i watch the watchmen

i'm not batman

Watchmen (***1/2) is ambitious, and epic, and larger than life, but ultimately lifeless when it comes to the overall feeling you’re left with after watching it. Pretty pictures, and not much that resonates with you after the fact.  Director Snyder has done this to audiences before with 300. Half-naked Spartans spouting “meaningful” diatribes while fighting faceless Persian zombies in slow motion and I cared not a whit for any character.

I enjoyed reading Watchmen, the comic book, it was a nice yarn with surprising depth, but I’m not a fanatic who thinks its the greatest “graphic” novel ever written so I came to the movie without a checklist to be entertained , and I was for the most part (didn’t even glance at my watch for the nearly three hour running time), but there was something missing – a connection to the characters, a reason to care about what happened to them. It never happened for me, and then the movie was over, and all could remember was that Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach was inspired casting, oh and that Zach Snyder has a violence fetish.

Definitely worth watching (in IMAX if you can), but don’t expect a transformative experience. Its a bloody comic book movie, floating above the deep end.

i c u

Let the Right One In (*****) is probably the best film about “vampires” I’ve ever seen mostly because it’s unlike any other in the genre. It’s a small story centered around a 12 yr-old boy who befriends his new neighbor (also seemingly 12) who happens to be a vampire. Classic coming of age tale with a bloody twist, but all of the beats are here. Problems at home, problems at school, learning to be a man and stand up for yourself and others  – we’ve all seen it a million times before, but this go-round  there is a measured, genius (or happy accidental) pace, there is surprising revelation, subtle and effective visual F/X, real friendship, and shocking violence all rendered with fantastic cinematography. It’s debatable whether the ending is touching or tragic (perhaps a bit of both), but whichever, the success is in the details.

weren't you in that film gladiator?

Body of Lies (***) Ridley Scott doesn’t make bad films starring Russell Crowe (well maybe A Good Year), but he definitely doesn’t make bad films with Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a good little political thriller with some action sprinkled here and there to wake the less-educated audience members. Not breaking new ground, but entertaining and worth a watch on Blu-Ray.

is that a metal apron you're wearing?

Midnight Meat Train (**1/2) is based on a short story by Clive Barker about a photographer who (in his attempt to snap an amazing photograph) stumbles on a butcher who is confused as to what or who he should be swinging his cleaver at. Relentlessly violent, with a surprise ending that should have been expounded upon, this film is ultimately an exercise for gore hounds. None other need apply (except perhaps for fans of early Alias, and Popular).