Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond

Friday, September 14, 2012

The Possession - Movie Review

The Possession
(2012)

92 min
Horror | Thriller

Rated: PG-13
Director: Ole Bornedal

Writers: Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Leslie Gornstein

Stars: Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick | See full cast and crew

Grade: C-

A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a Dybbuk, a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.

Based on a true story, The Possession is the terrifying account of how one family must unite in order to survive the wrath of an unspeakable evil. Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) see little cause for alarm when their youngest daughter Em becomes oddly obsessed with an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. But as Em's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, the couple fears the presence of a malevolent force in their midst, only to discover that the box was built to contain a dibbuk, a dislocated spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host. -- (C) Lionsgate

Sam Raimi wants us to know for sure that The Possession is based on a true story. That makes for the best scary movie doesn't it? Well, having not investigated the 'true story' I can't say how true to the story it is. What I can say is that it is little different to offer than a hundred other possession B, C and D list horror movies. You've seen it all before, you know how it will end. About the only thing remotely original or different is the ethnic Hebraic element to the plot, that the evil possession comes in the from a Dybbuk and the exorcism requires an Hasidic Rabbi.

The acting is unremarkable, Jeffrey Dean Morgan does an adequate job given what he has been handed by the writers. The film is relies heavily on all the stock horror cliches. There are plenty of my pet peeves too, stupidity...one example, mom is a vegetarian yet in a 'creepy' dark of night scene she finds Em raiding the refrigerator eating raw meat like an animal.

You know there will be a time or two when the startling 'gotcha' type scary moments may make you jump a bit, but the film in the whole ends up fairly boring.

Spoiler Alert

The Plot

Complements from Wikipedia

The film opens with a woman trying to open a strange box, protecting herself with holy water and a hammer. She is thrown violently around the room by an unseen force. When her son enters, she is unconscious on the floor. Next the audience is introduced to couple Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) who are in the process of divorce. They have two children, Em (Natasha Calis) and Hannah (Madison Davenport).

Clyde and his daughters shop at a yard sale, where Em becomes intrigued by an old box which has Hebrew inscriptions engraved on it. Clyde buys the box for her. They hear an animalistic noise in their kitchen one night, but when the intruder escapes through their dog flap, Clyde assumes it was a raccoon.

Em becomes solitary and spends her spare time staring at the box. Her behavior increasingly grows more sinister and the house is infested with moths. Em's behavior gradually grows more violent. When she strikes out at a schoolmate who was trying to steal the box, she is brought to the attention of the authorities, who recommend that she spend time away from the box. That night, her teacher dies when a malevolent force throws her out a window.

Em tells Clyde about a woman who lives in her box who says Em is "special." Her father is alarmed by her behavior. He attempts to dispose of the old box by throwing it in a garbage unit, but Em retrieves it. She seems to become totally possessed by the entity at this time. Clyde, immensely disturbed, takes the box to a professor at the university. The professor tells him it is a Dybbuk box and dates back to the 1920s; it was used to contain a broken spirit, an ancient Jewish evil or demon.

Clyde immediately travels to the local Hasidic community, and learns from a Jew named Tzadok (Matisyahu) that the possession has three main stages, with the third stage being the one where the Dybbuk latches onto the host, becoming one entity with it. The only way to defeat the Dybbuk is to lock it back into the box in a forced ritual.

At home, Em violently attacks her mother when Stephanie discovers her eating like an animal out of the refrigerator. Em is taken to the hospital for an MRI. Stephanie is horrified when she sees the Dybbuk's face in the images, next to her heart. Stephanie realizes Em is possessed. Clyde and Tzadok join the rest of the famly at the hospital. They attempt to conduct an exorcism but Em escapes. Clyde chases her and Em attacks him. He survives but now is possessed by the Dybbuk. Tzadok performs an exorcism which is successful: the Dybbuk crawls out of Clyde and back into the box.

The family is reunited. Tzadok drives with the box in his vehicle. His car is hit by a truck, apparently killing him. The Dybbuk box is unharmed, with the demon still inside.

Cast

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Kyra Sedgwick

Clyde Brenek Stephanie Brenek

Natasha Calis Madison Davenport

Em Hannah

Matisyahu

Tazadok

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Words - Review

The Words
(2012)
Drama/Romance
(1 hr, 36 min)

Rated: PG-13
for brief strong language and smoking

Directed/Written: Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal [co-wrote "Tron Legacy" together]

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, Ben Barnes, Nora Arnezeder, John Hannah, J.K. Simmons, Zeljko Ivanek, Michael McKean | See full cast and crew

Grade: B-

A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man’s work. Hard life lessons are learned.

You were probably not in the theaters this past weekend, not many were. So chances are you haven't yet seen The Words. It was the worst box office weekend since 2008. The Words and Cold Light of Day's opening weekend receipts both were major disappointments for their respective studios. The fast fading Possession saw its second week receipts drop off by 47% but still managed to hold on to the top spot. Promotion for Words was poor, Cold Light almost nonexistent, they debuted at a miserable 4th and 13th place. ( read more : 'Words,' 'Cold Light' Bomb on Worst Weekend in Years...)

Words is not a bad film but it's not great film either. It's plot follows four different storylines with four different sets of characteres simultaneously, a sort of play within a play within a play within a play. Kind of like the filmmakers had the idea to remake “Inception” set in the world of novels and authors. The film is not, however, quite as clever or as complex as it pretends to be. I has received some very harsh reviews from some critics. Their hatred for plagiarism and seeing themselves as 'writers/authors', the story is a little too close for comfort for them I think and therefor taints their critical perspective.

Despite the merging of four stories, first time directors Klugman and Sternthal keep it pretty clear where we are and in which level of the story. It is best to go into this movie without knowing much about it, otherwise the story will be ruined for you so I'm not going to go into details. I do recommend it though with some reservations. I was impressed (not in a positive way) by performances of Dennis Quaid and Olivia Wilde. They were the least believable of the four couples, taking themselves just a bit too seriously...listen closely to what I say because every word I say is loaded with significance. Not really an exact quote but that's the attitude they exude.

There was one curious line, at least to me, in the story of the 'young man' (Ben Barnes) in post WW II Paris, the soldiers are repairing the bombed sewers and one soldier lamenting their dismal task says, 'I miss Utah.' At least that's what I think I heard. I don't plan to go back and watch it again just to see if that is actually what he said.

It was good to see Bradley Cooper do a role where he isn't rude, lewd, crude and spewing out one profanity after another (as in The Hangover movies, #3 is on its way). The studio, investing little in promotion, placed the success of Words almost entirely on the shoulders of Cooper's name recognition (Jeremy Irons is a classic and was actually way more of a draw for me). Zoe Saldana is not only beautiful but is also believable in her performance. The end of the film is, I think, purposely muddled and vague, leaving the viewer to write his own ending. The titles of the two books from the movie's authors, 'The Words', and 'Window of Tears' are dubious choices for best sellers. As a movie experience, Words is slightly better than most of this summer's movie offerings. There is one very unnecessary F-bomb and one other unnecessary profanity of the blasphemy type, otherwise it is reasonably clean.

Here are the two first time directors at work, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal

CAST

Bradley Cooper Zoe Saldana

Rory Jansen Dora Jansen

Dennis Quaid Olivia Wilde

Clay Hammond Daniella

Jeremy Irons

The Old Man

Ben Barnes Nora Amezeder

Young Man Celia

Monday, September 3, 2012

ParaNorman - Review

ParaNorman

Animation | Adventure | Comedy
92 min

Rated PG

Directors: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

Writer: Chris Butler

Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick and Christopher Mintz-Plasse | See full cast and crew

Grade: B-

A misunderstood boy, takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

Honestly, I had trouble staying awake during ParaNorman. I'm not sure if it was the film itself or the negative experience at the theater. I went with a group of my family including some children. The only showing available for the time we wanted to go was in 3D. However, a few minutes into the film I realized that the movie was not in 3D at all (To their credit the theater did compensate us for the error). Irritation increased due to popcorn that was stale and tasteless and the drinks tasted like plastic. Further adding to the distractions, the film was projected onto a screen that was too small causing it to spill over onto the curtains on the two sides of the screen. The sum of these distractions equaled an all together unpleasant experience.

That said...the animation was excellent, the characterizations were certainly satisfactory, the script somewhat original, but still I found myself drifting off so I can't really say it was riveting. As I have said previously, I am not a big fan of the recent wave of animated features. Pirates: Band of Misfits was absolutely appalling, truly boring and humorless. Ice Age: Continental Drift, and Brave both had their moments but overall were tedious, but I digress, this is about ParaNorman. It too had some moments but I found the political correctness overtones intrusive and annoying. I almost felt like I was being lectured by a Human Secularist elementary school teacher, wondering when she was going to slip in a 'life lesson' about bullying, self esteem and man-made global warming. (Just how does one develop self esteem while being blamed for causing of the destruction of the planet, but I digress again.) And of course they have to sneak in a gay character twist for the children's sake. Nevertheless, the children that accompanied me seemed to enjoy ParaNorman, but like me, the adults...eh, not so much.

Spoiler Alert

If you are interested enough to see the film and don't want to know how it ends...then don't read any further

The Plot

In the small New England town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts, a boy named Norman Babcock is able to speak with the dead, including his late grandmother, and various other ghosts in town. Unfortunately, almost no one among the living believes his ability is genuine and he is ostracized by his family while being ridiculed and bullied by most of his peers for his seemingly strange abilities.

However, Norman makes a friend with Neil Downe, an eccentric fat boy who is bullied himself and finds Norman's earnest admission as a medium an intriguing part of a kindred spirit. During rehearsal of a school play commemorating the town's witch execution of 300 years ago, Norman has a harrowing vision of the town's past and being pursued as a witch by the town's citizenry. Afterward, the boys are confronted by Norman's estranged and seemingly deranged uncle, Mr. Prenderghast, who tells his nephew that vision is a sign that he soon must take up his regular ritual to protect the town.

Norman refuses to take him seriously, but soon has another vision during the school play, creating a public spectacle of himself which leads to his embarrassed parents grounding him. Now completely despondent and isolated, Norman is confronted by the ghost of the recently deceased Prenderghast in the washroom who tells him that the ritual must be performed with a special book before sundown that day, before departing for the afterlife. After some consideration, Norman sets off to Prenderghast's residence to retrieve the book. Believing that Neil would not truly understand his situation, he drives him away. He arrives at the graves of the town's ancestors, including Judge Hopkins who were supposedly cursed by the witch they condemned, but finds the book is merely a collection of fairy tales.

Before Norman can ponder the situation, Alvin, a bully who overheard Norman's encounter in the washroom, intrudes and interferes with the reading until after sundown. With that, a ghostly storm resembling the witch appears in the air while the cursed dead arise and pursue the boys until they meet Norman's sister, Courtney, Neil and his own brother, Mitch, who have come to retrieve Norman. Together, the kids are relentlessly pursued by the zombies into town, but Norman manages to contact a classmate who tells them to access the Town Hall's archives for the location of the witch's unmarked grave.
As the kids make their way to the Town Hall, the zombies eventually lose them and find themselves confused by modern society and then are beset by the citizenry who attack them en masse. During the riot, the kids break into the archives but cannot find any information they need. As the mob moves to attack Town Hall, Norman in frustration temporarily drives away his companions only for them to be trapped by the mob. However, the Witch storm appears and Norman climbs the Hall's tower to desperately attempt to read the book to stop her, but the witch blasts it with lightning and causes him to fall back down into the archives.
Unconscious, Norman has a dream where he learns that the witch was actually Agatha Prenderghast, an innocent little girl of his age who was also a medium, unjustly condemned by the town's superstitious and frightened elite who were then cursed by Agatha as she was taken for execution. After awakening, Norman encounters the zombies and realizes that all they wanted was to speak with him to ensure he would take up the ritual to minimize the harm of the terrible mistake they made with Agatha. However, Norman decides that this gesture is not enough and resolves to find Agatha's ghost to arrive at a permanent solution.
Norman attempts to help the zombies slip away to have them guide him to Agatha's grave, but are cornered by the mob. However, Courtney, who has come to realize her brother's true abilities, heroism and task, confronts the crowd and convinces them to back off. As the witch storm rages ever more destructively, Judge Hopkins guides Norman's family to the grave in a forest. Unfortunately, Agatha's magic separates Norman from the others and he must reach the grave on his own.

Norman finds the grave, and soon confronted by the vengeful spirit of Agatha, interacting with her in the spirit dimension. She tries to drive him away, but Norman resolutely holds his ground, telling her that he understands how she feels as a outcast. As she struggles to drive him away, Norman endures her assault and eventually convinces her that despite her legitimate grievance, her thirst for vengeance is accomplishing nothing but inflicting more pain and persuades her to stop. Norman tries to convince her that even in the darkest times, there must have been someone who was kind to her. Focusing only on the tragedies and forgetting the good things in her life is what reduced her to a malevolent force devoid of her true identity.
Eventually, the girl, nicknamed Aggie, calms down at Norman's eloquence, recalling her true personality and happy memories with her mother. She is able to find a measure of peace, knowing that she is not alone and one person in the town understands her, allowing her to let go and move on to the afterlife. At that resolution, the storm dissipates, and she and the zombies all peacefully fade away. As day breaks, the town cleans up and regards Norman as a hero even when the outside media tries to explain the disturbance as merely a powerful storm. Norman, realizing that he too, should stop focusing on his memories of being ostracized and pushing others away, accepts Neil's companionship. At the end, Norman watches a horror film with the ghost of his Grandmother again, and his family eagerly joins him. (from~Wikipedia)