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Freak Nation Video Reviews
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Video is how our species loves to communicate. Whether it’s on TV or on a movie screen, we can’t seem to get enough of moving pictures. And lately, the stuff on the screen has been more and more influenced by our own subculture: The dreams and visions that our kind have concocted for decades are now amazing and delighting everyone else, from Tolkien’s masterpieces to the gothic- and fetish-themed imagery of Underworld and Secretary and the comic adaptations of X-Men and Sin City. And that puts us in a uniquely qualified position to review these things.
Of course, we can’t review everything all on our own — if you want to review something for us, please read the review guidelines. Then, by all means, send it in to the webmaster!
Video Reviews
- posted 05/05/2007Spider-Man 3
Sam Raimi and the Spider-Crew couldn't keep up the high level of the first two movies forever, but the third installment is still entertaining and enjoyable. The action, effects, and storyline are all solid, but the emotional interactions that form the core of the Spider-Man mythos are off-kilter, and it shows. Both female leads are also given shorter shrift than usual. A movie review by Aldyth Beltane.
- posted 04/29/2007Hot Fuzz
The 2004 zombie-flick send-up Shaun of the Dead breathed new life into the zombie genre and established its creative team (director Edgar Wright and actors Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) as talents to keep an eye on. Now they’ve returned, with a satirical take on Hollywood-style cop/action/buddy movies. While Hot Fuzz isn’t quite up to the high bar set by Shaun, it's still eminently enjoyable. Part homage, part parody, and thoroughly entertaining, it blends action and humor seamlessly. The dynamic between the two co-stars and the director is perfect comedy chemistry.
- posted 12/17/2006Infinity
Matthew Broderick’s movie Infinity: A Love Story claims to detail the romance between Richard Feynman and his first wife, Arline. But really, it’s trying — and failing, badly — to be a Feynman biopic. By refusing to make up its mind, it fails in both genres, and manages to make Richard Feynman’s life look boring and humdrum, to boot. FN Webmaster Kai MacTane’s review has more on the disaster.
- posted 09/04/2006The Wicker Man (2006)
The 1973 Anthony Shaffer horror flick The Wicker Man has become a beloved Pagan classic, despite — or perhaps even because of — its completely fictional and sensationalized plotline. But Neil LaBute’s 2006 remake throws away Shaffer’s campy aspects and replaces them with a muddled, unbelievable plot held together by a strong core of misogyny and anti-Pagan propaganda. Reviewed by Aldyth Beltane, who regrets the experience.
- posted 03/02/2006Queen of the Damned
Michael Rymer’s silver-screen adaptation of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned (and its predecessor, The Vampire Lestat) boasts a superior soundtrack, and surprisingly good performances by Stuart Townsend and Vincent Perez. But they can’t save the mess that is the rest of this movie, as Emily Crow explains in her review.
- posted 02/17/2006Night Watch
Timur Bekmambetov’s adaptation of the Russian novel Nochnoy Dozor (or Night Watch) is rejuvenating the stale world of supernatural thriller movies. Though it suffers a few problems due to cultural boundaries and being the first of a book-trilogy adaptation, it’s a fresh new look at vampirism, sorcery and shapeshifting, with an air of hard-edged realness instead of MTV-esque flash. Reviewed by Emily Crow.
- posted 07/04/2005War of the Worlds
Stephen Spielberg’s remake of War of the Worlds treats us to powerful special effects and reasonably good thespian performances. Unfortunately, the screenplay is riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies that demolish willing suspension of disbelief, and Spielberg engages in emotional manipulation so blatant the audience can’t help but be annoyed by it. Those systemic flaws are far too great for the acting or the effects to overcome. Reviewed by Kai MacTane.
- posted 02/27/2004Equilibrium
In a futuristic dystopia where emotion is outlawed, failing to take your daily dose of emotion-deadening Prozium is punishable by the Grammaton Clerics — elite warrior police trained from childhood in “Gun Kata”. But what happens when a Cleric misses his own dose? Reviewed by Kai MacTane.
