Day 28: The Strangers (2008)

“Narrator: What you are about to see is inspired by true events. According to the FBI, there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in America each year. On the night of February 11, 2005, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt left a friend’s wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family’s summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.”

Normally I’d be against a film like this. It reminds me of Open Water, a film that came out in 2003 about two scuba divers stranded in the middle of the ocean after being left behind from a tour boat. It was “based on a true story,” but really that’s a marketing tool. True stories are more interesting. Sure it was based on the fact that two people were left behind, but no one knows what the hell happened. All we know is they were never seen again. They could have drifted over to the Island.

Christopher Nolan metformin 1000 mg pill just spoke to Geoff Boucher over at LA Times’ Hero Complex blog and dropped metformin 1000 mg side effects a few details about the next, and final, chapter of his Batman trilogy. The first detail is obviously the title, The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR). It’s awesome. Great title.

I saw Conviction on Sunday, and the entire time all I could think about was two things: how boring the movie was, and how unlike The Hurricane it was — being that Hurricane is awesome, and this is not — considering how alike the true stories both films are based on. Conviction is the story of Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell) and potentially wrongful imprisonment for a brutal murder. Hurricane is the story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and his wrongful imprisonment for several murders.

The artist formerly known as M. Night Shyamalan has shelved his original untitled thriller script, which had Bruce Willis, Bradley Cooper and Gwyneth Paltrow all tentatively attached. Heat Vision’s Borys Kit reports that Night is now looking to direct One Thousand A.E., a sci-fi project being developed with Will Smith’s Overbrook as a starring vehicle for Jaden Smith. But the most important thing to be considered here is not what Night is doing, but rather what he ISN’T doing — writing the screenplay.

Day 24: Poltergeist (1982)

“I don’t know what hovers over this house, but it was strong enough to punch a hole into this world and take your daughter away from you. It keeps Carol Anne very close to it and away from the spectral light. It lies to her, it tells her things only a child could understand. It has been using her to restrain the others. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is the beast. Now, let’s go get your daughter.”

2007 marked the 25th anniversary of Poltergeist‘s release. Thankfully there were special anniversary screenings around the country, or New York at least, and I jumped at the opportunity right away. I’m all for the theatre experience, possibly to a financial fault, but especially for genre classics like Poltergeist. And to see it with a packed crowd is somewhat an experience itself. My brother Doug and I went, and it felt like I was essentially seeing it for the first time, because it had been so long since I actually did. It was well worth the experience.

Day 22: The Ring (2002)

“Seven days…”

I saw this film twice in theatres when it was released. It was terrifying. Then I bought the DVD when that came out. I probably saw it one or two more times after that. Then I couldn’t watch it anymore. It disturbed me. I couldn’t see the faces of Samara’s victims anymore. So what did I do? I sold the DVD back to the store. I didn’t even want to own it. True story.