LET ME IN
by Laura Bradley
‘LET ME IN’ is based on the novel Låt den rätte komma in by John Ajvide Lindqvist who also wrote the script for the big screen. It’s refreshing to see a vampire film that actually portrayed the monster, as a monster in an almost 30 Days of Night manner, and not a hyper-intelligent, hyper-beautiful being. Dynamic camera angles lacking in recent cinema helped to draw viewers into the film. Matt Reeves, who also directed Cloverfield, used the focus of the camera to force us to look in one direction, even if that is not where our eyes were drawn to on the screen. This gave a slightly disorienting affect, while helping to portray the confusion, loneliness, and rage of the characters.
The story follows Owen, a child going through the first stages of puberty, bullying in school, and his parent’s divorce. His mother is almost never in the picture, and rather than pay attention to her son, finds relief from her divorce in a wineglass. This leaves Owen no one to reach out to about the bullying in school, but it also affords him the ability to make friends with Abby, the odd barefoot girl who just moved in next door.
Despite the beautifully written script, the superb acting, the daring cinematography, and the above par score, there’s one thing that brought this movie’s grade down: of the few moments of CG that exist in the film, that CG is rather weak, and reminiscent of the Matrix level of graphics.
Graphics of that quality are disappointing at this stage of the game.
The score enhanced the mood of the film and kept me on the edge of my seat. Through most of the film, we are given a piano that practically weeps, and a violin that shrieks as though being murdered to highlight the more terrifying aspects of the movie. Only twice in the film are we given light, happy music. It’s quick end illustrates the living conditions of the main characters.
The lighting played a role in the making of this film, switching from the stark white of the snow all around the characters, to the darkness of night when the killing must be done, and even the artificial lighting of a bulb or under the pool to illustrate the mood of the scene. Some films recently have been rather flat, in my opinion, and it was good to see a film that used the light to it’s advantage in casting shadows and drawing out certain parts of the body and face that needed to be illustrated at that moment. Grade: A-
The Social Network
by Kyle Bartlet
“If you guys were the inventors of facebook you would have invented facebook.”
This was said by Mark Zukerburg the founder of facebook to twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss after the accusation that Mark stole the idea of facebook from them. Director David Fincher showed how this idea turned into a reality and throughout the movie, jumping in between the two court cases involving Mark Zuckerburg (Jesse Eisenberg). Writers Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), and Ben Mezrich (book) felt they need to show how facebook became so big, with over 500 million users it is one of the top web sites on the internet.
It all starts at Harvard University in the fall of 2003 when Mark Zukerburg was dumped by Erica Albright. Mark goes back to his dorm room and creates a site that matches Harvard girls up against each other and makes you choose which one is hotter. After the heat from this site passes he has the idea to create a social networking site for college students. He believes that college is all about knowing peoples relationship status and seeing what they are doing. This idea sparked something that has taken over peoples lives: facebook. When facebook was released February 4, 2004 it opened the doors for the Winklevoss twins to sue. They felt like Mark stole their idea that they had asked him to help with what was known as Harvard-connection. After facebook took off, Zuckerburg and fellow cofounders took the headquarters to Palo Alto, CA. When Eduardo Saverin, Mark’s best friend and cofounder of facebook, found out that there was a plan to take him out of facebook by napster creator Sean Parker, he sued Mark and facebook for millions. The story all stems from Mark wanting to get into final clubs at Harvard, which are kind of like fraternities. He felt like he needed to do something big to get invited to one of them. The end of the movie sums up what happened with the court cases and what facebook is all about.
This was a well written and directed movie that explains all the big things that happened to facebook in its early years. In my opinion this all stemmed from him wanting to show Erica Albright that he was going to successful and to get into final clubs. It is a story of jealousy and revenge. Everyone creates things at Harvard, but it is all about creating it first. We all log onto facebook everyday and this shows how facebook got to 500 million users so quickly. I give the film a B+
Stone
by Sebouh Simonian
“Stone”, which opens October 8, stars Academy Award winner Robert De Niro, Oscar nominee Edward Norton, and Miilla Jovovich The film is directed by John Curran and written by Angus MacLauchlan.
“Stone” is the story of prisoner, Gerald “Stone” Creeson who is in prison for helping cover up the murder of his grandparents by setting fire to their home.
After eight years in prison Stone is up for parole and must convince parole officer Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) that he has changed and is no longer a threat to society.
Jack doesn’t seem to believe Stone has changed or regrets the actions that put him in prison. Desperate, Stone enlists the help of his very promiscuous wife Lucetta (Jovovich), to convince Jack to release him.
Lucetta goes about doing so by trying to seduce Jack which leads to many problems for Jack and Stone both.
Meanwhile Jack is trapped in a seemingly loveless, and often abusive, marriage with his wife Madylyn (Frances Conroy). She seems at times to be borderline religious fanatic, and chronically depressed because of her situation.
The film is well written, the back and forth between Jack and Stone is very interesting because you’re not sure if Stone is playing Jack, or if he has truly changed. MacLachlan gives these great actors excellent dialogue to work with.
Also with the script you see the subtle changes in Jack as he seeps deeper into a kind of darkness where he isn’t sure who he can and can’t trust or what is right and wrong.
Norton and De Niro do a fine job playing two men from different walks of life and in different positions who end up being a lot more alike then they thought possible in the beginning.
And the two main female characters, Stone’s wife Lucetta and Jack’s wife Madylyn, are very well played..
The film does, however, have problems there are some scenes that seem unnecessary, like a sexual encounter between Lucetta and two men.
There is no real clear conclusion at the end it almost feels like an important scene was accidently cut out.
Overall the film is well written, directed, and the actors do an excellent job. I give the film an A-.
Saturday Morning Apocolypse
by Will Christiansen
Following the trend of video-game-inspired music, the speed metal cover band Powerglove tips its hat towards cartoons and movies that aired during the late 80’s to late 90’s with its third album “Saturday Morning Apocalypse.” The album continues the good work started in their previous releases, “Total Pwnage” and “Metal Kombat for the Mortal Ma
n,” expanding on themes from popular culture in creative and inspiring ways.
Powerglove is a metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in instrumental covers of popular music from video games.
They have made their career touring alongside bands like Psychostick, Dragonforce, Turisas, and Sonata Arctica. Although they employ session musicians to fill in instrument slots, the band lineup stands with Nick Avila on bass guitar, Basil Silver-Hajo on drums, and Chris Marchiel and Alex Berkson on guitars. One of the tracks that caught my attention was the X-Men theme, with its dramatic buildup and acoustic break towards the end. The opening theme from the Simpsons is also transformed into a marvelous meld between the original music and Powerglove’s.
