"Arrested Development" Movie Starts This Summer

      

And here's the article link to prove it:
http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/arrested-development-movie-will-shoot-this-summer.html?mid=rss

Teaser Trailer on a Friday - "Total Recall"

Total crap.

 

After a month long hiatus, I'M BACK!!!!!!!!  
And this is what I've been watching lately.  As of yet, the picks have been 'fresh', so to speak.

1. Take Shelter

     This movie was amazing.   I posted the trailer months ago here on BoomMic and have been excited to see it ever since.  When it became available on Netflix, I jumped at the chance to get the DVD, and it was well worth it.  It's a movie that brews just like a storm - slowly but surely.  Micheal Shannon stars as Curtis, a family man slowly losing his mind to nightmares and apocalyptic visions he begins to see as prophecies to a gigantic storm coming to harm him and his loved ones.  When Curtis decides to build a storm shelter in his backyard, every facet of his life begins to unravel - from his marriage to his job to his sanity.  The leading and supporting casts are all great.  Jeff Nichols, a fairly new name to cinema, both wrote and directed this movie, and he did a great job.  I'm sure we will be seeing more of him in the future.  The writing was absolutely engaging and enhanced by each of the actors.  A dangerously subtle, quiet thriller, be prepared - this movie knows how to scare you.

2. What Dreams May Come

      Although this movie wasn't quite what I expected, What Dreams May Come isn't too dated or old to pull on the old heart strings.  Robin Williams role was probably what impressed me most; the polar opposite of The Birdcage and Hook, Williams is physcian Chris Nielsen, who, after passing away in an accident and going to "heaven", discovers his wife has committed suicide and has been sent to "hell".  Believing he can save her, Chris sets out to find his wife in an extra-terrestrial visual world full of vivid colors, beauty, horror, darkness, and light.  It's no wonder that this film won Best Visual Effects for the 1999 Oscars, but I suppose what bothered me most was not the fact that most of the movie was no doubt shot in front of a green screen, or that the worlds of heaven and hell were fairly archetypal.  The film does not seem to depict neither heaven nor hell - only Purgatory.  I'm assuming the director and writer were either 1) truly following the book this material was based on, or 2) didn't want to delve too deeply into the political correctness of heaven and hell, or reincarnation or any kind in the after life.  What I took away most from this film was that it is love story about two soul mates attempting to connect with one another across the chasms of space, time, and death.  Accompanied by a soaring score, What Dreams May Come is a dream anyone who has lost a loved one has dreamt before - one last chance to see them again.


Troubled Water

     Norwegian filmmaker Erik Poppe presents an intense and disturbing look at God, forgiveness, and evil in the drama Troubled Water.  Released in 2008, this foreign gem is about a young felon, Jan Thomas Hansen, who is released from prison after serving time for murdering a child.  He gets a job as a church organist, and begins a romantic involvement with the church's female pastor.  His attempt at a normal life is seeming to go well...until the mother of the child he murdered recognizes him and decides to make his life hell.  As unoriginal as this storyline sounds, the acting, direction, and writing are all fabulously original.  It does not attempt to explain why horrible things happen to certain people; it's as if the filmmaker knew his burden was not to lay a sermon or gospel truth on the audience.  This film presents consequences, accountability, and acceptance as they are - dreadfully painful.  This exceptional drama is a foreign film not to miss.

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