Disturbia

Because D.J. Caruso uses Rear Window as his template, this teen suspense flick has some built-in interest of its own, but the flattering comparisons stop there. The first half is a distracted mystery that involves a lot of snooping and sleuthing (camcorders being the notable addition to Jimmy Stewart’s tools of trade). The second half is a slickly manipulative house-of-horrors scare show. The overindulged suburban protagonists, it almost goes without saying, are distractingly vacuous (though not necessarily unappealing).

Bridge to Terabithia

Walden Media finally got it right with this sensitive children’s story (based on a Newbery-winning book by Katherine Paterson) about two junior high pals who conjure up an imaginary kingdom in order to cope with the misery of middle school. The acting, especially among the kids, is uncommonly good (Josh Hutcherson’s dreamy introspection nicely compliments AnnaSophia Robb’s pert impishness), though the voices seem to have been tampered with in post-production. The plot takes a sharp turn toward pathos in the last act, and director Gabor Csupo handles the transition gracefully. The cinematography by ace technician Michael Chapman is very pleasant (admitting plenty of natural sunlight and leafy shadows), but the special effects seem like an overanxious bid to keep up with current trends. A more low-tech approach would have been appreciated.

1408

Drawing stamina from a lean, terrifying Stephen King short story, Mikael Hafstrom’s semi-successful creep show dilutes the horror by dishing out the dime-store psychology, turning the titular haunted hotel room into a Freudian funhouse. John Cusack, one of the most sensible and straight-thinking actors of his or any generation, gives an anxious performance as a skeptical ghost hunter who suddenly finds himself face to face with a tangible evil. His swift downslide into psychosis (like Jack Nicholson’s trajectory in The Shining) provides plenty of rooting interest. This is more a snack than a full meal, but the few smatterings of imagination (such as the surreal scene in which the protagonist scales the hotel wall) are worth any horror maven’s time.

Breach

Chris Cooper stars as Robert Hanssen, the wily spy who sold secrets to the Soviets and so became a modern day Benedict Arnold. Billy Ray’s factual, credible, even-tempered film keeps the suspense percolating at room temperature at all times. We are given just enough psychology to keep us alert (the tidbit about Hanssen’s aberrant sex life comes across as gossipy, his tortured Catholicism intriguing), but it brings us no closer to understanding the motives for his licentious behavior. The superbly scowling Cooper plays the unprepossessing Hanssen with gusto, and Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney are both warmly believable as the bureaucrats who set out to trap him. This doesn’t provide much in the way of excitement, but as an exercise in people watching, it’s compulsively entertaining.

My 20-Year Plan

Penguin Classics has been called the greatest educative force of the twentieth century.

If I read one Penguin Classic a week, I'm confident I could finish their entire catalog (over 1000 titles, or half a million pages) in, say, 20 years (that's about 60 pages a day). By then I'd be 44 years old and ready to start a family, choose a career, open a savings account, etc.

Stroke of genius or tragic mistake?

Maybe I ought to skip George Eliot and save a couple of years...

Race to the Finish

I am seriously considering destroying this blog at the end of the year. (But not before I replace it with something newer and better.) I simply haven't had the time or discipline to supply new content. Okay, okay. I've had the time, just not the discipline.

But before I move on, I think I'll glut this blog with reviews of current movies instead of waiting until December to reveal an end-of-the-year wrap-up. New movies are more fun to talk about because everyone has equal access. (Besides, I can't expect others to love British post-war cinema as much as I do!)

Some new stuff is forthcoming, so stay tuned.

Still Reading...

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