Let The Right One In Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Maybe it's because I saw De Sica's classic Umberto D. again over the weekend, or maybe it's because I'm excited for tomorrow's release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of Cujo on DVD and Blu-ray, but I've got movie dogs on the brain. Last night I even randomly spent some time watching YouTube clips of my all-time favorite movie dog, Asta, from the Thin Man franchise (played by Skippy, who also appears in Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth).

So it was coincidentally fun this morning learning that the Fido Awards happened over the weekend. The ceremony, nicknamed the "canine Oscars," occurred in London Saturday, when trophies were handed out in five separate categories. To my surprise, the Fidos don't exclude animated dogs, as the talking dog, Dug, from Pixar's Up won the Blockbuster Bowser award, beating out pups from Gran Torino, Inglourious Basterds and another animation, Coraline, in the category.

Here's a different way of thinking about well-known movies: imagine each one is a stop on a subway line! Designed by David Honnorat and posted at Vodkaster, the cinematic subway map is based on the top 250 movies as voted by IMDb users on June 19 (which, I suppose, is why The Hangover made it). Honnorat created 16 different imaginary subway lines, including "Universally Acclaimed Masterpiece," "Political drama," "Drama about tolerance," "Dark and weird drama," and other, more traditional categories, and then placed each film on one of the lines. He asked: "How would you go from Alien to North by Northwest without crossing The Godfather: Part II? Which station have you not visited yet?"

The placement of movies on the map can be amusing (Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction side by side with Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America on the gangster line) as well as bizarre yet strangely fitting (Se7en sitting at the intersection of Vertigo, Rashomon, Nosferatu, and Let the Right One In). Click through to see the big map and roll around a bit. Like all subway maps, it's confusing at first but starts to make more sense as you follow the lines from station to station. What's your favorite cinematic subway line?

[ via Geek Tyrant ]

Overture Films' remake of Sweden's critically acclaimed Let the Right One In has been decried as unnecessary by a lot of critics and film fans. But it's happening no matter how much digital ink we spend complaining about it, and at least they have gone and hired themselves one heck of a cast. In an official press release, Overture has announced that Richard Jenkins, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Chloe Moretz have been cast in Let Me In.

The roles are the same, though the names have been Americanized. Smit-McPhee will be playing Owen, the lonely boy who befriends the strange smelling girl who haunts his apartment complex. Moretz will be playing Abby, the immortal with a child's face. Jenkins will play her caretaker, Hakan. (They haven't decided what to change the name to, I guess. I bet you'll see him renamed Hank or Henry before long.) While I haven't seen enough of Moretz to judge her work, I know Smit-McPhee and Jenkins will be fantastic. (If you haven't rented Romulus, My Father, do so! Its a wonderful film, and it'll give you a preview of what you can expect out of Smit-McPhee in The Road.)

Of course, the performances will all depend on how the troubling, eerie story is handled by director Matt Reeves. If the nuances of the characters are bungled, then it won't matter how good the cast is. Let Me In begins filming in New Mexico (now there's a departure from the Swedish snow) this fall, and will hit theaters January 15, 2010.

Jennifer's Body is getting panned in some circles for the alleged tragic flaw of a horror movie not being particularly scary. They're mostly right -- Diablo Cody's genre follow-up to Juno doesn't really elevate the heart rate very often. But I think that's because it tips to the "high school" side of the "high school horror" balance; it's more of a teen drama with a bloody metaphorical twist than a full-on horror flick.

That may disappoint some fans, but it sort of gets at why high school horror movies work so well, so often. It's a cliche that "high school is scary," but movies that make a connection between the reasons high school is scary in real life and whatever monstrosity happens to be stalking or haunting the characters are the ones that tend to leave the biggest impression.

In honor of Jennifer's Body, which I think will be unjustly maligned in the weeks to come, here's a list of some high school horror movies that figured this out -- and a few that were just plain fun.

1. Ginger Snaps - The movie's IMDb plot summary helpfully begins: "This film uses werewolfism as a metaphor for puberty." Well, yeah -- though it is generally considered polite not to lead with something like that. (Sorry.) But it's not all allegorical navel-gazing. Ginger Snaps is an elegant, harsh piece of teen horror that brutally plays on teenage insecurities, and is a pretty good werewolf flick too. It's a shame that director John Fawcett largely disappeared into the (better-paying, I hear) abyss of television.

Bloodsuckers are back, baby! If you happen to own a television, visited the fantasy section of your local bookstore, or clicked onto a certain high-quality film site (*ahem*), then you've probably noticed the pigment-challenged are everywhere. Before you get all worried, I'm not just talking about the Twilight saga, which has become the scourge of so-called 'serious' vamp fans everywhere. Nope, this trend goes way beyond the Cullens, and vampires are now everywhere.

Just yesterday we got our first look at the trailer for Cirque de Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, and now that Guillermo del Toro's Strain is also on its way to TV screens, I doubt our fanged friends are going to be disappearing anytime soon. Which is fine by me, because I always thought the best thing about vampire mythology was that everyone has their own take on which kind of monster they want to create -- I mean, how else could we have Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? So whether you like your bloodsuckers funny, romantic, or just downright bloodthirsty, there's a little something for everyone these days.

I have to admit, though, I'm a little picky about my vampire movies, and there are just certain things I cannot abide. So, because there is nothing I love more than a list, I decided to compile the best and the worst when it comes to bloodsuckers on the big screen.

After the jump: my picks for the top five best, and worst vampire movies...

As much as I enjoyed the shaky-cam mayhem of Cloverfield, I'm pretty bummed about the idea of Matt Reeves helming a remake of the 2008 vampire film, Let the Right One In. Even before the original film had hit theaters stateside, there were deals in place for Reeves to remake the film for U.S. audiences -- and that's what has me worried. Whenever something is remade for North America, what it usually means is that a little 'sanitation' is in order. For better or for worse, audiences tend to react badly to seeing children in a decidedly non-childlike way, and that's what made The Right One so memorable. But I guess I better get used to the idea, because Reeves recently told the L.A. Times that he's been scouting locations and that a second draft of the script has already been completed and now has the new title, Let Me In.

Let the Right One In was the story of Oskar, a young boy living in the suburbs of Sweden who begins a friendship with a vampire child named Eli who has moved in next door. For Reeves' remake, he's kept the time period in the 80's, but relocated the story to Regan-era Colorado. Most importantly, he's promised that he won't be making his Oskar and Eli any older in an attempt to appeal to the 'Twilight Crowd', and the success of his remake will all come down to who Reeves casts for his two leads. The director has already started working with Avy Kaufman to try and find the perfect cast, and luckily, Kaufman has experience when it comes to casting 'creepy kids', having been the casting director for The Sixth Sense and The Ice Storm.

After the jump: the original film's director and screenwriter give their two cents...

I made a point of picking up a Blu-ray copy of Tomas Alfredson's chilling Let the Right One In just before leaving town for SXSW, so I didn't have time to pop it in and check the disc out for myself. However, from the look of things, I might still join in on Icons of Fright's geek outcry over the altered English subtitles on the Region 1 release that oversimplify the film's already sparse dialogue.

Browsing over the many provided comparison shots (see an example after the jump), I feel like we're already reading the dumbed-down screenplay for the coming remake. That may sound a bit too cynical, and this may all sound picky, but we all turned out for a certain version of a rightfully acclaimed film in theaters last fall, and by all accounts, this isn't the same thing we saw and supported.

Now I'm afraid to read the original novel and see how much of that was changed to begin with...

[Thanks to Devin at CHUD for bringing this to light.]

UPDATE: Magnolia has told The Digital Bits that, while it plans to re-issue the disc with a proper theatrical subtitle track, it will not be exchanging it for those already purchased.

I'll keep this short and sweet, because I've already lauded the living snot out of this movie on FEARnet, Twitter, Facebook, a few social network sites that don't even exist yet, and (of course) all the heck over Cinematical. Granted, most who've seen the film Let the Right One In would probably agree that it deserves the little extra press boost, but all I know is I love-love-loved the film, and since I work here, I can write what I want, consarnit.

Anyway, as you already know by now (if you can read) the film is about vampires. But not like The Lost Boys or Lestat or the Twilight tickle-me-emos, more like a normal-Johann kid who befriends a new neighbor, only to discover that she's quite the bloodthirsty little vampiress. But as us critic-types like to say: It works on, like, more than one level, man. It's got ... depth! Plus it's gorgeous to look at (oooh, Blu-Ray!), easy on the ears, peppered with great little horror touches, surprisingly moving, and supremely satisfying in the closing moments.

Also included on the platter: Four deleted scenes, a solid (but way too brief) 7-minute making-of featurette, and a poster / photo gallery. No commentary, unfortunately, but in some cases (most, actually) I suppose it's best to simply let the film speak for itself. Maybe in a couple of years?

Milk
Sean Penn won an Academy Award for his portrayal of openly gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, and Dustin Lance Black won another for his script, which focused on Milk's activist years in the 1970s. "It's a minor miracle of sheer film making joy and determination," wrote James Rocchi, "and one of the best American films of 2008." With deleted scenes and mini-features "Remembering Harvey," "Hollywood Comes to San Francisco," and "Marching for Equality." Also on Blu-ray. Buy it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon.

Let the Right One In
My top pick from last year is a dramatic thriller about vampires and young people, old souls and eternal fears, yearning for the unobtainable and the inevitable pains of loving another person. Director Tomas Alfredson takes a traditional tale -- the youngster who is picked on and the new friend who helps -- and rubs in a touch of supernatural, a touch of the old world, and a touch of heart on the sleeve, wrapping it in beauty and agony. Also on Blu-ray. Buy it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon.

Transporter 3
I have no easy defense of my love for Jason Statham as Frank Martin in the Transporter films. Suffice it to say that the action -- fights, car stunts, people stunts -- keeps me occupied, the plots are not hard to track, and I like the interplay between the main character and Inspector Tarconi (François Berléand). In this episode, Jeroen Krabbé as the bad guy is a nice bonus. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue. | Buy at Amazon.

Also out: Cadillac Records, Role Models. After the jump: a bounty of Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray Picks, plus Collector's Corner.

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

The Oscars are on Sunday and awards season is almost over. The flavor of the month this season has been almost all war movies and biopics, as it has been roughly since 9/11. Though this year we have the occasional mention of Hurricane Katrina (which kind of falls in both categories). For example, Baz Luhrmann couldn't bring himself to make pure entertainment like he did with Moulin Rougue. This time he had to make Australia (110 screens), which starts out as a lightweight entertainment, and then morphs into a heavy war movie, and drags on too long in the process.

At least three movies managed to combine biopic and war elements: Edward Zwick's Defiance (442 screens) managed to please some viewers, but most critics as well as the Academy voters couldn't get past its awkward filmmaking to embrace the powerful true story hidden somewhere deep inside. On paper, Steven Soderbergh's Che (20 screens) seemed tailor-made for Oscars. Both the director and star (Benicio Del Toro) are former Oscar-winners, and the film runs four hours and encompasses both war elements and a true story. Many critics went bonkers for it, but Academy voters resisted it, possibly because of the length, but more likely because it doesn't spell out precisely what it wants you to think. It's a hugely complex, very intelligent, slightly aloof essay-like film rather than an emotional rise-and-fall story like most biopics.