Assassination of a High School President

[Reprinted from BlindingLoud.com, a site for which I no longer write.]

Premiering at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews, Brett Simon's Assassination of a High School President was finally released on DVD a couple months ago. The film was promised a theatrical release in March of 2009, but actually went direct-to-DVD, thanks to the Yari Film Group's releasing division filing for bankruptcy in December of 2008.

Assassination of a High School President

Writer/Director: Brett Simon

Starring: Reece Thompson, Mischa Barton, Bruce Willis

The film is a noir mystery set in a Catholic high school, revolving around Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson), a sophomore reporter for the school newspaper, as he stumbles through a web if illegal activity and uncovers a conspiracy to frame the president of student council for stealing the SAT's. Along the way, he is seduced by Francesca Facchini (Mischa Barton), a popular senior at the school, and has various run-ins with the Gulf War Veteran principal, Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis).

The movie has been called an homage to Roman Polanski's neo-noir Chinatown, and the similarities are prevalent throughout; the final line in Assassination even puts a predictable spin on Chinatown's famous last line, "Forget it, Jake - it's Chinatown." Like Nicholson's character in the 1974 classic, Funke gets deeper into the fray and finds the scope of his discovery is far bigger than he originally imagined.

Brett Simon's direction is solid for a debut feature film, but the movie itself fails to extend beyond its intriguing logline. The deception and misdirection feel played out, and we don't spend enough time with any of the side characters for their actions and motivations to be emotionally effective. Reece Thompson did a great job and held the film together; after seeing him in this and another film fest favorite Rocket Science, his status as a rising star should be cemented. Mischa Barton was watchable (which is more than I can say about any of her other performances, save her extremely brief cameo in The Sixth Sense) and Bruce Willis was entertaining as the borderline-crazy war veteran who runs his high school the same way he ran his command unit in the Gulf.

The main problems I have with Assassination of a High School President aren't necessarily with the movie when viewed by itself, but become glaringly clear when compared to another film noir set in a high school, Rian Johnson's 2006 masterpiece Brick. The world of Brick pays homage not to neo-noirs like Chinatown and Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, but to film noir institutions like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. Brick feels so much more pure than Assassination; the pulpy dialogue in the former is no match for the occasional one-liner in the latter.

There's not much else I can say without giving away major plot points, so I'll just conclude this review by telling you I was a little disappointed with the movie. Perhaps it was because I heard some good hype coming out of Sundance, but this film didn't live up to my expectations. I'll admit - I'm coming down a little harshly on Assassination of a High School President because of my bias in favor of Brick. If you haven't seen either film, give Assassination a shot (see what I did there?!) - noir fans should be pulled into the comparatively innocent world Simon has crafted, where detectives are reporters and cigarettes are replaced with chewing gum. But after you see this, check out Brick if you're looking for the best in the subgenre; I'd also recommend Rocket Science (even though it's not a noir) for another great performance by Reece Thompson. Until next time...

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

[Note: This video isn't actually 28 minutes long. Vimeo is being weird about that lately, and it's doubling the length of my videos for some reason.]

I can't believe I forgot to mention the elephants. In one scene, Jaa runs across the backs of a herd of elephants, eventually making them all kneel before him like he's the Lion King or something. And in the big finale, Jaa fights a bunch of dudes directly under a live elephant, dodging between its legs and hurling people into its stomach, knocking them out. If that isn't enough for you, he moves ON TOP OF THE FREAKING ELEPHANT and battles a dude dressed like a crow (kind of weird, but excusable thanks to the epic amounts of action in the movie). Unbelievable.

Clip from The Protector - bone breaking scene

Another clip from The Protector - epic long shot

UPDATE: As you can tell in the comments, someone doesn't like the fact that I posted Ong Bak 2 clips here. In order to make everybody happy, I've taken them down; after all, you (the reader) are smart enough to track these clips down yourself. "A Real Lawyer" has some valid points as rebuttal in the comments, but I'll err on the side of safety.

Law Abiding Citizen

Before I saw this movie, I heard considerable chatter throughout the internet regarding its outrageous nature; from nearly all accounts, it supposedly exceeded the boundaries of a typical B-movie. I appreciate films that realize what realm they operate in, and embrace their role in that realm without awkwardly attempting to transcend it. [Quick note: there are, of course, films that succeed in transcending genre without being awkward. The Dark Knight comes to mind.] For me, that internet chatter was a bit misplaced. I think Law Abiding Citizen remains firmly in B-movie territory, and (thankfully) it does so without any forehead-slapping detour from its core.

Law Abiding Citizen

Director: F. Gary Gray

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Leslie Bibb

Ludicrously-named director F. Gary Gray has some solid films to his name thus far, most notably the remake of The Italian Job (with talks of its potential sequel, The Brazilian Job, still lingering). It's obviously unfair to compare LAC to The Italian Job since they inhabit different genres, but Gray's directing style in his newest feature hasn't changed that much since his 2003 hit. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about Gray's direction; that's both his problem and (I'm assuming) his saving grace.

Let me explain: Gray is perfectly competent behind the camera, but he doesn't add any specific style or flourish to his movies - they typically look very similar (at least in the case of The Negotiator, Italian Job, and now LAC), and there's nothing to distinguish his work from other directors. I'd put him a rung or two above Brett Ratner on the director ladder; he always executes well, but never contributes that extra something that gives him a style all his own. That's a problem for artistic reasons, but I'm sure it translates to an asset in Hollywood. The Playlist recently wrote a piece about potential directors for The Avengers, and they named Ron Howard as a candidate for the same reasons I'd nominate F. Gary Gray: they are both unassuming big name directors who could easily turn out a solid product. No Michael Bay-esque ego conflicts, no "Tony Jaa disappearing into the jungle" fiascos: these guys would both be puppets for Marvel's ultimate goal for The Avengers - to make a middle-of-the-road movie that everyone will enjoy. If you want somebody who can give it to you straight, hire F. Gary Gray.

Let's get back to the film at hand. Law Abiding Citizen was written by Equilibrium scribe Kurt Wimmer, and I've been excited about seeing this movie ever since Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) was attached to direct. The concept of an imprisoned mastermind carrying out villainous deeds from his jail cell was (and still is, I suppose) intriguing to me, but the film never rises above its logline and ultimately feels very "written" as you watch it. Not helping matters is every occasion in which Wimmer recycles the gimmick into actual lines of dialogue, saying things like, "You've got to be kidding. He's killing people from inside his cell?!" and things of that sort, which happens more than once. But my favorite part of the writing is Jamie Foxx's District Attorney character making ridiculous demands of his staff: "Get me the records of every industrial property purchased in Philadelphia in the last ten years!" Come on, bro - narrow it down a little.

One technical aspect of the film I was impressed with was the editing. Specifically, there is one scene that stands out as the best edited of the entire film. Early on in the story (minor spoilers), Jamie Foxx's character elects to see a man die by lethal injection rather than see his daughter's cello recital. The two scenes, occurring simultaneously, are intercut brilliantly; everything from the curtain opening in both scenes to the prisoner's last words spoken over the daughter's instrumental blends together to inform the audience that Foxx's character is witnessing a deadly performance by Butler's character, although unbeknownst to Foxx at the time.

Interestingly, Foxx and Butler were initially signed to play each other's roles. Butler changed his mind at the last minute and we ended up with the configuration we see today. The acting is utterly standard throughout the entire thing; there is not one performance that stands out above the rest, and even Gerard Butler's maniacal madman seems somewhat reserved with the exception of a few scenes. There was one supporting character who I thought was perfectly cast - Gregory Itzin, who played President Charles Logan on TV's "24", plays the minor character of the warden at Butler's prison, and did a great job with a very small part.

Next Paragraph Only - Spoilers for Law Abiding Citizen

Leslie Bibb's character essentially plays the Rachel McAdams role from State of Play, but eventually becomes a non-factor when she is blown to bits in a car bomb. I was so disappointed in this development because immediately before she is killed, she makes a great hint at the identity of her new boyfriend, Chester. Foxx says something like "I can't wait to meet him," and she says something like "Oh, he's not ready for you yet." Instantly, my mind shot back to a previous scene where Bibb questions Foxx about whether they are working for more than just a high conviction rate. My mind put two and two together - obviously, I thought, Bibb's "new boyfriend" is none other than Gerard Butler's character! She wasn't thrilled with the decision made ten years ago, and has been feeding Butler information this entire time. Alas, my brain was a little too hyperactive for this film and its mediocre machinations - I'm still under the impression the movie would have been more effective (or at least more interesting) had my idea been proven correct.

End of Spoilers

I was also under the impression going in that the violence would be excessive, but that is not the case. Sure, there is one VERY bloody scene in a jail cell (I won't give away what happens, but blood ends up EVERYWHERE), but aside from that, there was really nothing out of the ordinary. Gerard Butler threatens to chop a dude to bits, and talks about what he did to the guy later, but we never see him actually do it. There was talk of a rape scene, but you have to be really looking for it to even notice that it happens. After recently seeing Sam Peckinpah's 1971 Straw Dogs, which features one of the most uncomfortable-to-watch rape sequences I've ever beheld (thankfully I haven't seen that many), it's going to take a lot more than innuendo to affect me the same way Straw Dogs did.

Law Abiding Citizen stays afloat just enough as to not be boring, but never reaches any worthwhile plateau at any level: story, visual effects, dialogue, direction, acting, music - any way you slice it, this movie's pretty average. It's maybe worth a rental, but there are much better films out there from everyone involved that would be time better spent in my opinion. Until next time...

Paranormal Activity

Filmed in one week for under $15,000, Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity has become a marketing sensation for a strange reason: a lack of conventional studio marketing. Solid word of mouth and an online campaign urging people to demand the film play in their city convinced Paramount Pictures to give the movie a wide release tomorrow (October 16th). I'll admit: the main reason I saw this in a theater was to see what all the buzz was about. Nicely played, marketing campaign - touche.

A brief history of the project: first-time untrained filmmaker Oren Peli wrote and directed the film, which screened for the first time at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in 2007 and was eventually picked up by Dreamworks and shown to Steven Spielberg. Spielberg reportedly encountered some strange events while watching the film - the doors in his house locked by themselves and he had to call a locksmith to get out. He returned the film to his company sealed in a garbage bag, claiming it was "haunted," but liked the movie enough to be an executive producer for it. Obviously that story has to be taken with a grain of salt considering Spielberg's involvement, and has been considered by many (myself included) to be merely an attempt to drum up some more publicity for the movie.

Executives at Paramount planned for Peli to direct a remake with more established actors and a bigger budget, but when they screened the film for some potential screenwriters, a strange thing happened: people started leaving the theater while the movie was still playing. The execs thought they had a dud on their hands, but later discovered that people were leaving because they were legitimately too afraid to keep watching. At this point, they scrapped the idea of a remake and decided to release Peli's original film.

Paranormal Activity
Writer/Director: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat


Add this film to the ranks of the recent "shoot from a home video camera" trend revitalized by Cloverfield, the Spanish film [Rec], and its American remake, Quarantine. Paranormal Activity surrounds Katie and Micah, a couple living together in a large house. Off and on since Katie was eight years old, she's had mysterious things happen to her at night, wherever she was - she moved twice, but the entity always follows her. Too bad she didn't mention this to her boyfriend of three years, Micah, when they recently decided to move in together. Now that they're in this big house, Micah is determined to record as much of the paranormal activity as possible to figure out once and for all who or what is bothering Katie. The movie goes to extreme lengths to convince you you're watching real footage, adding a brief text message thanking the San Diego Police Department before the film starts and electing to avoid opening Paranormal Activityand ending credits entirely.


The movie uses two main methods of providing tension. The most effective is setting the camera on a tripod every night to watch the couple sleep and document the frightening things that happen. The camera is equipped with a wide angle lens so we can see not only the couple in their bed, but through their (inexplicably) open bedroom door, the hallway outside and the stairs that lead up to the second floor. Timecode runs across the bottom of the screen in these "night" segments, fast forwarding until something worthwhile happens. This provides an uneasy feeling for the audience; every time the film transitions to one of these segments, we know something is going to happen, so it heightens our senses and puts us on edge. The second method occurs when the couple is awakened at night. Micah repeatedly grabs the camera from the tripod and ventures out into the dark house, refusing (again, inexplicably) to turn on the lights to the whole house. Instead, he slowly creeps around corners, building tension for the audience as we brace ourselves for what might be around every turn.

The entire film takes place at the couple's house, and Peli did a great job of making the house a character of its own. Early in the film, we see just enough of the house to feel comfortable in the space, but there are some unexplored areas (featured later in the movie) where the "unknown" aspect of the house's layout is just as big of a factor as what might be found inside it. There was plenty of opportunity for cheap scares here, but I'm glad they decided to show some restraint and not rely on jump scares too much.

Next Two Paragraphs Only - Spoilers for Paranormal Activity

I get that Micah is supposed to be your typical "tough guy" and he wants to take care of the situation himself. I buy that. But when a Ouija board catches fire, or you see hoof prints in your bedroom, I think trash talking the spirit in your house may be a little overkill. What does he think that is accomplishing? Also, after all this evidence is presented to him, why wouldn't he agree to call the demonologist? How could that possibly hurt the situation? He's freakin' reading stories about demons and seems to believe in them, yet he refuses help from a specialist. Needless to say, I would have gotten the heck out of Dodge (with the girl in tow - I obviously wouldn't leave her behind).

There's one more thing I want to discuss before we get back to the part where people who haven't seen it yet can read along again. That ending was pretty nuts, huh? I think it was actually my least favorite part of the whole thing, but that's just because I thought it was a little anticlimactic. I thought it would have been better if Katie had just returned upstairs by herself and crawled into bed, implying Micah's murder on the ground floor below. Anyway - according to Wikipedia, Spielberg himself suggested the ending take its current form; apparently in previous screenings there were variations that sounded more interesting than what we actually saw. Want to hear them? Sure you do. The first is pretty much what I wanted, with Katie returning upstairs and sitting in a catatonic state by the bed, alone. The last alternate ending depicted Katie returning with a knife and slitting her own throat in front of the camera. How insane would that have been? I wish they had the balls to stick with that ending.

End Spoilers

The similarities between Paranormal Activity and Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell are striking. Both feature cursed women with skeptical boyfriends, both feature conversations with psychics, and the list goes on. In fact, I consider Paranormal essentially a documentary version of Drag Me To Hell. If you've seen both films, you'll easily recognize the correlation.


One of the things that took me out of the movie is that it uses a very small music score to ratchet up the suspense in scary situations. The great thing about Quarantine was that it didn't need to rely on music at all - the frightening aspect was being completely immersed in the same world that the characters inhabited, hearing every small noise that they heard and reacting as they would. Adding music, however slight, kills the whole vibe of what they were trying to do with this film. I found it semi-distracting and pretty unnecessary.

The last point I want to bring up: actress Katie Featherston reminded me a lot of Jenna Fischer's Pam Beesly (now Halpert!) from TV's "The Office." Perhaps it was that she looks like a normal person instead of the ditzy Abercrombie models that are featured so heavily in today's horror flicks, and perhaps it was because the movie was shot in documentary style, but something in me made that connection. To everyone else who has seen this: did anybody else get that vibe?


If you're going to see this movie, I would recommend checking it out in a packed theater. Like all good horror movies, this is a societal event and needs to be experienced in the company of others. That said, the movie would also be pretty damn effective if you watch it in the darkness of your own home with a few friends; after they leave, you'll be jumping at every creak in the floorboards for the rest of the night. If you're a traditional horror fan, you might be a little disappointed with Paranormal Activity, since nothing truly scary happens until the last half hour or so. But if you're more of a casual genre fan looking for a good time, I think this film will provide that for you. Until next time...