Sir Toose's Maggot Pie Reviews

LMAO! /\ Is that from the movie Yoda? Anyway I didn't think you could do it but you pulled it off, I think I may go check this out. How would you compare this to say, Napolean Dynamite? I almost made the mistake of passing on that one because I thought it was just another stupid teen comedy and I was very happily surprised buy it. Would you put Orange County in a similar category?

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

That interchange Yoda posted is from the movie, very funny bit.

I think Napoleon Dynamite is a bit more overt in making its point and I don't think the point is nearly as strong or serious as what Orange County attempts to convey. In fact I think a lot of Napoleon dynamite's success is relative to its ability to be funny in showing stupid for stupid's sake. Both films are funny, just not really in a similar way.

Alright sounds good, I'll definitely check it out someday. Very good review.

The Mothman Prophecies, 2002
IMDB Details The Mothman Prophecies

Between the months of November 1966 and December 1967 the town of Point Pleasant West Virginia was likely a very surreal place to be. Investigators dubbed the town a ‘window area’ which is a term that refers to a place and time where all manner of phenomena may be observed and may possibly overlap each other. During this time there were literally hundreds of calls to the police reporting strange objects in the sky, ghostly activity, strange men in black clothing, exsanguinated and mutilated farm animals and one very large and frightening winged apparition who would be forever dubbed ‘Mothman’. Mothman was reported to be a creature who was 6-7 feet tall, gray skinned with red glowing eyes and of superhuman intelligence. He was seen by no less than twenty people and was actively pursued as a suspect by the police force. One investigator, John Keel, wrote a first hand account of the experiences in Point Pleasant which eventually became the basis of the film The Mothman Prophecies.

After reading John Keel’s book as well as doing exhaustive research on the case prior to the film release, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the film. The subject matter is very wide and if not handled correctly could have been botched to the point that the casual observer would be tempted to discount the story as hogwash without looking further into the details. The screenplay, written by Richard Hatem, was in my opinion very well done as it took a few core parts of Keel’s story and focused in on those versus trying to tell the whole tale in a few hours time.

Central to Keel’s story and certainly central to the screenplay are several incidents of a misalignment of time. To me, the confusion that this would cause is truly the stuff of nightmares. John Keel’s character, called John Klein in the film, is played artfully by Richard Gere. Klein’s introduction to Point Pleasant comes by way of going somewhere else. Mysteriously, Klein ends up in Point Pleasant which is a distance away that is impossible to have been traveled in the time that he was traveling. Upon arrival he is greeted by Gordon Smallwood (played by Will Patton) holding a gun and claiming that Klein had been there bothering him the previous night. This particular scene is one that I find most disturbing in trying to imagine myself in Klein’s shoes. When I was young I used to get very high fevers and would experience a weird disconnected feeling where I would lose track of time and, frankly, of myself. I still have nightmares about trying to get back into a solid reality that stems from those early experiences. The parts of this film that deal with that strange sense of disorientation are so well done that I actually felt nauseated the first time I watched it.

As for the Mothman himself, I believe that he was handled very tastefully in the film. There are several places in where you can see the Mothman but only a few are obvious. It took me several viewings to pick them all up but I felt compelled enough by the tale to view it several times. There isn’t really a scene where the Mothman is seen in full and I think this is a better treatment as the story and the entity are truly mysterious.

Richard Gere, Will Patton and Laura Linney all do a superb job in this film of driving the story and playing their characters well. I am, and always will be a huge Laura Linney fan as I think she brings an element of truth to every character that plays on screen and her portrayal of the small town sheriff in this role was brilliant. She struck a perfect balance between authority and vulnerability that made me watch her performance again and again.

All of that said, I’m quite certain that The Mothman Prophecies isn’t a film for everyone. I’ve personally had two experiences that I cannot explain which have more or less driven me to educate myself on all manner of things that remain outside the periphery of ‘known’ data. I am, by default, very interested in cases like Mothman and in cryptozoology as well as in hauntings and most other things that sensible people ignore. I’ve read many a review where folks have said that the performances were credible enough but that the material is laughable. I can see that, frankly, the whole case is a hard pill to swallow but then there are those hundreds of witnesses, right?

If you love a good spooky story that just might be true, try The Mothman Prophecies. If watched with an open mind I think it’s a great way to introduce yourself to the events of Point Pleasant in the late 1960’s.

Another good one, Toose. I remember not having paid much attention to the film when it was in release for some reason, because I usually am drawn to these types of projects.

Then in the fall of 2002, I was on a business trip to Charleston which was taking me through Ohio into WV on Hwy. 35. When I saw the Point Pleasant road signs, I suddenly remembered the movie and made it a point to rent it.

I, for one, enjoy being stretched to the laughable, if that's the knock. Even after suspending what we need to experientially, there's a decent-enough story here that finally ties in the whole body of the mysterious goings-on.

What made it work for me was the unshakable sense of loss of control. This feeling of isolation permeated throughout and was quite palpable.

Very apt description of Linney, who I like as well (even in the goofy Exorcism of Emily Rose). With Mothman, leaving the namesake to the periphery of our imagination by not fully depicting it visually, ad infinitum, magnified the whole collection of mysterious incidents as a whole. As it is, more often than not, less is usually more. The story invited me into questions surrounding the intentions behind the events (i.e., are there going to be redeemable outcomes) and just how much free-will input the principals will have in light of events that seemed to initially happen randomly beyond their control, but are woven together over time. And to that end, I think MP addresses that somewhat in its conclusion.

How do you think your perspective of it would have been different had you not done the research prior to the film?

Toose...I'm not really into horror movies, but it's really good to see you spending the time sharing a bit of yourself like this. Nice reviews. Keep it up.

You're right, that really is the hundred thousand dollar question. What would the intent be? I really liked the bit where Klein goes to see the paranormal investigator and asks what they (Mothman, et al) are. Paraphrased, they're not God but from their vantage point they can see more. Very interesting, and a conversation in and of itself.

I don't know. I have a different mindset than probably the balance of the movie going public when I see films like this, given the two above mentioned experiences. If there is any small claim whatsoever that the story is based in fact I'm after it like a rat terrier. If I hadn't known anything beforehand I think I would have gone after it post viewing and ended up with the same set of conclusions (or lack thereof).

Tangentially, I have a suspicion that time really isn't what we understand it to be. I'm not at all certain that it's linear in nature but may appear so to us because our collective 'time' has been short. Think of it like the earth appearing flat to those without perspective. It was a reasonable enough conclusion given the data available at the time. Ah well, again, another conversation.

Great review. I saw The Mothman Prophecies years ago but only remember parts of it. I remember the whole "watch in the shoe" thing scaring the living daylights out of me, though. That kind of thing is creepy on a very deep level.

Also, it was filmed in Pittsburgh, where I live. There's one shot where someone (Gere, I think) is walking across the street with his back to a Cathedral that I've worshipped in many times. That probably added to the creep factor a little.

I'll have to give this one another look. From what I remember, it was a much more serious, higher-minded look at the supernatural than most such films, which devolve into gimmicky horror.

That's exactly right. There's not really anything, short of perhaps a scene or two, that would fit into the horror genre. The ideas presented really are about causing psychological discomfort in questioning one's own beliefs than they are about shock value.

Suspect Zero, 2004
IMDB Details Suspect Zero

Since the dawn of remembered history man has been curious about the intricacies of the mind and body and about how truly imprisoned (or not) we really are within the flesh and bone confines of our collective existence. In the US in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s there was a strong surge in public interest in all things mystical and many attempts to scientifically document what is collectively referred to as ‘The Paranormal’. One such study, classified as a PSI-Ops experiment, was able to garner military interest in that it was able to bear fruition in the form of startlingly accurate displays of ESP (Extra Sensory Perception). The project, officially titled RV (Remote Viewing), in 1974, was adopted by the US government as a means to use then thought psychic abilities to locate enemy personnel, locations, bases etc by the process of psychically fixing on these items from a remote location and then using that data to plan operations.

All of this sets the stage for what, to me, was to become one of the most interesting portrayals of a serial killer ever to grace the screen via the unmatched thespian skills of one Sir Ben Kingsley.

In the film, Suspect Zero, the FBI has a problem. Agents Mackelway and Kulok, played by Aaron Eckhart and Carrie-Anne Moss respectively, are beginning to see what seems to be a disturbing lack of pattern in a string of cross country murders which they have been assigned to solve. When their chief suspect who also happens to be Mackelway’s nemesis turns up as a victim, the plot unfolds into a spectacular game of cat and mouse that felt, to me, like a breath of fresh air for the genre not unlike that of Silence of the Lambs a few years prior.

No, I’m not comparing Suspect Zero to Silence of the Lambs but rather underscoring the ‘wow’ factor that both films evoked in me.

It’s always been my belief that we humans know far less than we think we know. We have made huge strides in science, huge strides in general knowledge and with that we can explain away much that our ancestors held as miraculous. With each ounce of knowledge though comes a pound of questions generated by that very grain of wisdom and its purpose and place in the whole of reality. I love films that deal all aspects of the unknown, though for some reason good quality examples are sometimes difficult to find. Many adhere to old stereotypes or safe interpretations that give the impression that we know all there is know about these subjects.

Suspect Zero is definitely not safe. The film is dark, dramatic and Kingsley’s power and presence center stage underscore the frighteningly plausible idea that there possibly really are people out there who can know things that they aren’t supposed to know by natural definition. The director, E. Elias Merhige (of Shadow of the Vampire fame) did a masterful job of orchestrating all of the runaway trains in the story into an unforgettable crescendo of a train wreck at the end.

Fair warning, the ending does have its detractors but to me if felt as if my guts were being yanked out sans anesthesia, which is a good thing IMHO.

If you like serial killer thrillers and wouldn’t cringe at the idea of some paranormal events thrown into the mix, watch this one. It was definitely my kind of recipe.

Sounds pretty darn good there Toose.

Hmmm...I've heard this movie sucks....

If it's a rainy day and there is nothing else at the video store....maybe I'll pick it up.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Define sucks... It's all relative innit?

It is.

That and the fact that my tastes don't really reflect the norm should probably serve as a warning that my reviews aren't going to be valid for the broader audience.

Charles Manson, Superstar 1989
IMDB Details Charles Manson, Superstar

Welcome to my first documentary review. I’m not sure if I should proceed any differently so I’ve decided to just follow the same non-format I’ve been using.

The first thing that I should make clear is that I am addicted to this case. I’ll never forget seeing television coverage of the case and the trials with my mom. When I would ask who the man was she would just say that he’s a bad man. She was fascinated and horrified by the whole thing and it scared her enough to make my dad put additional locks on the doors. All of that industry just made me more curious and ever since then I think I’ve read everything available on the case, including the trial transcripts, and have watched all available media. To this day the case still fascinates me because there is a definite undercurrent of causation that was completely ignored in making a public case against Manson.

For those who are unfamiliar with the basics, I’ll state the brief facts of the case. On August 9, 1969 five people were brutally murdered in the Hollywood hills. One of the victims was a rising star in the movie industry, Sharon Tate. Tate was married to director Roman Polanski and the couple was expecting their first child. Tate, in fact, was eight months pregnant when she was murdered. Tate was at home with three friends who shared her fate that evening. The final victim that night was a friend of the groundskeeper who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The next night, August 10, 1969, there were two more murders, grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. All 7 murders were similar in that they were brutal, they involved multiple stabbings and both scenes had messages written in the victim’s blood. Okay enough of that, for more details on the crime itself read this page flawed as it is in assigning motive to the murders.

The point and the premise of Charles Manson, Superstar is to allow the public to see the man behind the legend. In the trial the prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, painted a picture of a man who was insane and who used drugs and sex to brainwash the people living communally with him in a group known as “The Family.” Popular wisdom then says that Manson orchestrated and ordered these murders under the new world concept created by the family called Helter Skelter whereupon the blacks would rise up against the whites and murder them all and take over the world. Supposedly, at this point the blacks would realize that they were unfit to manage the world and would be starving for leadership. At this point Manson and his people who had been hiding in the desert would establish their dominance and take leadership of the world. The murders say the prosecutor, were supposed to make it look like the blacks had started the war and they were supposed to be the catalyst of this grand Helter Skelter plot. Bugliosi used this idea to secure a conspiracy charge against Charles Manson because he was not present at any of the murders for which he is serving prison time.

The above facts of the case were always disputed by Manson in particular and the members of the Family who were not simply interested in obtaining their own releases from prison. Manson himself thinks that he has yet to have a fair trial as mid stream into it President Nixon declared to the national news that Manson was guilty. As such, Manson stated that he believed that he was being railroaded as no man could receive a fair trial when the president of the United States says someone is guilty.

The documentary itself is very well done. It is shot at San Quentin state prison and the interviewer, Nikolas Shreck, does an excellent job in getting Manson to speak about things that are not really existent in the world of the Helter Skelter myth. The video instead focuses on Manson’s early connections to Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, Susan Atkins and her then boss Anton LaVey who
was the founder of the Satanic church, The Process Church, Manson’s devotion to Scientology and Manson’s mafia connections which may have lead him into picking LaBianca as a victim as LaBianca was an avid gambler who was heavily in debt.

The conversations in this video in particular really turned me on to how tumultuous a time the late 1960’s were in America. Manson mentions a wide array of folks including members of The Weather Underground who set off bombs in public buildings in an attempt to overthrow the government, the SLA, the Black Panthers, Abi Hoffman and many, many others. The material is great fodder for research into all kinds of things that history books try to suppress.

In my years of research on this subject I don’t think I’ve found a better depiction of who Charles Manson is and how he became America’s nightmare. This documentary truly underscores many of the underlying causes of the formation of Manson’s thought which served as the catalyst of the events of the summer of
1969.

2 reviews in 2 days, look whose choosing quanity AND quality....

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I used to be addicted to crystal meth, now I'm just addicted to Breaking Bad.

Sometimes I go months in between though

Is it coz you're kicked back listening to this, you devilishness?

(Sweet reviews btw )

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Ghost World, 2001
IMDB Details Ghost World

Ghost World is the story, or a brief section of the story of two recent high school graduates, Enid and Rebecca played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johannsen respectively. In a nutshell, the film is about the awkward stage between childhood and adulthood and about the time when one realizes that he/she is largely responsible for how things will turn out. Faced with that realization, the two take tentative steps toward becoming independent but not without falling backwards as well.

As I was watching this film, I found myself almost constantly returning to the question in my mind "why is it called Ghost World?" It did finally hit me that the film for the most part is about finding oneself, the loneliness that doing so can lead to, and about the way that people, despite physical proximity to one another, basically live in disconnected realities. In that context, I suppose other people can seem ghost like in the way that they haunt the periphery of our lives. I can honestly say that I've never seen this idea depicted as truthfully as it is depicted in Ghost World.

The main character, Enid, is desperate for some sort real connection that is so obviously missing from her life. Her best friend, Rebecca, is the closest thing she has and even Rebecca tells Enid that she doesn't really 'get' her when Enid attempts to externalize things that she's feeling. None of this is obvious and watching the film requires one to think about the situations as they happen.

One of my favorite characters in the film is Norman who is an old man who's waiting for a bus. The girls point out to him that the bus no longer comes down the street that he is waiting on but Norman refuses to listen and is seen throughout the film simply waiting. This becomes a major plot point that I won't give away here, but suffice it to say that there is a huge lesson to be learned from Norman.

Don't miss it.

The acting is superb, Thora Birch seemed made for the part as her particular blend of attitude and wry humor perfectly suits the character of Enid. Also, Steve Buscemi as Seymour was the perfect fit for the sort of mentor/love interest/friend to Enid. I'm quite certain that his name (see more) is not an accident as he has a habit of nailing things down throughout the film.

Watch the film and, most importantly, watch the things boiling under the surface.

The Ruins, 2008
IMDB Details The Ruins

I read Scott B. Smith’s second novel as a tome of hope for the horror genre which, as of late, seems to be filled with throwbacks, wannabes and shortcomings. Smith, as you may remember, thrilled audiences back in ’98 with his runaway hit A Simple Plan. When I heard that The Ruins had been optioned and that a film project had been committed to, I couldn’t have been happier as the novel version of the story was definitely one of the creepier and more unique works that I had read within recent years.

At its heart, The Ruins is a cautionary tale of what happens to young vacationers who partake in a bit too much frivolity and choose to strike down paths not oft trodden. The warning signs against such a course of action are, of course, ignored and the wisdom (guffaw) and immortality of youth forges on.

Spurred on by the appearance of a mysterious map coupled with the disappearance of the brother of one of the group members already gone in search of the ruins, a group of six young vacationers decide to go and see the ruins and help their friend find his missing brother. The tale progresses as one would expect, fraught with warning signs that fairly scream ‘turn back, go no further!”. The thick of the plot, as it were, finds our young adventurers atop an ancient ruin of a stepped pyramid, surrounded by gunmen who are preventing their escape and facing an ancient enemy who only gradually becomes apparent and understood.

Having read the novel first I already knew what was to become of the adventurers and the premise that the book is generally better than the film holds true in this case. The core time that it takes to build the suspense between the group and the enemy (as well as tension internal to the group) is largely missing in the film version due to time constraints. This really is no fault of the director's and it’s not really the fault of Smith, who did write the screenplay, but rather simply the nature of the beast. I think that given the circumstances, the tension that builds throughout the group’s imprisonment is generally above genre fare and despite its shortcomings there were some scenes that will likely haunt audiences every time they step off of the beaten path in much the same way that Jaws made some folks cautious in the murky and not so murky depths.

Also, in the positive category, is the film’s attempt to widen the character arc to allow us a somewhat broader insight into the motivations of each one. Again, this aspect of the film is not common to the genre and it did lead to some ‘boring talky scenes’ that a large balance of horror fans don’t seem to enjoy. In my case, it added to the overall effect of the film and I thought that it was particularly well done. The best case in point is the character of Jeff, played by Jonathan Tucker. Jeff is a medical student who, like most doctors I know, is somewhat detached emotionally from the folly of the human condition. Throughout the story, Jeff is the one who, despite external conflict, is always calculating the odds and basing his actions in reason. In such an emotionally driven plot one is unsure whether to love him for his abilities or hate him for his stubbornness. His emotional disconnection is framed in a few powerful vignettes in the film which I found to be among the best scenes. Jeff’s girlfriend, Amy, played by the lovely Jena Malone, is the polar opposite on the emotional scale from Jeff. The steady conflict bubbling below the surface of that was certainly interesting to watch and ultimately lead to the couple’s rather artfully done conclusion.

In a nutshell, this film began with a really good story which it ultimately did a serviceable though not spectacular job of telling. I got the sneaking suspicion that the film was a rush job and given a bit more proper care it really could have been a shining example of the thinking man’s horror film. There were some very well done creepy scenes, some great characterizations and some great situational elements that given the proper glue could have formed a much more cohesive whole than it ultimately ended up being.