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Tag Archives: David Boreanaz

Valentine

07 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 32 Comments

Tags

2000's, David Boreanaz, Denise Richards, Horror, Jamie Blanks, Jessica Capshaw, Jessica Cauffiel, Katherine Heigl, Marley Shelton, Valentine

Film Title

Valentine

Director

Jamie Blanks

Starring

  • Marley Shelton as Kate
  • David Boreanaz as Adam
  • Denise Richards as Paige
  • Jessica Capshaw as Dorothy
  • Jessica Cauffiel as Lily
  • Katherine Heigl as Shelley

A hugely clichéd yet watchable slasher film, Valentine is a guilty pleasure to view before Halloween. The job gets done pretty well and through some good parts, it retains a good few jolts. Not terribly original but adequate and quite fun.

In flashback, we glimpse a junior high Valentine’s dance. The awkward and gawky Jeremy Melton asks a succession of popular girls( Shelley, Paige, Lily, Kate and Dorothy) to dance. valentine-movie-posterThe first three girls harshly reject him, nice Kate politely declines and the plump Dorothy takes an interest. Yet when she and Jeremy are caught kissing by a band of jocks, she lies that Jeremy assaulted her and the boys proceed to torment Jeremy mercilessly. Years later, the girls are all grown up and still very good friends, despite differing jobs and lifestyles. Kate has become a news reporter, Paige is the local maneater, Dorothy is now skinnier and seems to being getting more attention of men and Lily is something of a gossip. They are all having a bad time on the dating scene as Valentine’s Day approaches. The creepiness begins with the murder of the other girl in the friendship circle Shelley, now a medical intern, by a figure wearing a cherub mask. Prior to her death, she had received a horrible Valentine’s card that spoke of her upcoming grisly demise. The remaining girls meet up again and are shocked at her death, wondering why someone would kill her. Slowly, each of them receives a horrific card and warning that savagery will follow. Each is signed with the initials J.M, which the girls come to see as those of Jeremy Melton. In the years since their last encounter, he was put in a reform school and later a mental hospital. But as of the last few years, there has been no sign of him whatsoever. valentine-movie-killerIt appears that Jeremy has never forgotten the cruelty that arose from that dance and is now getting blood-soaked revenge on the now grown up women who tormented him. With the prospect that Jeremy has obviously changed and may have well undergone surgery, the remaining girls are frightened that it could be any number of guys in their lives. Could it be Kate’s on-off boyfriend Adam, who has a drink problem? Or the sleazy cop assigned to the case? And will this be a Valentine’s Day to die for?

Jamie Blanks directs with a good enough touch for the weak and uninspired material. His work won’t win any awards, but he wrings some good suspense and horror from the film that can’t be sniffed at. You can see that Valentine is trying to be a throwback to 80’s slashers with scantily clad babes being menaced by a killer. On that score it is pretty entertaining actually. And going into Valentine I knew it would be something of a mess and to an extent it is, though it has its moments that generate scares. It’s pretty obvious from the start of the killings that it is Jeremy, so hearing as the girls discuss that it may not be is a bit stupid. And the characters are not exactly likable people, except Kate who is the only one who shows an ounce of decency and was the only one who didn’t humiliate Jeremy. Then again, the others are supposed to be nasty pieces of work so when they are dispatched there is a level of glee to be felt. The dialogue gets inane and pretty clunky in the long run of Valentine, the screenplay is not exactly what you’d label a coherent one as it has a lot of plot holes. denise-richards-valentinePeople make stupid decisions like wandering off alone when there is a masked killer on the loose and leaving doors unlocked. Because it is a horror film and movie logic pertains that characters don’t need to use any brain cells. What surprised me about Valentine was that it dealt with bullying, albeit in a way that was not exactly revelatory. As someone who was bullied in school, I know how it feels to be on the outside. That isn’t to say that I promote or condone offing those who have wronged you, but there is a feeling of catharsis as each of the bullying girls is killed that I’m sure many people could relate to. There is a poetic justice to each killing, that links to what each girl said to Jeremy on the night all those years ago that comes back to haunt them severely and in imaginative fashion. In terms of style, Valentine has a moody one that is actually quite good if I must say so with a presence of morose blue and scarlet red apparent throughout. It’s not going to craft the film into an immensely great piece of horror art, but it does the job. The look of the killer, with the cherub mask is a surprisingly creepy one that will no doubt get a few shudders in the audience for its ability to unsettle. A hard rock soundtrack is used effectively, along with the suspenseful score that elevates the tried and tested film up a few notches.

The characters are thinly drawn but played reasonably well by the attractive cast. marley-shelton-and-david-boreanazMarley Shelton stands out the most as the most amiable girl, who displays actual kindness and humility unlike her bitchy friends. She is the girl that you want to survive the killings as she was the one who wasn’t a complete terror to the spurned and brutalised Jeremy. The other girls are all pretty interchangeable in their nastiness and shallowness, but Jessica Capshaw and Jessica Cauffiel are quite good. The pouting bitchiness and sexiness is provided by Denise Richards as the loose member of the group and it’s not much in the way of acting, but she makes for a good victim. All of the men in this film are portrayed as either louses, cheats or just plain slimy. David Boreanaz emerges unscathed as probably the most developed man in the movie. Katherine Heigl is simply required to be the first of the ladies to perish, though her death is a pretty effective one that opens the movie in the morgue.

It is a majorly predictable movie and not one of the best horrors you will come across. But with a bit of style and a sense of catharsis about it, Valentine is a slick film that doesn’t require much from the mind but has an entertainment quota to it that you don’t have to be a genius to see. No vintage horror film, yet watchable enough.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3

29 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by vinnieh in Television Reviews

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

1990's, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Eliza Dushku, Emma Caulfield, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green

Following on from the shocking and heartbreaking finale of Season 2, Buffy Season 3 swings into gears as our fierce warrior battles all things that the darkness has to offer and survive high school at the same time. Spoilers will follow in this review.

Buffy Season 3After sending Angel(David Boreanaz) back to hell, Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar) has fled Sunnydale. When we catch up with her, she is working in a dodgy part of Los Angeles, using her middle name of Anne. She is plagued by dreams of the lover she had to sacrifice and can’t come to terms with it no matter how hard she tries. She is brought back to her senses after an encounter with a demon and decides to head back to Sunnydale, to face her responsibilities. At first, reconciling with Xander(Nicholas Brendon), Willow(Alyson Hannigan), Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter), Oz(Seth Green) and her watcher Giles(Anthony Stewart Head) is hard, but it eventually gets easier. Trouble is always round the corner for this slayer and the dramas keep on coming. Buffy and the gangCordelia and Xander’s relationship is changed after he and Willow share a passionate kiss. Rejecting the gang, Cordelia heads back to her bitchy self and her shallow friends, yet still can’t shake off the memory of her relationship with Xander. Oz on the other hand, eventually forgives Willow. A new slayer, Faith(Eliza Dushku), arrives in town. She is a charismatic and loose living girl with internal emotional scars whose friendship with Buffy begins to disintegrate after Faith kills a human, which is against the rules of  being a slayer and shows no regret for her actions. There is also the matter of the Mayor, this season’s Big Bad. To everyone else he is a chipper guy, but he is in fact involved with the underground demons and plans on becoming a demon once it’s graduation day and he can ascend to becoming a stronger power than he already is. And to top all that off, Angel is back from hell, leading Buffy to question their relationship with one another. For my money season three is one of the best season’s in the whole Buffy saga.

The scripts are as sharp and witty as ever, whilst effectively conveying the pains of becoming adults faced with a very literal hell.  The characters are really starting to grow and you feel genuine sympathy for them in their adventures, especially Buffy who must deal with what life throws at her as well as dark forces closing in. This season gets an extra dynamic through the introduction of Faith, who is played with tough yet vulnerable strength by Eliza Dushku. She’s such an interesting character to watch and in a sense we see that Faith is how Buffy may have ended up if she had grown up neglected and alone in the world. When Buffy becomes friendly with Faith, she flirts with the idea of being a bad girl. She is then brought to her senses by witnessing Faith kill a human and must therefore sever ties with her. Buffy and FaithAll of this leads to some feisty action sequences between the two as the clash of personalities stokes the flames of an already burning fire.  Season 3 also introduces the character of Anya(Emma Caulfield), a former vengeance demon now stripped of her power who must live a human life. She will later become a very prominent character in Buffy and Emma Caulfield is really funny in her early episodes. Also giving Season 3 an edge is the villain in the form of Mayor Richard Wilkins. He is such a creepy yet darkly funny guy who is treacherous to say the least but the kind of the person you just love to hate. Some of the lines he gets to deliver are so strangely funny and ironic such as “Who’s up for a root beer?” after killing an employer who disobeyed him.

The love between Angel and Buffy reaches its end as he struggles to think of a future for Buffy that won’t bring her harm. Their relationship is so emotionally moving and tragic in that they both love one another but are torn apart by all the hell breaking loose around them. It’s sad to see Angel go and he is certainly a missed character in the show. Another point of praise is the exploration of Buffy’s relationship with her mother Joyce. Having been forced to tell her mum of her duty, Joyce has taken time to get her head around it. They may come to blows, but we see how each would do anything to protect the other from harm. This season contains some of the most emotional in the season. Buffy Class ProtectorThe crowning one for me is when Buffy is awarded Class Protector at the prom. Initially believing that no one realises that she saves their lives on a regular basis, she is shocked but very happy to receive the award as the entire student body applauds her bravery and her beaming smile tells a thousand words. If this moment doesn’t get you tearing up, then I don’t know what will.

Our splendid cast delivers amazing work throughout Season 3. Sarah Michelle Gellar adds maturity and strength to Buffy as her life as the slayer continues. We are also shown the vulnerable side to her that wants to just be a teenage girl and isn’t immune to weakness. In other words, Gellar is phenomenal in her portrayal of a girl growing up fast. David Boreanaz bows out of Buffy in style as Angel, imbuing him with sensitivity, danger and melancholy as his doomed relationship comes to an end. Nicholas Brendon is ever reliable as Xander, who provides moral support and jokes, while Alyson Hannigan is luminous as Willow, who this season begins to hone her gift for magic. Charisma Carpenter also bows out of Buffy, and she provides Cordelia with enough barbs and humour to make sure she is a well-remembered character. Seth Green adds mordant and ironic humour to the role of Oz, while Anthony Stewart Head touchingly portrays the way Giles cares for Buffy in a father-daughter way.

Easily one of the show’s best seasons, Buffy Season 3 is not to be missed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by vinnieh in Television Reviews

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

1990's, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green

Season 2 of Buffy expands on the greatness of the short  Season 1 with interesting character arcs and writing. This is when the show really begins to hit its stride and capture the interest of viewers. Spoilers will follow in this review. Buffy Season 2 poster

After dying at the hands of the Master and then being revived at the end of Season 1, Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar) returns to Sunnydale, feeling distant and alienated. It seems that the deadly experience between her and the Master has had a deep effect on her. Willow(Alyson Hannigan),Xander(Nicholas Brendon) and Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter) are concerned for their friend and try to help her snap out of this state. It’s only after they are kidnapped along with Giles(Anthony Stewart Head) in an attempt to resurrect the Master, that Buffy manages to snap out of it and rescue them from danger. Other characters arcs are Xander and Cordelia dating despite the social difference, Giles beginning to find happiness with Jenny and Willow entering into a relationship with Oz(Seth Green), who just happens to be a werewolf.  But darkness is just around the corner with the arrival of the sadistic vampires Spike(James Marsters) and Drusilla(Juliet Landau) who become the main antagonists for this season. To add to this, Buffy’s relationship with Angel(David Boreanaz) deepens. After declaring their love for one another and sleeping together, Angel loses his soul because he has experienced true happiness. The downside to this is that he now reverts back to the bloodthirsty Angelus and soon begins to torment Buffy and those closest to her. In the end Buffy must decide whether to follow her duty as slayer and kill Angel or attempt to change him back. As passions collide and blood is spilled, who will prosper in this eventful season?

As I previously mentioned, this season expands on the first in many excellent ways. The writing is as fresh and witty as ever, but the tone is more serious. This season shows maturity as Buffy experiences the tragic effects of falling in love with Angel and the consequences of it. The darkness of the season is also embodied in the characters of Spike and Drusilla. Their relationship is a twisted and perverse one that makes for a creepy watch. Spike and DrusillaSpike is hotheaded and violent, Drusilla is childlike and doleful with a sinister streak. Their relationship calls to mind Bonnie and Clyde, in a dangerous vampire form. James Marsters and Juliet Landau make for inspired casting and imbue their roles with menace, dark humour and chills. Marsters makes Spike a dangerous enemy whilst imbuing him with a very dark sense of humour. Juliet Landau is perfectly cast as the fawning Drusilla, whose babbling and nursery rhymes belie her sadistic and twisted mind. This season has a dark and romantic atmosphere that keeps you hooked as each episode goes on, causing a correlation between the themes of love and death. The characters are growing up and we see the changes in them as they go through what life throws at them, with extra helpings of evil demons and fiends thrown in for good measure. Spike, Drusilla and Angel may take the honours of being the best villains, but there are plenty more foes that Buffy faces that are worth a mention. Buffy Rocket LauncherThese include a robot disguised as a businessman who take a shine to Buffy’s mother, a terrifying demon that can only be seen by children and The Judge, a supposedly indestructible force that Buffy takes down with a rocket launcher in kick ass fashion. Emotions run high throughout Season 2 with Angel killing Jenny a particularly shocking and unexpected moment that has a grave outcome for an emotionally shattered Giles.

As with the last season, the acting is of the highest order. As Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar exudes maturity, strength and intensity that aid her in her battles against demons and her protection of her family and friends. She shows how Buffy is learning about life and the wounds it can inflict on you, especially when it comes to love. David Boreanaz nails the role of Angel, who reverts back to his menacing old self and wrecks havoc on Buffy and her friends. Gellar and Boreanaz have great chemistry together and their scenes together are filled with passion, devastation and connection.Angel threatens WillowAlyson Hannigan subtly portrays Willow’s blossoming confidence and resourcefulness as she begins a relationship with Oz, who is played with easy-going charm by Seth Green. Nicholas Brendon continues to play Xander with lovable wit whilst also revealing the hidden depths to his character and how much his friends mean to him. Charisma Carpenter manages to give Cordelia an ever-growing sympathy as she joins the gang in their tasks. Her relationship with Xander proves interesting because of the way Cordelia shrugs off popularity to be with him. Sure Cordelia still retains some of her vanity, but she’s definitely more relatable this season. Anthony Stewart Head carries on his impressive role as Giles, who develops a close bond with fellow teacher Jenny, only to have it tragically taken away from him. I liked how this season expanded on the character of Giles and showed various incidents that happened in his past that have made him the way he is now.

Darkly romantic, dramatic and witty, Buffy Season 2 delivers the goods that really have me wanting to watch Season 3 as soon as possible.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1

14 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by vinnieh in Television Reviews

≈ 49 Comments

Tags

1990's, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar

After the success of my Lost reviews, I decided to turn my attentions to another one of my favourite TV shows. This time it is the iconic Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Created by Joss Whedon, Buffy went on to become a cult hit with its mix of humour, horror and action. Even now, Buffy ranks as one of the top TV shows I’ve ever seen, it just never seems to get old and I always find something new when I watch it again. I hope these reviews go down well with everyone. Be warned, spoilers will follow in this review.

BuffyBuffy Summers(Sarah Michelle Gellar) just wants to be a normal teenager. Kicked out of her old school in Los Angeles, she moves to the Californian town of Sunnydale to make a fresh start. There’s just one major hitch with Buffy, she is the Slayer. According to the prophecy “In every generation, there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.” Buffy is well aware of this and wants to escape it, but it just so happens that Sunnydale is located on the Hellmouth, which means that all things evil are drawn to it. Try as she might, there is no escaping the prophecy. With help from new friends, the goofy but lovable Xander Harris(Nicholas Brendon) and sweet and shy computer geek Willow Rosenberg(Alyson Hannigan), Buffy reluctantly chooses to accept her duty and take down the forces of evil that threaten Sunnydale, all while surviving the traumas and dramas of high school, mainly by popular fashion plate Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter). Also aiding Buffy is Giles(Anthony Stewart Head), the stuffy Watcher and school librarian who trains Buffy and keeps an eye on her. Adding to the confusion in her life is the mysterious figure of Angel(David Boreanaz), who she falls for but realises his dark secret. Witty lines and scary thrills follow as the strong and lethal Buffy fights against the dark forces of vampires and demons, headed this season by an ancient vampire known as the Master, who wants to rise from the underground and feed on humans. This leads to a kick ass showdown between him and Buffy.

Basing a TV show off a movie that didn’t do that well was risky business, but Joss Whedon pulls it off amazingly with Buffy. He has crafted relatable characters, menacing villains and kick ass action that would lead the show to reaching seven seasons. Praise should be given to the sparky dialogue that populates this season. Taking aim at high school conventions and life or death moments, Buffy will have you laughing as well as frightened in equally effective measure. The mixing of high school drama and supernatural horror is an acutely observed one that complement one another. I mean as many people say, high school can be horror in more ways than one. This is certainly the case for the gorgeous Buffy and pals. Buffy and MasterAlso the supernatural forces that threaten Buffy are fun to watch, especially the creepy Master who sends shivers down the spine. I mean just listing some of the evils faced is enough to make you want to watch the show, such as savage students possessed by demonic hyenas, a demon who filters his way through the computer system and a seductive teacher who is actually a deadly Praying Mantis in disguise.

The acting in this show is definitely in need of praise. I can’t think of another actress to play Buffy except Sarah Michelle Gellar because of how great she is in the role. She encapsulates the sarcastic and self-assured persona of a teenage girl having to fight the forces of darkness whilst navigating her way through high school. Kick ass, sexy and feisty, she is an all out heroine who you really don’t want to mess with. Season 1 Buffy, Willow and XanderGellar also shows depths to Buffy, and the way in which she has to obey the prophecy but at the same time just wants to live a normal life which in her case seems to be intangible due to her circumstances. Nicholas Brendon adds goofy charm to the role of Xander, who is often bumbling his way into disaster whilst trying to attract Buffy’s attention. Alyson Hannigan provides warmth and humour as the clever Willow, whose computer skills and knowledge often come in very handy when finding out who the enemy is. In the role of Giles, Anthony Stewart Head exudes authority and stuffy conservatism all whilst trying to help Buffy survive. Giles Season 1He really does have some excellent scenes in which he disagrees with Buffy’s tactics for taking out the enemy or commenting on her sarcasm towards him. Charisma Carpenter is great as the shallow Cordelia, who takes aim at Buffy and her friends but soon finds herself drawn to the group because of the strange occurrences in Sunnydale. David Boreanaz is effectively used as Angel, who becomes Buffy’s love interest. The twist of this romance is the fact that Angel is in fact a vampire, but also is cursed with a soul. This device is used well as we watch Buffy wrestle with her feelings for him, whilst knowing that he possesses great danger to others. This romance will later have a profound effect on the seasons after.

Buffy Season 1 may only be short, but it’s well worth the watch because of great performances, witty dialogue and chills a plenty. Watching this season again has got me super excited for season 2.

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