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Let the Right One In, a review by goodguy

(Sweden 2008, AKA Let the Right One In, AKA So finster die Nacht)

IMDb summary: Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can't stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people's blood to live he's faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Let The Right One In is a story both violent and highly romantic, set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.

In its use of vampirism, LTROI reminded me of Abel Ferrara's flawed masterpiece The Addiction. There is the same messy and grim approach to the actual blooddrinking and the same disregard for the typical vampire lore. There are vampires in both movies, but neither is a vampire movie; they are about something else entirely.

Linking a vampire tale with a coming-of-age story is not that unusal. But LTROI doesn't fall into the traps of a teenage love fantasy. There is tenderness and even a kiss between the two leads, but their bond is decidedly asexual and prepubescent; it is forged from a deep sense of alienation and has a haunted innocence. Both performances are spectacular.

Alfredson finds striking visuals in the most banal and desolate settings, creating a bleak and chilling atmosphere with a strong poetic quality. This is combined with a beautiful score and an ingenious sound design that draws the viewer into the isolation of the protagonists.

Highly recommended and certainly one of last year's best movies.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on May 31st, 2009)

The Invisible Man (1933), a review by Tom

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The Invisible Man (1933/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Pictures (United Kingdom) Director: James Whale Writing: R.C. Sherriff (Screenwriter) Length: 72 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 1, French: DTS 1, Italian: DTS 1, German: DTS 1, Spanish: DTS 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Danish, English, French, German, Finnish, Italian, Commentary, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish

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Stars:
Claude Rains as (The Invisible Man.)
Gloria Stuart as Flora Cranley
William Harrigan as Doctor Kemp
Henry Travers as Doctor Cranley
Una O'Connor as Jenny Hall

Plot:
Claude Rains stars in the signature adaptation of H.G. Wells' story about a doctor who discovers a serum that makes him invisible and is also slowly driving him insane.

Awards:
Nominated:

AFI (1933)

100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Commentary
• Photo Gallery
• Featurettes

The special effects are ground-breaking for its time. And the movie is a nice watch. But I was a little bored with it. I didn't like it, that most actors played it like it was a silly comedy. Especially the old woman, who reminded me a lot of the old ladies played by the Pythons. And a minor thing which bothered me is, that the voice of the invisible man never sounded like he was really in the scene. But this is probably the best they could do with the sound technology of the time.

Rating:

(From Tom's 2013 Horror Marathon on October 14th, 2013)

Smallville Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

EPISODE 9: LEXMAS
It's a wonderful life, Lex. A tragedy on Christmas Eve gives him a glimpse of a potentially happy future with wife Lana...if he makes the right choices. Meanwhile, Clark assists a disheartened Santa Claus.

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode... I enjoyed it more then I expected to when I originally heard that they were making a Christmas episode. It shows just how twisted Lex's mind really is.

EPISODE 10: FANATIC
Winning is everything. Defeat is not an option. A student supporting Lex's campaign has a fierce way of backing her candidate. Clark and Lana have a lovers' spat.

My Thoughts:
This was another good episode. Talk about twisted minds.... the college girl in this episode was truly twisted.

EPISODE 11: LOCKDOWN
Clark and Lana's uneasiness grows. But Lana and Lex grow closer as they hide in the safe room from rogue officers seeking the location of the spaceship. Jonathan learns of Lionel's ties to his campaign.

My Thoughts:
Yet another really good episode... between the spaceship arc and the run for senate arc... these episodes has only been getting better. Of course this movie rips off the movie Panic Room... but I think they did a really good job with it.

EPISODE 12: RECKONING
Clark reveals his secret, proposes to Lana, and she accepts. Too good to be true? Perhaps. Two profound tragedies rapidly follow. And, despite Clark's super powers, only one of them can be undone.

My Thoughts:
This will always be a good... but sad episode to me. One of my favorite characters gone. But I did like the way they did the episode.

(From Smallville Marathon on August 12th, 2007)