BLUE MAG

Narrative film began with the Western. It’s a troubling genre sometimes full of explicit racism and visual poetry within the same frame. Perhaps that is why it is so quintessentially American because it is a genre full of the best and worst angels of our nature. Essentially the Western is a morality play telling modern myths of how to be civilized and behave in white and black hats. It seems fitting that the latest released forays into the genre should cut to the binary quick: two men, one good, one bad or are they? Continue reading New Westerns

The Summer of 2007 has faded into memory leaving several disastrous blockbusters in its wake. I tried to see as many as I could but alas I am but one man. Anyway, here’s a rundown of the rest of this films I saw this past summer: Continue reading Summer Movies: Part Two

We’re midway through the summer season of blockbuster extravaganzas so here’s a brief recap of what has spilled across the silver screen and into my brain. Summer is usually about these huge big budget spectacles but I’ve thrown a couple of smaller films in there just to spice it up. Continue reading Summer Movies: Part One

It’s sad to say but most films in theaters today are nothing more than lead in press for an eventual DVD release and therefore play better on television in people’s homes. Gone is the spectacle and glory of going to the movies for the “big screen experience” replaced by mundane retreads of what was on television last week. Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino, however, have delivered a big screen experience with their new project “Grindhouse” but it’s more of a ride than a film. Continue reading Grindhouse

When you go to see a movie starring Will Ferrell and John Heder as the first male couples figure skaters all you really want to do is have a good time and laugh at silly people doing silly things. I’m not sure if there’s any deep or profound reason why we like to see people act foolish and dress up in weird costumes, all I know is we like it and it makes us feel good and “Blades of Glory” is full of people doing just that. Continue reading Blades of Glory

Remaking sequels is becoming a popular trend when it comes to horror films in the first decade of the twenty-first century. It’s 2007 and already you’ve had remakes of “Dawn of the Dead,” “The Ring 2,” “The Grudge 2” and now “The Hills Have Eyes II” (first made in 1985.) After seeing this latest exercise in re-sequeling the phrase “quit while you’re ahead” comes to mind. Continue reading The Hills Have Eyes II

“THIS IS SPARTA!” After watching the trailer to Zak Snyder’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic “300,” I wondered if everything in the movie was going to be said in all caps with exclamation points: “I AM EATING A SANDWICH!” “I AM GOING OVER THERE!” In many ways I hoped this would be the case, a movie that could sustain that level of intensity for two hours would be quite an achievement. Unfortunately, “300” is full of people speaking at a normal volume and after a while loses its intensity and this viewer’s attention. Continue reading 300!!!

I get the impression that my Blue Mag colleague (who shall remain nameless in honor of the “Zodiac Killer” himself) didn’t have the best two hour and forty minute film-going experience of his life when he saw “Zodiac“. In defense of this thriller/mystery directed by David Fincher, it does its darndest to illustrate the lives of at least three protagonists over a thirty year span who are all trying to achieve the same goal, which is to find the “Zodiac Killer”. Continue reading Zodiac-An East Coast Perspective

If you want a quick summation of director David Fincher’s new movie “Zodiac” it can basically be described as “All the President’s Men” with the Zodiac killer replacing Richard Nixon. However, “quick summation” and movies with 158 minute running times don’t really go hand in hand and in the final analysis there is nothing “quick” or “summary” about “Zodiac.”

David Fincher first came to prominence as THE sought after director of music videos and television commercials, mediums defined by flash, glam and quick cuts. This led to “Alien 3” a movie with the largest budget ever assigned a first time director and resulted in a great first hour that devolved into an unmitigated mess. Fincher claimed a torrent of studio interference on par with David Lynch’s “Dune” and vowed to have more creative control on his next picture. Continue reading ZODIAC