Dreamland (Widescreen) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)DREAMLAND is one of those little Indie films that sneaks up on you, draws you in and leaves you feeling fulfilled. Written by Tom Willett and directed with great sensitivity to both style and message by Jason Matzner, the film boasts a truly remarkable cast in every role and the ensemble acting is some of the finest in this year's lineup.
"Dreamland" is the name of a very small trailer park in New Mexico, out in the sticks, yes, but surrounded by the magnificence of majestic clouds in crystalline blue skies and a land free of industrial detritus - except for the powerlines that play such an important role in the story. In a sad trailer house live Audrey (Agnes Bruckner), a poet who has given up chances for college to remain with her father Henry (John Corbett), a man decimated by the death of his wife to the point that he is unable to leave the trailer even to buy the beer and cigarettes that sustain his life. Audrey also is caring for her closest friend Calista (Kelli Garner), a beautiful girl who dreams of becoming Miss America but knows her life is to be shortened by the fact that she suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. Audrey writes her poetry but her life is consumed by being the caretaker for Henry and Calista.
Into the trailer park moves a new 'family' - hunky young Mookie (Justin Long) and his mother ex-singer/performer Mary (Gina Gershon) and her live-in boyfriend Herb (Chris Mulkey). Audrey and Calista watch them unpack and while both girls find Mookie attractive, Audrey talks Calista into dating him. Audrey's only male contact is her 'sex-buddy', tacky and gawky Abraham (Brian Klugman) who works at the local convenience store with Audrey. Mookie and Calista begin an affair while Audrey looks on longingly, and when Calista lets Mookie know she has MS the relationship is strained: Mookie also is leaving for the university soon.
Audrey confesses her feelings for Mookie and Calista flees on a motorcycle to chase the now departed Mookie. She is in an accident and is hospitalized and since she has broken her relationship with her caretaker Audrey, Henry manages to draw enough courage to leave his trailer to sit at Calista's hospital bedside - along with visits from Mookie. Calista's accident makes her even more aware of her fractured future and she releases her feelings for Mookie, reconnects with Audrey, and Audrey's father discovers her many letters of acceptance to college she has hidden to prevent abandoning her role as caretaker and convinces Audrey to flow with her dreams instead of being imprisoned in Dreamland. And the manner in which each of the characters in the film resolves the changes now facing them is the tender ending of the story.
DREAMLAND is created by a very strong cast of fine actors who dwell solidly within their characters' psyches, making this somewhat surreal story very real indeed. The setting is extraordinary in its ordinariness and the camerawork by Jonathan Sela is impeccable. This is a strong story about coming of age, about quality of love, and about being human. It is a treasure. Grady Harp, December 06


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The Sasquatch Gang (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie was recommended to me by a friend, who said it was one of the funniest films he's ever seen. I'm always a little sceptical when people tell me this, as I've been tricked into watching really lame movies many times. This one, however, definitely lived up to my friend's description. I was expecting something similar to Napoleon Dynamite when I put it on, which is essentially what I got. But I believe this film is even better.
The actors all have brilliant comedic delivery (especially Justin Long as the character Zerk and his friend Shirts) and the plot is interesting and unique (something unusual for a comedy). It depicts "nerds" and "losers" in a funny and sort of affectionate way. It's really refreshing to see something like this, when all other comedies out there are either terrible teen flicks or the dreaded "romantic comedy" genre.
I've already watched it four times since I bought it, which, for me, is always a sign of a good movie. I think this would appeal to just about anyone, kids and adults alike. Definitely check it out!

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Jeepers Creepers (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Boy, do I feel slow on the uptake...I've seen this film twice now, and I just got the 'other' meaning of the license plate on the Creeper's truck. I guess if it were a snake, it would have bit me...oh well...I may not get there the quickest, but I will get there...eventually. Jeepers Creepers (2001) is a fun, interesting, stylistic film that runs out of gas about halfway through, but still had enough going for it to earn critical and commercial success, spawning a sequel, Jeepers Creepers II (2003) which broke Labor Day box office records for that year. Written and directed by the controversial Victor Salva, who also did the chilling horror film Clownhouse (1988) and Powder (1995), Jeepers Creepers brings to life (or death) a new figure in the Hollywood creature pantheon with the Creeper, a demonic looking figure that awakens every 23 years and feeds for 23 days, according to legend.
The film stars Gina Phillips as Trish and Justin Long as her brother Derry, traveling together by car a lonely and desolate country highway on their way home from college. After a scary incident with an old truck, the two witness a sinister, cloaked figure unceremoniously dumping what appears to body sized parcels wrapped in cloth and rope down a large, corrugated metal pipe next to a boarded up church. Also parked nearby is the same truck that nearly ran them off the road earlier. Once past the old church, the two begin to question what exactly they saw, but are soon joined again by the mysterious truck, more intent than ever now to ram their car, and drive them off the road. After losing the truck, the two go back to the church, despite Trish's protests, to investigate. Derry proceeds to do something stupid, and see something no human was mean to see...oh, he did confirm what they originally thought, that the figure was indeed dumping bodies down this large drain, but that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What other secrets are uncovered? What is the nature of the creature? Do Trish and Derry survive long enough to get help?
I thought the makeup and such on the Creeper looked quite good and suitably malevolent. And the revelations revealed about this character came at a nice, even clip as the plot unfolded. There were a number of minor points where one could argue that the plot is weak or very thin, and I would have a hard time disagreeing, especially during the last half hour of the film. I really enjoyed the scenes that focused on something in the foreground, but provided enough leeway on the screen to see something in the background, even if it was fuzzy and out of focus, before the characters on the screen understood what was happening. Cheap scares are had here, as things pop out `and go boo!' but there is also a nice build up of real tension throughout the film, along with a smattering of comedy, usually of the sarcastic kind, to temper the horror. The weakness of the film comes from the predictability of the second half of the film. The original beginning had brought forth high hopes, but these hopes diminished slightly as the film eventually tread the path repetition as most end up doing, but at least this one did so with style and professionalism most uncommon with those in the same genre. You may recognize Justin Long from TV's Ed were he plays Warren Parker Cheswick. It's pretty much the same affable character played in this film, but a little bit older and a little more cynical. Gina Philips is quite lovely, with her flowing, brownish hair and doe eyed appearance that conflicts with her more cynical than her brother attitude. Both actors did a wonderful job, showing a mixture of inherent and hard earned talent, the kind gained through lots of work and dedication.
The picture here, available in both wide screen and full screen, looks wonderful and crisp. Special features include theatrical trailers, a photo gallery, deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, behind the scenes featurettes (six), and a commentary track with director Victor Salva. Many of these features are located on the flip side of the disc, with the film being on the other side. I guess the one thing I took away from this film more than anything else is if you see a darkened figure dumping what appears to be bodies down a sewer pipe next to an abandoned church, just keep on moving. You can make a report at the next town, for sure, but avoid actually crawling into the pipe to confirm what you already know.
Cookieman108

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You can keep your doors locked. You can keep your eyes closed. But still, he'll get what he wants and what he wants is you. Brace yourself for "90 minutes of steadily mounting horror [that] delivers more than its share of honest chills" (The Baltimore Sun). From "the scariest opening sequence of any horror picture in recent memory" (Los Angeles Times) to "one of the gutsiest endingsto a film this year" (Dallas Morning News), Jeepers Creepers is the real deal in terror!On a desolate country highway, two homeward-bound teens (Gina Philips, Living Out Loud and Justin Long, TV's "Ed") are nearly run off the road by a maniac in a beat-up truck and later spot him shoving what appears to be a body down a sewer pipe. But when they stop to investigate,they discover that the grisly reality at the bottom of that pipe is far worse than they could have ever suspected and that they are now the targets of an evil far more unspeakableand unstoppable 'than they could have ever imagined!

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