Leading up to Halloween, we had zero time to take in any movies, but with the festivities past we’re doing our best to catch up. Here’s a few of the best we’ve seen lately.
Zombieland
The first order of business right after the party was the horror-comedy, Zombieland. It’s pretty much a mashup of Natural Born Killers and Shaun of the Dead with certainly more comedy than horror in the mixture. There aren’t any great surprises to the movie, but it’s a pretty fun romp of head smashing and double taps. Stylized graphics and narratives add some unique flavor (similar to Max Brooks’ book “The Zombie Survival Guide”) and edge it past run of the mill zombie flicks.
Paranormal Activity
A lot has been said about this $11k movie which has raked in millions. I went in with little knowledge of the plot and relatively low expectations (despite the word mouth raves), and I was really impressed. I don’t think there is necessarily a huge, continuous market for flicks shot in this style, but there’s definitely more of a market than what’s being fed, and Paranormal’s success is proof. It’s hard not to like the big budget popcorn munchers, but after too many movies drenched in sweet CGI, it sure is refreshing to cleanse the palate with a film shot with single $4k camera, a couple unknown actors, and good creepy suspense. And, oh heck yeah, it’s creepy.
This Is It
Most recently we caught a midweek showing of MJ’s final opus, This Is It. Between all our recent focus on Thriller for Halloween and the good reviews I’ve been hearing, I was anxious to see this. As you’d expect from how the movie was assembled, it’s really a collection of glimpses of the prep for their massive stage show. A moment from the dancer auditions, a few moments of Michael working on arrangements and choreography, moments of stage effects and CGI work, and of course many moments of onstage rehearsal. Footage is cobbled together from different days and different cameras with varied levels of quality (sometimes near HD, other times relatively fuzzy), but the clips are well edited and seamless. No song is complete or quite polished yet. Michael holds back on his vocals, sometimes singing every other line. It certainly isn’t the spectacle that MJ would have wanted us to see, but it’ll have to do. This Is It, is all we have.
As everyone has said, there’s nothing in the film to suggest MJ was sickly or frail. You see him very involved in the whole production, and physically, even in rehearsal, it was tough to remember he was 50 years old. His glides were as smooth as in the 80s. His voice, restrained, but spot on. If Jackson was ailing he sure hid it well (or the editors did). So you can really understand the blindsiding shockwave the news of his death surely sent through every member of the production. Feverish rehearsal one day, then nothing.
The best thing about This Is It is, of course, the music. Most songs are brought to life just as they sounded originally, while a few others are updated with new grooves or breaks. And all of it booming through the theater’s surround sound was pretty sweet. The second best thing about the movie, is that they keep it about the show. It’s not a movie about Michael’s death, and not even his life. Just the show. Which, you gotta figure, is just how he always wanted it.
