Today's Film: Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! To celebrate, let's watch again the original Halloween movie, by John Carpenter.

This is an awesome movie. From the start, this movie sets the tone: the long pauses that builds the tension, the depiction of the teenagers as they really are (smoking, having sex, lying -- today it seems silly, but back in 1978 it was groundbreaking) and the little twist showing the origin of Michael Myers.

This scene really shocked me the first time I saw it.

And then, there's the tension. John Carpenter shows us for about an hour the life in this neighbourhood. From now on, it all happens, duh, on Halloween. Simultaneously, Michael Myers escapes from a mental institution and Dr. Sam Loomis, the psychiatrist who treated him as a kid, starts chasing him and warning the police.

This film is all about tension.

This is all I will say about the plot, in case you never saw it and want to give it a try tonight. Don't bother with the sequels or the remake: watch this one, the original. It's one of John Carpenter best works, and he knows how to direct an horror movie. It's not about the blood, it's not about the guts, the gore, the explicit shit: it's all about what happens in your head when you watch it.

Rating: 7.5/10

Today's Film: 12 Angry Men

Back to the classics! Today we have a 1957 black and white film.

It's the story of a jury that has to decide if a man is guilty of killing his own father (and going to the chair for it) or not. The jury consists of 12 men with different personalities, some of them are calm, clever, others are ill tempered, and some others just don't give a fuck and just wants to go home.

So you want a claustrophobic movie? 90% of this movie happens in a small, hot room, with 12 guys arguing. Forget Buried, rent this one. It will make you sweat for sure.

Not much to say about this one... just rent it!

Rating: 8/10

Today's Film: Clerks

So a couple of months ago I decided I had to watch something by this guy Kevin Smith. I knew him from some interviews and talks (like the one where he speaks about the Superman film he almost wrote) and thought he was hilarious. What I was expecting was a geeky Generation X comedy, but I got more than I was looking for.

This movie explores what is like to be twenty-something and feel completely stucked in life, not knowing what to do, or even worse, afraid of taking that step that will lead you to something better.

At first, it actually looks as a silly comedy, but between farts and cock sucking jokes, you'll find a deep background. That's the genius of this movie, something that its successor, Mallrats, seems to lack.

The best Kevin Smith film, IMO.

Rating: 7/10

Today's Film: Ed Wood

You know, I don't like Tim Burton. I don't like his hairdo, I don't like his glasses, I don't like the fact that he seems to be in love with Johnny Depp. I don't even like Johnny Depp and his over the top acting.

That said, I have to admit Ed Wood is a masterpiece. I'll go as far as saying that is the best work by Tim Burton yet.

Tim doesn't overdo it here. The result? An excellent movie.

Why? First of all, Burton doesn't abuse his "weird looking visuals" in this movie. It's quite subtle, but at the same time, the decisions are strong enough to make it unique (i.e., making it black and white).
As for the acting, one of the best things about this movie is Martin Landau playing Bela Lugosi. He won an Oscar for it and it's well deserved. Also, Johnny Depp playing his usual retarded role is quite adequate here and it's not annoying at all. Heck, it's even funny!

Johnny Depp doing a good job and Martin Landau being awesome.

And funny is what this movie is all about, because there is a great plot behind it all: this is a biopic about a young director called Ed Wood, famous for the ultra-bizarre, Z-class movie Plan 9 From Outer Space, a movie that's so bad it's good.

What kind of person can possibly conceive a film like that? Well, that's what Tim Burton shows us, and that is the main reason this film is so great: the main character is so weird, so fucked up, yet so naive, so mediocre yet so energic... you just gotta love him.

Rating: 7.5/10

So make sure you see it, if you haven't. I know I will be watching it again anytime soon.