There have been plenty of sci-fi related films to go around of late. We have seen The Road, Pandorum, District 9, and of course, the summer’s $400mm smash hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  But now, Jared and Jerusha Hess, the writing team behind the indie hit Napoleon Dynamite, bring us a different kind of sci-fi. The literary kind (that still plays itself out on screen in goofy-as-heck fashion).  Reindeer that shoot guns out of their eyes (and other orifices)? Check.  One-eyed, lo-fi, cyclops aliens?  Check.  Sam Rockwell as both a transvestite and tough guy hero to rival his dual role in another sci-fi film Moon?  Umm, check?  Gentlemen Broncos is a wacky type of work.

The new movie stars Jermaine Clement (TV’s “Flight of the Conchords”) as Ronald Chevalier, a flamboyant science fiction/fantasy novelist of some repute and notoriety.  Unfortunately, he needs a new book as his publisher is unsatisfied with his unsaleable latest effort and is threatening to drop him.  When a down on his luck Chevalier heads to a “Cletus Fest,” a writers summit where he aims to teach teenage fan-geeks his celebrity methods of fantastical scribe, a young man named Benjamin (Snow Angels‘ Michael Angarano) shows up, hoping to tap into the brain of his fave author.  All the while, Stifler’s mom from American Pie, Jennifer Coolidge’s Judith, has son Ben in the most ridiculous get-ups imaginable.  It’s no wonder dude has no friends.  Cletus Fest represents a chance for Ben to submit his “Yeast Lords” story for the grand prize, a 1,000 copy publishing deal across bookstores nationwide.  You see where this is going.  Chevalier steals Ben’s story for his own work in an effort to regain the fame he seeks.

Who doesn't want to ride a missile launching reindeer?

That simple premise alone though, does not a film make.  Ben needs friends, or so his mom thinks, so she hires a Guardian Angel to look after/befriend him.  That angel is caught up in a low-budget filming of Ben’s “Yeast Lords” work that he sells to a director who likely has no intention of paying him for his work.  The film premieres to disastrous results, even while the films “stars” and director are gaining a small level of celebrity.  The low budget movie is so cheesy though (it’s the director’s 84th film) that it’s kinda fun, but Ben is always the one on the outside looking in.  No recognition for his efforts other than being humiliated in public for his attempt at acting which results in one of many upchuck scenes in the film, though this will likely be the most memorable.

While Angarano is able, Clement is the film’s greatest strength, lisping his way through vignettes with the speech redundancy of a pair of shoes and a constant sight gag in a golden bluetooth earpiece. An amusing scene where he adds suffixes to character names for his students registers high marks.  “You can add ‘anous’ to any name to improve it,” he muses.  Illustrations for would-be book covers, including one where women with “mammary cups that shoot laser rain,” are depicted.  “Broncos” has some nice moments in the middle of the bizarre madness.

Ben's Guardian Angel has a snake with digestive issues for protection.

Throughout, the film cuts back and forth between the sci-fi work of “Lords” being narrated, and it’s rework “Brutus and Balzaak,” with Rockwell playing the lead character.  We know what reality is though, as side plots abound as the film progresses.  One particular sub-plot that never fully fleshes itself out in the form of a possible love story aside (was he taken advantage of?), “Broncos” keeps things on a zig-zag path that world-famous Lombard street in San Francisco would be proud of; it’s a little weird getting there, but you still reach your destination.

It’s similar in tone, if not scope, to “Dynamite.”  Bizarre 70’s retro meets modern day (though in a lot of ways, you’d never know it), as everything is stuck in a time capsule.  Wood paneled interior to homes.  Night gown designs by aspiring designer Judith that cross futuristic with extreme conservatism.  It’s like The Never Ending Story meets Lord of the Rings, all done in the oddest way possible.  This is by no means, my kind of story, but it deserves credit for quirk and originality, and undoubtedly for many (myself included), some dumb, stupid laughs at it’s own expense.  Hard to fault it too much for giving such a genuine effort.  This won’t hold the appeal of the Hess duo’s earlier hit, but it should satisfy their fans just the same.

As the decades turned over to the 70’s, it was time of international social and political unrest, where to rebel and to reject was to live. Some did it in a modest, harmless and nondestructive manner – innocuously listening to rock ‘n roll or experimenting with drugs – while others reacted in a more radical manner, heading straight to the source to confront it with unrelenting passion and hostility.

Che Guevara was trying to ignite a revolution in Bolivia, the United States’ intervention in Vietnam was ongoing and the Israelis and Palestinians were as volatile as ever, climaxing with the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Thus, rebellion was the order of the day, the college-age fad and the result of a tumultuous global climate. But it was one group in particular that impetuously took the next, seemingly appropriate step.

Uli Edel’s The Baader Meinhof Complex has been, and could fittingly be described as, the true story of the birth of terrorism. It chronicles the establishment and decade-long struggle of the Red Army Faction (a.k.a. “The Baader-Meinhof Group”) against the fascist, imperialistic state of West Germany and the general world order of governmental authority. This was a new generation of Germans, citizens who were adolescents or non-existent during the reign of the Third Reich. As Stefan Aust, a member of this generation and the author of the source novel, (which bears the same name as its adaptation) says, “The moment you see your own country as the continuation of a fascist state, you give yourself permission to do almost anything against it.”

The calm before the storm -- German communist activists protest the war in Vietnam.

The film traces the origins of the group through its leaders in the social unrest of West Berlin society, which reflected the worldwide anxiety and general disapproval of government power-flexing abroad and at home. (Protests and the resulting police brutality across the globe are shown in one of many news-style montages.) Ulrich Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) plays a well-known journalist who shares uncommonly radical, anti-governmental, views amongst her media peers. She meets Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) for an interview after an arsonist display in a high-rise department store, where she first hears of minor, premeditated terrorist attacks in an attempt to gain exposure and express distrust and disapproval. The arrogantly boisterous Gudrun and her cocky, confidently adamant counterpart, Andreas Baader (Mortiz Bleibtreu) form the foundation of the Red Army Faction (RAF), whose hierarchy and long-term business plan is hardly an envious model.

The first half of the film is a seductively rebellious political-bruiser. Our militant revolutionaries, with their wigs and aviator glasses and hip-hugging jeans, rob banks, bomb state buildings, break out their comrades when they’re in a tough spot and spread their anarchist views through writings and recruiting. As the stakes get higher and the tasks more extravagantly violent and reckless, The Baader Meinhof Complex takes on a more reflective tone, focusing on the consequences, influences and results of this initial wave of RAF expression. Baader, Ensslin and Meinhof, as well as the film as a whole, may not come to the conclusion that one would expect and it counteracts almost all of the flashes of glamour and bravura that came before it, hinting that these acts may have been impulsive, misjudged and underdeveloped.

Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) and Andreas Baader (Mortiz Bleibtreu) fight the power in West Germany.

A 2008 nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars but unreleased in the United States until this year, The Baader Meinhof Complex is a capably committed portrait of political unrest and a really good political action-drama. With its worldview and broad scope, it carefully and rightfully captures the era as an evolving, emerging and budding anti-political landscape and the foundations that were laid out to be felt to this day. Therefore, whether intentional or not, it gives the film an extra dose of relevance when viewed within the framework of our current society.

Pacing is a bit of an issue, but not in the immediate sense that you might be thinking. It moves at breakneck speed, actually, but to the film’s detriment. It’s a good deal of mischievous West Berlin RAF activity and when it isn’t focused on the key members of the group, it’s advancing the story through time-lapse montages or newscast footage reels. Spanning an entire decade, even at 154 minutes, the film is too condensed and it never breathes.

The performances, on the other hand, are top-notch, especially from Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others) as one-half of the titular “Baader-Meinhof Group.” She starts out as a fighter and a revolutionary with her words before turning into the leader of this terrorist group, taking on a more physical, activist role. The fact that her ideals and agendas may have been lost in the translation is one of the film’s strengths.

The Baader Meinhof Complex is compulsively watchable in the way that a fascinating account of history or a gripping historical documentary would be. It’s extremely well-acted, well-crafted, uncompromising and fit for its subject, but it doesn’t ever completely take off. Similar to the result of the RAF’s futile acts of aggression, the film’s desired impact and effort is never truly felt by its audience. It’s a silenced handgun – it gets the job done, but it doesn’t resonate very loudly.

Christian Alvart’s Pandorum is an attempt to tap into the science-fiction realm of paranoid claustrophobia while still maintaining an accessible veneer of an aggressive sound mix along with the usual modern, new age horror tactics. The result is a preposterous amalgamation of a psychological sci-fi horror-action film which is so flaccid and loopy that you’ll be shocked it isn’t based on a video game. After all, Travis Milloy’s script displays all the necessary characteristics of an adaptation; equal parts uninspired and tediously dim-witted. It’s more “Dead Space” than Alien, without any of the formers ingenuity or instinctive feel for atmosphere and legitimate dread.

In the film’s opening prologue, we are informed through a time-lapse that Earth is becoming overpopulated and under-resourced to the point of extinction. It is the year 2174 when we are given a glimpse at the Elysium, a thoroughly extensive ship capable of carrying thousands of willing human beings – where to and what for? Well, surely our two protagonists will know, right?

Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) awakens from hypersleep aboard the Elysium.

Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) awakens from hypersleep to an apparently abandoned ship, his clothes almost molded to his body, which are discarded the way a snake would shed its skin. After grazing for signs of life and a quick, blade-free shave, Bower is treated to the company of a Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid), who is awoken in similar fashion. The problem is that the two can’t remember anything besides their instinctive training – no memory of the mission, family, time, date, etc.

Conveniently, the one thing that the Corporal can remember is a psychological side effect of emerging from hypersleep in deep space called ‘pandorum’, which causes its victim to experience severe paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations. After discovering that the door to the bridge must be opened, Bower climbs through the vent system and with the voice guidance of Lt. Payton, finds more than he bargained for on the other side, along with a feisty temptress named Nadia (Antje Traue).

Along the way, Pandorum slowly reveals (as the characters regain lost memory) certain aspects of Bower’s pre-Elysium existence and the crisis facing all of mankind. As a result, the film is heavy on back story and light on interpretation. Sometimes I just wanted the film to shut up for a second, but when it isn’t bending over backwards trying to explain itself, it’s parading scene after scene of supposedly pulse-pounding action like a dagger to the sternum.

Dennis Quaid (as Lt. Peyton) just stumbled onto the set of another bad movie.

There is no sense of intended paranoia, anxiety or claustrophobia because the filmmaking is just inconsistent, unfocused and bumpy – shifting from psychological horror to Resident Evil action to descriptive end-of-the-world shenanigans. By the time a disheveled and dishonest cook named Leland (Eddie Rouse) shows up, Pandorum has crossed over into a full-blown mess all the way to its disappointing climax.

Ben Foster (Alpha Dog, 3:10 to Yuma) is an actor who always plays psychotic blood-boilers with short fuses and wide-eyed stares. Here, he’s not even given the confines of his own typecasting. He barely even registers a blip on the radar and not even obvious attempts at humanizing him through flashbacks can help matters. Dennis Quaid is still in an extended, almost Nicolas Cage-like slump of ineptitude. You almost have to go back to Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven to find his last memorable performance.

But you’ll forgive the two lads for coming up with something so uninspiring given the material, which offers plenty of promise and no execution. Despite its best efforts to shake things up and deliver a bloodcurdling, moody piece of horror interlaced with psychosomatic undercurrents, Pandorum pulls off neither. Instead, it boils down to the equivalent of a second-rate survival-horror action game with one too many cut-scenes.

There are several routes one can take when making a zombie film. The most widely used approach would be the serious take on the genre, such as Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later or Zack Snyder’s remake, Dawn of the Dead. The second approach, and the most fun, would be the comedic approach used in Shaun of the Dead and in Ruben Fleischer’s new zombie killing opus, Zombieland.

Zombieland follows a world overrun with the living undead. Everything we once knew has been destroyed, even the U.S. is no longer has a functioning government. The film opens with one of the most creative title sequences in recent memory. There are multiple slow motion zombie kills accompanied by Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”  After seeing the amazing title sequence, it’s obvious that first time director, Ruben Fleischer comes from a background of music video direction and title sequence design.

It's hard enough to find your car keys in the dark, let alone while being chased by flesh-eating zombies.

The film follows Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a young man who has survived the zombie apocalypse by adhering to his own set of strict rules. His rules include helpful zombie survival skills such as – when shooting a zombie, use the double tap method, once in the chest and once in the head, to make sure they’re dead. He also has a phobia of getting caught with his pants down, so one must always be careful in bathrooms.  Columbus was a college student before the world was turned into a zombie land so he decides to travel back to his hometown. He knows the chances of his family still being alive are slim but he is starved for human interaction. While traveling across the country, he meets zombie-killer extraordinaire, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson).

The two are complete opposites, Ohio is the shy, nervous kid; Tallahassee is the completely out there, zombie hunter. Even their views on zombies are completely different. While Ohio laments what the human race has come to, Tallahassee only wants to bash them to a pulp. The two travelers soon happen across another pair of survivors, sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). (Are you seeing a pattern with the character names?) The sisters, who initially trick Ohio and Tallahassee, soon realize that they are safer joining forces with the two men.  Wichita and Little Rock are heading to an amusement park in California, which they believe is in a zombie free town. The four survivors head off to the west coast, and on the way encounter many zombie infestations. The film includes several enjoyable zombie killing sequences but all are played for laughs. In the film’s most hilarious – and what will be its most talked about sequence – the crew, while traveling through Hollywood, decide to seek shelter at the home of Hollywood’s top star, Bill Murray. The star’s cameo is a hilarious one and it’s the best portion of the film.

The only thing scarier than a clown, is an undead one.

This being a zombie film, horror fans are probably wondering, “Yeah, but what about the zombies?” Well, in Zombieland the undead are mostly glimpsed while trying to attack the films protagonists. There are a few gruesome close-ups of them devouring flesh, but the film is more focused on delivering laughs than being a classic zombie film. The film does however feature zombies being dispatched with everything from bullets to banjos. It’s obvious the writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, had a great time coming up with all the ingenious ways the film’s zombies meet their demise.

The performances here are uniformly good, and while we only get a little background on each character’s motivations, none of the roles are underwritten. Each actor gets numerous laughs and equal time to shine. Jesse Eisenberg has gone from Adventureland to Zombieland, and he perfectly captures Ohio’s neurotic tendencies and longing for a human relationship, as Ohio and Wichita begin to fall for one another. Even Little Miss Sunshine star, Abigail Breslin gets a lot of laughs, especially when we see the child star wielding a shotgun. Emma Stone is also worthy of mention as the tough, protective older sister to Breslin. Stone continues her rise after catching my attention in 2007’s Superbad.

The film’s best performance is easily given by Woody Harrelson. As Tallahassee, a cowboy hat wearing Zombie killer, he steals every scene he is in. The actor, who hasn’t been in much recently, could be in the position for a career resurgence with Zombieland (trailer), as well as the upcoming Defendor. He doesn’t just play Tallahassee as a one note joke; we also see the reason behind his zombie hatred. I also thoroughly enjoyed Tallahassee’s search for what could be the world’s last box of Twinkies.

Zombieland is sure to be a crowd pleasing film for one reason – it’s an exciting time at the cinema. While the film’s amusement park climax doesn’t quite live up to the buildup it receives, and the plot is pretty thin, Zombieland’s running time is a brief 80 minutes, so it never overstays it welcome. I’m sure this will be a hit with movie goers; the audience I saw it with loved it. If you’re in the mood for some zombie splattering mayhem, go see Zombieland. You might be a pulse-less zombie if you don’t get a kick out of this film.

This film, Jennifer’s Body has a lot of expectations riding on it. Especially for its writer, Diablo Cody, and star Megan Fox. For Cody, this film marks her first script since winning a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 2007’s Juno. With Jennifer’s Body, she has to prove to everyone that she is not a one-hit wonder. Star Megan Fox is out to prove that she can carry a film, while also proving that her acting abilities extend beyond wearing tight clothes and talking to robots, as she did in the two Transformers films. Does either woman prove themselves worthy of their almost overnight success? For me, the answer would have to be no.

The plot for this high school-meets-horror film surrounds the title character Jennifer (Megan Fox) and her best friend Anita “Needy” Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried). These two characters have been friends since they were young girls, even though they are polar opposites, Needy is the nerdy one and Jennifer is the hottest, most popular girl in the entire town. The reason behind their enduring friendship, we are told through Needy’s voice over, is “sandbox love never dies.”

The events of the film are put in motion when one night Jennifer decides to drag Needy away from her boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons), and go to their town’s only bar, to see her favorite band, “Low Shoulder.”  As Jennifer tries to attract the attention of the band’s lead singer, Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody), the bar catches on fire, and after Jennifer and Needy escape to the parking lot, the band convinces Jennifer to get in their van. Needy is left wandering what has happened to her BFF until Jennifer shows up hours later at Needy’s house, covered in blood. Jennifer says nothing and only vomits up an inky, black liquid before leaving.

Needy routinely got frustrated when Jennifer failed to make the bed.

The next day at school, Jennifer is seemingly fine and mentions nothing of the previous night’s events. Something however, is terribly wrong with her, as she was the victim of a botched satanic sacrifice by her favorite band (they mistook her for a virgin) and becomes possessed by a demon. This is a demon that requires human flesh to survive and soon the town’s teenage male population begins to disappear. It’s up to Needy to stop Jennifer before she consumes the entire male population of Devil’s Kettle, Minnesota.

The film’s dialogue is signature Diablo Cody, everyone speaks in a hyper-witty, sarcastic tone that anyone who saw Juno will know as soon as they hear it. The problem with Jennifer’s Body, unlike Juno, is that the dialogue that was fresh and fun then - sounds forced here.  It seems Cody is trying too hard to make the film funny and quirky, and it doesn’t work. The dialogue isn’t done any favors by Megan Fox who, while delivering some decent lines, doesn’t add any emotion behind her delivery. I think Fox, who has complained so much to the press about not being able to show her true talent, was proven wrong. I’m now certain we have already seen her range as an actress with the Transformers series.

Fire. It does a body good.

It also didn’t help Fox look any more capable by putting her opposite Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!). Seyfried proves that she is miles above Megan Fox in the acting department by putting in the film’s only genuine performance as the heroine of the movie. The rest of the cast is decent with J.K. Simmons’ comedic talents going to waste in such a small part. The only other notable performance besides Seyfried, is Adam Brody’s comedic cameo as the band’s lead singer.

The films biggest offense however, is its tone. It’s never clear what the film is trying to be. It has elements of horror, but is neither scary nor gory enough to be considered a horror film. It isn’t a comedy, as it doesn’t feature enough laughs to be in that genre. Lastly, it can’t be considered a teen sex comedy either, as contrary to what the film’s publicity and its premise would have you believe, the film features no nudity. The sexual elements are rather PG-13 (sorry, Fox fans).

In the end, the film’s muddled tone really brings the whole thing down. It can’t decide what it wants to be, and it fails for this reason. If “Body” falters at the box office – I’m sure Megan Fox will continue to get roles with her looks alone and Cody will continue to write scripts – I just hope next time she brings something new to offer and doesn’t try to replicate her Juno dialogue again.  Jennifer’s Body is not a true disaster, but it lacks any real soul.

Review written by The Film Nest “Guest Contributor” Chase Kahn (same name in the “Comments” section).

Five years after director Shane Acker won an Oscar for his animated short film 9, the director is back helming a feature-length expansion of his own premise about a group of rag dolls in a post-apocalyptic setting. The short film is a delightful slice of animation — dialogue-free, inventive, stylized and fun. As it turns out, some things are better left alone. With all of its visual and technical innovation, and intrigue to burn, 9 is nevertheless a bland, repetitive and hackneyed inflation of the eleven-minute short film with as many bad ideas as good ones, until the source material is proven overexposed.

Trying to duplicate the moderate success of Coraline ($75 million domestic gross), Focus Features has an odd blend of genres rolled into a niche package. The PG-13 science-fiction action-adventure animated film is too dark, bleak and humorless for anyone under the age of twelve, yet too undemanding, unpolished and meandering for anyone old enough to carry a driver’s permit.

Beginning with an aged, painful voiceover narration, 9 begins brilliantly with the awakening of its title character (voiced by Elijah Wood) in the workshop of a now deceased scientist. After flipping open the tapping, wind-battered shutters, we’re exposed to a hazy, smog-ridden ruin of what used to be a great city – think 1940’s London crossed with Soylent Green. #9 soon meets a resourceful old “sackboy” like himself, named #2 (Martin Landau), who is quickly snatched up during an attack by a roving machine known simply as, “The Beast”.

9 (Elijah Wood) and 2 (Martin Landau) scavenging through the apocalypse.

Wounded from the attack, #9 awakens under the hospitality of #5 (John C. Reilly) and a band of fellow “stitchpunks” (courtesy of Mr. Acker) led by #1 (Christopher Plummer) who, it appears, has been seeking refuge and solitude from “The Beast” for quite some time. Through various plot devices and tactics, we come to learn that the human race has become extinct at the expense of their own ambition. Through newspaper clippings, a scientist is identified as the man who built an army of intelligent machines for this nameless “State,” who then became self-aware, turning on their creators with unremitting numbers and hostility. This war is depicted briefly during the origin story of the numbered “stitchpunks,” much to the delight of this reviewer.

Unfortunately, 9 can’t sustain its opening passages, nor can it duplicate (not to mention expand on) the wondrous and artistically rendered short film upon which it’s based. It’s quite obvious that Shane Acker and screenwriter Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride, Monster House) are spreading this premise thin to the point of tedium. It boils down to a series of capture-and-escape, machine-versus-rag doll monster battles spliced with a MacGuffin/post-apocalyptic, “save the world” narrative – a short film on repeat.

This happens a lot in "9."

Dialogue, all too prevalent here, is a barrage of banal moralistic debates perfectly fitting our archetypical, straight-laced, pint-sized heroes.  The voicework by everyone involved is non-essential with the exception of keeping Elijah Wood busy these days. John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly and Christopher Plumber, among others, are given no range here to make an impression, simply a vehicle for the action like everything else. The kind of exacting, strength-building inspiration for the characters and their voiceover counterparts, noticeable in any feature made by Pixar, is plainly absent here.

If there is one thing worth chewing on in 9, it is the animation, a kind of stop-motion/computer-generated hybrid. Interiors are appropriately dark and faintly lit with exterior sequences, which expose the pinkish-yellow beauty of the sky, looking gorgeous. The character design and the imagination involved with the detailing of the environment and the set pieces are undeniably impressive. For instance, the numbers on a calendar serve as a scorecard for which “stitchpunks” are still alive and a saltshaker’s silver top is efficiently used as a jousting mask.

Regrettably, only in this aspect does anything about 9 signal any stroke of inventiveness. In fact, nothing in the film is definably awful, but what you have here is a harmlessly dull and dreary piece of action-animation – stubbornly visceral and tirelessly unprogressive.

In the last few years, the popularity of online gaming has soared to new heights. Games like “World of Warcraft” and “The Sims” have begun taking up many Americans free time. In these games, you are transported to another world, where you are in control of a character of your creation and with that control you can act out all of your wishes with the push of a button.

This concept is taken to the next level in the new film Gamer, directed by the same team behind the Crank series, which starred Jason Statham, Neveldine and Taylor. The film is set in a future where online gaming has reached a record amount of players, as well as unparalleled realism. What can be more realistic than controlling actual people?  You see, in the world of Gamer the public has become enamored with a new game called “Slayers,” the creation of genius designer Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall), in which death row inmates are controlled by players at home and pitted against one another in a massive fight to the death – for the entire world to see. The prisoners that are placed in the game are promised that if they can survive thirty sessions they will be given a full pardon and then, released.

"Do you know how hard it is to concentrate on the road with you yelling in my face?"

No single inmate has ever reached the lofty goal of surviving thirty missions but, “Slayers” biggest star Kable, is the closest with 27. Kable (Gerard Butler), is described as the perfect soldier and if he can survive the next few missions, while under the control of 17 year old Simon, he can get his freedom back and rejoin his wife. Kable’s wife Angie (Amber Valletta), is also going through her own mind control nightmare. After losing custody of their daughter (however, we are never told why this has occurred), she finds herself working as an “actor” in Castles’ first hit game, “Society.” Society is a Sims-like game, where the players are controlling real life humans. And the human controlling her is a particularly perverted guy, who has her wearing and doing, increasingly degrading things.

Add to all this a group called the “Humanz,” a rag tag group of rebels led by Brother (Ludacris) who are fighting to bring down Castle’s whole mind control empire, and you have a film that includes many elements we’ve seen used more effectively, in much better films. With the film being made by the duo behind the Crank films, we know we are in for a wild ride, but Gamer, for all its action, blood, and nudity, is clearly lacking what the Crank series offered in spades, a sense of fun. The lead performance by Butler is rather one note, he scowls and kills, but we never find out much more than that. Gerard Butler does his best with what he has to work with, and in the end he comes out with the film’s most solid performance.

Don't worry Kable - a geeky, unarmed kid has your back.

The same cannot be said about Michael C. Hall as Ken Castle, the film’s villain. He plays Castle as a semi-redneck who becomes an instant billionaire after creating these new forms of entertainment. With his southern accent and over the top acting, I couldn’t believe for a second that he ever created such a complex piece of entertainment. Hillbillies in most cases are not technological geniuses.

The supporting cast is made up of Kyra Sedgewick (TV’s “The Closer”), playing an investigative journalist trying to get the story behind what makes Castle tick. Also in the film is Alison Lohman (Drag Me to Hell), as a member of the “Humanz,” and it seems her role is to merely provide the audience with what is happening with the plot, so we don’t have to even think about what’s happening on screen. “Look, boobs and explosions!” is all we need to think about, I guess.

The film is shot with hand-held cameras (same as the Crank films), and in Gamer, the same “million cuts per second” are used as well. This film being of the action variety offers plenty of said action, as long as you don’t get sick from staring at the screen, trying to decipher who is blowing up whom.  The action actually takes a backseat to the story in the second half, but the characters are painted so thinly that I lost any real interest in who wins or loses by then anyway. We all have seen this type of movie enough times to know how it all will end.  Directors Neveldine and Taylor haven’t showed us anything we haven’t seen before here, but if you are seeing Gamer I’m sure you are well aware of the type of film you are getting yourself into anyway. As I said in our preview of the film, the production values and star power of Gerard Butler are the only reasons this film made it to theaters. Otherwise, Gamer would be sitting on the direct-to-DVD shelf. In other words, I found Gamer to be, well…played out.

Our good friend Chuck Curry over at ET&B has provided us with an opportunity to post his review on last weekend’s Halloween 2.  Since none of our current writing staff submitted a review, I figured I would extend the olive branch to his review and also just remind our readers about his blog right here.  As many of you know, Chuck is a faithful fan of the series, so he is more than qualified to give his take on the movie. Thanks for the review Chuck!

Halloween 2

Just so there is no misunderstanding I hated pretty much all of Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2. While I ultimately disliked Zombies first re-imagining of John Carpenter’s original 1978 classic I thought it had a few interest scenes and was semi-watchable. As far as this sequel is concerned, it has absolutely no redeeming value and is a movie I will never watch again.

Zombie has either no skill or no interest in building tension or suspense as the whole movie is an extreme exercise in blunt force trauma. It wallows in unpleasantness for its entire running time, reinventing the characters of this long running horror franchise to absurd and ridiculous caricatures. After watching this senseless garbage there’s no defending Zombie. If he wants to do his own thing in movies like his House of a 1000 Corpses or The Devils Rejects fine, but stay away, far away, from existing franchise properties like Halloween.

Haddonfield for me is not a small town filled with redneck hillbillies and strippers, Michael Myers is not a giant hobo, Dr Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is not an unlikable opportunist, and Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) is not an uncharismatic personality that adds little to nothing to the overall story. It’s also hard to excuse the ridiculous plot device that returns Zombie’s real life wife Sherri Moon to this follow up as a ghost who talks to her son Michael throughout the movie. You also lose all credibility as a horror director when you employ a shameless extended dream sequence. I especially despised when and where he used it.

As for the plot, there isn’t much of one other than Michael Myers is still alive and on his way back to Haddonfield one year after the events of the first film transpired. Dr Loomis has now sold out by becoming a celebrity writer promoting a new book dealing with his observations and history with Michael. As for Laurie she’s now living with Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) and his daughter Annie (Danielle Harris) and is troubled by very bad dreams. She’s also unhappy and rebellious. I’m must say that Scout Taylor-Compton who plays Laurie is a dreadful actress with zero charisma and no screen presence whatsoever. She’s certainly no Jamie Lee Curtis.

Other than that, it’s just a total blood bath with Myers brutally killing people, and I mean brutally. It’s one thing to stab someone two or three times but  fifteen is overkill – so to speak. He also eats a dog in the movie which is pretty pathetic. Zombie’s choice to flesh out Michael’s background has been a detrimental mistake as there’s no mystery to the character. He’s just a straightforward serial killer and an uninteresting one at that.

You also know what you’re in for when you enter Zombie’s twisted world when he has a character taking about having sex with a dead body. Please stand up if you can relate to this.

Overall this is just an exercise in sadism from the mind of a sick individual who somehow was handed the keys to a long running horror franchise that he has now burned to the ground. Give me Rick Rosenthal’s 1981 Halloween 2 any day of the week.

ZERO zombies out of FIVE

A high-end female escort service is supposed to provide, at least in theory, a fanciful male fantasy for a few hours.  Or so that is the thinking of the common, untried man.  But in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, we follow an escort who “provides” as the title suggests, the serviceable act of being a girlfriend which is much less fantasy and much more grounded in basic human interaction than one might suspect.  Steven’s “GFE” is a slice of life in Manhattan that takes place just prior to President Obama’s election to office and Soderbergh depicts the “girlfriend” as much more of a business woman than a fantastical being.

Real life porn star Sasha Grey stars as the titular escort Christine who goes by Chelsea during her visits.  As Chelsea, she embodies less a man’s fantasy but more so someone to keep these men company.  Most of the guys who use her services are among the wealthy elite, so her clients routinely complain to her about the economy all the while shelling out big bucks just to spend time with her.  An interesting dichotomy from that standpoint but there is no central conflict here.

Naturally, escorts do have lives outside of when they are working and that is what “GFE” focuses on.  Christine is living with Chris, a personal trainer who himself is on his own come-up, seeking placement for his exercise-related clothing line and a salaried position with a local gym.  The couple has but one main rule with their relationship and that is for Christine not to become emotionally involved with any clients.  She values numerology as a source of spiritual enlightenment however, and it drives many of the decisions she makes in business and in life.  These issues prove challenging for them as you might expect.

A not so revealing talk in Soderbergh's "Experience."

Very much an art film, Soderbergh is back to his indie roots as he employs a jumping timeline to keep the talking heads moving and make no mistake about it, the only thing that takes place in the film is conversation.  That is not to diminish the film per se, but the voyeur in you will come away disappointed in this character study.  While one expects the promise of plenty of sex (perhaps even on videotape like in Steven’s seminal Sex, Lies & Videotape), there is none to be had.  In that regard this would be more aptly called the “Wife Experience.”  I wasn’t unhappy with the lack of on-screen sex as intimacy of a variety of sorts takes place, but if sex is what you wish for, you might want to seek out Grey’s usual line of work.

While the ending is somewhat telegraphed, the real difficulty lies in the fact there is little emotional punch in the film.  The inexperience of the actors lead Soderbergh to use trickery to best hide their flaws via dim lighting or obscure camera angles.  The characters do draw you in but this is more of a study in capitalism.  Christine has her regulars and rookies, balancing her attempts to branch out into various forms of business enterprise where opportunities and outside input are equally ample.  Of note, film critic Glenn Kenny steals one scene as a sleazy, well, critic of adult entertainment and there is a nice thumping score supplied by Ross Godfrey.  In the end, there is just not much to excite one here though and after seeing this movie, The Girlfriend Experience is not one in which you’ll likely want to partake in again anytime soon.

Critics Corner – “Tyson”

Film Outlet	Movie Critic	Rating Given	Review Date
	The Rake	3 / 4 nests	4-16
	Peter Travers	3.5 / 4 stars	4-23
	Lisa Schwarzbaum	B-	4-14
	Roger Ebert	4 / 4 stars	4-29
	Critics / Users	B / A-	4-30
	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rating / T-Meter	7.2 / 88%	4-30