The Faculty

Rating:
Summary: Over rated Teen Garbage
Review: This is one of the stupidest movies I have seen. First of all, the acting is so terrible that you think that there was no director. Imagine all these teens who suddenly save the world from some strange alien that is invading their high school. It follows the mold of current movies that are brainless, put in a few supposedly scary moments with loud music and they call it a horror film. It's pure junk and I don't see how anyone can say otherwise unless they were born after 1980.



Rating:
Summary: This movie is hella good!
Review: First of all, Robert Rodriguez has an innate gift of turning everything he touches into solid gold. The guy is incapable of making a lame film. Even El Mariachi was charming! And Spy Kids 3D? If you can name another director today who could have made a 3D movie that fun I dare you. So, needless to say, when he teams up with modern day horror's #1 writer on a movie about aliens and high school kids the movie is going to be sweet!

The entire cast here is tremendous. Long before he was a lamo heart-throb, Josh Hartnett shined as Zeke, the stoner drug-peddlar who didn't like high school but wasn't as much of a druggie as he seemed. Elijah Wood plays a hero of epicly smaller proportion than the one that made him most famous (Frodo) but he still shines. And in Trivial Pursuit 20 years from now, the game winning question should definitely ask, "What movie teamed upcoming R&B megastar Usher with the hottest latina actress of her generation, Salma Hayek?" I'll tell you, the Faculty did baby! This movie is so good it'll give you permanent chills.

Plus, it ends with the music of Oasis which is so damn sweeet it's inexplicable!

Rating:
Summary: Watch out for those flagpoles!!!
Review: Mr. Robert Rodriguez joined w/the team that brought us Scream 1 & 2 to make a Sci-Fi horror movie w/high school kids, and of course, they save the world. You may think that means this is a bad movie. You would be wrong.

The movie starts off fantastic w/Robert Patrick (Terminator 2) as a football coach who gets turned into an Alien. Then continues as a very solid cast of teachers Jon Stewart, Selma Hayek, and Famke Janssen all slowly get turned into Aliens themselves.

Robert Rodriguez continues w/this body snatchers story (and even makes plenty of references to the original throughout the movie) as his group of teeny boppers, which is also a whose who of upcoming super stars at the time including Usher, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Jordana Brewster, and Clea DuVall.

Robert Rodriguez takes this all-star cast, adds great special effects, and an old, retread story, and weaves a very interesting movie. However, I must say the movie grabs you at the beginning, keeps your interest for the first 80%, then the last 15-20 minutes gets kind of cheesy. CGI gets a little over done, which slightly takes away from the movie. The only scary parts are really at the beginning when no CGI was used.

Nevertheless, it is still a very solid story, entertaining movie, that is a must see this time of year (October 15th). However, I would recommend renting before buying, as this is a movie most would watch once. Now, if you collect Robert Rodriguez work, then buy it. If you just collect/enjoy horror Sci-Fi movies, I would strongly recommend it.

Grade: B


Rating:
Summary: I thought of this movie
Review: A long time ago..before this movie was ever made, I thought of a cool idea of a movie where the teachers would be aliens. I guess they beat me to it lol. There version looked alot better than what I had thought should happen. The only negiative remark I have is that I wish the DVD could have been more of a "special edition" becuase I remembering seeing scenes in the theatrical trailers that were not in the movie. Plus they could of done a commentary and so on. This would also be a great movie to make into infinifilm

Rating:
Summary: 'I'm not an alien; I'm discontent.'
Review: Look, for my money... this is both Williamson's coolest script and Rodriguez's coolest flick. I say that because sitting through this precocious rehash of 'Puppet Masters' and 'The Breakfast Club' (along with a little bit of 'The Thing') is an absolute breeze. Though not without its share of suspense-dread and red-herring scares, the movie ably demonstrates the social symptoms of overall teenage distrust through a handful of characters that should be one-note yet inject a uniquely disparate perspective of the goings-on. Those goings-on are too familiar to us by now: a parasitic alien infects leagues of human hosts with the simplicity of an airborn virus and essentially renders individuals into becoming somewhat 'optimal' zombies. Alright, if aliens chose to overpower the Earth through brain manipulation, why choose Ohio to start? Because... who the hell ever thinks about Ohio, the same ill-fated state as 'Heathers'? Where this movie excels is Williamson taking the pop culture UFO phenomenon (through movies and literature) and ingesting it with the posit that, instead of attempting to be secret leaks about such subject matter, they are actually devised to divert our attention away from the seriousness of it when it actually does happen. (Much the same way Williamson approaches his post-mod horror projects.) Drawn from legitimate personal experience, though dismissed as pulp fare or daydream fantasy by anyone else. Yeah, sure, it's ludicrous, yet the possibility is undeniably intriguing. So Rodriguez comes in and smoothly milks this angle, and aptly, I might add. I always think his better films are those he does not write himself (but that still won't stop him from being the cameraman, re-recording mixer, co-producer, editor and director on this movie) and 'The Faculty' is a case in point. His hyperbolic style fits right in with this type of writing, and Williamson delivers his slickest dialogue yet (see review title). One more thing (and let me know if I'm crazy, here): this has got to be one of the most violent high schools depicted on film, and of course it's only violent while the students are still human. (Although, Stokely does endure some harsh blows during the aliens' siege.) I understand it ain't gonna make the AFI 100, nor be regarded as seminal viewing by 'Cahiers du Cinema.' But it's dependable. Whether you want some laughs, some scares, some mental repairs, this is one that you won't have to feel guilty about reaching for.
P.S. Keep an eye on the ongoing undercurrent about methamphetamine.

Rating:
Summary: TEACHERS PETS?
Review: If you're gonna rip off a classic like INVASION OF BODY SNATCHERS or PUPPET MASTERS, at least do it right...Robert Rodriguez did it right with this stylish and visceral thriller. Blessed with a very talented young cast and some venerable artists, THE FACULTY is fun, furious and frightening. There are some unexpected plot twists, and the terror of being "changed" ever prominent.
The best performances: Piper Laurie, fiercely understated; Shawn Hotosy (an intelligent and sensitive jock); Clea DuVall (Gothicly gorgeous); Robert Patrick (what a manly coach!); and Elijah Wood (destined to become the lord of the rings).
The good performances: Bebe Neuwirth as the red-taped principal; Josh Hartnett as the dropout back to save the day; and Famke Janssen as the sex-deprived teacher who does a remarkable makeover once possessed. Laura Harris (The Calling) is okay, but not great, in her role as newcomer Mary Beth.
The movie moves well and has some high moments of comedy, to boot. Credit to screenwriter Kevin Williamson for this delightfully different, if derivative, horror.