Oct 8: The Faculty

"Students suspect that their teachers are aliens after bizarre occurrences."

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez, Rated: R, 104 minutes

Robert Rodriquez is one of my favorite directors working today. The stuff he churns out continues to be awesome (amid the Spy Kids and Shark Boys). However, he's one of those guys whose career you can look back upon and really love the hell out of it. From Desperado, to From Dusk Til Dawn, he started off with a bang. The Faculty, his follow-up to Dawn, is just as impressive, bringing the gore and guts we're familiar with as well as his usual humor and style. And while he didn't write the script, like most of his movies, The Faculty still feels like a genuine Rodriguez movie. And it is glorious.

Joss Whedon gets all the credit for making movies FOR fanboys, but Mr. Rodriguez here deserves the same amount of recognition. 

The Faculty tells the story about a bunch of kids who believe their high school teachers are aliens hiding in the bodies of school's staff. Elijah Wood plays Casey, a nerdy photographer who's the first to discover that something is wrong. As all horror movies go, no one believes him. So, he recruits the help of his fellow classmates (most of whom look down on him) to discover the secret behind what's happening. Throw in a massive cast that includes the likes of Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster, Salma Hayek, Famke Jensen, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, and even Usher AND Jon Stewart, and The Faculty is simply too much fun to pass up. 

The Daily Show clearly saved Stewart from a career of this. I'll leave it up to you to decide if it was for the better or worse. 

While the film has its weaknesses (it falls prey to a script riddled with cliches) it still manages to poke fun at the fact, being more aware of its problem than anything else. It's a really genius idea, as the target demographic of the film (teenagers) would end up going back to school questioning their teachers and the setting is something we can all relate to. The dialogue shared between the characters is also rather realistic, but still suffers from the fact that nearly everyone playing a high school kid is played by a twenty something. The script also is full of references to tons of film favorites, from The Terminator franchise to Alien. But, it's in the suspense and effects that The Faculty shines. There are moments that pull you to the edge of your seat, making you worried about the characters, even if you don't care about them as much as you should. And of course, the acting is just good enough to get by, with each actor or actress having a blast with the film, knowing full well how campy and glorious it all really is. 

I'd pay a lot of money to see The Flying Spaghetti Monster emerging from the mouth of a T-1000. 

The Faculty is a great movie for Halloween, or even any occasion  It's part invasion flick, part zombie movie and it blends in a bit of the self-aware narration that made the horror movies of the 90s so good. It's not a classic by any means, but the idea is great, the execution is fun, and seeing all of the people in the movie together, well before their stardom, makes you appreciate it even more. The film also has an underlying sexuality to it that tailors to the hormones of horror fans, teasing you just enough to stay even more interested. It's also worth mentioning that the film is rated R, which elevates ANY horror movie into something great, even if it's terrible. The Faculty is on Netflix. Go and watch it. Or you can be lame and actually do your homework... but alien faculty sounds so much more fun. 

The Good:
clever script that has a lot of humor, a good amount of suspense, and a dash of sexy
The Better:
pretty good special effects for the small kind of movie it is and seeing what Rodriguez can make out of something that could have easily been dismissed
The Best:
the cast is so full of people you'll recognize and the bringing together of all these faces is just so cool

Overall: 7.7/10

Trailer:

Sept 8: Sin City

"A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption."

Directed by: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez, Rated: R, 124 minutes

Sin City is a film with balls- big, violent, hilarious balls. It's like nothing you've seen before and is a festival of eye candy, with each scene looking sexier than the last. The film features one hell of a cast, all obviously having one hell of a fun time with it, and manages to turn something 'pulpy' into something that's worth every moment of your time. It's simply too cool to ignore, even if you're not a fan of a violent, over-the-top, good ol' fashioned orgy of awesome. 

And Jessica Alba plays a stripper. That is all. 

In the city of Basin City, criminals and prostitutes are at every corner. You survive by paying off the cops, being a badass yourself, or being a sexy dame a guy would kill for. Sin City focuses on three individuals in this ultra-violent "Gotham"- Dwight (Clive Owen), Hartigan (Bruce Willis), and Marv (Mickey Rourke). Dwight's a do-gooder who knows the streets as well as the women of Old Town (Basin City's version of a red-light district, but the "women of the night" are in charge, not the cops). Hartigan's a cop, one of the few good ones left in the city. He tracks down a girl kidnapped by a rapist and swears to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, even if it means losing his own life. Marv, a hulk of a man, is bullet-proof in his mission, seeking the murderer of a pretty whore that gave him too much attention. Throw in a constant narration from each of the men, detailing their lives with the most noir-esque lines you can imagine, and Sin City turns into the perfect combination of classic detective stories, pulp novels, and the grindhouse style of the 70s. 

The best part of the film is the visual style, being one of the most faithful comic adaptations (of any kind, actually) of all time. The pages of Frank Miller's graphic novels come to life on the screen, each scene literally ripped from the pages. Even the color palette, a heavy black and white with colors for accents, come straight out of the novels. Not only is this beautiful to watch, but the color scheme fits the stylized nature of the plot and turns something so violent and bloody into a work of art. Robert Rodriguez, best known for his Mariachi Trilogy and yes, Spy Kids, continues to show how incredible he is with a camera and creates his own unique masterpiece, giving so much depth and character to a 2D world that the genius Frank Miller created. 

Sin City is one of those films everyone needs to see, if just for the technical aspect alone. Yes, it's incredibly violent and and not for the weak of heart, but the gorgeous detail put into the film as well as the a group of characters so perfectly cast makes it easier to swallow. Sin City is an instant classic in its own genre and shows you that faithful adaptations do exist. While comic adaptations of every nature fly into theaters every summer, Sin City still remains the best, even after seven years and the continued promise of a sequel. As we all know, if you turn the right corner of Sin City, you can find anything. Here's hoping that anything is that sequel. 

Mickey Rourke was born to play Marv. 

The Good:

a great cast, with each actor fitting his/her role perfectly

The Better:

dialogue so rich with awesome, with every line reminiscent of something you'd read or hear in the 50s, when being cool was everywhere and a lit cigarette made you a badass

The Best:

a unique style that turns the film into something more than a run-of-the-mill action flick and proves that graphic novels can make a perfect leap to film

Overall: 9.5/10

Trailer:

If you're not sold on the film now, just take a look at the rest of the cast- Rosario Dawson, Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP), Elijah Wood, Carla Gugnio, Josh Hartett, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Jaime King, and Tommy Flanagan.