A teen slasher movie made by and for MTV.
The story: a guy starts killing people in a roller rink. Years later, the daughter of that guy is a school outcast, but then the hottest guy in school starts to kiles her. Meanwhile the bitchy, pretty, popular girl decides to hold her sweet sixteen party at the roller rink where all those people were killed. The hot guy wants to be with the outcast, but before their first date he has to go the bitchy girl's sweet sixteen party, so the outcast girl decides to crash it. Except, what do you know, her father is back and he starts killing people again.
Was it good?
Kind of. I mean, as a horror movie is sucked. Boring, predictable...almost laughably bad. But as a teen movie it wasn't that bad. It got the feel of the teens right for the most part and the dialog was definitely a step above. I could see where the script might have been a really good read to get the attention of MTV. And it was interesting to see their take on a lot of elements (the outcast girl wanted to fit it, her romance with the popular guy, the bitchy girl wanting to get the popular guy back, etc) that I have been trying to work on in one of my scripts. So it's a mixed bad -- there was enough for me to be willing to check out the sequel, but not enough that I would recommend it in general.
*** AVOID ***
Saturday, November 27, 2010
SLYLINE (a review)
New sci-fi action flick by a couple visual f/x guys. Made on a micro budget ($500K) that they then throw a ton of money at for the F/X ($10M). So the F/X are probably good, but how's the story?
The story: a group of friends are at a birthday party in a high rise apartment building when aliens attack and begin killing everything in sight and this group and a few others struggle to survive.
Was it good?
No. There are some cool things to it (and as a wanna-be-filmmaker I was impressed they made it for under $11M), but ultimately the story just doesn't have anything to it. The alien attack from the people's POV is fine, but there isn't really anything to the characters (in fact they are pretty annoying), and there isn't any character arc or anything else to really draw you in. It feels like a lot of plot, some neat weird moments, a lot of not-neat action moments and then an ending that is almost laughably bad.
This is one that has enough interesting elements that you might want to see it, but I doubt many people will be glad they did.
***AVOID **
HORSEMEN (a review)
A mystery/thriller starring Dennis Quaid.
The story: a detective who has become distant from his sons following the death of his wife struggle to reconnect to them while getting pulled into a series of murders by a group inspired by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Was it good?
It was okay. If you want a mystery/thrill then this one is good enough to watch. If you just want something really cool, then this doesn't make the cut. The problem ultimately is the interweaving of the two stories -- Quaid trying to reconnect with his sons and the Four Hoursemen, which plays out predictably and doesn't have the depth of feeling that it should have. Still, I'm a big Dennis Quaid fan and this movie is good enough that if you are a fan of Quiad you should check it out.
*** SLIGHT RECOMMEND (for mystery/thriller fans) ***
Friday, November 26, 2010
THE SWITCH (a review)
A comedy with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston about wrongful insemination. Yes, that's what they are using as a plot device for romantic comedies now. The screenplay is by Allen Loeb whose script, Things We Lost in the Fire topped the black list a couple years ago and has been one of the hottest writers in Hollywood ever since.
The story: Wally is in love with Kassie, his best friend who doesn't love him. Then she decides she wants a child so she gets this random guy to give her sperm, but as the incemination party Wally gets drunk and upset and switch his sperm for the random guy. Cassie moves away, then moves back six years later with her son who is a lot like Wally, but she thinks random guy, whose marriage has fallen apart and is now single, is the father. So Cassie has Wally babysit her neurotic son while she starts seeing random guy until she is ready to marry random guy and Wally has to tell her the truth -- that he is her son's father -- knowing it will ruin their friendship.
Was it good?
No. I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies anyway (although there are plenty I do like, starting with When Harry Met Sally). Here I just didn't find anything really likable or interesting about the main characters. I can sympathize with Wally, in love with a girl who doesn't love him and not wanting to risk their friendship, but in all other ways he really seems like a jerk. And Cassie is just kind of a flaky girl who comes off a being a flake. It happens all the time of course, but for me the fictional story of the girl who is best friends with a guy and doesn't realize the guy likes her makes the girl look dumb. I mean, girls do realize guys don't just hang out with girls to be friends, right? Guys don't need girls to be friends with -- they have friends...guys are their friends. And there isn't really anything else interesting about her. What does she want? Well, at the beginning she wants a kid, which at least is something, but once she comes back into town she wants...nothing really. She is just the girl in the love triangle. She doesn't even seem to specifically want a relationship or a real father for her child. The romance is just something she gets thrown into. Because of all that I found I didn't really care if they got together or not. In fact, as the story goes on and Wally waits and waits to tell her, all the while spending more and more time with the kid, I thought they should NOT be together.
That isn't to say there aren't some nice moments here and there. Loeb definitely has a style that makes this better than dreck, but the lack of caring and lack of depth (this movie isn't really about anything other than making a romantic comedy -- it ultimately isn't really saying anything about dating or friendship or parenthood, etc) make this movie a pass for me.
*** AVOID ***
Saturday, November 20, 2010
MILF
Once the word was made famous in AMERICAN PIE, it was only a matter of time before a teen sex comedyw ith this title came out.
The story: a couple hopeless college guys realize they can get easy sex by hooking up with older women...usually the divorced moms of the friends.
Was it good?
Not really. It wasn't bad. I mean, it's a teen sex comedy and they throw in plenty of sex, so it works on that level. However, most of these t-s-c's these days pair the sex romps with some outrageous comedy and a nice character arc. Here there's nothing like that. There are some attempts at comedy, but nothing really gets laughs. And if there was a character arc I missed it. So is it good...well, no...but it's a pretty harmless sex comedy. I might have even given it a slight rental, except there are just plenty of other t-s-c's out there.
*** AVOID ***
Thursday, November 18, 2010
ROAD TRIP 3: BEER PONG (a review)
I have to admit I missed ROAD TRIP 2. Luckily this one is it's own story so you don't need to see the first couple. It sticks to the same formula, just as a straight to dvd movie it only captures 70% of the original, but that's still probably enough to fans.
The story: a guy finds out his long distance girlfriend has transfered to be with him which freaks him out, so he goes on a road trip for a beer pong tournament where he hopes to meet with a hot model he knew and almost hooked up with years ago.
Was it good?
Yeah, it was good. It was what you'd expect -- some college humor, some outrageous stuff, some nudity, a little character arc that feels lame but isn't too bad. It's just very light compared to the first. The original has a guy racing to get to his long distance girlfriends campus before a sex tape he made with another girl arrives. In that one there is clear stakes and a ticking clock. This movie didn't have any of that. It does have that same core of a guy struggling with where he is in his relationship and if he's ready to be serious (he thinks he is but he's not). The outrageous humor is more outrageous, but less actual funny because of it (what do you expect about a movie that centers around a beer pong tournament?).
Still, if you are a fan of the first movie or of the American Pie dvd's, this is probably right in your wheelhouse.
*** RENTAL ***
GET HIM TO THE GREEK (a review)
Just a couple quickies today.
The story: a sort-of continuation of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. A chump of a music executive employee has to get a drunken, washed out rock star to a gig.
Was it good?
Sort of. This is a movie that kind of has all the pieces -- a (kind of) likable leading guy with a positive goal he wants to accomplish, a (sort of) funny outrageous second character, some other wacky people, lots of sex jokes and some boobs. The problem is that I spent most of the time watching it thinking this should be funny, but not actually laughing. I know that's a vague way to talk about the movie, but this felt like something where everything was set up right and everything was in place...but nothing was actually funny. If anything, it felt like almost all the characters were pushing too hard to make it funny. Comedy is a tricky thing and what works for one person will fall flat for another. This fell flat for me. It just didn't have that bit of charm and sweetness and sillyness and brightness that FSM had. Still, there was enough here that I would tell people who are interested to rent it. Just don't expect it to be as good as FSM.
*** RENTAL (I guess) ****
Monday, November 8, 2010
DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED MOVIES (many reviews)
This is going to be a mass review of a bunch of the DC animated movies from their direct to dvd line, including: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Green Lantern: First Flight, Wonder Woman, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: New Frontier, Superman Doomsday, Batman: Gotham Knight and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Also the shorts: DC Showcase: Green Arrow, DC Showcase: Spectre, DC Showcase: Jonah Hex.
ALSO -- here's the order they were released in. I watched them out of order and it didn't bother me. Except for one article saying Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is a sequel to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies I don't think it matters.
#1 -- Superman: Doomsday
#2 -- Justice League: New Frontier
#3 -- Batman: Gotham Knight
#4 -- Wonder Woman
#5 -- Green Lantern: First Flight
#6 -- Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
#7 -- Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths#5 -- Green Lantern: First Flight
#6 -- Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
#8 -- Batman: Under the Red Hood
#9 -- Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (with DC Showcase: Green Arrow)
Let me first give a quick summary. All the features except Batman: Gotham Knight and Justice League: New Frontier that I've seen have been good. Nothing special, mind you, but just good solid superhero stories. They have some action and an occasional joke or sexual reference (in Wonder Woman there is mention of a god forcing himself upon one of the Amazons) that's not suitable for young children, but I think that's why they are PG-13. For older children (even adult age children :) ) the movies are pretty solid, thought not on the level of the live action Spider-Man 2 or Batman: Dark Knight movies. Certainly I thought they were better than most of the Marvel animated films, such as Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2, Doctor Strange, and Hulk Vs (although I did like Next Avengers).
With that, let's get to the individual reviews:
Movie #9
The story: this movie is the introduction of Supergirl (Kara). The beginning deals with her showing up and trying to learn to control her powers and the rest of the Justice League trying to figure out what to do with her. Superman wants to keep her close to him, in Kansas or Metropolis, but the others think she should go with Wonder Woman to the isle of the Amazons to train. Unfortunately, once she is adjusting there Darkseid decides to kidnap her and the rest of the Justice League, with Big Barta, have to Apokolips to save her.
Was it good?
Yeah, it's a solid story. The intro of Supergirl and the JLA trying to figure out what to do with her and her own struggle of where does she fit in, of wanting a real life where she can have fun and not sure she is ready to accept the responsibility of being a hero like Superman takes quite a bit of time in the movie, but it also makes it a more effective than simply an ninety minutes of fighting would have. It's not perfect and it's not great -- too predictable, and while the emotional arc is okay it's also stuff we've seen before (and better done in Spider-Man 2). Still a solid superhero movie.
Movie #8
The story: a new villain, the Red Hood, is setting up in Gotham except he is terrorizing the bad guys and taking over Gothams crime. However, Batman will learn that he is actually someone with a personal connection to Batman and that he has a deeper reason for coming back.
Was it good?
So far, it's the best of the DC Animated movies. The animation itself wasn't any better (unfortunately, watching several movies in a row the style is starting to feel a little clunky), but this was the best story. Now usually I hate the reveal that the bad guy is actually someone from the hero's past (like in Hush -- yuck!) but here, after the initial groan, they do some interesting things. This definitely felt like the most violent of the DC movies I've seen and goes to some dark places.
*** SPOILER -- IN INVISO-TEXT (highlight to read) **** Remember the storyline Death in the Family where Joker kills Jason Todd? Well, this is the storyline where they bring Jason Todd back and the second half of the story, after they reveal who Red Hood is, deals with Jason, Batman and the Joker. The ending wasn't satisfying for me, but everything up to then was good. ***
I know not every Batman fan will like it (based a lot of who Red Hood is and how they feel about that), but this was the best of the bunch so far for me.
Movie #2. Based on the graphic novel by Darwyn Cook.
The story: set in the 50's, we see the origins of many of the heroes of the Justice League and watch them struggle with government suspicions until an enormous foe -- the villain -- attacks and they have to unite to fight him off.
Was it good?
It was uneven. This is a movie that definitely didn't seemed aimed at kids. The animation is kid-friendly, but there is definitely a darker feel to the movie, such as the opening where a man blows his brains out! The movie itself does some interesting things with the characters and there are moments where you can see why they wanted to make this into a movie. However, there's just not enough of them. Also, the villain...what the heck is that thing supposed to be? It just comes out of nowhere. There are some mentions earlier of "the beast" or whatever, but then all of a sudden this giant mountain-monster is attacking and going to kill everyone in the last twenty minutes. Whoever did the adaptation definitely hadn't cracked the story and found a way to make it build right. Maybe they liked too much of the smaller character stuff and weren't willing to jettison them to make the overall story work.
Either way, this was in parts interesting, but overall one of the weaker stories.
The story: The origin of Wonder Woman. Basically, Wonder Woman's mom defeated Ares, the God of War. Later a fighter pilot crashes on WW's island. WW wins the right to take him back to New York. Meanwhile another amazon has fallen in love with Ares and sets him free. Now WW and the fighter pilot has to stop Ares before he incites war, including the destruction of WW's island.
Was it good?
Not so much. It wasn't horrible, but a lot of it was cheesy and over-the-top. The romance between Wonder Woman and the fighter pilot never clicks. There's this constant thread of WW being insulted by the idea of a man hitting on her or opening a door for her, etc. Being strong is fine, but seriously -- opening a door? I don't care if a woman holds the door open for me, why should they care if a guy holds one open for them? The storyline with Ares was also awkward. You have this long prologue/battle where you find out Ares forced himself on WW's mom (great thing to explain to the kids) and then all this "Ah! War!" was just so one dimensional. So the women are amazons and don't want men to do anything and all the guys either are hitting on them or trying to kill them? Um...that's a little extreme even for a comic book movie.
Parts of the movie were okay, but this didn't work for me. It's a shame -- I would have loved a good WW movie. This wasn't it.
Movie #6
The story: Lex Luthor is president and frames Superman and Batman for killing Mentallo and orders a billion dollar bounty, which cuases all the villains to attack them, then has the superheroes that are siding with him (since he is the president) to capture them. Meanwhile there is an asteroid about to hit Earth, but it turns out Luthor doesn't want to stop it -- he wants it to hit and wipe out billions because then he can rebuild it in his image. Superman and Batman must fight off Luthor's people and stop the asteroid.
Was it good?
Not really. It wasn't bad, but it all is just superhero action...fight, fight fight. It felt just like a Justice League cartoon that had a lot of the same stuff (Luthor president, Superman fighting Captain Atom and Power Girl, etc). There's some CGI mixed in with the hand-drawn and it's not a smooth fit either. Kids might be entertained. Adults will most likely be bored.
The story: this is an anthology of six stories by different animators.
Was it good?
No. None of these were interesting. It's been a while since I watched this, but I don't remember any of the shorts being really interesting. Only for Batman fanatics and people interested in the different animation styles.
Movie #4
The story: The Justice League goes to an alternate earth where the Justice League is evil and Lex Luthor is good and try to bring down the evil versions of themselves.
Was it good?
It was pretty good. There's a lot of fun stuff here and in most ways it was one of the best stories, and one of the most kid friendly. The biggest strike is that I felt like I'd seen a lot of this before. The idea of evil alternate realities has been done to death and there wasn't enough new here to really spark my interest. The final act, where they have to stop one of the bad guys from blowing up the alpha-Earth, which will destroy all the alternate realities, seemed a little out there (and derivative of Roger Zelazny's Amber books). Still, this is one of the ones I think kids could enjoy, although you probably need to be familiar with all the heroes to really get the idea of the evil alternate realities. Still a solid movie.
Movie #5
The story: how Hal Jordan became the Green lantern and joined the intergalactic Green lantern Corps and eventually has to find the traitor who is after the yellow element, the most powerful energy force in the universe.
Was it good?
Okay, I have to admit I've never been into the Green Lantern. He's fine as part of the Justice League, but reading the comics just about him and the GL Corps...not for me. It's all just too random and silly. They have these rings that are fueled by green energy and will, but their weakness is yellow and...I don't know. It all just seems ridiculous, so this movie wasn't for me. For other people -- especially kids -- I can see them having fun with it. Lots of weird intergalactic adventures and strange creatures and the GL theme "In blackest day..." But it wasn't for me.
Superman: DoomsdayMovie #1
The story: a new villain, Doomsday, kills Superman. Then a new Superman appears but it really is...I won't say...but sets up a final confrontation when the real Superman returns (you didn't really think they'd kill off Superman for good, did you?)
Was it good?
It was okay. Silly me, I assumed most of the movie would be aobut Doomsday, but it turns out he was only in it for the first act. The real villain is *** spoiler hidden in inviso-text ** a clone of Superman that Lex Luthor has created. At first this person seems good, but of course that changes and sets up the final battle with Superman. However, none of that really felt strong to me. The story is based on a GN so maybe that's how it works int he book, but I don't see why it doesn't build to a final battle with Doomsday. It's kind of weird. The stuff with the other Superman was okay -- it was interesting figuring out who he was and seeing be good, but changing, but it just didn't have much oomph to it. What did work was the story of Lois Lane and Superman. The scenes between them and their relationship, and the scene after Superman's death when Lois goes to visit Clark's mom, knowing Clark is Superman and yet not saying it and wanting to talk to the one other women who might understand how she feels...well, that was just a cut above all these other animated movies that have come after. I don't know if kids will find it as entertaining (the movie is rated PG-13 so maybe they figure it's not meant for them anyway), but for older kids this is definitely one of the best of the these animated movies.
DC ANIMATED SHORTS
Green Arrow -- a short that has Green Arrow going to the airport where he plans to ask Black Canary to marry him, but he gets involved trying to stop a kidnapping. There are a few nice moments (like the proposal...awww!), but it was mainly a lot of near-random action. Okay, but not worth renting on it's own.
DC Showcase: Jonah Hex -- NOT FOR CHILDREN. I didn't get this at all. I'm not sure I've ever read a JH story and the live action movie was horrible and this short wasn't much better. A prostiture kills a guy, then Jonah Hex comes to town, kills all her people and leaves her in the mine shaft where she left all the other bodies. The end. Um...what? Why? Written by Joe R Lansdale, but this was pretty lame.
DC Showcase: The Spectre -- a cop who is also the Spectre is investigating a murder of a Hollywood producer. Nothing about this was interesting. The Spectre just scares/kills people to get information and the crime has no real mystery to it (follow the money, duh!). Written by Steve Niles. Not worth renting by itself.
Shazam/Superman: Black Adam -- definitely the coolest of the shorts. This shows Billy Batson as a good kid who happens to be friends with Superman. Then Black Adam (an evil kind of Shazam) attacks him, wanting to kill him before the wizard can give him his powers. But Superman interferes, letting Billy get away long enough for the wizard to turn him into Captain Marvel. Now he (and then he and Superman) will fight Black Adam. This was the best of the shorts. Not a perfect story and a few lame beats, but this is the one worth watching.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
LAKE PLACID 3 (a review)
LAKE PLACID 3 (a review)
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I didn't see LP2. yes, I saw LP1 with Oliver Platt's hilarious overacting and that great giant croc and Betty White -- definitely a B-movie I could recommend -- but I somehow missed LP2. For LP3, they also made an UNRATED version with nudity so of course that's the version I watched :) The movie stars Colin Furguson (Eureka), Yancy Butler and Michael Ironside.
The story: the lake is supposed to be clear, but a young boy begins feeding baby crocs which grow to giant crocs and attacking everyone, putting the boy and his family (mom and dad), the local shariff, some teens out for a good time, a boy trying to stop them from having a good time, and some elk poachers, at risk of vicious croco-death.
Was it good?
Um...for a silly B-movie, this was good. While it didn't have as much going for it as the previously reviewed Killer Swarm, it has the pieces it is supposed to have and makes them work well enough for a fun, silly B-movie.
Unfortunately, you have to wade through some muck to get through to the good stuff. There's a lot of the shariff saying everything is now safe, which is lame. There's the early stuff about the boy feeding the crocs which is kind of stupid. I mean, I guess it's meant to be funny, but at a certain point it becomes to obvious that these things are out of control dangerous that there's no believability to it, and yet it's still not as enjoyable as Betty White feeding cows to them in LP1.
There's other stuff -- like the elk hunters who are supposed to be quirky and the boy trying to stop his girlfriend from sleeping with this random guy to get back at him, none of which were horrible, but none of it really helped the movie.
So, no, this isn't a classic and it's not great and it's not anything to write about (unless you have a blog), but it does what B-movies should do -- have a fun monster (or monsters), have some over-the-top action, have some fun loving T&A, and give lots of horror and action while not taking itself too seriously.
*** SLIGHT RECOMMEND (as a B-horror movie) ***
KILLER SWARM (a review)
KILLER SWARM (a review)
An Italy horror movie that seems inspired by all these mega-shark/giant snake movies.
The story: a woman estranged from her father comes home to some small Mediterranean island, but her father is stung by a bee and is dying all the while a growing swarm dangerous venomized bees is attacking the island. The girl will need to find the queen to find the antidote and stop the swarm before they spray the entire island with pesticide to try to stop the swarm.
Was it good?Almost. This actually has almost all the elements of a classic B-horror movie, but unfortunately the elements aren't well constructed, so instead of building into a classic, this is mearly a semi-enjoyable B-movie.
So what are these elements that work? Well, first the bees. I should say that I am very scared of bees. I got stung a lot when I was a kid and now it's hard not to flinch even at the mention of bees. So swarms of bees definitely is the making of a good horror movie.
Next, the father getting stung and slowly dying is good. It gives emotion and a bit of a ticking clock. The fact that the doctor disagrees with her forcing her to action is good too. It's also good that the doctor seems to be hiding something, giving us a bit of a conspiracy.
The growing swarm is also good. I mean, really, the title is killer swarm, so the audience isn't there to watch some girl run around trying to collect bees while crying about her dad -- they want to see a massive swarm attacking screaming people. The fact that this is an island, so most of the screaming people are hot half naked people is a big plus too.
Except, even with all these good elements, the story just doesn't work. The problem is that the elements don't build together, so instead of them all weaving together to become more and more intense, they pull against each other, making the movie feel more fractured. And instead of getting a classic, you get a B.
So what doesn't work? Well, the contrast of the girl trying to save her father and the killer swarm. The first half is more focused on the girl and her dad, but once the killer swarm starts really coming out and attacking people, it seems the focus should shift. Except it doesn't. So you get a lot of small scene, where there should be big scenes. You get a slowing down of the action instead of an acceleration. Then you get a contrast of the conspiracy doctor who begins to turn into more of a diabolical, uncaring about humanity super villain. Except this isn't really a super villian kind of movie. Most of the movie is a girl-and-her-dying-dad film, not James Bond. Then you have the problem of the killer swarm -- the last ticking clock is trying to kill the queen before they spray the island with pesticides which will destroy the island ecostructure...except none of the movie has really been about the island ecostructure so who gives a damn? Again, you have all these pieces which aren't bad pieces, but as the movie goes on and on they begin to grind against each other like a poorly build engine.
Still, for all the faults of the story construction this isn't a horrible movie. Sure, the acting is bad and the dialog is cheesy and the romance story is lame and the girl and her dad is lame and gets in the way of the fun, but there's enough here that if you hate bees and feel like a creature feature-style B-horror movie, then it's an okay movie to see. But if you aren't in the mood for that kind of movie, then you should stay far, far away.
*** AVOID (except as a B-movie) ****
Saturday, November 6, 2010
BLACK DEATH (a review)
It's called a horror movie and sounds like a horror movie, but it's not a horror movie. This, in fact, is one of the most fascinating movies I've seen in a long time. It's dark and tense and is getting a RECOMMEND from me! Stars Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) and is directed by Christopher Smith (Triangle).
The story: takes place during the black plague (1348). A young monk who is in love with a girl goes with a group of mercenaries to find a small village that has been untouched by the plague. The mercenary says it's to show that this pagan village isn't special so people won't turn away from God, but then he tells the young monk that really they are going to find a necromancer -- someone who can bring the dead back to life. At the village, the mercenaries are captured and now the villagers try to convince them to renounce their god and accept their pagan worship.
Was it good?
This movie absolutely fascinated me!
What the writer did so well is to put people on opposite sides. People talk about ideas, about beliefs, about God. And all the characters are complex and interesting. They all have faith, although in a different way. This is a much smarter, more intellectual film than the title or storyline might lead you to believe. Yes, it is dark and it is violent, but that is just the stakes these people are fighting for when they really believe their immortal souls, or the souls of others are on the line. One of the most fascinating twists is when the mercenaries are captures and now the pagan villagers begin torturing them to get them to convert. It's a fascinating reversal.
I loved that it was played realistically (although there is a twist near the end that made it more realistic but less enjoyable for me). I loved that the people weren't belief-cynics, people who think God and religion is garbage for stupid people, but that they were people who believed and cared although in different ways, and not always to the same God. And I loved that they god Sean Bean to play one of the leads. This is an actor's movie and he was fantastic!
If this battle of belief between people who believe but in different things interests you then this is a must see.
*** RECOMMEND ***
SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD (a review)
A 2010 comedy directed by Edgar Wright, director of the cult comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. This is based on a comic book and stars Michael Cera. It's a weird mix of teen angst love story with action and other weirdness. Stars Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, and Ellen Wong.
The story: Scott Pilgrim falls in love with a beautiful girl who falls for him too, but then he must fight off her ex-boyfriends who have pledged to take Pilgrim down. And by fight I mean literally fight, like over the top kung-fu action fighting.
Was it good?
Almost. I can see why a lot of people would like the movie. There's a lot of comedy and it is a love story, but twists and turns differently than most romantic comedies. In fact, the rom-com aspect is probably the best part. For instance, at the start of the movie Scott is dating a high school student, then he meets the main girl and falls for her, so now he has to break up with the high school girl who wants to get him back. It's a plotline you just don't see that often and it's a nice complication...as opposed to the idea of Scott fighting off the evil ex-es which is kind of amusing, but it's stuff we've seen before (plot-wise). Even MEET THE PARENTS had Stiller competing with the girl's exes who wanted her back, and it's hard to be cool or edgy when you are copying from M-T-P.
So for the first half, even though a lot of the humor didn't hit and a lot of the I'm-so-hip style was annoying instead of endearing, there was enough good stuff with the characters that I was onboard. However, by the second half they veer more toward action with long fight scenes and the relationships became cliche and I got bored.
If you want a guy's version of JUNO that tries even harder to be hip and has over the top action, then this movie might be for you. Otherwise...
*** AVOID ***
WAR OF THE WORLDS 2 (a review)
Not a sequel to the Spielberg/Cruise worldwide hit sci-fi action movie. This instead is a sequel of the very cheap straight to dvd War of the Worlds starring C Thomas Howell that tried to piggyback off the other's success.
The story: after the first invasion, the survivors try to fight off a second wave. Some use planes to launch an assault on Mars, while the main character gets captured and brought to Mars to try to save his son who has been captured.
Was it good?
No...and yes. It was good in a Creature Feature sort of way -- very cheesy with lame F/X and bad acting, but it moves quickly and does some cool stuff so it's kind of entertaining if you feel like watching a bad movie. The thing I'm constantly amazed at by these bad movies are the bad acting and dialog. It's the cheapest thing to fix. There are plenty of good actors looking for work, and plenty of cheap writers to do a little dialog polish. C Thomas Howell is especially bad which is weird because I remember liking him in movies like Secret Admirer. Plus he directed it. You'd think he would make sure his acting came off good, right?
So I won't recommend it because it's just too cheesy and the acting is too bad, but if you are in the mood for cheesy/actiony/sci-fi-ish then this isn't bad.
**** AVOID (except if you want cheesy sci-fi) ****
Friday, November 5, 2010
THE DARK LURKING (a review)
A sci-fi movie that was obviously done on the cheap and yet looks surprisingly good. However, the story (a rip-off of Resident Evil) just doesn't measure up.
The story: a group of mercenaries become trapped in a futuristic research station deep below of the surface of the earth, surrounded by alien creatures and have to find a way to get to the surface.
Was it good?
No. It was horrible. The story, which feels like a total rip off of Resident Evil, the casting (who are all horrible in this). The one good thing is that the director gave it a great look. I don't know if he does set design for a living, but he should and leave the camera and actors to people who know what to do with them.
There are worse horror/sci-fi movies than this...but there are also a lot better.
*** AVOID ***
WILD CHERRY (2009) (a review)
A high school comedy about a group trying to lose their virginity, except it's from the girl's point of view. Some interesting stuff and some not so interesting. Stars Tania Raymonde (Alex on Lost), Rumer Willis and Kristin Cavallari. Also Rob Scheider as a dad.
The story: three high school seniors who are still virgins find out their football boyfriends are only dating them to put them in a bang book and decide to get back at them
Was it good?
Um, kind of yeah. It isn't all good. Some of this movie is horrible. Like the football game which looks like about five guys and no fans and is one of the most Ed Wood things I've ever seen. Also, the idea of these guys and the bang book (you have to have sex with the girls or the football team will be bad) doesn't make sense. Also, if the football team is so bad then why would the girls like these guys anyway. And the whole part with the girls finding the book and trying to get back at the guys, etc, was all pretty dumb.
So how was it still (a little) good? Well, the movie does one interesting thing -- it takes a lot of time to talk about sex and a lot of it is done in a way that actually feels honest. One of the girls is making a doc about sex and interviewing students, so you get clips of people talking about their first time, was it good, how did it happen, etc. The other thing is that it focuses on these three girls and shows them in a way that you don't see that often -- girls who want sex. They might have the wrong idea (that the first time will be the most romantic night ever) or they might go about things wrong, but focusing on young girls' curiousity and yearning and perceptions of sex is something that I'm not sure I've seen before, and certainly never seen in a way that felt quite as honest and matter of fact as this.
It's a shame the movie doesn't do a better job with story -- both in avoiding a lot of the stupid elements of the film and in actually trying to have something to say about girls and sex (or something to say to girls about sex) that isn't empty or cliche. If it had done that it really could have actually been something special. As it is there was enough to recommend it (slightly), but with lots of caviats and only to people who think a version of American Pie from a girl's POV might be interesting.
*** SLIGHT RECOMMEND (as an American Pie from a girl's POV) ****
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Devil's Playground
The Devil's Playground (a review)
A British zombie movie. It mixes elements of I AM LEGEND and CHILDREN OF MEN. It was directed by Mark McQueen. The story: while trying to find a new energy drink, a corporation accidentally causes everyone to become zombies who run after people and turn the other people into zombies. A small group escape, including one girl who is immune to the concoction and might be the key to the survival of the human race.Was it good?
No. It wasn't horrible and there were some good things in it, but too much of it was waaayyyy too derivative and it never did anything new that was interesting. No decent character development. Nothing special with the plot. It's not horrible, but by the end you feel like you've seen it all before.
*** AVOID ***
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
AMERICAN ORGY (a review)
Not an American Pie style comedy. Not a big sex romp. More an indy comedy about relationships. Stars Laura Silverman (sister of Sarah Silverman), Adam Busch (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ted Beck, Edrick Browne, Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, Yasmine Kittles.The story: Three couples gather at one couple's rural house to have an orgy.
Was it good?
No...but it wasn't as bad as you might think and there was actually some interesting stuff, but it needed to either go more the indy route (which is where the interesting stuff was) or it needed better comedy because this just wasn't funny enough to recommend.
A lot of the story you can probably guess -- some people are all for the orgy, some people are hesitant, which will create conflict, and, of course, the full blown orgy never happens. (This is true of most movies -- the more the title promises sex the less it delivers.) It's one of the biggest problems of the movie is that nothing really special happens that will grab your attention. And while there are some parts that are amusing, nothing was really laugh out loud funny here. What did work was some of the surprising, more indy-feel, choices that were made. One of the best scenes has the characters talking about what parts of their body they don't like. This could have been played just for laughs, but when the married mom starts listing everything, well, it's actually a pretty powerful moment. Another interesting choice is that at the hour mark, when a proper comedy about an orgy should be getting to the down and dirty stuff, they instead have the characters seperate to talk -- one guy to one girl who are not already in a relationship. They focus on one guy and one girl, a girl he has a crush on, and we just watch them talk about their lives, their relationships and finally he tells her that he loves her. It's pure indy stuff -- it goes on way too long to ever be in a HW film -- but another great moment.
Unfortunately, after those two moments we get more wacky attempts at comedy, the whole collapse of the orgy, and lots of stuff that just doesn't go anywhere.
It's a shame...there might have been a very interesting movie here, and there are a couple moments, but not enough to recommend.
*** AVOID ****
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