Culture

“More of this story is true than you would believe,” reads the caption at the beginning of The Men Who Stare at Goats, but let's be real: No one involved in this movie goes out of their way to give it the sting of veracity. If a movie can be said to have an attitude, this one would involve a shake of the head, accompanied by a hearty, “Ain't this some crazy shit?”
Director Grand Heslov and screenwriter Peter Straughan are adapting a non-fiction book by journalist Jon Ronson, it's true, and in that book Ronson explores several stranger-than-fiction characters and government operations. For the screen, Ronson has been turned into Michigan reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who finds himself emotionally distraught after his wife leaves him in 2003 for his editor, who happens to have a prosthetic arm. You'd be forgiven if you wondered whether this is the part of the story that isn't true (which it happens to be). And then you'd be wondering how you're supposed to know the difference.

When I see that a movie even looks remotely sugar coated, I hightail it – I can't stand phony sentimental feel-good or feel-sad movies that seem hell bent on eliciting sappy emotions from its audiences. But then again I've been duped by the Kramer vs. Kramers, Terms of Endearments and the I am Sams of the world. It's not that bad if handled in a way that expands the horizons of realism, usually accompanied by some decent acting by its main stars. Let's face it – there really are touching moments in real life. In terms of realism, superb acting and believable emotions, The Boys are Back delivers all three.

Paranormal Activity is terrifying and not just jump-out-of-your-seat-screaming scary – this one will have you seriously considering rearranging your life so that you can sleep only during daylight hours.
A couple of young yuppies, Micah and Katie, are experiencing some strange goings-on in their suburban San Diego home. Micah buys a camera and sets it up in their bedroom each night. He becomes such a camera nut (the latest in clichés, for this new wave of faux reality movies) that he also documents much of the rest of their lives within the house. In the style of The Blair Witch Project, we are presented with the found footage, provided by the local police department for our entertainment.

Saw VI's gory beginning features a pair of contestants with contraptions on their heads, hacking away at their flesh to save their own lives. From that moment, this installment of the episodic franchise takes off where the previous chapters left off, and doesn't let up. It's an impressive entry for a series that constructs its own chronology as it goes, even if the gig may be running thin after half a decade of ongoing horror.
The interwoven subplots in VI that connect the dots to Saws I-V are done in exceptional form. Please note these aren't sequels: these are episodes. You seriously cannot see any of them without seeing all of them and therein lays the genius of Saw. Though Saw IV and V seemed like missteps for the series, they clearly laid the groundwork for Saw VI, which feels more back on track with the intricate mind games that began with Saw III.