For a remake that didn’t really need to be made in the first place, it wasn’t too horrible. There was one really bad casting decision, one really bad makeup decision, and one *really*horrible* story decision… oh, and one totally obvious editing mistake that really annoyed me.
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= SPOILERS =================
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= Casting Problem =============
Katie Cassidy… wrong, wrong, wrong. Is she pretty? Sure. Is she a good actress? Absolutely. Did she fit in visually? Hell no. She looked as if she was at *least* 5 years older than everyone else supposedly in her “class.” She was supposed to have been Thomas Dekker’s ex in the movie… really?! She looks like his older sister! It was just plain nuts.

= Makeup Problem =============
One of the things that made the original so memorable for me was how expressive Englund was as Freddy. He did an excellent job of giving all kinds of non-verbal indications of just how much joy he was taking in continuing his child-killing. This new movie lacks that depth; the burned face of Haley’s Freddy is too stiff and expressionless – it looks and feels like he’s just wearing a mask the whole time. Very disappointing.

= Story Problem ==============
I understand that this is a “re-imagining” of Freddy, I really do. And with that understanding, I did appreciate the movie. I felt it still captured the same “spark” the original had, and even had numerous nods to the original (enough to make even *me* happy). The biggest story problem I had was with what Freddy had been doing that caused the parents to kill him.  In the original movie, Freddy had been a child murderer. A horrible thing, indeed. This time around, however, they made the decision to take Freddy to a whole different level, and make him a child molester… adding a different level of creepy throughout the entire movie that I really didn’t think needed to be there. I thought it was rather cheep, and showed a lack of imagination on the part of the writers and director.

El orfanato (2007)

Rating:  

This movie is, quite possibly, my new favorite dramatic thriller. You will find this in the Horror section of most Video stores, but I feel that classification is unwarranted. There is nothing truly ‘horror’ about this movie, in the classic sense – true, there are things that go ‘bump’ in the night, and an occasional apparition, but they only serve to progress the point of this movie.. which is The Mystery.

This movie tells the story of a woman who, with her husband and child, opens a home for children with special needs. She bought the orphanage where she spent her childhood, and found it fitting she repay her treasured memories with giving back to the same community. Her son first starts talking about new imaginary friends, and then goes missing, and that’s when things get crazy.

The mystery will take the mother through her own past, as well as the past of the house and it’s occupants, before finally leading her to an answer that left me in tears.

As far as the “horror” goes, while you could argue themes in the movie (such as the idea of your child going missing) to be horrifying, there were only parts that were cat-jumping-out-from-behind-the-door startling… that’s not “horror,” in my opinion.

Though some of my friends found the ending of the movie to be a little cheesy, I felt it fit with the overall story arc.

This one goes on my “Must See” list.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Rating:  

This loses 2 points for the following reasons:

• Waaaaaaay to much, unnecessary, exposition. In fact, in the group I went to see this with, that was the very first thing we all complained about. “Here we are up on this hill. Yep, we’re up on this hill to test this thing we just spent the past 10 minutes explaining in the previous scene. Look at the view from up top this hill where we will be testing this. I guess we better get to testing this thing up on top of this hill here.” … … we got it already, sheesh! Reminiscent of Star Trek’s explaining the Borg’s temporal mechanics shenanigans in Star Trek: First Contact 6 ways to Sunday, only to have Riker just come out and say, “Time Travel” for all the ninnies who didn’t get it. WE KNOW!!
• There was a nagging lack of thematic consistency with the previous Terminator movies. What I mean is, the previous movies all followed a very similar formula, consisting of our hero (Sarah in the first, and John in the following two) having a protector that was guarding against a significantly more powerful hunter. We lose that, in its purest form, in this movie. I’m willing to extend some leeway if we include Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a buffer: It extended our perception of the war, and of the Connor family, and how they all fit together. However, as a self-contained movie formula, it falters.

Having said all that, please notice I still give this movie an 8 out of 10. This was a fantastic action flick. And if we do allow for T:TSCC to act as a universe-expanding buffer (which I do) than this movie makes for a very satisfying end to the whole story arc. I walked out of the theater content, and smiling.

However… since Terminator has always been about the struggle between SkyNet and the past, and the Connors and the future, I would really hate to see the franchise evolve into a post J-Day, wartime series. It was always about the avoidance of the war, not the war itself.

But I’ll still watch them…

Star Trek (2009)

Rating:  

I really enjoyed this movie. It was visually stunning, had a compelling storyline, brilliantly acted, and (aside from one minor complaint) had stunning cinematography.

The Trekker in me had one, I-just-can’t-get-past-this, complaint though. Before arguments erupt, let me say, if this is the only bad thing I can point out, that speaks volumes… also, the time-incursion creating a new time line does not account for this error. Just sayin. So… the emblems were all wrong. The arrow-esque logo we all know and love did not become formally adopted by Starfleet as its logo until the time between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Kahn. Until that point each ship, outpost, and instillation had their own Assignment Patch which was unique. There also existed the insignia of Starfleet, which was separate from these assignment patches.

This move, submitted as canon in the Trek universe (having a shared history, but establishing a new time line), essentially retcons that whole concept by suggesting both the USS Kelvin and the USS Enterprise used the same Assignment Patch (see Starfleet Insignia at MemoryAlpha).

Okay.. rant over.  Again, if that’s the worst thing I can point out, Trek wise… we’re doing great

The one visual thing that really bugged me was the constant use of Lens Flares. It felt like they were used everywhere, quite at random. Dramatic shots of the universe, I can understand… but inside on the bridge? It got to the point where it was extremely distracting for me. However, almost everyone I’ve talked to didn’t seem to notice it. I’m not sure why they jumped out at me so dramatically, but they did… and I was annoyed.

Other that that, I loved this movie.  Minor plot holes here and there, but that’s to be expected in just about anything.  The whole concept of a Romulan Time Incursion was just brilliant.  It allows for a whole new, re-imagined, Trek universe without having to sacrifice the existing story world.

I was a little nervous walking into this movie, but left with a smile, and eagerly anticipating the next one!

Cloverfield (2008)

Rating:  

John and I just got back from seeing this movie. My eyes and head hurt. Don’t worry, I’m not going to give anything away There was only one thing that bothered me about the movie. I’ll save that for the end.

Camera shaking (that’s shaking with a capitol “holy crap will the camera ever stand still?!”) aside, I really enjoyed the flow of this movie. It delivers just what you expect it to, and no more. I was, of course, hoping that X or Y would be addressed, but I never expected that they would be.

T.J. Miller is in the movie… and I am not a fan of his. In fact, when I first saw him in this movie my initial thought was, “I hope he dies first.” [shrug] what can I say… I just find the man very annoying.

After seeing this movie I had an interesting idea: Release two movies at the same time! This one, which is at the micro level, following this small group of people who run around with their video camera… then another movie, filmed at the same time, at the macro level.. a traditional Hollywood monster movie. I think it would be kind of cool.. and in the traditional movie you see the people from the other one where the stories intersect… like at the mini military base, where that thing happened to that girl with the bloody tears… yeah.. you know what I’m talking about

Anyway…. over all I liked it. Except for that one thing….
Here’s that one thing.. it’s not really a spoiler, but I’m warning you just the same.

I really would love to have the camcorder that they had in the movie. I mean, seriously.. using night vision and the built in light, and the battery STILL managed to last over 7 hours? Shessh.