The Last time Jim Carrey and Joel Shumacher teamed up to make a movie, we got Batman Forever, the film that began the downward spiral of an entire franchise. That is, until the franchise was later reinvented by Christopher Nolan. The last time Jim Carrey ventured away from his trademarked brand of comedy, we saw brilliance in Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. So what would happen when Shumacher and Carrey team up again, this time to make a drama about a man’s plunge into obsession and paranoia. Well, you get a film that is more on the Eternal Sunshine side of the spectrum, at least momentarily. The film starts out as the harmless tale of Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey), an arid middle aged family man whose greatest source of adventure is tracking down animals as a member of the local pest control office. Happily married with a wife (Virginia Madsen) and a son (Logan Lerman), Walter has as little reason for stress as he does adventure. That is, until one night when he comes across a book titled The Number 23. The book tells the story of Fingerling (also played by Carrey), a rogue detective whose world is turned upside down by the coincidental nature of the number 23, a nature that has brought murder and suicide to anyone it plagues. As Walter reads the book, he realizes that he and Fingerling are not unlike each other, but are eerily similar in many ways. He begins to [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Have you ever tried to take a joke that normally takes 5 minutes to tell and try to stretch it to 15 minutes? Aside from seeing it as a very difficult task, you begin to wonder why you are trying to do it in the first place. The same theory should apply to taking a 30 minute television show and stretching it into a 90 minute movie. Yet, for some reason people in Hollywood don’t have that little voice in their head saying, “this is dumb!” Whether haphazardly stumbling in the footsteps of The Dukes of Hazzard or making an attempt to recreate the magical success that Borat experienced last year, creator Ben Garant has decided to take his famed sitcom Reno 911! to the big screen. In Reno 911!: Miami, the now infamous members of the Reno sheriff’s department descend upon Miami Beach, Florida and the National Police Convention. Upon arrival though, they learn that something has gone wrong with their reservation and they are not allowed in. After a night of boozing (and some lewd sexual conduct), they decide to return on the second day of the convention for another try, only to find out that every policeman in Miami Beach has been trapped inside the convention center at the hands of a biological terror attack. Left with no other viable options, the Department of Homeland Security tasks out the bumbling team of cops from Reno to keep Miami Beach in order and find the antidote before thousands [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Bookended by images of a bloodied child, Pan’s Labyrinth is a graphically violent film, pushing the limits of watchability, for example, during a needlessly protracted scene in which a character stitches up his own sliced-up face. Set during the Spanish Civil War, this “fairy tale for adults” (as people won’t stop calling it) earns its R rating somewhere in the second or third reel with a surprisingly gruesome, savage, and cold-blooded beating of two pitiable peasants. Well, after all, this is war, and with Fascists no less. Rendered fatherless by the war, Ofelia and her enceinte mother relocate to a countryside manor, also unfortunately the front lines of post-war combat against Republican insurgents where the mother’s new husband, Vidal (the dourly handsome Sergi L³peza), a sadistically cruel Captain in Franco’s Army, is stationed. To the consternation of her parents, Ofelia is a bookworm hopelessly lost in fantasies, and, frightened of the Captain, her mother’s declining health, and the encompassing conflict, she uses a labyrinth on the property as the starting point for an elaborate escapist fantasy involving a frightening Faun (the film’s Spanish title literally translates to The Faun’s Labyrinth), a handful of fairies, and an assortment of various creatures, most notably a child-eating monster with his eyes in the palms of his hands. Fighting off the helpless anonymity imposed on her by the war and her mother’s illness, in Ofelia’s fantasy she is the reincarnated spirit of a Princess who must complete a series of difficult allegorical tasks to [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

While Alan Moore’s comic tales are deliberately unfilmable, which has been proven by the directors who tried, Frank Miller’s epics like 300 always seemed to have a cinematic feel to them. Robert Rodriguez did it with Sin City, perfectly transferring Miller’s aesthetics from paper to the screen. I’m really glad to say that Zach Snyder continued the legacy with success. Despite it’s natural flaws, 300 is the eye candy of the year. It’s the worldwide known story of Leonidas (Gerard Butler), King of Sparta, and his no-guts-no-glory suicide defense against one of the largest armies the ancient world witnessed, the Persians of King-God Xerxes. Told by a soldier who survived as a messenger for the people back home, this is a timeless war epic, not a cliche but the story that gave birth to every heroic battle cliche from then on. It’s not historically accurate, more like a tall tale based on the mythology that arouse from the facts. Snyder followed thoroughly Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s steps, keeping the atmosphere, pallete, and most visuals from the graphic novel in tact. Whatever he added, never feels foreign and his respect for Miller’s work is always there. Sometimes you can see the panels come alive. CGI is of course top notch although it’s still a bit unreal. That is what makes it difficult for people who aren’t familiar with comic book aesthetics to relate to this kind of visual delight. Acting is good, although Gerard Butler’s Leonidas and Dominic West’s Theron [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

In recent years there has been something that has been conspicuously absent from the Hollywood horror factory. That missing element is genuine creepiness. Most of the horror films that reach our screens fall into one of two categories, first are the sanitized PG-13 rated affairs that survive on jump scares, the others fall into the so-called area of “torture porn” along the lines of Saw. It is that which makes this movie stand out, it is genuinely creepy, it makes you wonder what exactly is going to happen, and even though I haven’t completely pieced the ending together, The Abandoned successfully sidesteps the current penchant for torture and over-reliance on jumps to create its atmosphere of dread. The Abandoned is a haunted house story at its heart, and it wastes no time getting down to telling its tale of a life long fate that is about to be set right. It begins its story 40 years ago somewhere in Russia. A beat up old truck arrives at a small farmhouse, as the family patriarch approaches the truck, clutching a shotgun, he is unsure who is inside, dreading the worst. He opens the door to reveal a woman, bloody and near death, with a pair of babies on the sea next to her. Fast forward to the present day, we are introduced to Marie, am American film producer who has spent her life attempting to track down her roots, as she had been adopted as a young girl. Her search leads [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

What can I say? This is a dumb movie, funny, but dumb. If you like the television show, you are most likely going to like the movie. For the rest of the cinema going public, your threshold for dumb comedy, lack of plot, and sheer zaniness will have to be assessed prior to entering the darkened theater. This is a movie not about plot, or about any type of social message, it is about watching these inept police officers muddle their way through and somehow get everything right in the end. Think of it as a Police Academy for a new generation. The story, such as it is, has the Reno Sheriff’s Department invited to a convention in Miami. Of course, they did nothing to merit the invite, as all of the Sheriff’s Departments were asked to attend. Still, this is a momentous occasion for the group. They head off to enjoy some fun in the sun, but before they can get their passes straightened out, the convention hall is the victim of a chemical attack. This leaves the Reno gang as the only police force outside of the building able to patrol the city and keep order. While they do their best to keep the city safe, they are also involved with finding those responsible for the attack at the convention. With that thin premise in place, the 80 minute runtime is then filled with the type of humor you would find on the small screen version, although there [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

A friend recently asked if I planned on seeing The Science of Sleep, and to his surprise I responded with an unenthusiastic, “eh, maybe.” I like Gondry as a director, I explained, but even more I enjoy Charlie Kaufman’s scripts; the issue for me therefore was, “can Gondry be trusted to make a movie by himself?” and from the looks of the trailer I was not too eager to find out. (Obviously, however, since a review follows I took the risk.) Gondry’s protagonist, Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal), is the host of Stephane TV, a television programme resembling a morning talk show with its inclusion of a little bit of everything, such as cooking, interviews, and a dash of musical performance… Yeah right, in his dreams! No, literally, in his dreams; see, Stephane is quite the escapist, one of those classic schlubs with a dull job who’s also a bit of an artist. What he really wants to be, though, is an inventor, and the movie is packed with his various creations, such as a time machine that, while functional, endearingly only takes one a single second back in time. Stephane vaguely recalls Tim Burton’s Pee-Wee; all that’s missing is an enchantingly, mechanically prepared breakfast. Stephane moves into a Paris apartment, though his French is miserable, where his new neighbor is the charming Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg)—hey, what a coincidence! Stephane, Stephanie; Stephanie, Stephane. I cautiously prepared myself for a dreadful meet-cute. He falls for her in due time and a prolonged [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This Week’s Top 5 Movie List, brought to you by Rank-a-Movie.

Robert De Niro is by all means a great actor. Does that mean he can be a good director? His second attempt at it is “The Good Shepherd”, a story about the origins of the CIA, an essay on how to be a textbook spy and a family drama all at once. Sounds intriguing enough as a project. Too bad De Niro lacks the vision to make it a multi layered film with a few answers instead of questions. Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is a quiet guy and a good poetry student at an Ivy League University. There, he is gradually recruited by “Skull and Bones” and later on by the FBI. After he successfully rats on his nazi-suspect teacher he shows promise as a future spy. Meanwhile he gets a senator’s daughter (Angelina Jolie) pregnant and goes on to marry her. Unfortunately for his newfound family, duty calls for him to work in Europe, during the first cold war intelligence procedures… De Niro has in his hands a very delicate matter for America and the whole world. CIA operations have been a subject of political discussion and conspiracy theories for ages. What he achieves is a two and a half hour obsession with Matt Damon. The latter is definitely at his best, giving a great performance as the remote, cold-blooded, almost inhuman CIA executive. It’s not enough. Suppose we even care about a guy like that, about his condemned family life and his inability to trust anyone, he still [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This article was written by guest author Luis dos Santos. Swedish director Anders Nilsson (Den Tredje v¥gen, Livvakterna) has a vast career in action and thriller movies, with most of his films targeted to the international market. He has directed 5 features films and about 80 commercials and has a vast curriculum in screenplay, cinematography and editing. In his latest feature film When darkness falls (N¤r m¶rkret faller) he presents us a dark, disturbing thriller. Leyla, Carina and Aram are the central characters of each of the three different stories which take place in Sweden at about the same time. Leyla (Oldoz Javidi) and the 19 year old Nina (Bahar Pars) are the adolescent daughters of a very conservative arabic family. Nina finds herself in trouble inside the family when suspicion arises that she has a boyfriend. After her relatives decide to take some extreme measures to prevent her from seeing any other boy again, Leyla decides to go as far as she can to restore her syster’s honour. Aram (Reuben Sallmander) is the owner of a small restaurant which has been recently target of the interest of local criminals. When his bouncers refuse the entrance to three young ruffians, the criminals decide to take revenge and shoot some persons at the restaurant. Aram is the only one who can identify the perpretators. The television journalist Carina (Lia Boysen) is married with the cinematographer H¥kan (Peter Engman), the couple’s life being impregnated of episodes of domestic violence. After Carina decides [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Seven Swords marks the first feature from writer/producer/director Tsui Hark since the massively disappointing (at least to me) Black Mask 2. This film is an epic tale of heroism, revenge, loyalty, and love in a gritty world where death may be just around the corner. It is a highly entertaining film that may not be terribly solid in its narrative, but makes up for it in the plentiful, and inventive fight sequences. The story is set at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the early times of the Ching Dynasty. The new rulers feared a revolt, and in an effort to solidify and protect their power an edict was declared. The edict outlawed the practice of martial arts, anyone who practices must turn over their weapons or face stiff consequences. The problem is that those who were sent out to enforce the edict were a bloodthirsty lot, who found that they would be paid for the heads of the martial artists, not to mention anyone else who happened to be there. They were, essentially, death squads traveling the countryside, leaving blood and death in their wake. Seven Swords centers on seven warriors who band together to defend a village from the oncoming storm. To aid them in their duty, they travel to a master at Mount Heaven, who bestows upon them the seven swords of the title. Each of these blades reacts differently, and offers a unique attack based on its bearer. The seven are not a well oiled [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

I admit, classic cinema is something of a weak point for me. For all of the movies I have seen, the majority of them have been of a more modern vintage. Now, do not take this as meaning I do not like, or do not watch the films of years past, just not nearly as much, something that I hope to rectify. So, I approached Double Indemnity with high hopes, due to its legendary status as one of the greatest noir films ever created. I was looking forward to seeing how well it stood up to the pedestal it has been placed on, and also to help expand my viewing of the classics. Double Indemnity is a film that helped to define the noir films throughout the 40s and 50s. There is beautifully stark photography, odd angles, mysterious music, and at its heart were everyday people. The story is centered on people that you could come across in your everyday life, they were not larger than life, or iconic characters, they are regular people with their own weaknesses and strengths. The story takes those people and outs them in a situation that preys on their darker impulses. The resulting film is a movie that is totally unique, and so strong in its execution that you can still see the influence throughout today’s films. The story centers on Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray, an insurance salesman who is successful yet stagnant. His weakness is personified by Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), a blonde [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Will Ferrell waxes dramatic in this week’s DVD Pick of the Week.

Despite dropping 55% from last week, Ghost Rider continues to ride away with box office success!

Take one part bad director, one part bad screen writing and top it off with a random mix of campy dialogue and you might just have a recipe for Hollywood disaster. And while after you throw in some Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes and some cool explosions, the final dish may not be fine dining but its better than a TV dinner. When young Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) finds that his daredevil (no pun intended) father has become sick, he would do anything to help. When the Devil (Peter Fonda) makes him an offer that he cannot refuse, Johnny gives up his soul to help his sick father. Johnny lives the rest of his life looking for a sign that he is not destined only to end up in the grasp of the Devil. He pulls death-defying stunts off one after another, testing the waters to see if his talent is real or if he is just under the protection of the Devil to fulfill his end of the bargain. When Johnny meets his lost love Roxanne (Eva Mendes), he sees it as a sign that he is not just destined for life of solitude. When Johnny tries to mend his broken relationship with Roxanne, the Devil calls on him to fulfill his burden as the Ghost Rider. Another Marvel Comics character goes to waste, at the hands of a vigilante director. Mark Steven Johnson,unlike some of the great comic villains, has developed quite a skill for killing super heroes. Johnson [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Did anyone else get the willies at the site of smiley, shade wearing, bald Jack Nicholson?

Zach Snyder’s epic film 300, based on the graphic novel by Sin City creator Frank Miller, is just around the corner. We give you all the necessary info to get you pumped and ready to go to battle!

Win one of dozens of great prizes! This contest will be the most kick-ass contest we do all year!

If Brian Gibson ruled the Oscars, this is who would win — or something like that.

Another year, another set of surprises and another completely unique bunch of movies and it all comes down to this. In all actuality, it will really come down to this moment on Sunday evening when the Best Director and Best Picture envelopes are opened and the winners are paraded up to the stage to show their gratitude. The Academy has, on occasion, gotten it right and given these awards to the most deserving souls. Will 2006 be that kind of year? I for one seem to think so. Best Achievement in Directing Who will win: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)Who should win: Martin Scorsese (The Departed) Oscarwatch reported earlier this week that a straw poll amongst some of the more geriatric members of the Academy had Clint Eastwood taking the Best Director nod away from the seemingly destined Martin Scorsese. But they forgot one thing: Marty is the man, and this is his year. For him to make what could be his best film so late in his career just goes to show that he still has it, and how can the Academy not recognize such an accomplishment. I can also understand how Clint Eastwood is so beloved, but he had 2 chances to upstage Marty this year (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima) and he just couldn’t pull it off. Go ahead Academy, give ole’ Marty one to remember — we all know you want to. Best Motion Picture of the Year Who will win: Little Miss [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]