The Haunting of Molly Hartley,review
The Haunting of Molly Hartley
Despite a promising beginning, this hoary bit of Halloween hokum runs out of both inspiration and momentum at the midway point and ultimately winds up a disappointment.
Story
As the film’s title indicates in no uncertain terms, our heroine, teenager Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett), is haunted by a tragic past that keeps coming back to torment her. Attempting to acclimate to a new school (Huntington Prep), Molly must deal with new classmates and also recurring bouts of nosebleeds and hallucinations — particularly of her wild-eyed mother (Marin Hinkle), who had previously tried to stab her to death, claiming that she was trying to save her from some sort of birthright. “The darkness is coming for you,” said Mom before plunging a pair of scissors into Molly’s chest. What’s really going on? Are Molly’s hallucinations of a psychotic or a supernatural nature? It takes a long while to get to that point, by which time the answer should be obvious … and long after audience interest has dwindled severely.
Acting
An interesting and attractive actress, Haley Bennett (Music and Lyrics) doesn’t necessarily project the vulnerability that her tormented character would call for, but she seems capable of carrying a film. Unfortunately, this one lets her down — and the problem lies entirely in the story. Everyone else in the cast is saddled with one-dimensional characters: Jake Weber as Molly’s perennially-worried dad; Chace Crawford as the resident hunk; Shanna Collins as a born-again classmate; and Shannon Marie Woodward as a more rebellious classmate. Ron Canada, as the school superintendent, is on and off the screen so fast one wonders why he bothered at all. There is, however, a nice if smallish turn by Nina Siemaszko as the school’s guidance counselor, who’s clearly got her eye on these goings-on.
Direction
The Haunting of Molly Hartley marks the feature directorial debut of Mickey Liddell, who previously toiled on the small screen as a producer of Everwood and Jack & Bobby, two shows with prominent teenaged characters — so he has experience in the field. There are some interesting camera angles, and technically the film is competent enough, but the story unravels at the midway point, and Liddell is unable to stop the skid. By the film’s (foregone) conclusion, it’s begun to telegraph its shocks and its plot twists with increasing regularity. It’s well-made, but it’s also flat. There’s not a particularly high body count, but there’s obvious editing in some of the more violent scenes — clearly an attempt to earn the film a PG-13 rating, which is a far friendlier proposition at the box-office, where this should earn some decent coin from the horror faithful.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (R),review
On the surface, Kevin Smith has crafted a clever concept, a ragtag group attempts to make a porno film in order to get some quick cash. The underlying story is the platonic relationship between roommates Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), whose friendship goes to a whole new level once they find themselves out of cash and decide to cast themselves in their own triple XXX film. After meeting a gay adult film actor at a party, Zack comes up with the get-rich quick idea to make a porn movie, enlisting Miri’s help and convincing her that it will not affect their friendship. They set about casting the rest of the film with a disparate group of participants, including the very self confident sex maniac Lester (Jason Mewes), superstud Barry (Ricky Mabe), gorgeous blonde bombshell Stacey (adult film icon Katie Morgan), and daring, kinky Bubbles (legendary Traci Lords). What seemed like a simple proposition turns complicated when Zack and Miri, in the heat of simulated lovemaking and in front of the whole crew, discover they may be more than just friends.
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Even considering his great work in Knocked Up, Zack is Rogen’s most accomplished character to date, a lovable loser who uses last-ditch initiative to turn his life around and in the process discovers more than he ever bargained for. Chemistry is a tricky thing, but Rogen certainly has it in spades with co-star Banks, who takes what could have been a broadly sketched role and turns Miri into a three-dimensional woman who doesn’t even realize her true soul mate may be right under her nose –literally. You root for these two all the way. The wonderful supporting cast is unique, to say the least, including adult film star Katie Morgan, making her mainstream debut as the ditzy Stacey. After some 200 “real” XXX films, she graduates to the big leagues in style and shows she may have a future outside of her niche. Lords, who made that leap some time ago, niftily sends up her own former image and shows fine comic chops and a willingness to dress deliciously inappropriately. As for the guys, Mabe is very funny, but Jason Mewes (Jay of Jay and Silent Bob), lets loose with a hilarious and totally uninhibited portrayal of a sex addicted tattooed dude willing and able to do anything on camera. Also nearly stealing the show is The Office’s Craig Robinson, a married crew member who is excited to help out buddy Zack because he wants to see “titties.” And in extended cameos, Justin Long, as a gay porn star, and Superman Brandon Routh have a great time sending up their straight movie images, playing bickering boyfriends.
Kevin Smith has always gone for the jugular, challenging the ratings boards and pushing the envelope in his films ever since the classic “dirty movie” Clerks made him famous. But not since his early films, such as Chasing Amy, has he showed such style and maturity as a filmmaker as he does in Zack and Miri, his most outrageously hilarious and accomplished movie to date. Yes, he does continue going for shock value (there’s a laugh-out-loud moment involving a certain bodily function, natch), but his story is grounded in reality, recognizably human and engaging. He milks this genius comic premise for all its worth but gives it an extra dimension that makes it different, unexpected and finally memorable. Mostly though, it’s just plain fun.
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Saw V (2008) ,Review
October 26, 2008 by Anand Pandey
Filed under Review
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Story
Having inherited the mantle of the serial killer known as Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) tries to cover his tracks while executing yet another elaborate torture scheme and staying one step ahead of FBI agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson), who survived his previous encounter with Jigsaw but may not be so lucky this time around. Like so many horror franchises of recent (and not-so-recent) vintage — Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street — the latest Saw doesn’t deviate from the formula. Endlessly repeating the same rudimentary elements may spell big bucks at the box-office, forked over by the Saw faithful, but even die-hard fans will be hard-pressed to find something even remotely new or inventive here. In what must be an effort to mix things up, screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan revise (i.e. screw around with) some of the earlier film’s plot twists with “new” flashbacks that offer different perspectives than was first depicted. If this is intended to provide surprise to the well-worn storyline, it isn’t successful. It only makes a murky story even murkier.
Tobin Bell stars as Jigsaw in Lions Gate Entertainment
Acting
Jigsaw may have met his end at the conclusion of Saw IV, but Tobin Bell is all over the place this time around, seen either in flashback or on television screens. With his menacing, whispery delivery, Bell can hardly be accused of sleepwalking through his role, but one suspects that the basic enticements for him here were top billing — and the paycheck that goes along with it. The beefy Mandylor skulks his way through the one-dimensional role of Hoffman, while Patterson brings a bit of intensity to his role as the dogged Strahm. Betsy Russell, fondly remembered as a teen B-movie queen of the 1980s (Private School, Avenging Angel) plays Jigsaw’s ex-wife, while Meagan Good and Julie Benz (in an ill-fitting black wig) portray two of the latest “players” in the latest Jigsaw puzzle. Shawnee Smith, Angus MacFadyen and Danny Glover, who all met their onscreen ends in previous installments, make token flashback appearances here — to no discernible effect.
Meagan Good stars in Lions Gate Entertainment
Direction
Mark Hackl, the production designer of Saw II – IV, who was originally tapped to direct the fourth installment, now makes his directorial debut. As one might expect, he retains the decayed urban design of the previous films (which he, of course, designed), and there are the requisite gallons of gore and guts for those who enjoy that sort of thing. What would the Saw films be without such visceral pleasantries? But, for all the technical ingenuity of some of the lethal booby traps, there’s a distinct dullness to the proceedings. Saw V is appropriately gruesome, but it’s not particularly exciting or suspenseful. As a Halloween scare-fest, it’s all trick and no treat … and, yes, the door is left wide open for another installment. Enough’s enough, already.
Review
Review of Hollywood & Bollywood movies