Like I Said ...

(Blogger's having posting problems over the last couple of days -- I've been trying to get this up since 9:30 AM.)

So today's Metro includes my reviews of "Pulse" and "Zoom", neither of which was screened in time for opening-day coverage, and both of which suck.

"Pulse" is a lazy, sloppy and entirely unnecessary reworking of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 chiller, which, like his even better 1998 thriller "Cure", was one of those genuinely disturbing films that stays with you for days after you watch it. It percolates in your mind. The remake, which is one of those Dimension Films assembly-line projects arranged around the TV faces of the moment, does not percolate. It curdles.

"Zoom", on the other hand, is an utter mediocrity -- a shameless attempt to cash in on the "X-Men" and "Spy Kids" franchise by way of "Galaxy Quest", with Tim Allen playing another broken-down ex-idol figure who learns to believe in himself again, yadda yadda yadda. It's awful. The one thing that genuinely surprised me was the revelation that Chevy Chase -- who plays a scientist who mentored Allen's character some thirty years ago -- wasn't wearing old-age makeup; he just looks like hell now.

If you're in the Toronto area, "Conversations with Other Women" is at least an interesting misfire. But I'd still wait for the DVD.

My first film-festival press screening awaits. It seems to be starting earlier this year. Here's hoping it's indicative of distributors being enthusiastic about their movies, wanting to get them out before the deluge. That'd be good.

Technorati tags: Movies, Pulse, Zoom, Conversations with Other Women, Summer Movies That Suck