After watching Blue Valentine about 5 or 6 times within my first month of owning it and then re-watching Brokeback Mountain a couple of months ago (the first time I saw it was in the movie theater), I’ve been itching to go on a Michelle Williams streak. I had no idea her filmography was already so long, and while I’m not going to watch some of the films very early on in her career (such as Halloween H20 or But I’m a Cheerleader), I’m anxious to see the movies she’s starred in since her Dawson’s Creek days. One of those movies was Sharon Maguire’s (in just her second directorial effort, following the highly popular Bridget Jones’s Diary) Incendiary.
Category Archives: 2008
One Week (2008)
To say that Michael McGowan’s One Week suffered from the wrong movie/wrong time syndrome would be an understatement. Much like the beautiful movie Walk The Line, Joaquin Phoenix’s performance and the film were overshadowed by Jamie Foxx’s Ray, which came out a year earlier. From most critics’ perspectives, Ray was a slightly better movie. While Phoenix received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination, there was no chance he would win it because Foxx won the award a year before. The Academy wasn’t going to reward essentially the same movie with a nearly identical lead performance. The unfortunate part was that these movies were based on legendary actors (Johnny Cash in Walk The Line, Ray Charles in Ray), and each actor portrayed each man correctly.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
If you aren’t in the mood for a heavy-hitting movie, stay away from Mark Herman’s 2008 World War II-based drama The Boy In the Striped Pajamas. It stars newcomer Asa Butterfield (The Wolfman, Nanny McPhee Returns) as eight-year-old Bruno, the son of a predominant Nazi official. Despite his protests, he is forced to move from the comforts of his Berlin home to the outskirts of the country so that his father can be closer to the concentration camps that he has been a part of organizing and running.
Doomsday
Doomsday (2008) was Neil Marshall’s follow-up effort after the 2005 surprise summer hit, The Descent, which wowed critics and fans alike. This movie, however, lacked the creepiness and the character development of The Descent. It seemed like Doomsday aimed to be like 28 Days Later with the horsepower of an action movie. As a result, it tripped over its feet before getting out of the gate. This movie is set in 2035, some 25 years after a massive epidemic has wiped out 99% of Scotland. The UK had built a wall that has effectively quarantined the remaining 1%. However, when the infection has made its way back into London and, through satellite images, the government learns that there are, in fact, survivors still living within the walls. A one-eyed special team operative named Edin (Rhona Mitra – Shooter, The number 23) is sent behind the wall to find the cure that keeps all of these people alive.
The Horseman (2008)
The Horseman is Australia’s version of Taken without the star power and filmed with a much lower budget. It stars Peter Marshall (pretty much an unknown in the United States) in his first starring role as Christian Forteski, a distraught father who goes on a killing rampage after discovering clues that have led to the death of his 20-something-year-old daughter. It’s a revenge flick, and while there isn’t anything new offered when compared to similar movies, it still holds the viewer’s attention. Some of that might have to do with an unknown cast because it was shot exclusively with handheld cameras or not produced in America. So, while you’ve seen this plot in hundreds of different movies if you can stomach the torture scenes, you’ll be entertained. And while you might not remember anything about this movie two weeks from now, you’ll remember that it did hold your interest.
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