Quarantine

A good way to start the Halloween season. Full of thrilling scares and creepy moments that make it all worth it.

The filming style is very similar to that of Cloverfield. The entire movie is from a news camera perspective. It is presented as discovered footage. But compared to Cloverfield, the camera is slightly less shaky, and the story is easier to follow. The thrills are scarier, and I think it was overall more enjoyable.

On the downside, the scary moments were pretty repetitive and predictable, and the camera was still pretty dizzying. (I don't mind it, but many do). It is very artistic in its own way, starting out with lighter sets, then moving indoors, then being darker, then the power goes out, then they move into the basement, and eventually they have to switch the camera to night vision mode. And somehow, in the crazy, jerky camera movements, there is some very clever and well-thought-out cinematography; some very expressive shots.

Not much can be said for the story or moral premise, as with any horror flick. But it definitely delivers on the expected entertainment value.

With zombie movies I expect zombies. I want zombies to literally be the "Living Dead" or "Undead". It always bothers me when it's really just an infection. In Quarantine, for most of the movie it is diagnosed as something like an extreme case of rabies. Therefore in my mind the killings are only justified because they are in self defense. But at the end of the movie, when the characters who were pretty much definitely dead come back to life, then we have the good old ZOMBIES.

3 out of 5 stars.

Appaloosa

A typical western, there are the bad guys, the good guys, and your leading lady. There is the pub bar fights, the showdowns, the horses, and the amazing scenery.

Appaloosa is the story of two men, the Sheriff, Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his Deputy, Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen). They come into the small, quiet, seemingly peaceful town of Appaloosa to replace the Sheriff and his Deputy who had been murdered. This seemingly peaceful town is actually a town run through fear of Braggs gang of rugged cowboys. Virgil and Everett are strong, knowledgeble leader-like men. The first thing they do as the sheriff and Debuty of Appaloosa is to go into the pub and take care of a few of Braggs drunk, roudy men. Right then and there we know that Virgil and Everett are not only good at what they do, but they mean business.

Not long into the movie we meet our western's leading lady, Allison French (Renee' Zellweger). She instantly falls in "love" with Virgil Cole, but sadly enough falls in lust with nearly every other man who gives her attention. She constantly needs to be "with" a man. Eventually Virgil becomes ok with this, meaning he is not going to be the one to leave her.

This movie is about friendship, about what is right, about rules, about trust, but mostly about the wild west.

Of course, as in every western, it ends with the cowboy riding off into the sunset.

3 out of 5 stars.

The Shining

Classic horror. Stanley Kubrick stars Jack Nicholson in this thrilling masterpiece. It is a Stephen King book adaptation, with all the usual differences a movie adaptation typically has, and still carries with it Kubrick's unmistakable style; very artistic, very slow, very deliberate and eerie. There is not a lot of blood and guts, but more suspense.

The most well-known moments of the film are really the only ones that make the movie worth the two and a half hours: "Here's Johnny!", says Jack, the hotel keeper who is going insane, due to his long seclusion. "REDRUM!", says the little voice posessing the family's child. And the twin girls that haunt the hotel keep showing up... I lived for those moments when that tricycle would round the corner and see the ghosts standing there.

Some people say it's "funny". I think it's worth it, but I like the weird, artistic style, and I have a soft spot for suspense and classic horror. It's not an intelligent film, but it's entertaining in it's own way. An aquired taste.

3 out of 5 stars.