DIRECTOR: Frank Darabont
CAST: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones
THE PLOT: A strange mist unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town where a band of survivors hole up in a supermarket to fight for their lives.
BEN'S VIEWS: Adapting Stephen King stories seems to be a tough job for filmmakers to accomplish successfully. King's novels can be long-winded so I can understand why. Director Frank Darabont seems to have the magic touch when it comes to adapting King. The Shawshank Redemption is a contemporary classic and The Green Mile is very well done. Now Darabont is three for three with The Mist. This is the best horror film to come out in 2007. What could have been a crappy B-movie horror film turns out to be one hell of an entertaining ride with uncommon depth. Issues are brought up that most horror films shy away from, such as God's treatment of sinners. The characters act as believably as possible in a crisis of this magnitude, which is also foreign to a lot of horror. Darabont builds much suspense in the first forty minutes and sustains it even after we know (some of) what is in the mist. The only minor annoyance I had with the film was some of the CGI. Steven Spielberg masterfully brought creatures to life in Jurassic Park over 14 years ago. Why should creature animation still be looking hokey in films? But that doesn't stop this from being one of the better films of 2007. Just prepare to be floored by the ending which is sure to be discussed long after the end credits have rolled.
DIRECTOR: Franck Khalfoun
CAST: Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols
THE PLOT: A businesswoman is pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve.
BEN'S VIEWS: What separates P2 from other factory-made horror films that seem to pop out once a month or so is the strange tone that it has. The film treats its subject matter with seriousness but there are definite comic undertones in the acting. It almost seems as if there was a conflict of interest between actor Wes Bentley and director Franck Khalfoun. Bentley delivers his lines with tongue in cheek. Then the screenplay has him commit the most gruesome murders. But it's actually what keeps the film interesting. What made it funnier for myself was remembering that this was the kid that shed tears over a plastic bag floating in the wind in American Beauty. Other than Bentley there isn't much reason to see the film. The lead actress is fairly forgettable. The second half of the film is less interesting than the first which is always a fatal flaw. But seeing the film is not a total waste of time. You might get a few chuckles from it.
DIRECTOR: Len Wiseman
CAST: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith
THE PLOT: John McClane takes on an Internet based terrorist organization who are systematically shutting down the U.S.
BEN'S VIEWS: In the fourth Die Hard film our hero John McClane begins to flirt with self-parody as he dodges one near death situation after another with hardly a scratch. He is seemingly invincible as he faces off against helicopters and fighter jets and countless machine guns. Part of the reason the first Die Hard is an action classic is because the events of the plot unfold in a believable fashion. Not once do you question the reality of the world in the film or the abilities of McClane. This film is one action set-piece after another and each one attempts to top the last in explosive pyrotechnics. If you want to shut your brain off, sit back and be wowed by what CGI can do in an action flick then there is some entertainment value here. And the pairing of Willis with Justin Long is a fairly inspired decision resulting in some comic relief. But true fans of the first film, like myself, will be disappointed at the cartoonish quality the franchise has taken on.
