Art by Zee

By Mike Caccioppoli

Dream Home (Hong King, 2010)

Directed by Pang Ho-Cheung

When Cheng can’t seem to buy the condo of her choice she goes insane and kills 11 people in order to bring down the cost. This is the premise of Dream Home, an extremely graphic and gory horror film in which Cheng not only kills but does so in the most grotesque way possible. All of the splattered blood and spilled guts is skillfully orchestrated by director Pang Ho-Cheung but his attempt to make us feel for the crazed woman at the center of it all falls flat to say the least. Yeah we know the housing crisis is bad, and we learn that things have never been easy for her and her family but the way she insists on owning one particular condo just gets annoying after a while. But the audience this film was made for won’t care a bit, they’ll undoubtedly enjoy all of the clever carnage.

Howl (USA, 2010)

Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman

Howl is a superb film about the landmark poem written by Allen Ginsberg (here played by James Franco) as well as the obscenity trial that followed its publication. Filmmakers Epstein and Friedman made an interesting decision to not have many “dramatized” scenes per se and instead opted to recreate an interview with Ginsberg where he answered questions about his life and work. Most of the dramatization in the film is in the court case where Bob Balaban plays the judge and David Strathairn is the prosecutor who is offended by Ginsberg’s work. There is also some superb animation that is used to visualize Ginsberg’s words.

These artistic decisions were courageous but most importantly they work brilliantly as the film is able to get at the heart of what Ginsberg’s work was all about. It inspired other art as well as outraged those who simply couldn’t access it. James Franco is so good at capturing Ginsberg’s way of speaking and expression that we forget it’s Franco at all (he’s much better looking than Ginsberg was). Howl finds its own unique and remarkably efficient way to capture the essence of a great writer, what inspired him and his method and how he turned pain into inspiring poetry. It’s a one of a kind film.

I Kissed a Vampire (USA, 2010)

Directed by Chris Sean Nolan

If you can put yourself in the mind frame of a 14 year old girl then maybe just maybe you can enjoy the teen musical I Kissed a Vampire. Since most of us can’t do this for over 90 minutes you’ll want to stay far away from this one. Featuring 17  music video like numbers performed by a young cast that can sing and dance much better than they can act, the film has a lame ass plot that has to do with a dude who is bitten by a bat and is now becoming a vampire much to his dislike. When his girlfriend gets bitten by another young vampire, things get worse. So does the film. Made on a shoestring budget (we can tell) the film needed better writing and musical numbers that were more than just mind numbing pop tunes.

Cargo (Switzerland, 2009)

Directed by Ivan Engler

The trailers for this sci-fi film made it look like another Aliens, but it’s actually closer to The Matrix or Soylent Green. It’s over 200 years into the future and the earth is in deep trouble, overcrowded and disease ridden. The only hope is a paradise like planet named Rhea (no not Perlman). Everyone wants to get there eventually including Laura Portman, the new doctor on board a cargo ship. After she makes enough money she wants to join her sister on Rhea. All however doesn’t go smoothly on her journey and soon enough she finds herself caught up in a government conspiracy.

Made on a small budget, the special effects in the film are surprisingly good and the direction is top notch. The writing is often clever and the ideas presented are thought provoking. The one major problem with the film is the romance that develops between Portman and a security officer on board. The whole affair feels awkward and out of place as though it was just thrown in for the heck of it. Note to future sci-fi filmmakers: Dramatic f scenes between two people in space suites DO NOT WORK.

Protektor (Czech Republic, 209)

Directed by Marek Najbrt

Protektor is an example of style over substance as Nazi’s once again make an appearance in this film about the occupation of Prague in the late 30′s and early 40′s. Emil is a radio journalist who is in love with Jewish movie star Hana, and while he hardly cares for what is happening politically it’s becoming increasingly dangerous for him and Hana whom he protects daily. Soon enough Hana isn’t even allowed to leave the apartment and when the local Reichsprotektor is killed things really begin to heat up. Director Najbrt tries very hard to get the look and feel of the film perfect so that it imitates the films that were made in that period. Maybe too much energy was spent on the art direction and not enough on the screenplay which is convoluted and often confusing. If the story were told in a more straightforward fashion maybe we would have been able to care about it and the people involved.