Challenge 63: Reviews

[digitaldesigner]

CHALLENGE 63
REVIEWS

Due Date and Time: Tuesday 8 October, 3 pm EST/8 pm GMT countdown
Number of times you can enter: 4

Task/Rules:
• Write a review for an episode, movie or book.
• Reviews must be at least 200 words.
• Please include your word count with your review.

Points: 15 points for participation. Please include your tag banner.

Questions: to the question thread in this post.

Comments

QUESTIONS?

[digitaldesigner]

Re: QUESTIONS?

[timetobegin]

YES.

[anaraine]

The Devil's Carnival | 211 words
I found myself oddly charmed by this short horror musical. The running time is just under an hour, and while there is an overarching plot, I believe it is better viewed as a series of vignettes. Following the deaths of three sinners, the movie shows what happens to each of them as they traverse the haunting carnival belonging to Lucifer, and inhabited by his dark followers.

Each sinner's story is told with the help of an Aesop's Fable, painting over the genuine horror with a bit of quirky fairy tale charm. (I, personally, was very fond of The Scorpion and the Frog's rendition.)

As far as horror goes, the movie was filmed beautifully, with delightfully grotesque characters and horrifying sets. However, it was not particularly scary - I would rank it somewhere within the television show Supernatural's range. It wouldn't be something I'd show to children under sixteen or so, but I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it.

The music was enchanting and eerie, an excellent counterpart to the movement playing out on the screen.

While I did enjoy watching this very much, it remains more of an artistic film, for me. I probably won't bother to watch it again, unless I'm actively showing it to someone else.


Kawa | 268 words
This movie was a tearjerker, and not really in a good way. Set in New Zealand, Kawariki is a married man with two children, and on the verge of taking his father's place as the head of the family, as is tradition according to their Maori culture. There's a problem, however - Kawariki is gay, and very deep in the closet, even as he visits gay bathhouses and has a boyfriend.

This movie was billed as a coming out story in the United States, and while technically that's true, I also think it's a little misleading. It's more of an angsty drama than anything, although the ending has a tiny ray of hope that things might get better for Kawariki and his family.

All of the actors did a magnificent job at being people. I felt for everyone in this movie, and couldn't choose a "side" to root for. The wife was not vilified, the children were not little cardboard cutouts to provide angst - they were all very real, and very emotional.

The scenery in this movie is stunningly gorgeous. To be honest, I would've watched it just for that (and Dean O'Gorman's dimples).

I very much enjoyed getting a look into a Maori family - and getting to hear such a beautiful language! That was a really interesting part of the film.

I'm not sure I would've watched this, if I had known, going in, that it was going to be a mostly depressing and heartbreaking movie. I'm glad I watched it, but I seriously doubt I'll watch it again. It would just make me cry.

[craterdweller]

Supernatural: On the Head of a Pin - Season 4 Ep 16: Word count
215

What I loved most about the episode was that everyone seemed to be struggling with their beliefs on right and wrong. Dean knew it was wrong to torture, but he also knew that something powerful enough to kill angels was bad news. He was rewarded with a case of be careful what you wish for, as the truth he learned from Alistair was devastating. Castiel, who had already shown signs of doubting his beliefs discovered his long time friend and comrade had betrayed him and had switched sides. And Sam continued to struggle with using his demonic powers. Although I think for Sam, he still believes that since he is using the powers for good that it is alright. An opinion definitely not shared by Dean and Castiel.

There were some incredible performances by the actors, particularly Jensen Ackles and Mischa Collins. I have no idea what possessed the actor playing Alistair to try and sound like Brando from the Godfather, but it was AWFUL. Very distracting and I have no idea why he played it that way. The story was solid and I was fooled by the reveal of the murderer. All in all, one of my favorite Supernatural episodes so far.

[anaraine]

Grizzly Rage | 229 words
Five minutes into this movie easily tells how horrible it is going to be. Grizzly Rage is a horror/thriller that tries very hard, but is completely unable to scare its audience. It could probably be used as a gateway into the horror genre for younger children - I'm sure I've seen scarier things in PG movies.

However, I knew going in that this movie was more cheese than horror, so I was prepared for ridiculousness with a bag of popcorn that I could throw at the screen when it went really over the top. I threw more popcorn than I ate.

The music was not anything worth noting, the scenery was vaguely interesting -I did like some of the scenes of them running through the trees- and the bear was absolutely terrible. I hesitate to say what made the bear completely unbelievable, but guess it had to be terrible CGI mixed with whomever was running around as a prop for the actors.

The plot was thin and watery, though less sexist than I was expecting, given that three dudebros and their token friend girl (whom I can't even remember if she was actually dating one of the "three amigos") decide to go off on a camping trip together.

Basically, I watched this movie for a dirty, scared Tyler Hoechlin, and with that goal in mind, it delivered perfectly.


Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman | 218 words
I was kind of appalled at the stereotypes used in this children's movie. I was expecting a cute children's movie, something that I could use as Halloween background noise, but I really doubt I'll ever watch this movie again.

The biggest turn off for me was probably the racial slur gypsy being used, by a woman whom I seriously doubt is Romani, given that she has an infomercial type television show that sells books about the supernatural to people who call in.

I also really disliked that the principal of the school Alvin, Theodore, and Simon go to would not step in to prevent some serious bullying, just because Theodore hadn't come to tell her about the problem. That is sending a message I really don't approve of.

And for a movie based on Alvin and the Chipmunks, it had a surprising lack of singing. I think there were possibly three songs in this movie, which was over an hour long. I wasn't overly impressed with the songs, either.

The actual werewolf plot was vaguely amusing, especially how the problem ended up being resolved.

I suppose, since the movie was made in 2000, that I should give it some slack and be happy that people probably aren't watching it that much. But it was a major disappointment for me.