Archives for April 2012

Seven Below starring Matt Barr, Luke Goss, Ving Rhames & Val Kilmer: From Interesting to “Are You Kidding Me?”

Posted on April 25, 2012 Written by ripitup

Seven Below starring Matt Barr, Luke Goss, Ving Rhames & Val Kilmer.

In 1911, a brutal murder spree takes place in a household-the young son murders his mother, grandmother, cheating & abusive father and his two young sisters.

In 2011, a group of holidaymakers is driving to their resort. The group has the unhappily married couple McCormick (Val Kilmer) and Brooklyn (Bonnie Somerville), med student Adam (Matt Barr) and his older brother Isaac (Luke Goss) and a doctor named Lipski. On the way, they stop for drinks and meet the attractive shop girl Courtney (Rebecca Da Costa), who doesn’t seem interested in either Adam or the wandering McCormick.

When they have an accident shortly after and lose the driver, their only option seems to be going with the helpful stranger Jack (Ving Rhames). McCormick’s head injury is making him even more obnoxious, and the others just leave him lying down in one of the rooms. McCormick starts hearing noises and getting really freaked out, but no one really pays attention.

But after McCormick is murdered, the group starts freaking out. But there’s a really bad storm outsite, and it really seems safer inside.

After Adam returns home from a trip to the gas station with Courtney, things get even creepier as everyone starts to see the ghosts of the family from 1911. When they finally decide to leave, the car has been disabled. As the body count goes up, they start wondering why the hell Jack is so intent on keeping them there…

An ordinary concept with a cool edge gone wrong

We’re no stranger to haunted houses, psychotic strangers, stranded houses or a group of strangers finding themselves in the midst of a murder spree. But the movie successfully combines the elements up until we are revealed the motivation for Jack, and who the murderer is/murderers are. Then it goes downhill so badly and so fast that it makes you wonder what the hell the writer/director Kevin Carraway and co-writer Lawrence Sara were thinking.

I am not going to claim I could do better. I find that a solid horror/thriller is one of the most difficult genres to write, and so far I couldn’t come up with a good idea myself (yes, I do try-I also write fiction.) But what I can claim is that had I come up with this story, and found these actors, I sure as hell wouldn’t have the same last act of the film.

The ending, and the several events leading to the end, are just beyond ridiculous. You might just want to stop and write your own ending after we learn who Jack is.

Fun cast note:

You can watch Bonnie Somerville as Mona-Ross’ love interest on Friends in season 8. She also plays Gerard Butler’s sister in the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth.

Awake TV Series starring Jason Isaacs, Steve Harris, Laura Allen, Dylan Minnette & Wilmer Valderrama

Posted on April 9, 2012 Written by ripitup

Awake TV Series starring Jason Isaacs, Steve Harris, Laura Allen, Dylan Minnette &Wilmer Valderrama. Created by Kyle Killen. 2012. Image via nbc.com

Awake Plot

LAPD Homicide Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) has lost either his wife or his son in a car crash. The problem is he doesn’t know which one actually died.

After the accident, Michael finds himself living in two different realities:

In one reality, his son has died, and he and his wife are doing his best to cope with their grief, although they have completely different approaches to the issue. He is in therapy, ordered by the department.

In the other, his wife has died, and he is doing his best to make the process easier for his son. He is in therapy, just with a different shrink. He also has a different partner at his job.

Michael doesn’t have a clue which reality is real. He just knows that when he goes to sleep in one reality, he wakes up in the other. Just like he doesn’t know which is reality, he doesn’t know whether he is sleeping or dreaming. Both shrinks are adamant that they are real, but Michael is skeptical. Besides, he doesn’t really want to let go, or find out. He knows that the only way to have a life with both his son and wife is to keep switching between these two worlds.

As a cop, however, his alternate realities have made him better at his job. Even though his “intuitions” annoy and baffle his two partners (Steve Harris in one, Wilmer Valderrama in the other), he is seeing the crossovers between the cases, and the clues he remembers from one world helps him solve the other case in the other.

While the audience is often as baffled as Michael, we are given some clues here and there to make up our minds, only to be taken the clues away and given others.

A must-watch: Two Alternate Realities – without fantasy or sci-fi

Awake is currently my favorite show. Yes, I’m a big fan of Person of Interest, but frankly I am sick and tired of watching one episode only to wait for three weeks for the others. The same goes for any other show I was unlucky enough to like.

Awake started airing in March, so to air its 13 episodes and finish in May, it doesn’t need to give any breaks. While the ratings aren’t as high as I’d like them to be, I’m excited to have a show that not only has great acting, premise and story lines, but one that doesn’t give a break for a stupid reason every two weeks. Plus, your regular crime show gives you one case to solve. Here you have two different ones, with some connections.

It is also fun and sad to watch Michael getting clues from his wife to make his son happier in one reality…

Give Awake a shot. You won’t regret it. After all how many TV shows have leading characters that as much as they love their minds and jobs, would willingly risk their sanity if it meant that it is the only wat to keep having both family members alive?

Currently rated at 8.4 on IMDB. Frankly, anything under 9 doesn’t do it justice.

Will it get renewed?

Things look pretty bleak as TV show ratings are still measured the old fashioned way, and TV networks haven’t found better ways to make money by anyhing other than TV commercials. What if I’m not a Nielsen household? What if I don’t live in the States? Why wouldn’t I get a say?

I’ll be sad to let this one go. But in a world where Grey’s Anatomy can get 8 seasons (and possibly more) and Supernatural gets 7 (possibly more), I won’t be shocked if Awake doesn’t impress that many people with its originality, intensity and puzzles. Still, I will be grateful that I got to see a great show with Jason Isaacs in the lead.

Still, you can do something to try save the show, such as signing the petition for saving awake here.I did. I also liked the show on Facebook and IMDB just in case. : )

Feel free to spread this post on the net, as more traffic means (apart from me being very happy as a blogger), might show the network that the show has a lot more watchers than they think.

Fun cast note

Yep, one of Britten’s partners (played by Wilmer Valderrama) is really Fez from That 70s Show.

Bloodwork starring Travis Van Winkle: Testing your level of disgust tolerance

Posted on April 8, 2012 Written by ripitup

Bloodwork starring Travis Van Winkle & John Bregar feat. Eric Roberts. Image via theshiznit.co.uk

Bloodwork Plot

University students/best buds Greg (Travis Van Winkle) and Rob (John Bregar) agree to be the test subjects of an experiment that pays enough to have a good vacation. Even though Rob is reluctant, Greg persuades him and they go the facility to start the trial of what they know as an allergy drug. But as they get their doses, they notice more and more anomalies at the place, as well as the weird attitude of some of the patience. Interestingly the more sensible Rob becomes more and more adjusted to the system as Greg grows uncharacteristically uncomfortable. Greg realizes that he might be the only one who is holding on to his sanity but saving himself or Rob will prove to be very difficult as he increasingly becomes more loyal to the program. And even though Greg knows they are being lied to, he is still unaware of the terrifying truth…

Bloodwork: Interesting, but Not At All Refreshing.

(*Some spoilers)

I am not a gore fan. I don’t even like seeing blood that much, and apart from the vampire feeding moments in the highly entertaining but not scary or disgusting The Vampire Diaries (or Angel or Queen of the Damned, etc.), I am not a fan.

I don’t like bugs (for an example on why it is a bad idea, see Colin Firth’s Trauma) or zombies.

That being said, I love a good thriller-especially where the thrills come from human psychology getting all screwed up. The more normal the guy was in the beginning, the bigger the effect of the transformation becomes.

If done well, humans being experimented upon and then all hell getting loose is a great idea. For decent examples, see The Killing Room or Das Experiment.

Bloodwork is decent up to the point where every single element that I don’t like comes together in a row: bugs, worms, dead animals, people turning zombies…And they are pretty bad at foreshadowing. Never mind the fact that you already predict many of the things that will happen (you are just on the lookout for the when/who and why), it doesn’t help that they either spell something out after it has happened, or they talk about how disgust works so that we stay human (as opposed to cannibalism and then the zombie thing happens.

Then there is the lack of security of the premises, the naiveté of everyone involved, underusing of the only better-known actor (Eric Roberts) in the film…..

I’d rate the movie 6 for the first half, 3 for the second. The acting is OK, but what good does that do while the story disappoints the hell out of you? 4/10 from me.