kennelco film diary

(2007) dir. Chris Weitz
viewed: 03/05/10
I’d long planned to see The Golden Compass but I think that at the time it came out, I guess I figured it would be a bit much for the kids (they would have been 3 and 5, respectively).  And then it stayed in my queue for a while.  I bought [...]

(2008) dir. Marcel Sarmiento, Gadi Harel
viewed: 02/26/10
I’d been on a little horror jag for the day, not planned, though I’d queued all the films up and they were all sitting here, waiting to be watched.  No planning.  No plan.  The only theme being that they were recent horror films.  I’d watched the moderately entertaining Norwegian [...]

(2009) dir. Ti West
viewed: 02/26/10
As you can probably guess from the title of this film, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, an unfortunate title any way you slice it, this film is the sequel to the film Cabin Fever (2002), the film that put Eli Roth onto the the film world.  Though Roth also directed Hostel (2005), he’s [...]

(2009) dir. Tommy Wirkola
viewed: 02/26/10
When you’ve seen one Norwegian Nazi zombie movie, you’ve seen ‘em all.
That said, it’s not all that often these come along.
Dead Snow, I think I just summarized it reasonably well for you, is your typical horror genre film, a bunch of young people in an isolated cabin (in this case in [...]

(2009) dir. Drew Barrymore
viewed: 02/22/10
I’ve liked Drew Barrymore since I first saw her as Gertie in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) when she was all of about 6 years old.  I was charmed like many people by her and saw her in Firestarter (1984) and Cat’s Eye (1985).  And while I didn’t follow her career exactly [...]

(2006) dir. Kelly Reichardt
viewed: 02/20/10
A movie about a couple of guys who go camping, find a hidden hot springs, take a bath and chat.  What’s not to like, right?   Honestly, I’ve never been one for camping.  And watching two guys go camping in a movie lacks the inconvenience of really doing it yourself, but not [...]

(1999) dir. Jane Campion
viewed: 02/20/10
Since watching An Angel at My Table (1990) and Bright Star (2009) last year, I’ve been on a determined path to catch up by watching all of director Jane Campion’s films.  No real order to this, so I’ve selected a sort of odd film of hers here, 1999’s Holy Smoke which [...]

(2009) dir. Ti West
viewed: 02/08/10
The House of the Devil is an intentional throw-back horror film, set in the early 1980’s and using credit titles meant to look as though it was actually produced back then.  It had gotten some decent reviews, so I was game to check it out.
Writer/director Ti West sets things slowly into [...]