Priceless / Hors de prix

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: December 13, 2003 (France) / March 28, 2008 (USA)

DVD Release Date: November 18, 2008

Plot 411: A con woman mistakes a hotel worker as a rich guy and he becomes her next con.

Review: Audrey Tautou plays Irene, a woman whose one desire in life is to marry into money. To this end, she cons rich, old men into buying her clothes and gems and taking her to nice places. She meets Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a hotel jack-of-all-trades, and mistakens him for another hotel guest. After many drinks, they head up to a luxurious suite and spend the night. By this time, Jean is completely infatuated with Irene. She, on the other hand, brushes him off without a parting glance. After a similar experience a year later, they are caught in bed by the hotel staff and Jean's ruse is unveiled. Irene storms out believing she has wasted her precious time on a man with no money. Jean tries his best to apologize and she really makes it worth her while. When Jean is left with an exorbitant hotel bill, he must resort to a con himself to pay it off. Tautou looks stunning in this film, especially dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry. She's like a modern-day Audrey Hepburn with her petite stature and delicate features. She is also exceptional as Irene and able to convey a sweetness despite her appetite for the superficial. There are points in the film when she is utterly cruel to Jean and you wonder whether or not she has a beating heart within her. Yet you still have empathy for her character because you know she's just trying to survive. Elmaleh is hilarious as this fish-out-of-water character. He's just a normal guy who has been swept up into the upper echelon of society and can barely tread water to keep afloat. The movie is definitely funny, but it is carried out in a subtle way that we rarely see in American films.

Watch It: To witness just how far a guy will go to impress a girl. It would be obsurdly pathetic if he didn't love her so much.

Skip It: If you'd like to read less subtitles and catch a similarly themed American movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sigourney Weaver called Heartbreakers. However, of the two, I prefer Priceless.

Nightmare Detective / Akumu Tantei

Rating: Not Rated

Movie Release Date: January 13, 2007 (Japan) / July 6, 2007 (USA)

DVD Release Date: June 22, 2007

Plot 411: People kill themselves with the help of man who enters their dreams.

Review: I still don't get these foreign horror films, especially Asian ones, but I think this one was pretty interesting nonetheless. hitomi plays a detective named Keiki Kirishima, who has just transferred from investigating white-collar crimes to fieldwork. Her first case involves the death of a female victim. Her colleagues Ishida (Ren Osugi) and Wakamiya (Masanobo Ando) quickly deem it a suicide but Kirishima isn't sure. When another case arises, she believes there's a killer on the loose when she discovers the last call by both victims is to the same number. After some investigation, she thinks someone is hypnotizing the victims and ordering them to kill themselves. She contacts a known psychic named Kagenuma (Ryuhei Matsuda) to ask for help but he refuses. But when Kirishima puts herself at risk, Kagenuma must decide whether or not he will help her. Like most Asian horror films, this one is really difficult to follow. The line between dreams and reality is non-existent sometimes, and this contributes to much of the confusion. Also, the method through which themes are communicated is slightly more abstract in Japanese horror than it would be in an American-made movie. I wonder if this says something about the intelligence of each moviegoing audience or if it's just a cultural thing? In any case, this is tough to follow but the premise is really intriguing. It might take a second viewing to really get to the bottom of this one. I found it really weird that the title character is barely in the film and we must follow a real detective around instead. I suppose that's okay, but I would've liked to learn more about Kagenuma and his abilities. The scenes in which people are killed are amazingly bloody and gruesome, but this makes them great. Adding to the horror is the fact that you never really see what's killing them except for brief glimpses. Is it human? Is it a spirit? Is it the devil? Quick camera movements and good sound design add to the suspense to create a specific mood that has you on the edge of your seat. This movie reminded me about Freddy Krueger from Nightmare On Elm Street in a crapload of ways.

Watch It: If you're a fan of J-pop singer hitomi or of foreign horror films.

Skip It: If you prefer slasher films to be solely about blood spillage and devoid of any real thought.

Halloween

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: August 31, 2007

DVD Release Date: December 18, 2007

Plot 411: A reinvention of a classic horror film about a psychotic boy who kills indiscriminately.

Review: As a boy, Michael (Daeg Faerch) already shows disturbing signs of mental distress. This, in addition to the tough times he has at home and school, seems to unleash his violent nature. After being convicted for killing three people, he is sent to a mental hospital for analysis by psychologist Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). Michael becomes obsessed with the masks he makes while in the hospital and after a while refuses to talk. This continues for 15 years until Loomis closes Michael's case and moves on. On Halloween night, Michael (Tyler Mane) escapes during a facility transfer and kills all the guards and staff. He heads home to find his baby sister who was left behind. This movie does not let slasher movie fans down as it contains quite a lot of kills that are like whoa. The blood and guts are realistic so hat's off to the special effects team involved in this film. In true slasher fashion, the acting is so-so but who cares? It fills in the gaps between kill scenes and that's all we really care about. I think Daeg Faerch does an excellent job conveying the wide range of emotions in young Michael. This sets up the entire film and is the audience's base upon which Michael's identity is built. Also, be forewarned that there are a bevy of topless chicks in this film and teenage promiscuity is high. But, of course, you probably already know that from the first Halloween movie.

Watch It: For a gruesome remake of the Michael Myers franchise by Rob Zombie.

Skip It: If you're a die-hard fan of the John Carpenter original.