News and reviews Week Of July 5th 2009

A very happy belated Canada Day everybody!

A nice Sci-Fi thriller this week, Nicholas Cage in “Knowing” and a nice creepy exorcist type movie with a new religious slant (see review!)
We goofed! The TV series we all want to watch uncut (without commercials silly!) could not be rented because of an internal problem. We’ve sorted it out now and very shortly (give us a week) they will be in the Spot. We’re talking Rome, Entourage, Californication, Breaking Bad, The Closer, The Shield, Dexter, True Blood, Terminator-The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Mad Men, stay tuned for details.

New releases now playing:

Knowing

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, Ben Mendelsohn, Adrienne Pickering, Tamara Donnellan, Brett Robson, Jayson Sutcliffe

In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule. But one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead. Fifty years later, a new generation of students examines the capsule's contents and the girl's cryptic message ends up in the hands of young Caleb Koestler. But it is Caleb's father, professor John Koestler, who makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years. John's increasingly desperate efforts to solve this puzzle take him on a heart-pounding race against time until he finds himself facing the ultimate disaster-and the ultimate sacrifice.
This is a fascinating and engrossing science fiction film, a picture that offers far more than surface thrills. Yes, the film starts out as a moodier, low-key variation on the superior first act of Jim Carrey's "The Number 23"; but it eventually progresses into something far different, something that deals with predestination, free will, and the terrible burden of foreknowledge in a fashion that will be familiar to fans of director Alex Proyas's previous genre films ("The Crow," "Dark City," "I Robot"). “Knowing”, while not without its faults, is fascinating and brave entertainment. The three main set-pieces; a horrific plane crash, an equally brutal subway smash-up, and the frightening finale; are all skillfully rendered, these scenes play like newsreel footage filled out with actual visions of real-life death and destruction. For these moments alone, Knowing is worth your time.




The Unborn

Cast: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, Jane Alexander, Idris Elba, Rachel Brosnahan
Casey Beldon (Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, Casey begins to understand why she left. Plagued by merciless dreams and a tortured ghost that haunts her waking hours, she must turn to the only spiritual advisor, Sendak,(Oldman) who can make it stop. With Sendak's help, Casey uncovers the source of a family curse dating back to Nazi Germany--a creature with the ability to inhabit anyone or anything that is getting stronger with each possession. With the curse unleashed, her only chance at survival is to shut a doorway from beyond our world that has been pried open by someone who was never born.
"The Unborn," the latest “J-horror’-styled release from a major studio. In this case, however, the “J” in “J-Horror” doesn’t stand for “Japanese,” but for “Jewish.” Written and directed by David S. Goyer ("The Invisible," "Batman Begins," the "Blade" trilogy), "The Unborn" borrows its supernatural elements from Jewish folklore, specifically the “Dybbuk,” a malevolent, body-possessing spirit, and a Jewish-styled exorcism (who knew they existed?). Featuring not one but two creepy, pale-faced kids (one’s actually alive, though) and several fascinating ideas and a handful of disturbing images (all of which, alas, you’ve seen already in the TV ads), and a scantily clad lead actress, Odette Yustman who is certainly easy on the eyes, something Goyer exploits multiple times through gratuitous underwear shots (and one shower scene)
“The Unborn" doesn’t mine new genre territory beyond the aforementioned Jewish folklore, but manages to squeeze half a dozen decent jump scares into its brisk, sub-90-minute running time. Plus bonus, it stars one of my favorites Gary Oldman who stole “Batman Begins”, so is probably why he’s in this one anyway. Oh, one more goodie, the DVD has the unrated cut with more scary stuff!!




A Current Title You Didn’t Rent (And Why You Should)

The Rocker

Cast: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Josh Gad, Emma Stone, Jeff Garlin, Jane Lynch, Jason Sudeikis, Will Arnett, Howard Hesseman

Rainn Wilson's (The Office) first big-screen leading role sees him slip into tactical spandex as he plays sweaty rocker Fish (no relation to Marillion’s), who’s booted out of ’80s metal band Vesuvius just as they hit the big time. After 20 years of hurt, his nephew gives him a chance to relive his dream, by playing the drums in a high school rock band. Cue flamboyant fills, furious bouts of head-banging and a string of rather flat gags ; like the floundering Fish playing his drums naked, unaware that the world is watching via video phone as he bids for rock ’n’ roll redemption. It's great to see someone other than Jack Black playing a role like this. Well done Rainn Wilson, Great supporting cast as well; especially the hysterical Christina Applegate (love her!) also the music rocks as well. So why didn’t you rent it? What else are you going to do on a Tuesday? (our new releases are in by Friday)




Coming Next Week; Push, Haunting In Connecticut, Che part 1.

News and reviews from the Movie Spot, the premier Canadian DVD kiosk. For info on where to find one go to our web site at http://www.MovieSpot.Ca