a city is afflicted by a mysterious mass epidemic of blindness. The action centres on a blind doctor (Mark Ruffalo) who is quarantined with other sufferers of the "White Sickness" in a government institution. Pretending to be blind so she can stay by his side, his wife (Julianne Moore) accompanies him. Gael Garcia Bernal, Danny Glover and Alice Braga round off the cast as fellow sufferers, all intent of surviving in an increasingly dangerous, dirty environment.
Blindess scored a 42% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The film apparently doesn't explore its fascinating premise quite as well as it should, but it still sounds like a bleak, intriguing look at how social breakdown brings out the darkest side of human nature.
Alas, Blindness is only showing in South Africa in very limited release (perhaps in only 12 cinemas nationwide). In Durban, the only place to see it is all the way out at Gateway's Cinema Nouveau. *sulks*
No doubt the big box office winner of the weekend will be family film Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the sequel to the 2006 smash hit. True to the spirit of sequels, everything is bigger this time around, from the A-list cast to the special effects, to the slapstick silliness.
Ben Stiller is back as failed inventor-turned-security guard Larry, who relocates to Washington DC when the New York Museum of Natural History is closed for renovations, and all its exhibits are put into storage at the world's biggest museum complex. Chaos ensues when the New York and Washington exhibits all start coming to life.
Joining returnees Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and many more are Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Ricky Gervais and Seth Rogan.
Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is sitting currently at 41% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, which admittedly is a higher score than I thought the film would receive.
If you're in the mood for something darker, there's the remake of the 1972 Wes Craven horror-thriller, The Last House on the Left. A family relocates to a quiet rural area only for their teenage daughter to be kidnapped, tortured and raped by a ex-con and his friends. Caught in a storm, the thugs seek refuge in the family's home, and once the parents discover their guests' true identities, they seek violent revenge.
I saw the trailer for The Last House on the Left at the cinema this week and it disappointingly seemed to outline the entire film. The Last House on the Left looks to be a polished entry in the torture porn sub-genre, with plenty of sadism and degradation on display.
Again, The Last House on the Left received a higher Rotten Tomatoes rating than I was expecting (particularly for a horror film), and it's currently sitting at 42% Fresh. According to critics The Last House on the Left is a slick-looking film, very gory, brutal and distasteful to watch. But hey, you may be into that kind of thing? And at least it's reality-based horror without the usual supernatural silliness (e.g. creepy long-haired little girls).
Finally there's Blindess, based on the novel of the same name by José Saramago, and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Fernando (City of God, The Constant Gardener) Meirelles.
I've spoken about the film before but basically it chronicles the social breakdown that occurs when a city is afflicted by a mysterious mass epidemic of blindness. The action centres on a blind doctor (Mark Ruffalo) who is quarantined with other sufferers of the "White Sickness" in a government institution. Pretending to be blind so she can stay by his side, his wife (Julianne Moore) accompanies him. Gael Garcia Bernal, Danny Glover and Alice Braga round off the cast as fellow sufferers, all intent of surviving in an increasingly dangerous, dirty environment.
Blindess scored a 42% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The film apparently doesn't explore its fascinating premise quite as well as it should, but it still sounds like a bleak, intriguing look at how social breakdown brings out the darkest side of human nature.
Alas, Blindness is only showing in South Africa in very limited release (perhaps in only 12 cinemas nationwide). In Durban, the only place to see it is all the way out at Gateway's Cinema Nouveau. *sulks*
Comments
Pity it's such a bitch to find old movies in SA video stores. Seems like our Blockbusters don't stock anything that's over 10 years old :P