Trailer Talk: The Woman In Black

I don't like horror movies.  Maybe I've mentioned that here?  Well, to amend that: I don't like supernatural horror movies.  Saw?  Halloween?  Whatev, I'll watch those all day.  But ten minutes of The Ring, or The Grudge, or any of that ghost shit, and I'll avoid the basement like the plague and make my sister sit outside the bathroom while I'm showering, JUST IN CASE PHANTOM HANDS GROPE MY HEAD (note: this actually happened.  Not the head groping, the making-my-sister-sit-outside-the-bathroom.  The Grudge wrecked my shit for a LONG time.).

Do you know who I do like?  Daniel Radcliffe.  Which is what makes this practically an EMOTIONAL dilemma.

I'm sure that everyone is aware by now that his next big feature film, his first one post-HP, is a Victorian-esque GHOST STORY called The Woman In Black.  When I first heard about it, and saw some set photos, I was excited - the summary sounded interesting, the pics were intriguing.  What was being presented at that time was an emotional drama about a widower and a father (played by Radcliffe, who looks surprisingly grave and age-appropriate in the high-collared jacket, wan makeup, and 5 o'clock shadow) who goes to this desolate English town to try and sort out the estate of a dead woman.  I was led to believe that it would be about him dealing with his grief, and maybe learning how to get along with his kid(s?), and that it would be srs bsnss but not, you know, fucking TERRIFYING.

HOW NAIVE I WAS.

Maybe two weeks ago (because I am a terrible entertainment blogger and don't keep up very well with movie news, apparently) I started to hear...things.  About the trailer.  And the actual story of the movie.  I began to get concerned.  So I watched the trailer.  And the trailer?  Is pretty much horrifying (if you're like me, and are actually terrified by stuff that doesn't scare 16 year olds.  I'm not ashamed.).

It was like if someone set out to push all of my horror movie buttons.  There are creepy dolls and attics, and a passel of children who chant a creepy rhyme, and REFLECTIONS IN THE WINDOWS (this is a big one for me, reflections in mirrors/windows of things that aren't there or suddenly turn out to be there wig me out and make me not want to use the bathroom alone for like a month) and freaky writing on the walls and I just...I can't.  It's a really well put together trailer and you all should go watch it, but it is basically a warning label: MARTHA.  DO NOT SEE THIS.  YOU WILL REGRET IT.

I KNOW this is not a movie I should see.  I know this for a fact.  But part of me still wants to because I'm so interested to see Radcliffe in a different role, and see what he can do as an actor.  Maybe I'll wait for the DVD, so I can be scared out of my wits in my own house.  Or see a matinee, because sometimes all I need to exorcise the ghosts is a heavy dose of afternoon sunlight (and a margarita).

We'll see.  Until then, have a trailer:

Captain America, also I'm really sorry

Google is telling me I haven't posted sine July 19, and I'm really sorry about that (to all 12 people who read this).  The truth is that the last movie I saw in the theaters was Captain America, and it was probably the best movie I've seen this year so far, but then all the newspaper and magazine and "official" reviewers also really liked it and I didn't feel like I had anything unique to say about it.  But I realized I do, so here it it:

One of the biggest reasons this movie succeeds so profoundly is because Captain America is kind of a silly hero, especially considering the position of cynicism most people have in regards to patriotism.  But this movie is utterly unapologetic about this; it owns the Cap, in all his patriotic red-white-and-blue glory, and somehow never manages to make him feel silly or unrealistic.  It's not making fun of him, it's celebrating the ideals someone can have and the heights those ideals can aspire you to.  Literally the only reason Steve Rogers can BE the Captain is because he believes in duty, honor, and always doing what you can to do what's right.  Chris Evans shines here because he's earnest and boyishly idealistic, even after his transformation from Uncanny Valley lightweight into hulking muscle (which, despite what Ebert may think, is 100% real Evans).  I was skeptical when I first heard about the casting, but Evans really owns it.

(Side note: God bless Atwell and whoever wrote her part, because bitch is AWESOME.  She handles a gun as well as anyone, and she has a spine of steel.  She may be in a skirt the whole time, but you never forget that here is a woman who can punch you in the face just as hard as Tommy Lee Jones.  She ROCKS.)

Not to say that there aren't humor moments in the film; there totally are, and they work.  Hayley Atwell especially has marvelous comedic timing and one of the best deadpans I've seen.  She and Evans bounce off each other in a romantic but not sickening way, which brings me to the next thing I think makes this movie great.

It is a period piece set during World War II, and the filmmakers have embraced this past just the aesthetics.  The sensibilities are there, too - no one gets naked in this movie.  People have Heroic Kisses, but there's no sex, and I appreciated the stream-lined quality this gave the film; the Cap is here to do a job, y'all, and that job is SAVING YOUR ASS.  The effects are great on this score, also, as the filmmakers had a tricky job to do with the tech in the movie.  Hydra and the Red Skull are dealing with some pretty advanced stuff, but it keeps a measure of that 50's quality - yes, it's science fiction, but it doesn't look like it's from space or 2,000 years from now.  It's all Tesla coils and blue lightning (a neat callback to the future Iron Man thrusters, but that's a discussion for another day) and even the machinery works.  It's very Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and I mean that with the most sincere flattery.

Which brings me to Hugo Weaving, who I pretty much want to play bad guys all the time.  As the Red Skull he's skulking, whiplash smart, and utterly terrifying...despite having a candy apple colored face.  The facial effects are kind of silly, and it's a testament to how well Weaving plays the articulate gentleman bad guy that he can overcome the visual and still be a chillingly sociopathic Nazi science genius.

So that's why I liked Captain America.  Well, that and all the REALLY COOL action sequences.