On the plus side, Mila Kunis is in it and is unrecognizably decent. Like, I kept going, "That girl is the spitting image of Mila Kunis, but it just doesn't sound like her at all. She's kind of good, for one. And not on TV." That, and her character gets hardcore after a certain point in the movie--she's kind of tossed around and attacked and taken hostage for much of it, and then >>UNEXPECTED GARROTE IS UNEXPECTED<< and I really started to like the character. I also didn't recognize Jennifer Beals as her mother, which kept itching at me the whole time. I immediately pegged Ray Stevenson, though, and was pleased to see him. Oh, and Tom Waits! That was nice. I won't even tell you who randomly shows up at the end, because it was a pleasant surprise. And again, there's the aforementioned spoiler cameo in the middle of the movie, as mentioned--it's totally That Scene with the Murderous Farmhouse Weirdos you get in this kind of movie (just off the top of my head, see also: Tim Robbins in War of the Worlds; Betty Buckley in The Happening--actually, wasn't she the second of two sets of Murderous Farmhouse Weirdos in that movie?), except that it's AWESOME. So this is what I mean about the script phoning it in a couple of times--when you sit there and go, "Oh, we're at That Part now." On the other hand, there were some really nice touches here and there, and the visuals are really striking, in that greyed-out apocalyptic way. You know. Mom really liked it, though, so: mission accomplished.
Now then! I just got back from seeing Shutter Island--by myself, thnx much, and I'm fully prepared to see The Wolfman solo as well, if I can get a time that works out--but I want to discuss that in a separate entry. So give me--eh, knowing me, probably an hour to write that up. ETA: Okay, here we are. SPOILERS.
