The Box--6/10
So you're given a box by a stranger with a scarred face, who tells you that if you press the button inside a person you don't know will die. However, you will also receive a million bucks! What do you do? If you're Cork, you call the police and tell them a mentally ill con artist is snooping around your house. If you're Cameron Diaz, you put your trust in the random creepazoid and push the button.
The first half of The Box is great. It's mysterious, creepy, involving and well paced. The second half is a convoluted jumble of special effects and distracting subplots involving aliens, quasi-zombies (?), the afterlife, and supernatural gobbledegook. It all felt excessive in hindsight.
Law Abiding Citizen--6/10
Pissed off at the justice system that got his wife and daughter's murderer off the hook, some a-hole takes justice into his own hands--and while in prison! What's that, you say? That doesn't make any sense? You're right, it doesn't, and that's the biggest problem with this otherwise entertaining thriller. When you eventually learn how this guy is killing people from behind bars, you'll shake your head in shame. It is not just impossible but totally preposterous.
The Fourth Kind--7/10
Despite being a total hoax based on lies, I enjoyed this faux documentary for doing what few films have done--making a horror (not action) movie about alien abductions, and doing so without any grand special effects or Michael Bay tactics. It's closer to the Mothman Prophecies than Independence Day, and some of it is genuinely creepy! Clever stuff. Just remember that it's all fake.
Perfect post for a Saturday! Now if only I hadn't stopped going to the movies a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteHeh, the only reason I've been going so much is one of my buddies has a bajillion free passes ;)
ReplyDelete