Review: Original "My Bloody Valentine" is Odd and Gruesome

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 63 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

My Bloody Valentine (1981)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
DIRECTOR: George Mihalka
WRITERS: John Beaird; from a story concept by Stephen Miller
PRODUCERS: John Dunning, Andre Link, and Stephen Miller
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rodney Gibbons
EDITORS: Gerald Vansier and Rit Wallis

HORROR with elements of mystery

Starring: Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Keith Knight, Alf Humphreys, Cynthia Dale, Helen Udy, Don Francks, Larry Reynolds, and Peter Cowper

My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 horror movie from Canada that followed in the wake of the slasher film craze that began with such movies as Black Christmas (1974) and Halloween (1978) and surged through Friday the 13th (1980). My Bloody Valentine, like these other movies, was also the subject of a remake, My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009).

The film is set in the fictional mining town of Valentine Bluffs (actually shot in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia), and the story begins February 12th, two days before Valentine’s Day. For the first time in 20 years, the town is going to have a Valentine’s Day dance. Once an annual tradition, the event was stopped 20 years earlier after a horrific methane gas explosion at the local Hanniger Coal Mine caused the tragic deaths of four workers. A fifth worker trapped in the mine, Harry Warden (Peter Cowper), became a crazed killer who cut out the hearts of his victims. Warden promised to kill the townsfolk if they ever held a Valentine’s celebration again.

Now, a local businesswoman has led the charge to celebrate Valentine’s Day again, but when murder victims with their hearts cut out start popping up, Police Chief Jake Newby (Don Francks) cancels the dance. On February 14th, however, a group of young miners and their girlfriends decide to have a party anyway – at the Hanniger Coal Mine! They are blissfully unaware that a mysterious killer, the Miner, who may or may not be Harry Warden, is stalking their every move and killing them one by one.

My Bloody Valentine is a surprisingly entertaining low-budget horror film. Having the killer use a pick-axe gives the gory murders an extra gruesome twist. It also does not hurt the movie by having Valentine’s Day as the killer’s holiday of choice, because that just adds to this movie’s peculiarity. Like many slasher movies, My Bloody Valentine is anemic on character development, but the late screenwriter John Beaird tweaked enough clichés and character types to keep things interesting – like the hot dog murder scene and the elderly woman who spearheads the party plans.

Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, which stands in for Valentine Bluffs, gives the movie a really nice rustic atmosphere. The dusty, dreary, and rundown feel of the location is balanced by the young cast’s jaunty and carefree interpretations of their characters – an odd, but pleasing yin and yang. That may be why My Bloody Valentine deserves its cult status and why no slasher movie fan should miss it.

6 of 10
B

Monday, August 09, 2010

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James Cameron on Avatar Sequels and Novelization

James Cameron recently spoke to MTV News about Avatar, and Cinematical has the highlights.  Or you can go to the source.  Cameron apparently wants to write the novelization of Avatar himself.  He plans to make Avatar 2 and 3 back-to-back, but he won't start on the screenplay for Avatar 2 until he has signed a deal with Fox to make the film.

Review: Acting is "The Runaways'" Driving Beat

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Runaways (2010)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, drug use and sexual content - all involving teens
DIRECTOR: Floria Sigismondi
WRITER: Floria Sigismondi (based upon the book Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story by Cherie Currie)
PRODUCERS: Art Linson, John Linson, and William Pohlad
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Benoît Debie
EDITOR: Richard Chew

BIOGRAPHY/MUSIC/DRAMA

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Alia Shawkat, Riley Keough, Johnny Lewis, Tatum O’Neal, Brett Cullen, and Hannah Marks

The Runaways was an all-girl, teenage rock band, active from 1975 to 1979. The band’s membership included, among others, musicians Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie. The 2010 film, The Runaways is a fictionalized account of the band’s formation in 1975 with an emphasis on Currie and Jett’s relationship until Currie left The Runaways. The film is also part biopic as it is based upon Currie’s 1989 book about her teen years, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway (co-written with Tony O’Neill).

The movie opens by introducing two rebellious Southern California teens. First is Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), the product of a dysfunctional home; she spends a lot of time with her sister, Marie (Riley Keough), going to parties and getting wasted. The second is tomboyish Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) who plays guitar and is trying to form an all-girl rock band when she meets rock producer and impresario, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon). Impressed by Joan and interested in her idea, Kim begins to work with Joan to put a band together. During their search, they encounter Cherie, the hot blonde type that Kim believes the band needs

Under Kim’s Svengali-like influence the group, known as The Runaways, quickly becomes a success. The band’s raw musical talent, tough-chick image, and edgy performances earn them a growing following that spreads beyond America’s shores. However, a tour to Japan only exacerbates both the growing tensions within the group and Cherie’s drug abuse.

The Runaways has plenty of the things that every rock biographical movie needs: sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Writer/director Floria Sigismondi (known for directing music videos) depicts the power of sex, the danger of drugs, and the voltage of rock ‘n’ roll with the grit and decadence of the 1970s as the backdrop. Sigismondi even gives this movie one unforgettable rock ‘n’ roll moment – a music video-like sequence in which the movie version of The Runaways perform the real band’s signature hit, “Cherry Bomb.” Sigismondi captures her five young actresses conjuring the rowdy charm that made The Runaways a hit.

The film also has something that only the best biographical films have – wall-to-wall great acting. Dakota Fanning gives a layered, textured performance as the deeply troubled and pill-addicted Cherie, and one can only hope that if Fanning doesn’t flame out like the real Cherie Currie, the young actress will have a long career full of excellent performances.

Kristen Stewart’s performance as Joan Jett is about trading off moments of overacting with moments of high quality acting, but throughout this movie, she has the kind of screen presence for which many actors would sell their souls. Michael Shannon is blistering as Kim Fowley, mixing bullying tactics and charisma to create a character who could sell water to Aquaman. Scout Taylor-Compton makes the most of small part as lead guitarist Lita Ford in way that makes me wish the character had more screen time.

This movie is really a quick overview of the creation of The Runaways and their rise and fall, so the story always feels as if it has left out something big. The character development is anemic, but the actors’ excellent performances bring the characters to life anyway. All the actors, but especially Fanning, Stewart, and Shannon, have so bought into their characters that they make The Runaways electric and engrossing.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, August 07, 2010

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2010 J-Pop Summit Festival Expands

NEW PEOPLE ANNOUNCES THE EXPANSION OF 2010 J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL WITH A SPECIAL WEEK-LONG SERIES OF FUN EVENTS
Unique Aspects Of Japanese Film, Fashion, Music And Art Celebrated In A Week Of Unique Activities Leading Up To One-Of-A-Kind All-Day Event Showcasing The Best In Modern Asian Popular Culture In September

NEW PEOPLE, a dynamic entertainment destination bringing the latest examples of Japanese popular culture to North American shores, will expand its upcoming 2010 J-Pop Summit Festival, happening on Saturday, September 18th in San Francisco’s Japantown, with a special series of just-announced events taking place at the venue each night during the week leading up to the Festival. Tickets are now available on http://www.j-pop.com/.

Beginning on Monday, September 13th and continuing every evening through Friday, September 17th, different aspects of Japanese and Asian film, anime, fashion design, music and other forms of pop culture will be celebrated in a series of unique screenings, interactive discussions, multimedia presentations and live performances. Special gift bags containing a variety of fun premiums will be given to all ticket holders each night.

“The 2010 J-Pop Summit Festival is shaping up to become one of the biggest events of its kind in the country and is devoted to celebrating Japanese pop culture in all its forms,” says Seiji Horibuchi, founder of NEW PEOPLE and CEO of VIZ Pictures. “We’re very excited to announce this roster of special events taking place at the VIZ Cinema theatre and throughout the entire NEW PEOPLE venue, and invite the public to enjoy of variety of inspired film, fashion, music and art each night leading up to the big all-day street celebration on Saturday September 18th!”

More details on the 2010 J-Pop Summit Festival are available at: www.J-Pop.com. Additional news alerts over the coming weeks will detail specific events and appearances.

TOKYOSCOPE TALK, Vol. 6: Bad Girls & Wild Women, Monday, September 13th at 6:00pm

Join hosts Patrick Macias (Editor, Otaku USA), and Tomohiro Machiyama (founding editor, Movie Treasures magazine) for a unique look at sexy Stray Cats, Female Prisoners, Delinquent Bosses and other captivating and sexy bad girl roles from Japanese cinema. The evening will be complemented by a theatrical screening of the lurid prison film Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion. Adults only due to mature subject matter; 18+ General admission tickets for the discussion and film screening are $20.00.

ANIME NIGHT with Animation On Display & Crunchyroll, Tuesday, September 14th at 7:00pm

Animation On Display, San Francisco’s very own anime convention, joins forces with leading online content provider Crunchyroll for a theatrical presentation of Makoto Shinkai's "5 Centimeters Per Second”. The evening will also include a special VIP reception, open to the public, as well as a Q&A session about the film. Come meet other anime fans and join the fun with a special evening celebrating anime! General admission tickets for the film screening are $10.00.

6%DOKIDOKI HARAJUKU FASHION NIGHT Featuring Designer Sebastian Masuda, Wednesday, September 15th at 6:00pm

Join eclectic clothing designer and 6%DOKIDOKI founder Sebastian Masuda for a trip through the colorful and edgy world of Harajuku fashion. Masuda will offer insights and a history on the evolution of fashion from this ultra-hip district in Tokyo that has gone on to gain a worldwide audience as well as preview some of his latest designs. 6%DOKIDOKI shop girls Yuka and Vani will offer a mini-fashion show of some of the company’s newest ensembles and audience members are invited to try out for a chance to model new designs to be showcased at the J-Pop Summit Festival on Saturday, September 18th. General admission tickets for the lecture and fashion show are $20.00.

Noise Pop Meets J-Pop: Film Screenings of 77 Boadrum, preceded by Cornelius - Synchronized & Sensurround, Thursday, September 16th at 5:30pm Happy Hour; Screening at 7:00pm

Join Noise Pop, organizers of the leading independent music festival in the Bay Area, for a special theatrical presentation of 77 Boadrum. On July 7, 2007, Japanese free-rock group the Boredoms staged a live performance featuring 77 drummers at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NY. 77 Boadrum is the official live documentary of this incredible event – complete with behind the scenes rehearsal footage, interviews, and of course, the actual performance. With intense, chaotic energy that melds into a No-Wave rock infused format, the Boredoms have garnered international attention for the member’s incredible rhythmic power, clever melodic punches, and sheer chaotic intensity. Since exploding onto the scene in 1997, Japanese musician Cornelius has dazed and amused fans worldwide with his freeform pop aesthetic and playful sense of humor. His short music videos are edgy and exceptional, the live ones being seen for the first time in the U.S. There will be a complementary Happy Hour before the screening. General admission tickets for the film screening are $10.00.

MYX VIP Party, Friday, September 17th at 6:00pm

MYX® is the only music entertainment and lifestyle channel dedicated to the Asian American community, utilizing music, culture and entertainment. The network will showcase several of its music, youth culture and lifestyle programs including Music Bang, 360VM, Vinyl Addiction, and That’s My Jam in a special evening showcasing the exciting and diverse worlds of Asian pop music, fast import street racers, designer vinyl and collectable toys, and lots more! MYX can be seen on Channel 368 on Comcast’s Digital Preferred Tier in the San Francisco Bay Area, Comcast ON DEMAND, Cox Digital Basic Cable, DIRECTV 2067 and RCN. Free admission. RSVP at www.j-pop.com

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located in San Francisco at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Review: "Talladega Nights" is a Ferrell-McKay Gem

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 167 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes:
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, drug references, and brief comic violence
DIRECTOR: Adam McKay
WRITERS: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay
PRODUCERS: Jimmy Miller and Judd Apatow
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Oliver Wood
EDITOR: Brent White

COMEDY/SPORTS/ACTION

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Jane Lynch, Houston Tumlin, Grayson Russell, Amy Adams, Greg Germann, Molly Shannon, Andy Richter, David Koechner, and Pat Hingle with Elvis Costello, Mos Def, Darrell Waltrip, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

In 2004, co-writer/director Adam McKay and co-writer/star Will Ferrell gave us Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, about a dense, arrogant, but very popular local news anchor. This month the same duo gives us Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, about a dense, arrogant, but very popular and successful NASCAR race driver. This time Ferrell and McCay have refined their process, and while Ricky Bobby is every bit as funny as Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights simply works better as a film. Talladega Nights is funny, but it’s more than just a joke fest. It has an insane comic premise, but with heart, and the cast makes the characters believable as Ricky Bobby’s family, friends, and rivals

Talladega Nights tells the story of the rise of Ricky Bobby, from a 10-year old boy (Luke Bigham) abandoned by his father, Reese Bobby (Gary Cole), to a win-at-all-cost stock car driver. At the peak of his success, Bobby has a loyal racing partner in his childhood friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), and a veteran racing crew chief in Lucius Washington (Michael Clarke Duncan). He has a “red-hot” wife, Carley Bobby (Leslie Bibb) and two sons, Walker (Houston Tumlin) and Texas Ranger (Grayson Russell). However, Larry Dennit, Jr. (Greg Germann), the owner of the racing team to which Ricky Bobby belongs adds a pompous and conceited French Formula One racer named Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) to the Dennit racing team, and Girard is gunning for Ricky Bobby. Soon, Ricky Bobby’s career crashes and burns, but with the help of his negligent and immature dad and his loving mom, Lucy Bobby (Jane Lynch), Ricky Bobby might just return to the front of the pack.

Ricky Bobby could have been some paper-thin character Will Ferrell created during his tenure on “Saturday Night Live,” but he gives the characters such depth. He’s not a caricature – this arrogant dim-wit who makes you laugh – he has humanity. In fact, the Ricky Bobby of the movie is much deeper, a much richer character than what the advertisements for Talladega Nights suggests. That’s a testament to Ferrell’s skill as a great comic actor, with an emphasis on actor. However, while Ricky Bobby is a wonderful character, having an outstanding supporting cast of characters makes Ricky Bobby even better.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is impeccably cast and performed in terms of supporting players. The actors embody their roles, such as John C. Reilly’s Cal Naughton, Jr., Gary Cole’s Reese Bobby, and Jane Lynch’s Lucy Bobby. The caricatures also work to comic perfection, including Leslie Bibb as Ricky Bobby’s wife, Carley, and Sacha Baron Cohen (“Ali G”) as Ricky Bobby’s rival, Jean Girard. Carley is the perfect send-up as the greedy, camera-hogging, ambitious celebrity wife, and Girard gives the movie a flavor of the bizarre. Michael Clarke Duncan’s Lucius Washington is the steadying center and the fatherly guide to the wacky and childish racing team, and he creates a balance between the farce and satire with the characters on one hand, and the seriousness with which the film has to take NASCAR racing on the other.

Although Talladega Nights pokes fun as NASCAR and its brawny emphasis on and robust relationship with its advertising sponsors, the film doesn’t make fun of NASCAR, its culture, or fans. The brilliance of McKay and Ferrell’s screenplay is that it is a memorable comic creation filled with the kind of eccentric and harebrained characters that make a comedy actually funny. However, they also give the comedy dramatic tension and conflict, and the characters have convincing motivation. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a farce, a comic romp, and a dramatic narrative, and not just a bag of jokes and sketch comedy scenes. But it was up to the cast to make this nice scenario work, and they certainly worked it.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, August 5, 2006

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David Boyd Talks AMC's "The Walking Dead"

Some people who observe and write about television say that we are in a new golden age of TV.  Really, you need to have access to cable television to experience the best of TV, like AMC's critically lauded series, "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men."  AMC once again brings us something different this fall with "The Walking Dead," a horror series based upon the long-running, black and white comic book series from writer Robert Kirkman that is published by Image Comics.

The AMC blog recently posted an interview with "The Walking Dead" cinematographer, David Boyd, which you can read here or here:

The cinematographer for Friday Night Lights and Firefly explains how you make daylight terrifying, compares The Walking Dead with Westerns and describes how Walkers are more dangerous than Reavers.


Q: How did you get involved with The Walking Dead?

A: Gosh, I don't even know. I've never worked with Frank Darabont before; I think they just looked at a bunch of reels and resumes and called me up. That was it.

Q: Had you ever had a desire to shoot a zombie series?

A: No, but you know I came up through the camera department in horror movies -- I crewed on Re-Animator, From Beyond, all those Empire Pictures movies. So I'm used to things like that.

Q: Horror movies usually take place at night. This series takes place mostly during the day. What are the challenges to that?

A: I think the challenges are to just get the idea that there's something to be afraid of around every corner. Because it's daylight you're not normally scared -- we're scared at night. But the levels of this are brilliantly laid out by Frank: The rooftop is a little safer than street level, street level is really terrifying, and below street level gets safer. So the scary places start to be the safe places, and the safe places start to be the scary places.

Q: What kind of visual tricks do you use to enhance this feeling of danger?

A: Just to play it as normal as possible, and prey on the fact that everyone knows that it's scary [Laughs]. We do tricks like we make it a little cooler -- like the warmth has disappeared from the world. And we use film so that the blues come out a little stronger, but I'm trying hard to keep it purely on a psychological level. Also, it's normal policy to make a camera perfectly level with the horizon, but not here. We don't do the obvious tilt left or right, but all things are a little bit off. My aim is to make it off-kilter enough to where there's just something subconsciously wrong with every image -- it starts to become a world where nothing's right.

Q: You're responsible for the show's lighting and color, but your source material is a black and white comic. What inspiration can you draw from it?

A: Oh all kinds. Everything comes from the comic book. And then Frank's taken it to its own place where it needs to be for us. Photographically all I've done is take most of the color out -- I've desaturated things and I'll bleed the color out. It's still a color image, it's still acceptable for television (because you can't put a black and white show on television any more) --

Q: You'd like to try, I take it?

A: I would love to try. I think we should just do it! Any convention out there I think we should put our foot through it. That said, we have to do it with color, so we'll just take the color out a bit, and bring it back within the realm of what was originally intended by Kirkman.

Q: Is that a situation where the decision to shoot on 16mm film is useful?

A: 16mm is the perfect choice. Regardless if we did it in HD or 35mm film, we'd add grain in the end to make it have this look. It calls up the language of what we're used to seeing in a horror film. George Romero's stuff was all grainy. It's like looking at a documentary, and you instantly get into the 16mm documentary world. And if you take those same cameras and put them into The Walking Dead, it begins to be a believable, real experience. We were looking at a day exterior the other day, and it actually becomes scary -- the moment when you realize it's possible to do something this frightful in broad daylight.

Q: You're used to shooting Westerns, having shot a few episodes of Deadwood and all of Firefly. Do you see any Western themes in The Walking Dead?

A: [Laughs] Yeah, I think that's encapsulated in Rick Grimes, right? I actually find myself thinking about Firefly from time to time on set. In both we made the choice not to embellish an image -- in my lexicon it would be not adding backlight, which is a product of working on a soundstage. In a practical location like where we are, we choose not to make it pretty, and to instead have it be a bunch of people on the edge of life.

Q: Speaking of Firefly, which is scarier: Reavers or Walkers?

A: You know those Reavers were awful scary, but these Walkers don't have a purpose other than to eat things. So they're slower, but they're more inexorable. They're just not going to stop, no matter what, so I'd go for the Walkers. The Walkers occupy my thoughts at night a lot more than the Reavers. The Reavers I could kind of laugh off. [Laughs]


"The Walking Dead" premieres this October.

Review: "Kick Ass" Stumbles; Hit Girl Soars

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 61 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kick Ass (2010)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use - some involving children
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (based upon the comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.)
PRODUCERS: Adam Bohling, Tarquin Pack, Brad Pitt, David Reid, Kris Thykier, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Davis (director of photography)
EDITORS: Eddie Hamilton, Jon Harris, and Pietro Scalia

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/CRIME/COMEDY

Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Strong, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lyndsy Fonseca, Clark Duke, Evan Peters, Stu “Large” Riley, Xander Berkeley, and Garrett M. Brown

The film, Kick Ass, is based upon Kick-Ass, an eight-issue comic book series from writer Mark Millar (the creator of Wanted) and John Romita, Jr. The comic book, filled with violent imagery, profanity, racism, and misogyny (among many controversial elements) is utterly deranged, but hugely entertaining. Kick Ass the movie isn’t as deranged as it thinks it is, nor is it as entertaining as its source material.

The film follows Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a high school student/geek and comic-book fanboy. Dave has been thinking about taking his obsession with comic books and making it real by become a real-life superhero. He chooses “Kick-Ass” as his superhero name and transforms a green wetsuit with yellow stripes into his costume. Dave has absolutely no superpowers, however, and the first time he tries to fight crime turns into a disaster.

Dave’s continued activities bring him into contact with another pair of real-life superheroes, a father-daughter team who are more costumed vigilantes than superheroes. Eleven-year-old Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who seems inhumanely good with bladed weapons, and her father, the Batman-like Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), are waging war on Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), a local drug kingpin. And Kick-Ass gets dragged into the blood and mayhem.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn and co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, Kick Ass makes some nice changes to the original comic book (such as the reasons for Big Daddy’s campaign). Still, the movie is awkward, mainly because the narrative oscillates between two storylines: (1) Dave Lizewski’s adventures as Kick-Ass and (2) Big Daddy and Hit Girl’s war against Frank D’Amico. The action focusing on Big Daddy and Hit Girl is far more interesting than the adventures of Kick-Ass.

In fact, Dave and his friends just aren’t that interesting. They’re all stock characters, and Vaughn and Goldman aren’t able to inject anything into them that would make them worthy following. The only time Dave’s story is interesting is when he is with a new superhero calling himself Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) or with Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Big Daddy and Hit Girl, especially the latter, are such fun that I wish they were the title characters. They even have the best adversaries in Frank D’Amico, a crime boss with great screen presence, and his gleefully malevolent underlings.

Kick Ass isn’t bad; the story just pretends to love Kick-Ass, while making Big Daddy and Hit Girl so alluring. The comic book made the most of its loveable loser Dave Lizewski, but the movie makes him nondescript in a story that is ostensibly about him. For all its wanton violence, foul language, and sexual content, Kick Ass is comical when it wants to be subversive. It is worth watching if only to wish we could see more Hit Girl in action.

5 of 10
B-

Thursday, August 05, 2010

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