I started avoiding the new wave of super hero movies (mainly the marvel onces) since Spider-Man 3. I don't have time for such perpetual disappointment. That's not to say I won't watch anything based on a comic but I do avoid most of them.

Normally, I'd avoid Batman movies as well since they too have all the makings of a bad super hero movie: a huge budget, several big name actors, merchandising out the ears, a ton of promotion, limitless cg based special effects, and or course it's a summer blockbuster. All of these things make me want stay home.

Batman is different from the others somehow. For starters, I'm a huge fan of Christian Bale since American Psycho. His portrayal was very refreshing since the last few Bat movies which have ranked from bad to utterly horrible.

Watching the Dark Knight gave me the impression that the story had been lifted directly from an issue of Detective Comics. In that sense the movie really kicked ass above and beyond any of the other Batman movies. (I still think the 1989 Batman movie was the best overall.) Heath Ledger's take on the Joker was superb and refreshing as well. They dared to be different and it worked while still maintaining the spirit of the comics.

In short this movie was great. I'd really like to have a look at it in IMAX. I'm less than optimistic about the next movie though. It seems they're falling to that old trap where they're picking their villains before they even write the script.

Labels: Movie Review

10,000 BC

Crazy cave-people tribes hunting giant woolly mammoths. It's something like Pathfinder and 300 combined but not in a good way. It just made it predictable. You can probably skip this one.

The Strangers

Really good back to basics horror slasher flick. I found myself grasping at a reason the three strangers were terrorizing this couple but really the creepy part is that there was no real motive. Some very spooky scenes. This movie made me happy that I own a chainsaw and an axe but uneasy about the fact that I don't keep both under my bed. This movie very much worth watching at home alone with all the lights out.

Night of the Living Dead 2007 3D

I rented this one last night and much to my surprise they actually had the 3D glasses behind the counter and I get to keep them too! Unfortunately, like all 3D outside of IMAX, I found is very distracting and eventually just took the glasses off.
The movie itself was alright. I kind of hoped is wasn't just another carbon copy of the last remake of Night of the Living Dead and I got my wish. This one's more like a combination of Return of the Living Dead and Night of the Living Dead. Both movies I love. Throw in Sid Haig and you've got a pretty sweet zombie movie.

I'll review more movies as I think of them.

Labels: Movie Review

This latest George Romero zombie flick is another of the many fictional documentary style films that dot the horror genre. The style is becoming a genre unto itself which is fine by me. I love the gritty simplicity of this style. It's nice to see them getting back to basics.

I was initially suspicious about this film when I first heard about it before I knew Romero was behind it. I'd just seen the Zombie Diaries which is also a combination of the two genres as well but still the two are quite different. Where the Zombie Diaries is primaries focused on scaring the crap out of the viewer, Romero's Diary seeks to make a statement about violence, greed, racism, and humanity in general. Don't worry, it's still pretty frightening and a welcome recovery from Land of the Dead which I felt was a little too over the top for me.

I don't know if it was just me but I was getting this vibe from watching Diary that Romero had read the Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" which is a comic book series that I can't say enough good things about. The RV is Diary was very similar to the RV in the Walking Dead. Both stories share the idea that loved ones of the deceased (now zombie) may try to keep the zombie close in a kind of denial of what their loved one has become or in hopes that there might be a cure. Either way I thought it was just awesome.

In short, I loved this movie.

Labels: Movie Review

I don't think it's called Rambo 4. I thought it was called John Rambo but the DVD just says Rambo on the cover. Either way, this movie is really good for what it is.

Looking back on the series, First Blood was an amazing movie. It was one of those rare action movies where you really cared about the main character. At least I did. He's a deadly combination of military conditioning, intense torture, and a whole lot of post traumatic stress. The result is one hell of a killing machine whether he wants to be or not. What makes Rambo interesting is that he'd rather just be left alone.

Rambo 2 and 3 were pretty exploitative but at the same time the writers made that perfectly clear in the storyline. I always found Rambo 3 to be interesting in light of the current war in Afghanistan. Was Rambo teamed up with the Taliban to fight off those Russians?

Rambo 4 is by far the most violent. It's 2008 though. Movies in the action and horror genre are exponentially more violent than they ever used to be. There's no hiding anything anymore when it comes to violence other than sexual violence of course.

Without giving the story away which is again what I loath about movie reviews, Rambo 4 is better than 2 and 3 but still doesn't top the original First Blood. I enjoy watching all of them from time to time which is unusual for me since I generally skip over action movies. I think I'm going to go watch Rambo 4 again right now.

Cheers

Labels: Movie Review

Season 4 has come out to a pretty slow start but that's good because I know that this is the last season and I want it to last forever. Most of what's making it feel so slow is the anticipation of what's coming next.

I can't say enough good things about this show but there is one bad thing...
I hate how they give away the whole show in a subliminal blipvert montage right after the opening credits. I sometimes manage to look away but the odd time it sneaks up on me.

Labels: Movie Review

This is another difficult to watch Ellen Page film (the other being Hard Candy). I haven't even seen Juno yet and I know that this girl is going to be around for awhile.

The story is based on a true story about a girl in the 60s who is locked up in the basement by her caregiver and is brutally torchured by the woman and her children and others in the neighborhood. I knew the story ahead of time and thus knew the movie would be pretty unsettling and it really was. It has a very haunting perspective without pulling any cheap shots.

An American Crime is definitely worth watching and if I ever find the DVD I'll snap it up.

Labels: Movie Review

I read about this movie and forgot about it again until it turned up on a list of the most uncomfortable movie to watch so that it, I had to watch it. It is indeed a very very uncomfortable movie. It's about a young girl played by Ellen Page (Juno and the Trailer Park Boys of course) who hooks up with this older guy she met on the internet. It starts out pretty straight forward and you expect it to go the way of the typical Degrassi episode but things pick up and get very very twisted and torturous. This isn't Lolita either. I hate reviews that give away the movie so all I'll say is that Ellen Page really kicks ass in this flick.

The Verdict:
If you're at all squeamish, you might not make it to the end of this movie but if you can handle a little torture involving human genitalia, this one's a must see. I went in with an idea of what happens but it turned out I had no idea. It's not another Hostel either.
This is one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.

Labels: Movie Review

I'm still not sure why they used the term Requiem in the title of this movie. I've even checked the definition and the wiki and nothing really hits me. Maybe I'm just an idiot tonight.

The Good
I'm a bit of an Aliens fanboy here to mind my bias. The action sequences in this movie are great. The violence and gore also make this movie worth watching. It is very very violent by the way.
This movie brings the Aliens to Earth but unlike the last movie, this isn't somewhere in the middle of nowhere North Pole. It's a medium sized town in what looks like Colorado. It reminded me a little of the town that that Rambo: First Blood was set in.

The Bad
The underlying storyline involving the human "cannon fodder" is terribly predictable and pretty much pointless. The obvious attempts at paying tribute to Aliens didn't help much either.
AVP:R is a very very dark movie, literally. I had to adjust the tint on my TV just to figure out what was going on a lot of the time. Maybe that's just my ghetto TV telling me it's time to put it out to pasture.
There was just too many liberties taken towards the Aliens and the the way the creatures worked. Granted there's no easy way to slap a queen alien into this movie, changing the whole way these creatures reproduce is going a little far. (Aliens fanboy ranting here)

The Verdict
If you're a fan of either Aliens or Predator then watch this one. Specially if you're a fan of Predator cause those guys were awesome in this. Other than that, you can probably skip this one.

Labels: Movie Review

The Good:
Great giant monster movie. A little silly how invulnerable the giant monster was but that's giant monsters for ya.

The Bad:
If I watch it again, I'm fast-forwarding through the obligatory sequence where they try to make you care about the characters cause all it did for me was make me think every one of them was a douche bag in one form or another.

I haven't looked at the rest of the DVD but I'd say rent this one.

Labels: Movie Review

I love stories where all shit is breaking loose everywhere and everyone's dieing yet the real monsters are the few savage humans left alive who fuck up what ever bit of civilization is left. Combine that with Half-Life (minus Gordon) and you've got The Mist in a nutshell without spoilers.

Besides I'm a sucker for Stephen King stories. It runs in the family, I think.

Labels: Movie Review

After seeing American Psycho at least a dozen times, it was hard to keep a straight face while watching Batman Begins. The two characters were incredibly similar (spoiled neurotic yuppies). I hope the latest Batman sequel is the same way. It was hysterical.

Labels: comics, Movie Review

The best cereal ever meets the best movie ever!

Labels: comics, Movie Review

It's too bad Steve Irwin is dead cause this would have been a much better movie had he at least made a cameo appearance.

The premise is three tourists and their tour guide go fishing in the outback. A sinister crocodile flips the boat, eats the tour guide, and plucks the tourists off one by one as they remain stuck in a tree for an hour and a half. The audience is left with one exciting action sequence every half hour. It's a little better than that but not much.

I did enjoy the sound of one of the victim's bones crushing as Mr Croc ate him for dinner. Great sequence.

It's one of those movies that you can get away with fast forwarding to the good parts and know that you aren't missing anything in between.

Verdict Pass

Labels: Movie Review

I Am The Last Omega Man On Earth

Another remake. This time, a remake of a remake an adaptation of a novel. Anyway...
"I Am Legend" with will smith is more like the original "The Last Man On Earth" with Vincent Price but with some of the religious undertones of "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston.

When I was a kid, I used fantasize about how cool it'd be to be the only person left alive on the planet. The theme's been used a number of times on TV shows in the 80s though I can't recall which ones. It was always something to do with the hydrogen bomb. You get to drive whatever you want and do whatever you want and eat whatever you want. It's pretty awesome really.

Poor old Will Smith's problem as with all version of Legend is all the damn zombies. Zombies are pretty cool too though. These zombies were more like the ones from 28 Days/Weeks later. Really fast and noisy and crazy. The great part of Legend is that our survivor in question didn't seem to be having that much of a hard time with being all by himself either. I couldn't handle this movie if all he did was cry about being so lonely and so all alone for two hours. Besides, he had a K9 companion to talk to, and mannequins! I find mannequins to be more creepy than zombies but that's just me.

Verdict: A Rent

Update: My wife insists that the crazies in the film are not zombies. I disagree. What do you think?

Labels: Movie Review