Drive

It seems that these days, the only way you are going to get an artfully-made movie is if it is an independent one. With directors like Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich, who are just shelling out mindless swill, it’s refreshing (and kind of shocking) to see a movie with so much intensity and thoughtfulness. Such a real world in the film “Drive” is created, that you are actually shocked when people are killed. Crazy, I know.

There are very few movies that make you feel as uncomfortable as the film “Drive” does. The first 40 minutes are very slow moving with an emotional setup. It is a mixture of slow camera movements and lingering shots of intensity. Even the music of the film, while beautiful, is meant to make you feel uncomfortable. You start to forget you are watching a thriller, (and you may start to feel kind of bored) but this is all part of the director’s point. The character Driver (played by Ryan Gosling) stares blankly at everyone that speaks to him, and all the while you wonder what he is really thinking.

These subtle characters, pace and music, make you relax, so that when the violence starts, you are shocked by its graphic nature. When Driver starts to care for his neighbor Irene (played by Carey Mulligan) he gets involved in deeper issues than he was bargaining for. There is no end to what he will do to keep her safe. There seems to be a interesting feel throughout the movie put forth by shots of Ryan Gosling as seen through reflective surfaces, car mirrors, windows and shadows. This is interesting film-making that most movie goers won’t notice. I enjoyed this film for its depth in areas, and simplicity others. All the answers will not be given, leaving you wanting more.

This film has the feel of David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence”, and “Eastern Promises.” If you like those films with their level of realism, you will enjoy this film. See it!

The Rating System:
Production (Directing, Editing, Music) 5-5 One of the more artfully crafted films I’ve seen, fantastic score.
Story (Plot) 3-5 Felt a little like “ The transporter” at times, but still interesting.
Characters (Likability, Acting) 4-5 I would have liked to known more about the character Driver
Writing (Dialogue, Cleverness) 4-5 Not much dialogue (which was the point), subtle
Emotions (Was it: Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I Care?) 5-5 You will be shocked by this one
Overall score 21-25

Fright Night

(Let’s step into the Back to the Future DeLorean) Set time circuits to 1985: I was two and wasn’t watching any movies, let alone horror movies. When I was 27(time circuits to 2010) I watched the 1985 movie “Fright Night”, because I heard it was kind of a “cult classic”. Now, it is in no way a good movie, but I enjoyed it for what it was: an 80’s campy, vampire movie. The character of Charlie is kind of a whiner, but it could be that I just don’t like the actor William Ragsdale; his voice just hurts me, as in real pain. It has its moments of awesomely bad gore though, that I really enjoyed. Back when they couldn’t CGI the crap out of everything, it was called “practical effects,” people, bring them back!
Set time circuits to 2011: wasn’t that a fun trip? They decide to remake this awesomely horrible horror comedy. Why not, its got vampires in it, and vampires are hot right now. Side note: getting kind of sick of vampires. So I saw the trailer for this flick, and it didn’t look half bad. Colin Farrell plays Jerry, the vampire (true to the original) and that awesome guy from Star Trek plays Charlie (Anton Yelchin) no more bleeding ears! David Tennant plays Peter Vincent, a mockery of the goth vampire hunter/Vegas performer partly true to the original). Hey, and they have MCLOVIN!
So how was the movie you ask? I consider that it was a great script, with believable characters. It was tons of fun, and it satisfied my gore craving. Some of the parts that they changed I enjoyed very much: the poking fun at the Vampire culture myths was fun and interesting, and they even taught us something new, not just rehashing what everyone knows about vampires. “Silver is for Werewolves” was one of my favorite lines. At its heart, however, it was still a campy vampire movie. The plot is almost exactly the same as the 1985 version, except for some little differences, so the writers didn’t put in a lot of effort, so they can focus or the good dialogue I guess. Even though I enjoyed my movie-going experience, I won’t be writing home about it. Just writing a review I guess. See it.

The Rating System:
Production ( Directing, Editing, Music): 3-5 soundtrack was good but no theme to speak of
Story ( Plot ): 2-5 it would get more if it wasn’t the same plot, because I liked it
Characters ( Likability, Acting ): 4-5 great fun here, the characters make the movie
Writing ( Dialogue, Cleverness ): 4-5 great tension is some scenes
Emotions ( Was it; Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I care? ): 4-5 Laughing one minute, grossed-out the next
Overall Score: 17-25