Originals Vs. Remakes: Slasher Edition

This article was originally published on 12ftdwende.com 2 April 2010. So I had a vague awareness of the Nightmare on Elm Street series as a small child. I would walk with great trepidation through the horror isle of the video store knowing that here were things not for young’ns like myself. I knew that there … Continue reading

Friday the 13th series

I love intelligent horror movies and wish there were more of them. But you know what? I love the dumb ones too. Maybe more. I have no intellectual defense of it, I just like it. I don’t like them “ironically.” I don’t even know what that means really. I am simply entertained. And for big … Continue reading

Final Destination series

This article was originally published on 12ft.dwende.com on 12 August 2011. Sometimes you don’t need a guy in a hockey mask or the ghost of a murderer to haunt your dreams. Sometimes things like a mask of human skin and a chainsaw or an endless knowledge of slasher film trivia are just overkill. Sometimes all … Continue reading

Angels in America (2003)

Angels in America (2003) – For a while, the premium cable network Home Box Office had the slogan “It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” This mainly reflected the artistically challenging shows they aired like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, and The Wire (of course they also ran Sex and the City, so I guess it … Continue reading

All the Real Girls (2003)

All the Real Girls (2003) — So a lot of movies that claim to be about love seem to be written with no real sense of what that entails. There’s a shitload of pain involved and most movies choose to gloss over that part or otherwise address it in a contrived way. All the Real … Continue reading

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

The Triplets of Belleville (2003) — Sylvain Chomet is some kind of mad genius and this film is a testament to why tradition two dimensional animation will never die. It is hard to describe this movie. It is pretty much something that as to be seen for itself. It is the tale of a grandmother … Continue reading

Identity (2003)

Identity (2003) — After watching Knight and Day I got the urge to revisit one of James Mangold’s older [better] movies (if I have time this weekend I might watch 3:10 to Yuma as well).  He’s worked well in wildly disparate genres and this is his take on the horror flick.  But it’s not really … Continue reading

The Deal (2003)

The Deal (2003) — I like political behind-the-scenes stories because they have backroom deals and treachery of Shakespearean magnitude.  Not being overly familiar with the United Kingdom’s system of government was a bit of a hindrance watching this film, but I found it all interesting as hell anyway.  Again Michael Sheen was great as Tony … Continue reading

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) — This is actually my least favorite of the three films and it incidentally went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director (and several others).  But despite my problems with it (which are few) it still remains, as with … Continue reading

The Station Agent (2003)

The Station Agent (2003) — So in two days and two movies, Tom McCarthy has become one of my favorite writer-directors.  Well done, sir.  This is as good a movie about friendship as I have ever seen.  Peter Dinklage turns in a great performance without ever saying much.  Bobby Cannavale is great while saying a … Continue reading