myrdynn Blog

Under discussion:

Gangs of the Dead  (2006)

Low budget, low class, mildly funny zombie story. Stock characters spouting cliche lines surrounded by poor special effects. What's not to like?

For those who enjoy bad horror, (which includes me!) this is worth a look, if only for the awfullness of it. You have been warned.

Under discussion:

Attack of the Crab Monsters  (1957)

A giant brain eating crab monster, that cannot be harmed by any weapon and communicates in the voices of its victims, and with plans of world domination. Just another one of those "Nature Mutated By Radiation" movies. This is a funny movie now, but is just another in a long line of movies playing on the fears of its time. The fx are cheesy (but probably state of the art in 1957), the giant crabs especially, with their human eyes.

The final demise of the creature is fairly typical. Definately one for those of us who love cheesy horror/sci-fi.

Under discussion:

Dark Harbor  (1999)

A strangely compelling, weird little movie. Rickman and Walker play off each other well as a bickering couple. Reedus, the young good looking stranger, is a little obvious, but his Marilyn Monroe impersonation is, well, disturbing.

There are a few good plot twists, a nice primer on mushroom picking and a fairly obvious choice of murder weapon, but the ending is still a bit surprising.

That being said, the movie was well made and well paced and has an interesting feel too it.

Worth a watch.

Under discussion:

Kalifornia  (1993)

David Duchovney is a writer. He is writing a book about serial killers. He decides to take a road trip with his photographer girlfriend and visit some "murder sites" to better understand the mind of a serial killer. Brad Pitt is a seial killer who answers an ad from David to share the expenses on a road trip and takes his waitress girlfriend along on the trip. As you can guess, there are many adventures, and murders along the way.

This is a story of self discovery for Duchovny who, with the help of Pitt, gets into bar fights and shoots guns and generally discovers his manhood. Worth a watch, if just for the wonderfully psychotic performance by Pitt

Under discussion:

Storm of the Century  (1999)

The people on a small island off the coast of Maine are cut off in a snowstorm. Ultimately this is the least of their worries. Into this community comes a stranger, Andre Linoge (played wonderfully by Colm Feore) who seems to know all the dirty little secrets about the townsfolk. And what a lot of secrets there are! Linoge introduces himself by murdering one of the inhabitants and waiting around for the town constable, Mike Anderson (played by Tim Daly) to arrive and arrest him. Linoge has a mission, he wants a child to raise as his own and gives the town an ultimatum. "Give me what I want and I'll go away". The terror he inflicts on the islanders while they make up their mind is disturbing on many levels. From pure psychological to cold blooded murder he "persuades" the islanders to do what he wants. You have to watch this to believe it, as Stephen King examines what can happen when pure evil infects a town, and the aftermath when it leaves. Enjoy. 

Under discussion:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King  (2003)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

I think it is fair to say that Peter Jackson's trilogy of the Lord of the Rings is one of the best trilogies ever made. If not the best!

Of course I am writing this because I spent all day yesterday watching the three movies! (regular, not extended, editions) and once again I was amazed about how big a failure Frodo turned out to be.

Of all the original Fellowship I don't think you can doubt the heroic qualities of Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas. Even Boromir, the most flawed of the Fellowship attains redeemed hero status with his final act of sacrifice in trying to save Merry and Pippin.

Speaking of which, of the four Hobbits in the Fellowship, Merry and Pippin, as well as being good comic relief, consistently showed their heroism and intestinal fortitude throughout.

That only leaves Sam and Frodo. Sam, having pretty much whined his way through all three movies, still managed to exhibit his heroic qualities by almost literally dragging Frodo across MiddleEarth and up the slopes of the Mountain of Doom. It is safe to say that without Sam, Frodo would have been captured before he even left his Burrow!

You might say that Frodo had the hardest task, being the Ring Bearer, and up to a point, you'd be right. However, there are a few references throughout the movies that state that he, and only he, had the qualities necessary to get the ring to the mountain. That was his job, his only job. Everyone else was there to help him reach his destination, and all he had to do was drop the ring in the fire, WHICH HE NEVER DID!

The Fellowship got him so far, Sam got him further, Gollum showed him the way to Mordor and Sam dragged him to the Mountain. Granted, when Gollum attacked and he and Sam fought, Frodo got to the end himself, but, at the end, he failed.

Standing on the edge, the ring dangling out over the river of fire, Frodo decides to KEEP the ring! He would have walked away with it, possibly killing Sam in the process, if Gollum hadn't jumped on him and bitten his finger off.

The ONLY reason the ring is finally destroyed is because Gollum and Frodo fall off the edge whilst fighting to see who KEEPS the ring. In the end, it was destroyed by accident.

Frodo may have wanted to be a hero, may have been seen as a hero, may even deserve to be called a hero for getting as far as he did, but it was Sam who got him there, Frodo could never have made it without him. Frodo becomes the Hobbit version of Sauron, and as such, for me, will always be Frodo the Failed Hero.