Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.




Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 




The Animation Show 4 ***
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson ***1/2
Hancock **1/2
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl **1/2
Quid Pro Quo ***
The Wackness **1/2
The Castro Theatre's 70mm Festival 2008
More
 




Drillbit Taylor
Identification of a Woman (Import)
Shotgun Stories
A Throw of Dice
Vantage Point
More
 

Film Features

Brad Anderson
Scarlett Johansson: Anywhere I Lay My Head [CD Review]
Don Cheadle at CineVegas
Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
Tina Sinatra
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
Charlton Heston (1924-2008)
Scott B. Smith
Estelle Parsons
Roger Donaldson
Roy Scheider (1932-2008)Mike Binder
James McAvoy
Tony Gilroy
David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen
William Friedkin
Peter Fonda & James Mangold
Kasi Lemmons on Talk to Me
Steve Buscemi on Interview
Lynn Hershman-Leeson
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost on Hot Fuzz
Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Matthew Goode
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host
Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton
My latest blog entries at cinematical.com
The 'Mexican New Wave'
Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn
Joe Carnahan & Jeremy Piven Interview
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Chris Noonan Interview
Robert Altman (1925-2006)
Scarlett Johansson: A Study in Scarlett
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Joe Eszterhas
Jet Li
Zach Braff
Kirby Dick
James Ellroy
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
Adrien Brody
Steve Irwin (1962-2006)
Elisha Cuthbert/Jamie Babbit
Matt Dillon
David R. Ellis
Maria Bello
Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
Al Gore
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
Sign up for my weekly newsletter!
 
About
Lists
Gallery
News
Links

E-mail me.
 
© 1997-2008 Combustible Celluloid



Session 9 (2001)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

Going Mental

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Session 9 on DVD

A few years ago, two Andersons (no relation to me) made extraordinary splashes on the movie scene with Bottle Rocket and Rushmore (Wes Anderson) and Hard Eight and Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson). Around the same time, another Anderson (still no relation to me) made a much smaller splash, but the ripples from that splash have continued to spread ever outward.

That Anderson was Brad Anderson -- and his little romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland won many hearts, most of them after its video release. Now Anderson's next two films, Happy Accidents which spent a year on the shelf, and the new Session 9, see the light of day nearly simultaneously: Session 9 opens today at the Roxie, while Happy Accidents opens in Bay Area theaters next week. That's one way to avoid your sophomore slump -- show us the junior first and the sophomore second.

While Happy Accidents skillfully combines romantic comedy and science fiction, Anderson went full-blown with a chilling horror story for his new film Session 9. Apparently, Anderson found a mansion-sized abandoned hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts and crafted a creepy little story around it.

An asbestos clean-up man named Gordon (Peter Mullan) takes the job of fixing up the mansion in only a week's time, and he brings his usual crew along: Phil (David Caruso), a would-be lawyer Mike (Stephen Gevedon), Hank (Josh Lucas), and Gordon's mullet-head nephew (Brendan Sexton III). Each of the men quickly becomes obsessed with some little thing on the job. Mike begins listening to long forgotten audio tapes of a therapy session, while Hank discovers a hoard of old-time coins and treasures buried in the wall. Gordon himself is having trouble at home, but the details are only gradually revealed to us (something happened to his leg and he keeps limping around). The men begin to slowly bicker amongst themselves as well, not helped by the fact that Hank is now sleeping with Phil's girlfriend and loves to taunt him about it.

The horrors in Session 9 are all internal -- there are no ghosts or zombies or chainsaw-wielding maniacs, just shadows, strange images and half-seen clues. I'm happy to see that truly scary films like this and The Others are returning to theaters after the success of The Blair Witch Project two years ago. Anderson treats his material right, using the immense building to brilliant advantage and giving us little scares and quickly snatching away their explanations -- never giving anything completely away until the movie's end.

But knowing the final turnout, the character's motivations don't always make sense. When we look back, not all of the pieces fall neatly into place. I wasn't able to buy that Mike becomes suddenly and immediately obsessed with just one particular set of tapes, involving a woman with multiple personalities. (The story on the tapes is supposed to mirror the modern-day story, but it doesn't quite mesh.) Some of Phil's actions -- such as secretly paying off a couple of thugs for some unknown purpose -- cease to make sense. During the initial ride, however, Session 9 gave me the tingles, and I got a big kick out of it.

Starring: Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Josh Lucas, Brendan Sexton III, Larry Fessenden
Written by: Brad Anderson & Stephen Gevedon
Directed by: Brad Anderson
MPAA Rating: R for language and brief strong violence
Running Time: 100 minutes
Date: Sept. 12, 2001

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2007 Combustible Celluloid