The Blair Witch Project

Remember how terrifying the baby looked in "Rosemary's Baby"? No, you don't, because the film didn't show you. Director Roman Polanski wisely decided that it would have more of an impact having you watch the expression of abject terror on Mia Farrow's face as she took a first glance at her child then for you to see the child yourself. This premise, that what is truly scary is what you don't see, is exploited fully in the chilling film "The Blair Witch Project".

The film, written and directed by first time auteurs Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, is done in a documentary style and presented as such. Two cameras were used, a color camcorder and a black and white 16 mm, and the absence of any "production values" gives the film, much like the stark black and white of "Night of the Living Dead", a gritty realism. The film crew is comprised of three young film students, Heather, Josh, and Mike (the actor's and character's names) and the performances are completely natural and unaffected. The trio sets out on the town of Burkittesville, Maryland (formerly Blair) to find about the local legends, one of which concerns the witch of the title. After interviewing the local denizens, who tell them various tales of witches and child murderers, all passed off as myth or superstition, the three descend into the woods to capture footage surrounding the legends.

It is not long before things begin to go wrong and they become hopelessly lost. During the day, the woods take on an ominous quality, everything appears dead. Mysterious piles of rocks and hanging stick figures begin to appear. Is someone playing a demented game with them? At night, resigning themselves to stay in their tent because of the impenetrable dark, they begin to hear strange noises that seemingly surround them. The noises are further examples of the film's concept. There are no special effects in this film and just as the film only shows us just enough to make us wonder and give you the creeps, it only allows us to hear as much. Whenever the noises occur, the characters are almost always wondering out loud what the noises are; the audience can never fully hear them, allowing us to share in the frightful enigma in our own way. This taps into the basic idea that man fears what he does not understand. On a more visceral level, you feel as if you are out there, in the woods, petrified, losing your mind with these characters and you feel sympathy with Heather as she chillingly tapes her apology to her two partners and loved ones.

There are certain elements that stretch plausibility. Sometimes the characters seem completely devoid of any common sense and you must ask yourself that at a certain point when the situation has escalated, would the film makers have really kept filming. The ending is also quite ambiguous and I suggest you pay attention to those interviews in the beginning. But perhaps this is not important. The question is does the film succeed in its intent to scare the proverbial feces out of you by insinuation? Well, I saw it late on a Sunday night with some friends. (My wife forgoes scary movies.) When I got back home, I crawled into bed and my imagination began to interpret the night's noises...or did it?

Grade- B-

The Matrix
The Matrix is unique in many ways. On a personal level, it is extremely rare that a television trailer for what is obviously an action/sci-fi film will pique my curiosity. Add to that fact that this movie stars Keanu Reeves, who I think is a true testament to the American Dream that this guy makes a lot of money as an actor, and believe me -- this is something. So off I went with mixed feelings, wary of Mr. Reeves' performance, but excited to find out just what this Matrix was. Was I disappointed? Yes and no.

Reeves plays Neo, an ordinary software developer by day and high-priced hacker by night. For a little while now he has been followed by, and he himself is aware of a man named Morpheus, played as a sort of benevolent Orwellian Big Brother by Laurence Fishburne. Morpheus tells Neo about The Matrix in vague terms, saying ominous things like "it is the wool that has been pulled over your eyes" and "it hides the fact that our minds are all enslaved". Finding out what this means is what The Matrix is all about; it is the most interesting and best thing about the film and I won't spoil it for you. Suffice it to say The Matrix is an almost incomprehensible revelation to Neo (and the audience), especially when he finds out that he might be "the one", a sort of cyber messiah that can save us from The Matrix. The premise reminds one of The Terminator films and Dark City, a 1998 film that deserves a lot more attention than it got. The movie definitely has its stylistic derivatives, but it is its own film. It is a shame that such an intriguing idea has to digress into action land, complete with gunplay and martial arts.

The Matrix is a movie for our computer age. A movie that on one level warns against the dehumanization of our culture, of our very lifestyles, how we have gotten lost in the mechanized world of our PCs, harddrives, and email. It is also good action/sci-fi fun and is expertly directed by the Wachowski Brothers who also wrote the screenplay. (Their 1996 film Bound was one of the great recent crime films and gave a juicy lead role to the formidable character actor Joe Pantoliano, also in this film.) The art direction, set design, and special effects are all top notch.

Reeves works simply because you can plug him into a film like this, much like Speed, and he goes about his business. I will say that the fight scenes are ingeniously choreographed. There is some astounding work here and they are fun to watch, especially when Neo is confronted with "the agents", The Matrix's enforcers. In particular, the head "agent", played by Hugo Weaving, is an entertaining character. He sort of reminded of a cross between Tommy Lee Jones and the second terminator from T2. Indeed, if this guy teamed up with said terminator I would be willing to bet they could defeat Arnold, even in the movies.

But I wanted more. By the last act of the movie it almost seemed to forget its unique story and head off into the obligatory action scenes. I wanted to see them expand more on their original premise. That being said, it is an enjoyable film, which succeeds in enthralling you with its story and non-stop energy. I guess a good indicator would be that I didn't mind its 135-minute running time and better yet, my backside wasn't numb.

Grade-B