Mark Wahlberg turns legit, starts a family and gets outta "the life"... then gets dragged back into "the life" to try and "fix things" for his wife's brother. Things go bad and Wahlberg goes to war.

So there's Wahlberg doing the usual which isn't really a bad thing. It looks pretty solid and is fairly sure to have a good "kill the crime lord" type plot to it.

“The Door in the Floor” (2004), directed by Todd Williams (Paranormal Activity 2 (try not to hold it against him), and starring Academy award winner Jeff Bridges (Crazy heart, the Big Lebowski) and Academy award winner Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential). The movie is based on novel: “A Window for One Year” by John Irving.

This one actually came to me as a suggestion by my brother some time ago. I hadn’t heard of it but was happy to have watched it.

Here, Ted Cole (Bridges), a children’s book writer is post tragic loss, mid marital breakdown and on the verge of an important life change. So too is change an integral part of the lives of the story’s two other focus characters.

Enter Eddie O’Hare (John Foster), a young, hopeful writer who has landed himself a summer job working with Ted. As a result, Eddie finds himself in the middle of the transitional situation and becomes seemingly tangled in it due to his becoming romantically involved with Ted’s wife: Marion (Basinger). “Oh dear” indeed.

The Door in the Floor has an unusual mix of maturity, depth and light heartedness. It has its share of awkward but with the important added aftertaste of funny that in my opinion doesn’t necessarily undermine its preceding statements.

Sure, it deals with sexuality, and it’s mature suggestions has a hint of the off putting but that seems more like an attempt at honesty, which makes for a respectable reach. The depth will have you thinking to say the least and gives the movie some re-watch value.

The Door in the Floor gets 7.5/10.

So up for release next week is “From software’s” “Dark Souls” (above) for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Everyone heard of it? Maybe not...

In case you haven’t, it’s the spiritual successor to “from software’s” masterpiece, “Demon’s souls (2009)”. And if you haven’t heard of that, then imagine a 3D dark fantasy type with the frustratingly alluring and unforgiving challenge of older Snes and Nes games. Think “Ghouls and Ghosts” your first time through and you’ll begin to get the picture.

If you don’t know what "Ghouls and Ghosts" is and you like gaming then maybe it's time you pick up a Snes, Nes or emulator for a little gaming experience you’ll wish wasn’t so addicting.

While some casual gamers (especially those accustomed to the easiness of today’s games) will get thrown off by Demon’s souls and its successor’s difficulty level, I’m fairly certain that those who could stand to push onward are sure to be provided with a source or reward, accomplishment and bragging rights worthy of the effort (It is a different gaming experience to be sure). Speaking of Hard, know anyone who’s beaten Prince of Persia for Nes? Me neither...

“Dark Souls” gets released next week and is certain to transform mild mannered gamers into foul mouthed sailors.

In the mean time – and if you’re wondering if you’ll like the kind of punishment “Dark Souls” will dish out – make for a retro gaming week end with:

1. Prince of Persia (Nes)
2. Mega Man I (Nes)
3. Zelda II: The adventure of Link (Nes)
4. Super Ghouls and Ghosts (Snes)
5. Demon’s Crest (Snes)
6. Zombies ate my neighbors (Snes)

- Josh  

Mean Creek (2004), written and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes (In his first full length feature) and starring Rory Culkin ( Scream 4, Signs), Scott Mechlowicz (Eurotrip, peaceful warrior ) and Josh Peck ( Bustin’ out from nickelodeon’s “Drake and Josh”)

Here, we are immersed in rough, name calling, beer drinking and drug smoking childhood/ adolescence. In particular we’re dropped into a school yard pounding by overweight bully: George (Josh Peck), administered to a considerably smaller Sam (Culkin). What follows is a scheme by Sam and friends to give ol Georgy a taste of his own medicine. Let me tell you, this movie is as serious as can be.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t a few laughs – because there is (The school type variety of course). They come early on and have more to do with the honesty, innocence and ignorance of the school aged characters. Hec, it’s even kinda hard not to get into the exchange of taunts between em. All this takes an ugly, tense and realistic turn when “Consequence of one’s action (or inaction)” is brought into play however.

I have found the funniest thing is that as adults, many of us forget the effects of bullying. Even some of us somehow forget that it exists and don’t believe it is still as big a problem– it is – if not in some ways worse because of bullying’s evolution (Think social networking).

While dated (with a release of 2004) this “official selection of the Sundance film festival” does begin to speak about the nastiness of bullying. But I would say that it suffers a little in the way of being broad. That is that, I felt the movie had difficulty to establish a proper buy in to really feel for the characters themselves on an individual level instead of as “Kids” ... Or Georgy as more than just a “Bully” with issues. That aside, the movie al’ remind you of all the grey and complexity of bullying AND ask: How much did the parents know throughout the movie? Here, there aren’t any answers, just a reminder that there’s a festering wound hidden below in the depths of childhood and adolescence that exists as much today as it did in the past.  That, despite our advancements and intellect, we can’t get enough people together to really make a big enough, important change in how we recognise, deal with,  and prevent bullying... if not decrease its likelihood and its effect.

Mean Creek gets a 7/10 on Scale in my books.

-Josh

New challenge! See if you can name the person, place, thing, idea, or whatever it is that movie #1 has in common with movie #2 for points. For example…

 (Difficulty: Easy (1 point)) 
 #1 Titanic (1997)
 And
 #2 Inception(2010)

Common point = Leonardo DiCaprio as lead actor

Good Luck! There is a total of 12 points! Please leave us your score down below in the comments

(Difficulty: Easy (1 point)) 
 #1 Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
 And
 #2 Legally Blonde(2001)

Common point =

(Difficulty: Easy (1 point)) 
 #1 Deep Impact (1998)
 And
 #2 Armageddon (1998)

Common point (other than they were released in the same year)=

(Difficulty: Moderate (2 points)) 
 #1 Kill Bill (2003)
 And
 #2 Memento(2000)

Common point =

(Difficulty: Moderate (2 points))
#1 The Hurt Locker (2009)
 And
 #2 Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Common point =

(Difficulty: Hard (3 points)) 
 #1 Manhunter (1986)
 And
 #2 Red Dragon(2002)

Common point =

(Difficulty: Hard (3 points)) 
 #1 The Last Airbender (2010)
 And
 #2 The Love Guru (2008)

Common point =

13 Assassins (2010) is a bloody assassin/samurai type movie by director Takeshi Miike (sukiyaki Western Django, Ichi the killer, Audition).

Here, a Japanese Lord – Bloodthirsty, arrogant and without regard for those under him – Is about to rise to a position of power, one that, as we find out, could mean times of war ahead. A Samurai’s self sacrifice early on sets a wheel in motion that when teamed with the Japonese Lord: Naritsugu’s past evil deeds, forces an official of power to act against him. This means enlisting what becomes a team of 13 samurai to assassinate Naritsugu during his travels and while accompanied by many guards (we’re talking 200 or so).

Because the samurai prep a town and meet the enemy to do battle there, this movie does give off a “Seven Samurai” (Akira Kurosawa, 1954) vibe. This is especially so, because the movie takes it’s time heading into the bloodbath and spares some moments to recruit all 13 members. It’s easy to shrug that off however, because the movie engages you early on with beautiful and very shocking camera work, good acting and one hell of a buy in to hate the villain. I mean, I don’t know if it gets a whole lot nastier then what Naritsugu is. And this brings me to my first warning.

If blood if off-putting to you. It’s probably not your movie (I mean, the blood is not overly exaggerated (with the exception of a certain explosion) but they didn’t really use it sparingly). Also, there’s some shocking imagery.  Another point people might dislike is that English is available only through dubbing (Which I can’t really say was excellent as I decided I would rather the Japanese version with English subtitles early on). If you can handle both those things AND you would like to try out a samurai movie (They are not for everyone) then this might be your thing.

When there’s action, it’s awesome. The fights... gruesome. I mean... hey the samurai assassins pretty much ‘home aloned’ (set traps throughout) the entire village which results in quite a bit of bloodshed. AND... The ending’s good with a proper pay out for those who get into the black and white invitation to revenge this movie offers.

It has the ability to charge you like 300 (Gerard Butler 2006) did to some if you let it.  It gets an 8/10 on scale from me.

-Josh

First off, I must confess that I have never read the shining... And I can’t believe that the published work is some 34 years old! I suppose that the movie adaptation by Stanley Kubrick came out in 1980... And is one of my favourite horror movies I might add.

Well, to those “Shining” fans out there, apparently news dropped over at Stephen King’s website yesterday that the Horror writer himself will unearth that masterpiece to make a sequel being called “Dr. Sleep”.  It's actually already in the works.

King himself talked about this project at George Mason University. This included throwing down an excerpt from the unfinished novel. You can find the clips on youtube...I posted em belowbelow.

In the clip, he teases, “I always wondered what happened to that kid, Danny Torrance…” “Where did he go after this terrible experience…” “…This kind of goes back to… what’s the worst thing you can think of…”

Take a look for yourself.

Just yesterday I posted a link to an unsettling webtoon. Well... its manga style and atmosphere reminded me of the work by Junji Ito that I had read a while back and shared with this site’s editor.

Never heard of Junji Ito? Great! It could be your next haunting read (albeit longer then the Bongcheon-Dong Ghost but well worth it). See, Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. I’ve read two of his works: Uzumaki and Gyo. Let me tell you, the scenes he thinks up and the way that he draws them haunts me till this day.

Uzumaki revolves around a high school student and her experience in a town that is slowly overcome and transformed by an obsession of spirals. It starts off slow, where the obsession is restricted to a lone man. His senses are completely captured with the pull of the symbol. Soon, it isn’t enough to own items that carry the spiral, but the body must itself express it. Enter in the weird and macabre in a story that twists like its subject matter. It’ll have your stomach doing the same. And while the chapters do vary in dark quality from spooky to off the wall, it’s highly likely that if you can get into it by the fall of the first victim, then you’ll be happy to have read the whole thing till the end.

Ugh. Just thinking about the snails near the finale makes my stomach turn (and that usually takes a lot).

When I followed up with Gyo, a Horror manga story about sea creatures taking to land, I was anticipating something good. While different, I believed that it was still able to deliver. Maybe not as consistently on the shock, but when it does, it does it well. While this story line may be a little more farfetched for some readers, it’s something I would recommend to give a try.

If you’d like to try a taste of Horror manga, then you might do well to start with Uzumaki first (don’t bother watching the movie (I didn’t think it was all that great and it definitely does not do the story justice)).

You can pick either story up at amazon (I’ve included the link below) Or... If you already own them, you can visit Manga123.com and watch it online at your convenience (I’ve included the direct links below). Enjoy.

 

Uzumaki

http://www.manga123.com/read/Uzumaki/1/1

Gyo

http://www.manga123.com/read/Gyo/1/1/

For those who didn't know, David Fincher (The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fight Club, Se7en) has taken to remaking the "Girl with the Dragon tattoo" for our viewing pleasure. While I haven't seen the other movies based on the books, I did hear that they were good. That being said, given David Fincher's track record, I think we are in store for something great. Also, Daniel Craig is in it. Take a look at the trailer below.

Wasn't that a little long? I thought it was moody and really, kind of exhausting. That aside, the scenes looked great, like the snow frosted trees in the yard. Not too shabby at all.

I want to see it, but it hasn't got me wanting to rush out to the theatre there yet. At this stage, I may just be waiting for the DVD/blu ray release.

For those who are interested, I added a link to amazon for the oginal movie triology below. Just click on the picture.

-Josh

Gone with the wind (1939) Directed by Victor Flemming is a motion picture classic unknown at least in name to very few. It’s a sprawling epic running at over 200 minutes and has garnered much accolade including multiple Oscars (Best Picture as well).

Here, we begin in the old south, romantically portrayed, and on the verge of war. The story revolves around Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) who despite being beautiful enough to have any man she pleases, chooses to invest her heart into Mr. Ashley Wilkes(Leslie Howard) who himself is deeply in love with someone else.

Enter Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), an honest but rough around the edges type that doesn’t seem to make a good first impression. It turns out however that he has feelings for Scarlett. Love is complicated isn’t it?

The drama unfolds over a vast period of time through which the old south falls and a new era begins. As the times change, so to do the personages... but only a little. Still, at its core is a tangled and deepening unreturned love.

Though some would baulk at the picture quality, I must say that there is still some impressive aspects to it. In particularly the silhouette type shot against the sunset that time in the garden around the middle of the film where Scarlett swears, “...I’ll never be hungry again”. “Gone with the Winds” main theme song is as grand and sweeping as the movie. Clark Gable’s performance, though a little intense by today’s standards was excellent. As well, the sets are very lavish and quite impressive.

I would say that the classic does suffer being a little too poetic but is fairly deep and still appealing. I did find the end to be a little uneven, with it being a little heavy on the tragedy. All the same, it ends with a clever one two type punch with Clark Gable’s famous, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Followed shortly thereafter with Scarlett’s optimistic “After all... tomorrow is another day” which must have inspired more than just a viewer or two.

In all, I give it an 8/10 on scale. “Gone with the Wind” is a classic to watch, even if it’s just a rent or you are catching it on T.V.