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rlurda
Reviews
Mother's Day (2010)
Quite an amazing film!
Now, I'd heard a lot of hype going into the screening and was skeptical that it'd be able to live up to what's been said about it. Suffice it to say, I have no complaints with the film. Mother's Day is a well-crafted, suspenseful horror/thriller that hearkens back in many ways to the original Saw since while Jigsaw's traps in the original Saw were gruesome (as were the results), the focus was not on the over-the-top gore but rather the rising tension, fear and desperation as a situation spirals out of control for both the Koffins and the victims.
From the opening moments of the film, the plot just builds steam and never, ever slows down. The one time I checked my watch, it wasn't out of boredom: it was in the vain belief that perhaps if I checked, I'd discover there was more time left in the film for me to enjoy and savor the characters. The entire ensemble gives incredible performances, from Rebecca DeMornay's disturbed but endearing portrayal of Mother; to Aaron Ashmore's role as doctor to a wounded member of the Koffin family; or the rest of the cast, who each play unique and beautifully damaged characters.
Coming from his stint on the Saw films, you might expect a Mother's Day film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman to be incredibly violent. Instead, Bousman wisely plays much of the gore off-screen, with the true horrors left to your imagination. This isn't to say that there aren't gruesome deaths in the film. There's enough to hint at the bloody and violent end to a few characters, but Bousman makes clear that violence isn't a gimmick in this film. The gamble pays off and the film is far more spine-tingling and cringe-inducing than if all the violence was shown in its entirety.
A horror/thriller (this film does not neatly fall within the confines of either) with a cast this brilliant is an incredibly rare proposition. The film is a face-paced, white-knuckled thrill ride that will leave you satisfied...and filled with dread.
The Return of Jezebel James (2008)
Lorelai Lite (TM)
I'm a huge fan of Gilmore Girls and a huge part of my fanship (fandom? I'm not sure how to verbinate "being a fan of") is the dialogue: quicked-witted and intensely smart, it appealed to me on a fairly deep level. More than that, there was a real sense of character to back up not only Lorelai and Rory that made them more than just cardboard cut-out clichés. There was heart as much as there was humor so naturally I expected to find the same things in Amy Sherman-Palladino's newest show. But as anyone can attest, you can give the likes of Shakespeare to an ill-equipped actor and it will come off as clumsy. Whether or not it's the fault of Amy having phoned in a script that seems like it was culled from dropped scripts of GG, the show just doesn't work. Fact of the matter is that Parker Posey is a horrible stand-in for Lauren Graham's comedic talents and Posey seems to be overacting the material in front of her when the brilliance of AS-P's writing is that the jokes work best when the only laughing is from the viewer and not the "live studio audience". The laugh track *kills* the humor in the show.
What's more is that the dynamic between Sarah (Posey) and her on-screen younger sister Coco feels like it was transplanted haphazardly from Gilmore Girls, with Coco acting the role of Rory. It's infuriating because it feels like AS-P got lazy and went for the cheap laugh. I rate this show poorly because I feel that Amy Sherman-Palladino had the chance to follow up the six years of Gilmore Girls she was present for with another hit and that instead she delivered a thinly veiled insult to television audiences en masse.