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Fred Richardson’s take on three new movies…

By Fred Richardson

Welcome the first new set of reviews for 2008. Starting this time around, I’m going to be giving the things I review point scores on a scale from 1 to 100. As the year goes along I’ll also slip in ratings for older media and make revisions and corrections as time allows. If you have any thoughts positive, negative, indifferent or freakish, about the change, head over to the Web site and drop me a note via the comments section of the current review.

The first big movie of 2008 is Cloverfield, by director Matt Reeves from a script by Drew Goddard and produced by TV’s “Lost” mastermind, J.J. Abrams. The credits set-up the “found footage” conceit and clues us in to the fantastic nature of the event documented; a good thing because the first bit of the movie is kinda dull. It starts out as a bit of a 20-something N.Y. hipster soap opera involving a group of friends at a going away party for Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) who is about to start a new life in Japan.

There’s this girl and blah blah blah… Then there’s a big boom, a power outage and the movie starts to get interesting. Some big disaster is happening and as the characters find out what’s going on, so do we. It’s no secret that there’s some thing(s?) in the city causing said disaster and as the movie progresses we begin to find out what, but not really how or why. This may bother some folks, but I, for one, was engaged in the story enough to not need any solid explanations. As I may have said before, I’m a huge fan of monster movies, so the idea of a “you are there,” Godzilla-like spectacle is right up my alley. If one looks for flaws they can be had aplenty, but it’s a more of an amusement park ride than a lecture on narrative storytelling. I give it a 75/100.

Guillermo del Toro has become a bit of a force in the realm of fantastic films of late. His wonderful Pan’s Labyrinth won three Oscars and deserved more. Lately he’s been producing lots of films from fellow Spanish directors including Juan Antonio Bayona’s wonderfully creepy The Orphanage. Released in the U.S. late last year, it was Spain’s Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008). Shamefully, it wasn’t nominated.

The Orphanage really managed to scare the bejezzus out of me without ever really being super-gory. Creepy kids, scary noises, and an amazing location all combine to ramp up the psychological tension and we get chilling moments more than “gotcha” ones. The movie stars Belén Rueda in an Oscar-worthy performance as Laura, who in her childhood spent a few years at the titular home before being adopted. Later in life, she and husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) purchase the orphanage and, along with their son Simón (Roger Príncep), move in and prepare to take care of a few special needs children. I can’t say more because that would be telling. If you don’t mind breathing room in your movies and aren’t turned off by subtitles, I recommend El Orfanato if you want to be really scared, but not grossed out. 84/100.

Last issue I presented my top 10 best movies of the year. Yes, I know I fudged things a little and tossed out a few ties, but that was mostly because I honestly didn’t think I could find clear reasons to pick one movie over another. Incidentally this has a lot to do with the new rating system I’ve introduced. Now the problem is worse as it’s a 4-way tie at the top spot. Screenwriter/Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is nothing short of brilliant. Based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil!, TWBB is the story of Daniel Plainview, oilman, played by Daniel Day Lewis so well that they should just put his name on every award placard and statue they have and be done with it. Also excellent and deserving of awards is the rest of the whole freaking cast, crew and probably even the craft services personnel. Other Oscar-worthies are cinematographer Robert Elswit and film score composer, Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead). His music is as integral as any character in the film, but sadly he hasn’t been nominated. The film isn’t for everyone. It’s slow, bleak and at times brutally violent, but this movie isn’t SUPPOSED to be for mass consumption or a little light entertainment. It’s a serious film for serious movie nuts, and it’s OK if you don’t fall into that category. But if you think you might BECOME a serious movie nut, this just might be one of those films that might make the change happen. Historically, there are better movies, but not very many, so There Will Be a Rating of 92/100.