Enjoyable TV sequel finds Norman calling in to a radio station to flashback to his childhood. Young Norman is played by Henry Thomas, Elliott in Spielberg's classic "E.T." It's silly in parts, but Perkins carries it through and it's a heck of a lot better than Van Sant's "Psycho" remake.
A French immigrant named Ashe(Vincent Perez) and his son are murdered in an apocalyptic version of L.A. Ashe awakens from his watery grave to take bloody revenge. More vicious and disturbing film than the Brandon Lee film, but it manages to retain a sense of intended ugliness and hopelessness while still maintaining a lot of heart. Look at it on it's own terms instead of on the same terms of the Brandon Lee film and you will get more out of it. Rated R: Contains strong violence, strong language and drug use, and graphic sexual content.
The Crow- *** out of ****
Reviewed by tonymurphylee for The Crow at 2008-12-16 04:23:26
A zombie musician takes revenge on the punks that murdered raped and murdered his wife and him. Along the way he befriends his wife's little sister and a depressed police officer who takes care of her. Extreme violence and gore mixed with strong moral values may not it well with many viewers, but the beautiful Gothic cinematography, heavy metal soundtrack, and a charismatic performance by Brandon Lee in his final performance help elevate the film above the tasteless material. A horrific on set freak accident cost Lee his life and gives the film a disturbing sense of irony that may be too overwhelming for many viewers.
Rated R. Contains Strong graphic violence and language, heavy drug content, and brief nudity and sexual content
The Chronicles of Riddick takes the B-movie mythology of Pitch Black and attempts to magnify it with dozens of new characters, planet hopping, and political intrigue on the level Frank Herbert's Dune--with hints William Shakespeare's Macbeth--but it ends up a little more like a backwater galaxy somewhere in the Star Trek universe. Like Star Trek, there are sweeping images of hundreds of space ships, hordes of computer-generated extras that attempt to broaden the political and social scope of the story, but the gap between the backdrop and the foreground is at bit on the wide side.
A good concept gone awry
Reviewed by SmartChic for Open Water at 2008-08-07 14:28:43
I didn't totally hate it - that's about the best thing I can say. But I think that's only true because I followed the Australian case on which the story is based. The concept had tons of potential - the execution is lacking.
Great Premise, Terrible Follow-Through
Reviewed by KHL for Awake at 2008-03-24 15:32:02
Anesthesia awareness is still debated among doctors, although the consensus is that it is possible, but to what extent? What could have been a great medical/psychological chiller turns out to be an hour's worth of corny romantic buildup, followed by a plot full of cookie-cut-out villains (where's the black mustache?). It doesn't help that Alba and Christiansen can't really act (as least in this flick). If you like medical thrillers, it's worth watching once, but try something a bit better like Extreme Measures, Coma or Anatomy.
This May Be the Worst Movie Ever
Reviewed by TheDawg for Open Water at 2008-03-12 12:55:37
This movie stunk! Not only did the photography make me sick to my stomach, there were actually times when the screen was black (nighttime)! Are you kidding me?
What a flop. The dialogue was absolutely horrible, and moreover the film depends utterly on characterization and dialogue. I found myself rooting for the sharks.