yancyscott1 Reviews

Captivity (2007)

B-movies live on!

[7/10 · 18 July 2007]

I enjoy great special effects and star-studded casts as much as the next guy, but sometimes you want to tune out to a glorious piece of b-movie cheese. Captivity is not trying to be fancy, ground-breaking cinema, and I'm sorry it's been getting axed by so many reviewers for failing at that. What it does well is cheap thrills, plenty of screen time for the hot girl, and escapism into a dark, messed-up world. Don't look for symbolism; look instead for the rush of adrenaline that comes from watching a faceless killer approach his next two victims.

Take it as a refreshing break from all the pretentious, big-Hollywood megamovies with price tags that could feed a developing country for a year.

Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (2005)

A great piece of s***

[1/10 · 27 April 2007]

This is a horrible, horrible movie. Do not watch this if you're looking for quality. If however, you are looking for something to laugh at, this might be a good pick. There are some genuinely ridiculous elements, some quotably bad lines, and some comically low-budget special effects. And there are breasts. It is 86 minutes of brain-hungry lab rats, cheerleaders getting bitten in the butt, and ambiguously foreign bad guys that end up dressed like female vikings. The fact that the climax takes place at a rave, and that the movie came out about five years after rave culture effectively died out, makes it even more campy and off-target. I had a hard time deciding whether to give this movie just one star, or all 10. I believe it is a success because it does actually achieve something. It's easy to make a film that is mediocre, say, four or five stars, but you know there's something special when it's really this bad.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

better to have loved and lost...

[9/10 · 23 April 2007]

Too often relationships end poorly, and all the good times are forever tainted by the feelings of bitterness that come with a break up. As time goes by, people commonly become less forgiving of another's flaws, less charmed by their quirks, and less attracted to them physically. But even if something is dragged out until not a single spark flies, most of the time, it's all worth it. This movie is about remembering what is so wonderful about being in love, sometimes against all logic, sometimes against better judgment.. and that despite all the pain that comes with losing someone you care deeply for, in the end whatever time you did have together was better than never having experienced those feelings in the first place. Anyone suffering a great loss can feel tempted by the idea of removing all thoughts of the person from their memory, as a way to move on and get a fresh start. But if such a thing were actually possible, there would be a huge number of people regretting their decision to do so. To love deeply is to take a huge risk, but most people would agree that it is certainly worth it.

The Princess Bride (1987)

the kind of movie you can watch a hundred times

[10/10 · 18 April 2007]

This movie has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have seen it countless times, with my family, with friends, or by myself when I've needed something funny and comforting. It is the princess story that all kids love, but without the corny and dumb aspects that usually keep princess stories from appealing to humans over the age of 10. The Fred Savage character is a clever way to make fun of the genre while still indulging in it. The whole fantasy world that serves as the backdrop is beautifully done, certainly much more basic than today's movies (Lord of the Rings, for example), but it is no less magical, and I don't think kids today would have any trouble getting pulled into the world of rodents of unusual size, fire pits, and albinos.

The Shining (1980)

timeless terror

[9/10 · 9 April 2007]

Even though The Shining is over a quarter of a century old, I challenge anyone to not get freaked out by Jack Nicholson's descent into madness. This is a rare example of something so unique that no one has been able to rip it off; instead it has been referenced time and again in pop culture. The twins, the elevator of blood, RedRum, the crazy nonsense "writing"... this should be seen, if for nothing else, to understand all the allusions to it in daily life. The film is simultaneously scary, suspenseful, beautiful, and psychologically intriguing. It has the classic mystery of Hitchcock and the terror of a modern thriller. And it has what horror movies usually lack: a great script.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

What I needed from a film

[7/10 · 5 May 2006]

Finally a chance to see this one on DVD this week compelled to write about it because I will be going to see An American Haunting this weekend and I have see references in reviews to this movie. I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Exorcism of Emily Rose was a 'horror' film that not only has a brain for a change, but actually succeeds in being frightening. It may help that the film is allegedly based on true events, which gives credibility to the storyline, and prevents the movie from having those annoyingly gaping plot holes, it will be interesting putting this up against An American Haunting, from what I have read there are similar characteristics.

There are certain events happening in the film which are questionable as to whether they actually occurred in real life, but the characters do help to pull it off and keep you moving forward, even if you did stop and wonder for a brief moment.

I found 'Emily Rose' to be different from almost every past horror movie in the sense that it doesn't make really obvious attempts to frighten its audience. The frightening events regarding Emily Rose's exorcism are more frightening as they don't seem horribly staged and predictable, they are effects you have seen in half a dozen other horror films attempting to pull of the same scare moment. The cast gives an overall strong performance and I would recommend this film to other horror/drama fans.