Monday, December 17, 2007

"1408"

Well I now have a back log of movies I’ve viewed recently, but have not yet had a chance to review yet, so let me start with Hollywood’s latest attempt at yet another Stephen King book.

I’m sure you noticed I used the word “Attempt” with regards to this move “1408,” and for very good reason. For years I’ve read King’s books, and watched the accompanying movies that came out later and I would say that at Hollywood has failed miserably at least 50% of the time. Stephen King is without a doubt one of the best, and most popular horror book writers of our time, and while a very small percentage of his books I would dare to classify as not very good, when compared to most other writers of the genre, are still works of art. The problem when taking one of his books and trying to create a movie out of it is a simple one. They simply do not translate into visual. These gems are meant to be enjoyed inside your own mind and not on the big screen with a million other viewers.

For those of you who may not have read 1408 yet, here is a brief synopsis of the story, and movie. Mike Enslin (Played by John Cusak) is a skeptic of anything supernatural. He becomes this way shortly after the loss of his daughter. Mike writes books debunking all of the different haunting that people claim to have happened. Mike hears about the supposed haunted room 1408 via a post card telling him not to enter the room. Mike takes this as a challenge, and the well known Dolphin Hotel becomes the next debunking on his list. He tries to book the room, but the hotel manager (Played by Samuel L. Jackson) Olin refuses him. Through legal maneuvers, he forces the manager to rent him the room. Olin tries repeatedly to persuade Mike to not stay in the room sighting that no single person has ever lasted more then a single hour in the deadly room before dying in some mysterious way, or killing themselves in dramatic fashion. Enslin, already the brick wall doubter laughs and takes the room. The story pretty much tells itself from there.

For the most part, the movie is lack luster in performance, and with the exception of a few good scenes is basically just another failure, in the long line of Stephen King books turned movie. As with all the other failures, it simply does not live up to the experience you lived inside your own mind when reading the story. Stephen King’s books when turned into movies are a simple toss of the coin. They either turn out to be master pieces like “The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, and “The Shinning,” or they end up like this one. Books that should have been left a book.

I do think that my review on this particular Stephen King adaptation may come under fire because the movie was some what popular in the theaters, but I stand by it. This is a mediocre movie, but if you’re bored on a Saturday night, and need a movie to make your date jump in your lap, try it on for size.

My rating for this movie is 6.50 out of 10.00


Thursday, December 13, 2007

"My Life Among The Serial Killers"

OK, It is time for another book review, and for those of you out there that are as fascinated with this particular subject as I am, this is a must read. The subject of today’s review is Serial Killers. In particular a woman by the name of Dr. Helen Morrison who over 30 years now has investigated the subject herself, conducted hundreds of interviews with some of the most notorious killers alive, and spent thousands of hours researching up close and personal the minds of the monsters themselves.

"My Life among the serial killers,” is a very interesting look into the life of Dr Morrison, and her notes, and stories about the serial killers she has interviewed. Of the most infamous being John Wayne Gacey, and Bobby Joe Long. Dr. Morrison also lists several of the more sadistic killers that have plagued the earth throughout history. As she quotes many times, Serial killers are not a new subject. They have been around since the dawn of time, but it is only now that we are starting to have even the vaguest understanding of what makes these twisted souls do what they do.

When dr. Morrison first began back in the 70’s, women in general were still not really considered equals to men, especially among the law enforce departments across the U.S. who wanted nothing more then to get a conviction of these killers. They did not care about the studying that needed to be done, and certainly did not care about some woman who wanted to do the studying, so of course she met quite a bit of resistance. As the years went by and she continued her research and interviews, the subject of serial killers, began to take on a new light, and her research while faulty in some aspects, becomes more insightful as she became more recognized in her field.

While I personally disagree with many of the conclusions Dr. Morrison presents in her book, I still found her notes and conversations with these killers enthralling. To sit and speak with these monsters in human form makes my skin crawl, yet fascinates me to the core. As the hours roll along during her interviews with these killers, she breaks them down little by little until without them even knowing it, they reveal some of the most horrific details of their killings. What they thought about what they were doing, and most intriguing of all, the fact that almost all of them never once admitted remorse. They all of course admitted they were sorry they were all caught in the end, but they were never sorry of the brutal murders they committed.

Here is a fact that is morbidly interesting to say the least. After John Wayne Gacey was executed, she was given permission some how to have access to his brain for research purposes, and to this day in a bottle of formaldehyde in her basement, there sits a slice of brain from one of the most notorious killers of our era. Odd how most serial killers keep trophies of their victims, and now a trophy from a serial killer sits in a jar owned by some one on the other end of serial killing.

Although some of her ramblings are at times incoherent, or more broken thoughts, then helpful insights, a good portion of her research is still looked at as valuable and very thought provoking when she discusses her theories about how a serial killer is just that from the time they are born, and the inevitably this kind of trait is actually hereditary, or based in part in the actual DNA make up of a human. If for no other reason then the stories she tells about her interviews, this book is worth a read.

My rating for this book is 8.00 out of 10.00

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

"Amazing Grace"

My brother rented a movie for us to watch about a week ago called “Amazing Grace.” I had not personally heard of the movie, and as have many good movies recently, it flew below my radar, but as I am a big fan of time period movies, this one seemed to be right on the money, and I had pretty high expectations going in. I was not disappointed.

“Amazing grace,” is a story about the terrible time in the history of man where the slave trade was still running rampant across England and America. I’ve always had a pretty good grip on America history of the slave trade on our side of the pond, however I found out very quickly that I had absolutely no knowledge of the history of the slave trade on the other side.

Ioan Gruffudd, (better known as Reed Richards from the Fantastic Four), plays the part of William Wilberforce. William is a member in the British Parliament and over many years continues to try and pass a bill that would abolish the slave trade, but the thousands of people making money hand over fist off of the slave trade block his every effort. In the end William has to resort to some trickery in order to finally get his bill passed. The struggle of trying to make this happens takes a toll not only on his emotions over the years, but also his body as his fights illness, addiction to Laudanum, and even the relationship with one of his life long friends.

When I realized the main character in this movie was “Stretch Man” from Fantastic Four, I almost laughed. I just did not think there was any way Ioan could pull off such a prestigious role. It took only 10 minutes into the movie, and all I could do was applaud. Ioan captured the role of William in every way imaginable, and took it to places I simply did not think was possible.

While director Michael Apted’s list of works is long, I admit that most of his work is foreign to me with the exception of a few select films, however the look of this movie, was enchanting. The story line was thick with meaty performances by almost every actor (to many to list) in the film. I will mention one other fantastic role of John Newton played by Albert Finney. It doesn’t take very long into this wonderful movie to tell that this was not only a daunting task to take on, but also a very controversial topic. The filming was top notch, wardrobe was ridiculously meticulous, and there was not a single time in the movie where I did not feel completely transported back in time.

“Amazing Grace” is not your run of the mill type “Saturday night flick,” but if you are like me, and appreciate a well made historical movie, then this is a must see, if not a buy for your DVD collection film.

My rating for this movie is 8.50 out of 10.00