loaded question: do you like scary movies?
For me, I don’t like most of the movies Hollywood considers scary — such as most of what is labeled “horror” — primarily because I simply don’t find that sort of thing scary.
Open Water
The Chamber movie review: hell and high water
A wonder of low-budget suspense, this is a horror movie with no monsters, only people in an impossible situation. Intense, claustrophobic, totally gripping.
The Babadook movie review: mother of nightmares
Genuinely horrific and deeply scary in a way that draws on the most primal of emotions. A horror flick with rare emotional and psychological resonance.
lost in space (Gravity trailer)
Oh my god. This makes an icy black hole in the pit of my stomach.
Silent House (review)
Elizabeth Olsen is, without question, one of the most intriguing, most thrilling young talents to burst onto the scene in years. I just wish the movie was kinder to her as a talent…
February 5: DVD alternatives to this weekend’s multiplex offerings
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, except you’re busy writing long, flowery letters to the love of your life, who’s on the other side of the planet somewhere where there’s no Internet access. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the … more…
trailer break: ‘Frozen’
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Ooo, it’s Open Water on a ski lift! See, this is what happens when you try to scam the ticket guy by lying about losing your credit card. And when do the zombie Nazis show up? I guess no one had their cell phone on them, eh? … more…
Paranormal Activity (review)
So I finally saw this Paranormal Activity flick that all the kids are into today, and all I could conclude was, Really? They think this is pants-wetting scary?
totally quotable: best. lines. ever, 2004 edition
Here, in one place, the most quotable movie lines of the year 2004. They’re not ranked — they’re all great. [Warning: May contain spoilers.] [click here for the funniest bad snippets of dialogue from 2004] “Only people from the Bronx care about the Oscars.” –Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), Beyond the Sea “I’ve never seen a … more…
Cellular (review)
That’s the kind of flick *Cellular* is: goofily obvious when it isn’t unexpectedly exciting. It’s one of those movies that succeeds partly by not being anywhere near as bad as you were expecting it to be — by being, really, not so bad at all, much to one’s shocked surprise. Seriously, I was anticipating two hours of that annoyingly pseudo-hip Elvis Costello-ish guy from the TV commercials who wanders around saying ‘Can you hear me now?’ into his cell phone — and why o why won’t someone kidnap *him*? — and instead the goofily obvious stuff is more than made up for by the suspense and the humor.
