There's something out there in 'The Vast of Night'

[THE VAST OF NIGHT opens in northeast Ohio on Friday May 15th at The Mayfield Road Drive-in in Chardon, the Elm Road Drive-in in Warren, and the Magic City Drive-in in Barberton.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

While THE VAST OF NIGHT is set in the 1950s, its themes are just as relevant today as they ever were. On the surface, the film is about two small town teenagers – radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) and switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) – trying to track down the origins of a mysterious radio signal that interferes with both the phone system and Everett’s broadcast. What it really seems to be about, though, are small town fears. Both the fear of being stuck in a place where you don’t belong and don’t see much future, and the opposite but equal fear of leaving that place, no matter how stifling it might be.

Director Andrew Patterson, working from a script by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger, allows his film to unfold at a leisurely pace. Not only does that give us plenty of time to get to know our two leads and the world they inhabit, but it allows the mystery and suspense to build slowly and naturally. There’s talk of UFOs and possible alien abductions, and a subplot about a government cover-up that touches on our nation’s legacy of racism. But Patterson plays it subtle, and doesn’t try to juice things up with contrived action or peril. There is a satisfying (albeit ambiguous) payoff in the end, but it’s far from the sort of climax one would find in a more mainstream film.

Return of the King: 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' review

The Hollywood version of Godzilla first introduced in 2014’s GODZILLA returns in GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, and this time he’s brought some old friends. Which, unless you’re one of those people who goes out of their way to avoid trailers and other promotional materials, you already knew.

Picking up in the aftermath of the 2014 film, the world is still struggling with the sudden realization that humans share their home with giant monsters referred to as titans. But the general public doesn’t know everything, as the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – I mean Monarch – are keeping a lid on the fact that Godzilla and the insect like “Mutos” he fought in the previous film are just the tip of the monster iceberg. As returning scientist and character in charge of exposition Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabee) informs us, there are 17 different titans currently known to the secretive organization.

31 Days of Halloween 2018: Kill Your TV Before It Kills You In 'Await Further Instructions'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded (usually with the help of a few other writers). Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

Not all fears involve matters of life and death. Some are far more mundane. Like, for instance, the fear and dread many young adult to middle age liberals feel about going home for the holidays and being forced to spend time with relatives whose ideology is considerably more conservative. It’s a small fear in the greater scheme of things, but one far more likely to be realized than, say, getting eaten by a shark or stalked by a slasher. Also, small fears can serve as precursors to larger, more dangerous ones. That’s the vein of horror mined by British indie horror film AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, and it does so to great effect.

The film begins with Nick Milgram (Sam Gittins) and his middle eastern girlfriend Annji (Neerja Naik) arriving at his parents’ home for Christmas. Mom Beth (Abigail Cruttenden) is slightly taken aback, but more or less accepting of Annji. Dad Tony (Grant Masters), however, is clearly not pleased, and grandpa Alfred (David Bradley) is openly hostile and racist. Nick’s pregnant sister Kate ((Holly Weston) is only casual in her racism, but she has plenty of contempt and envy for her brother. Her boyfriend Scott (Kris Saddler) is just kind of a dumb mook. From the outset, the odds of a pleasant holiday are not in Nick and Annji’s favor.

31 Days of Halloween 2018: Peter Dinkalge keeps the apocalypse clean in 'I Think We're Alone Now' (movie review)

31 Days of Halloween 2018: Day 1

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded (usually with the help of a few other writers). Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.] 

In the opening scenes of Reed Morano’s I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW, Del (Peter Dinklage) is making his way through a deserted small town. Rush plays over his headphones as he stops to investigate each house, spray painting an “X” in the street so he knows he’s been there. If he finds dead bodies inside, he dutifully removes them and takes them to a field for burial.

This is Del’s post-apocalyptic routine now, a way to have a sense of purpose in a world where he may very well be the last person alive. It also keeps him thinking too much about the horror of what has happened.

After he “clocks out”, Del stays at the library where he used to work. He’s apparently a bit anal retentive, determined to shelve all the books properly, even the ones his deceased neighbors might still have at home. But Del does take time to relax. He enjoys watching movies on a laptop with a glass of wine, and even goes fishing on occasion.

Into the 'Arena' with Duran Duran

In 1985, English pop band Duran Duran (Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, and Taylors Andy, John, and Roger) were at the peak of their popularity. Back then I wouldn’t have been caught dead listening such a non-badass bunch, as it was about the same time my teenage identity solidified into that of “metal head”. And you can be darn sure I didn’t watch the hour-long concert film, ARENA (AN ABSURD NOTION), that the boys released that year. I wasn’t even aware the thing existed.

Times and tastes change, though, and these days I have more appreciation for Duran Duran. So when I recently stumbled across ARENA, I figured what the heck, I’ll take a look. It should be fun at the very least. Plus, I might score a few points with my wife, a long-time fan of the group.

I couldn’t possibly have imagined what was in store.

Movie Review: 'Predators' goes in for the kill

The original 1987 Predator was about a group of mercenaries in the jungle being hunted by the meanest, ugliest space Rastafarian of all time.  That about sums up the plot of Predators as well, but as the plural nature of the title suggests, this time there’s more than one monster on the hunt.  There are some other changes to the formula which I won’t divulge (even though the trailer already gives away one of the biggest surprises), but Predators isn’t likely to win too many points for originality.  But as the great Joe Bob Briggs has often said, if you’re gonna’ make a sequel, do it right and make the exact same movie, and that’s pretty much what producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal have done with Predators. 

Predator star Arnold Schwarzenegger is otherwise occupied these days, so this time around we get Adrien (The Pianist) Brody in the lead.  It seems like an odd casting choice at first, but Brody proves more than capable of delivering gruff, monosyllabic dialog with the best of them.  Other choice game for the Predators’ hunt includes Alice Braga as a U.S. Special Forces soldier with a conscience, former UFC fighter Oleg Taktarov as a gatling-gun toting mercenary with a soft spot for his kids, Topher Grace as a seemingly out of place doctor, and Danny Trejo as Danny Trejo.  Lawrence Fishburne shows up later as a survivor from a previous hunt who’s been left a little unbalanced by his ordeal. 

Director Nimrod Antal, who helmed last year’s highly enjoyable ‘B’ action flick Armored, is absolutely the right man for this job.  He approaches this material without pretension or condescension, and knows how to stage an exciting action scene so that you can actually tell what’s going on.  There’s no shaky cam, fast editing, or hyper stylized music video bullshit here.  There’s also not a lot of blood and gore compared to other recent R-rated action flicks like Rambo, but there is one gleefully messy showstopper where a Predator rips someone’s head and spinal column right out of their body and swings it around. 

Since the Predator franchise has become inextricably linked with the Alien series via the Aliens vs. Predators films, it’s hard to avoid comparing Predators with Aliens.  Well, there is no comparison.  Aliens is a classic.  This is just a meat and potatoes action flick.  It’s not aiming for greatness; just good, solid entertainment.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  No doubt nitpicky fanboys can find things to bitch about, but for anyone just looking for a good action-packed time at the movies, Predators easily hits its mark.  3 out of 4 stars.

Fly Me to the 'Moon'

Sam (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of his 3 year contract as a miner on the moon base Sarang.  His only companion is the computer GERTY (voice of Kevin Spacey), and the satellite allowing live communications with his employers and loved ones back on earth is in need of repair.  Perhaps it’s the resulting loneliness that is causing Sam to hallucinate.  While driving a lunar rover on a routine mission, one of Sam’s hallucinations causes him to have an accident.  Shortly after awakening in the infirmary, Sam sees GERTY having a live conversation with mission control.  He is also prohibited from leaving the base, but manages to trick GERTY into letting him out on the pretense of doing some repairs.  Driving back to the site of his accident, Sam is surprised to find… himself, still unconscious in the crashed Rover.

So what the heck is going on?  Is this an hallucination?  Is one of these “Sams” a clone or a robot?   Both Sam and the audience get the answer to these questions fairly quick.  This isn’t one of those movies all about some “mind blowing” secret.  It’s about the ramifications of what Sam learns, both for him personally, and in a broader sense, for all of human society.  This is the sort of thoughtful and adult science fiction film that used to be commonplace in the late sixties and early seventies.  Comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Silent Running seem particularly apt, but this is no mere homage.  Rather Moon is a film that embodies the spirit of those films and applies it to something fresh.

I also have to give the movie kudos for using old school special effects techniques.  When I was watching the movie, I thought to myself, “wow, that’s some of the best CGI I’ve ever seen.  That land rover looks like it’s really there.”  Well, it was really there.  The film used models, and there’s a subtle feeling of tactile reality you get from using models that just isn’t there with CGI yet.  Most of the moonbase was built as an actual set, as well.  Everything looks so good, it’s hard to believe this movie was made for $5 million. 

This is a very minimalist film.  To a large degree, it’s just Sam Rockwell talking to himself.  Luckily Rockwell is one of the best actors working these days, and he’s more than up to the challenge of carrying the film.  That said, Spacey does a great job as the voice of GERTY, recalling HAL9000 while at the same time presenting a different take on artificial intelligence. 

I have to applaud the vision of writer/director Duncan Jones.  Moon is smart, relevant, and gripping, with the science fiction elements always subservient to story and theme.  There are no action scenes or moments of artificial drama, but the film is never for a second dull.  This is just a great story told well, and easily one of the best movies of 2009.  Sadly I’m just now seeing it, but it would have landed somewhere in my top 5 for sure.  4 out of 4 stars. 

James Cameron keeps his crown with 'Avatar'

After the death of his twin brother, Paraplegic marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) voyages to the alien world of Pandora to complete the mission his late sibling had signed up for. The mission involves transferring Jake’s consciousness into an artificially grown body called an avatar via some futuristic gizmo. These avatars have been created to look like the native humanoid population, known as the Na’vi.

The Na’vi are currently living in a giant tree that just happens to be located over a large deposit something called “unobtanium”. The scientists and other peacenik humans, chief among them Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), want to find a diplomatic way to get the natives to move so that this unobtanium can be harvested. That’s the reason for the avatars. Corporate big-wig Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) realizes it might be bad publicity if they just went in and killed off the Na’vi, but he’s also sensitive to his investor’s bottom line. He tells Augustine if she doesn’t get results soon, he’ll let Colonel Quaritch (Steven Lang) send his private army in to get the job done.

After a bumpy start, Jake (in avatar form) slowly begins to win the trust of the Na’vi. They even agree to let him become one of them, provided he can make it through their rites of passage. Neytiri (Zoe Soldana) is charged with preparing Jake for these challenges, which culminate in learning how to bond with and ride a giant flying lizard thing. Because of Jake’s success, Augustine is given a little more time to try things her way. But Jake finds himself caught in the middle when Quaritch offers him a chance to get his legs back in return for intelligence about the natives.

Call this a spoiler if you want, but it should come as no surprise to anyone that Jake and Neytiri become romantically involved, and that the final fate of Pandora will be decided not diplomatically, but rather by a spectacular, action-packed battle. What is surprising is how much time is spent on story, character, and just showing the simple wonders of this alien world.

Also surprising is the degree to which Cameron includes political allegory in his film. This is an unrepentant left-wing fantasy. The Na’vi are meant to evoke native Americans, and their “in harmony with nature” lifestyle is shown in the most positive light. With only a few exceptions, the humans are the bad guys who have depleted all their own resources, and are now moving on to pillage other planets. There are also overt references to the war on terror, with Quaritch talking about pre-emptive strikes, shock and awe, and fighting terror with terror.

But politics aside, this is just an entertaining and well made movie. The basic plot is nothing new, but Cameron adds enough fresh touches that the end result doesn’t feel too recycled. The effects are amazing, but unlike some effects-heavy blockbusters this movie doesn’t fetishize them. They are tools to tell the story, not an end unto themselves. The same is true of the 3D. It’s excellent, but Cameron doesn’t screw around throwing things out of the screen at you every couple of seconds like those old SCTV “Dr. Tongue” sketches.

My only complaint is that the good guys and bad guys portrayed in such absolute, black and white terms. I realize that’s what most people want in a movie like this, but considering one of the themes Avatar deals with is the demonization of an alien culture so we can justify killing them, it just seems a little hypocritical. Still, I’d be hard pressed to find a fantasy/sci-fi/action film this year that I would recommend more highly. This is definitely one to see in the theater. As for spending the extra couple bucks for the 3D version, I don’t think you’ll miss it if you want to save the money. As good as the 3D is, this is a real movie, not a gimmick. 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

Brains and Prawn: A Review of 'District 9'

District 9 takes place in an alternate history where an alien spaceship arrived over South Africa in the early eighties. Unable to leave, and with their leaders seemingly gone, the aliens (called “prawns” by some due to their resemblance to large bipedal crustaceans) are quarantined in a shanty town known as District 9. It’s now 28 years since the aliens first arrived, and squalor and crime have firmly taken hold.



The film follows Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a worker at the company in charge of dealing with the aliens. While going door to door to tell the prawns they are being moved to a new camp farther away from humans, Wikus finds a strange alien-made cylinder. A strange liquid inside the cylinder gets on Wikus, causing him to mutate into an alien/human hybrid.

One side effect of his mutation is that Wikus can now use the alien weapons that have been useless to humans until now. This makes him valuable both to the company he works for and the Nigerians who run the criminal underworld in the camp. Also interested in finding Wikus so he can get the cylinder back is Christopher, a prawn with a young son who needs the device so he can return to the mother ship and, from there, home. Whether he wants to do so simply to help his people or to return to earth with more ships to lead an attack is unknown.

District 9 is mainly escapist fantasy, but like the best science fiction it has something to say about the real world in which we live. The resemblance of the alien slum to apartheid era homelands is no coincidence, but one could just as easily find similarities to concentration camps or Palestine. And the private contractors hired to manage the aliens can't help but evoke Iraq and the Blackwater incident.

The prawns are an extreme example of an alien “other”, but by using them the movie shows just how easy it is to marginalize and vilify those who are different, even by those who have endured the same experience themselves (we see both white and black South Africans expressing disgust and hatred for the prawns). We also see the dehumanizing effect this has on those being oppressed, and the full range of negative effects that result.

This is the first feature film for director Neil Blomkamp, and his inexperience does show a little. This is most glaring in the awkward attempt to blend documentary style footage with a more traditional dramatic narrative. The whole point of using a faux documentary approach is to create more of a sense of realism, but the way the film keeps switching styles only serves to make the viewer more aware that they are watching a movie. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, but there’s no denying that the stylistic shifts are distracting, and that takes away from the film enough that it bears mentioning.

Still, while I would have preferred a more uniform approach, the story District 9 tells is compelling and the world it creates is unique and fully realized. Hell, it’s just nice to see a movie that doesn’t think that being entertaining and having some substance are mutually exclusive for a change. Check this one out. 3 ½ out of 4 stars.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Megan Fox running in slow motion, her orange tinged cleavage glistening, breasts a bouncing, while giant fire balls explode behind her. That one shot, repeated at least three times, more or less sums up Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Okay, I suppose that’s not all there is. There’s also lots of CGI robots, most of whom rush by on the screen so fast you can’t tell one from the other.


You want a plot synopsis? Okay, Sam (Shia Lebouf) is heading off to college, hoping to maintain a long distance relationship with Mikaela (Fox). Despite all these two have been through together (see the first Transformers movie if you must), neither one can bring themselves to tell the other “I love you”. That’s pretty much it for character development for our two leads. Meanwhile, the Autobots (good guy robots, in case you didn’t know), led by Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) are working together with the U.S. military to track down any remaining Decepticons (bad guy robots). A particularly nasty Decepticon named “The Fallen” (voice of Tony Todd) is looking to turn the tide with some ancient doohickey, but he needs Sam to get to it. Lots of stuff blows up. That’s pretty much it.

As with the first Transformers movie, what makes this one tolerable for me is the comic relief. Most of this is provided by Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam’s parents, and John Turturro as a former government researcher turned deli owner. I’m not saying this is comedy gold here, folks, but when these actors are on screen I was at least entertained. For the most part, though, this movie is a whole lot of action for action’s sake. It’s generic, predictable, and has no characters that we can emotionally invest in. I suppose there were some moments that were kind of fun, but what possible reason can there be for dragging mindless fluff like this out to 2 and a half hours? No movie about Megan Fox’s hooters and giant robots beating each other up ever needs to be longer than 90 minutes. Still, it’s more mediocre than bad, so I guess 2 out of 4 stars.

'Terminator Salvation' review

Death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) donates his body to science prior to execution only to wake up seemingly none the worse for wear in the post “Judgment Day” world of the Terminator films, where humanity’s last survivors are fighting a losing war against self aware machines. Wright meets up with a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) who, as those familiar with the series know, will one day grow up to be Michael Biehn in the first Terminator.

Wright and Reese set out to roam the wasteland along with the mute child Star (Jadagrace), but it isn’t long before a bunch of nasty machines show up to hassle the humans. Reese, Star, and some other survivors are captured, but Wright escapes, eventually meeting up with a group of resistance fighters including Blair (Moon Bloodgood) and series mainstay John Connor (Christian Bale). At first Connor isn’t sure if he can trust Wright, but eventually they team up to rescue Reese.


The part of John Connor was beefed up at Bale’s request, but more screen time isn’t enough in and of itself to turn a supporting part into a lead. Too many of his scenes just feel like padding, and the character is almost superfluous at times. It’s also by no means one of Bale’s better performances. Fortunately Worthington and Yelchin are engaging, and the writers seem to have actually given some thought to their characters. When they’re onscreen, you almost care about what’s happening, but not enough to make up for the film’s many shortcomings.

Chief among those shortcomings is a screenplay riddled with logic issues and general stupidity. The script also manages to telegraph every single plot development way in advance. Chances are you’ll know exactly how the movie is going to end at least 10 minutes before it does, which at least allows you to leave early without missing anything.

A good director might have still salvaged something from the post apocalyptic rubble, but sadly Terminator Salvation got saddled with McG, whose previous work includes music videos and the Charlie’s Angels movies. His approach is to assault the audience with a nonstop barrage of special effects, loud noises and confusingly shot action sequences. He has absolutely no idea how to make a scene work. Even the one sure-fire audience pleasing surprise near the end of the movie doesn’t have the impact it should because McG refuses to let a moment just breathe.

On the plus side, there are some cool looking new death machines, ranging from skeletal retro terminators to giant assault bots, and plenty of stuff blows up real good. More importantly, the parts of the movie focusing on Worthington’s character show there was the potential for Terminator Salvation to have been a decent popcorn flick. Ultimately, though, this isn’t so much a movie as it is a clanging, banging special effects demo reel. 1 ½ out of 4 stars.

Warrior of the Analog Wasteland: Bob Reviews ‘Exterminators of the Year 3000’

I recently came into the possession of a sizeable stash of VHS tapes. These weren’t just any old VHS tapes, though. No siree. These were formerly the stock of Lakewood, Ohio’s lost and lamented B-Ware Video. And while it sometimes seems like every last cheesy horror and sci-fi film has been released on DVD, this stash contained a number of films that have yet to surface in the digital format. So I spent a few weeks transferring many of these forgotten classics onto DVD-R, and in the coming weeks and months I plan to watch and review some of them here on Utter Trash. Seeing as Neil Marshall’s Doomsday just hit home video this past week, I’ll start with an earlier Mad Max rip-off: 1985’s Exterminators of the Year 3000.
Giuliano Carnimeo’s Exterminators of the Year 3000 is a fairly typical example of eighties Italian Mad Max rip-offs. It’s a film clearly “influenced” by The Road Warrior with water substituted for gas as the scarce commodity. And yet for all it’s brazen borrowing, it still throws in some loopy curve balls like Tommy (Luca Venantini), a kid with a bionic arm. Tommy knows where there’s a big stash of water and just wants someone to help him get it back to the band of survivors he’s been living with. Unfortunately his best hope for assistance seems to be Alien (Robern Jannucci).

Usually in a movie like this the rough edged anti-hero eventually shows he has some kind of moral character, or at least cares about someone other than himself. Not Alien. Very few films have the courage to make their protagonist such an unlikable and unrepentant dick all the way through to the end, but Exterminators never falters. Alien starts out as the biggest douchebag in the wasteland, and by the time the movie is over he still holds the title. Even Crazy Bull (Fernando Bilbao), the leader of the obligatory punk rock motorcycle gang of violent barbarians, seems like he’d be more trustworthy and reliable.

Fortunately for Tommy, he and Alien join up with Trash (Alicia Moro) and Papillon (Luciana Pigozzi). Trash is your typical bad-ass babe with a heart of gold who once had a thing with Alien, and Papillon is the last man alive who actually saw real rain. The fate of humanity now rests in the less than capable hands of this quartet. It’s bad enough that Alien wants to screw everyone over and sell the water to the highest bidder, but before that can even be addressed there’s the previously mentioned biker gang and a rather disappointing group of mutants guarding the water supply to contend with.

This is shoddy filmmaking even by the low standards of eighties Euro trash. There are no real special effects to speak of, but there are some decent stunts and car crashes. The performances are mostly bland, but I have to give kudos to Bilbao (and/or the guy who provided his English dubbing) as Crazy Bull for uttering great lines like, “Onward my merry mother-grabbers!” and the occasional bit of Shakespeare. It’s no 1990: The Bronx Warriors, but Exterminators has enough low-brow appeal to be tolerable if you’re a fan of grade ‘Z’ trash like I am. 6 out of 10.