As some of you might have heard, roughly three weeks ago, I suffered what the doctors referred to as sudden cardiac death. My heart stopped and I technically died. Thankfully, I was resuscitated, put on ice to allow my body and brain to recuperate and thanks to my healthy workout and eating regimen, am on my way to a full recovery. I don't want to get into the nuts and bolts of my medical shit as it's morbid and uninteresting to me, so I can only imagine how snooze inducing it would be to my readership. Suffice to say, I had a faulty valve and it was fixed. My being alive is indebted to my spartan lifestyle and the quick thinking of the gentleman who found me, not to mention the expertise of the many Doctor's who cared for me. The upshot is, I've been able to see a multitude of films recently, both theatrical and on home video. There's not much to do during a convalescence besides fade in and out of consciousness and stare blankly at flickering images. So, without further ado, here's what I've been watching lately!
Stakeland was fantastic. Maybe the best horror film of the year next to Insidious (not that there's much competition). It's epic, yet claustrophobic. Lyrical, yet blunt. Draining, yet invigorating. It's the kind of horror film that transcends genre while being indisputably of it. This is the kind of movie to point to when non-genre fans ridicule horror as the breeding ground for mouth breathing stupidity and senseless violence.
Rec2 was visceral as all get out, but ultimately tedious as all films featuring the found footage gambit are. Your Highness was a disappointing, vulgar festival of inconsequence. All high concept and no actual jokes, unless swearing and intimating molestation, sexual assault and rape at every turn count as jokes nowadays.
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes was exceptional and easily the best movie of the summer. It was thrilling, innovative, intelligent, complex and compassionate, a series of adjectives I usually can't associate with modern film. The Final Destination was great fun to me for some reason. I saw it with my father shortly after my own brush with death and found it endlessly amusing. I'm sure a large part of it was introducing my dad to the series and watching him squirm through the protracted and misleading set pieces. It was also just plain great to be out of the hospital, seeing a movie with the man who instilled in me my love of film.
Conan The Barbarian hit the sweet spot for me. It's unrelenting in it's pacing, action and violence. The story and characters are nothing new or that great, but they got the job done in a workmanlike fashion. The movie provided me with a much needed escape. I know every critic seemingly despises it, but I appreciated it's sloping brow mentality and cut rate fantasy film backdrops. It was a treat to sit through a film where no one whipped out a cell phone or gave a moments thought to political correctness. I doubt I will remember it much come years end, but I thought it was a blast when I saw it in the theater and that 's about as much as one can expect from the current crop of cinema.
I saw the Fright Night remake, which didn't fare as well for me. I guess I didn't see the point. Nothing was altered drastically enough to justify a redux and the violence and effects weren't nearly as visceral or creative as they were in the original. I watched the original on DVD the night after and was reminded how exciting, lively and clever it was, which only served to throw into sharper contrast how dull, drab and crude the inessential remake is. The original is so colorful and vibrant, while the remake is seemingly shot with all the lights out in black and white. If it's a stylistic choice, it was a bad one, cause the film verily dares you to watch it.
A great friend of mine sent me the blu's for Zombie Holocaust (or as I prefer to refer to it, Dr. Butcher MD!) and Criterion's Blow Out, so I can't wait to dig into those this coming week. Another good friend has loaned me his complete set of Planet of the Apes blurays, while Axl from Profondo Cinema sent me a care package of DVD goodness I can't wait to dip into! Thanks so much to all the friends and well wishers out there that made returning to the world of the living such a pleasant and touching affair. I'm on the mend and ready to get back at film dissection with a renewed purpose and vigor!
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