He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University
Wild At Heart
I am trying to be quick this week in writing my blog but I have a bunch of movie reviews this week but I’ll start with an event for the kids. On Wednesday, October 6, there is a free event at the Oakland Mall in Troy where kids and their families can meet “Megamind”. For those wondering who he is, Megamind is the newest animated character (voiced by Will Ferrell) from Paramount’s animation division. There will be a meet and greet with Megamind along with the opportunity to win free stuff and engage in fun activities such as face painting. The event takes place from 4PM-7PM. See you there!!
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go through Erebus which was recently ranked as the #11 haunted attraction by Fangoria Magazine. It was the only entry from the state of Michigan to make the list this year. The attraction which has been around since it was founded by Ed and Jim Terebus in 2000 earned the distinction by the Guiness Book of World Records for being the world’s longest walk-through haunted attraction which it held from August 2005-September 2009. One of the things Ed mentioned when I talked to him was trying to make sure the Haunted attraction stayed away from items that they would find at various conventions. He stated that you would see things at the shows and then every haunted house would have the same item. They want to make sure their scares are unique and something you won’t see at any other house in the area. They have numerous handmade frights which while I didn’t find all that scary; you can tell a lot of work went into them and if you aren’t paying attention, they will take you by surprise. The people working the house also do a nice job playing their parts and keeping the action moving. I don’t want to give anything away, but it took me about 35 minutes to get through the house and found myself impressed by a lot of the design work. The best part of the experience is a room in which you get buried alive. I was expecting this after talking with Ed but it really is a fun experience and scary depending on your threshold of claustrophobia. Overall, this was a very nice attraction that can help get you in the mood for the holiday season. I definitely recommend going with some friends, esp those that easily get scared. For info on the house, go to www.hauntedpontiac.com for dates and times.
Also, getting me in the mood are some horror films that came out recently starting with “Hatchet II” which takes place directly after the events of the first film when Marybeth escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder). She goes to Rev Zombie (Tony Todd) where she learns the truth about her family’s connection to the hatchet-wielding madman and convinces him to take her back in the swamp to get revenge on him. Rev Zombie decides to help because of two reasons. First, he wants to open tourism in the swamps and getting rid of a killer is good for business. Second, he feels he knows of a way to kill Crowley without danger to himself. He and Marybeth return to the Louisiana swamps with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the revenge she wants. From here of course we know we are going to see the slaughter of most of the hunters and we do. The only one that really stands up to him is Trent (R A Mihailoff) who has the best scene in the movie as he goes toe-to-toe with Crowley. In general, the movie is no better than any other horror film of this type and brings very little new to the table (although between this and Machete, I haven’t seen this much intestinal mutilation in awhile). The film is overly dark at times when it doesn’t need to be and it’s one claim to fame is that it is the first unrated horror film in the theatres in over 32 years since ”Dawn of the Dead” in 1978. That alone makes me wonder if it will start a new trend though I wish it was a better film that was doing it. That said, this movie should appeal mainly to those who enjoy horror films and like a little gore around this time of year. My grade is a C.
The next horror film out this weekend is a remake of the Swedish vampire film “Let The Right One In” called “Let Me In”. The story is about a young boy named Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is bullied by a group of kids at school. His parents are going through a divorce and he is essentially a loner with potential violent tendencies. One night he meets a girl, Abby (Chloe Moretz = Hit Girl from “Kick Ass”) who just moved into his apartment and becomes his only friend. However something is off about the girl who walks around in the snow with bare feet. Soon, people start dying in the town and we realize Abby is a vampire. When her handler gets arrested by the cops after a failed attempt to bring home food, she latches onto Owen. They both help each other is what turns into the crux of a love story between this confused young boy and a girl forever trapped in eternal youth. They shy away from some of the sexuality of the Swedish version and some of the CGI is distracting, but Kodi and Chloe bring real drama to this script which helps make me forget some of that other stuff. Talented young actors are hard to find, but they were lucky to find the right kids for this movie because with them, the movie fails. After this and “Kick Ass”, Chloe sets herself up as someone I hope can turn into the next Anna Pacquin or Christina Ricci as a child actress who can become a talented adult actress. This remake really does a good job and is almost as good as the original. Go see it. My grade is a B+.
In a different vein, we have the directorial debut of Philip Seymour Hoffman (who also stars in the film) “Jack Goes Boating”. Based on a play, we have four characters: Hoffman as Jack, John Ortiz as Clyde, Daphne Rubin-Vega as Clyde's wife Lucy and Amy Ryan as Connie. Simply put, Clyde and Lucy arrange to have the socially inept Connie and Jack meet in hopes of sparking romance. The film builds slowly as we see Jack learn the skills to win Connie including learning to swim and cook with the help of Clyde and Lucy. However, it seems as Jack and Connie’s relationship moves closer together, we start to see the fragility of Clyde and Lucy’s marriage. As one couple binds together, the other falls apart. Hoffman does a good job approaching this subject matter and with a few exceptions, the films slowness (think good Woody Allen) works to wonderful effect. This is not a film that will appeal to everyone, but it is a worthy first time romantic drama and Hoffman is such a fun actor to watch. My grade is a B-.
Lastly is one of the more anticipated films of the year, “The Social Network” about Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. Jesse Eisenberg does a brilliant job playing the brilliant though highly unlikeable genius. The film starts with Mark getting dumped by his girlfriend Erica. Instead of realizing he was an asshole, he decides to hack all the local college facebook pages and creates a website with the help of his only real friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) in which guys can rate girls against each other. While not making any friends among the women folk, he gets the attention of Harvard classmates the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) who recruit Mark to design a social network website for them. Instead, he expands the idea and goes on to create what is now Facebook. I enjoy that a young man who isn’t very likeable can create one of the biggest social networking sites on the planet and become a billionaire in the process. He is so unlikeable and never seems to get it in the film and he treats people like they really don’t matter much in his universe. Though he has recently made a large $100 million donation to a school on the eve of the film’s release so maybe there is hope. The cast of this movie is wonderful, esp Jesse, is what feels like the equivalent of a “Wall Street” for the computer industry. One of my friends admitted after seeing the film he felt like going home and cancelling his Facebook account. I’m not sure if he did, but I would recommend seeing this film. My grade is an A-.
Here are a few concert choices for the week and maybe I'll see a few of you at Hedley tonight at the Pike Room.
Wednesday (10/06) – Thermals @ Magic Stick
Thursday (10/07) – Bad Religion w/Bouncing Souls @ Clutch Cargos, blues rocker Johnny A @ Callahans, reggae greats UB40 @ Caesar’s Windsor, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers @ Blind Pig
Friday (10/08) – Jill Sobule @ the Ark
Saturday (10/09) – Bare Naked Ladies @ St Clair College (Windsor), Flyleaf @ Compuware Arena (Plymouth), Jeff Daniels @ Macomb Center for Performing Arts, Raul Malo @ the Ark, JP Chrissie and Fairground Boys @ St Andrews Hall
Sunday (10/10) – the Walkmen @ Magic Stick
Have a good week and I'll be writing this from New York the next Monday. I'll miss Detroit
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