To bad I'm not talking about the movie! So I recently bought a Zune... actually not recently but around the time I took a long break from posting is when I bought it and it has pretty much consumed every aspect of my life. Regardless I got the soundtrack off of the Zune Marketplace which I had to pay for even though I had a Zune pass, but to my delight it was a very good soundtrack. By good I mean the songs were actually in the movie rather than a soundtrack filled with new music from the latest bands or just the musical score *cough* I Am Legend *cough* what the hell were they thinking *cough* *cough* sorry that last one was real. But I did enjoy the movie and the soundtrack is just enjoyable as well. I do wish I that there were more people in my age group in attendance to the flix since it was mostly old people that didn't understand what Thundercats GO! meant. Ah it's so wonderful when a movie can sell tickets based on critic's opinions and by comparison to the last indie comedy that came before it... ah Hollywood, will your writers ever be invited back? Hurry up I've got a script to sell!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Juno - Yeah I Saw It!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Shoot'em Up - Bang, Bang! We've got a hit!
Oh it has been a long time since I saw a good action flick that didn't try to be bigger and better than itself. Clive Owen came to America too late, he could have been a movie superstar by now if he had just crossed the ocean a little sooner. I don't really feel the need to tell you the gimmick of Shoot'em Up although I'm sure many sites have already done so, I will tell you the plot though which is something I'm sure others have not done. Basically Owen's character (Mr. Smith) can't help but stop a fleeing pregnant woman's would be attacker. Stopping this attack lands him with a dead mother and a newly delivered baby. Now the same people that were trying to kill the mother are trying to kill the baby. That's it! That simple, no big surprises, yes theres a bit more to the plot but they practically give it to you before they spell it out. None of that matters because this movie is just a vessel for great gun fights and witty dialog. Clive basically is Buggs Bunny with a gun and frankly it's hilarious. Giamatti plays Fudd to our Clive's Buggs, and does a brilliant job (as always) playing a character that he's really has no business playing.
Really there's nothing more to say about this movie. I'm sure there will be nah sayers on how there's too much action or that the story wasn't believable and I would say that they are wrong because this movie knows what it is... a simple action flick that delivers the action. I can't stress enough the great dialog between Clive and Paul. They basically finish each other's sentences, which yes I know isn't possible but damn isn't it funny! While I was watching the movie I couldn't help but think of Crank and how
disappointing it turned out to be and wondered just how someone could screw up such a simple formula... but thankfully Shoot'em Up came out and I think it was a breath of fresh air and a good step towards revitalizing the action genre. Yeah there's a lot of good movies out right now (thankfully) but if you've got the chance and you're feeling like a laugh and some action then check it out, you won't be disappointed.
Halloween 2007 - Halloween will never be the same!
Halloween 2007 - So perhaps I'm not the one that should review this having never watched the original, although some would say that's why I should because I have a fresh take on it and can just watch it for what it is a Horror Movie. I'm a fan of Zombie's last two movies and since this isn't IMDB I'm not going to list them just to prove I know them, anyways I was interested in what he would do with this film and was happy when he kept it during the same time line as the original. I think that's why the movie worked so well and why all his movies work is because he doesn't modernize them, he keeps them in the era that invented horror as we know it today. At Comic Con Zombie said his film would be different because it was about Michael Myers and not about the people he was killing, and he was not lying, this movie is 100% about Myers.
Tyler Mane was the perfect choice and frankly I would like to see him in more roles like this, I mean he's already pretty scary looking in real life but give him a knife and a mask and he's scary as hell! Even though he didn't talk, his body language spoke loud and clear and that takes a talented actor but also a talented director to be able to show it the way he did. Young Myers was actually quite impressive for a child actor, he was able to flip the switch between psycho killer and playful child very easily. I wonder if he'll grow up demented because of this movie? He did some pretty intense things during the course of the film. Since I'm on actors,
I want to say that whoever casted this film did a great job. I actually believed that the girls were friends and could picture them hanging out in real life, I doubt that's the case but hey I believed it could happen while watching the movie. Most impressive was Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie, even though I knew bad stuff was going to happen all around her I felt bad for her as they did. She really was just a likable character and it sucked to see her going through all that shit. The two baby-sat kids did a heck of a job and it was hard to tell if they were acting or if they just threw them in a room and said be yourself and turned on a camera, they were both very natural and could turn out to have quite the careers ahead of them.
Something that I don't think a lot of people will catch, or if they do they'll view it in a negative light, was all the cussing. I'm not talking about the, "Oh shit there's a killer outside my door" cussing, I'm talking about when the Dad was like, "Oh shit, my car keys." Totally un-needed right? I stood out to me, and then a couple more character did it, then a couple more, and I realized something... this isn't any different then how I talk all the time, at work or with my family. It's just not something that is brought to light in movies, that real aspect of how we talk in everyday conversations and I just thought that was brilliant. Especially at the begin when the Meyer's family is way dysfunctional they cuss a lot and instead of it feeling force or getting tired of it, you accept it because you just turned to your friend and said, "Damn they cuss a lot." If anyone watches it again or for the first time, pay attention, and then pay attention to how much you swear every day. I liked this movie, I liked Myers and what Zombie and Mane did with it.
Heck I really liked Mrs. Zombie and loved it when she really switched gears and actually looked like a Mom! I'm not a fan of remakes but like I said before the movie came out, "If you're going to remake a horror movie... wouldn't you rather have Zombie, a total horror fan, do it rather than someone else?" The answer to that question is, "Yes!"
The Film Crew - Hollywood After Dark
The Film Crew as I've previously stated, is the latest creation from three of the guys that worked on and brought you MST3000. You could go as far as to say that The Film Crew is MST3000 Lite, since it tries to copy several of the formulas from MST but with little success. One of the things that could make or break a good episode of MST were the bits in-between, the invention exchanges and the Mad Scientist and the later inventions of the same character in female form. They could make you laugh, but for the most part then weren't really needed. But after watching MST on DVD I discovered that they were needed, because it made you relate and care about these guys that sit and watch these awful movies, they gave them a more human face and you realized that they had the best job in the world... and they were just some guys from Minnesota.
The Film Crew tries this same formula of giving the guys a boss and giving them the job of creating a commentary track for every movie without out a commentary track (public domain movies) but depending on how long TFC lasts will really determine if these bits that aren't really working right off the bat, are really going to matter. As the saying goes, time will tell. The actual movie itself is horrible, and didn't have enough footage shot to make any sense. Also the Old chick from Golden Girls, the one that slept with everyone, she plays a stripper who wants to be an actress... and she sleeps with everyone... go figure huh? The Crew does a good job of over looking the a lot of the easy jokes and ops for the road less traveled, and let me tell you they have some killer jokes. I was watching this with my Girlfriend (Who doesn't get this style of humor) and she didn't laugh at all, so I was pretty much laughing by myself which anyone who's ever watch a comedy by themselves knows that you don't laugh as much when you're the only one laughing. Long story short, I laughed quite a bit. I'm getting the next installment in this project and will update fans on whether the "bits" pan out or if they're just a waste of time in trying to reconnect to the magic that is MST3000.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Balls of Fury - The 90's called...
I had high hopes for this movie, after watching the trailer several months ago it really became a movie I was looking forward to, that I actually would go and sit down at a theater and be giddy at the start of the movie... unfortunately that excitement was quickly let down. Balls of Fury could easily have been made in the late 90's, with it's comedic pacing and cookie cutter action comedy formula. Dan Fogler gives a great performance and really could have been funnier if the script had allowed it. Maggie Q is just eye candy, not that she isn't appreciated eye candy, but I know she can do better then a B grade comedy that only asked her to play towards racial stereotypes and kiss a fat dude. Christopher Walken is Christopher Walken and does a great job of making you laugh at the ridiculous things he says. George Lopez... well, he was in the movie that's for sure.
The gist of the movie is the Randy Daytona (Fogler) was a child prodigy when it came to Table Tennis. He goes all the way to the 88 Olympics and loses, also he spouts some ridiculous line about Disneyland and is mocked too many time through out the movie about it. His dad is killed having put a beat on Randy, to win. Now Randy does Ping Pong tricks at a dinner theater. Lopez recruits Randy in order to infiltrate Feng's underground Ping Pong tournament. Lopez is apparently a long shot at capturing Feng, and is bored with his job not being more like James Bond... or Scarface. Randy must train to get back what he lost and so he begins training with Maggie Wong... played by Maggie Q... damn they didn't even try! Maggie's blind grandfather Master Wong (James Hong) is the head master giving guidance on Randy's road to being great again.
Probably the funniest part for me was when Randy is offered a sex slave, and he feels he can't turn it down, only it turns out all the sex slaves are muscular men. Randy's ends up with Oswald from the Drew Carrey show (Diedrich Bader) and he really steals whatever scene he's in. Really there were only a couple times that I really remember laughing out loud and I can't even think of what they were now. The problem with the movie is that theres not enough Ping Pong, and not enough Comedy. Not to many jokes weren't on the trailer, and the Ping Pong was boring and short. Also the movie got really rushed at the end, it's possible that they ran out of money and had to make due with what they had left to work with OR the script wasn't that good. Either way there was a lot of explosions and bad fight scenes that really weren't needed. It was a good first outing for everyone involved and maybe if the same team came together to make something else I would check it out, but I'd say the rush and excitement wouldn't be there again. Like I said this style of humor was most commonly found in the mid to late nineties and so that at least makes it a little fun to watch.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Paprika Review over at UTAI
Someone wrote a review over at UTAI! Check it out, and all the other new reviews!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Renaissance - So familiar but you just can't place it
Perhaps this movie snuck by you like it did me. I recall seeing all the internet ads for it, I had the interest in it, but then one day the ads were gone and no theater seemed to be carrying the product I was looking for. The style is hard to place, since it almost looks cell shaded and CG, at times the characters move just like a real person. I'm fairly certain that some degree of real acting was done by the original French actors and I'm sure the information is available at my finger tips but I'm here to review a movie not the making of the movie so really let's begin.
Renaissance, is a bare bones story with cool effects and a unique presentation. A research Scientist for a Avalon goes missing, and the police are on the case. It's a mystery as to why the Scientist (Ilona) has been kidnapped, and who the villain behind it really is. That's pretty much it, the story is so familiar you'll swear you've seen it before. Probably because you actually have, but I really can't place it. The cop has a dangerous past voiced by Daniel Craig (Bond!) and for some reason he gets really involved in the case, and the missing woman's sister. Avalon is the company of the future that takes care of everything for you and comes complete with Billboards that turn on when you walk by and stare at you and everything. Of course their evil, but there's an evil doctor involved in the mix as well, who ends up being the bigger bad guy? Well they're French so probably everyone! Nah, just joking I love the French.
The action is okay, there's some invisible trench coat ninjas (they're just security guards but by damn they act like ninjas), the gun play is okay as well. There's a car chase scene that really didn't work with the cell shading/CG, but the on foot chase scenes worked very well and helped counter the car chase scene. The city looked good, but at times it was difficult to tell what level of the city you're looking at and the sidewalks were clear so the first time you see it, it's a bit confusing. Other than showing the Eiffel Tower once, you wouldn't think it was taking place in France.
Watching the movie I could spot it's many influences. Obviously Bladerunner and the Matrix being key influences. The overall plot and how the it was directed reminded me heavily of a Japanese Animation that I had scene, but can't quite place my finger on. The storyline and overall plot truly remind me of a movie I have already seen, but again I can't place it. If you're into CG/cell shading, or like animations and action, then give the movie a rental. I think that movie took some bold steps towards making interesting movies in this style; if you enjoyed Sin City's look then you'll like the shading and lighting of this movie. If the same company were to venture another CG/cell shading adventure, then I would definitely see what it has to offer.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Superbad - The review everyone couldn't wait to write
I'm going to start off by bad mouthing someone else's review of this movie by calling them an idiot and telling them they shouldn't write movie reviews ever again. I don't know the site of the person I'm directing this towards by if you search Digg you should be able to find their review that posted last Thursday, I believe. Ah hell I'll find it, hold on... there! Anyways, this review doesn't even matter because there's probably a hundred reviews for this movie already and most of them are going to say the same thing. Just like in the other review, you already have your mind made up about this movie. So I'm just going to tell you what I liked about it, I'd tell you what I didn't like too, but there wasn't anything really worth mentioning.
I guess this movie is Jonah Hill's vessel, but really I didn't get that feeling at all. He pretty much has equal screen time with Micheal Cera (forever known as George Micheal from Arrested Development) Christopher Mintz-Plasse (forever
to be known as McLovin) and Seth Rogan and Bill Hader. Seriously they're all on the screen so much that there is no star, which works really well for this movie. Now the review linked above, is pretty much in love with Jonah Hill and didn't get George Micheal at all, which is really sad because basically they said they didn't get any smart jokes only the obvious ones that everyone was laughing at. Both of them actually do a great job and make a good comedy team. McLovin was actually quite good. I didn't worry that he would be a "Shermanator" like the "other review" said, but I did think it was going to be difficult to watch him. Well it was actually enjoyable and the damn kid made me laugh, so he did a good job. I don't see how anyone could type cast him since the McLovin character name is just there so that the cops can say it over and over to make you laugh.
It was a good High School movie, which there hasn't been too many that I can think of. The girls of the movie were nicely handled, not to much screen time to make them annoying, and they show up at the end to make for the perfect ending. The cops made me laugh... a whole bunch! Seriously every time they said McLovin, I had to laugh. Even though I had heard, "Sounds like a sexy hamburger" thirty times in the trailer, I still laughed when I heard it said again. If you're a guy, don't see it with your girlfriend... although you'll probably feel a little gay if you see it with your friends. I think most guys that are like these two characters went through a much more toned down version of what their friendship is going through in the movie. There really isn't much else to say about the movie, I mean it's a comedy so it's not like there's some surprise twist or something so if you're going to see it then more than likely you'll enjoy it. I laughed my ass off through the whole thing. The movie really has a strong opening that just trucks on through the rest of the flick never missing a beat.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Bourne Ultimatum - Is the Trilogy Over?
Well it's a week late but I finally saw Bourne, most hardcore movie watchers have probably already watched this movie; and some have probably downloaded it further hurting the hand that I hope will one day feed me. It was a good end to the series, I've heard a lot of people say it "fit" very well. I'll admit that I was not excited when I first heard about the Bourne Identity and it's star Matt Damon. In fact I had waited till it came out on DVD to check it out. I was impressed, and further more was excited when Supremacy came out. Ultimatum on the other hand was a tuff sell for me. The trailer offered nothing new, the story definitely offered nothing new, the cast almost the same except for one bad ass CIA agent that pretty much saved the show. David Strathairn plays Noah Vosen, a CIA man who runs the black ops in the CIA. Pretty much he can do whatever he wants. His new job is to of course take down Bourne and pin the Ops that created him on Landey, played once again by Joan Allen, or kill Bourne... well do they?
The story really is nothing new, the acting is actually quite nice, and the symbolism that connects the series is a nice touch that is missing from typical action/suspense movies these days. Damon actually gets to give a performance in this film, which was missing in the last film. No I was not
The style from the first two films is maintained in this film as well. It just goes to show that shakey cam can work when done properly. I've always liked the dark grainy look that the films displayed, 
it works really well in the spy film genre. The main symbolism in Bourne has always been water. The series started in water and it ends in water. In the first film, Bourne is pulled out of the water and doesn't remember who he is. This being a symbol of rebirth as water often is. In the second flick it's used as a symbol of death as Bourne's girlfriend dies in water. In the latest flick water is used in two ways, but ultimately for the same reason... rebirth. As Bourne is being brainwashed, he is dunked over and over into water until finally he is Jason Bourne. Then at the end, yes I'm ruining the ending for you since really it doesn't even matter in the scheme of things, he falls into water and then swims away, giving his character another fresh start and symbolizes the death of Jason Bourne super killing machine. Something this series did great was not making them seem like a trilogy, each film stands alone on it's own and doesn't require you to have seen the previous films to enjoy any of the others. It's just a nice treat if you have. The rest of Hollywood should take notes from Bourne, since all the sequels seem like after thoughts and so were forced to stand alone. Just green light the second movie and see if it swims before green lighting the third, otherwise you get another Matrix and Pirates franchise.
Since I can't condone anyone seeing Rush Hour 3, due to the fact that Jackie Chan is so much better than buddy comedy's and really has soiled his career and joins the list of "people who use to be great until they made a bunch of crappy decisions on the bases of money", which includes Stan Lee... for now! So I would recommend this movie if you want something decent to watch, but hey if you want to watch crap by all means go for it!
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Now playing: "I Don´t Know You" by Kate Havnevik
via FoxyTunes
Daredevil - Riff Trax (like Mystery Science Theater 3000)
If you haven't heard by now Riff Trax is the creation of Micheal T. Nelson, one of those crazy guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3000). He's created a site where for $3.00 you can download a mp3 that syncs up with a movie and enjoy hilarious commentary in the MST3000 style, once again. It may seem difficult but if you watch a lot of movies at your computer is very easy, and if you're like my friend and have your HDTV hooked up to your computer then it's even better. Basically my review is just to tell you how damn funny Riff Trax is, and hopefully bring the spotlight upon it for anyone that loved or like MST3000 as much as I did. I bought Daredevil because it was already in my collection and really it made the movie so much better. That's all I really have to say about it. Here's a sample to check out and don't forget to check out the site.
Rifftrax.com
Saturday, August 11, 2007
TMNT (2007) Holding it's own against the original
We've come a long way since the first Ninja Turtles, I remember as a kid not being able to wait to see the movie. When I saw the poster I freaked out, and still to this day whenever I randomly see it, I can't help but smile. Originally when I heard about the new movie I got that same kind of excitement... until I saw that it was CG. The Turtles need a break, they've been franchised out too many times since the height of their popularity and every installment since has been worse and worse. This movie might be a slight improvement though. The CG was actually very very good and rivals that of
Pixar and other CG studios.
The story on the other hand was not very good. It was short and bit off more than it could chew. It did stand on it's own which is rare in a sequel. Essentially the store picks up after the first Live Action movie, Leo has been sent to the jungle to train and become a better leader. He hasn't returned after being away for a year so the other Turtles have taken up other activities to fill their days. They'll show you in the first 20 minutes of the movie so I'm not going to bother stealing the fun of the scene. The movie centers around Raphael and Leonardo, as the butt heads over leadership and everything else brothers fight about. My problem with the characters, is that while Raphael learns and grows, Leo doesn't and actually comes off pretty pompous. Michelangelo has a decent presence in the movie but 
Donatello is lacking from the film, I could count how many scenes he was in. It's fine if the Director and most of the other fans don't think Donatello is a strong character, but when the movie is about the bonds of brotherhood then you should probably include ALL of the brothers. The ending was convenient and quick, with the last of the 13 monsters running in and taking down the General's for the Turtles. I'll never understand why they didn't just turn off the General's electronic activators that allowed them to move and talk, but hey that's just me.
I have to fall back on the story and how rushed it felt, when I got to the ending I had the overwhelming sensation of being incomplete. In typical Turtle Movie fashion it was left wide open for another sequel, and ended with a rap song about the Turtles. Unfortunately there's not a lot of action/fighting scenes to speak of, and the jokes were pretty far and in-between as well. I did laugh at the end when Michelangelo wanted to retire his over
sized turtle head costume, but other than that the most I crack was a smile. The voice acting was actually really good, with of course one exception... Splinter. His dialog was so weird and acted poorly. With Cartoons and CG movies it's all about timing and Mato, who was the voice of Splinter, just didn't have the timing to make it work. Everything sounded like a line being read, rather than acted. The movie did earn my trust enough to watch a second outing if it was made, and guessing by the $93 million it made world wide I'd say another is already in the works.
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Now playing: "I Just Do" by Dear and the Headlights
via FoxyTunes
30 Minutes of Shaolin vs Evil Dead Ultimate Power aka we added Ulitmate Power so we wouldn't get sued!
While at Comic Con I attended a panel that showed the last 30 minutes of this flick... there's really nothing else to follow that awkward sentence, except that one. So in the final battle fighting happens, I guess it's pretty good, but I had seen better. The film quality was cheap, the graphics were crap and the sound was pathetic. My roommate said it best, "Maybe the first hour of the movie would have made the last 30 minutes more enjoyable... but then I probably wouldn't have watched the last 30 minutes." This is the truest statement anyone could make about the movie. We watched waiting to see something, anything cool happen in this movie and were surprised by how much of it they showed. The best part of the movie was the crappy posters that they gave out. One of them now proudly hangs in my bathroom which is pretty much why I'm writing this. I guess the best part of the movie, for people that saw the rest of it, was the ending where a bunch of vampires show up out of no where. No where else in the movie do they mention vampires, but the characters respond in a fashion that makes you think they were expecting them any minute. If you can rent this movie, then do so, but only watch the last 30 minutes.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Skinwalkers... a werewolf story?
It's not often... no wait, it is often, that a movie comes along and has a bad ass poster but no bad ass movie to go with the poster. Skinwalkers is about werewolf's, really lame werewolf's. If you've ever wanted to have decent strength, the ability to scale scaffolding, and constant sniffles then you too will want to be a skinwalker. The movie stars... well there's people in it, you could argue who the star of the movie is, but it sucked so why bother? It did have Sarah Carter and Natassia Malthe in it, both were in DOA and basically there careers aren't taking off. Probably because both DOA and Skinwalkers were in the can waiting to be released for over a year. It also "stars", Elias Koetas (Casey Jones from Ninja Turtles) and Rhona Mitra (the neighbor babe from Hallowman) who were also both in the Shooter. I just thought it was kinda weird that 2 sets of people had worked together on different occasions, I'm sure it's happened before but I don't really care.
So the "werewolf's" have this prophecy that if a kid born half werewolf (I use that term lightly) and human (again lightly), that if the kid lives to be 13 (get it?) that he'll cure the werewolf's... somehow. I'll tell you right now, it's his blood! Trust me, if you actually watch this movie you won't even care how it ends, just that it does end. There's nothing spooky in the movie, there's no "boo" moments, and there's no sense of danger or reason to care about any of the characters. The kid in the movie is so dumb that you'll want them to kill him, he couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag with one side missing. You could pretty much count on him doing the exact opposite of whatever he was told. "Don't open the door!" he opened the door, "Don't move!", he'd move and knock something over. I wish they had told him, "Don't act!", then maybe he would have done a better job, or actually stopped acting. The mom (Rhona) was almost as annoying, every time the kid was in bed (Like 3 or 4 times) shes practically sitting on top of him getting right into his face. She too does dumb stuff, like taking the kid to the hospital, even though they know he's turning werewolf or whatever and they have 4 other werewolf's that don't want to be cured trying to kill him. They literally have like a 2 hour lead on these assholes and they stop at a hospital... seriously what was anyone thinking?
Let's talk about the make-up, and things that broke the rules set forth by the movie, or rules that didn't even make sense in the movie. Did you see Dog Soldiers? Well if not they take the weird chest plate thing they do in that movie and put it on the actors chest. The actor's themselves played the werewolf's in full make-up, no puppets or cg. The faces were actually pretty creepy, especially on the hot chick. But that was it, they wore the same clothing, and even gave one guy facial hair. Overall though, I'd say the make-up was the best part of the movie. Now the "good" werewolf's, lock themselves up at night so that they don't feed on anything, especially people. For some reason, if they feed they loose control and can never regain control. Which makes like no sense, literally Elias's character feed for like two seconds and then "lost control" and the mom "Rhona" had to put him down. It didn't break the rules of the movie, although they did tell you word for word that it was going to happen so there was no big surprise, but it just doesn't make to much sense is all. One rule they broke was at night they are werewolf's, well one night the hot chick and the main "bad" werewolf dude turn back to human form while doing it. No you don't get to see anything so don't bother using her frontal fun stuff as a reason to see this movie. In fact you see the guys bad tattoo and flexing arm more than anything, I thought they started filming a Bowflex commercial midway through. In the end the "evil" werewolf ends up being the kids dad, everyone BUT the annoying mother, annoying son, and evil dad die. So they, um, they, go traveling... looking for other werewolf's... to cure them... with the boys blood... by drawing his blood and placing drops of it on bullets... yeah, it's pretty lame since the blood would burn off before hitting the person!
The best part was when that stuttery guy from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (no you don't get a hyper link for that!) showed up at the end wanting to be cured. Good for him, he'd probably look really dumb in the were-make-up. PS, there's no gore and no blood really, but there is a bad ass granny who takes like 20 rounds, blows up a gas station and still keeps going. If they didn't kill her, I would have liked to have seen a sequel starring her!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
This Is England
This movie surprised the hell out of me. I had watched the trailer about a month ago, and was very impressed by what I saw. So I made a long trek, to a far away theater to watch this film, and I came away feeling it was well worth it. Movie follows Shaun, a young boy without a Father and a huge chip on his shoulder. He's picked on for minor things, like his pants, that then escalate into fighting. Shaun, played by Thomas Turgoose, is only eleven... but he is hands down brilliant in this film. If continues getting quality, and mature parts like this movie he will be huge in the world of film. He literally acted like he had been doing it for twenty years. One scene he kisses a girl, and they really kiss no Hollywood B.S. and he looked like a pro. The girl he kisses even says, "You look eleven but you kiss like your forty." It made for a great movie experience to watch such a natural talent be on screen. Not to say that there weren't other strong performances in the movie, but since the focal point is centered around Shaun, his performance
shined the most.
Basically the film is about Shaun joining a group of Skinheads, in 1983 England. The ones he befriends are all around nice people. The stick up for each other, they talk out their differences and don't show any indifference to others. Then Combo, played by Stephan Graham, gets released from jail. His return changes and splits the group apart. His first night out of the slammer he's telling a prison story to a bunch of teenagers, and he's using a lot of racial terms. There Skinheads, is what your thinking, why would they care? Well this group happens to have a Jamaican member. This is one of the most powerful scenes of the movie, the leader of the group Woody, looks over to his girlfriend Lol. They mouth to each other about wanting to just go, but of course Woody just can't. You can tell in that scene that things are not going to be the same. Shane Meadows, the writer and director does a fabulous job, not only with the actors and story, but with his overall ability of story telling and camera work. It's very rare anymore to watch a movie and to be left wanting more. More interaction with the characters, more dialog, and resolution. What happened next, where did everyone go from there? I couldn't stop thinking about the characters lives and what dynamic they would be living in if the movie had continued. My hat is off to Mr. Meadows for accomplishing such a feat. Bravo.
Here's where I must stop, because I really don't want to tell you too much. If you're interested in seeing the trailer then look no farther. If you're lucky you'll have a theater that has this movie, or you may end up driving. Hopefully it will get a bigger push and pick up some more theaters, if one happens to be closer to my house I'll definitely slap down the money to see it again.
Friday, July 20, 2007
D.E.B.S. - B Movie Review
D.E.B.S. (I'm sure this stands for something cute and witty)
Directed AND Written by: Angela Robinson
Starring: Sara Foster, Jordana Brewster, Devon Aoki and Micheal Clarke Duncan.
Once in a while a B Movie comes along that is so BAD that it's Good... This is not one of those movies. This movies was just bad. The attempt to use "Hot" schoolgirls and lesbians to sell the movie to the audience fails horribly since there's only one woman that's hot and she doesn't play a school girl. Sadly this movie is revered by the Gay and Lesbian community and appears on channels like LOGO. I don't know why they would set their standards so low, or why they would feel like this was a
positive movie for their community since it practically mocks them every chance it gets. Basically on of the recurited DEBS (Know I don't remember or care what it stands for) falls in love with Lucy Diamond (I only remember that because they say it ever minute like clock work). Lucy is a thief and... well that's it actually but that makes her feared and the most wanted criminal in the DEBS organization which looks like a house in Pasadena, CA. Also the organization is apparently super huge and has a crap load of woman working for it. None of them are apparently able to handle Lucy because she shows up at the end and even though shes out number by the hundreds the girls all flee like scared children.
So the Main DEB writes a paper on Lucy (The Bad Girl) and falls in love with her. Lucy breaks into the School aka House in Pasadena, bypassing their "state of the art" security system with 
like a Pen or something that can cut forcefields but she didn't cut enough for her whole body to go through (Yeah Graphics Guy or Girl I was paying attention to your laziness and continuity error!) then she jumps over some moving blue discs on the lawn, did I mention all the security is a cheap blue graphic? Long story short she kidnaps the main DEB they share a moment, blah, blah, blah the main DEB runs away with her after another encounter leaving the DEBS to think she's been kidnapped. Several Comedic scenes of the other DEBS ruffing up Bikers and Dock Workers in they're school girl uniforms follows. Also Devon Aoki's (Miho from Sin City) character has a French accent and is always smoking... I guess the French are always doing that... did I mention she's Asian American?
Well like all predictable movies the Main DEB goes back to the organization and the DEBS organization covers up where shes been. Lucy reforms and starts giving back everything she's stolen to win her Love back. You know what I'm bored thinking about how lame it is, they get back together at the end and frankly know one cares because it sucked so much getting there. There's some sub-love story between a Sub-DEB and a Sub-Bad Guy it sucks too because really they just showing them emailing each other and that's it. I think it also needs to be said that this is a remake of the the 2003 version with a new cast but same everything else... I don't know who gave it the green light a second time but way to go!
Graphics - 2
Acting - 1
Sound - 4
OVERALL - 2.25
Monday, July 16, 2007
Movie Review Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Directed by: David Yates
Screenplay: Micheal Goldenberg
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Glint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman and Imelda Staunton.
So the fifth Harry Potter came out last Friday on the 13th, BOO! Yeah right whatever. So in my efforts to stop Transformers from making money I went a saw Potter. In retrospect I wish I hadn't gotten free passes to Die Hard so that it would have been that much closer to beating... trying to beat Transformers, but I got passes to Transformers too so I guess it didn't matter. Way off subject let's get to the movie at hand shall we?
Story: The story was, um, well it was okay. Personally I thought the last film was better and I have enjoyed each movie more than the last but I don't think this one topped any of the others. Something that was seriously lacking from the movie were the Scenes between Harry, Ron and Hermione talking and hanging out. There was literally one scene in the whole movie of them hanging out and it ended with everyone awkwardly laughing. Another complaint I have with the story/movie is that it felt like a sequel. The reason people like Star Wars and Spider-Man is because they feel like individual movies and that's what makes great series or trilogies is that each movie tells a story and has a clear beginning, middle and end. The movie in general just didn't seem to do much, it was like there was too much source material to work with and the writer didn't know what to take and leave.
Sound: Music was great, sound effects were awesome, I mean really how do you mess this up now a days? I did have one complaint where the music didn't drive home the emotions that it could have, it really fell flat at a crucial scene.
Look/Style: I may not care for what the director did with the movie but I loved the style, if they could take the director of the last movie and this one and put them together I think they could make a fantastic six film. The CG was top notch and I loved the smoke effect they did when the Wizards were fighting and Voldemort's look was cool especially in a three piece suit. So once again Potter comes through on the graphics.
Acting: It was good, I mean everyone has their roles down so it's pretty hard for them to screw
it up at this point. I would like to have seen more of Ron and Hermione, both had a major lack of screen time and were reduced to cheesey dialog to help build there hinted upon romance.
Overall it boils down to the story, we know the sound, look and acting are going to be good so really at this point were just checking out the story. And this one fell a little short, it had good parts heck it even had some heart but the emotions weren't there that the other movies had. (Spoiler Warning) When Sirius dies I felt nothing, I was like okay... and? When Harry kicks Voldemort out of his head and there showing all his happy moments and Harry's showing his great strength I was like wow this is very good, the music was just hanging out instead of driving the scene home and making it a traumatic and great scene. It was still good enough to see it in the theater and that's not just my stop Micheal Bay from being successful champaign talking.
Sound - 8
Style/Look - 9
Acting - 9.5
Overall - 8
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Tranformers: The Movie, The Review
Transformer: The Movie
Directed by: Micheal Bay
Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen and a bunch of other people whose careers deserve to be punished.
Welcome Lee, from Under the Asian Influence!
So, I was recently asked to "guest" review the new live-action Transformers movie for my friends blog which specializes in reviewing everything you could possibly review. Having recently seen the movie, I thought it would be a good chance for me, a self-proclaimed old-school Transformers fan, to get a few things off his chest about this new adaptation of the franchise. I'm sure you've heard it all before, the good and the bad, but I think you'll find that my opinion is a little bit of both.
Most people going to see Transformers are probably interested in seeing it because they're fans of either the cartoon series, or fans of the animated movie. However, their is a large demographic of fans out there that refuse to see the Michael Bayified version due to his unforgivable changes to an already well-established and entertaining franchise. I was more than ready to join the boycotter's due to some of these said changes I had read about previously; Bumblebees is a Camaro, Optimus Prime has cholo flames painted on his truck, Megatron is now a Raptor jet, etc. That being said, my overall curiosity managed to get the best of me and I had to assess the damage first-hand.
If you don't know the story of the animated series, then never fear, because it's been changed completely and you won't have to have followed the cartoon in order to understand any of the movie. Now, the Autobots (good-guy robots led by Optimus Prime) are in a race against time against the Decepticons (bad-guy robots led by Megatron) to find the Allspark cube, which is basically responsible for creating the Transformers. Anything the cube touches, instantly becomes a Transformers. Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) plans to use the cube to control all of Earth's technology and of course use it to take over the planet. The problem that the Autobots and Decepticons have is trying to locate the Allspark. That's where Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) comes in. Sam is an almost typical, socially-awkward, neurotic geek that happens to have a very important Arctic-exploring Grandfather, Archibald Witwicky (William Morgan Sheppard), who actually discovered Megatron frozen under a lake of ice. After a mishap of activating Megatron's navigational system, the coordinates to the Allspark cube are imprinted onto Archibald's glasses. This is never really explained in detail, so you gotta just shrug your shoulders and say, "whatever". The Autobots locate Sam by finding his profile on eBay in which he's trying to sell some of his Grandfathers old things, the glasses included, and Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) explains Sam's role in this intergalactic battle. Sam's dad promised him that if he got two A's in school and saved $2000, then he would get a car for him. Less than impressed with the overall selection of used cars, Sam decides to purchase an older yellow Camaro for $4000 that just seems to feel just right. Little does he know, the yellow Camaro is really his Autobot guardian Bumblebee. Sam uses his new ride as a means of impressing the hot, popular chick at his school Mikaela (Megan Fox) who never even knew Sam existed before he gives her a lift home. Sam seems to really understand where Mikaela is coming from, and they share a moment together. Whether they like it or not, they'll be spending a whole lot more time together with the Autobots and their battle with the Decepticons over the Allspark cube. There are some other, less-relevant, additions to the storyline revolving around some young brains Maggie (Rachael Taylor) and Glenn (Anthony Anderson) assisting Defense Secretary John Keller (Jon Voight) in finding out what the cause behind the electronic disturbances are. They don't realize to the near-end of the movie that it's the Decepticons hacking into their computers in order to find out everything about Archibald Witwicky and Sam in order to locate the glasses. Also, we follow around some soldiers that were attacked on base by Decepticons and only a handful survived the assault. The survivors consist of Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson) and Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) among others. They need to get back home and help defend the country against these giant robots, of course after learning what they are and why they're here. Also, the FBI and a special government division, Sector 7, seems to know everything about the cube and these robots from another planet. Therefore, the FBI, led by Agent Simmons (John Turturro) is after Sam and Mikaela to keep them from interfering with official business.
I think it would be best to just get all the things that I disliked about the movie out of the way, in order to end the review on a note that talks about some of the more positive aspects. I knew a thing or two about the live-action Transformers before I even watched it, and the problems I had with it were already beginning to pile up. I was bothered by the fact that they didn't use more of the well-known robots from the series in the movie, instead opting to use newly created ones such as Ratchet on the Autobots, and countless more for the Decepticons (Bonecrusher, Barricade, and Blackout for example). I also wasn't a big fan of the decision to change a lot of these robots into things they didn't transform into originally. Bumblebee being a Camaro being the biggest offender and Megatron being a Raptor jet came in close second. I was willing to forgive these choices in film making in hope that they wouldn't compromise the movie too severely. In the end, I got past it and just let it go. However, I still hate the fact that Michael Bay decided to give these robots moving lips when they speak. Sure, it may make sense from a "realistic" standpoint that they'd need them to annunciate words, but who cares about realism when we're talking about 20-30 foot robots here! It just looked stupid! I thought John Turturro was a terrible choice for the hard-talking, strictly-business FBI Agent Simmons. He was more of a parody of this kind of character, making me wonder who in their right mind would take him seriously? I didn't like the slapstick humor they did with the Autobots, such as the scene where the Autobots follow Sam back to his house in order to get the glasses. They hide around the outside of the house from Sam's parents and even trip over a power line. It sucked and I would've rather the Autobots been taken more seriously. Last, but certainly not least, I hated the fact that the Allspark cube seemed to transform everything it touched into a Transformer, more specifically a Decepticon! I saw my beloved X-Box 360 attack some jerk on the street in the last act of the movie, and instead of thinking it was cool, I just thought, "F@#$ing STUPID!".
Now, lets talk about some of the better aspects of Transformers. I did think the robots looked pretty cool, and the animation behind the transformations looked really good with incredible attention to detail. The best part of the movie for me, was the fact that Peter Cullen re-prised his role as the voice of Optimus Prime. The man was responsible for giving Optimus life in the series and the animated movie and so it only seems a necessity that he continue doing the voice for him. The final action scene, which was pretty long I might add, was visually entertaining and overall I had a good time watching the robots throw down. I enjoyed Shia Labeouf's performance as Sam. Seems people either hate this kid or just love him, and I'm more inclined to join the "love" side, but I thought he was funny and really pulled the reigns on dragging the rest of the movie out of the crap storyline. Overall, I'd have to say Transformers wasn't as big of a pile of garbage as I was expecting, but the same word kept popping into my head, over-and-over: disappointing. You have to know that a sequel is in the works, because not only did the ending warrant one, but it's a cash-cow at the box-office. I'm hoping they work out a story that doesn't revolve around finding a pair of glasses in order to save the planet. (Lee)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Live Free or Die Hard aka Die Hard 4
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Written by: Mark Bomback
Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Justin Long and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
So I had a very nice vacation and now I have a whole slue of things that need to be reviewed and shared with the public! I've chosen the latest installment in the Die Hard Franchise, and no I'm not going to once again type the entire title again because you should have already read it twice before getting to this point! The difficulty of this review is choosing how to review it. Do you review it as a Die Hard movie and how it fits with the series? Or just as a movie that you hoped would keep people from watching Transformers and preventing Micheal Bay and company from making a sequel and give Bay his second flop, his first being the Island. That's off subject a bit but still relevant to Die Hard 4.0 as some call it. So let's do both, first as a Die Hard movie then just as a summer movie.
I think everyone can agree that this movie doesn't really feel like a Die Hard movie, it's PG-13 rating pretty much saw to that also the fact that it had no involvement from anyone on the first three movies and the fact that it's been twelve years since Die Hard with Vengeance which made Samuel L. Jackson an even bigger star (before everyone was tired of him) So really as a Die Hard film this movie fails. The plot is bigger than the person, the danger never enough to kill our hero, and most of the comedy done by supporting characters rather than Willis himself. I'm sure there's a thousand other reviews just bashing this movie because of this so I will not dwell on it.
As a movie I have to say I really liked it. The explosions were nice and I could see what was being blown up (unlike Micheal Bay) The comedy made me laugh and actually not hate Justin Long for once. Really they could have made this just another Bruce Willis movie and I think people would have gone and seen it. Timothy Olyphant (Upcoming Hitman) did a great job as the villain. He just has that look for the perfect Bad Guy which will probably keep him type casted which is too bad since he's a really good actor. Cyril Raffaelli (District B13) was also badass in the movie and they were able to film his "Parkour" style to look amazing. He was like a superhero bouncing everywhere and never using wires. Kevin Smith makes a cameo more than likely due to him working with Timothy in "Catch and Release." and tries to pull off a Baltimore Accent. He fails at the accent but at least he has a few chuckles that make the awkwardness of the scene worth it. It's also worth mentioning that Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Willis' daughter, actually has some acting chops on her and is easy on the eyes. She was also in Death Proof and has another movie in Pre-Production so hopefully we'll see more of her... not like that you perverts!
So overall I would say this movie is good, but not great. I'm not going to bore you with the plot since it doesn't really matter you came here to see if it was any good not to find out the plot, everyone knows the plot. Stop the bad guy save the US... from Transformers. I'd give this movie a solid 8.0 in fact if the R rated version is released on DVD they'll get my money again, and once last thing he does say Yippee-ki-yay Mother Fucker but this a gun shot at the same time as the 'F' Word, but at least it made it in there in some form.
Sound/Music - 7.0
Look/Style - 8.5
Acting - 9.0
Overall - 8.0
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Under the Asian Influence
Hey Check out my Review for The Host (Korea 2006) over at Under the Asian Influence!
Be sure to check out all the other great Asian Cinema Reviews while your there too!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
1408 (2007)
1408
Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Written by: Matt Greenberg, Scott Alexander
& Larry Karaszewski
Based on the Short Story by: Stephen King
Starring: John Cusack, Mary McCormick, Jasmine Jessica Anthony and Samuel L. Jackson
Released by: Dimension Films
Like many movie goers this past weekend I went and saw the only movie that was remotely interesting out in theaters, that wasn't an Animation or a Foreign Film. I wasn't expecting too much from the Film but at the same time I had high hopes fortunately it didn't let me down... Well some parts did but we'll get to that later. If you can't decipher what the movies about from the trailer let me once again give you the basic plot summary for the millionth time, since apparently Hollywood did not do it's job. John Cusack's character Mike Enslin is a writer of Haunted tourist sites to but it frankly. He stays in these "Haunted" mansions and other interesting places over night to experience why they are spooky and to see if there's a haunting. He gets a post card telling him not to spend the night in room 1408 (1+4+8=13) a nice touch if I do say so myself. So after some research he becomes interested in the room and tries to book it. Eventually he gets the room but not before hearing Sam Jackson (So to be Nick Fury in Iron Man way to go Marvel :P) the Hotel Manager out.
Jackson goes into the long history of Deaths and accidents that have occurred in the room since the Hotel's opening with Cusack mocking him believing it to be the usual selling technique he's become acquainted with in his profession. Jackson's Character is unable to sway him, and is forced to let Cusack stay in the room. From there the room really takes a psychological twist and dives into the mind of Enslin (Cusack), pulling from it his deepest trauma the death of his Daughter. Really there's nothing more to say about the movie plot because the rest you'll need to see and it's not my job to ruin the movie for you, unless of course it's a bad movie in which case I will most definitely ruin it so that you won't be tempted to see it.
I like several things about the Film, everyones acting for one was very good and Cusack carries the movie by himself and does so very well. For practically staying in one room the entire time never did I find myself bored or uninterested in what was happening. It did a great job of keeping the intense feelings and making you uncomfortable watching several of the scenes. I loved the fact that Cusack's Character relied on his voice recorder almost like a crutch. He uses it to talk himself up and to keep his fears in check. I think a lot of Stephen King's works have this element in it and it almost always translates well onto film. Just thinking of one scene in particular where he's talking into the recorder makes me want to slap down another 11 bucks and see it again. So take some time and see it before it's beaten out of theaters by Summer Blockbuster after Blockbuster. And please don't see Transformers send a message to Hollywood and tell them you won't stand for the Murder of a franchise.