Movies: Sponge Attack, and The Halfway Depressed Shutter

The first day of term, and I am oh-so-mentally-drained.

Let's face it: 2004 is almost over, shopping malls have started to hang up their Xmas decorations even though the best bet for a Christmas tree in these here parts may come from Carrefour, and we're seeing the final wave of the cinematic onslaught Hollywood (and certain other parts of the world) deems it necessary to wash us over with.

Whilst to a certain degree I'm anticipating releases like Alexander, The Incredibles (it's Pixar, it's automatically good!), Bridget Jones 2, Saw, The Machinist and Blade: Trinity, there's one little (okay, maybe not so little) flick that may just float through our collective peripheral vision without leaving as much as a ripple, and it won't be through any fault of its own.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie. Sure, it's a cartoon on Nickelodeon featuring a manic yellow sponge living in a pineapple house at the bottom of the sea and his friends, and which I'm sure more than some of you find extremely juvenile and annoying. I know, because I used to think the same thing, until my brother made me sit down and watch a couple episodes. The amazing thing, I realised later was that though the show MAY be airing on a kids' channel, some of the messages/gags in it appeal to a distinctly grown up audience.

Be it Patrick's absurd Homerian (and I mean Simpson) level of stupidity, Sandy's Texan bravado, Squidward's obsessive snootiness, or any other of the colourful characters who inhabit Bikini Bottom (yep, that's what it's called), there's something just appealing about the whole show, which may explain the rabid fan base the show's accumulated since its inception. Truth be told, I haven't laughed so hard at a cartoon since Ren and Stimpy went off air (although the Happy Tree Friends come in a close second). Reviews I've read have been favourable so far, so I hope at least ONE local cine chain will pick it up.

On to other things, having sat thru Thai horror flick Shutter last night, I've come to the conclusion that the Asian horror cinema biz is in grave danger of eating itself out of house and home. With the sudden surge of Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Thai efforts, it's inevitable that the ghostly image Sadako so effectively portrayed in Ringu will become as tired as the classic vampire archetype. I've sat through so many mediocre attempts at horror (The Wishing Stairs, Whispering Corridors, Acacia, The Sisters, The Phone) that whenever something with some promise does appear it's washed out without getting a chance (and I DO blame the Koreans for some of the worst horror flicks this side of the Pacific, with Thailand trailing close). Having said that, I found Shutter to be a better than average teeny-horror flick which, had it been edited a little better and had some insanely drawn out emotional angsty scenes thrown out would be a definite must watch.

I'll try and get a review going soon, but in the meantime if you're looking for a good date-squeal-and-hug-movie, Shutter should fit the bill very nicely. Okay, I think I've exhausted my brain today, what with semester opening and myself giving the dreaded Project Management first lecture trying desperately to come up with something that sounded intelligent (by God, these students deserve something good) on top of everything else, I think the time to switch off should be right about -

Now.