Swedish film director Tomas Alfredson makes a good argument for why his 2008 film Let the Right One In shouldn’t be remade. “If one should remake a film, it’s because the original is bad. And I don’t think mine is,” he told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet (The Evening Sheet). It certainly was not, and has the awards from Tribeca, the Swedish Film Institute, and the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation to prove it. However, we have hope that writer and director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) can bring something special to his version, Let Me In. At the very least, viewers of his previous film won’t have to worry about getting dizzy at this one.But there’s more to recommend it than that. The film stars talented child actors Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass) as Abby and Kodi Smit-McPhee (the unnamed boy from The Road) as Owen. For those unfamiliar with the plot, Owen is a 12-year-old victim of bullying who befriends Abby and discovers that she’s actually a vampire. The names have been changed from the original, along with the setting being transported to New Mexico. (more…)

Overall, it’s probably a good thing that The Social Network is being released. As a country, we know far too little about the technologies and tools we use every day, focusing instead only on the results. As The Social Network shows by describing the story behind the development of Facebook, this can be a dangerous attitude.Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland) stars as Mark Zuckerberg, the soft-spoken, outrageously rich Harvard dropout and co-founder of Facebook. Even the most disconnected viewer has by now heard something of the sour history behind that status, with several other Harvard students claiming that Zuckerberg misrepresented his role in the project. Zuckerberg himself has expressed unhappiness at the fact that a version of his life will be put on display in the film. He’s right to worry, considering that Eisenberg has called Zuckerberg the most “overtly insensitive” character he’s ever played. (more…)

Joaquin Phoenix, what happened? You were such a quiet young man in The Village, and were downright charming in Walk the Line. But with your announcement of retiring from acting in order to become a hip-hop star, people have begun asking questions. Does I’m Still Here have the answers we’re looking for?To start off, his new movie, a documentary (or is it mockumentary? No one’s sure) of his recent life, shares a title with a film he participated in called I’m Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust. Is the naming a joke, a parody of his former reputation as a social activist? If so, I’m not getting it. Following a stint of rehab in 2005, a car accident in 2006, and a bumbling disaster of an interview with David Letterman in 2009, it’s been hard to get a handle on the once renowned actor. (more…)

In 2007, director Russell Mulcahy told Fangoria magazine that Resident Evil: Extinction would “close the book” on the video-game-based film trilogy. However, both video game and movie fans are familiar with the simple fact that anything that sells will continue. Grossing over 140 million, the negative reviews for the film barely phased it, and here we are three years later on the verge of the next installment in the series: Resident Evil: Afterlife. Given what we know, should you put on your zombie costume and show up opening night, or wait for it to hit primetime cable?Afterlife does have some new elements which will please fans of both the game and film series. The most obvious of these is the fact that it’s 3D, filmed with James Cameron’s 3D Fusion Camera System. For most of us, it’s the closest we’ll get to getting bitten by a zombie ourselves. Afterlife also contains the first film appearance of video game character Chris Redfield, played by Wentwort Miller (Prison Break, Underworld). Chris is the brother of Claire Redfield, whose role is reprised by Ali Larter in this film. (more…)

Before Resident Evil: Afterlife opens this Friday, the results are in for last weekend’s contenders. What movies are drawing in the crowds this week, and do they deserve it? Read on to find out.5. Going the Distance (8.5 million): This romantic comedy has the makings of a good film. Unlike many movies, both guy and girl are stable and in love, and everything would be fine if they weren’t across the country from each other. However, it also has the Hollywood wild carda real-life couple (Justin Long and Drew Barrymore), and while it’s not quite the disaster Gigli was, it’s no Mr. and Mrs. Smith, either.4. The Last Exorcism (8.7 million): Despite its title, I have a feeling this won’t be the last exorcism movie we see. Luckily, Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) manages to take two time-worn conceits (exorcism and a “shaky camera” documentary style) and create an engaging, if not wholly original, horror flick. (more…)