Snowpiercer ~ As far as word of mouth, and 2014's must see film, this was it. Everyone was talking about
Snowpiercer. A future dystopic tale, where the world has been frozen over by an attempt to halt global warming and what's left of Earth's population has been loaded onto a constantly globe circling train divided by class into cars, just sounds insane, or at the least, very Terry Gilliam. In fact, and homage, John Hurt's character is even named Gilliam. Yes, it's a mental idea, but once you wrap your mind around it, it gets rather predictable, sadly.
Director Bong Joon-ho, probably best known for the wonderful new age kaiju eiga
The Host, really wants to be Terry Gilliam here, and for the most part he succeeds. The amazing cast is caked in Gilliam grime, except for those who are clean and just plain odd.
Captain America Chris Evans,
The Help's Octavia Spencer, Alison Pill from "
The Newsroom," Jamie Bell, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, and supremely odd Tilda Swinton are among the all star cast that make this flick.
The film is based on a French graphic novel called
Le Transperceneige, and was Bong Joon-ho's first English language work. The class struggle turned into a rolling revolution is peppered with enough bizarro futurism and dystopian madness to keep things interesting. It's a science fiction ride that crosses
The Poseidon Adventure with
Les Miserables that has to be seen to be believed, and well worth watching.
Penny Dreadful ~ Okay, I had another one of those nights completely without sleep. And, rather than do something constructive like do some writing, editing, reading or maybe taking a walk just for the health of it – I turned to my old friend, Comcast OnDemand. One of the newer services, or channels (for lack of a better word), is Fearnet. This is where I found Penny Dreadful. This was a surprise, a very small and simple film that gets right to the point and right to the very real horror. Excellent performances by Rachel Miner and Mimi Rogers, this is a must see for horror fanatics. I would advise however you see it on DVD rather than on Fearnet. Halfway through the flick OnDemand, Miss Horrorfest interviewed writer/director Richard Brandes, and while it was a good interview and Miss Horrorfest is so easy on the eyes, they give away the film, making the second half not such a surprise. I was very disappointed by the way this was presented. 
The Host ~ Also known as Gwoemul, this 2006 Korean horror was the talk of the genre a year or so ago. I have to admit it gets to the action almost immediately and the giant (well, semi-giant) monster stuff is merciless and frenetic. The first ten to fifteen minutes of The Host are relentless and unlike anything I’ve seen before. Props to director Joon-ho Bong for dazzling us with something new. It’s a pity that it soon becomes standard fair after that, a little bit Mimic and a little bit Virus. I also think it suffers from what appears to be faulty translation from Korean to English. The best part of the DVD is when director Bong apologies to the citizens of Seoul for tying up traffic while filming. See the first fifteen minutes if you’re a kaiju fan – it will open your eyes. 
