115 Minutes (1980) - Peter Medak
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Selector: MONA
It was the perfect family vacation for composer John Russell and his family when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. Mammoth in size, the house seems all the room that John needs to write music and reflect. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a murdered child who has homed in on John's despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them.
The Changeling
Session 9
97 Minutes (2001) - Brad Anderson
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Selector: Big Save Scott*
An asbestos abatement crew wins the bid for an abandoned insane asylum. What should be a straightforward, if rather rushed, job, is complicated by the personal histories of the crew. In particular, Hank is dating Phil's old girlfriend, and Gordon's new baby seems to be unnerving him more than should be expected. Things get more complicated as would-be lawyer Mike plays the tapes from a former patient with multiple personalities, including the mysterious Simon who does not appear until Session 9, and as Hank disappears after finding some old coins.
*Associate Selection
The Shining
142 Minutes (1980) - Stanley Kubrick
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 Selector: HiGrade
Torrance, a beleaguered writer and recovering alcoholic, has just secured a seasonal position as the caretaker for the Overlook Hotel. Seems like a cake job. You get to spend all winter cooped up in a big hotel with all the food, space, and fun you can enjoy. No guests to fool with and just a little up keep of the grounds and building. There will be plenty of time to work on your book and, of course, slaughter your family.
So along with his wife Wendy and their boy Danny, the Torrances head off to enjoy a little family bonding at the old Overlook Hotel. Oh...I forget to mention that Danny is bringing along his imaginary friend Tony, the little boy who lives in the back of his mouth and helps him to see things that aren't suppose to be there. "The Shining" allows Danny to see the past, present, and future digressions of the Overlook. It's haunting existence becomes quite evident as he witnesses the death and destruction that has come to called this place home. An evil that is looking to add three new guest...permanently. REDRUM REDRUM!!!!!
Slowly this evil begins to wear down Jack's defenses as the winter snow falls driving him to the brink of insanity. It is so easy to hit a man when he is down as Jack is re-introduced to an old, dear friend..... booze. When Wendy stumbles upon Jack's next bestseller, "All work and no play...." she know that it is time to get Danny the hell out of there. But it seems that the Hotel won't make that easy. Directed by the ghostly apparition of Grady, the former caretaker who chopped up his family, Jack heads out to correct his little problem. Here's Johnny!!!!! Axe blows and one liners fly as Jack chops his way towards the film's chilling conclusion. Will the Overlook be checking in three new guest or will the maze be the place for ultimate checkout?
The Host (Gwoemul)
119 Minutes (2006) - Joon-ho Bong
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Selector: MONA
The talk of the 2006 Cannes International Film Festival and the latest film from critically acclaimed visionary director BONG Joon-ho, THE HOST is both a creature-feature thrill ride and a poignant human drama. Gang-du works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo, who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people have gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam, when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives, but suddenly the being grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the monstrous thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du soon makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host.
Young Frankenstein
106 Minutes (1974) - Mel Brooks
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 Selector: Jack
Lending his burlesque touch to 1970s genre revision, this film is a parody of 1930s Universal horror movies. Determined to live down his family's reputation, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein insists on pronouncing his name "Fronckensteen" and denies interest in replicating his grandfather's experiments. But when he is lured by Frau Blucher to discover the tantalizingly titled journal "How I Did It" in his grandfather's castle, he cannot resist. With the help of voluptuous Inga, wall-eyed assistant Igor “Eye-gor”, and a purloined brain, Frankenstein creates his monster. Igor, however, stole the wrong brain, and the monster tears off into the countryside, encountering a little girl and a blind hermit. Frankenstein finds the monster and trains him to do a little "Puttin' On the Ritz" soft-shoe, but the monster escapes again, this time seducing Frankenstein's uptight fiancée Elizabeth with his, ahem, sweet mystery. His love life and experiment in shambles, Frankenstein finally finds a way to create the being he had planned. Shooting in gleaming black-and-white, with sets and props from the original 1930s film and appropriate fright music by John Morris, Brooks' cheeky attitude towards the Hollywood past attracted a large audience, turning it into one of the most popular 1974 releases after (what else?) Blazing Saddles.