Planet of the Apes (2001)

Movie quotes:"The young ones make great pets. Just make sure you get rid of them before they mature. Believe me, the last thing you want is a human teenager running around your house."
- Limbo

At a glance:
Although Tim Burton’s take on the apes franchise is flawed in big ways, it’s still entertaining pulp sci-fi

Our review (with spoilers):
From the very beginning, there are gorilla-sized problems with Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes. First, the space sequences have nothing that stamps it as a Burton film. Then, we get to the Planet (of the you-know-whos) and suddenly Burton decides that the apes should be amusing quipsters, obsessed human-lovers, or violent warriors. Every ape is a cliché. No one truly cared about making the apes into layered characters, so they come off like so many cartoon Grinches, with no one more Grinchy than Limbo (Paul Giamatti). Contrast this (and I know it’s not completely fair to flash forward) with the way Ceasar is constructed in 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He is leader, friend, warrior, and thinker – capable of limitless paths and emotions – and his multi-layered character is created virtually without using the spoken language.

The good news about Burton’s take on the Planet is that his eccentric touches finally are evident. The choices might be wrong, but it’s still fun to watch. For example, he sets up an unusual love triangle, with Ari the chimp (Helena Bonham Carter) and Daena the underage cave-girl (Estella Warren) both fawning over stranded astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg). The film continues to improve once Leo leads a small band of apes and humans against the warring regiments of the brutal Thade (Tim Roth). Charleton Heston gets an extended cameo dying scene as Thade’s father.

Even though the choices are strange, Wahlberg’s performance seems too subdued, and this feels like a film driven to cash in on the franchise, it’s still light entertainment and a lot of breezy fun.

Rating: 2.5 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"...one of the most entertaining check-your-brain-at-the-door flicks in recent years."
- David Nusair (Reel Film Reviews)

 

Session 9 (2001)

Movie quotes:
Doctor (Lonnie Farmer): And where do you live, Simon?
Mary Hobbes (Jurian Hughes): I live in the weak and the wounded... Doc.

Henry (Josh Lucas): [motioning to Jeff's blaring stereo] Mikey didn't tell you about these?
Jeff (Brendan Sexton III): What?
Henry: Rule one: Music creates sonic vibrations. Vibrations jiggle spooj dust into the air. It gets into the air, it gets into your lungs. This music you plannin' on listening to?
Jeff: Yeah...
Henry: Yeah, you tryin' to kill us all? Either turn it off or put on something else. Like Yanni, or John Tesh or something.
Jeff: Who's Yanni?

At a glance:
Things start going wrong when an asbestos removal crew, led by an overstressed boss, is tasked with cleaning up the rotting interior of a creepy derelict mental hospital

Our review:
An asbestos removal crew takes on a rush job to clean up the spooky abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital, and finds themselves driven mad by the ghosts of the horror that happened there. Cruises along, all portentious for much of its running time, before exploding into something that is truly horrible (at least, on a psychological level, as little actual gore is shown). This is my second Brad Anderson film (he directed, and co-wrote with Steven Gevedon, who plays Mike) and he seems to like to hold back on the gruesome stuff until right near the end – hope I’m not giving too much away. Some good red herrings will keep you guessing about who the baddy or baddies really are. Every dollar is used effectively in this low-budget, no-star horror film starting with the selection of Danvers Hospital for filming. In the end, it’s a small, good movie that is far from great, but it serves to show the potential of the director (realized in Transsiberian (2008)). Rating: 2.5 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"Playing to a classier tune, the film is one that is immersive even in its understatedness, weaving a tale that is all the more effective because of how believable it is."
- Dustin Putman (TheMovieBoy.com)

"Atmospheric chills and some solid performances ... keep the tension up for a while, until the nasty and disquieting finale."
- Sean Means (Salt Lake Tribune)