For his past few movies, Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg has ventured away from the type of macabre sci-fi themes that marked his earlier work. Make no mistake, Cronenberg is still very much rooted in horror, but rather than explore the stuff of surreal nightmares, he's delving into the real life terror that lies under the veneer of civilized society. His latest movie, "Eastern Promises" (Universal), unflinchingly examines the cold arrogance and sheer brutality of the Russian mob operating in London.
Naomi Watts plays Anna, a midwife who finds the diary of a 14-year-old heroin addict prostitute who dies giving birth. To prevent the baby from going into foster care, she has the diary transcribed, hoping she can use the information within to track down the mother's family. What she finds instead is the ugly truth about the mobsters who had enslaved the young girl in a ring of prostitution and violence. And when the thugs learn that she holds incriminating evidence, they spare no effort to recover the diary and prevent the spread of information, imperiling the lives of Anna and her entire family.
The telling diary isn't all that threatens the reign of soft-spoken, dispassionate mob boss and restaurant owner Semyon, brilliantly played by Armin Mueller-Stahl. His son, Kirill (Vincent Kassel) is a violent, drunken loose cannon who wages war against a rival gang and his son's chauffeur/hitman Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), develops a fondness for Anna and hides a secret that could undo his boss' entire empire.
Cronenberg relays screenwriter Steven Knight's tale of deceit and moral decay with an unbiased lens, and even though the camerawork is stylized and artistic, the direction makes the viewer feels like an invisible guest in an ugly and ruthless world of corruption, prostitution and savagery. Triumphant and searing.
Halloween (Weinstein Company) -- Much has been written about Rob Zombie's reinterpretation of John Carpenter horror classic "Halloween." Most of the commentary involves the pros and cons of his lengthy additions to the legend of boogeyman Michael Myers. The first hour of the movie now examines the killer's background, and reveals that he came from the kind of white trash family familiar to fans of Zombie films, and that his mother was a stripper and his father was an abusive alcoholic. His sister paid little attention to him and he was teased and beaten up by his peers. So, naturally, he vents his frustration by killing animals, then becomes a sociopath and murders the school bully and his entire family -- except his mom and baby sister.
Enter Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell), who tries in vain to bring Myers out of his shell. Pretty soon the boy is making masks to hide from the world, then he retreats completely, refusing to speak or communicate for 15 years. Enter some stupid, perverted security guards, who take him out of his cell to watch them rape an inmate. This sets up his escape, and his return to Haddonfield, where Myers spends the rest of the movie killing everyone he can find in graphic, gory detail as he searches for his sister.
For fans of splattery, violent, unrelenting horror, Zombie's "Halloween" is a bloody thrill ride with familiar elements, which never pauses long enough for subtleties or psychological scares. But in the process of turning "Halloween" into a grisly serial killer film, Zombie loses both the supernatural elements and character development that made the original so frightening. The main problem involves all that additional footage, which is well shot and revealing, but doesn't conform with the idea of Myers as shadowy, invulnerable boogeyman. As a result, the viewer is left with plenty of horror, but very little terror. Zombie may have intended to add more dimension to the story of Michael Myers, but ultimately he created too much flesh and took away the mystery that made the original a classic.
Balls of Fury (Universal) -- This outragous and riotous farce features Dan Folger as former child Ping-Pong star Randy Daytona, who was disgraced in the Olympics when he knocked himself out chasing a shot, and humiliated himself by dazedly saying to the camera, "I'm going to Disneyland" when he was unable to continue playing. Even more tragic, Daytona's dad bet a ton of money on the match and was murdered when he couldn't cover the debt.
Flash forward 15 years and Daytona is a sideshow performer who can't even hold a dinner theater job. All seems lost until FBI agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) hunts down Daytona and convinces him to take part in a top secret mission into the deadly world of extreme ping-pong in an effort to hunt down Feng (hillariousy played by Christopher Walken), the man who killed his father. But this is no ordinary sports environment. Here, losers aren't just disgraced, they're callously murdered. Along the way, Daytona is trained by a blind ping-pong champion, who teaches him to trust his instincts by forcing him to play with a wooden spoon and trapping him in a roomful of angry bees. Of course, the danger and pain of 100 bee stings pales in comparison to the hazards of facing the man who beat him in the Olympics and staring down the fiend who murdered his father.
Doesn't sound too funny, does it? Trust us, it is, but not in fashion of your typical teen"American Pie"-style teen comedy. Although it was billed as a "big comedy with tiny balls" "Balls of Fury" succeeds by never resorting to bathroom humor and embracing cliche after cliche in the silliest way possible. In the process, the movie combines elements of Kung Fu revenge films, James Bond movies, "Airplane," "The Karate Kid" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and emerges victorious. Sure, the plot is stupid, yeah the story line is predictable, but the jokes come fast and furious and the writing is clever. Don't expect "Breaking Away" and you'll leave breathless from laughing so hard.
The Kingdom (Universal) -- A political action flick about terrorism, diplomacy and vengeance, "The Kingdom" stars Jamie Foxx as FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury, who embarks on a five day mission to Saudi Arabia to track down the terrorist who blew up a Western housing compound in Riyadh. Not only is Fleury and his team navigating dangerous, foreign land, their efforts are thwarted by the Saudi government, which puts up a smokescreen by refusing to welcome American officials in what it views as a domestic issue. Determined to succeed, Fleury tracks down a sympathetic Saudi Colonel (Ashraf Barhom) and wages a deadly hunt for the elusive terrorists.
Considering the similar front page news stories that have emerged from the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan, "The Kingdom" hits close to home. But regardless of whether it's a spot-on portrayal of the military and it's alleged allies or a biased, unrealistic fantasy, "The Kingdom" is a tense thriller that never lets go.
The Evil Dead (Ultimate Edition) (Anchor Bay) -- Every horror fan knows this story of the four young adults who travel to a cabin in the woods and discover a recording of incantations from a book that bring the dead back to life. "The Evil Dead" is a low-budget classic of creative camera work, jack-in-the-box scares and gore galore that's more exciting and enjoyable than most other zombie films. So, we won't waste time on plot details. Instead, we'll describe the abundance of bonus features that make this triple-DVD set special.
"The Evil Dead (Ultimate Edition)" contains wide screen and full-frame edits of the movie, audio commentary with writer/director Sam Raimi and producer Robert Tapert, audio commentary by star Bruce Campbell, outtakes and a bunch of documentary shorts: "One by One we Will Take You: The Untold Saga of 'The Evil Dead,'" "Discovering 'The Evil Dead,'" "Life After Death: The Ladies of 'The Evil Dead,'" and "The Ladies of 'The Evil Dead' Meet Bruce Campbell." For devotees of the dead, "The Evil Dead (Ultimate Edition)" should fully satisfy your hunger for flesh.
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