Final Destination 2: 2003 supernatural horror film directed by David R. Ellis and starring A.J. Cook, Ali Larter, and Michael Landes. Kimberly has a premonition of her own death in a huge traffic pile up, freaks out, the crisis is averted, and now Death is hunting down the survivors of the would-be collision. Same deal as the first. You know, without the sweaty, crazy sincerity that Devon Sawa brought to the original, it wasn’t as interesting. At least the premise was somewhat novel in FD1. Now there are like five of these stupid movies.
Trollhunter: 2010 Norwegian fantasy “found footage” horror-ish film directed by Andre Ovredal and starring Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hansen, Tomas Alf Larsen, and Johanna Morck. A group of students are trying to make a documentary about a man they think is a bear poacher, when they fall into the world of the Troll Security Service, a secret government agency protecting humans from trolls and vice-versa. HOLY SHIT LET’S VISIT NORWAY! I’ll be honest, I spent much of the movie distracted by the amazing landscapes. It was really good, but I wanted the trolls to be less cartoonish.
Waiting for “Superman”: 2010 documentary directed by Davis Guggenheim. Yep, we’re pretty much screwed. To put it as eloquently as I know how: the state of public education in this country sucks chode. This is not news. This documentary is depressing, but I think it’s necessary viewing if you give even the tiniest crap about this subject. And no matter where you stand on teachers unions, you should really listen to their arguments about tenure. In the words of fictional White House Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn: “Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes. We need gigantic revolutionary changes. . . . Competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be getting six-figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge for its citizens, just like national defense." At the very least this presents some seemingly viable ideas for how we get there.
The Housemaid: 2010 South Korean thriller directed by Im Sang-soo and starring Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jung-jae, Seo Woo, and Yoon Yeo-jeong. Eun-yi takes a job as a nanny for a ridiculously rich couple about to have twins. When she begins an affair with the husband, the relationship dynamics begin to shift and shit gets strange. MAN, I love Korean movies. They’re just so weird. I never know what’s going to happen next, and even if it makes no damn sense for some reason I don’t mind. I really liked it, but I would caution you that it’s bizarre and intense and the ending is totally bonkers.
Salesman: 1969 documentary directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin. The movie follows four door-to-door Bible salesmen, their good old fashioned 1960s racism, and invites many references to Willy Loman and Glengarry Glen Ross. It’s depressing on a level I was unable to deal with. I watched about 30 minutes of it before I had to bail.
Bobby Fischer Against the World: 2011 documentary directed by Liz Garbus. Fischer is arguably the greatest chess player of the modern era, and inarguably the most notorious. This documentary was fascinating. It mostly revolves around his epic 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky that vaulted him into Cold War stardom. DAMN chess was popular back then – ABC Sports? Really? It also touches on him joining a cult, becoming vehemently anti-Semitic in his later years despite his Jewish heritage, and all the crazy he was spouting after 9/11. The interviews are awesome (Kissinger, anyone?). The music was a little stereotypical (I swear, if I hear “Spirit in the Sky” on ONE MORE movie soundtrack I will lose my shit), but perhaps that’s a bit nitpicky. Definitely worth seeing.
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