Looper/Hotel Transylvania NR #24,25 DOUBLE REVIEW!!!

Today is the triumphed return of DOUBLE REVIEWS!!! The movies I'm reviewing today have one thing in common, they were both released this weekend. That's literally it, one is an adult Sci-Fi action-thriller for smart people, and the other is an Adam Sandler animated comedy, cause that went so well last time (Insert "Eight Crazy Nights" poster here). The question is, are they any good? Let's find out in my DOUBLE REVIEW of...

 Let's Begin X2

LOOPER:

PLOT

In the year 2044, Joe is a Looper, a hitman hired by the mob to kill people from the future. Let me explain, time travel is not possible is 2044, but in 30 years it will be, and it will be instantly outlawed. Obviously, the mob starts using it to kill problems, since forensics is so advanced it's impossible to get away with murder, unless you kill someone who technically doesn't exist. But, they also have a way of ending their "contract" called "Closing your loop". This is where the mob sends back your future self, you kill them, gain a TON of money and never work for the mob again, knowing full well that you'll be killed in 30 years. One day, Joe meets his future self, and allows Old Joe to escape. Now Joe is on the run from the mob and is chasing Old Joe, who is also hunted by the mob, to kill him and live a free life.

PROS

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of my favorite up and coming actors, and he does not disappointing here. He has to play a young Bruce Willis, and does a great job. He gets all of Willis's mannerisms down, even having slight adjustments to his face to look even more like Willis. He also acts his butt off.

Bruce Willis is a joy to watch, as he always is, this time showing emotions other than "grizzled".

Jeff Daniels plays the mob boss Abe, and is one of the best parts of the movie. He's the kind of villain you love to hate.

I love the film's portrayal of the near future, where it looks like modern day but with a few things that make it different. It seems realistic and grounded in reality.

The time travel aspect is very simple, and that actually works well for the film. Instead of spending an hour trying to explain to you high concepts, it just gives you the basics and rolls with it. They even have a joke where they explain that they don't even now how it works, and you should just not think about it, cause they aren't.

The film has a lot of cool and unique camera shots and ways of portraying the story. One great scene is when we first see Joe use a drug you insert into your eye like eye-drops, and the camera stays on Joe's head as he moves around, but is spinning around and makes it feel cool yet disorienting.

The movie, though advertised as a serious action film, is actually quite comedic and human. There are many funny scenes, and many more where people act like real people and have human moments. 

The moral dilemmas the film brings up are very well integrated and help to keep the film in a moral grey area. No one is right or wrong, the film just shows you who these people are and what they do and has you decide.

CONS

There are a few unneeded characters that bog down the film with back stories and filler scenes.

CONCLUSION 

You may think I've said too many good things, I think I've just barely scratched the surface. The reason I don't go into deeper detail is because the second and third halves of the film, the ones thankfully not shown in the trailer, is something I don't want to spoil. If I could, this review would go on even longer. I loved this film and think it's one of the best films of the year, certainly in the top 5. See this original, innovative, and awesome movie.

RATING

RUN TO!

  

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

PLOT

Dracula is a single dad with a daughter he loves very much, and always wants to protect her. He also wants a place where monsters can spend a vacation without fear of humans. So he compromises and creates Hotel Transylvania, a safe castle for his daughter, and for the monsters of the world. Dracula's daughter, Mavis, has just turned 118 (18 years old in human years) and all of Dracula's old pals and many, many, many other monsters are invited to the party. Mavis, Dracula's daughter, wants to see the world and meet people her age. Luckily, Dracula has started to convince her that humans are evil, but hilarity strikes when extreme white guy, Jonathan, stumbles upon the hotel and put's Dracula's business and trust in jeopardy. Worst of all, Mavis falls for him as well. Dracula then disguises Jon and hopes no one notices, and hilarity ensues.

PROS

Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of awesome cartoons Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, is the director of this film, and his influence is obvious. The animation is amazing, not only looking beautiful but also looking fluid and having something always going on the background.

The humor, thankfully, is not like most Sandler movies, since he's only involved in voice acting. The humor has the style and timing of an old Lonney Tunes cartoon, and is hilarious. While it does have some jokes fall flat and low-brow humor, it still works and some of the low-brow humor is actually funny. They have one fart joke in the whole film, and it's actually funny.

The cast of this movie is just Sandler and his friends, which usually leads to disaster. But since they aren't ad-libbing all their lines and are actually reading from a script,  they do a good job. Mostly because they are close friends, they really convey that through their acting. The stand-out this time, surprisingly, is Sandler himself. He conveys a lot of emotion and seems heart-felt whenever talking to his daughter. 

The plot is very simple, but that's a good thing. Tartakovsky basically came in a re-worked the script to make the story simpler, and it let's the film focus on the human side of things and focus on the hilarious comedy.

Creativity is pouring out of every frame of this movie. The character designs, the jokes, everything is creative and almost unique.

CONS

Like every kids movie these days, there's a dance number at the end. I will give it points for a using an original song, but it still annoyed me.

CONCLUSION

It's funny and horrifying to think how this film would have turned out if Tartaovsky did not have his hand in this, because he saves this film and makes it a great Halloween movie for kids, yet still enjoyable for adults. This is the remake of Franken and Bass's "Mad Monster Party", and I enjoyed every minute of it. Definitely the right movie to get you in the Halloween spirit.

RATING

WALK TO.

  

Scapegoat Wax: YMNK #7

Before the start of the Summer, I may have had 80, 90, 100 if I was lucky, songs on my i-Pod. It wasn't that I didn't like music, I just hadn't found the right band and couldn't be bothered to explore and discover new music. Than I listened to Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black". I was floured and started to discover all types of new music. Today's YMNK is about the first band/group that I bought an entire album for, a band that basically got me through the Summer. You May Not Know about...

 Scapegoat Wax is a band I'm not a hundred percent sure how to describe. The best I can do is Rap and R&B, but they're a lot more diverse than that. The group was started back in the late 90's in Chico, California by Marty James and Johnny Z, though Johnny left shortly after. The group lasted until the early 2000's, where they broke-up. In that time, they released three CD's and were apart of three different record labels. They never got very popular, only having one of their songs reaching moderate success. Marty James continues to make music in a new band called "One Block Radius", which I have yet to hear any of their work.

 The one song that became popular was "Aisle 10 (Hello Alison)", which became famous because it was on the soundtrack for the excellent game "Jet Set Radio Future" or "JSRF". This is also where I first heard the band. Listen to the song below, than go back to reading this. Do it...NOW!

I had this song on my I-pod forever, until a few months ago, I bit the bullet and bought their second album (thinking it was the first) "Okeeblow". I immediately fell in love. I loved the voices, the sounds, the lyrics, everything about them. I consider "Okeeblow" a perfect album, There is no song on that album that I don't at least like.

 One interesting thing I noticed about the songs is that whenever they're about love, besides "Aisle 10" it's always negative. Marty James must have had a huge, devastating break-up because for five years, he sang about one girl. The songs are always about either the break-up, wanting her back, happy that they broke-up, or that she still haunts him to this day. Every song but "Aisle 10". That one is about him really wanting Alison, which is the only positive love song in Scapegoat Wax's short history.

 What about their two other albums? Well, they aren't as perfect. "Luxurious", their first album, mostly has the songs from Okeeblow, but the original/mix versions. I personally feel the ones on Okeeblow and Swax are better, the ones edited... Anyway, Scapegoat Wax had a problem where their albums had a LOT of the same songs, with the best put into Okeeblow. Don't get me wrong, Luxurious has some great songs, one of them being me favorites, but only six of them are new, out of 19 total songs. Swax, their third album, only has 12 songs, five of which are new. The worst part is that, in my opinion, their's only one good song, "Both My Freinds", which has quickly become one of, if not my favorite, Scapegoat Wax songs.

   But don't let this discourage you, I still highly advise buying "Okeeblow" and buying the other songs as well, who knows, maybe you'll love the ones I hate. Overall, Scapegoat Wax is an amazing, heartfelt, underrated band that really feel fresh when compared to today's top 20 "hits". Just please don't pirate the songs. I don't know if Marty James or anyone who was involved still gets the money, but until I do find out, please pay for this amazing music.

Summer of Movies #1: The Godfather

This is it people, the last movie. Its been a long, hard, journey turned into a short, tedious, trip. I had a lot of fun, and found love for many new films. But today's film is the one everyone talks about, the one you know and love. If you've yet to guess it by now, than I guess you didn't read the title. This is my final Summer review of...

PLOT

In 1940-50's New York City, their are five mafia families, the most influential of the five is the Corleone family, run by Vito Corleone. But the family soon starts to decline as they struggle to find control.

PROS

Marlion Brando as Vito Corleone is simply breathtaking. I had never seen Brando perform on film before this point, and I was simply blown away.

Al Pacino as Micheal is great, but shocking considering what he is today. He plays the character so shy and unsuspecting, unlike everything else he did after this film.

The film is very violent, even though it's fairly tame. What I mean is that the movie is very quiet and conversation based, so whenever it gets violent, it takes you by surprise and shocks you, even though what it shows could be put in a PG-13 movie today.

The writing and script is amazing. It's seems realistic and has so many great lines.

CONS

I feel like there is a lot of left out information. I know that Part 2 is a prequel, so maybe if I watch that, things will make sense, but that movie is 4 hours and 30 min... Yeah, screw that.

CONCLUSION

Let me be honest for a second. I was disappointing by this film. Don't get me wrong, I still loved it and thought it was great, but I just wasn't blown away. I think that my expectations were so high that no matter what I got, it wouldn't live up to them. This is a great film, defiantly worth checking out, just don't get your hopes up too high.

RATING

RUN TO

Summer of Movies #2: Citizen Kane

Now that you now what #2 is, I'm pretty sure you can guess what #1 is, and you can guess it as long as you have a parent or was alive during or after the 70's. But we're not talking about that movie, no we're talking about the movie that is either right behind or just ahead of that movie. But you've never heard of it because no one went to see it because it was too ahead of its time, literally this is considered one of the biggest financial flops in film, yet the most critical praised film to this day. I'm talking about...

PLOT

We begin our film with a man on his death bed as he utters one of the most famous, cryptic, and well known spoilers in history, "Rosebud". This man was Charles Foster Kane, one of the biggest newspaper owners in existence, an extremely influential man, a man who was just as hated as he was loved, and a very complex man. Because of his extremely high status, a group of reporters are going crazy trying to find out what Kane's last words meant. One reporter decides to investigate by asking the people Kane was closest to, as we are shown Kane's interesting life.

PROS

This was Orson Welles's dream project. He had a hand in everything, directing, writing, producing, acting, cinematography, even the editing, and he pulls each area off flawlessly. The writing is amazing and leads to some insanely detailed and well-rounded characters, the stand-out being Kane

The acting is also amazing, with everyone doing a great job, which is funny since most of the actors had only done radio up to this point, including Welles, who once again kills it as Charles Kane. He doesn't seem like Orson Welles playing a character, it seems like Charles Kane is a real, living person, all thanks to Welles

One surprising thing about this film is that it's known as one of the biggest advancements in special effects, which surprising considering that this is a character/story driven movie. Well the special effects are so well done in that they are used to do things only imagined at this point in terms of camera movements and make-up. All the actors play their old and younger selves, and the make-up is just so effective that it was hard for me to tell that they had make-up on.

This film plays with shadows and camera shots in so interesting ways that even I, a guy that can barely tell the difference between camera lenses, was filled with awe.

The character of Charles Foster Kane, and his story, is so complex and so well done that it's just interesting to wonder and speculate just what is going on in his head, even though he's a fictional character. He is the definition of a character who leaps off the page, or in this case the screen. 

CONS

Do I even dare? I mean, this is considered the greatest film of all time. Luckily, I couldn't one flaw!

CONCLUSION

This is the definition of living up to the hype. All my life I'd heard only amazing things about this film was, how all other "great films" were compared to it, the joke of "Well it's not 'Citizen Kane'" was thrown out, and yet it somehow lived up to all of my expectations. And even though you probably already know the twist, the journey is just so entertaining that the twist doesn't even matter. Please, do yourself a favor and watch this film. It's one of the most influential and timeless pieces of entertainment in our history. While it's not in my personal top 10 films of all time, it's certainly a close 11.

RATING

CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!!!!

The Cabin in the Woods: CR #23

What came out this week? Nothin'? Well what's Xbox live letin' ya see early? Wait... Did you just say what I think you just said? The movie that people could and still can not shut about about nearly 6 months after its release? The "Cabin in the Woods"? Excuse me as I spend money that I was hoping to save. Yes, this week's review is of a movie that I've been insanely excited for, a movie that I literally ran from trailers and commercials about it. This is my review of...

WARNING!!!!!!!: FROM THIS POINT ON, I'M GOING TO BE SPOILING THIS MOVIE. WHILE I WON'T BE REVEALING ALL OF THE JUICY BITS, I WILL BE SAYING TOO MUCH IF YOU HAVE YET TO THIS MOVIE. I'M JUST GOING TO GIVE MY RATING HERE: CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!!!!  THIS MAY EVEN BE MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF THIS YEAR! SO GO SEE IT...NOW! SPOILERS START...NOW!

Let's Begin

PLOT
5 college stereotypes, the jock, the nerd, the virgin, the party-animal, and the comic relief stoner, all decide to stay the week-end at a cabin in the woods. Seem's pretty typical for a slasher movie right? Well the group soon start to realize that their once deep and 3 dimensional human aspects have been boiled down to horror movie archetypes, and they seem to be making the same dumb mistakes those people make too. Who or what is behind all this? I won't spoil who or what it is, even though the trailer has, but let's just say it leads to a mind, genre, and movie making it self, bending film.



PROS
While the film is advertised as a horror movie, it's mostly a comedy, and a very funny one at that. As we all saw with "The Avengers", Joss Whedon, who also wrote this, is a master of comedy and character development, which he excels here. The movie is down right hilarious at times and had me laughing all the way through.

But what about the horror aspects? Well, one way this movie breaks new ground, is that it not only delivers on the comedy, but the horror aspect is also great. It delivers on what it promises in terms of horror.

This is a 100% personal PRO, but I knew I was going to love this movie in the first 10-15 min. Why? Because the cabin they stay in is the cabin from "Evil Dead 2". And this is not speculation, the people who worked on the film confirmed that they told the guys building the set just to build the cabin from "Evil Dead 2"

This movie is similar to "Scream" in that it's very self aware. Where as in "Scream" just went "Oh, look a horror cliche...moving on." This movie says "Oh, look, a horror cliche, let's go into detail in how it works and why it happens". It really adds a new element to all horror movies.

The first hour of this movie is great, not something I'd say is my favorite of the year, but certainly close. Than the last 30 minutes happen. This is hands down the greatest third-act of any movie ever. What it does is it reveals a new twist, one that could lead to infinite possibilities that are all awesome. Where most movies would have just left it there and moved on, "Cabin" delivers in such a big way that I was dumbfounded at what I was watching, it was too awesome and enjoyable for words.

If you are a horror film buff, or a film buff in general, this movie has tons upon TONS of in-jokes for you. I'll give one example. There's a whiteboard, that I won't explain why it's there, that has "Angry Molesting Tree" and "Deadites" written on it.



CONS
I'm sorry what? coons? cans? what is this "CONS" that you speak of? Problems? problems with what? You mean...you mean this movie? Come over here, no, no, it's fine, just come a bit closer... *SMACK!* HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST THIS MOVIE HAS PROBLEMS! GO TO YOUR ROOM AND WATCH THIS MOVIE AGAIN!


CONCLUSION
This is a game changer folks. Because of this movie, every horror movie has a new hidden meaning and I'll never be able to take them seriously, Someone made the joke that this was "The last horror movie", and that's no joke. This has set the bar for not only horror movies, but parodies in general. If your a horror fan, a movie fan, a fan of just good ol' fashion fun, this is a must see, like a MUST MUST see. Like seriously, go see it, like right now...GO!


RATING
CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!!!!

 

Summer of Movies #3: Casablanca

You knew this was going to be on the list, don't lie. The movie that is your dad's favorite movie, and for good reason. But before we move on to the review, I just wanted to give a little history. This movie is the definition of a happy accident. They had no idea how the movie was going end, they were writing the script on set days before they were going to shoot them. Luckily for them, it miraculously work. This is my review of...

PLOT

During 1941 Europe, no where is safe from the Nazi's, except Lespin. The best way to get there? Through unoccupied Casablanca. The lucky get exit visa's and leave to Lespin, the others wait, and wait, and wait. What can they do while waiting? Go to Rick's Cafe American, owned by the coolest and most likable man alive, Rick. He's neutral on everything, the war, Nazis, even women. He's so neutral that his cafe has Nazis, French resistance fighters, and everything in between. Things are going great, until one of Rick's old flames, Ilsa Lund, shows up with a prominent French resistance leader, Victor Laszlo. Now Rick's neutrality is compromised and he must choose sides.

PROS

Everyone does an amazing job in this film. All the actors and characters get a memorable line or become memorable characters.

While I thought Humphrey Bogart's Rick was going to annoy me, he was actually the ultimate male icon and I loved him the whole way through

Ingrid Bergman is not only beautiful, but an amazing actress as shown in this film. She never starts to over act and never seems like a damsel in distress, she can take care of herself.

Sometimes in these older movies, the romantic relationships never make sense to me, not here. I don't know if Bogart and Bergman had something going on, but it really seems like they had something, even though we only see the end of their relationship.

The writing is some of the best I've heard. It's hard to believe this was written on set, because all the dialogue is very snappy and very funny. This also has the most quotable lines in history. You'll be hearing lines and saying "Oh, so that's where (insert awesome quote here) came from", I know I was.

CONS

I'm sorry, did you honestly expected me to find one thing wrong with this film? I didn't think so.

CONCLUSION

This is the movie that film fans don't dread, but go up against, trying to be "that guy" who doesn't like "Casablanca", and every time they fall in love with it. I'm no exception. This is one of the great movies that surprisingly still hold up to this day. It is simply impossible to not at least like this movie. It's simple, good ol' fashion fun that cannot be matched by any of the big summer blockbusters, yes even the "Avengers", as much as it hurts to say it. This is required viewing if you have a pulse, and even if you don't, you still need to see this wonderful accident of a film that is another new favorite of mine. All I have left to say is, "Play it Sam"

RATING

(Literally) CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!!

  

Lawless: NR #33

This week's movie is somewhat special. It took place in the state I live in, so the local news can't shut up about it. I was already excited knowing Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman were in it, but set in a place that I could actually go to! Sign me up. But is it a good movie, you might be asking. Well let's find out in my review of...

Let's Begin

PLOT

Back during the Prohibition days, Franklin county, Virginia became known as the "Wettest County in the World" because it was the center for moonshine and moonshiners. But a few stood out as the most notorious and popular moonshiners. They were Boundurant brothers. Three brothers who owned the moonshining business. But one day, a sleazy new deputy from Chicago arrives with the intent of stopping the brother's cash flow, At first the brothers don't think much of it, until the deputy starts cracking down hard. Now they must find a better way to do business while trying to keep the business afloat.

PROS

Everyone does a great job in this movie, the stand-outs being Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce. Tom plays the oldest, toughest, and quietest brother. He has very few lines but he has the most screen presences. This proves even more just how great of an actor Hardy is. Guy Pearce plays, basically, a cartoon villain. He literally is just one twirly mustache short of being the ultimate cartoon villain.

This is the first time in almost a decade that you don't hate Shia Lebeouf. He's actually really good here and shows us that he can be a good actor.

The film isn't afraid to go into dark places. While it's not so dark that it only appeals to a certain messed up audience, it goes just far enough to make you cringe.

CONS

While Shia does a good job in the film, he is the least interesting. His story is fine, but his other brothers have much more interesting stuff going on or legends that we only get the faintest of hints about. While it's not unbearable, since Shia is the main character, it does detract from the movie.

CONCLUSION

I went into this movie hearing that it was a light-heated, fun movie that never went into too dark of places. While I won't say it was the complete opposite of that, I do feel that it had more serious, dark moments than it did fun moments. Now does that make it a bad movie? Certainly not, in fact it made the movie more surprising. I really enjoyed this movie as a whole, while not something you need to write home about, it's still good for a matinee.

RATING

WALK TO

  

Summer of Movies #4: Sunset Boulevard

Today's film is one I went in cold. I had no idea what the plot was, who was in it, who made it, anything really. All I knew was that it was considered a classic. Does this 1950 film still hold up? Let's find out in my review of...

Let's Begin

PLOT

Set in 1950's Hollywood, Joe Gillis is an aspiring screenwriter trying to make a name for himself. But like most aspiring anythings, he's broke and late on payments for his car. He finds an abandoned mansion where he hides his car 'till he can get the money, at least he thinks it's abandoned. It turns out Norma Desmond, a forgotten silent film actress that was huge in her day, still lives there with her butler Max. She than hires Joe to edit her comeback film that she wrote herself. The one rule? He has to live in the house with her until the script gets picked up, the other problem? Norma is a sad, depressed woman on the verge of insanity.

PROS

Gloria Swanson as Norma is simply breathtaking. What I thought to be over acting soon became another deep and interesting character trait that keeps the film going. All of her scenes are great and she portrays this deep and complex character so flawlessly that it looks easy. Enough can not be said to do her performance justice.

Erich von Stroheim as Max the butler is also great. He starts out as a simple side character that soon gains a sad and interesting background that is more implied than anything.

The score is amazing. It's very simple yet adds a lot to the film. 

The film deals with some pretty dark themes, which you don't expect from a movie from the 50's. This is not a happy film and isn't afraid to go to places that seem dark are sad.

CONS

The biggest problem, that may be more of a personal one than of the movie itself, is Joe Gillis. His acting is the stereotypical over acting you always get in old movies, his character is unlikable, and he narrates through most of the film. While the narration doesn't really add or subtract anything from the movie, it still seems really out of place at a lot of points and mostly states the obvious. His story is also uninteresting and takes away screen time from the more interesting stories.

CONCLUSION

This is a good movie that has elements that could have made it great, something that I would be raving about right now. But since Joe is the main character, it really detracts from the film as a whole. It is one of the classic movies that still holds up to this day, if you focus on Norma and her story. But that aspect of the movie is not in there enough to make it a must see.

RATING

WALK TO