Uncle Northcott’s Movie Reviews

Alright, now were getting somewhere. Nice little ghost story. Color me impressed.

John Cusack is a writer who goes to supposedly haunted inns and hotels then writes guidebooks about how scary they are. He’s a total non-believer till he goes to the Dolphin hotel, room 1408 in New York City. The manager, Sam L. Jackson tries to talk him out of staying there but to no avail.

Mayhem ensues. This is an old-fashioned ghost story with character development and mood over gore and violence. A bump in the night movie as it were. Its nice to see this kind of horror film because they are so rare nowadays. Sam L. is in it some, but it’s Cusack’s show all the way.

I’m not a Cusack fan but he did well here. If You like Cusack, see his western The Jack Bull.

1408 clocks in at 1 1/2 hrs. It gets going quick and never gets boring.

Next: DVD update.

P.S. On a personal note a BIG THANKS to my favorite Nephew and administrator Craig, without whom none of this would be. He’s a phonebook tearing Wookie whipping machine. Thanks!

~Uncle Northcott

Very disappointed.

Made by the same writer/director as 40 year old virgin, Judd Apatow. Sadly there is no comparison. Virgin was funny and I liked its characters, whereas Knocked Up is filled with angry, shrill people who do nothing but yell and curse. Cursing doesn’t bother me in moderation, but it seems that when Apatow was writing the script he followed the r-rated comedy formula of a rash of f-words every 2 pages. As the title suggests, 2 opposites get drunk, hook up and she gets pregnant. They yell, her sister and brother-in-law yell, everybody is distrusting then realize its the last reel of the movie and since its a “love” story, everybody lives happily every after.

What a load. These people need to get away from each other ASAP. What this movie needed was a good bear mauling. Pick a character,any character, maul them, and then at least 1 person would be sympathetic. Seth Rogan is likeable enough, and Kathrine Heigle is a good actress but kind of a skank. There has to be a hot woman in the lead. As you can see from the picture above, people in glass houses should not throw stones but I calls um as I sees um. Big gnarled feet, great white shark teeth, and a head the size and shape of a refrigerator. Shudder.

Anyways, a long, loud, angry movie. This negative movie made me be negative, so let me finish with some positiveness.

1. Listening to Geena Davis do a PSA before the movie, I realized she’s had a sex change. I think the female to male surgery is called ‘Addadicktome’, but good luck with your life.
2. Apologies to everyone in the theater when I fired off a sneeze that would knock a buzzard off a gut wagon.
3. Kudos to the art house I saw Daywatch in. One commercial compared to NINE at the Rave theater.

Next up: I’m not telling. Cause I’m not sure

2 in a row how about that!

While not in the same league as Daywatch, still an enjoyable view. The first Fantastic 4 was awful, and being that was rated PG-13 and this one only a PG, I had reservations. I was very surprised how well I liked it. The Silver Surfer was excellent and the perfect example of how to use a bad guy. Sam Raimi should have done this well with Venom instead of the cameo he gave Venom.

The Surfer is a herald for a planet-eater named Galactus. As the Surfur prepares earth to be devoured, the 4 try to stop him. The bad guy from the first 4, Dr. Doom, shows up tries to recruit the Surfer, then after failing, he works with the 4 to try to stop him, with his own agenda of course.

I may be in the minority, and if so I want minority status with its rank and privileges, but Dr. Doom is the most boring movie villian ever. Yuppie man who shoots sparks. I’ll rub my feet on the carpet and shock people! Is this a super villian or a 9-year-old? Don’t fight with him, put him in time out! Or spank him.

Spare the rod, spoil the super villian.

Anyway, at around 90 min, it’s a film that gets to the action and stays there. How to make a comic book movie.

1. Introduce bad guy.
2. Have 1st confrontation.
3. Figure out how to counter.
4. Have a betrayal, boo hiss.
5. Blow everything up.
6. Celebrate while ignoring the billion’s of dollar’s damage and millions of lives lost.

Easy as 1-2-3-4-5-6.

Not real thrilled with the massive product placement. No subtlety here.

Something I always wonder–with a large object, like Galactus or the ships in Independence Day, why astronomers never seem to see it coming. Anyway, You don’t have to completely shut your brain off, just don’t look too close.

Next: Knocked Up

In a word - awesome!

Nightwatch was great and so is Daywatch. Important: see Night before Day. There’s a truce in the battle between good and evil. Good has the Nightwatch and evil has the Daywatch. Both sides watch the other to make sure that no one breaks the truce. Excellent acting, imaginative special effects, and a director that obviously is having fun with the material. It’s the age old struggle of good vs. evil, father and son, man and woman and which side you choose and why. Good stuff. The best film I’ve seen in awhile.

Along those line’s here is a list of the best stuff in awhile.

• CD: Tom Petty “Highway Companion”. From the 1st note to the last - excellent.
• Book: “The Road” by Cormac Mccarthy. A heart-rending tale about goodness and innocence in the end times.
• T.V: Flight of the Conchords. Two New Zealanders in New York playing in a 2-man band and trying to meet girls. I’ve only seen 1 show but it was very funny.

Next review: I’m not sure. Maybe Knocked Up or Fantastic 4. Or maybe, if your lucky, an art film about the sand farmers of the Sahara. Oooh!

Not bad. William Hurt was good as usual, and Kevin Costner was his robotic self, but Dane Cook was out of his league. If an actor is an established dramatic actor, he can do comedy and not be pigeonholed, but if they do comedy first, it’s hard to be taken seriously. Dane played this bad guy, but every time he spoke, all I heard was the stand-up guy. Good stand-up, bad acting.

There was a Twilight Zone, or maybe it was an Outer Limits . . . Anyways, mannequins would come alive for one day. This explains Costner to me. I think alien black magic brought him to life, and now our theaters are under alien control twice a year when his films come out. I suspect that Costner and Keanu Reeves can communicate in a monotone pitch that only them,the aliens and canadians can hear. I’m not sure why, but the monotones don’t really bother me Especially that blank genius, The Great Canoe Reeves. A true king of the void.

Anyway, Costner is a killer, Hurt is his alterego and Cook wants him to take him on one of his murders. If your bothered by a killer being the “good guy”, then miss this one. This might be part one of a trilogy.

Next up Daywatch. May the blankness be with you.