Monday, December 21, 2015

The Force Awakens

This movie wrecked me. Emotionally, mentally, almost physically. I want more.

I just saw a new Star Wars movie!!! I am the luckiest fan ever because I was born at the right time. I was 3 when I became a Star Wars fan, when I was 4 The Phantom Menace came out and it ended with Revenge Of The Sith when I was 10. I am now 20 and new Star Wars movies are being made! So how did this brand new chapter hold up? It was original and yet new. It took elements from A New Hope but added it's own spin to it, and that is what this movie is, it is it's own recognizable but new Star Wars movie that is actually very unpredictable in it's characters and actions and thank God for it. This movie took me for twists and turns I can tell you that but I could still see what was coming up. I knew how this movie was going to end but I still loved it! I do not give a shit if you are a Star Wars fan or not you have to go see this movie. I promise it's really good!

Friday, December 18, 2015

An Important Question

Okay guys bit of news to tell, I'm going to get my review out of Star Wars Ep. VII on either Monday or Tuesday. It will be my last review of the month and then I am going on break to enjoy the holidays and I will be back a little after the new year. But my question which I will think about over my break is, should I expand my reviews to other things than movies? And if so, what should I review? Television shows, games, etc.? I would really like to broaden my horizons and review more things I enjoy and would like to tell you about. So should I give it a shot, should I just stick to my movie reviews? What do you think about it? Comment below, and let me know what you think. See you guys and gals after the weekend.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Return Of The King

Well here it is, the almost 5 hour conclusion to The Lord Of The Rings!


You want an epic end to an already epic trilogy, look no further than Return Of The King. This film is all about the battles, and I'll be damned if I ever forget one. The action is phenomenal, the acting is at it's finest, the stakes have reached their peak, and boy oh boy, do you have to see the extended version to get the full experience. Cause cool stuff and very important stuff happens in the extended cut that is not in the theatrical cut, and it hurts the theatrical cut. Now you may be saying to your self, 5 hours?? My ass is going to be numb before the 4 hour mark! It really doesn't feel that long, it keeps you so interested in the journey, and the characters, and the battles that you hardly notice how long you have been seated. And a lot of people complain about how long the ending is, but you have to realize this was a huge story with a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up so it makes sense why the ending was so long, and I cry every time at the end. Christ, I cry at all of the movies because there is heavy stuff going down and you care so much about these characters! So it wrecks you at the end of it all. So go out tomorrow, watch Star Wars read these reviews whenever you like after the fact, and enjoy these movies. I actually do have an important question to ask, but it can wait until tomorrow. See you soon!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The Two Towers

So our story continues with a fantastic sequel!


The Two Towers is a great follow up to Fellowship Of The Ring, adding more awesome characters and even better action sequences. So sadly the fellowship has split, Sam and Frodo are continuing toward Mordor and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are tracking down the Uruk-Hai which leads them into the land of Rohan where we meet several new, but still interesting characters and they get swept up in this fight against Saruman's forces and this is where Christopher Lee really gets to shine! He is the main bad guy of this particular movie, and I love that because he is the man. There's so many great scenes in this movie, my favorite probably being besides the battle of Helms Deep, the very much exorcism like scene with King Theoden because it has just great writing, perfect music, and a battle of wills which I have always enjoyed in films. Andy Serkis playing Gollum is pretty much the reason you need to see this movie, and he got snubbed out of an Academy Award for best supporting actor because he was all CGI in the film! Everything you loved about the first Lord Of The Rings film is in this and it adds more to the world and the characters as it should, but it does it with more refined ways of filmmaking so of course the film itself is presented better than the first. I could just spout off trivia left, right, and center on these movies like how Christopher Lee actually met J.R.R. Tolkien and was one of the fountains of knowledge while filming, Viggo Mortensen actually broke his toe when he kicked a helmet so his yell was real, and how they changed several things from the book but I won't get into that cause honestly the changes that they made did not hurt the film. The extended cut gives more character development to both old and new characters, with more interesting insight into the world of Middle-Earth, and it almost clocks the movie in at about 4 hours. So have fun with that! I'll get back to you tomorrow with the last Lord Of The Rings film.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Fellowship Of The Ring

What the hell? You're reviewing Lord Of The Rings when Star Wars is coming out this week?! I already did Star Wars, so just read my reviews on those then go see the new movie, then get back to me and read these reviews during the holidays.


So why exactly am I reviewing The Lord Of The Rings movies? Well to be perfectly honest I got so used to a new Hobbit movie every December, and the actual meaning of the movies is companionship, loyalty, and friendship, qualities found in this world especially around Christmas time. I'm actually going to review the extended cuts of these movies cause they are the only true way you can watch The Lord Of The Rings movies. Needless to say I am a huge fan of these movies, have been since 2001 and it does not take long to get you interested. Just the opening sequence hooks you, and not once does it get slow, it keeps a steady and interesting pace. It gives you plenty of time to get to know the characters and the world. It is an epic tale of a Ring Of Power that if not destroyed can plunge Middle-Earth into eternal darkness, so it is up to our heroes to destroy it before it is too late. The term perfect cast has never ever been more true than with this cast, Elijah Wood is the only Frodo Baggins ever, Ian McKellen is wise and friendly as Gandalf the Grey, Orlando Bloom is nothing to me but Legolas he just has the physique of an Elf, friggin' Christopher Lee (God bless him) is pure menace as Saruman the White, just to name a few and everybody is so perfect. New Zealand is the most fitting backdrop for Middle-Earth on this planet, and I need to visit there one day. The music by Howard Shore just...my God. The best examples of it are actually the songs with singing in Tolkien's Elvish and the Black Speech of Mordor. I would recommend watching the theatrical cut and if you loved it enough to view the extended cut, it adds to the movie in every sense of the word. Every thing they added makes the movie better to the point where, really it kind of ruins the theatrical cut because of the lack of the additional scenes. It makes the film better in my eyes, but the theatrical cut is still a great film on it's own but the extended cut is leaps and bounds better. If you think you are hardcore enough and want to jump right into the extended cut alone, you rock! You will greatly enjoy it and it will not hurt you if you have never read the books written by J.R.R Tolkien, cause I haven't read the books. Not yet anyway and I still praise the movie and can't wait to read them. Even if you know nothing about Lord Of The Rings, the film, either cuts of it will fill you in. It is a very accessible movie to non-fans which is good if you feel that you might not have the proper beforehand knowledge and might find it a bit daunting. Anyone can watch this movie so have no fear. I hope you enjoy it, and you can find the extended editions just about anywhere, probably cheaper now than they were when first released and the best part is it includes both cuts of the movie and not just the extended cuts. So tune in tomorrow where we continue the trilogy.

Friday, December 11, 2015

A Very Murray Christmas

This was really, really good.


A Very Murray Christmas is Bill Murray's new Christmas special exclusively on Netflix. It's directed by Sofia Coppola, and I was praying that Scarlett Johannson was in this so I could call it the unofficial Lost In Translation reunion but sadly she did not appear. But hey it was still very good, the comedy was great and made me laugh a lot, although I did wish it was longer since it clocks in just barely under an hour. All the special guest stars like George Clooney and even Miley Cyrus were a treat to see, it had quite a bit of singing in it and it was all very good, and even lifted my spirits a bit. I actually forgot how well Bill Murray could sing even though we have heard him sing in his movies! I do wish it was longer, and that seems to be a running theme with Sofia Coppola's movies, but beyond that I didn't have any major problems with it. I did expect like this huge ensemble cast of celebrities, but I was thankful I could see George and Bill hang out. Do I recommend this special? I think so, in fact and not many things can do this, it really got me into the Christmas spirit. It's a great special and I think you will enjoy it just as much as I did. Now I want to watch Lost In Translation....

Thursday, December 10, 2015

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Most people always argue is this a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? I say it's a blend of both but at heart it is a Christmas movie, and it may have to do with the little fact that Christmas is in the title!!


The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stellar piece of work created by Tim Burton based off of the story he wrote by the same name. It follows several ghoulish inhabitants of Halloweentown, specifically Jack Skellington who has grown tired of Halloween and is searching for something new. He soon finds several mysterious doors in the woods and stumbles across Christmastown where he is fascinated by everything and decides to make the holiday his own. This is without a doubt a Christmas movie, because Jack discovers Christmas for the first time and delves into why he enjoys it so much and why he wants to make a Halloween themed Christmas. This movie is just awesome, the characters are unforgettable, the animation is amazing, I don't even have to touch on the music by Danny Elfman since almost everybody has heard it and enjoys it. Hell I could sing the whole thing right now, I am that much of a fan of this movie. It's a wonderful movie and I always watch it around Christmas time, it resonates with you because of the characters and attempting to dissect and understand Christmas and the film succeeds incredibly so at that. If you haven't seen it I strongly suggest you do so. And ironically, this is a Christmas movie you watch when you want something different from other Christmas movies, very much like Jack who wants something new and different besides ordinary Halloween things. That is a sign of how good a movie is when it can connect with audiences without them even seeing it. Give it a watch, and have fun making Christmas.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Love Actually

Bloody hell this was good...

So Love Actually is not only a damn good romance movie, it's a good Christmas movie. So we got to talk about that! Love Actually is really a story following 10 different people and all their paths are intertwined, think Valentine's Day or New Years Eve but good. Like really good. I'm honestly not sure where to start with this movie, cause there are lots of characters and lots of ground to cover. The cast itself is amazing, I mean we got people like Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, and the list goes on. I have to be honest here, I could not pick a favorite character in this movie cause they are all awesome! It was like every new scene that popped up I said there's my favorite character, and that happened every time we saw a different character. You might think the movie gets a bit confusing with it's vast cast of characters but thankfully it does not. Hell I can't even call them characters because they are as real as you or me. And that is what I loved about the movie, it centers around relationships. Almost any relationship that you can think of is potrayed in this movie and it is 120% accurate! This is what happens in the world that involves relationships, there are good moments, bad moments, love is won, and love is lost. If there has ever been a movie with the sole theme of love it IS this movie! And I can't believe I have never seen it before. So please for the love of all things good and wholesome in this world, I implore you to go see this movie. The time is right to view it, and the movie really has a strong point that Christmas is a time to spend with people that you love. In my personal opinion that is with any holiday but Christmas especially. This movie makes you want to spend time with the people that you love more than anything in this world. It's almost necessary to see this movie if you haven't already. I promise you will love Love Actually.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Mr. Holmes

How I have longed to see this film.

Mr. Holmes is a truly marvellous film putting it's own unique twist to the Sherlock Holmes story. This particular story follows an elderly and retired Sherlock Holmes grappling with his failing memory, and trying to remember the last case he ever solved. With the help of his housekeeper and son who he lives with, he uncovers more of his memories and the reasons why he retired and isolated himself from the world. This is not only a glorious Sherlock Holmes story, but a glorious story in general. Ian McKellen is the only person who could ever play Mr. Holmes in this film. One of the many aspects that I love is the elements of the story and the message it gives. Mr. Holmes travels to Japan after the second World War in search of a medicine to help his memory, and in the process he witnesses the horrors of Japan after the war including the devestation of Hiroshima which is one of the aspects which lead him to his isolation but not the most important one. His final case is sad and very endearing, and addresses the fact that people cannot live on pure logic alone, they need to use their hearts as much as their minds if not more so. Intelligence is just as important as emotions, and that is a lesson more people need to be reminded of. This is a marvellous film that I highly, highly recommend. Not just for fans of Sherlock Holmes but also for people who enjoy stories of emotions and life.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Yeah this movie was just as good as the first.


Okay so Kill Bill Vol. 2 pretty much picks up where the last film left off with The Bride continuing her hunt for those that did her wrong, interlaced very nicely with flashback to her training with a kung-fu master but also what happened before Bill shot her in the head. To be honest I greatly enjoyed the first movie more than the second but it was still a great movie nevertheless. I think of it as the first movie was over the top but not at all in a bad way and the second movie is more subdued. Uma Thurman is still great as The Bride, we see more of Bill played by David Carradine who is pretty damn good in this movie. To me he is sort of an enigma, I can't make heads or tails of his character which I think is what they were going for, cause he doesn't seem like a nice guy, and although he did almost kill The Bride he doesn't really do much else bad. It really does keep you guessing as to what the hell he is going to say or do next, and I have to admit he has a really good monologue even though I could argue the merits of it since it involves Superman. One thing I never mentioned in the last review is that the films have scenes in black and white, and that makes you greatly appreciate the color in this movie although the black and white cinematography is gorgeous. The editing is much slower but still has it's uniqueness to it, the music is still great and I was very pleasantly surprised hearing Ennio Morricone's score from The Man With No Name movies. Now obviously you have to watch both parts to get the full story, and the second part is really good but the first part really hit it out of the ballpark for me. And there is a twist in this movie! Like I'm going to tell you, but you won't see it coming ever. So really good movie, really good series, got one more review this week so stay tuned for more!

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Kill Bill Vol. 1

And thus I have returned from my turkey coma, and am ready to begin again.


I have never ever seen this movie until now, and I can safely say that I am not dissapointed. This film is fantastic. Like almost all of Quentin Tarantino's work it is greatly different from any other movie you have seen before. Slick, beautiful, quick, and unforgiving Kill Bill Vol. 1 is a sight to behold. The story is a revenge story, Uma Thurman is The Bride as she is called in this movie hunting down every single person who left her for dead on her wedding day. I really enjoyed how the story is told, very much like in Pulp Fiction it is told out of order and thankfully you never get lost as to where the events take place. Uma Thurman who is great as The Bride can get a hell of a lot of emotion out even though she speaks very little. The fight scenes are brilliant, and the choreography in them is staggering. The editing is quick in every scene and is very fluid. The music has such a wide range of variety, like you hear music from Nancy Sinatra to hearing music straight out of a spaghetti western, it is a character in and of itself! The film is brutal, it's beautiful, it catches your eye from the beginning and never lets go until the credits roll. So my expectations are soaring for Vol. 2, I cannot wait until tomorrow! Give this film a shot, it is very dynamic and different but that is the reason why people love it!

Friday, November 20, 2015

Rocky VI

Yes I call it Rocky VI not Rocky Balboa.


This movie is pretty great! It takes place almost 20 years after the last Rocky movie and stuff has went down since then. Rocky has been retired for that whole time, Adrian has passed away which is a pivotal part of the movie and the driving force which gets Rocky back in the ring. Lots of flashbacks from the previous movies are used to a pure emotional level very much like Mickey's flashback in Rocky V. There is a really good scene which Rocky defends his stance on why he is fighting even though he is getting up in the years. In fact a hell of a lot of dialogue in this movie is fantastic! The whole movie is great and is easily in the top three, maybe even in the top two spots for best Rocky movie. I forgot who truly great this movie was. I mean by the time I started buying and watching all the Rocky movies, Rocky VI was not even five years old. And now Creed is coming out and it's going to be the first time in my life where I see a new Rocky movie in the theatre! So I am very excited and very hopeful for the new movie, which comes out on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so mark your calendars! Thank you so much for reading my recap of all the Rocky movies, and I will see you next week.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Rocky V

Alright, less than a week before the new movie comes out. So let's wrap this up.


Okay so this Rocky movie is...not great. Sylvester Stallone himself gave it zero stars if that should warn you at all. I personally think it's okay, it has some real good scenes. So Rocky comes back from Russia after ending the Cold War and he oficially retires and starts training an up and coming boxer, Tommy Gunn and that's pretty much it. Two best scenes in the whole movie, first is a flashback before the big fight with Apollo in the first movie where we see Mickey for the last time. It's a real tearjerking scene and is easily one of the best scenes in the entire series. Second is a street fight between Rocky and Tommy Gunn, it is badass! Great fight scene to say the least. Sadly there really isn't that much more to talk about and I would only recommend this movie if you are a hardcore Rocky fan. If not just skip to the sixth one, trust me it's really great.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Rocky IV

And this is where the crazy over the top scale breaks. Now it gets awesomely ridiculous.


Rocky IV is a fantastic movie, and I am serious. It gets so crazy and relishes in the 80's cheesiness it becomes something extrodinary. This movie takes place a little while after Rocky III, Rocky and Apollo have become real great friends, Rocky's son has grown up quite a bit, and Rocky and Adrian celebrate their ninth anniversary together. Things have been going pretty well for everybody, until the Russians invade. Well technically it's a Russian boxer, Ivan Drago played by Dolph Lundgren who I got to admit is downplayed majorly from something like his Expendables performance in retrospect. He's pretty much an almost silent monster. He has like six damn lines in the whole movie! They used him for just his physical stature and really he is so much more than that. Dude is super smart and even a bit charismatic but here he is a friggin' walking tank. But hey he does a real good job at setting the bar higher than it ever has been before or since in the Rocky series. But let's continue with the plot. Apollo flips his lid and goes after Drago guns blazing and loses. Badly. So Rocky has to take the fight to the Russians, literally. He travels and trains in Russia. And yes, Rocky ended the Cold War. The absurdly awesome moments don't take long to set in, it takes about 5 minutes before your jaw hits the floor in disbelief. I won't dare ruin the surprise but it does not stop there. I love this movie, and what I noticed while watching it again is there are a bunch of montages in this movie set to blazing 80's music that makes you want to rock out to, and it has to be at least 30% of the movie and Vince DiCola's score is glorious. I know the original soundtrack in the first movie is the greatest but dear lord this comes so close! Some people call this a guilty pleasure movie, and I don't see it as that. I greatly enjoy this movie every time I watch it, and it really never gets old. And just like the last movie it keeps raising the stakes and changes the world in which these characters live in. So yes, it is an important and very ludicrous entry in the series and must really be seen to be believed.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Rocky III

I have a theory that this Rocky movie and Rocky IV are in a totally different universe.


So movie starts off the same with a recap, and now Rocky is the champion of the world. And of course when fame is achieved others start to challenge the top dog for supremacy. So Rocky fights contender after contender until he meets this damn beast of a boxer Clubber Lang played by badass Mr. T! Strong as all get out and a big mouth to boot. So Rocky has to defend his title as champ and win. The reason why I think this is a totally different movie is because it gets out there. There's this scene where Rocky has to fight Hulk Hogan, yes I'm serious. It's for charity and all hell breaks loose. Not exactly a scene you would see in the last two emotional, inspiring movies. But this movie takes some big steps nevertheless and it completely changes how the characters interact in this world. Apollo turns ally and helps Rocky train more differently than he has before, telling him he's got the eye of the tiger. Yeah, this is where Survivor started in Rocky movies! Truly amazing 80's music and you better believe the soundtrack was selling like crazy. It's a ridiculous but great movie, and is still an important part of Rocky's story. So give it a watch and I pity the fool who doesn't.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Rocky II

Rocky II is without a doubt just as good if not a little better than the first movie.


It picks up right where the last movie left off with a recap of the last fight, a tradition that would last for the rest of the series. The story picks up after Rocky and Apollo leave the hospital and stuff has really changed for Rocky. He's now super rich and is no longer humble in his surroundings and has changed sadly for worse. But he soon gets back to his roots, and all the meanwhile everyone says the big fight in the last movie was rigged. And this is where we get some great insight into Apollo's character, where we see that he really is obsessed with fighting Rocky again because his reputation has been damged. In fact both of theirs are. And this is the main driving point to get them back into the ring which is really funny because at the end of the first movie Apollo says there ain't gonna be no rematch and Rocky says I don't want one. But whatever, it's a great movie that progresses the characters and story. Everyone is back and I got to tell you, Burgess Meredith as Mickey is my favorite character in the whole series, just his grouchy voice and wise ass remarks make me love him to death. Easily top 3 greatest mentors in film history. Bottom line, if you loved Rocky it is mandatory to see the sequel....and after this the sequels get very different and very crazy.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Rocky

Yeah been awhile. Missed out on Spectre and The Peanuts Movie for now. But we got 6 Rocky movies to review before the new one comes out on Thanksgiving.


Rocky is one of the greatest movies ever made, and it's something you have to watch for yourself. It's a true underdog story with nothing but heart and a glorious cast. Sylvester Stallone became famous for potraying the Philadelphia southpaw Rocky Balboa, playing with huge amounts of charm and love. Talia Shire is perfect as Adrian, a shy pet shop owner that Rocky sees the beauty in and I have to admit she is cute as a bug. Burt Young is Paulie a drunk and a bit of an ass but is a good friend of Rocky's. Carl Weathers who is the second coolest black guy next to good ol' Billy Dee is the champion of the world Apollo Creed, and his son is the real main character of the new movie. The music by Bill Conti is soaring to say the least, and is truly a masterpiece. The setting is entirely in Philadelphia and it really shows, you get some real character from the city and the best part is all of it, I repeat all of it you can still find. You can run up those museum steps and Rocky at the top. It's such a great movie, and I don't care for sports movies but the Rocky movies I will watch whenever they are on. And it's because of this movie I incorporated 'Yo' into my vocabulary. So tune in tomorrow where we look at the just as great sequel.

If you want to know where you can find all the Rocky locations go to our old friend Cinemassacre and they got a video documenting all of the settings in all 6 of the movies. It's called Rocky Jumped A Park Bench, and it's really damn good.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Halloween III Season Of The Witch

Final treat for today before we go off to celebrate Halloween.

I don't care if there is no Michael Myers in this movie, this is a friggin' awesome movie! That's right there is no Michael Myers, no Dr. Loomis, no Laurie Strode. All original story. The movie involves witchcraft, amazing special effects, creepy music, a foreboding atmosphere, and a truly sinister villain. The story follows a doctor investigating into the death of a factory member which soon leads to the uncovering of a cult hellbent on returning Halloween back to it's dark and bloody roots. Tom Atkins is our hero in this movie, and I really enjoyed watching him but Dan O'Herlihy steals the entire movie as the gentle owner of the factory who is the mastermind behind the whole witchcraft scheme. He is just one malicious bastard. And the best scene in the entire movie is when he explains the history of Halloween and it is genuinely creepy and chilling to hear. And the ending....my God you won't expect it. Truly memorable and haunting. Well I am probably never going to surpass this many reviews in a single day and on that bombshell it is time to end. Thank you so much for reading and as always, have a very happy Halloween.

Halloween II (1981)

Can you guess where this is going now?


Halloween II picks up exactly where the first movie left off, with Michael still on the hunt and Laurie being brought to the hospital. And for a sequel, it's not as great as the first movie but still a good movie with possibly even better music than the first, a truly creepy setting in a strangely abandoned hospital, still really good acting from both Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, and even tapped in more with the slasher genre. Now John Carpenter did not direct the sequel but he did help write it, so the writing is good and the direction isn't half bad. If you want to know more about that, do what I did, look up Monstervision on YouTube where they look at Halloween II you will learn a lot about this movie. And I have to applaud the ending which is definite and final. All in all it is not really necessary to watch Halloween II unless you want a ending to the first movie's cliffhanger or if you like when Halloween gets more in the slasher genre. The first movie is an absolute must so check it out. We got one more treat to give before the Halloween night begins so stay tuned.

Halloween (1978)

Yeah! What else would we review on our first Halloween?


This movie is still great after 40 years. Who hasn't seen this movie? Do I even have to relay the plot? Okay, Michael Myers killed his sister on Halloween night and has spent 15 years in an asylum and breaks out and starts murdering babysitters on Halloween. Simple plot, but garnered so much praise and no matter where you are they still show it in theatres on Halloween. John Carpenter did an amazing job with this movie, and got the slasher genre going because of it. Even though the movie is set in the 70's it doesn't seem outdated at all, except for an over use of 'Totally' and I know they said it back then but good lord. Maybe that's the joke. Anyway, the cast is grand too. Jamie Lee Curtis became the scream queen because of this movie and she is really dang good, Donald Pleasence I think is perfect casting for Dr. Loomis and I think it would be hard to replace him with anyone else. The music by John Carpenter is chilling and it gives the holiday Halloween almost a theme song. Oh, and you better believe that I watch this every October 31st. But we have more treats to give out today before nightfall...

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Second feature film tonight, the movie that made kids afraid to go to sleep in the 1980's, Nightmare On Elm Street.


This is a true classic horror movie. And what a legacy it still has over 30 years later. The story follows a group of four friends who discover that they are being stalked and killed in their very own dreams. That is a terrifying idea to begin with, because when are you more vulnerable than when you are asleep? But the best part of the movie is Robert Englund playing Freddy Krueger. He is so damn good in this movie and absolutely scares the hell out of you. In fact all the cast is great, Heather Langenkamp is just perfect casting for Nancy, John Saxon who is a great actor to begin with brings belivability to being a father to Nancy, and even Johnny Depp before he got super famous is in this movie who is really funny and brings levity to a disturbingly scary movie. I love this movie. And you know....I still can't get over that Wes Craven died, I really can't. He was superb with directing this movie and I really wish he wasn't gone. I hope you enjoy this movie, and I would like to wish you all goodnight.

Friday The 13th

Okay we got a true double feature today. I don't know why I said double feature before and it didn't take place on the same day, so we are fixing that now. So double feature today of two of the greatest horror movies ever made, starting the careers of two titans of horror.

Friday The 13th is the movie that started it all, started the slasher genre in the form that we know and love today. Now I know some of you might be saying, well Halloween really started it all off in 1978 but Friday The 13th got the formula down on how slasher movies are made and we still use that formula to this very day. And I think it's time you see this movie again because there is some interesting things in the first movie that you may have forgot. Even if you never saw the first movie you know the plot, teenagers go to Camp Crystal Lake, into the woods and they don't come out. The special effects done by Tom Savini are outstanding and look realistic, I don't know how he did it all but the man deserves awards. Also I'm trying to remember if he did all the special effects for the future movies, at least until part 9. Honestly what can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said? Just go and watch it. It's a great horror movie.

Friday, October 23, 2015

It Follows

Holy hell this movie is so damn good!


All the praise you have heard about this movie is true. This is a fantastic horror movie! I love it to death. The story is creepy and well done, the acting is excellent, the music is absolutely perfect, and it made me afraid to look. The story follows a teenage girl who after having sex with someone soon finds herself plagued by a mysterious and ominous thing following her. Now I know, the whole being killed thing after sex is rule #4 in a horror movie, but they treat it differently and originally. The film is very retro in it's look. You see cars from the 70's, televisions with dials on them, the whole film is bleeding with old fashioned...everything but still has modern technology in use. The best part of the movie is the soundtrack, it is straight up synthesizer music almost as if John Carpenter himself made the score. It's eerie, it's unforgettable, it sounds like music straight from an NES. I am head over heels for this music! Also speaking of John Carpenter, this film took a lot of influence from Halloween and even The Thing. You see many similar scenes to the original Halloween, and the fact that this supernatural being can change it's appearance to look like any kind of person is too similar to The Thing itself. Now this movie scared me. When a horror movie gets so into your head that you don't even want to look at the screen, it's doing it's job. The entire movie is looking at things, and not in a bad way. The camera is constantly moving around corners and hanging on many quiet, and creepy settings. It got me shaking for God's sake! Why are you still sitting here? Get out there and watch this movie now!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Cabin In The Woods

This movie was pretty damn good.

The Cabin In The Woods is one of the best horror movies that have come out of the 2000's. The real shame is I seriously cannot go into the movie too much because there is a big twist in the movie and buried beneath that twist is another twist, so I have to be brief. The plot is an homage to slasher horror films with kids going into the woods and them not coming back out. This movie takes Evil Dead, Friday The 13th, among many others plus an original story, puts it all in a blender and mixes it up. The cabin itself is ripped straight out of Evil Dead, the kids being killed in the woods is Friday The 13th spelled all over it, and it has a lot more than what you expect or could possibly ever anticipate. It even really got me laughing, and how many horror movies are there that genuinely make you laugh because of the dialogue? Yeah, I couldn't think of one either. Bottom line, watch this movie. It's almost necessary.

Tomorrow we review one of the newest horror movies to come out. And no, it's not the unnecessary remake of Poltergeist.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

From Dusk Till Dawn

This is just what I needed after Fright Night. A true badass vampire movie.


From Dusk Till Dawn is one of the best movies Quentin Tarantino has ever made with his friend Robert Rodriguez, with a pretty famous cast including George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Tom Savini, and so many others. George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino himself play bank robbing brothers who have to flee to Mexico from the law. The brothers soon meet up with a family led by a priest played by Harvey Keitel and they all soon make it to Mexico at a bar open from dusk until dawn. Now the film plays out more like a crime movie until about halfway through the movie when all hell breaks loose and it turns into a very, very different film. Keep an eye out for Salma Hayek and that's when the movie gets turned on it's side. This is a pretty damn great movie with a very realistic script as is standard with Tarantino movies where the talking feels real and not just script reading, the special effects done by Tom Savini are a feast to the eyes and he even plays a role in the movie, and it's just a great movie. A classic to be remembered, truly. I love this movie, especially George Clooney but I have always loved George Clooney but he gives one of his best performances in this movie. What can I say? This is a horror classic and I am so happy to finally have it in my movie collection, I'm going to watch the hell out of this every October. I highly, highly recommend you see this movie. You'll love it.

Alrighty, in a day or two I am going to be reviewing two new horror movies. One that came out not that long ago and another that is brand new. And neither of which I have seen before. So that will be fun.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Fright Night (1985)

I know it's a cult movie, and I love many cult movies but this movie kinda fell flat on me.

Fright Night is by no means a bad film but it is not the grand cult classic I have heard about. It's just okay. How's the acting? It's okay, doesn't really star anybody. How's the music? It's okay. How are the special effects? Practical but well done. How's the story? It's okay. The movie to me is just one big giant ball of adequateness. But then again, Big Trouble In Little China another cult movie, when I first saw it I thought it was just okay. But then I watched it again a few years later and now I'm a friggin' geek for it! So maybe I just have to watch it again over time, but this film did nothing for me. It's a slow paced movie clocking in at almost two hours, and the big final battle takes 30 minutes of the film. Okay, so what's the story? A guy believes his next door neighbor is in fact a bloodsucking beast of the night, so he employs the help of a actor who plays a vampire killer on television to help destroy the monster. Not a bad premise, and now I am really damn curious as to what the remake is like. Now again, Fright Night is not a bad movie, I thought it was okay. I'm not going to watch it every Halloween and I'm not not ever going to watch it again. I will watch it again but all in due time. God this was a bit of a downer and as Fate would have it long before I watched the movie, I set up another vampire movie to review the very next week. And it is an awesome vampire movie! One of the best ever! So I cannot express my joy as to watching and reviewing that classic horror movie. So join me next week, and see if Fright Night is up your alley sometime. I hope you like it.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Monster Squad

Alright kids, we got a double feature of 80's cult monster movies. We got The Monster Squad today and the original Fright Night tomorrow.



This movie is rad man, I love it! It's very 80's and very funny, I love seeing all the old monsters given a new makeover, I love the story, I love the kids, this is just a fun movie. The story follows a group of kids who run a monster clubhouse and soon learn that Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and more have invaded their town, and it's up to the Monster Squad to fight them off. The movie pays tribute to the classic monster movies, but still retains it's own identity. The little girl in this movie is the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life, and it has one of the most unexpected twists of a movie character ever. I won't dare spoil it. This is a original movie, with good acting, really damn good practical effects, hilarious dialogue, and is a perfect movie to watch around Halloween. If you love 80's movies, if you love monster movies, you have got to watch The Monster Squad. You will not be disappointed, it's cheesy but awesome nonetheless. Be part of The Monster Squad.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Evil Dead 2

This movie is bat squeak insane.


I love Evil Dead 2 way more than the original Evil Dead for three reasons. One Bruce Campbell has gotten down his acting method which is made of pure awesome you just have to look at the scene in the work shed, it is surprisingly less scary and is way more comical, and last but not least the camera is still alive. Nearly every part of the original has been outdone, seeing as how this movie had a much better budget than the first one. The film is almost a parody of the first movie with outrageous amounts of blood and even a bit of slapstick but still treats itself seriously and still keeps the movie humorous. It also delves into a little of the psychological horror which I greatly appreciate and enjoy, like all this crazy stuff is happening in the cabin but all of a sudden shows Bruce Campbell just sitting in a chair screaming. My God this movie is bonkers and that is the best part. Also for some strange reason people have been considering this movie as a remake of the original. I kinda get why, but it has been explained that the first few opening minutes is a recap of the last movie but with different aspects to it so this film picks right up after the last one. This is a much more enjoyable horror movie than you would think, making it even more worth watching than the first. And the cliffhanger is great, but unfortunately I will not be reviewing Army Of Darkness just yet and it is due to my reasoning that Army Of Darkness is more of an action comedy not horror. So that is why I am excluding it from this month's reviews. So yeah definitely watch Evil Dead 2 even if you didn't like the first one that much.

Later this week, we shall continue to review some of the greatest cult monster movies of the 80's.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

The Evil Dead

Jesus H. Christ, this movie is freaky scary.


Evil Dead is one of the creepiest, most well made horror movies ever, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. The film follows a group of young adults that go to a remote abandon cabin and soon discover that evil forces are brewing and it's up to them to survive. This movie scared me good, to the point where I didn't even want to look at it. I needed a strong drink to get through it. The acting is great, the atmosphere is fear inducing like no other, the music is eerie, and the best aspect that is the greatest part of the movie is the camera. The camera is alive. This is one of the most innovative and unconventional filming you will ever see in any movie except for the Evil Dead movies. Literally the first minute, the camera starts moving and unearthly so. I have no doubts in my mind that the camera in this movie is an entity. There is no way in hell that there is someone behind that camera, it moves too fast, too smooth over water, through the woods, glass and everything else. It creeps me out big time. The film is bloody as all get out to an almost comical degree, but the film is too scary to even notice how outrageous it all is. Bruce Campbell is really damn good in this movie, but he didn't discover his method of acting yet which I will talk about in the next review. And the ending....it goes exactly the way you think and then drops the hammer and ends. So bottom line, it's time to see The Evil Dead.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow where we look at the sequel.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)

Our Universal Monsters week ends with the Creature From The Black Lagoon.


Now you could say this a bit more like science fiction, but I think of it as a horror movie and a damn good one at that. The plot revolves around a group of scientists that discover an ancient amphibian fossil in the Amazon. The team soon discovers of a ghastly amphibian monster, and they decide to either fight or flee. First off, major praise to the director of the underwater sequences. It looks absolutely amazing, and the entire movie is shot well. Believe it or not, this film actually premiered in 3-D. Another huge plus is The Creature itself. Dear lord, the attention to detail on the suit is staggering and it is a genuinely creepy monster. Before the days of Jaws, The Creature made audiences afraid to go into the water. But unlike the shark, the monster has a love interest played by the stunningly gorgeous Julia Adams and quite frankly I can't blame him. And dare I say, the film should be remade in color. All in all, a great horror movie and one of the last classic Universal Monsters.

So next week, I think it's time we go back to the 80's and review a few cult movies.

Friday, October 9, 2015

The Invisible Man (1933)

This is easily one of my top 3 favorite Universal Monsters.

The Invisible Man, a very well adapted version of the H.G. Well's novel starring Claude Rains. The story follows a scientist Jack Griffin, who has discovered a formula to make himself invisible. He soon tries to find an antidote but before he can, he goes mad and runs amok. Now I love this movie, the special effects are amazing not just for the 1930's but for today as well since it was all done practically and I still have no idea how they did most of them, this definitely has a perfect blend of both comedy and horror, and the greatest aspect of the movie is Claude Rains himself. He has an absolutely fantastic voice for the role, showing sympathy and also ruthlessness in one of his most famous roles. What can I say? This a great movie, well worth your time and money and this is a film I will revisit for the rest of my life.

Well guys and gals, we only have one Universal Monster movie left tomorrow. And just for fun, I want you to take a guess as to which Universal Monster I will be for Halloween. The options are in the movies I have reviewed this week. See you tomorrow.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

The Mummy (1932)

Yeah, this is not only a horror story but also a love story.

Now frankly, I love this movie because of it's love story elements in it. Now there is a bit of confusion to clear up before we continue with the review. This Mummy is not the same you probably think of. You probably think of a Mummy always in it's bandages, strangling people, and is more action orientated than horror. And you are correct that is the Universal Mummy, but not the same one in this movie. There were several Mummy sequels that followed a different Mummy named Karras where this one follows the Imhotep Mummy. Now that we got that out of the way, let's continue. The story follows a group of archeaologists who unearth an ancient Mummy that after being awakened is trying to reunite with his Mummy princess. Boris Karloff plays the Mummy to perfection, and he is such a better actor than what you see in Frankenstein. He has such a hypnotic voice and his appearance is fantastic. He towers over every other actor, speaks slow and low, has a groovy fez, and only kills when necessary. This is a perfect monster, and you will greatly enjoy this film. It's one of the prime examples of a horror classic.

Tomorrow we look at one of the funnest monster movies and most interesting special effects ever to come out of the 1930's.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Wolf Man (1941)

You know how I've been saying that it really doesn't take long to show the monster? Quite the opposite here.


So The Wolf Man is one of the better well known Universal Monsters, and the film itself is damn good. The story follows an everyday man Larry Talbot played by the great Lon Chaney Jr., who after a run in with a wolf soon learns that he will become a werewolf himself. So Larry must try and find a cure for his werewolfism before he causes harm to his family and the girl he loves. What I really like besides the very good cast, including Claude Rains and Evelyn Ankers is the excellent musical score, and how eerie they made the forrest. Oh, and I swear I am not making this up, you hear part of the Batman theme by Danny Elfman more than 45 years before the original 1989 Batman movie. So bizarre but really interesting. And yes, you don't actually see the title monster until well past the halfway point of the film, but I actually find that helps build the myth of the werewolves and build our characters in the story. So I very much enjoy this movie, and enjoy the next one I am going to review even more.


Tune in tomorrow where we look at a love story that lasted generations.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)

I'm really not kidding, this film is so superior to the original.

Every single element of the original Frankenstein has been improved in the sequel. The cast has even more power behind them, mainly Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger. The sets show off so much more especially the laboratory at the end. The film gets very cinematic after the laboratory is seen, the musical score is fantastic, and you just get the sense that they really improved everything and made it even more grand. The story picks right up after the original, with Frankenstein surviving the angry mob, and a new mad scientist played by Ernest Thesiger proposing to Dr. Frankenstein to create a mate for the monster. The titular Bride surprisingly is only in the movie for about 5 minutes, but it still leaves a huge impact. But the person who steals the entire movie is Ernest Thesiger playing the devilish, mad scientist Dr. Pretorius who in my opinion is the greatest mad scientist ever put to film. Boris Karloff has a lot more to work with, showing incredible emotion and even dialogue. And that is an important element in this story where the monster meets an old blind man in the woods, and he teaches the monster to speak, and is quite heart wrenching in one scene. You have a heart of stone if you don't get misty eyed or choked up a bit during that scene. So the entire film is a massive step above the original and is well worth viewing. You have got to check this movie out. I adore the Bride Of Frankenstein.


Tune in tomorrow when we look at the movie that is perfect when viewed under a full moon.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Frankenstein (1931)

One of the best horror movies ever starring the most famous monster of all time.

Frankenstein is a fantastic monster movie with lavish sets, a great cast, a spectacular story and a climax that is unforgettable. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you will recognize so many scenes from the film. The movie Frankenstein follows the Mary Shelley novel very well although not perfectly. Colin Clive plays the doctor who dared to be God and create a man. His performance is not the usual mad scientist who dreams of creating a monster, he is just a scientist who wants to push the boundaries of human knowledge and we can sympathize with him and even sort of understand why he is doing this. Dwight Frye is in this movie as yet another odd and memorable character, the doctor's hunchback assistant but his name is not Igor like you would expect, but Fritz. But the real star is Boris Karloff as the monster, and for good reason too. He is just perfect casting for the role and brings gruesome and yet empathetic qualities to the famous monster. What I have noticed about both of these Universal Monster movies is how short it takes the film to show the monster, in Dracula it took about 5 minutes to see Bela Lugosi and in this movie it takes about 15 minutes just to see the monster on the slab. And surprisingly this movie is even shorter than Dracula, just clocking in at an hour and ten minutes. Also what I noticed is, although the labaratory is just what you imagine it to be, it actually isn't that big, incorporating fascinating gizmos and electronics without taking too much space. So I love this monster movie, and to be honest I'm going to go on a little rant here but it is important. People have always called the monster Frankenstein even though that is the name of the doctor, and for almost 100 damn years there has been this confusion as to who Frankenstein really is. Well...Dr. Frankenstein actually calls his creation Frankenstein. So yes, the monster is indeed Frankenstein and the movie is named after him.

So tomorrow we look at the superb sequel that is 1000 times better than the original. Now how many times can you say that about a horror sequel?

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Dracula (1931)

The very first week of horror reviews, we look at the Universal Monsters collection.

Dracula has all the elements of a proper chiller. Fog, castles, bats, bonechilling atmosphere and acting from the great Bela Lugosi, and one of the best adaptations of the Bram Stoker novel. The film is one of the earliest and one of the greatest horror films, and one of the big advantages it has is being one of the first sound horror films. True, there is a lack of music but it only enhances the fear and the atmosphere in the film. Need I even say anything about Bela Lugosi's immortal performance? The first line he ever says is unforgettable, "I am...Dracula." and his performance is all in his presence. It's how he walks, and speaks, it's all in the eyes and the voice and the hands! Dwight Frye is perfect as the insane Renfield, with a amusingly creepy laugh and a manic personality that leaps from the screen. In fact, all the cast is very good but it's Lugosi that of course steals the show. One of my favorite things about not only this movie but all the Universal Monsters movies is both the impact they still have on today's culture and strangely, how very short the movies are. The films are barely an hour and a half long but still can pack so much grand things in them that really you don't mind that they are that short. If you aren't even a horror fan you should really watch the most iconic of the Universal Monsters movies, you will enjoy them and would most likely view them again around Halloween time.

Well, that's it for today. Tune in tomorrow where we look at the most famous monster of all time.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Miss Me?

Guess who's finally back? Dear God, I've missed all this! I'm so happy to be back, and I get to review nothing but horror movies this month. Now I'm going to be honest here, I never really got into horror until just a few years ago. I was a wimp as a kid, but strangely I was watching the Universal Monster movies when I was around 9 or 10. I started with the older horror classics, and by the time I was in my early teens I started getting into the horror movies from the 70's and the 80's, and I have rarely seen any horror movies made after the year I was born. In my opinion, it's been going downhill since then with very rare exceptions. And I have a theory here, the first big horror boom started in the 1930's with the Universal Monster movies which are amazing, and then the next horror boom came in the 1980's and then we got a lot of those cult horror movies. So I am going to look at a lot of horror movies both very old and some a bit newer, and you better believe we are going to do this every October. And I have a big treat for you come this Halloween. I'm probably never gonna be able to top it, but screw it I think it's going to be awesome. So tune in next week when we start the real reviews.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Taking A Break

I know it has been over a week since my last review and I have news. I have recently started school and have kept up with the job. Unfortunately so much time has been put into both that really I barely have any time for myself. So just to kind of get settled in all of this school AND work time I will be taking September off and will return in October with a wave of horror movies every week. I cannot express how much joy I will have when I return. I want to thank everyone who takes time out of their day to read my reviews and I'll be damned the day I stop doing this once and for all. I will miss you all and I look forward to reviewing for you once more. Have an amazing September.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Batman Beyond Return Of The Joker

This is both a new and old Batman movie, made in late 2000 but taking place when Batman is in his 80's.

The story follows Terry McGinnis as the new Batman of the future, fighting new enemies and the greatest foe of the original Batman seemingly back from the dead. Where this movie excels greatly is the tone of the plot and the character dynamics between Batman and the Joker. And of course having the original voices for the Joker and Batman, Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy makes it that much greater. And the best scene in the movie I sadly can't tell you about because it has massive spoilers, and the reason why it is the best scene is because of how personal and how dark and disturbing it gets. It really does push the envelope as to what you can put in a kids movie. Now this movie actually has two versions, a PG and a PG-13 rating and the PG-13 version is the much better version so if you ever want to rent or buy this movie go for that version. One thing I am genuinely surprised at is how much story and very good character development they got in this not even an hour and a half movie. Yeah, this movie is barely over an hour long, so running time is no problem whatsoever. I'm serious I watched this movie right before I had to leave for work. They did a great job with this movie, and one thing I have noticed while watching all these animated Batman movies this week is how timeless they are, you have no real idea of the time frame of these movies and there is no real indication of what year they were made because the animation and voice acting is so outstanding. If I ever get around to composing my top 10 animated Batman movies you will most likely see all of these on it. You guys have got to give these movies a shot even if you are not the hardcore Batman fan like myself. These movies are really good, very well put together, and just give great stories, so of course I am going to recommend them. See if these movies make you more of a Batman fan or less of a Batman fan. I hope you enjoy them.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Batman The Dark Knight Returns

This is easily in my top 5 animated Batman movies, it's pretty damn great.

The Dark Knight Returns is in direct continuity with Batman Year One, set around the time where Batman has been retired for ten long years and is in his fifties, crime has overtook Gotham all over again and he must don the cape and cowl one last time to reclaim the city he loves. Now every good point I stated about Batman Year One has been made even better in this movie. The animation is drawn so realistically and it barely feels like you are watching an animated Batman movie and it is very thematic and adult in how it deals with many situations, the cast in this movie is absolutely perfect especially in the case of casting the original Robocop himself Peter Weller as a much darker, more older version of Batman and the casting of Ariel Winter as Carrie Kelly a young girl who becomes inspired by the Batman and becomes the new Robin, and she is friggin' awesome! The music is so memorable and triumphant, the action is great, it is a very dark and adult themed movie, and I'm gonna be honest here I greatly enjoy the first half of this movie more than the second. Don't get me wrong, the second half of the movie is still really good but it is very scattered, dealing with quite a bit of stuff and not just focusing on Batman. But it makes up for all of that in a true clash of the titans between The Dark Knight and The Man Of Steel....oh yeah! They throw down in this movie and it is glorious! Honest to God if the thought of Batman vs. Superman doesn't make you want to see this movie I don't even know why you are still here. This is a great Batman movie and I highly recommend it. And I'm going to help you out here, originally this movie came out in two parts but they combined it into one two and a half hour movie titled Batman The Dark Knight Returns Deluxe Edition, and if you want to buy it buy that version. There is so much extra stuff for you to watch and you get every dollar of your money's worth and there is no better way to see it than in that version. So go out and give it a watch and tell me what you think.

Tune in tomorrow same bat-time, same bat-channel where we will look at the Batman of the future!

Batman Year One

Well the good news for this week is I have no work so I can get out 3 reviews and don't have to stress about it. So this week I shall be reviewing 3 fantastic Batman animated movies.

The first thing I have to say is every single DC animated movie based off of any source material is very accurate. Batman Year One is more or less an origin story not only for the Batman but for also Jim Gordon who is starting off as a cop in Gotham. And the story does span in over a year, and one bad thing about this movie is the pace of the movie is very fast and not only until past 2/3 of the movie in, does it start to slow down. Another negative criticism I have is Ben Mackenzie as Batman, now Ben Mackenzie is a great actor and one of the best Jim Gordons I have ever seen and he plays Jim on the series Gotham but his Batman voice is so forgettable. Think about any Batman, you remember his voice. Like Michael Keaton, you remember his gravely Batman voice! With Christian Bale need I say more? Hell even with Val Kilmer's Batman you remember his voice very well. Now I'm not saying Ben Mackenzie is a bad Batman but he is just okay, but every bad thing I say about Ben Mackenzie is quite the opposite of Bryan Cranston's performance as Jim Gordon. Yes Bryan "Heisenberg" Cranston is Jim Gordon in this movie. Do you really need another reason to see this? He is awesome in this movie, and he has the perfect voice for Jim Gordon. But the good stuff does not stop there! The animation is excellent, the voice acting is spot on for the most part, the fight scenes are fluid and well choreographed, the plot is very true to the graphic novel, and it's barely over an hour long so there is no reason why you shouldn't see it. If you are a Batman fan you should watch this movie, if you want to see a great Batman story you should watch this, if you just want to watch this because it has Bryan Cranston in it go for it! I hope you enjoy it and tomorrow we will look at a much older Batman.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Thing (1982)

Well we already did a funny John Carpenter movie with Kurt Russell so why not a deathly serious one?

You know, rewatching The Thing has really reminded me why it's such a great sci-fi horror movie. The story follows a research team in Antartica who after investigating a Norwegian base close by them discover that an alien organism who can assimilate and copy another organism's likeness may have infiltrated their base. So the chase is on to destroy this creature before it can reach civilization and assimilate the entire base. What I love most about the film and the most prominent factor is the atmosphere. You believe the sense of isolation and deathly freezing weather in this movie, there are many shots of just empty rooms and hallways really showing how little life there is and several stated facts from the characters how dangerous the climate is at their south pole base. I'm serious I was freezing when I was watching this movie and I do not keep it seriously cold in my house. The music by Ennio Morricone is just friggin' creepy as hell, I mean you just have to listen to the main theme and you get freaked out. The characters are pretty good in this movie and the sheer paranoia and fear they have towards this thing is actually quite affecting, like I did not even want to touch my own hands after this movie it got to me that bad, just the thought of a malicious alien being who could take over your body at a mere touch is very unsettling. The acting is damn good in this movie, this is exactly how people would react to a situation like this, and everyone does a good job at keeping you guessing who's human and who's not. The film is very good at hiding who is the thing, because you can't tell at all until the horrifying transformations take place, and yeah the special effects are freaking unnerving and spectacularly shocking. The first transformation scene doesn't even happen until thirty minutes in giving lots of time to build atmosphere and characters, and the first time you see it your jaw will drop. This movie is awesome and a true science fiction classic if I have ever seen one. You have got to see this movie if you are a science fiction or horror movie fan. You will not be disappointed at all, unlike that BS remake/prequel movie they made in 2011! But I digress. Just watch this one.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

They Live

Recently I saw a very touching tribute to famous wrestler Roddy Piper and one of the short clips they used was his performance from the cult film They Live, and I wish to dedicate this review to his memory.

They Live is a fantastic science fiction movie directed by John Carpenter and starring Roddy Piper and Keith David. The story follows a drifter played by Piper as he moves to the west coast looking for work, he meets a construction worker played by Keith David who takes him into a shantytown where they both live. While there, several strange things happen that make Piper's character investigate a small church where there are dozens and dozens of cardboard boxes filled with nothing but mysterious sunglasses, he tries them on while walking through the city and soon discovers that an alien race has been slowly pushing the human race into conformity. So Roddy Piper and Keith David join the hunt to liberate humanity from the alien menace. To be honest this is a bit of a satire as well as a science fiction movie, since the film was made in the late 80's it takes a jab at Reagan era economics and how everyone and everything was selling out for a quick buck. But there is a hell of a lot more to the movie then just a punch at commercialism, the characters are normal everyday people who just try to rebel against something they just learned was real two days ago, Roddy Piper is the true star playing a wordly, strong, and a bit of a wise ass guy who is coping with the fact that aliens are treating the human race like cattle and it doesn't take him long to start kicking some ass. Keith David is a damn good actor, and this movie is no exception and the most memorable scene in the movie where he gets in a fistfight with Roddy Piper in an alley for six minutes, and seriously for six minutes the fight is insanely long and really funny at just how long it goes on is only just one highlight of the film. Not many people would fully understand the movie and it has grown a significant cult following in over 20 years, and I quite enjoyed it. It's a really good science fiction movie that has a lot of wit and cynacism to it. I would definitely say you should view it at least once in your life just to experience it. Give it a watch, and see what you think.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Big Trouble In Little China

Well seeing as how I've already done one John Carpenter movie, I decided to review another.

Big Trouble In Little China is one of the greatest cult films of the 80's, with such stars as Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrall and a fantastic crew of supporting characters. The story follows a truck driver named Jack Burton played by the amazingly bad ass Kurt Russell, who believe it or not is actually the comedic sidekick and not the action movie star you would expect, who meets up with an old friend of his and the true hero of the story Wang played splendidly by Dennis Dun, as he is swept away into a world full of sorcery and Chinese legends. Now I'm going to be honest here, the first time I saw Big Trouble In Little China I just thought it was an okay movie, but I watched it again and enjoyed it so much more. This is a very comedic, very funny movie, with lots of action and fighting, mysticism and magic, awesome acting, a fantastic soundtrack composed by John Carpenter, and is really just a fun little movie to watch, and seeing how the film is barely over an hour and a half long it won't take too much of your time if you are interested in watching it. Now this is a very different story and you probably won't understand and enjoy it the first time you view it, but let that in no way deter you from viewing this movie. It's a lot of fun, Kurt Russell steals the show as Jack Burton, the special effects are grand in that 80's sort of way with practical effects and all, and I really just found the movie interesting, it's not everyday that you run across a movie like Big Trouble In Little China and it is worth your time and money if you want to try something new and different. I recommend this movie for Kurt Russell fans, John Carpenter fans, cult film fans, and people who just love original and strange stories. It's a gamble, but it's on Netflix and Amazon Prime so you can watch it without paying money for it. Give it a shot and tell me what you think.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Star Trek Into Darkness

Two words why this movie is better than the first: Benedict Cumberbatch.

If you liked the first new Star Trek movie, you will love this one. It seriously fixed every damn problem I had with the last movie and made everything else better. So the story of Star Trek Into Darkness has Kirk and crew on a manhunt for a fugitive who has attacked the Starfleet headquarters. And it kinda sorta may have several parallels to the greatest Star Trek movie ever, Wrath Of Khan. Which only makes it better. I mean the writing in Wrath Of Khan was practically Shakespearean with it's storytelling of death, revenge, old age, and the reclaiming of one's youth and this movie really does a good job with those elements in their own way. But the man who steals the show is Benedict Cumberbatch who is a genius badass, who really is the greatest threat the Enterprise crew has ever faced, and he is awesome! I would almost recommend this movie solely for Benedicts performance but there is so much more than that. The action is fantastic, the acting is amazing, the special effects are still spectacular, the dialogue is still very good, we see more evolution of the characters and that is always a good thing, and we just get to see more of the Star Trek universe so this movie is well worth your time and money, and if you have seen Wrath Of Khan you will enjoy it a little more. And honestly, I cannot wait for the next Star Trek movie. I hear it has Idris Elba in it which makes me ecstatic, and it still has everyone on board with it so you better believe I will be seeing that in theatres. Hopefully I might be able to go to the theatre tomorrow and review Mr. Holmes, so fingers crossed!

Friday, July 31, 2015

Star Trek (2009)

Who says you can only be a fan of either Star Wars or Star Trek? This is 2015, we can be both!

I wanted to review something fairly recent and I highly enjoyed both new Star Trek movies so I couldn't say no. So this new reboot of the Star Trek franchise is very, very familiar and yet very different from the Original Series. The story does involve time travel and the consequences it has on the Star Trek universe we all know of, and I mean friggin' consequences. Deaths, destruction of worlds, among many other things really help the story and most importantly of all, the characters. It gives you an opportunity to view these classic and iconic characters in a brand new way and the film is immensely applauded for that, and I'll be damned if I can think of anybody else that could have played this cast of characters better than who they chose. The casting choices were chosen very wisely, and really if they decided to make a reboot of the television series with these actors I would tune in every week. Hell that would be really cool, because we haven't had a Star Trek series since Star Trek Enterprise and that was in 2001 so I would be all for that! I actually have a few gripes with the movie but it's nitpicking at best, the ridiculous lens flares in this movie...I just don't get it. Why is it there? Why make everything flashy when there is no reason for it? But when the starships are battling each other it really works but everywhere else no. I love the exterior design of the Enterprise, it is faithful to the show but still looks incredibly advanced, but the interior is what I take issue with because every damn thing in that ship almost is sterile white. Where is all the color? You remember the Original Series? There was color in every part of that ship, and not just a little I mean a lot! It was just so much more visually appealing back in 1966. It still does that thing where it zooms in that I ranted about in Man Of Steel but it only happens twice and once it's just to show how massive a scene is, so it really isn't such a bother this time around. But there is so much more good stuff on top of the bad thankfully. The casting is perfect, the cinematogrophy is excellent, the music is sweeping, the dialogue is fun, the special effects are so outstanding it was nominated for an Oscar, and the entire movie focuses on Kirk and Spock and that is what people like. If you are not a big science fiction fan or even a Star Trek fan I would still recommend you to see this movie because it really is a lot of fun and you will get your money's worth out of it. And you better believe we will look at the sequel that is even better than this one tomorrow. Until next time, live long and prosper.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Godzilla (1954)

Well I did say I wanted a monster movie, so how about the original King of the Monsters, Godzilla!

The original Godzilla made in 1954, directed by acclaimed Japanese director Ishiro Honda is a not so typical monster movie focusing more on human emotions and their consequences on testing nuclear weapons. The story of the movie follows mysterious disappearances of fishing boats and the subsequent investigation soon discovering a giant prehistoric monster mutated by testing of underwater atomic bombs, and the destruction that this famous monster wreaks on Japan and the humans efforts to try and destroy the beast once and for all. The main shining point of this movie besides the incredible special effects of Eiji Tsubaraya and the King of the Monsters himself is the outstanding cast of characters. We have Takashi Shimura as our main lead who is father to a young woman played by Momoko Kochi, who has been engaged to a strange and mysterious scientist played by Akihiko Harata who has actually developed a weapon that could kill Godzilla but because of it's terrible power of destruction he is hesitant to use it, thinking it could be used as a weapon more powerful than a hydrogen bomb. Suprisingly, there is lots of human conflict in this movie but only once is it physical. It's more of an internal conflict based on how the characters are dealing with the situation and what they should do next. It's a very well made film, with great acting, outstanding effects, memorable music by Akira Ifukube, gritty cinematography, and an overall foreboding mood. The film is very dark, treating it's subject matter completely seriously, we see Godzilla trample through several cities but after that we see the disturbing aftermath of it all. We see hundreds of people in a hospital, people dying, families embracing knowing that their lives will end soon, a memorial chorus for the dead, and so very much more. It is nothing like the Godzilla movies made in the 60s and the 70s where they were more campy and made for kids. This is the best Godzilla film ever made, and if you have never seen a Godzilla movie before, this is the one you need to watch. And if you don't even know what he looks like, it makes the movie even better because you don't see him at all until past the twenty minute mark, and it builds this suspense as to what this creature looks like. I love it. This is a truly remarkable film that many more people should see. And here's a fun fact: This movie premiered in the United States on April 27th, 1955. 40 years to the day before I was born! That makes me proud! So if you want to buy this movie, buy only one version which is The Criterion Collection. Best version you can buy, worth every dollar, go see this movie. See you next time.

Watchmen

I'm back! And I decided to review another comic book movie.

Watchmen is one of the most faithful adaptations of anything literary and putting a visual director like Zack Snyder as the main creator of this movie really makes the film more enjoyable and interesting. So the story of Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 where superheroes have been forced to retire, Richard Nixon is still president, and one member of the Watchmen has been murdered forcing other members to come out of retirement and bring the killer to justice. Now what I like about this movie besides being very faithful to the graphic novel, is just really how the film was made. Who they chose to be the characters, how they created an alternate 1985 New York and how the environment looks, how they shot specific scenes, and how well the dialogue was written. Serious praise must go to Jackie Earl Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan for their outstanding performances, seriously these guys are the reason this film is so well remembered and talked about to this day. The music choices are believe it or not, perfect for the scenes they are in with the music choices spanning from Bob Dylan to Mozart and I can't imagine the movie without this soundtrack. The only real problem I really have for the movie is the ending. It's not the same ending in the book and I am fine with that, because with film you really do have to take artistic license so that's not the problem. The problem is it's a little ambiguous at the end, which I kinda like but I'm just not all for it. I love to speculate about movies but very rarely do I speculate after the movie is finished, I speculate more before the movie is even out. Like for instance, does the Suicide Squad movie take place before the Batman V. Superman movie or after? What's the relationship going to be between Harley and the Joker? Stuff like that. I shouldn't wonder about that after the movie not unless there is going to be a sequel, but with Watchmen it's a one-shot graphic novel, there will never be a continuation of it. So that's the only gripe with it and I honestly enjoyed the movie so much I bought the 3 hour director's cut. If you are a fan of comic book movies and likes to see blood and action but also like to speculate, Watchmen is the perfect movie for you.

I'm not sure what to review next, been kinda hankering for some giant monster movies and luckily I have a few of them. That sounds good, let's do that tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Update On The Job

Well so much for getting my work schedule on Saturday, I just got it yesterday. It's not too bad, it's mostly work from 11 am to 4 pm and I get Thursday off so this Thursday I'll review two movies and hopefully the schedule will not change so I can get a good system of when I can do reviews. Not sure what I can review this week, been watching more tv than movies so I now have a serious question of how the hell do I review a television series? I mean do I do a general overview of the show? Do I take it season by season? I have absolutely no idea yet, but I'll figure it out. So thanks for being patient with me guys, this means a lot to me and I love reviewing stuff for all of you so thank you so much.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Change Of Planning

I apologize for not getting any reviews out this week, I actually have found a job and I am getting my work schedule on Saturday and I am hoping to God I still have time to do reviews. I'm going to try with all of my might to keep the 3 to 4 reviews a week schedule going. I despise transitional periods because you never know what is going to happen next, and there is nothing more I want to do than keep doing reviews. If I could do 5 reviews a week I would do it for the rest of my life, this is my passion and I want to do it for a living. I'm going to work more on the site in my free time and make it look more the way I want it to, and I will update you all on how the reviews are going to go on from hence forth. Thankfully the job is only part time so chances are I may still have time to do reviews. So tune in next time where I will update you on the condition of the reviews.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Minions

Wow it took me this long to review a newer movie than Birdman? Jeez.

So Minions is actually a prequel to Despicable Me, following the minions from cingle cell organisms to how they first met Gru. That I did not expect but I am very happy with how they did it, and almost everything about the movie is done very well. The humor is great, the minions are the star for once and there are no complaints there, the setting is mainly in London in the 60's so I was down with that and it was fantastic! Oh and Michael Keaton was in this movie too, funny how almost every brand new movie I review has Michael Keaton in it somewhere. But anyways, if you enjoyed the Despicable Me movies you will enjoy the Minions movie without any doubt. It's creative, it's funny, it's a really good family film, I reccomend this movie very much.

Some people requested me to review the Jurassic Park movies so I may have to do that next week. It sounds fun, and I really want to see Jurassic World.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Breakfast At Tiffany's

This was a really good movie.


I can honestly see why this is considered a classic film. So the story of Breakfast At Tiffany's follows a young girl named Holly played by Audrey Hepburn who is sort of an odd character that lives in New York City where she meets her new neighbor Paul played by George Peppard, and they of course, start a relationship together. Now I have to say I love the casting choices for this movie, Audrey Hepburn is a true joy to watch in this movie and she is insanely gorgeous and funny but can still show raw emotion, George Peppard was a pretty average guy in the movie and his performance is very real and very normal and it makes sense because he's just an average guy who just moved to New York. The comedy in the movie is strong but not always present and to put it in a word, fluid. Just look at the party scene alone, every single person in that room goes with the flow, not even for a split second does someone second guess what's happening. Someone tells someone else hold my drink, they immediately hold their drink, someone passes out drunk, everyone just keeps doing what they are doing, someone lifts a girl up and puts her on the shoulders of a man having a conversation, the guy doesn't even stop talking for two seconds. That is easily the funniest scene in the movie. But sadly it's not all fun parties and drinks, there are heavy emotional moments in this film and they are acted incredibly well. There are quite a few quiet scenes with hardly any dialogue or even music, and there is a moment in the film where you can sense that the film has changed directions and nothing will be the same. You know what I am talking about, it always happens in romance movies where you can just tell we have gone over the edge and plunged straight into serious, dramatic times. This is truly a remarkable film and many people who have not seen the movie know of it's reputation, and for good reason too. Breakfast At Tiffany's is a true gem of cinema, and is regarded as one of the greats. You will not be disappointed with this film.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Okay so I took some user requests this week and I decided to review a few of them starting with this exquisite anime.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is one of the most emotional and thought provoking stories of time travel ever made. The story focuses on a teenage girl who one day after school finds a mysterious orb that somehow gives her the ability to travel through time. She soon discovers how to master the technique, to literaly gather enough speed and leap through time. Insert Back To The Future DeLorean joke here, and to be honest this movie is actually better than Back To The Future in my opinion because this movie is completely serious, even though it is quite humorous whereas Back To The Future was more of a comedy and adventure time travel film. And that is the strongest point of the movie,  the emotion of the characters and that is what makes it ascend to such great heights of storytelling and human emotion! And I am serious this film has the most realistic crying scene I have ever seen in a movie. It's not the usual "Sexy Cry" where a character sheds a single tear and the rest of their face is motionless, a prime example being Arwen from Lord Of The Rings, no no no you see a character break down and water comes out of every hole on their body and they make sounds like a dying moose, like how real people cry and it's truly heartbreaking to see. And it actually adresses the dilemma of being a time traveller, because the girl uses it for her own selfish reasons and she involuntarily harms others and hurts other people's feelings even though she didn't mean to, and it is explained that really everybody around her are her own little play things that she keeps toying with by constantly time travelling. That is a life changing lesson for anybody, and the film should be applauded for that. It has such beautiful animation that has a lot of depth and detail very much like a Miyazaki movie, the characters are so realistic yet they are animated, the emotion is raw, the time travel really makes you think and feel all sorts of things, it probably will make you cry and it has a twist that you could never see coming. And this is a true fact: the film was not a big commercial success in Japan until word of mouth about how great the movie was spreaded to the point where people were actually willing to stand in the aisle of the theatre to see the movie. They did not care if they had a seat, they just wanted to see the movie. Oh my God! That is amazing! Transformers Dark Of The Moon made like a bajillion more dollars than this film, but I bet no one said that they didn't care if it was a full house, that they would stand in the theatre because they just HAD to see Optimus Prime. And the only real problem with the film is, it is a rare film. Hardly anyone has heard of this movie, and it is damn near impossible to own the movie in North America without slapping down $100 for it, which is a crying shame because it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.


If you care enough to see this movie, you can watch it completely free online. If you Google Just Anime Dubbed and you click on the first website, just go to the movies section and look for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I highly encourage you to see this film even if anime is not your style. So thank you very much for tuning in for this review, I will see you guys and gals tomorrow.

Friday, July 3, 2015

The Expendables 3

This movie is horrible! It's friggin' horrible!




Where do I start with this terrible movie? Everything you enjoyed in the last two Expendables movie are no longer here. The Expendables 2 is the best movie out of all three of them, and to tell you the truth I didn't like the first Expendables movie that much, but I could give it a pass because it was the first movie in the franchise, it's not easy creating a world and creating the characters in that world and just having it's own image and it's own way of doing things. By the second movie, they got it really right! Expendables 2 was glorious, it was awesome! By the end of that movie you were still talking about some of your favorite scenes, but not in this piece of garbage! The story is boring, we get a whole new cast of members of The Expendables that we don't care about, there is hardly any blood in the movie whatsoever unlike Expendables 2 where there was blood and limbs and heads being shot off, this movie barely has a cup of blood to show on screen, the CGI is terrible, I mean terrible in this movie. Before, the CGI was decent and looked semi-realistic but in this movie it looks like it came straight out of a video game from 2003, in fact all of the effects are terrible and shoddy in this movie, and really you know what it is like? It's like a direct to DVD Expendables movie. Those bargain bin movies you see at a video store that are so terrible and cheap you wouldn't think for a second to even look through them. That is this movie! And I am serious here, half the damn movie and I do mean half the damn movie is spent looking for these new assholes to join the team. There are several scenes that just waste your time like there are two scenes, I swear to God that pretty much goes like this...Mel Gibson the villain walks into an art museum looks at a painting, describes how horrible it looks and buys it for $3 million dollars. End of scene. Soon to be followed by, Mel Gibson's character delivering said painting to some nameless woman we never met before and will never see again. End of scene. Waste of time! But oh wait, there's more! In one scene Sylvester Stallone informs the old members of The Expendables that they are getting too old for the job and he breaks up the band, so of course we have to see the old members moaning and moping around for about three minutes before we can finally get back to the story, or what passes for a story. What's the story you might ask? Well The Expendables are hired to take out Mel Gibson's character and we soon discover that he was a member of The Expendables too back in the day (dun dun duuuuuh!!!) but he went rogue and did unspeakable things that the movie never decides to tell us about, and I am serious. I was expecting some sort of flashback scene to explain why the characters get so huffy when he is brought up, it never happens. We don't barely have any backstory to his character, and while it is kinda fun to see Mel Gibson just kinda be Mel Gibson in this movie, and he does make you chuckle in a few scenes but ultimately is forgettable. We get Wesley Snipes and Antonio Banderas in this movie as new members of the team, and Antonio Banderas is so annoying in this movie, all he does is talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and maybe shoot a few guys, and talk. And Wesley Snipes, you know the first time you see him the team busts him out of this prison train and he's got this beard and like this afro, so for the rest of the movie I called him Afro Blade and he does nothing but he did make me laugh a bit. Horrible! This movie is fraking horrible!! Do not watch this movie! It is not worth your time and money! Watch The Expendables 2, do not touch this movie. Even if you are curious do not see this movie! I need a damn drink after all of this...and the funny part was I have never seen this movie before, but I really didn't want to watch or review this movie. I mean at all. I did not want to watch this. I swear I have this sixth sense about movies where I automatically can tell if it's going to be a huge piece of crap, okay, or pretty damn good. This was a huge piece of crap. Stay away from this movie!

Thursday, July 2, 2015

The Expendables 2

Re-watching this again, I have to say it's leaps and bounds better than the first.



I'm serious, everything that was good in the first Expendables is even better in the second one. The dialogue is better and is even funnier than the first, we get to know the characters better and even see some new additions to the team, the action is just all around better and that is very evident from the very first action scene, cause in the first movie it was really just a standoff for some hostages but in the second one it's a straight up rescue mission and it is so much bigger and more flashy and exciting. So the story of The Expendables 2 is that Bruce Willis contacts Sylvester Stallone and company to retrieve a mysterious object from a shot down plane in Albania, the team soon gathers together including their two new members of the team played by Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu to retrieve secret data and return it back to the U.S. government before it falls into the wrong hands. But our heroes soon come face to face with the villain of the movie, whose name is Vilain....I am so not kidding it's only one letter away from spelling villain played by Guile himself from Street Fighter The Movie, Jean-Claude Van Damme who I got to say is an interesting choice for the villain of this movie and I'm not sure why but he's just a joy to watch. And just like in Street Fighter I can barely understand what he is saying, like I understand Christian Bale's Batman better than this guy. His accent is what does it, it sounds ger-russian-nese but it's still pretty cool to see him in the movie. So the chase is on to stop Vilain from using the secret data to cause chaos in the world. I think the reason why I enjoy this movie better than the first is because of the better dialogue and the new characters we get to see in action, even though the dialogue is very tongue and cheek sometimes, like there's this scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger tells Terry Crews to give him his gun and Terry Crews says, "If I don't get this back your ass is terminated." and it's dialogue like that which makes he movie a bit more fun, but we don't only get to see Arnold throw down and shoot em' up, we even get the most badass dude in existence to help out our heroes, Chuck Norris. And yeah he kicks the most ass in this movie, he's one handing this big machine gun tearing through guys left and right, he takes out a friggin' tank and he even says one of the Chuck Norris facts about how a king cobra bit him and after 5 days of pain the cobra died. Best part of the movie but another fantastic part of the movie is Dolph Lundgren and he is my favorite character in the entire film, cause he is super smart like he can make a bomb out of just a few ingredients, and he keeps hitting on the girl who tags along on the mission with him, he's totally awesome. So yeah, this movie was a hell of a lot better than the first, and I think the best part of The Expendables movies are the continuity is loose, like it's not necessary to watch the first movie to get the second movie so you can just skip the first movie and go straight for the second movie. This is The Expendables movie you have to see if you want to watch the franchise, so I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did, and I will see you guys and gals tomorrow when we wrap up the trilogy.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The Expendables

What better way to start the month of July and build up to our Independence Day than to review a trilogy of hardcore action movies starring the biggest names of the action hero genre?



So The expendables is a true love letter to action films both old and new, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren among many others as mercenaries hired by the U.S. government to take out a dictator. This plot could not get any more action hero if it tried. But it's a damn good movie with a lot of it's own merits, mainly the acting, the characters, and of course the action scenes. Now let's be honest here, this is not a great film as far as action movies go but it's a cut above the rest only because of the stars of the movie. If you have ever seen an action film from the 1980's onward, chances are you know who these people are and what their reputation is in the film industry. And even I have to admit it's pretty friggin' cool to see all these action movie stars kick some ass even if some of them are getting up there in the years, they still got it! And it is built entirely around the characters, their actions, their personalities, their past, all of it only contributes to the movie, and it shows they are not a perfect team, they bicker, they fight each other, but in the end they are still a team and give a damn about each other. And you really get the sense of that which makes them even more enjoyable. The acting is good, the directing shows you exactly what you need to see, the dialogue between the characters is really the best part of the movie in my humble opinion but the action is well choreographed and they are not afraid to show blood and violence, the characters are interesting enough so you don't just write them off as typical action movie heroes, the music for lack of a better word has that honky-tonk rock tone to it and it's pretty cool, the plot is pretty basic but you really can't be expecting Shakespeare in an action movie called The Expendables. Yeah it is just kind of a dumb action guy flick but it does have more to it than what you expect and I'm sure you will find it very enjoyable and interesting to watch nevertheless, especially if you are a big fan of action movies and action movie stars both old and new. I quite enjoyed The Expendables, and I hope you do too.



Tune in tomorrow where we review the second installation of The Expendables trilogy, and I hope to God it stays a trilogy.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Heat

I'm sorry that I was late, kinda busy yesterday and Heat is an almost 3 hour movie. I got through most of it but not all.



So Heat is one of the best crime drama movies ever put to celluloid directed by Michael Mann, and anything to do with Michael Mann and bank robberies is no bad thing! The story is that a team of expert bank robbers led by Robert De Niro steal millions of dollars in bonds, and a detective played by Al Pacino has to take him down. The whole movie centers around these characters actions and emotions, and it feels completely real, even though Al Pacino chews the scenery a little bit but that only makes it more enjoyable. And yeah, this is the movie with the greatest running firefight ever recorded on film, I'm serious. It goes on for like 10 minutes, there's no music all you hear is gunfire, and the weird thing is it's not even at the finale of the movie, it's about halfway through. But that's not even the best scene of the movie. The real best scene is when Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sit down in a cafe and talk to each other. And the reason why it is a big deal is because it's the hero and the villain sitting down, drinking coffee and talking about why they do what they do. I can't think of a single movie where the hero and villain sit down, have a drink, and just talk to each other. It has never been done, and it's very well written, very well acted, and is just so damn good. The ending is thrilling and yet touching, and is the perfect way to end this amazing film. If you are a fan of bank robberies, complex characters, amazing directing, brilliant writing, and are just a fan of crime dramas then Heat is for you.


And that ends this week of movie reviews. Join me next week when we look at some true love letters to the action hero franchise.