Review: M. Night Shyamalan's "TRAP" Delights in Being Devilish

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 of 2024 (No. 1990) by Leroy Douresseaux

Trap (2024)

Running time:  105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for some violent content and brief strong language

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  M. Night Shyamalan

PRODUCERS:  Marc Bienstock, Ashwin Rajan, and M. Night Shyamalan

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Noemi Preiswerk

COMPOSER:  Herdis Stefansdottir

THRILLER/HORROR

Starring:  Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Alison Pill, Hayley Mills, Jonathan Langdon, Mark Bacolcol, Marnie McPhail, Scott Mescudi, Russell “Russ” Vitale, Lochlan Miller, Steve Boyle, David D'Lancy Wilson, and M. Night Shyamalan

Trap is a 2024 psychological thriller and horror film from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan.  The film focuses on a father who takes his teen daughter to a special pop concert and then realizes that he and his child have entered a dark and sinister trap.

Trap opens in Philadelphia.  There, we meet firefighter Cooper Abbott (Josh Hartnett) .  He is taking his teenage daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue), to a special afternoon concert performance by pop star Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan).  Once inside the concert venue, Cooper notices an unusually high police presence on all levels of the building.  Doing his own investigating, Cooper soon discovers that he and his daughter are at the center of a dark and sinister event.  Who is “the Butcher” and why does law enforcement insist that he is one of the 3000 men attending the concert?

Despite the disaster that was M. Night Shyamalan's 2023 thriller, Knock at the Cabin, I immediately wanted to see Trap as soon as I heard about it sometime last year.  I was sure the friend I dragged along with me to see Knock at the Cabin back in early February 2023 would also join me for Trap.  Unfortunately, Trap did play at either of the two local theaters, so I just watched it on the “Max” streaming service.

By now, many people know all about Trap's twists and turns, and it is a very twisty, very strange, very weird, and very crazy movie.  Still, I'm not doing the spoiler thing, but you, dear readers, would need detailed spoilers to keep up with all of this film's twists and contortions.  It's as if writer-director M. Night Shyamalan drew straws to decide the fate of Trap's various subplots and plot twists.  The result is a thriller zesty with the unexpected.

Speak of Mr. M:  he makes his usual appearance as an actor in his own films, but his daughter, Saleka Night Shyamalan, an actual pop singer and recording artist, has a big role in Trap as the pop star, “Lady Raven.”  Saleka's second studio album, Lady Raven, acts as the soundtrack album for Trap.  Nepotism aside, Saleka's songs add a haunting layer to Herdis Stefansdottir's film score for Trap, and, believe me, Saleka is quite game when it comes to acting.

The film's primary wackiness comes from Josh Hartnett's performance as Cooper Abbott.  Hartnett mixes paranoia with subtly when he is not being hilariously over the top and disturbingly calm.  I can't say that other actors would not have been better at playing Cooper than Hartnett, but at least, Hartnett has his own method of bat-shit craziness.

Trap is disarmingly entertaining.  I actually always thought that it would be a good and enjoyable film, but I'm shocked that I like it as much as I do.  I can't believe that I consider its many nonsensical story elements to be quite endearing and even alluring, at times.  The scenes that take place at the concert are excellent, but the film doesn't lose its cockamamie mojo when it moves the action to other venues.  I am giving Trap a high rating because I can't think of a reason not to do so.  I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think that it is a hugely entertaining and attractively offbeat thriller film.  I'm trapped in a closet... with Trap.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Sunday, November 3, 2024

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

------------------------

------------------------

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from April 21st to 30th, 2024 - UPDATE #16

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Danny and Michael Philippou, the directors of the hit horror film, "Talk To Me," are reteaming with that film's distributor, A24, for a new film, "Bring Her Back."  The film is set to star Sally Hawkins.

EMMYS - From Deadline:  I missed this, dear readers.  The nominations for the 2024 / 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards have been announced.  The winners will be announced Sat., June 8, 2024.

CANNES - From Variety:    Lily Gladstone,  Eva Green, Omar Sy, Ebru Ceylan, Nadine Labaki, Juan Antonio Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Kore-eda Hirokazu comprise the jury for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.  Oscar-nominee Greta Gerwig is jury president.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 4/26 to 4/28/2024 weekend box office is Amazon/MGM's "Challengers" (starring Zendaya) with an estimated take of 15 million dollars.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The fate of "NCIS: Hawai'i" is no longer up in the air. CBS has cancelled the series after three seasons, making the announcement yesterday, Fri., April 26th.

From Deadline:  CBS has renewed "The Equalizer" starring Queen Latifah for a fifth season.  However, the fate of "NCIS: Hawai'i" is still up in the air.

SCANDAL - From APNews:  The state Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction. The court found that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.  The court ordered a new trial.  The 75-year-old Weinstein has been serving a 23-year sentence in the Mohawk Correctional Facility near Rome, New York.

From Variety:  Harvey Weinstein was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan on Saturdays, just two days after his 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned (Thurs., April 25th).

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Sources tell the site that actors Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Oscar-nominated Ralph Fiennes will star in the first film of the upcoming "28 Years Later" trilogy.  The new film will be directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, the director and writer, respectively of the original film, "28 Days Later."

ANIMATION - From Variety: This year marks the 25th anniversary of the airing of the debut episode of Fox's long-running animated series, "Family Guy," specifically January 31, 1999.  Because it was cancelled twice, the series is currently concluding its 22nd season.  Recently voice actor, Patrick Warburton, who voices one of the series main character, paraplegic police officer, "Joe Swanson," says that his parents hate the show.  He says that his mother even tried to get "Family Guy" cancelled.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, laments the end of the 20-year-old film and television production company, Participant.  Participant was behind Guggenheim and Al Gore's Oscar-winning doc, "An Inconvenient Truth."

From Variety:  The 20-year-old film and television production company whose mission was to inspire social justice and humanitarian action, Participant (formerly Participant Media), is shutting down.  Established in 2004, Participant co-produced or co-financed a number of notable movies including the "Best Picture" Oscar winner "Spotlight," as well as Steven Spielberg’s "Lincoln" and the Oscar-winning, breakthrough documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

MUSIC - From Deadline:  The 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced.  The inductees are as follows: A Tribe Called Quest, Cher, Foreigner, Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Mary J. Blige, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, Norman Whitfield, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, MC5, Suzanne de Passe, and Big Mama Thornton.

POLITICS - From Salon:  "Mainstream conservatives" never really purged the fascists, according to a wonderful piece by Salon writer, Paul Rosenberg.  Rosenberg interviews David Austin Walsh about his new book, "Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right."

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 4/19 to 4/21/2024 weekend box office is A24's "Civil War" with an estimated take of 11.1 million dollars.

MOVIES/TRAILERS - From Variety:  Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's new thriller, "Trap."  Starring Josh Hartnett, the film follows a father and daughter who attend a pop star's concert only to realize that they are at the center of a dark and sinister event.  And Hartnett's character is a serial killer known as "The Butcher."  The pop star is played by M. Night's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, who is an actual singer-songwriter.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American television actress, Marla Adams, has died at the age of 85, Thursday, April 25, 2024.  Adams was best known for her roles as "Belle Clemens" on the former CBS soap opera, "The Secret Storm," from 1968 to 1974, and also as "Dina Abbott Mergeron" a recurring character on "The Young and the Restless," that appeared in 235 episodes on and off from 1983 to 2021.  Adams was twice nominated in the Daytime Emmy Award category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series," winning in 2021.

From Deadline:  British art director and production designer, Ray Chan, has died at the age of 56, Tuesday, April 23, 2024.  Chan was best known for his work in art direction, production design, and additional photography for Marvel Studios, beginning with "Thor: The Dark World" (2013) to the upcoming "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024).  He was nominated for five Art Directors Guild Awards and won twice.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 23rd to 31st, 2020 - Update #25

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Support Leroy on Patreon:

REMEMBERING CHADWICK BOSEMAN:

From Slate:  Friends and Fans mourn "Black Panther" star, Chadwick Boseman, dead at 43

From YahooEntertainment:  Remembering Chadwick Boseman: A journalist’s cherished, complicated friendship with a superhero.

From Deadline:  The site has a page dedicated to the late actor, Chadwick Boseman.

From Variety:   Chadwick Boseman: A Virtuoso Actor Who Could Do Just About Anything

From Variety:  Chadwick Boseman’s Final Tweet Is Twitter’s Most-Liked Post of All Time

From YahooEntertainment:  Did Chadwick Boseman hint at his cancer battle in a 2017 interview?

From Newsweek:  Chadwick Boseman's final tweet was a picture of him with Vice-Presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris.

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION:

From CNN:  Full video of Vice-President Joe Biden's acceptance speech at the 2020 DNC.

From CNN:  Full video of Sen. Kamala Harris acceptance speech at the 2020 DNC

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURAL NEWS:

PORNO - From RollingStone:  Legendary star of pornographic movies, 67-year-old Ron Jeremy, faces an additional 20 charges related to sexual assault, in addition to the four announced back in June.  Jeremy's alleged victims range in age from 15 to 54, and the alleged assaults took place from 2004 to as recent as January 2020

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeGuru:  The winner of the 8/28 to 8/30/2020 weekend box office is "New Mutants" with an estimated take of 7 million dollars.

From Deadline:  Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated big-tent picture, "Tenet," launches with an estimated take of $53 million at the worldwide box office.

CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment:  Jamie Lynn Spears will become the trustee of her sister, Grammy-winning recording artist, Britney Spears' 57 million fortune.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  CBS All-Access' star-laden, limited series adaptation of "The Stand," Stephen King's beloved 1978 novel, will debut Dec. 17th, 2020.  The novel was previously adapted as a four-part TV miniseries which originally aired on ABC in May 1994.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Frank Grillo, Melissa Leo, and Josh Hartnett lead the cast of "Ida Red," an action film shot in Oklahoma during the pandemic.

OSCARS - From Deadline:  A Los Angeles Superior Court judge will not force the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to reinstate Oscar-winning director, Roman Polanski, who the Academy expelled in 2018.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  The 1982 novel, "The Color Purple," became a beloved 1985 film, and both were the source for 2005 Broadway musical.  The 2015 revival of the musical won a Tony Award.  Now, the musical will received a film adaptation.  Blitz Bazawule, who co-directed Beyonce's Disney+ visual album, "Black is King," is set to direct the film.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  There is a new "direct sequel" to the classic horror film, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."  It is entitled "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Bloodbath," and a week into production in Bulgaria, and there has been a change of directors.

AWARDS - From THR:  The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) held its second annual TV awards Saturday morning, Aug. 22nd, and they had fun with it.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:  Released last week, the Russell Crowe road-rage movie, "Unhinged," apparently leads the 8.21 to 8/23/20 weekend box office with an estimated take of $4 million dollars.

DC COMICS-MOVIES - From GameSpot:  The first trailer for director Matt Reeves "The Batman" has arrived.  Robert Pattinson ("Twilight" series) stars as Batman/Bruce Wayne.

From THR:  "Official main trailer" for "Wonder Woman 1984."  The film is due October 2, 2020.

From ScreenGeek:  The first trailer for "Justice League Snyder Cut" has arrives.

From DCFanDome:  DC FanDome is live.

OBITS:

From ESPN:  Iconic American college basketball coach, John Thompson, has died at the age of 78, Monday, August 31, 2020.  Thompson is best know for his tenure as head men's basketball coach at Georgetown University.  Thompson led the Hoyas to the 1984 NCAA Division I national championship.  The Hoyas also played in the 1982 and 1985 championship games.

From Variety:  The actor Chadwick Boseman has died at the age of 43, Friday, August 27, 2020, after a four-year battle with cancel.  Boseman was best known for playing T'Challa/Black Panther in Marvel Studios' 2018, Oscar-winning, recording-setting film, "Black Panther."  Boseman also appeared in a number of biopics:  Jackie Robinson in "42" (2013); James Brown in "Get on Up" (2014), and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in "Marshall" (2017).

From THR:  The American character actor, Allan Rich, has died at the age of 94, Saturday, August 22, 2020.  He appeared in such films as "Serpico" (1973) and "Frances" (1982).  In 2004, he appeared in Season 4 of "Curb Your Enthusiam."  He may be best known for surviving the "Hollywood blacklist" of suspected of being a communist.  After being fired by NBC in 1953, he did not work again until 1963 when he appeared on ABC's "Naked City."

From Spin:  American musician (guitarist) and songwriter, Jack Sherman, has died at the age of 64, Thursday, August 20, 2020.  Sherman is best known for being the second guitarist of the band, Red Hot Chili Peppers.  He wrote songs and performed on the band's first album, "Red Hot Chili Peppers" (1984), and played with the band on its first tour in 1984.  Sherman had contributed to most of the songwriting for the second album, "Freaky Styley" (1985), but was fired from the band before the album was completed.


CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:

From CDC:   The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."

From YahooNews:  Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooNews:  Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?

From YahooLife:  What is "happy hypoxia?"  And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?

From JuanCole:  Remeber when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19.  Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.

From TheIntercept:  The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...

From TheAtlantic:  The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.

From ProPublica:  Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns

From TheGuardian:  More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.

From RSN/WashPost:  The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.

7/13 - From YahooSports:  Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.

7/13- From YahooNews:  The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.

7/19 - From YahooFinance:  Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.

7/22 - From YahooNews:  A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.

7/22 - From YahooLifestyle:  Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.

7/23 - From TheWrap:  The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19

From YahooEntertainment:  Oscar-winning filmmaker Mel Gibson reveals that he was hospitalized with COVID-19 for a week in April.

From Bloomberg:  Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?

7/27 - From CNN:   Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients.  He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.

7/29 - From YahooPolitico:  Rep. Louie Gohmert, the defiant Texas Republican U.S. congressman who refused to wear a mask, has tested positive for COVID-19.

7/30 - From Deadline:  Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") reveals that he had a bout with COVID-19.

7/31 - From YahooEntertainment:  Writer and actress, Lena Dunham, creator of HBO's "Girls, reveals that she contracted COVID-19 and the symptoms she experiences and still experience.

7/30 - From YahooGMA:  In their bid to crackdown on illegal gatherings amid COVID-19, New York authorities break up an alleged sex party.

7/31 - From Slate:  COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!

8/2 - From TheDailyBeast:  In Mississippi, COVID-19 has coroners terrified.

8/6 - From CNN:  Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (Republican) has tested positive for COVID19.

8/6 - From YahooNews:  Testing everyone constantly could stop the spread of COVID-19... according to this article.

8/8 - From YahooNYT:  The coronavirus is new, but your immune system might recognize it.

8/8 - From YahooNBC:  They thought COVID-19 was a hoax, and they almost died from it or are watching family and loved ones suffer with it or die from it.

8/9 - From YahooNews:  The rest of the world is incredulous at the pitiful U.S. response to COVID-19.

8/9 - From YahooAFP:  According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.

8/15 - From NBA:  Bosnian NBA player Jusuf Nurkic of the Portland Trail Blazers says that his grandmother, 67-year-old Hana, has died of COVID-19.

8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians

8/16 - From YahooEntertainment:  Sharon Stone reports that her sister, Kelly, is in the hospital with COVID-19.  She blames "non-mask wearers" for his sister's condition.

BLACK LIVES MATTER:

From RSN:   Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability

From Billboard:  In an interview will the venerable music publication, legendary country music singer-songwriter and actress, Dolly Parton, expresses support for the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

From RSN:  Reader Supported News' "Sunday Song" for Aug. 8th, 2020 is "Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke.

From VICE:  One of the 2020 Republican National Convention's top speakers, Abby Johnson, says the police would be justified in profiling her adopted biracial son.

Review: "Lucky Number Slevin" a Crime Film Treat

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 235 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, sexuality, and language
DIRECTOR:  Paul McGuigan
WRITER:  Jason Smilovic
PRODUCERS:  Chris Roberts, Christopher Eberts, Kia Jam, Anthony Rhulen, Robert Kravis, and Tyler Mitchell
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Sova, ASC
EDITOR:  Andrew Hulme
COMPOSER:  J. Ralph

CRIME with elements of mystery and thriller

Starring:  Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Lucy Lui, Stanley Tucci, Bruce Willis, Dorian Missick, Mykelti Williamson, and Peter Outerbridge

The subject of this movie review is Lucky Number Slevin, a 2006 crime thriller.  The film is about a young man trapped by a case of mistaken identity that lands him in the middle of a brewing gang war between two rival crime bosses and also makes him the target of an infamous assassin.

Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) arrives at his friend, Nick Fisher’s New York City apartment only to find him missing, but Slevin does strike up a friendship with Nick’s chatty neighbor, Lindsey (Lucy Lui).  Later, two thugs looking for Nick arrive at the apartment and mistake Slevin for his missing friend.  It turns out that Nick owes a lot of money to two crime bosses:  $96,000 to The Boss (Morgan Freeman) and $33,000 to The Rabbi (Sir Ben Kingsley).

The Boss and The Rabbi, once partners, are now bitter, deadly enemies.  Before long, The Boss wants Slevin to perform a high-profile hit against The Rabbi’s son as a way to pay off his $96,000 debt.  The Rabbi just wants his money, and he gives Slevin a few days to come up with the cash.  And it doesn’t matter to them that Slevin isn’t Nick – that’s just his hard luck.  How unlucky is Slevin?  The infamous assassin, Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis), is also gunning for Slevin, or is he?  Slevin suddenly has to hatch an ingenious plot to win this game of death.  And what is the Kansas City Shuffle?

Paul McGuigan (GANGSTER Number 1) mixes sub-genres in his crime flick, Lucky Number Slevin.  It blends noir, gangster flicks, and the con game into a violent little tale of betrayal, crass brutality, and revenge.  The viewer that doesn’t figure out the trick early on will find himself rewarded for having waded through this often slow moving and gabby flick.  Even figuring out the surprise midway through the movie makes the waiting pay off.  Figure out the secrets early on, and you might have to enjoy Lucky Number Slevin’s execution and style.  (Strangely, the direction and writing on this film seem at their best during the flashbacks.)

The performances are good, but not great.  It’s these actors’ status as movie stars – whether it be A-list, B-list, or lower – and their ability to sell a character they’re playing that makes what they’re doing look good and convincing (although Sir Ben Kingsley seems an automatic for the most part).  Meanwhile, Josh Hartnett is a “face.”  He’s handsome and has movie idol written all over him, but he still hasn’t found enough good material to make him iconic.  Lucky Number Slevin isn’t that kind of great material, but it’s good enough for the time being.  Sexy, vulnerable, and utterly sympathetic, Hartnett makes this odd and sometimes uneven tale a sweet treat for fans of crime cinema.

7 of 10
B+

Updated: Friday, July 19, 2013

Review: "Halloween H20" is a Standout in the Franchise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 82 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for terror violence/gore and language
DIRECTOR: Steve Miner
WRITERS: Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg; from a story by Robert Zappia (based on the characters created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill)
PRODUCER: Paul Freeman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Daryn Okada
EDITOR: Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: John Ottman with Marco Beltrami and Jeremy Sweet

HORROR/THRILLER

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, LL Cool J, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Janet Leigh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nancy Stephens, and Chris Durand

The subject of this movie review is Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, a 1998 slasher film from director Steve Miner. Although he is only credited as one of the executive producers, Kevin Williamson, the screenwriter of the hit horror movie, Scream, contributed as a writer on Halloween H20.

Halloween H20 is also the seventh film in the Halloween horror film franchise that began in 1978 with the highly influential John Carpenter film, Halloween. Halloween H20 takes place 20 years after the events depicted in Halloween and its sequel, Halloween II (1981). Once again, the cursed brother-sister duo of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode must struggle against one another. Halloween H20 ignores the third (which did not involve Michael Myers) through the sixth installments of the franchise.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later opens in 1998. As Halloween approaches, Michael Myers (Chris Durand) reappears. Meanwhile, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is living in Summer Glen, Northern California under the assumed name, “Keri Tate.” She is the headmistress at the posh, secluded, private boarding school, Hillcrest Academy High School. Laurie also has a boyfriend, Will Brennan (Adam Arkin), but her life isn’t quite perfect. She is a functioning alcoholic, forever fearful that Michael will come coming looking for her. Her son, 17-year-old John Tate (Josh Hartnett), is tired of dealing with his mother’s paranoia. On Halloween night, however, John will discover that his mother has to face her fears one more time.

I have to keep it real. I really like Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. I have seen it in its entirety three times, and I still watch bit and pieces of it whenever it is shown on television. It never fails to thrill me, and it is easily the best Halloween film since the first two. I give a lot of the credit for this movie’s quality to director Steve Miner and the various screenwriters.

Miner is a veteran film director, having helmed several horror films, including House (1986), Lake Placid (1999), and two installments of the Friday the 13th franchise. Miner uses some of the techniques that Carpenter used in the original film. He builds intensity with musical cues, eschews gore in scenes of violent death, uses darkness and shadow to create an atmosphere that suggests fear and mystery, and turns every setting into a place of danger, regardless of the time of day. Halloween H20 is quiet and ominous rather than frantic and clumsy, which some of the Halloween films are.

I don’t know which writers contributed what to the screenplay, but clearly (to me at least) the respect for the original films comes first for Kevin Williamson. Halloween H20 is smooth and also stripped down to its raw essence: Michael Myers’ relentless drive to kill his sister and Laurie’s naked fear of Michael finding her and killing both her and her son.

Without John Carpenter and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, the Myers character had not been able to carry this franchise. With Myers alone, each Halloween was simply another bad slasher flick – a movie that was little more than product turned out, like a cheap fast food hamburger, to separate a sucker from his money. With Miner doing his best work, Curtis returns and makes Halloween H20: 20 Years Later one of the best horror movies of the 1990s. It is scary, thrilling, a little funny, and sometimes a nail-biter. The people that control this franchise should have stopped here.

8 of 10
A

Thursday, November 01, 2012

----------------------------

"30 Days of Night" Almost Gets it Right

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 135 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux


30 Days of Night (2007)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong horror violence and language
DIRECTOR: David Slade
WRITERS: Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie, and Brian Nelson (based on the comic by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith)
PRODUCERS: Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jo Willems (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Art Jones

HORROR/THRILLER with elements of mystery

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich, and Joel Tobeck

Barrow, Alaska is the northernmost town in the United States and is isolated, about 80 miles from the next nearest town. At one point during winter, the sun does not appear for 30 days and nights. This year, when the darkness falls, a stranger (Ben Foster) arrives in Barrow. Unknown to the residents of this isolated village, the stranger is the harbinger of a legendary evil hungry to feed on them. Barrow’s youthful sheriff, Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett), and his estranged wife, Stella Oleson (Melissa George), lead a small band of survivors against the marauding killers and their terrifying leader, Marlow (Danny Huston). Their only hope is to hide and survive the 30 days of night.

Part of the selling of 30 Days of Night was to tell potential audiences that the film would be some kind of new vision of vampires, but the truth is that this movie is like an imaginative retelling of the 80’s vampire flick, Near Dark. Director David Slade (Hard Candy) creates a proficient, atmospheric horror film, recalling the claustrophobic dread of John Carpenter’s The Thing, and composer Brian Reitzell’s unnerving score also adds a deeply ominous mood over the movie. However, the storytelling ultimately takes a backseat to the clever premise, and the movie suffers for it.

Midway through, the film comes frayed at the ends. The cool idea – to set a vampire tale in a place where night last for 30 days – can’t save a movie where the narrative is a collection of scenes and plot points rather than an actual story. There’s not so much as a beginning, middle, and end as there is a series of vampire attacks. Also, the characters are merely fodder – meat for the beasts, and they’re played by a dreary, chilly cast, although Josh Hartnett and Melissa George stand out for reasons that will be obvious. Who are the people of Barrow? What do they like, and what are their goals? What makes them want to live in an extremely remote place like Barrow, where it’s actually dangerous to live? Those questions are never posed because the filmmakers are obsessed with the blood and guts of horror to the neglect of anything about good storytelling.

30 Days of Night will ultimately be remembered as a good idea that became a misfire in the hands of filmmakers so blinded by the surface shine that they wouldn’t dig deep. Yes, it does have its inspired moments and can entertain, but what could have been a special horror flick ends up being yet another flashy display of horror movie blood and excessive violence.

5 of 10
B-

Monday, November 05, 2007

Review: Ridley Scott Delivers Another Great Film in "Black Hawk Down"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Black Hawk Down (2001)
Running time: 144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
WRITER: Ken Nolan (based upon the book by Mark Bowden)
PRODUCERS: Jerry Bruckheimer and Ridley Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Slawomir Idziak (director of photography)
EDITOR: Pietro Scalia
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer
Academy Award winner

WAR/ACTION/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, Tom Hardy, Ron Eldard, Charlie Hofheimer, Hugh Dancy, and Tom Guiry

On October 3, 1993, just over 100 American Delta units and Ranger infantrymen were dropped by helicopter into the city of Mogadishu, Somalia to abduct two of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s lieutenants. Aidid had been stealing food provided by relief agencies for the Somalis; Somalia was suffering through a devastating famine, and images of the dead and dying filled the American television screens. By stealing the food, Aidid was using starvation to make his rivals submit to him.

The mission to capture his aides was only supposed to last an hour. However, a firefight between American military and Aidid’s forces led to the downing of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and that was the start of a prolonged and bloody fight. When the last American finally reached safety, the mission had lasted 15 hours. Nineteen Americans were killed and 73 wounded, and hundreds of Somalis were dead.

Directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator, Hannibal), Black Hawk Down focuses on the efforts of the Rangers and Delta forces to rescue the men of the downed helicopters. The story follows different groups of American servicemen. In two of the stories Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) and his Rangers engage Aidid’s forces in prolonged street fighting, and Lt. Colonel Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore) leads a group of rescuers that gets lost in the maze of Mogadishu’s streets, where Somali gunmen and snipers rain gunfire upon the Americans.

Black Hawk Down is some of the best work Scott has ever done. While it shares the intensity of Saving Private Ryan, in particularly the hair-raising reenactment of D-Day landings on Normandy beach, much of Black Hawk’s impact comes from its dramatic structure, which emphasizes character and story. In addition to Sgt. Eversmann and Lt. Colonel McKnight’s group, the film also follows the plight of the only survivor of the second downed Black Hawk, Chief Warrant Officer Durant (Ron Eldard), who was a prisoner of Aidid’s forces for a few weeks after The Battle of Mogadishu. Staff Sgt. Ed Yurek (Tom Guiry) leads his decimated Ranger group through gunfire to safety. Scott follows the beleaguered Americans, moving deftly from one group of servicemen to the other, keeping the intensity of the drama very high.

Though very violent and occasionally quite gory, Black Hawk Down is the story of these brave men and their struggle to not only survive, but to also rescue and to save the lives of their fellow soldiers. Beyond issues of patriotism and bravery is the strength of dedication and skill of these men. Scott’s war movie is a movie about the camaraderie of soldiers.

While Scott is at the top of his craft in this film, the acting is also of the highest quality. The cast is quite convincing in their roles as soldiers, and the Somali extras aren’t bad either. Tom Sizemore delivers his usually quality work in a supporting role, but the surprise here is Josh Hartnett. A pretty boy in the Tom Cruise tradition, Hartnett hit his stride in this performance. His concentration and intensity in delivering on his role as Sgt. Eversmann is fascinating to watch. If the film’s ideas and intentions must, in the final analysis, hang upon the shoulders of one soldier, Hartnett ably supports the story.

Black Hawk Down will rise above many other war films because it is something more – a war story, a soldier’s story, and a combatant’s story. One cannot help but be impressed by how the storytellers and the cast convince us that in the face of the greatest of dangers, these men will not stick to their credo “Leave no man behind,” be they dead or alive. Black Hawk Down is special.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2002 Academy Awards: 2 wins: “Best Editing” (Pietro Scalia) and “Best Sound” (Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga, and Chris Munro); 2 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Slawomir Idziak) and “Best Director” (Ridley Scott)

2002 BAFTA Awards: 3 nomination: “Best Cinematography” (Slawomir Idziak), “Best Editing” (Pietro Scalia), and “Best Sound” (Chris Munro, Per Hallberg, Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga, and Karen M. Baker)

-----------------