Review: Hysteria Aside, "MADAME WEB" is Quite Enjoyable

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2024 (No. 1954) by Leroy Douresseaux

Madame Web (2024)

Running time:  117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for violence/action and language

DIRECTOR:  S.J. Clarkson

WRITERS:  Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker & S.J. Clarkson; from a story by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Kerem Sanga (based on the Marvel Comics)

PRODUCER:  Lorenzo di Bonaventura

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mauro Fiore (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Leigh Folsom Boyd

COMPOSER:  Johan Soderqvist

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION

Starring:  Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor, Tahar Rahim, Adam Scott, Emma Roberts, Kerry Bishé, Zosia Mamet, José María Yazpik, and Mike Epps

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SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Madame Webb is not the worst film ever, and even with its corny and eye-rolling moments, it is a fast-moving action movie.

Madame Webb and the three young women she protects carry this film past its weirdness with their energy.

Madame Webb is for comic book movie fans looking for entertainment rather than culture war conflict.

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Madame Web is a 2024 superhero fantasy, horror, and action film directed by S.J. Clarkson.  The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character, Madame Webb/Cassandra Webb, that was created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr. and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210 (cover dated: November 1980).  This is also the fourth film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” (SSU) series.  Madame Web the movie focuses on a NYC paramedic who starts having visions of a shadowy figure hunting three young women.

Madame Web opens in 1973 in the jungles of Peru.  There, scientist Constance Webb (Kerry Bishe) searches for a rare spider deep in the Amazon.  At her side is her assistant, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who has plans of his own.  They are also surrounded by legends and rumors of “Las Arañas,” a secret Peruvian tribe in which its members have spider powers.  In the end, discovery leads to betrayal, death, and birth.

Thirty years later, New York City, 2003, Constance's daughter, Cassandra “Cassie” Webb (Dakota Johnson) is a paramedic.  An accident causes Cassie to start having strange visions, which she comes to believe are clairvoyant.  These visions of the future feature three young women:  Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor) being hunted by a mysterious figure.  This man wears a costume; he has enhanced strength and speed; and he can crawl on walls and ceilings like a spider.  Forced to confront her past and her psychic abilities, Cassie must safeguard these three young women before this deadly adversary murders them.

Madame Web is fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe following Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and Morbius (2022).  In my estimation, dear readers, Madame Webb is the second best of the quartet behind only the original Venom.

In fact, Madame Webb isn't the “worst film ever,” “absolutely horrible,” or any of the over-the-top things haters and trolls are saying on social media.  It isn't a great film, but Madame Web is quite entertaining.  However, I have ideas about why this new film is getting so much hate.  One reason is that there is a corner of social media that is dedicated to dissing films that are largely led by women characters.  We saw this in the vitriol and invective directed at the 2016 Ghostbusters film and Marvel Studios' recent target, The Marvels.  There are also some structural and narrative reasons that might irritate some viewers, and in order to talk about them, I will have to give you, dear readers, a...

SPOILERS WARNING:  Madame Web is a hybrid of superheroes, dark fantasy, horror, action, and mysticism.  On the superhero end, only the adversary trying to kill the three young women wears a costume.  Sometime in the future of Madame Web's timeline, Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin will each be a version of the hero, Spider-Woman, but now they are not.  We only see them in their respective costumes in Cassie's visions of the future.  Still, in the main body of the story, each actress plays her respective character as if she takes her role seriously.  The trio is fun and rebellious, and their energy makes this film hop when it starts to drag.

On the action end, Madame Web has car chases and crashes and eye-crossing fights.  The film's mystical angle comes across as a bit hokey, especially when Cassie talks about her powers.  However, when Cassie's visions kick-in, they are trippy, confusing, and disorienting; they come and go in so many alternate versions with horror movie intensity.

Madame Web certainly could have been a better film had the main male characters had more development.  Screen time isn't the issue.  Adam Scott's Ben Parker, to whom you should pay attention, is more errand boy than friend, and the bad guy often comes across as a stock villain.

That said Madame Web is an entertaining film, and Dakota Johnson is good as Cassie Webb, considering neither her character nor this film in general has the benefit of a strong screenplay.  Madame Webb is a slightly above-average comic book movie, and it should entertain most fans of superhero movies... except those with culture war agendas.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, February 16, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites for August 24th to August 30th 2014 - Update #15

NEWS:

From TheWrap:  Team behind 22 Jump Street to reboot old ABC television series, "The Greatest American Hero," for television.

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From DeadlineHollywood:  A&E cancels its most popular scripted television series, "Longmire."

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From DeadlineHollywood:  Emma Roberts is set for the horror-thriller "February."

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From TheHuffingtonPost:  See Miley Cyrus' bathing suit for the cover of V Magazine.  You can't swim with that!

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From the AP via Yahoo:  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reportedly, secretly married in the France on Saturday, August 23, 2014.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  A complete list of winners at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards

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From the WashingtonPost:  Fix the Emmys?

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From PostandCourier:  Emma Stone set to make Broadway debut in "Cabaret."

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From TheTelegraph:  Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor renew awards "rivalry" at tonight's (Monday, August 25, 2014) 66th Primetime Emmy Awards.

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From TheVox:  "True Blood" never figured out what it wanted its vampires to be

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From YahooMusic:  Amber Rose's chain-link dress at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards

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From TheWrap:  Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is not gone, nor is it forgotten.  It stole the August 22nd to 24th, 2014 weekend box office, according to early estimates.  It returns to #1 after spending two weeks at #2 behind Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, which is at #2 for this weekend.  Guardians won the box office for its debut weekend, before the Turtles returned to cinemas.  Guardians is also the #1 box-office hit of the Summer 2014, moving past Transformers: Age of Extinction.

The teen-oriented, If I Stay, opens at #3, according to early estimates and could end up battling the Turtles for #2, when the finally tally comes about sometime Monday afternoon.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," a sequel to the 2004 film, Sin City, is likely a bomb with its $6.6 million debut.

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From BleedingCool:  With all the good news Marvel is getting, I thought that I'd bring back this classic bit of bad press.

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From TheWrap:  Five Freaky Facts about the Fractured Summer Box Office.

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From YahooCelebrity:  "Sleepy Hollow" actor, Orlando Jones, puts a powerful twist on the "ice bucket" challenge.  Call it "Bullet Bucket Challenge."


STAR WARS:

From HuffingtonPost:  Episode VII cast members take "ice bucket challenge," including Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford.


COMIC BOOKS - Movies and Comics:

From EW InsideMovies:  Marvel still trying to talk Joaquin Phoenix into portraying the title character in their planned "Doctor Strange" film.  It's a close call, apparently.

From Yahoo:  Images from the set of "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

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From CinemaBlend:  Rumors, spoilers, and speculation about "Captain America 3."

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From YahooMovies:  See Evangeline Lilly's "wasp-y" haircut for "Ant-Man."

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From The Hollywood Reporter via YahooMovies:  "Ant-Man" adds new cast members:  Rapper T.I., John Slatterly, Judy Greer, and Bobby Cannavale.


OBITS:

From Variety:  Actor, director, and producer, Sir Richard Attenborough died today, Sunday, August 24, 2014.  He was 90 years old.  In 1982, Attenborough won two Oscars for producing and directing the 1982 film, Gandhi.  [Sir Ben Kingsley won the best actor for playing the title role.]  Attenborough was probably best known for playing park creator John Hammond in the 1993 film, Jurassic Park, and in the sequel, The Lost World.

Attenborough's other directorial efforts included Cry Freedom, Chaplin, and Shadowlands.  In the 1960s, he won a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe for his acting.

Attenborough chronicled his 20 year struggle to make Gandhi (which won 8 Oscars) in the book, In Search of Gandhi.  Negromancer sends condolences to Attenborough's family and friends. R.I.P. Sir Richard.


TRAILERS AND PREVIEWS:

From 20thCenturyFox:  First official trailer for Alexandre Aja's The Pyramid.


MISC:

From GMA via Yahoo:  A great story about two men who were friends as boys in Ottawa, Canada, who found out six decades later that they were brothers.

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From TheVox:  This pie chart GIF shows how we have paid for music over the last 30 years.

Review: "We're the Millers" the Funniest Movie of 2013

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

We’re the Millers (2013)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, drug material and brief graphic nudity
DIRECTOR:  Rawson Marshall Thurber
WRITERS:  Bob Fisher & Steve Faber and Sean Anders & John Morris; from a story by Bob Fisher and Steve Faber
PRODUCERS:  Chris Bender, Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooley, and Happy Walters
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Peterson
EDITOR:  Michael L. Sale
COMPOSERS:  Ludwig Göransson and Theodore Shapiro

COMEDY/CRIME

Starring:  Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Ed Helms, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn, Tomer Sisley, and Matthew Willig

We’re the Millers is a 2013 crime comedy from director Rawson Marshall Thurber (DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story).  We’re the Millers focuses on a veteran pot dealer and the fake family he creates as part of a plan to transport a shipment of marijuana into the United States from Mexico.  In a year when not too many comedies really thrilled me, I think We’re the Millers is not only the year’s best comedy, but it is also one of my all-time favorites, and I want to see it again.

We’re the Millers introduces low level pot dealer, David Clark (Jason Sudeikis).  An unfortunate occurrence leaves him $43,000 in debt to his supplier, drug lord Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms).  Brad makes David a deal:  go to Mexico and big up a small stash of weed and bring it back to him.  Realizing that one man attempting to get through customs at the Mexican border would be a bit suspicious, David comes up with the idea of creating a fake family.

David first recruits his neighbor, 18-year-old Kenny Rossmore (Will Poulter), to be his son.  Kenny recommends Casey Matthis (Emma Roberts), a 15-year-old runaway and thief, to pose as a daughter.  David’s toughest recruitment is another neighbor, Rose O’Reilly (Jennifer Aniston), a stripper, to be his wife.  Still, David manages to create a fake family, the Millers.  At first, the mission to Mexico goes well, but things turn complicated when the family runs afoul of another drug dealer and also encounters an overly-friendly family, the Fitzgeralds.

We’re the Millers’ director Rawson Marshall Thurber does his best work in allowing his cast to make gold of a screenplay filled with silliness, vulgarity, and silly vulgarity.  Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis are veteran comic actors, and they easily take this material to heights, beyond what anyone should have reasonably expected of it.  Emma Roberts and Will Poulter (who is unfamiliar to me) steal many scenes, all the better for the audience.  Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn are not only fun, but they also deliver some excellent character acting, which helps them do quite a bit of scene stealing.

We’re the Millers apparently got mixed reviews from critics, but there are no mixed feelings here.  I love it!  In the future, when We’re the Millers is a staple of cable television, I’ll think of each showing as “Miller time!”  Forgive me for going there.

9 of 10
A+

Thursday, January 02, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"We're the Millers" Crosses the $100 Million Mark

New Line Cinema’s “We’re the Millers” Cruises Past $100 Million at the Domestic Box Office

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One of the most talked about hits of the summer, New Line Cinema’s “We’re the Millers” has surpassed $100 million at the domestic box office, it was announced today by Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie crossed the $100 million mark on Friday, August 30, and is still climbing.

The film has a staggered release pattern internationally, and the performance in the few early markets has been quite strong. Cumulative international box office is an estimated $33 million, with many territories yet to release, including such key markets as France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Brazil.

In making the announcement, Fellman stated, “‘We’re the Millers’’ fake family is a genuine hit, and their hilarious road trip, combined with strong word of mouth, have been driving audiences to theaters across the country since its release. We expect this incredibly funny cast, led by Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis, to continue providing moviegoers with big laughs in the weeks to come.”

From New Line Cinema comes the action comedy “We’re the Millers,” starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. The film is directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

David Clark (Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids—after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. Preferring to keep a low profile for obvious reasons, he learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when he tries to help out some local teens and winds up getting jumped by a trio of gutter punks. Stealing his stash and his cash, they leave him in major debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms).

In order to wipe the slate clean—and maintain a clean bill of health—David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad’s latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), as well as streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), he devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the “Millers” are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.

Thurber directed “We’re the Millers” from a screenplay by Bob Fisher & Steve Faber and Sean Anders & John Morris, story by Fisher & Faber.

The film also stars Emma Roberts, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Will Poulter and Ed Helms.

Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooley, Happy Walters and Chris Bender produced, with David Heyman, J.C. Spink, Marcus Viscidi, Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener and David Neustadter serving as executive producers.

Thurber’s behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Barry Peterson; production designer Clayton Hartley; editor Mike Sale; and costume designer Shay Cunliffe. The music is by Theodore Shapiro and Ludwig Goransson.

New Line Cinema presents a Newman/Tooley Films, Slap Happy Productions/Heyday Films and Benderspink production, “We’re the Millers.” The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

“We’re the Millers” is rated R for “crude sexual content, pervasive language, drug material and brief graphic nudity.”

www.werethemillers.com

Review: "Celeste and Jesse Forever" for Reals

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux


Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, sexual content and drug use
DIRECTOR: Lee Toland Krieger
WRITERS: Rashida Jones and Will McCormack
PRODUCERS: Lee Nelson, Jennifer Todd, and Suzanne Todd
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Lanzenberg
EDITOR: Yana Gorskaya
COMPOSERS: Zach Cowie and Sunny Levine (for Biggest Crush)
Black Reel Award nominee

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Emma Roberts, Chris Messina, Rich Sommer, Rebecca Dayan, Will McCormack, Rafi Gavron, Chris Pine, and Elijah Wood

Celeste & Jesse Forever is a 2012 comedy-drama and romance film, starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. Jones co-wrote the screenplay with Will McCormack, who also has a small acting role in the film. Jones and Samberg play a divorcing couple trying to maintain friendship while both pursuing relationships with other people.

Celeste Martin (Rashida Jones) and Jesse Abrams (Andy Samberg) were best friends and high school sweethearts. Now, they are a married couple, separated and headed for divorce. They remain best friends, but their new status irritates their friends, especially Tucker (Eric Christian Olsen) and Beth (Ari Graynor), who think that Celeste and Jesse are being weird. When Jesse gets some shocking news from a former acquaintance, Celeste starts having serious doubts about what her relationship with Jesse should be.

Celeste & Jesse Forever is more a romantic drama than it is a romantic comedy. It is also a straight character drama, as introspective as it is surprisingly funny. Celeste & Jesse Forever is one of the best (if not the best) romance films of 2012, and it has a number of high qualities. The performances are good, and the directing is lively and captures the film’s off-beat sensibilities. The cinematography seems vaguely futuristic, and the soundtrack is filled with songs that are either perfect for the moment or are delightful in the way that they are inappropriate for a scene.

The film’s strength is its screenplay. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack earned a 2013 Independent Spirit Award nomination for “Best First Screenplay” and a best screenplay nomination from the 2013 Black Reel Awards. Jones and McCormack tread on familiar ground with this story, but twist and contort it in interesting ways. Every time I thought that this movie was looking too much like a cookie-cutter romance, the story struck an odd note or peculiar pose.

And Rashida Jones flows through this film with her lovely performance. If you write an interesting part for yourself, the smart thing to do is turn in a performance that captures what is different and exciting about your screenplay, and Jones does just that. Andy Samberg is good, but this story does not require him to be adventurous as an actor. There are also a number of good supporting performances. Will McCormack is funny as the odd weed dealer, Skillz, and Emma Roberts is a delightful scene-stealer as pop music princess, Riley Banks.

Celeste & Jesse Forever is always turning on the charm, but this movie works because it manages both to feel real and to be uncommon and distinctive. It’s sweet and melancholy and pungent and joyous.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2013 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Actress” (Rashida Jones) and “Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted” (Rashida Jones and Will McCormack)

Friday, March 08, 2013

"We're the Millers" Begins Filming with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis

Filming Underway on New Line Cinema’s “We’re The Millers”

Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis star under the direction of Rawson Marshall Thurber

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway on New Line Cinema’s action comedy “We’re The Millers,” starring Jennifer Aniston (“Horrible Bosses”) and Jason Sudeikis (“The Campaign”). The film is directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (“Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story”).

David Burke (Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids—after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. Preferring to keep a low profile for obvious reasons, he learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when he tries to help out some local teens and winds up getting jumped by a trio of gutter punks. Stealing his stash and his cash, they leave him in major debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms).

In order to wipe the slate clean—and maintain a clean bill of health—David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad’s latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), and the tatted-and-pierced streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), he devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the “Millers” are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.

Thurber directs “We’re The Millers” from a screenplay by Steve Faber & Bob Fisher (“Wedding Crashers”) and Sean Anders & John Morris (“Hot Tub Time Machine”). The film also stars Emma Roberts (“The Art of Getting By”), Nick Offerman (“21 Jump Street”), Kathryn Hahn (“The Dictator”), Will Poulter (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”) and Ed Helms (the “Hangover” films).

Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooley, Happy Walters and Chris Bender are the producers, with David Heyman, J.C. Spink and Marcus Viscidi serving as executive producers.

Thurber’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Barry Peterson (“21 Jump Street”); production designer Clayton Hartley (“The Other Guys”); editor Mike Sale (“The Hangover Part II”); and costume designer Shay Cunliffe (“The Bourne Legacy”).

Shot on location in North Carolina and New Mexico, New Line Cinema’s “We’re The Millers” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Review: Entertaining "Scream 4" Treads Familiar Territory

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream 4 (2011)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence, language and some teen drinking
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson (based on characters created by Kevin Williamson)
PRODUCERS: Wes Craven, Iya Labunka, and Kevin Williamson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Deming (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter McNulty
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Marley Shelton, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Nico Tortorella, Marielle Jaffe, Alison Brie, Erik Knudsen, Mary McDonnell, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Heather Graham, and Roger Jackson (voice)

A little over 11 years after Scream 3, Scream 4 hits movie theatre screens in an explosion of blood and guts. However, Scream 4 is not just a sequel. It is also something of a remake of and homage to the original 1996 movie, Scream.

On the 15th anniversary of the Woodsboro massacre (as seen in the original movie), Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to Woodsboro, the final stop on the tour to promote her book, Out of Darkness. Sidney discovers that she cannot escape the horrors of her past, because two high school students have just been murdered by the new Ghostface. Sidney also finds herself thrust back into the lives of the only other two people to survive the various Ghostface killers, Sheriff Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette) and his wife, journalist-turned-novelist, Gail Weathers Riley (Courteney Cox).

Now, Sidney’s young cousin, Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), and her high school classmates are the targets of the new Ghostface. This new generation of potential victims, however, seems to relish the murderous attention of the infamous killer and hope this latest Ghostface rampage will help bring them fame in the age of social networking. Will they still be excited when they learn that the new murder spree is not like a sequel, but is instead like a reboot? Do they know that Ghostface is playing by new rules? Anyone can die anytime.

As a slasher film, Scream 4 is entertaining. Ghostface remains a terrific horror movie villain, slaughtering his victims to the point that they seem like butchered meat and offal. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette are reliable, if not a little a hoary. The new cast is, for the most part, pretty good, but Hayden Panettiere’s saucy Kirby Reed is the only standout. Overall, when Scream 4 plays it straight, it is a better-than-average horror movie.

Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson continue their efforts to make the Scream franchise self-referential and each installment a horror movie about horror movies. This is where Scream 4, as well as the other sequels, flounders. The original film, for all its hip attitude and pop culture references, was a traditional horror movie, only slicker and with a better script and filmmaking. The original’s charming small town setting was perfect for a horror movie, and the youthful cast was vibrant and cool. The villains behind the Ghostface killer had believable (though crazy) motivation for their murder spree. Scream was a genuine horror flick.

Scream 4 wants to be more than something from the horror movie slasher subgenre. The script makes Scream 4 essentially a remake inside a sequel, and some of the film seems like a middle-aged guy’s rant against Internet celebrity and social media culture. That’s just filler material. It’s time for some fresh faces and ideas. Scream 4 is at its best when it focuses on what it already has that every successful horror franchise needs – a great villain. So if there is a fifth film, hopefully it will feel more like a fresh reboot instead of a tired sequel. Still, Scream 4 offers some bloody good fun.

6 of 10
B

Sunday, April 17, 2011

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Review: Too Much Nancy Drew in "Nancy Drew" (Happy B'day, Emma Roberts)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Nancy Drew (2007)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mild violence, thematic elements, and brief language
DIRECTOR: Andrew Fleming
WRITERS: Andrew Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen; from a story by Tiffany Paulsen (based upon the characters created by Mildred Wirt Benson writing as Carolyn Keene)
PRODUCER: Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jeff Freeman

MYSTERY/FAMILY

Starring: Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, Max Thieriot, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tate Donovan, Marshall Bell, Daniella Monet, Kelly Vitz, Krystle Hernandez, Barry Bostwick, Adam Clark, and Laura Harring (Screen appearances with no screen credit: Bruce Willis, Chris Kattan, and Eddie Jemison)

The 2007 film, Nancy Drew, is a return to the big screen by the famous girl detective.

When her father Carson Drew (Tate Donovan) heads to Los Angeles to take on some high paying temporary legal work, Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts’ niece), the resourceful teen detective, is right behind him. She’s leaving her friendly hometown of River Heights for life at Hollywood High School. Nancy’s uncanny intelligence and smarts, as well as her retro manners (including her perfect picnic lunches and penny loafers), earn her some enemies. The less-than-warm reception from reigning fashionistas Inga (Daniella Monet) and Trish (Kelly Vitz) might bother the average new girl, but not Nancy, who has more important things to think about, in particular a brand new mystery.

Nancy promised her worried Dad that she'd quit “sleuthing,” but it isn't long before she gets a lead on one of Hollywood’s greatest unsolved cases of all time: the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of famous actress Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring). Nancy happened to make sure that the Drews’ temporary L.A. home is the former Draycott mansion. With Inga’s little brother, Corky (Josh Flitter), tagging along, and a surprise appearance from her hometown sleuthing partner, Ned Nickerson (Max Thieriot), Nancy combs the long-reputed haunted mansion to solve the Draycott mystery, but some shadowy and dangerous figures aren’t happy about that.

The modernization of Nancy Drew took a character known mostly for existing in a rural, small town setting and placed her in the fast-paced and more dangerous big city. This is not necessarily a bad thing, nor is the movie bad. The script sets the supposedly unsophisticated Nancy against the Byzantine urban world, but Nancy ends up looking super sophisticated, while L.A./Hollywood seems to be a world full of narcissistic and selfish morons. It’s fun to watch Nancy basically run roughshod over a world determined to keep her in her place.

It’s a shame that the film has so many good supporting characters, but simply drops them here and there, some with no rhyme or reason. This is a Nancy Drew film that is just too Nancy-centric. Still, in spite of its limitations, Nancy Drew is likeable. It lacks the snappy freshness of the Bonita Granville Nancy Drew movie series made in the late 1930s, but this new Nancy Drew is fun on its own.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, March 15, 2008

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