Review: "The Devil's Rejects" a Different Kind of Crime Flick

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 79 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
Running time:  101 minutes (1hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for sadistic violence, strong sexual content, language, and drug use
DIRECTOR:  Rob Zombie
WRITER:  Rob Zombie (based upon his characters)
PRODUCERS:  Mike Elliot, Andy Gould, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, and Rob Zombie
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Phil Parmet (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Glenn Garland
COMPOSER:  Tyler Bates

HORROR/CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring:  Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe, Ken Foree, Matthew McGrory, Leslie Easterbrook, Geoffrey Lewis, Priscilla Barnes, Dave Sheridan, Ken Norby, Lew Temple, Danny Trejo, Diamond Dallas Page, and Tom Towles

The subject of this movie review is The Devil’s Rejects, a 2005 horror thriller and crime film from director Rob Zombie.  The film is a sequel to Zombie’s 2003 film, House of 1000 Corpses.  In the new film, the villains of the first movie are now seen as anti-hero types on the run from the law.

The Firefly Family or, as they call themselves, The Devil’s Rejects, a band of sadistic killers, wake up one morning to find their isolated farm hideout ambushed by the vengeful Sheriff John Quincy Wydell (William Forsythe) and a posse of his deputies.  With guns blazing, only Otis B. Driftwood (Bill Moseley) and his sister Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) escape the barrage of bullets unharmed.

The duo hide out in an isolated desert motel waiting to be joined by another murderous relative, the killer clown, Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), killing whoever stands in their way or angers them.  However, as the body count soars, Sheriff Wydell, seeking revenge for the Rejects’ murder of his brother, George Wydell (Tom Towles), decides to take matters into his own hands and begins a private and violent war against The Devil’s Rejects outside the jurisdiction of the law.

The Devil’s Rejects is Rob Zombie’s sequel to his controversial 2003 indie hit, House of 1000 Corpses.  Rejects is structurally better in terms of narrative flow and writing, and Zombie sprinkles his cast with a collection of character actors known either for their roles in violent action movies or for their cult status in TV and film.  Among them include Priscilla Barnes, who is best remembered as “Terri Allen,” the third and final blonde roommate on the popular late 70’s/early 80’s television sitcom, “Three’s Company,”  and Ken Foree, who was “Peter,” one of the four human survivors trapped in a shopping mall in the original 1978 Dawn of the Dead.

In fact, Zombie designed his film to look like one of those violent crime thrillers that were synonymous with 70’s cinema.  Even going back to the first film, this franchise was as much Deliverance as it was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  The film’s opening sequence, a bullet-laden shootout, is as good as any Hong Kong crime film and is as intense as the big shootout in Michael Mann’s Heat – though much shorter.  Zombie’s film is silly, sadistic, and unabashedly subversive.  While the film and its characters’ antics (both the “hero” and the “villains are brutal and vicious assholes) get old after awhile, Zombie doesn’t commit the same flawed, artistic pretensions he did in House of 1000 Corpses.

His film is gloriously and rebelliously a bloody, gore-laden, crime film about bad-asses headed for a showdown.  There are a few scenes and sequences in this film that true film fans cannot and must not miss.  Those who can take the buckets of blood, F-bombs (several hundred), and atrocious murders will find The Devil Rejects a welcomed respite from the highly-polished polished movies that currently pass for Hollywood’s version what a gritty crime flick is.

6 of 10
B

Monday, April 17, 2006

Updated:  Sunday, October 20, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: A Rickety "House of 1000 Corpses"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Running time:  89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sadistic violence/gore, sexuality and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Rob Zombie
PRODUCER:  Andy Gould
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Alex Poppas (director of photography) and Tom Richmond (director of photography)
EDITORS:  Kathryn Himoff, Robert K. Lambert, and Sean Lambert
COMPOSERS:  Scott Humphrey and Rob Zombie

HORROR with elements of fantasy

Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Karen Black, Chad Bannon, Sheri Moon, Erin Daniels, and Chris Hardwick

The subject of this movie review is House of 1000 Corpses, a 2003 horror and exploitation film from musician, recording artist, and director, Rob Zombie.  The film takes place on Halloween and follows four people (two couples) held hostage by a sadistic backwoods family.

I’m only vaguely familiar with Rob Zombie’s music, as a solo artist or as the front man for the band White Zombie, but what I’ve heard, I’ve like very much.  I first ignored news that he was making a movie, especially when I learned that the title would be House of 1000 Corpses.  However, I became more interested as I followed the controversy surrounding the film, including original distributor, Universal’s, decision not to release the film because they believed it would receive an NC-17 rating from the MPAA.  Since being finished in 2000, Zombie searched for a distributor until Lion’s Gate decided to distribute the film.

The tale of this horror movie is a familiar one to fans of scary movies, in particular, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  This time, two couples get lost in a remote rural area during a terrible rainstorm.  Seeking refuge and a telephone, the end up in a rundown farmhouse with a family of hugely strange and unusual people.

I could use a lot of words to describe this film: evil, wicked, disgusting, gory, horrible, horrifying, funny, hilarious, terrifying, spooky, creepy, weird, vain, surreal, strange, bizarre, or maybe I could just say whether it is good or bad.  Well, it’s not a bad film, but I wouldn’t exactly call it good.

It’s as much a music video as it is a movie, not only in its sensibilities, but also in its execution.  Zombie mixes the story with video clips that have nothing to do with the film, while some of them are either vaguely or obviously related to the film either literally and thematically.  Zombie creates a virtual sound wall of violent, bloody, gory, and deranged imagery.  The film is awash in horror, violence, and acts of pure inhumanity.  Despite all that, Zombie manages to create a coherent story.  Even while cramming in as much shock value as he does, he holds onto his central concept of victims and victimizers, giving us just enough about the characters to keep us interested in or curious about them.  Light though he may be on characterization, Zombie seemed to at least have one idea about who and what each character should be.  I know that I really liked the heroes/victims and wanted to know more about them, and the villains are so sick and deranged that I wanted to know from where do things like them come.

The performances are inspired and zany, especially Karen Black, Sheri Moon, and Chad Bannon.  Everybody seemed to be having a lot of fun.  For all the sickness that is this film, I have to give credit for the filmmakers’ creative energy and obvious love for this project.  You could see it in the performances and feel it in the craftsmanship.  Heck, love for this project dripped off the screen the way gore dripped off the walls in the film.

This is by no means for everyone.  I think the film’s biggest weakness is that the violence and sadism are far too sick.  The setting’s relentless environment of blood, violence, and the bizarre hamper the storytelling, but structurally the film is sound.  This is a curiosity piece.  It’s not very everyone; honestly, it’s not for very many people.  It’s a vanity project that might interest fans of Zombie’s music and hardcore horror movie fans who love gore by the shipload.  You have to have a strong stomach and be able to tolerate really extreme subject matter; it’s not for the average Joe or even for many “serious” film fans.  When you walk out the theatre, you need to be able to just brush off this particular movie experience.  It’s not good or bad; it just is.

The story is only supposed to make sense visually the way a music video might “make sense.”  This is Zombie vomiting out some of the twisted imagery that rides in his head.  If he gets to make another horror movie, the next one might delve a little deeper into story and character and leave the shocking and extraneous video images for one of those short films musicians use to sell their music.

4 of 10
C

Updated:  Sunday, October 20, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Starsky and Hutch" is Average Entertainment (Happy B'day, Snoop Dogg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Running time:  101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PR-13 for drug content, sexual situations, partial nudity, language and some violence
DIRECTOR:  Todd Phillips
WRITERS:  John O’Brien, Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips, from a story Steve Long and John O’Brien (based upon characters created by William Blinn)
PRODUCERS:  William Blinn, Stuart Cornfeld, Akiva Goldsman, Tony Ludwig, and Alan Riche
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Peterson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Leslie Jones
COMPOSER:  Theodore Shapiro

COMEDY/CRIME with some elements of action

Starring:  Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Fred Williamson, Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis, Jason Bateman, Amy Smart, Carmen Electra, George Cheung, Chris Penn, Patton Oswalt, Jenard Burks, The Bishop Don Magic Juan, and Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul

The subject of this movie review is Starsky & Hutch, a 2004 crime comedy from director Todd Phillips.  The film is based on the 1970s television series, Starsky & Hutch, a police drama-thriller that was created by William Blinn and was originally broadcast on the ABC television network from 1975 to 1979.  The film is a kind of prequel to the original television series.  Starsky & Hutch the movie follows two streetwise cops who fight crime in their red-and-white Ford Torino.

With my refined tastes, I should technically be repulsed by film remakes of 70’s television programs, but repulsed or otherwise, I’ll generally see them.  Still, I’d planned on seeing the controversial Mel Gibson Jesus movie, but it was sold out, and there was the poster for Starsky & Hutch staring me in the face.  Though I had to settle on something I hadn’t planned on seeing at the time, it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of Starsky and Hutch.  It’s a fairly funny film, but you wouldn’t have missed a cinematic event that must be seen on the big screen if you’d waited for home video or TV.

Set in a sort of anachronistic version of the 1970’s, S&H is the story of two streetwise detectives who form an unlikely partnership.  David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is an anal by-the-books guy, who actually does nothing but screw up, despite his attention to rules.  Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) is a genial kind of guy, always hanging loose, but he is also the kind of cop who breaks the law when it suits him.  Hutch robs bookies for their loot, and he uses illegal drugs.  The mismatched pair gets on the nerves of their boss, Captain Dobey (Fred Williamson), relies on tips from an omniscient street informer, Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), and busts crime in Starksy’s 1974 red-and-white, souped-up Ford Torino.  Their first big case together involves a respectable businessman, Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), who may be a big time cocaine dealer.  However, Starsky and Hutch’s bumbling and lack of hard evidence dog their case every step of the way.

Starsky & Hutch has some extremely hilarious moments, not as many as, say, Scary Movie 3.  S&H is structured like SM3 in that S&H’s plot, story, and script are basically an elaborate, but dumb, blueprint to layout jokes.  S&H’s script is, however, nothing like the disaster of that was SM3’s script.  S&H also reminds me of another of director Todd Phillip’s hits, Old School (2003): lots of funny scenes, but ultimately a lame, by-the-book, Hollywood yuck fest that plays it way too safe.

This is also one of the times that Ben Stiller’s shtick, that of the angry, quick-tempered nerd, works for the film.  Owen Wilson is a great screen presence; the camera loves him, and the role of the amiable Hutch easily fits Owen’s usually warm and generous film persona.

I generally enjoyed this film’s deep tongue in the tongue-in-cheek mode.  Starsky and Hutch is not to be taken seriously, nor does the film try to make you do so.  The quasi-70’s setting is a hoot, at least early on, but the film’s period atmosphere eventually dissolves into mere background noise.  There should have been much more Snoop Dogg because he surprisingly has good screen presence.  Also, Will Ferrell’s (who doesn’t get a screen credit) riotous turn as Big Earl, a man in the county lockup with serious man crush issues, is certainly a reason to see this film, at home or in a theatre.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
2005 Razzie Awards:  2 nominations: “Worst Actor” (Ben Stiller) and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Carmen Electra)

Updated:  Sunday, October 20, 2013

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Review: "Team America: World Police" is Crazy, Smart and True (Happy B'day, Trey Parker)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 209 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Team America: World Police (2004)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic, crude & sexual humor, violent images and strong language; all involving puppets
DIRECTOR:  Trey Parker
WRITERS:  Pam Brady, Matt Stone and Trey Parker
PRODUCERS:  Scott Rudin, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bill Pope, A.S.C. (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Thomas M. Vogt
COMPOSER:  Harry Gregson-Williams

COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring:  (voices) Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller, Masasa, Daran Norris, Phil Hendrie, Maurice LaMarche, and Paul Louis

The subject of this movie review is Team America: World Police, a 2004 satirical comedy film from the team of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the long-running animated series, “South Park.”  The film’s cast is composed of marionettes (puppets) instead of live actors.  Team America: World Police follows a popular Broadway actor who is recruited by an elite counter-terrorism organization to help stop a dictator who is plotting global terror attacks.

Team America: World Police may be 2004’s funniest film.  Some may consider it the most obnoxious and crass movie of the year, especially after viewing the graphic puppet “sex scene.”  It will certainly go down as one of the most outrageous movies not made by John Waters.  It’s a wonderful send up of action movies, especially as those made by super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and the hilarious characters that populate them.  Even the musical scores to Bruckheimer films get it up the butt and in the mouth from this movie.  It’s also a wicked satire of American military aggression and the celebrities who protest it.  However, as good as the film is (and it’s quite good), Team America: World Police frequently falls on its own spear.

Team America is an international police force dedicated to maintaining global security.  And they’re also marionettes; you may best remember marionettes as those puppets on the venerable British TV children’s series, “Thunderbirds.”  Team America’s latest mission takes them to Paris, France, where they fight a handful of terrorists with WMD’s, also known as weapons of mass destruction.  Team America also manages to destroy Paris’ most famous landmarks, and also loose a team member to a terrorist’s bullets.

Team America’s leader, Spottswoode, a gray-headed, older, distinguished gentleman, recruits a young Broadway actor named Gary to replace the fallen comrade.  Spottswoode thinks that Gary will make the perfect spy because in college he was a double major in theatre and world languages.  The other Team America members:  Lisa, Sarah, Chris, and Joe, are wary at first, but they back him up on their first mission to Cairo to infiltrate a band of Islamic fundamentalists with WMD’s.

There is however a larger crisis looming.  Power-mad dictator Kim Jong Il of North Korea has planned a series of simultaneous global terror attacks – imagine 9/11 times 2356.  He’s convinced the Hollywood Film Actors Guild, or F.A.G., and their leader, actor Alec Baldwin, to support a conference in North Korea in which all world leaders will attend.  The conference is merely a cover for the launch of the worldwide terror strikes, which will occur while Baldwin gives his peacenik keynote speech.  Can Team America stop Kim Jong Il…and the actors?

Team America: World Police is the second major studio film from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the uproarious and bawdy animated program, “South Park,” on Comedy Central.  Team America, on one hand, is a delightful and loving send up of “Thunderbirds” and the other puppet marionette shows produced by England’s Century 21.  On the other hand, the film is mostly a vicious and brutal satire of the contemporary American political landscape and American self-righteousness.  The use of marionettes instead of actors greatly takes the sense of people getting made fun of to a level that human actors couldn’t go.

Parker/Stone use clever dialogue, over-the-top violence, and hyper-patriotic songs to skewer heavy-handed U.S. military offenses, strikes, and pre-emptive attacks on international locales.  They also use marionettes that closely resemble well known Hollywood and celebrities that protest U.S. military action.  The marionettes, in some cases, barely look like the stars that they’re supposed to resemble; in some cases the resemblance is just close enough not to get the filmmakers sued.  Still, it works enough so that such stars as Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Matt Damon, Helen Hunt and others are mercilessly lampooned.

But is the movie good?  The answer is a resounding yes; it’s one of the funniest films I’ve seen in years.  However, it is mean-spirited, graphic, obnoxious, brutal, vicious, vulgar, filthy, foul, nasty, rank, etc.  Sometimes, I had a hard time believing that Parker and Stone were going so far in their satire and humor.  Still, they’re not frat boys out of control; every joke and satirical comment and farcical moment seems well conceived.

Team America: World Police, in the end, takes the side of the “good guys,” but Parker and Stone obviously only trust them a little more than the “bad guys.”  They insist that even the protagonists be viewed with a wary eye, so in the end, it’s as if they question that anyone can be trusted.  Fighting assholes who want to kill everyone is a dirty job, and the heroes and their charges may not be “all that” themselves.  Team America: World Police is not perfect, but it’s the work of frankly honest and only barely inhibited filmmakers.  That’s refreshing when “looking good” is so important these days.

8 of 10
A

Updated:  Saturday, October 19, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Idiocracy" is Brilliant and Prophetic (Happy B'day, Mike Judge)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Idiocracy (2006)
Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and sex-related humor
DIRECTOR:  Mike Judge
WRITERS:  Mike Judge and Etan Cohen; from a story by Mike Judge
PRODUCERS:  Mike Judge and Elysa Koplovitz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Tim Suhrstedt
EDITOR:  David Rennie
COMPOSER:  Theodore Shapiro

COMEDY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Alan Crews, Anthony Campos, David Herman, and Brad “Scarface” Jordan

The subject of this movie review is Idiocracy, a 2006 science fiction and satirical comedy film from writer-director, Mike Judge (Office Space).  The film focuses on an “average American” who awakens from a hibernation project five centuries in the future, where he discovers a society that is so incredibly dumbed-down that he is easily the most intelligent person alive.

Idiocracy was essentially produced and abandoned.  20th Century Fox released the film to an estimated 130 theatres – much less than 600 theatres, the number that is usually considered the minimum for a film to be in wide release.  Fox also did little in the way of promotion, and did not screen the movie for film critics.

To test its top secret Human Hibernation Project, U.S. Army officials chose the most average American male they can find, an Army private named Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson).  The most average woman they find is Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute.  Joe and Rita are only supposed to stay in hibernation for one year, but they are forgotten and reawaken 500 years later.  They find civilization so incredibly dumbed-down that they are the smartest people on earth.  The President of the United States of Uhh-merica, Dwayne Elizondo Camacho (Terry Alan Crews), a former professional wrestler, wants Joe to solve the country’s problems (chiefly crop failures), or Camacho will have him rehabilitated – meaning killed.

Idiocracy is director Mike Judge’s long-awaited follow up to his cult hit, Office Space.  Judge is also the creator of the popular animated television series “Beavis and Butt-head” (for MTV) and, co-creator with Greg Daniels of  “King of the Hill” (for FOX).  In this comic sci-fi flick, Judge and his co-screenwriter Etan Cohen transport the audience to a satirical future populated by dumb humans who do nothing but watch TV and who are too dumb to irrigate their crops with water (using instead a sports drink).

Watching this movie, it would not be hard to get the idea that Judge and his creative staff are being unnecessarily cynical, especially when one of the film’s tenets is that dumb people (rednecks, trailer trash, hood rats, etc.) breed too much, while smart people don’t have enough babies.  An underemployed man who lives in poverty and has many children with two or more baby mamas isn’t necessarily dumb, nor are his offspring destined to be big dummies.  To fixate on this, however, would be to take an anal view of the film.  Besides, like much satire, Judge’s Idiocracy is preaching to the choir.

Combine genetic devolution with a populace enslaved to crass media that sells rampant commercialism and entertainment that emphasizes hypersexuality, and you might have a primary ingredient for a dystopian future, even if it isn’t as comically inept as the one presented here.  Judge is trying to make a point about an America where so many people are stubbornly uncurious about their world, the people who live in it, and how their actions affect anyone beyond themselves and maybe the small circle of people around them.  Yet those same people slavishly fixate on the habits and lifestyles of celebrities and assorted public figures.  Judge smartly makes his point with outrageous humor, and truthfully, the film isn’t elitist, it’s just relentlessly and unapologetically funny about making fun of and satirizing its targets.

Luke Wilson is great as a sort of nobody everyman.  He’s the kind of average Joe who tends his little patch of green earth while the rest of the world is engaged in a rat race.  In Wilson’s quiet but well-played role as someone who just doesn’t want to make waves, Judge has the perfect character by which to offer as a contrast to a world of people who are nothing but spoiled dumb children.  They want to be fed, entertained, and pleasured, but they don’t care to clean up after themselves and are too lazy to earn their treats.  Before I make Idiocracy sound like a school lesson, it’s easily one of the year’s funniest flicks.  Referencing Mad Max, 1984, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and other classic cautionary speculative, science fiction, this is the gold standard in satirical comedies.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Updated:  Thursday, October 17, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Fourth Season Debut of "The Walking Dead" Sets Series Record

AMC’s The Walking Dead Returns with Highest-Rated Episode in Series History, 16.1 Million Viewers and 10.4 Million Adults 18-49

Premiere Ratings Confirm The Walking Dead Continues to Be the #1 Show on Television across All Cable and Broadcast Networks

Last Night’s Premiere of The Walking Dead is the #1 Telecast among Adults 18-49 This Broadcast Season Including Sports

Talking Dead Aftershow Also Hits Premiere High, with 5.1 Million Total Viewers and 3.3 Million Adults 18-49

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AMC’s The Walking Dead returned last night for its fourth season, delivering the highest ratings of any episode in series history. The season four premiere was watched by 16.1 million total viewers and 10.4 million adults aged 18-49. Last night’s ratings confirm The Walking Dead continues to be the #1 show on all of television among the coveted 18-49 demographic. 2013/14 season to date, last night’s premiere ranks as the #1 telecast in adults 18-49, outperforming all programs including primetime NFL football. With time-shifted playback, last night's premiere should exceed 20 million viewers.

“Sincere thanks to the fans, who have welcomed The Walking Dead back for its fourth season with the highest-rated episode in the show's history,” said AMC President Charlie Collier. “We could not be more proud of this show and everyone on both sides of the camera who work so hard to give life to this story of character, leadership and survival. It starts with series creator, writer and executive producer Robert Kirkman, show runner and executive producer Scott Gimple and the director of last night’s episode (and the man behind the make-up) executive producer Greg Nicotero, their fellow executive producers and an extraordinary cast and crew who are giving their all every day. So clearly, thanks to them, the dead have never been more alive.”

The previous record for an episode of The Walking Dead was 12.4 million total viewers and 8.1 million viewers 18-49 for the season three finale.

Following the 9 pm premiere of The Walking Dead, AMC premiered the third season of Talking Dead at 10 pm, it became the most viewed premiere in series history with 5.1 million viewers, including 3.3 million adults aged 18-49. Hosted by Chris Hardwick, Talking Dead features Hardwick and fans, actors, producers and other TV enthusiasts, discussing and dissecting that night’s Dead premiere. The premiere episode featured guests including executive producer and showrunner Scott Gimple and Nathan Fillion of Castle.

Key Nielsen Highlights for the season four premiere of The Walking Dead

9 pm airing – 8.1 HH rating with 16.1 million viewers
9 pm airing – 8.2 HH rating with 10.4 million Adults 18-49
9 pm airing – 7.3 HH rating with 8.8 million Adults 25-54
Key Nielsen Highlights for the season three premiere of Talking Dead

10 pm airing – 2.7 HH rating with 5.1 million viewers
10 pm airing – 2.6 HH rating with 3.3 million Adults 18-49
10 pm airing – 2.5 HH rating with 3.0 million Adults 25-54
Source: Nielsen Media Research fast nationals (US ratings), L+SD 10/13/13, broadcast season 9/23/13 – current.

The return of The Walking Dead dominated TV-related social media activity. In the opening minute of the East coast premiere, viewers posted 39,994 Tweets about the show, representing 88% of all television-related Tweets. The premiere telecast garnered a total of 1,171,994 Tweets from 570,148 unique authors. The Walking Dead was also the #1 program for the day in TV-related social media activity, including the premiere and seven previous episodes that ran during a catch-up marathon on AMC, with the most unique authors. On Facebook, more than 5 million users had more than 9.3 million interactions related to The Walking Dead premiere. Twitter data from SocialGuide, Facebook data from Facebook.

About AMC
Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, AMC brings to its audience something deeper, something richer, Something More. The network reigns as the only cable network in history ever to win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, five out of the last six years, and boasts the most-watched drama series in basic cable history with The Walking Dead. AMC’s original drama series include Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Hell on Wheels and Low Winter Sun. The network recent greenlit two new drama series, working titles Halt & Catch Fire and Turn, both of which will be premiering in 2014. AMC also explores authentic worlds with bold characters through its slate of unscripted original series like Comic Book Men, Small Town Security, Talking Dead, Talking Bad and Freakshow. AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Something More.

Review: "After Earth" Offers a World of Thrilling Adventure

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 70 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

After Earth (2013)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images
DIRECTOR:  M. Night Shyamalan
WRITERS:  Gary Whitta and M. Night Shyamalan; from a story by Will Smith
PRODUCERS:  James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, Caleeb Pinkett, and Will Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR:  Steven Rosenblum
COMPOSER:  James Newton Howard

SCI-FI/ADVENTURE/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring:  Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoe Isabella Kravitz, Glenn Morshower, and Jaden Martin

It was panned by critics, and it was a box office disappointment – some would even say a box office bomb.  However, I liked it.  I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  It is about as good as I had hoped it would be when I first heard about it.

I am talking about After Earth, the 2013 futuristic science fiction adventure-survival film from director M. Night Shyamalan.  The film follows a teen boy who must embark on a perilous journey across a hostile future Earth in order to save himself and his father.

After Earth takes place 1,000 years after the human race had to abandon Earth because of an environmental cataclysm.  Humanity eventually settles on a new world called Nova Prime.  That settlement brings humanity into conflict with the S’krell, an alien race that wants to conquer Nova Prime.  The S’krell’s secret weapon are the Ursa, large, blind, predatory creatures that hunts humanity by “smelling” human fear.  Humanity is saved by The Ranger Corps, in particular, the legendary General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), who developed the technique that allows humans to successfully fight the Ursa.

The heroic Cypher, however, does not have a successful relationship with his son, Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith).  They plan a trip together, but an unexpected event strands them on Earth, a now-quarantined planet.  With Cypher gravely wounded, Kitai must locate a distress signal beacon, but to do that, he must travel cross terrain in which many plants, animals, and the climate are lethal to humans.

There are moments in After Earth, when Will and Jaden’s acting is suspect, but for the most part, they make their respective characters’ bonds and conflicts seem genuine.  As Kitai, Jaden’s fear is palatable, and his anger, grief, and disappointed are authentic within the context of his story.  I think some critics’ complaints of nepotism regarding this father-son acting team, specifically as it relates to After Earth, are dishonest.  Fathers and sons have been appearing together in film for decades.  What makes the Smiths so different that they are the target of such derision and resentment?

I also think that the way some critics are always out to attack director M. Night Shyamalan has gotten out of hand.  He does an excellent job with After Earth, especially with a young actor like Jaden.  Shyamalan creates a taut, riveting journey that begins generating a sense of impending doom from the time the Raiges leave Nova Prime to the final frames of the film.  Whatever people might say about him, Shyamalan is the master of the gripping narrative, and he does some gripping with After Earth.

Worthy of note are two excellent supporting performances by Sophie Okonedo and Zoe Isabella Kravitz, especially the latter.  Zoe is award-nomination worthy in her After Earth part, and it is a shame she does not appear in more films.

Visually, After Earth is a beautiful film, and its science fiction and futuristic concepts (such as the dialect spoken in the film) are inventive and interesting.  James Newton Howard’s score is soaring and emotional; the perfect music for a film that is both an epic adventure and a tale of a ragged relationship between an estranged father and his son.

Bravo!  I understand that After Earth is the first of a planned trilogy.  If the second and third movies could be as good as the first, I hope that they are produced, despite this film’s box office results.  Regardless of hyped box office expectations and of the politics of film critics and their resentments and prejudices, After Earth is a movie spectacular.  This is a classic tale of man vs. nature, of man vs. himself, and of man vs. his dad who has way-high expectations.  After Earth will stand the test of time.

8 of 10
A

Monday, October 14, 2013

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