Snap Judgment: Special Friday Edition

Yes, that's meant to be sarcastic (at myself) because I know the posting of SJ has been at best sporadic lately. It's all my fault; I'm trying a sociological experiment to induce just enough fear of abandonment in my readers to keep them fiercely loyal while throwing them a bone often enough to prevent them from losing hope entirely. Is it working? Are you reading this right now? I thought so.

(By the way -- I don't normally interrupt this section for special news bulletins, but It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is airing tonight on ABC at 8 PM. I forgot to set my Tivo, but it's not too late for everyone else. Is that one of the ones where they all dance?)

(And to interrupt this section again, it appears that Blogger's image upload thingy is on the fritz. So no pretty posters today. Just boring, boring text.)


Saw III (horror sequel to a sequel, rated R, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, written by James Wan and Leigh Whannell)

Oh, good. I was starting to worry there that an ENTIRE YEAR would go by without another one of these. You can't have too much space in between; a cinematic saga like this one is akin to a sprawling work of literature whose rich, textured story evolves before your eyes and continually draws you further and further into its gripping narrative. We've had 12 months to reflect on the relationships and feelings that evolved in the first two films; where will this latest installment find our beloved characters? Perhaps that Jigsaw fellow has decided he's had enough of staging elaborate games of death and dismemberment and is now moving on to, say, the equestrian arena. He purchases a couple of costly thoroughbreds and rents out the finest stable space available, aiming to take the world of horseracing by storm. But the horses don't perform as expected, and poor Jigsaw is a laughing stock at the country club.... that is, until he finds a fetching young heiress who's always dreamt of breaking away from her stifling family and becoming the world's foremost female jockey. Together they find love, adventure, and incredible success... but Jigsaw, unfamiliar with traditional courtship customs, thinks that his greatest gift to her will be to lock her in a padded room with a cage full of hungry rats and two combination-locked safes, one containing a key to the exit and the other containing a cyanide pill. Watch their incredible story unfold and find out if true love can overcome the misunderstandings of the heart!


Catch a Fire (historical drama, rated R, directed by Phillip Noyce, written by Shawn Slovo)

You have to love Phillip Noyce because he's always such a stickler for accuracy. When he made The Quiet American, he actually filmed in Vietnam and used many Vietnamese actors. Rabbit-Proof Fence, the actual Australian Outback and real aborigines. Now with his latest film, I see he's shot all over South Africa and for his lead villain, cast the notable South African thespian... Tim Robbins! That's right! The guy's had us hornswaggled for decades with his cleverly put-on Southern California accent and all those appearances in famous American films. Turns out he's just another lekker Surfrikan bru! (Nice South African guy, or so Wikipedia tells me.) It must have been a thrill to be back on his native soil of Johannesburg, performing the shit out of a meaty bad-guy role that probably brought to mind all the divisive political turmoil he grew up with. And while I'm sure no filmmaking experience of any kind could supersede the memory of being on the set of Nothing But Trouble when Martin Lawrence ran out onto the 405 waving a loaded gun, shooting this movie had to run a close second.