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October 29, 2009
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
(out of four)
Both the cult-canonized MacManus brothers and director Troy Duffy were just getting started when vigilante tale The Boondock Saints debuted a decade ago. But fate (in the form of the Columbine shootings) and ego (if behind-the-scenes expose Overnight is to be believed) intervened, sending the movie to DVD heaven and Duffy to director jail. Now, he picks up the original's open ending in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, which feels larger in scope yet sorely lacking in originality, not unlike the 10-years-on reunion special it is. The audience is there, yet the limited release suggests a homevid strategy.
Continue reading "Boondock Saints" at Variety.com
Posted by Peter Debruge at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2009
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
(out of four)
Anyone looking to kick off a teen fantasy franchise can draw several valuable lessons from the failure of Universal's Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, the first (and likely the last) cinematic adaptation of the popular Brit neck-biter series. First, if you're counting on a property's built-in fan base, don't stray too far from the source. Second, make sure the opening entry stands alone; there's no point wasting energy to set up sequels that'll never happen. Finally, like brother Chris (The Golden Compass), director Paul Weitz seems better suited to comedy than to big-budget make-believe.
Continue reading "Cirque du Freak" at Variety.com
Posted by Peter Debruge at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2009
Gentlemen Broncos
(out of four)
Napoleon Dynamite seems perfectly well-adjusted (not to mention downright charismatic) compared to homeschooled mama's boy Benjamin Purvis in Gentlemen Broncos, the latest oddball character portrait from one-trick helmer Jared Hess. This time, the misfit in question is an aspiring science-fiction writer easily upstaged by his idol, a pompous (but published) fantasy author, played by "Flight of the Conchords" star Jemaine Clement like the cosmic love child of Tim Curry and Orson Welles. Pic tickled its target demo at Fantastic Fest, though it's hard to imagine Fox Searchlight reaching enough geeks in theaters to come anywhere near Nacho Libre's $80 million.
Continue reading "Gentlemen Broncos" at Variety.com
Posted by Peter Debruge at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2009
The House of the Devil
(out of four)
Call it the best '80s babysitter-in-peril movie never made. The House of the Devil delivers about as much as one could reasonably hope from the not-quite-alone-in-the-house category, with the bonus of authentically re-creating the low-budget look and feel of that era's classic horror entries. Still, talk about setting your sights low, as the pic seems content to polish a subpar subgenre. Nevertheless, auds seeking a stripped-down retro spine-tingler that builds to an intense climax will appreciate what director Ti West has accomplished, with strong on-demand interest for the Magnet title leading up to its Oct. 30 theatrical release.
Continue reading "The House of the Devil" at Variety.com
Posted by Peter Debruge at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2009
The Human Centipede
(out of four)
What has 12 legs, three heads and a single digestive tract? The disagreeable creation at the center of Tom Six's The Human Centipede: First Sequence, a beyond-twisted body horror experiment in which a mad surgeon, renowned for separating Siamese twins, kidnaps and conjoins three unlucky tourists mouth-to-anus for no reason other than to satisfy his own sadistic whims (and the morbid curiosity of a certain type of moviegoer). Only real payoff is seeing the monstrosity assembled, and though that will surely earn the Dutch writer-director a cult reputation on the genre circuit, "going there" does not a movie make.
Continue reading "The Human Centipede"
Posted by Peter Debruge at 06:33 PM | Comments (0)