After five films that never achieved the same effect as the original, expectations were at rock bottom for the seventh installment of the Sawfranchise, Saw 3D. All director Kevin Greutert and his team had to do was manage to at least keep it on par with the rest. Sadly, not only did Greutert fail miserably, but he had to take all of the other six films down with him.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT
This installment’s centerpiece is a Jigsaw survivor named Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery). Ever since his “rehabilitation,” he’s been busy peddling some book around trying to bank on his trauma. The problem is, Bobby’s a complete fraud. Clearly Jigsaw is not going to let him get away with this and nabs Bobby, his wife and his entourage, finally bringing some truth to his lies. Bobby is forced to go through a series of traps all of which put one of his team member’s lives at risk culminating with the ultimate, his wife’s.
Meanwhile, Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Jill (Betsy Russell) are still going at it. At the end of Saw VI, Jill left Hoffman in a reverse bear trap, but Hoffman managed to escape, mangling his face in the process. Now, Jill is under police protection, specifically the protection of Detective Gibson (Chad Donella). While Gibson attempts to keep an eye on Jill and stop the latest game before the players perish, Hoffman lurks in shadows, preparing to pounce.
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It’s that time of year again; another Halloween, another ‘Saw’ movie. For the seventh straight year, Lionsgate will deliver another film covering Jigsaw’s exploits in attempt to test his victims’ wills to live. Of course the series isn’t only about the torturing of characters who likely won’t make it through the film, there’s also the long running story of Jigsaw himself, John Kramer, his battle with cancer and attempt to keep his venture alive even after he’s passed on.
When you’re doused in big budget, effect-heavy features week after week, it winds up being the simplest productions that really blow you away. Writer-director Jeffrey Fine’s newest film, Cherry, is just about as minimalistic as they come, but the results are huge. Cherry achieves a degree of empathy, entertainment and pleasure that most grander scale films never even come close to earning.
It’s too bad Tyler Perry couldn’t take a cue from his film’s title, which was chopped down from For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, the 1975 Ntozake Shange play upon which the film is based, to simply For Colored Girls. Just like his name attracts massive amounts of moviegoers, it works like a charm when it comes to casting, too. Yes, it’s thrilling to print a massive list of famous names on your roster, try to adapt an iconic play and express a hefty handful of heavy-duty messages, but when it came to actually making those elements thrive in a film, it proved to be far more than Perry could handle.
Director Jake Scott has pressure coming from all sorts of angles when it comes to his new film Welcome to the Rileys. Not only does he have the Scott legacy to live up to (he’s Ridley Scott’s son), but he also has to get himself out of music video mode and ready to make a feature film. It’s been over ten years since Scott’s last feature, Plunkett & Macleane, and he sure chose a tough script for his return to the big screen.
It’s quite obvious that a key element of a family drama is the family aspect. Some actors are talented enough to make that dynamic seem real even though it might be far from it, but why put yourself through all the work when you can just develop a real life family-like relationship with your co-cast? It certainly worked for the cast of Jake Scott’s Welcome to the Rileys.
We’ve all seen tons of documentaries packed with old photographs, talking heads and monotonous background music and while there are certainly a number that are successful, not many manage to create the sensation that you’re actually immersed in the specific event. However, nowadays, when just about anyone can pick up a camera, hit record and capture history, firsthand accounts of just about any event are easy to come by. Then again, there’s just so far a YouTube clip can take you. Someone needs to compile and assemble a significant amount of footage to really bring a particular occurrence back to life and that’s exactly what Jeff Deutchman did with the film 11/4/08.
And so it continues …
Thanks to its unique shooting style and plot, one of last year’s biggest surprise hits, Paranormal Activity, should have been a one-and-done deal. Luckily Paramount decided to give the concept another go-around and found director Tod Williams and writer Michael R. Perry, two guys who really knew not only how to keep the story alive, but expand it in a manner that introduced new elements while keeping the old firmly intact. Think this will be just a studio fast track effort to make bank on a stellar concept? Think again. Not only is Paranormal Activity 2 a well-made sequel, it’s just as good as the first.
Are there any movies that go from the development stage to the big screen with zero problems along the way? Absolutely not, but it’s a particularly bumpy ride for filmmakers flying solo, without the assistance of a production company and that’s exactly how Punching the Clown came to be.