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John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

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New Releases for Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011

Posted Dec 24, 2011 by John Allman

Updated Dec 24, 2011 at 11:52 AM

What’s new in stores and on video shelves this week:

Julia’s Eyes
Genre: Thriller
Directed by: Guillem Morales
Run time: 117 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Format: DVD

The Lowdown: Guillermo del Toro may take his sweet time between films that he is directing, but as a behind-the-scenes guy, acting as a producer, writer or inspiration, he is incredibly prolific.

And 2011 saw del Toro shepherd two good releases into theaters, including this wonderful Spanish thriller that owes as much to his impressive back catalog as it does to the signature works of Brian De Palma.

“Julia’s Eyes” is a straight-up thriller about twin sisters, both losing their sight to a degenerative disease. There are some key plot points about the dynamic between the sisters that I shouldn’t share, but it is fair to say that something terrible happens to one sister, Sara, who completely loses her sight first.

Her twin, Julia, knows the second it happen, and sets off with her husband Issac to the city where Sara had retreated in order to uncover the truth. Once there, her eyesight becomes increasingly worse, even as she seems to be getting closer to figuring out what’s happened.

Director Guillem Morales employs a bevy of camera tricks to show the audience what it is like to lose one’s sight, the confusion and terror that can take over. He also slyly injects a number of other elements, some supernatural, to keep the viewer off-balance about what exactly, or who, seems hellbent on making sure Julia never regains her sight.

The supernatural angle propels the middle act of “Julia’s Eyes,” turning a conventional thriller into something more. Morales stages several impressive, extended sequences that rely as much on the action as the audience’s perception of what they’re seeing, or not seeing, just like Julia.

He introduces a very interesting concept – the theory that some people can avoid detection, walking through life without ever being seen or remembered clearly, because of a darkness that they have inside, an absence of light or good.

It’s a little disappointing when “Julia’s Eyes” abandons this concept in favor of a more traditional genre explanation in the third act, but the film never feels disjointed.

If you’re a longtime fan of De Palma’s early classics like “Dressed to Kill” and “Body Double,” films that played tricks with the audience, teasing the viewer’s perception and causing them to “see” something different than what was really there, you will really enjoy “Julia’s Eyes.”

The one false note, and this is more of a quibble than a solid complaint, is the end, which is more ambiguous than I would have liked. There’s no doubt what has occurred to get to that point, but the final scene could be interpreted several ways. I would have preferred to be spoon-fed the answer, instead of having to reach out in the dark and fumble for my own conclusion.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Yes.
Nudity – Brief.
Gore – Subtle.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – The darkness inside bad men that causes them to be invisible to us.
Buy/Rent – Rent it.

Saint Nick (IFC, 85 minutes, Unrated, DVD): A giddy, bloody, enjoyably lightweight horror/slasher hybrid, “Saint Nick” is the second release this year to cast Santa Claus as an evil creature bent on taking lives instead of leaving presents.

“Saint,” as it was originally released, is pure campy fun that oddly mirrors the plot of “Halloween,” right down to having two female girlfriends stalked by the same killer while a grizzled Dr. Loomis-type chews scenery trying to convince the local law enforcement that a madman has returned to town to seek vengeance with a bloody killing spree.

“Saint Nick” is definitely worth a rental during this holiday season, the perfect alternative to festive, family-friendly fare.

Straw Dogs (Sony, 110 minutes, R, Blu-Ray): A near shot-for-shot remake in some cases of director Sam Peckinpah’s 1971 gritty cult classic.

Rod Lurie made a splash back in 2000 with “The Contender,” a political drama, but he hasn’t done much since. And with “Straw Dogs,” he basically serves up another unnecessary remake that does little to distance itself from the original. Even the highly controversial rape scenes that caused Peckinpah’s original to be banned for years barely register any shock here.

The best thing about “Straw Dogs” is Alexander Skarsgård as Charlie, the central bad guy who lays on the Southern charm so thick that you nod and smile agreeably even as he cuts you down to size.

James Woods hoots and hollers and blusters as the town drunk/bigot bully, and seems to be having a blast diving full-on into crazy mode.

But poor James Marsden once again finds himself stuck in a role that’s just too big for him to make any impact. Much like when he played Cyclops in the “X-Men” franchise, Marsden ends up fading into the background when he should be storming center stage. He’s no Dustin Hoffman, and it shows.

Colombiana (Sony, 112 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): I liked, but didn’t love, this Luc Besson-penned tale of a young girl who grows up to be a vicious assassin in order to avenge her parents’ deaths.

Besson is in full-on epic mode here, but the dramatic moments, and there are a lot, feel forced and overly-manufactured.

The action scenes are spaced too far apart, as well.

They’re impressively handled by director Olivier Megaton, the guy behind “Transporter 3” and the upcoming “Taken 2,” but you want more from a film that played up Zoe Saldana’s undeniable sexuality in its advertisements and seemed to suggest that “Colombiana” was going to be a wild shoot-em-up.

It has its moments, just not enough of them.

Catch .44 (Image, 94 minutes, R, Blu-Ray): It’s official, Forest Whitaker is a creepy mofo.

Creeeepy.

His eccentric, seemingly effortless style is mostly wasted in this, a wannabe “Pulp Fiction”-esque tale of petty thieves double-crossing one another in a rundown diner in the middle of nowhere. But he is good in the role of a seriously deadly contract killer who falls for the femme fatale.

Bruce Willis shows up, sporting one of the worst hairpieces of his checkered hair career, but he mostly phones in his performance, burning off lines with his Willis hipster cool that somehow always manages to allow him to escape from his questionable forays into direct-to-DVD genre fare with minimal damage (unlike his contemporary Nicolas Cage).

And poor Malin Akerman still can’t find a decent role since “Watchmen” that suits her seductive charms. It would be nice to see her develop into a desirable character actress with the same healthy career options as Natasha Henstridge.

Warrior (Lionsgate, 140 minutes, R, Blu-Ray): Many films have received the “Rocky” comparison over the years, but very few actually earned it, much less deserved to such an esteemed comparison.

“Warrior,” however, is the real deal, a painful, bruising, but ultimately emotionally fulfilling story of two brothers dealing with the scars of a turbulent childhood as they try to claw their individual ways out of pain to become something greater and show their true heart.

This is that rare film that showcases three breakout performances, all award-worthy.

Nick Nolte is heartbreakingly effective as the ex-military officer and recovering alcoholic father who caused so much damage to his two boys that years later, neither can stand to even look at his face.

Joel Edgerton is amazing as the older son, Brendan Conlan, a high school teacher and ex-MMA fighter who never made much of an impact in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He exudes good guy charisma and you truly believe he is a good father and husband, forced to go back to fighting to support his family even as he tries to hide his fight injuries from his wife and school officials.

In a nice touch, director Gavin O’Connor offers a timely and topical reason for Conlan’s return to the Octagon – the family home is upside down on mortgage payments and the heartless bank executives refuse to offer any option other than foreclosure, almost gleefully denying Conlan any sympathy other than to say, yeah we’ve heard your story from a bunch of other folks, pal. So sad, too bad.

O’Connor frames the other brother’s reason for fighting in a similar fashion. Tommy Conlon is an Iraqi war veteran who went AWOL after his entire unit was killed, but he’s determined to win a huge $5 million championship purse to give the money to the family of his best friend who was killed.

Playing Tommy is Tom Hardy, the first actor in a long time worthy of being compared to Robert DeNiro. Much like his past performances in “Bronson” and “Inception,” Hardy seethes rage and pain unlike any other actor of his generation.

He stalks the screen like a feral animal that’s been caged up and now he’s willing to kill or be killed to achieve his objective.

It’s undeniably one of the best performances of the year. You simply cannot look away from him whenever he is onscreen. He does more acting with his eyes than most actors do with their entire bodies. And when he enters the ring to fight, let’s just say no man in his right mind would want to be standing in the opposite corner.

“Warrior” is also the first MMA-themed film to authentically capture the raw essence of mixed-martial arts, the subtle intangibles that have made it so wildly popular in recent years. Yes, it’s brutal, but there’s a gladiatorial satisfaction in standing glove to glove with a remarkable physical specimen and not only holding your own, but winning. And “Warrior” goes a long, long way toward helping cement the sport’s legitimacy.

It’s also just kick-#####-intoxicating, the savage fury unleashed in the Octagon, and the way O’Connor’s camera swirls and dips, keeping every angle an option while truly delivering a ‘you are there’ experience throughout the many, many excellent fight scenes.

Also Available:

Futurama: Volume 6

Midnight in Paris

Margin Call

Underworld Trilogy: The Essential Collection

Blackthorn

Burke and Hare

Dolphin Tale