Whiteout (2009, U.S.)

This was a surprisingly good movie. I've seen a lot of bad reviews on it, but you have to keep in mind that's it's not supposed to be an Academy Award winner. It's supposed to be a scary, unlikely suspense flick.

Basically, a U.S. Marshall stationed at the American station in Antarctica must investigate a murder, and a special UN agent comes to help her investigate. They also get some assistance from a helicopter pilot and the station's doctor. The investigation turns up a string of bodies, a buried Soviet plane from the '50s, a smuggling operation, and all kinds of other fun stuff. When the rest of the station leaves for the season, this handful of people is left behind. Whiteouts and other dangerous situations abound, and the murder appears out of the blizzard with no warning.

Is it silly? Yes. But is it scary in its way? Yes. It's a fun, mindless flick, exactly what it's supposed to be.

Rating: 3.5

Fallen (2006, U.S.)

I decided to watch this made-for-TV movie because I wanted to see Paul Wesley in another role besides that of Stefan in Vampire Diaries, a role he was clearly born to play. He wasn't bad here, but this movie was obviously a terrible vehicle for any young actor.

Basically this is a cheesy, low budget flick about an adopted boy who discovers that he is the son of a fallen angel, and his destiny is to save the world, in so many words. The special effects are obviously low budget. The writing is terribly lame. The plot could have used a lot of fleshing out.

The one saving grace was that some of the acting is really stellar. Paul Wesley was good, though he's much better as a vampire than an angel. The real show-stealers were Tom Skerritt as Ezekiel and Hal Ozsan as Azazel, both fallen angels who walk the line between good and bad. Skerritt was a sort of witty, wise, slightly crazy old man. Ozsan was a witty, sexy, irreverent bad boy. Between these three actors, they kept this one from being a total tragedy. But it was awfully close.

Rating: 2.0