Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

"Welcome to the Dollhouse" is a dark comedy about an awkward teenage girl who does not fit in.  Heather Matarazzo plays the nerdy loner named Dawn.  Dawn gets picked on at school constantly, most notably by a boy named Brandon.  Brandon plans to rape Dawn, but he changes his mind when the opportunity comes.  Brandon reveals to Dawn that he has a retarded brother and Dawn starts to feel something for him.  They start to hang out, but it all ends when Dawn says she is in love with another man.  Dawn is in love with the lead singer of her brother's band.  Even though the singer and Dawn talk once in a while, there is really nothing there.  Dawn just has a crush on him and when she catches him with another woman, she realizes the mistake she made with Brandon.  

With all of these problems of love and school, Dawn is also having family issues.  The family favors their beautiful younger daughter and Dawn is very jealous.  One night, Dawn was supposed to notify a neighbor to pick up her little sister from ballet practice.  Dawn did not.  The result was the kidnapping of the little girl.  The family goes crazy trying to find the girl and it is all Dawn's fault.  

"Welcome to the Dollhouse" is a strange movie, but for some reason it is fascinating to watch.  Matarazzo's acting isn't the best, but it works.  She looks awkward and her slow delivery helps show how weird and strange her character really is.  

Believe it or not, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" is a very realistic way to look at middle school.  Even though the scenarios are exaggerated, the themes are real.  Children at this age have strange thoughts of love, issues with being picked on at school, and it is a time when children are rebellious against their family.  This is a strange film that everyone can relate to in one way or another.

B  I recommend it.

Orphan (2009)

**

"Orphan" is the story of a loving family who wants to adopt a little girl.  The mother, named Kate, was pregnant with her third child, but she had a miscarriage.  She feels that she has all this love to give, so she wants to adopt a new child.  They adopt Esther from a girl's home.  She is 9 years old and from Russia.  She is very odd and strange, but bright at the same time.  After a while, strange things start to happen when Esther is around.  She starts to lie, cuss, and accidents always happen when she is near.  We find out that Esther isn't such an innocent little girl.  She is manipulative and violent.  She threatens her new brother and sister and she is a murderer.  Esther is hiding something, but no one knows what.  Can the family figure out her secret in time to spare their lives?

"Orphan" is a very original horror movie.  I wasn't expecting to like it, but I did.  I'm glad that it was not a ghost movie or possession movie.  I am so sick of those.  This is just about someone who is genuinely crazy.

The movie starts to get really good when Esther shows her true self.  Esther kills a woman who may take her back to the orphanage.  She hides her murder weapon in the tree house and she sees her brother watching her.  Her brother did not see anything, but she wants to make sure.  So late one night, she goes into his bedroom with a razor blade to his neck.  She makes sure that he will not say anything by threatening him.  She tells him: "If you say anything, I will cut off your little hairless prick before you even know what it's used for."  This is a great line and it really is the beginning of an unexpected roller coaster ride of pure evil.

Esther's new siblings know that she is evil, but they will not say anything to their parents because they fear for their lives.  Kate eventually figures out that all of these bad things are happening because of Esther, but no one will believe her.  Not her husband or her shrink.  She is the only one that can stop Esther.

"Orphan" is a very original horror film that has a nice twist.  The acting was great and the suspense was... well...  suspenseful.  You should really see this movie to find out what the hell is wrong with Esther.

B+  I recommend it.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

**

This is the finale of the original Indiana Jones trilogy.  

Indiana Jones finds out that his father has been taken by Nazis.  The Nazis are searching for the holy grail and Henry Jones Sr. has been spending his entire life in this search as well.  Indiana sets out on an adventure to save his father and together they will find the true holy grail.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is a great film.  I believe it is the most compelling and personal out of all the Indy films.  Indiana's relationship with his father is really nice to watch.  It relates to real life in the fact that Indy was the child that always tried to live up to his father's expectations.  Even though he did his best to please his father, Indy always felt inadequate in his father's eyes.  The adventure follows Indy and his father on the quest for the holy grail, but the holy grail that really needs to be found is their lost relationship.  

The acting is again excellent in this film.  Sean Connery as Henry Jones Sr. is perfectly cast.  There is no one better for that part.  Connery adds  a dignified presence to the film along with nice humor.  The funniest scenes come from Connery's reactions to the actions that Ford takes.

"Last Crusade" begins in a very fun way.  Indy is shown at a young age and he is on the run to make sure that the Cross of Coronado gets into the right hands.  During this chase sequence, we come to see why Indy is afraid of snakes, how he got the scar on his chin, and where he got the idea for his famous hat and leather jacket combination.  River Phoenix plays a young Indy and he did a great job.  Again, it was perfect casting.

Another interesting scene is when Indy travels to Berlin to get his father's journal back from the Nazis.  While disguised as a Nazi, Indy runs into Hitler himself.  It was Indiana Jones vs. Adolf Hitler!  Imagine that!  And if you haven't seen the film, I will not spoil how their encounter ends.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was the perfect way to end the series.  It ends with Indy, Henry Jones Sr., Sallah, and Marcus Brody riding off in the sunset as that famous John Williams theme plays.  It was beautiful.  Then nearly 20 years later, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" came out.  It was a big mistake...

A-  I recommend it.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

**

Last Saturday, I saw a triple feature at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica.  The film fest featured "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".  Since I have already reviewed "Raiders" on here, I will just review the two sequels.

"Temple of Doom" is a prequel to the events of what happened in "Raiders".  The reason this is a prequel is because George Lucas did not want Indy fighting Nazis again.  Instead, Indy is in India and he is trying to save a civilization from poverty by retrieving a special rock that has power over the community.  He finds out that a secret cult is in possession of the stone and they have enslaved the community's children.  The children are being beaten and whipped in order to find the remaining stones.  With the help from the famous American singer, Willie Scott and Indy's kid sidekick, Short Round, Indy sets out on an adventure that will involve voodoo, bugs, mine cart chases, and monkey brains.

"Temple of Doom" was my favorite Indy film as a kid.  It is still great, but I prefer "Raiders" now.  This film has the most action out of any of the Indy movies and it never gets boring.  My favorite sequence from the film is the bug tunnel and spike room scene.  Everything is perfect.  I love the music and Harrison Ford's acting is excellent.  When the spikes start to lower and Indy is calling for Willie, it really seems like Ford is fearing for his life.  He is frustrated and angry with Willie.  It shows in Ford's acting.

A lot of people have a problem with Kate Capshaw as Willie, but I don't mind her too much.  Yes, she is annoying, but that's fine.  Indy knows she is annoying and he yells at her to shut up throughout the movie.  If Indy did not acknowledge how annoying she was, then I would not like it.

Short Round is a great character.  His relationship with Indy really seems to be one of true friendship.  Indy is Short Round's hero and what kid wouldn't want to go on an adventure with Indy.  I think having Short Round in the film is very important to a younger viewer.  It makes it seem like any kid could keep up with Jones.

"Temple of Doom" is the darker second act in the original Indy trilogy.  The film deals with the occult and voodoo.  It is very scary and it includes several scenes of graphic violence.  Mola Ram is a great villain who is truly terrifying.  Unlike the Nazi villains of the other films, Mola Ram has special voodoo powers himself.  With just a few words, he can gain the power to rip your still beating heart out of your chest.  

"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is a great addition to the Indy series.  While it might not be as important and deep in character development as the other two, it is still fun and amazingly entertaining.  

A-  I recommend it. 

Halloween (2007)

Remake of "Halloween" (1978)

Michael Myers is a messed up little kid.  He lives in a family that abuses him constantly and the kids at school make fun of him.  On Halloween one year, he snaps.  He kills his step-father, sister, and his sister's boyfriend.  He spared the life of his other sister, who was only an infant.  After this, Michael was put into a mental institution and he was treated by Dr. Loomis.  Loomis spent years trying to reach Michael, but nothing worked.  15 years later, Michael escapes and he heads for his hometown of Haddonfield.  He is trying to find his sister and in the mean time, he kills anyone that gets in his way.

The original "Halloween" is one of my favorite movies of all time.  When Rob Zombie announced that he was doing the remake, I sort of got excited.  I thought he might be able to do a good remake.  He did not.

My biggest problem with this film is that there is no one that you really care about.  There is no one to relate to.  Michael Myers is a serial killer and he is the main character.  This doesn't work.  Who cares if he kills a bunch of people if you don't give a crap about them.  Zombie tries to make Michael's sister, Laurie, the character you can relate to, but she is terribly written.  I wanted nothing more than for her to die.  She was so annoying.

Zombie also has continuity problems with the character of Michael Myers.  Early in the film, Myers kills Danny Trejo.  Trejo took care of Myers for years while in the institution.  Trejo really wanted the best for Michael.  So when Myers kills Trejo, it is a shock.  This murder occurs so it can show the viewer that Michael has no soul.  He is a killing machine that can not be reasoned with.  Now I can buy that, until the scene where Michael captures Laurie and shows her a picture of them together 15 years earlier.  In this scene, Michael is sympathetic and he seems to want to establish a relationship with Laurie.  Why would a killing machine want this?  You can't have both personalities.  It is one or the other.  It didn't work.

The only thing that I liked about the movie was the mask.  Although Michael looked neat, he was too tall and clumsy.  In the original, Michael is swift and fluid in the way he moves.  Not in this one...  He seemed more like Leatherface in the Myers suit.

Rob Zombie's "Halloween" is not a great movie.  While watching the movie, all I would think about is how I would rather be watching the original.  John Carpenter's version is far superior than this.

C-

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Dennis Quaid plays a climatologist who has proof that the world will enter a new ice age in the distant future.  Everyone believes that his theory is ridiculous, until it starts to happen.  

Quaid's theory was off.  This new ice age is beginning now.  Tornadoes are destroying Los Angeles and the ocean is overflowing, bringing chaos to New York.  After the flooding of New York, a freeze begins that will leave little to no survivors.  Quaid's son, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is stuck in New York.  He is with a few of his friends and they decide to stay in the New York Public Library.  Quaid tells his son to remain there and do not leave the building.  Quaid then embarks on a journey from Washington D.C. to New York to save the lives of his son and friends.

I love disaster movies.  There is nothing more thrilling than watching famous landmarks being destroyed by water, fire, or any other natural event.  With that being said, you would think that I would love "The Day After Tomorrow".  Well, you would be wrong.  There were only two destruction scenes and those were good.   The effects were OK and it was fun to watch.  But two scenes is not enough to make a good disaster movie.  The rest of the film was just about people waiting out the storm and watching Quaid make his way to New York.  It was really boring.

The acting was just OK in this film.  It was nothing special.  I mean Quaid, Gyllenhaal, and Emmy Rossum are all good actors, but this movie just does not let them show their talent.

"The Day After Tomorrow" is directed by Roland Emmerich.  Emmerich made "Independence Day" and I like that film.  It has good character buildup and great action sequences.  "The Day After Tomorrow" just sort of seems like a quick little picture that he made to please his fans.  I would put it on the same level as a made for TV movie.  

There was a scene at the end of the film that I really did not like.  Because the ocean has flooded into New York City, a huge ship made its way all the way to the library.  The group decides to board the ship to look for supplies.  At this time, they are attacked by computer generated wolves that escaped from the zoo earlier in the film.  The animated wolves weren't terrible, but they were not very convincing either.  This was really the last action scene in the film, and it is a real let down.  Compared to the two action scenes earlier in the film, this one was just plain boring.

"The Day After Tomorrow" is slow and not very exciting.  It just seemed to go on and on.  It is fun to watch those two scenes I mentioned, but besides that, it was a waste of my time.

C-

The Devil Commands (1941)

Boris Karloff plays a scientist who has invented a machine that can read people's brain waves.  He believes that with further research, he will be able to read people's thoughts.

Everything was going good for Karloff.  He had just shown his experiment to his peers and his daughter arrived in town for her 20th birthday.  Then everything changes...  Karloff's wife is killed in an automobile accident.  This event changes Karloff's personality.  He is no longer happy and charming.  He is depressed and wants to be left alone.  He goes to his laboratory and turns on his machine.  All of the sudden, brain waves start to appear.  The waves are exactly like the brain waves of his wife while she was alive.  He believes that she is trying to reach him from beyond!  Karloff works day and night trying to make his machine more powerful, so he can talk to his dead wife.  With the help from an assistant and a phony medium, who is actually more in tune with the dead than she thought, Karloff believes he will once again speak with his lost love.

"The Devil Commands" is actually a pretty well done horror / sci-fi film.  It is very interesting to see how modern machinery is used to make contact with the dead.  It is a subject that people have been interested in since the dawn of time I'm sure.  

Karloff's performance was so great.  I really enjoyed seeing him in the beginning of the film.  He is happy, witty, and an all around proper gentleman, much like how he was in real life.  After the accident, his whole personality changes.  It is as if he played two different characters.  It is amazing how good Karloff is in everything that he made.  He really draws you in and you sit on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next word to come out of his mouth.  Very few actors have that effect on me.

"The Devil Commands" is a good B picture.  It isn't a classic by any means, but it is very fun to watch.  Karloff really sold the picture with his excellent acting abilities.

B  I recommend it.