The Mist Movie Trailer
The trailer for the upcoming November 21st release called The Mist. A freak storm unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Three-time Oscar®-nominee Frank Darabont (“The Green Mile,” “The Shawshank Redemption”) reunites with horror-master Stephen King to write and direct this chilling adaptation of the author’s original short story. Following a violent thunderstorm, artist David Drayton and a small town community come under vicious attack from creatures prowling in a thick and unnatural mist.
Local rumors point to an experiment called the ‘The Arrowhead Project’ conducted at a nearby top-secret military base, but questions as to the origins of the deadly vapor are secondary to the group’s overall chances for survival. Retreating to a local supermarket, Drayton and the survivors must face-off against each other before taking a united stand against an enemy they cannot even see!
88 Minutes 2007 Movie Review (Drama, Thriller)
88 Minutes - A suspense-thriller that concerns a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI receives a death threat that says he has only 88 minutes to live. To save his life, he must use all his skills and training to narrow down the possible suspects, which include a disgruntled student, a jilted former lover and a serial killer on death row.
88 Minutes is a supremely implausible thriller that will probably
Many stupefying scenes abound. As part of the countdown from 88 minutes, such reminders appear in other forms. The amount of remaining minutes appears on an overhead projector. Later, it is written on the back of his car. The killer seems to be not only omniscient, but also impeccable in the timing and nature of Gramm's actions that he would not only notice these things, but that he would do so at just the right time. Although there are several characters that are thrown in to fool us as to who the real culprit is, it won't be much of a mystery to savvy thriller junkies. While a learned professor and forensic psychologist with a knack for putting things together ingeniously is bewildered, you will probably have it figured out an hour before the end of the film. As too many plot holes abound to warrant diligent attention, the only thing left to keep your interest is what will happen at the end of the countdown, and the reason behind it all.
I'm certain I haven't always followed the news when serial killers are about to be executed, but it seems to be that Forster is given an extraordinary amount of freedom on his final day. He gets interviewed live on a national news broadcast for an interminable amount of time, and even takes phone calls. Not that it seems plausible that someone could presumably even get convicted and receive the death penalty based almost solely on one psychologist's testimony on his state of mind when he purportedly committed these heinous acts, but once it's established, at the very least, the media probably wouldn't allow such a reviled man free reign to potentially damage the psyche of the family and friends of the victims one more time by giving him an open forum to the world.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to find that 88 Minutes ends up being substandard fare if you look at the filmography of its writer and director. Screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson's previous work includes such junk food material as The Fast and the Furious, Timecop 2, and K-911 -- not exactly indicative of someone that would pull off the crackerjack thriller of the year. Avnet, who replaces initial director James Foley at the helm, has done slightly better, though his only notable film is Fried Green Tomatoes, which is a pretty far cry from the kind of film that 88 Minutes is. Mediocre films like Red Corner and Up Close and Personal are his others.
One gets the impression that the film was meant to star someone much younger, as the diminutive 66-year-old actor plays a college professor who happens to get a lot of very fine 20-something tail on a frequent basis.
I can see him seducing needy, scholastically-challenged students in exchange for better grades, but when they throw themselves at him without any expectations, it does stretch the credibility of the film. In one incredulous scene, Alicia Witt's character, Kim, decides that in the middle of a stressful chase, she would allure Gramm into talking about the possibility of starting a family with him. My only question is: what magical cologne does Gramm use and how can I get some?
For such a bad, poorly developed movie, I think that 88 Minutes will find an audience among people who will watch any contrived thriller if it contains enough sensationalism and energy to allow for a bit of escapism. To Avnet's credit, there actually is some intrigue generated through wanting to know just what awaits at the end of the countdown, and also the hows and whys behind the death threats to Gramm. With a brisk pacing and a bevy of beautiful actresses, it's not difficult to watch as long as you aren't expecting anything remotely plausible or intelligent to transpire. A Pacino performance, mysterious plot, and eye candy actresses can titillate, even if the vehicle they are in fails to properly stimulate the mind.
Of course, even if the mystery in the film is answered, the bigger one still remains. At this point in Pacino's esteemed career, why does he stoop to making b-grade, straight-to-video caliber schlock? A few more of these and we can start a countdown of our own -- the irrelevancy of his appearances in future films.
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Freedom Writers (Drama) 2007 Review
There is something to be said for a movie that exceeds your expectations despite its near-total lack of surprises. If you were anything like BE movie critic Jason Zingale, you saw the concept for “Freedom Writers” and said, “Hmmm, ‘Dead Poets Society of the Dangerous Minds’” (which is about seven words short of becoming a Panic! at the Disco song title, but that’s another subject). In truth, that sums up “Freedom Writers” almost exactly, but thanks to a sharp script and some finely tuned performances by both students and teacher, the movie rises above its more predictable trappings to deliver a solid tale about studentz in da hood. Or, more accurately, studentz from da hood schoolin’ in Wonder Bread Land.
Who's in It: Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Mario, April Lee Hernandez
The Basics: Hollywood operates under the misinformation that there's a perpetual deficit in the movies where the earnest white teacher saves at-risk kids of color and teaches them to believe in themselves. So I had prescreening nightmares about this one. And really, who wouldn't think a movie like this would suck it from here to the Crab Nebula and back? And yet, it's surprisingly not awful.
What's the Deal? True stories turned into films, ones that stick to the truth no matter how dorky and corny that truth is, run the risk of being completely unbelievable. And the more lovey-dovey it gets, and the more you sit there and go, No way, the more it piles on the heartwarmth, daring you to call it a liar. But apparently, everything in this movie more or less happened the way they say it did, at least according to the press notes (which, you know, never lie), in which they quote the real-life teacher about how she turned her classroom into a little family. As a former middle-school teacher myself, I'm just envious that my own students remained resolute pains in the butt.
The Best Part: Because it's set in the early 1990s, you get to hear Swank talk about Tupac like the stiff honky she is. Then when she asks a student if he's "trippin'" you definitely want to hit rewind. But you can't because you're in a movie theater.
The Worst Part: She teaches the kids about the Holocaust, they read Anne Frank's diary, and then Miep Gies, the woman who hid the Franks, comes to the school. And I sat there thinking, "Oh cool, the real Miep Gies is going to be in this movie!" But then it was Pat Carroll, the actor, instead. I mean, sure, the real Gies is 97 now, but they could have digitally inserted her into the movie, right? OK, maybe not.
Shout-Out: I was surprised to see my friend Chil Kong show up as Convenience Store Owner With Shotgun. It's one of the weirder elements of living in Los Angeles when sometimes the movie gets upended because someone you know actually walks into the frame and takes you out of the fiction for a second.Freedom Writers DVD Review:
Let me just begin by saying that I absolutely hate when an actor records an audio commentary for a film they’ve never seen before. That’s the case with Hilary Swank on her commentary track with writer/director Richard LaGravenese for “Freedom Writers.” Recorded the morning before the world premiere, the commentary is dry and brief, as are the rest of the special features, including a collection of unnecessary deleted scenes and three featurettes on the film’s soundtrack (“Making a Dream”), production (“Freedom Writers Family”) and origin (“The Story Behind the Story”).
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