Slient Hill Screams for Return

Silent Hill Relevations
opens October 26th.

In 1999, survival horror video games were dominated by one title- Resident Evil. That was until Konami developed a game that was called "a shameless, but slick Resident Evil clone" by Gamepro. It was about a father who gets into a car accident with his daughter in a remote town called Silent Hill. When he awoke, the girl was gone and he has to look for her. Though exploring the town, the father (known as Harry Mason) finds out the true origins of his daughter (Cheryl). In 2006, Silent Hill was released, but transformed it's main character from a father to a mother and changed the name of Cheryl to Sharon. The film is one of the more underrated of the video game movies, but audiences and critics could not say the same with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 29%. However, hardcore fans applauded the film for staying somewhat true to the series though it combined elements of the first three games. If director Christophe Gans didn't incorporate aspect of the other games, audiences wouldn't have been introduced to Pyramid Head, who is one of the more frightening monsters in video game history.

Malcolm McDowell joins Adelaide Clemens on the tour
of the haunted town.

The first film did not go the way of the more popular Resident Evil and did relied more on it's story than creating new characters and action sequences that made little sense. It was a cross between Carrie and the Salem Witch Trials with an ending that didn't seem to fulfill audiences viewing pleasure. Now Silent Hill has spawned a sequel Silent Hill Relevations and it's premise attempts to keep to the story from the Silent Hill games. Heather (Adelaide Clemens) is haunted by nightmares on the eve of her 18th birthday. After the disappearance of her father Christopher (Sean Bean), she travels to the "alternate" Silent Hill and encounters all the monsters left out of the first Silent Hill film that were left out. According to IMDb, Radha Mitchell (the lead of the first film) is credited as Heather encounters "her mother". Where the story goes is a mystery? Do they follow the Resident Evil path and introduce monsters seemingly without rhyme or reason only to sacrifice the story? Will 3D be enough to keep the mind-fuck the first film was?

What is certain is that Pyramid Head will make another appearance? Considered one of the greatest monsters in the gaming history, Pyramid Head had two appearances in the first Silent Hill film. The second scene was the most disturbing, gory and downright filthy. It featured Pyramid Head peeling off the skin of a girl and throwing it against a church wall. A terrifying character that began appearing in the second Silent Hill game, it would behoove the filmmaker (Michael J. Bassett) to feature him. Below is the Pyramid Head scene in the first film and I'm sure you'll agree. How Silent Hill will be received by  audiences will be a mystery, but it will get it's chance to follow up on Resident Evil once again. Unlike  ten years ago, Resident Evil has lowered the bar so low that if the film had 30 minutes of commercials in the middle of it, it should beat out Resident Evil. If it doesn't Silent Hill will never speak again.

Affleck's Second Act

Argo releases October 12th

1997's Good Will Hunting sparked
Affleck's career.

He's been the butt of a lot of jokes by Seth MacFarlane and other comedians for the last twenty years- and in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back he participated in some good natured ribbing- but Ben Affleck has seen a wide range of success in Hollywood of the last 20 years. The former child star in The Voyage of the Mimi had a career that progressed very well into the 1990's with supporting roles in films like Dazed and Confused, School Ties, Phantoms and Mallrats. Oddly, it was Mallrats where he became friends with Kevin Smith and would star in Smith's 1997 comedy Chasing Amy about a guy that falls in love with a lesbian. It allowed Affleck to show his range, but stardom truly hit at the end of the year when Affleck and childhood friend Matt Damon's screenplay Good Will Hunting came to life and exploded in a big way. A lasting image from the film was Affleck's wry smile as his wish that his friend would just not be there when it was their usual morning drive to work at a quarry. The result, a Best Actor nomination for Matt Damon, but an Oscar for both for their screenplay. Affleck's career skyrocketed from there. He had some blockbuster films like Pearl Harbor and Armageddon, but he had several clunkers like Reindeer Games and Gigli. He was Daredevil and Jack Ryan (Sum of All Fears), but never got the respect like his friend Damon got from the public. By the mid-2000's, Affleck seemed to go smaller and back to the supporting actor route in films like Hollywoodland, Smoking Aces and Extract, while another person close to him got recognized for their work; his brother Casey Affleck got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination for The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford. While the films and parts got smaller, where was Affleck's career going?

Gone Baby Gone showed
Affleck can do much more
than Forces of Nature.

In 2007, Ben Affleck changed his role to directing and thus far, all criticisms have been GREATLY positive. His first feature was Gone Baby Gone that was based on a Dennis Lehane novel. It was originally intended to feature Affleck in the main role, but wanting to focus solely on directing, Affleck declined the lead role before casting Casey Affleck as the lead. Surrounded by great actors Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman and accompanied by Michelle Monaghan, Ben Affleck showed he had more talent that perhaps anyone thought. His direction aided Amy Ryan to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Flanked by Jeremy Renner, The Town
proved that Affleck is a budding
director in Hollywood.

In 2010, Affleck's second film, The Town, garnered (no pun intended) rave reviews again. This time, Affleck was the lead role with Jon Hamm, Blakely Lively and budding stars Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner, who received an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Like his first film, this took place Affleck's beloved city of Boston where the grand finale of the film had him robbing Fenway Park. Come to think of it, the Red Sox robbed their biggest fan this year, so they got him back. Affleck's knowledge of the city and gritty style of directing was perfect for The Town and Gone Baby Gone. You always hear about filmmakers using New York City as a character, but Affleck did the same with the city of Boston.

Improving as an actor as well, the question
is what hardware will Affleck eventually claim?

This week, Affleck's third feature Argo hits the screen and it's getting quite a buzz. Unlike, his first two films, this will not be set in Boston. The story is about a small group of US citizens that escape from the American Embassy when it was raided by a militant group of Iranians in 1980. Affleck plays a CIA agent that comes up with an unbelievable plan: pose as a Canadian film unit to get them out. Based on a real CIA operation that was declassified in 1997, Affleck's getting more great reviews from preview audiences and critics. Again, Affleck has a great cast aside him with Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Alan Arkin. If Argo gets some motion, a Golden Globe or Oscar can be in Affleck's future as a director, but there's a chance Affleck could land that hardware as an actor. Chasing Amy's Kevin Smith always told Affleck, “If you were in Jaws, I think you could play the shark.” That confidence may be paying off as even Affleck's biggest critics were impressed by his portrayal of a bank robber in The Town. At the rate he's going, it's not hard to see it in his future.