MOVIE REVIEWS: THE RUNAWAYS

ON DVD

THE RUNAWAYS



The story of the groundbreaking '70s female rock group the Runaways is recounted in this River Road Entertainment production focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett (portrayed by Twilight's Kristen Stewart) and lead vocalist/keyboardist Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) as they navigate a rocky road of touring and record label woes under the malevolent eye of abusive manager Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) during their teen years. Acclaimed video artist Floria Sigismondi directs from her own script, with Scout Taylor-Compton co-starring as guitarist Lita Ford. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Floria Sigismondi

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton

Release Date: Apr 09, 2010

Rated R for sexual content, language and drug use all involving teens

Runtime: 1 hr. 45 min.

Genres: Drama, Drama, Music/Performing Arts

Review:

The Runaways, based on Cherie Currie’s memoir, is film that should be a lot more interesting and captivating than it is. Instead of exploring some of the more interesting angles of preteen exploitation and other more diverse themes, director Floria Sigismondi hits the usual notes of most rock band biography. Occasionally the first time director will hit a sweet spot, mostly during the musical numbers, and when she does the film really has a spark of life. Sadly, outside of those moments the film drags and feels more like a made for TV film with more explicit teenage drug use and sex as the only differentiating aspect. As a result strong performances from the film 3 main player in the film are mostly wasted. Dakota Fanning delivers an incredibly strong performance that full of texture and depth, probably more than is on the actual page. Kristen Stewart has the right attitude throughout but her character feels terribly underwritten for some reason, strange considering Joan Jett is one of the producers. Stella Maeve, Ali Shawkat and Scout Taylor-Compton are paid to hold instruments and remain mostly mute with Compton being allowed to scream from time to time. Michael Shannon delivers the most interesting performance as Kim Fowley and he’s easily the most interesting character in this tepid biography.

C-

Movie Reviews: HALLOWEEN 2

Sunday, August 30, 2009
Movie Reviews: HALLOWEEN 2
IN THEATERS



HALLOWEEN 2

Evil comes home to roost as unstoppable killer Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) pursues injured Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) through Haddonfield's hospital.

Cast: Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris, Brad Dourif, Sheri Moon Zombie, Malcolm McDowell

Director: Rob Zombie

Opened August 28, 2009

Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.

Rated R for bloody violence, language, nudity, disturbing graphic images, strong brutal violence and crude sexual content

Genres: Slasher Film, Horror



Review:




Rob Zombie is back to “terrify” us with his “extreme” vision of The Shape in this nearly unwatchable and unintentionally funny sequel. The Shape isn’t a boogey man anymore instead he’s a really determined homeless man who’s got some serious mommy issues. This sequel picks up moments after the end of the first one and it runs through a dream sequence/homage to the original sequel and a cow crossing gone horribly wrong. From the opening we are exposed to Zombie’s failed film school machinations. His use of symbolism is anything but subtle, in fact nothing about this film is subtle, and it’s rammed into our face throughout the film’s runtime in the form of a while clad Sherry Moon Zombie and a white horse, hard to tell which is which at times. It’s so ludicrously handled and silly that it becomes funnier the more they appear on screen, doesn’t help that he starts the film with an explanation of the horse’s meaning. Art house attempts to make this film deep aside, the film’s gore is equally over the top. Overkill doesn’t quite cover what happens to victims when this hobo gets angry. Michael Myers doesn’t just stab, beat or pound someone, he turns them into mincemeat so much so that Tyler Mane actually sounds a bit winded at the end of some of the sequences. Zombie never avoids the opportunity to show us the results either and the effects are impressive but utterly pointless. Why, well because none of these characters are anything but pointless caricatures. Taylor Scout Compton returns and she has two modes shrill and shriller. Zombie attempts to give Laurie a realistic post traumatic but fails to deliver any real insight. Instead we are presented a character that has gone from regular high school girl to heavy metal fan, guess that’s what murder and mayhem cause at least according to Zombie. Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris and Malcom McDowell all return with varying results. Dourif is given some truly horrendous dialogue to utter and I was impressed he was able to pull it off with a straight face. Harris seems to be the only one who’s actually trying and she turns in a nice little performance in a terribly underwritten role. Malcom McDowell is on full ham mode and is comedy gold, intentional or not. So much so that I started to think that Zombie should abandon the horror genre and make straight up comedies. Genre cameos pepper the film, much like the first vary in effectiveness. Zombie said in a recent interview that he was freed in this chapter because he wasn’t bound by the first film anymore. It makes me wonder if that gave him license create this stylistically neutered film that ends with a woefully horrible rip off of a genre classic. Compton’s sly smile at the end is really Zombie’s because he fooled us into think he could deliver something substantial and like the rest of his film’s he got some good ideas but no idea how to execute them. In the end the joke’s on us.




F