Summer blockbuster season starts next week and the Village 8 is getting a jump on things with a special midnight screening of Iron Man 2 on Thursday, May 6. Iron Man 2 looks good, partly due to a leather-clad Scarlett Johansson and new villains Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell adding to the badassness. Get there early.
But that's next week. This week the Village 8 is opening what looks to be one of the shittiest movies of all time, Furry Revenge. Brendan Fraser (Encino Man) stars as a land developer who wants to bulldoze a forest to build a shopping mall. And then a bunch of animals begin attacking him, mostly with some kind of feces. Raccoons, birds, bears, squirrels - it's a real man vs. nature tale (obviously one aimed at kids) and while the environmental message should be commended, one look at the trailer for Furry Revenge was enough for me. I can't believe Brooke Shields is in this. A similarly titled porno flick about '70s bush would be less embarrassing. Poor Brooke.
It's been at least a week since we discussed a hot chick in this column and I'm pleased to announce that Atom Eygoyan's sex-thriller Chloe is back in town (after screening last December at the Whistler Film Festival) and it's chock full of hot-ass Amanda Seyfried naked scenes, and that's just the tip of it.
The story revolves around a wife (Julianne Moore) feeling distant from her husband (Liam Neeson), who may or may not be cheating on her, so she hires a creamy young hooker (Seyfried) to test him. All three actors turn in spectacular performances, especially Moore. Good thing too, because there are a few dubious plot twists and it all gets a bit bonkers in the end.
After Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter Atom Egoyan is widely considered one of Canada's greatest auteurs. He usually writes his own material and pumps out a film a year. On Chloe the writing credit goes to Erin Cressinda Wilson (Secretary) but Atom has still put his unique polish on things. People go into Egoyan films expecting some high art, intellectual stuff but if you're willing to look at Chloe as just a really well-made trashy lesbo/lust thriller like Wild Things or Femme Fatale then you'll find it a lot more enjoyable.
Not as enjoyable as watching someone get butchered by a guy with claws for fingers and a nifty red and green sweater though. Freddy Krueger is back this Friday, scratching at our subconscious and taking no prisoners in the Nightmare On Elm Street reboot.
Produced by Michael Bay and directed by newcomer Samuel Bayer, this R-rated flick seems to stick pretty close to the plot of the 1984 Wes Craven original. Teens on Elm Street start having nightmares about a scary-ass dude with a burned face. After one of them dies, the kids realize that the only way to stay alive is to stay awake and as they start to drift off Freddy appears more and more frequently.
The original Nightmare movies (there have been eight already) were known for their great special effects and art-film-esque dream/death sequences. Somewhere around Part 4, The Dream Master, the Freddy cannon became more concerned with goofy one-liners and less with nightmarish murder, and by 2003's Freddy vs. Jason it was all over. While there were no pre-screenings available it looks like this new Freddy, played by Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) is about take a whole new generation of kids into the nightmare. Another pointless Hollywood remake? Sure, but it's Freddy Krueger so I'll see you there. Happy Summer.
