Review: Mirrors

Keifer Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a New York City Detective currently on sick leave after an "incident" a year earlier that still threatens his career and his shakey marriage.

Determined to get his life back together, he takes a job as a security guard at an old burned out department store. Why would an abandoned building require security? Who knows? Only in New York!!

Before long he realizes that something is inhabiting this building which is riddled with mirrors. And not long after that, horror ensues as the mirrors, both in the building, and elsewhere (where ever reflections exist, in fact) begin attacking the people closest to him.

Of course, everyone thinks he's lost his mind completely (he is on leave after all because of mental issues associated with the "incident").

But the detective in Ben prevails as he solves the mystery that existed for decades and cost the lives of many. He figured out what the mirrors wanted (or rather, what was accessing our world through the mirrors).

In the final "battle", I started to get a little annoyed. It seemed contrived and kind of silly. However, at the VERY end of the movie we were handed a bit of a twist that I wasn't expecting. Maybe it was predictable and I just didn't pick up on it right away, but I remember saying to myself, "...that's kind of cool..."

It was indeed entertaining for those that like horror movies. And as far as I was concerned, it was far better than "The Ruins" which I had seen earlier this year.

Rating: ***

Cloverfield

I finally got around to watching this movie recently. I'm happy to report that I enjoyed it. I was worried that I might not enjoy it based on the hype leading up to its release.

For those that know me, I like the idea of our protagonists being up against an enemy that you just can't beat. That's what made the Borg on Star Trek: TNG so appealing to me.

So here we have a big monster destroying New York and at the same time dumping mini monsters in the street to "share the destruction". It was kind of cool to watch.

And taking a page from "The Blair Witch Project" in the camera work made it more real for me.

The ending kind of left me wanting more, or should I say....SOME! But I guess it was done like that on purpose.

All in all, an enjoyable flick for those that like monster movies.

Rating: ***

SpongeBob SquarePants Season 1

I've always been what I like to refer to as a "purist" when it comes to cartoons. So typically cartoons that were created in the 1990s and beyond I wouldn't waste time on. There's no "love" in their creation. There, of course, are exceptions. I've seen a few of the Justice League cartoons, the Batman, and even Spider-Man. But it seems that kids are inundated by the likes of Kim Possible (crap), Captain Flamingo (crap), and a whole array of Anime cartoons based on the premise that a deck of cards, or a small metallic ball, can be used to create fantastic creatures that fight each other for points. I grew up with Bugs Bunny, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Superfriends, and the ORIGINAL Scooby Doo (no idiot Scrappy), and of course, Popeye the Sailor Man. Those masterpieces simply don't exist anymore except in syndication.

Then I happened across a newer cartoon that really grabbed me. It takes place in an underwater city called Bikini Bottom and focuses on a sponge, starfish, crab, squid, and a squirrel (yes, a squirrel!) and the teacher at the boating school who happens to be a puffer fish. And let's not forget the villain...a lowly piece of plankton!

SpongeBob is an ever optimistic fry cook who works at the Krusty Krab. His boss is the penny pinching Eugene Krabs, and his co-worker is Squidward Tentacles. When he's not working, SpongeBob is out jellyfishing with his best buddy, the dimwitted Patrick Star (the starfish) or engaging in karate with Sandy Cheeks, the squirrel who lives in a treedome under the sea.

The Krusty Krab is the creator of the the Krabby Patty..the most delicious burger in town and its secret recipe is being sought by the evil Plankton, who owns the Chum Bucket across the street...the competition.

The main reason I like this series (all seasons) is because it's funny. Most of those other cartoons are geared towards mindless twits and the jokes just aren't funny. But the humour in this show seems to be a bit more high brow where adults can appreciate it as much as the kids.

It may not be for everyone, but with 5 kids in the house and the seemingly endless parade of moronity on TV these days, I'll gladly sit down and see what kind of crazy antics the folks of Bikini Bottom are up to. Heck, I even PVR it!!

Rating: ***

Spider Sense Tingling....Did someone call for a Wall Crawler??

Due in part to A) the public shaming which was actually PRECEDED by a private shaming and B) another viewing on an August weekend, I thought I would add 2 cents (CAD) on my personal favourite movie of the franchise so far: Spider-Man 2.

The 2nd installment sees our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man now in college, and doing a pretty lousy job at keeping his grades up, keeping his job as a pizza delivery boy, and for crying out loud keeping his friends! He's definitely struggling with trying to balance life as a super hero with normal "Peter Parker" life.

Meanwhile, in an effort to provide a renewable energy source for the world, Doctor Otto Octavius attempts to demonstrate his ability to create, and sustain, a fusion reaction. Because no normal human could actually enter his machine, he developed intelligent "actuators" which are "impervious to heat and magnetism". He controls them via nano-wires that are connected directly to his cerebellum.

Of course, the experiment goes wrong, and the special chip he developed to ensure the artificial intelligence in the arms don't control him is destroyed, leading him to obsess over doing the experiment again...at ANY cost!

As if losing his friends and his pizza job wasn't enough, now our hero finds himself losing his spider powers!! He can't figure it out. By gosh, it's a lot of pressure for a college student!! He decides that MJ is more important than upholding justice and quits.

But any true fan knows that it's not long before a smart kid, a know-it-all Aunt, and the fact that his girlfriend has just been carted off by a guy with 4 EXTRA arms would bring him back.

So he dons his costume once more, with complete focus and all of his spider abilities to fight the evil! Does he win? Does he get the girl and red & blue tights to boot? All is revealed!!

Typically I find that sequels are nowhere near as good as the first film. In this particular instance, the 2nd film was far better (and the first was great).

Rating: *** 1/2

Boneman8's Top 20 Movies Circa February 2005

I knew I still had my list around..and found it. Depending on the day, my list tends to shuffle somewhat -- at least around the middle. My #1 and #2 have never changed (not even position). Here they are for all to ridicule:

20. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
19. The African Queen
18. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
17. Citizen Kane
16. In the Name of the Father
15. The Cider House Rules
14. Reservoir Dogs
13. The Sixth Sense
12. The Wizard of Oz
11. Planet of the Apes (the original, damn it!)
10. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
9. The Green Mile
8. Spider-Man
7. Spider-Man 2
6. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Forrest Gump
4. Pulp Fiction
3. Airplane!
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1. Casablanca

I'm sure if I had to make the list according to today, there would be some shuffling involved, with possibly a couple dropping out of the list completely.