Attack the Block: CR #12

My life is complete. I have FINALLY seen one of my most anticipated movies of this year. A movie that has been one of the most talked about films of the year... among critics, yet unknown to the general public. A movie that is the directorial debut of Joe Cornish, one of the writers of the upcoming The Adventures of Tintin. This is....

Let's Begin

PLOT

One night in the ghetto of London, a nurse is mugged by 5 teenagers. The mugging is stopped by a meteor crashing into a car containing a strange alien creature. Once it's killed, the gang return to their block to hide the creature. They soon find that more and more of these meteors are crashing all over London, but they don't have the alien they killed. No, these are bigger, scarier, and deadlier. Now these couple of kids must protect their block from these aliens while being chased by the cops and drug overlord (although he mostly sells weed) Hi-Hatz.

PROS

The acing is great, considering the fact that most of the main cast are first time actors. The best one out of them all is John Boyega who plays as the leader Moses. He has never acted in a movie before, but you would never know. He pulls this off perfectly, especially in the more emotional scenes.

There is a real sense of camaraderie with these teens. What I mean is that they seem like they've been friends for a long time. Other movies trying to show this this summer (Super 8) have failed, but this one succeeds with flying colors.

The aliens in this movie are actually scary. Think of the last time you saw an original alien design, one that didn't seem like any other alien you had ever seen before..... never right? Well these are some of the most original aliens I've seen, Every time one of those things was on screen, weather it was in my face or in the corner, I started swearing like a sailor I was so scared. I would describe them or put up a picture but that would just ruin it. I can't do them justice with a description.

Speaking of aliens, The alien's special effects are AMAZING. This film doesn't have a large budget, but these aliens look James Cameron caliber real, probably even better. I honestly think they found 50 of these things, alive and breathing, and put them in the movie they look so real.

This movie goes completely against Hollywood standards, it's a completely British film. What I mean is that this movie isn't scared to do some crazy stuff or make it american friendly. Everyone drives on the left side of the street, the wheel is the right side of the car, and everyone talks in cockney British accents. Other ways it goes against Hollywood is that it's not afraid to kill off main characters, have no bad consequences for smoking weed, and have 9 year olds cuss, but in a normal way, not in a "IM GOIN CUZZ EVERY 5 SECONDS CUSE ITS FUNNY!!!!" way.

In all of this movie's advertisements,  Nick Frost is heavily used to get that Shaun of the Dead crowd. I'm happy to say that Frost is barley in the movie. The reason this is a good thing is because it means that this movie doesn't need the help of other more famous works to be good or memorable.

This film is a great mix a horror, action, and comedy. Actually scratch comedy. While the movie does have some comedy parts, it;s more of a Horror action than comedy. 

The soundtrack is awesome. It's this sorta electronica, dub-step mix that works and fits the film perfectly. It's no surprise the music was done by Basement Jaxx.

The main characters are likable. Now, at the beginning of the film, your hate these kids and hope they all die. But as the movie goes along, you see their personalities and good sides shine. You soon start to love all of them, and hate it when they die. You'll have a favorite by the end and it'll probably be Moses.

CONS

While I don't consider this a con I know this may be a draw back for some people. The accents are very British. It can be hard to understand them sometimes, but you can get most of it if you listen. The only British movies I've seen are Shaun of the Dead , Hot Fuzz, and The King's Speech and I understood the accents here near perfectly.

CONCLUSION

I think it's obvious that I love this movie. Well I do, but I believe it's one of the best films of the year. I discovered this during the last big set piece of the movie. The tension and excitement I felt was something I hadn't felt in a long time. This is one of the most original, most awesome, most well made movies I've seen all year, and you've never heard of it. I know you can watch it right. You can rent it on Youtube for god's sake! So please, please, PLEASE go see this movie at all cost.

RATING

RUN TO !!!!!!    

  

  

Tower Heist: NR #10

It's been a while but after a month or two, a SPOOKtacular month of horror, I've returned to the theater to see a somewhat anticipated movie that has had a long history. It started out as an idea from Eddie Murphy from 2005 as a heist movie with an all-star comedic black cast with the likes of Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Tracy Morgan, and Murphy himself. But after the Hollywood producers got a hold of it, they replaced the comedic geniuses with some white guys. After it was finally announced to release, Universal was planning on putting this movie on demand three weeks after it was released in theaters...for $60. One boycott later and we get to where we are now with...

Let's Begin....

PLOT

Ben Stiller works as the manger of an expensive hotel in New York, but after their boss is arrested for security fraud, it's soon found out that their boss had invested all of the employees money and that money has been lost. Now Stiller, Kasey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick plan to rob the hotel. But they're stupid, so they someone who is just as stupid, but knows how to steal, so they bring Eddie Murphy along. Now begins the heist. (I really have no idea how to write this plot, I saw this a couple of hours ago and I'm already forgetting it.)

PROS

 Um....It wasn't as bad as I thought is was going to be...and that's about it...moving on...

CONS

No one, and I mean NO ONE, from the main cast is funny. Ben Stiller doesn't have a single funny line, Kasey Affleck is just forgettable, and Alan Alda has one maybe two funny lines. The only funny people in the movie are Matthew Broderick and Gabourey Sidibe (AKA Precious) and they are SO under used.

Speaking of not being funny, Eddie Murphy has maybe three good lines in the whole movie. He just seems like he was told "Be funny." Eddie:What do I say? 

                                          Director: JUST BE FUNNY!!!!

I feel like he was thrown in there to keep something from the original idea.

The movie moves a little too fast. What I mean is that they spend 10-15 minutes coming up with the heist, then they just move onto actually doing the heist and we have no idea what they are doing or how. So when ever they're doing something, we don't why. It feels like they're coming up with it as they go along.

I hate to keep going back to Eddie, but his character is so poorly used. He starts out as a good guy, changes alliances in a heart beat, then changes back FOR NO REASON! It makes no sense.

The big action set piece has no tension. The reason being that we have no connection to these characters, which could have happened if they had a spent maybe 10 more minutes on the "Making the heist" scenes. The only times I felt tense was when ever they showed what it looked like from that high up, only because I have a fear of heights.

There are some sub-plots that go no where. One in particular is a forced romance between Ben Stiller and the FBI agent Tea Leoni. It goes no where it just seems like filler.

Speaking of filler, this movie has too much filler, or un-needed scenes that are there just to increase the running time. One example is during the big ending set piece, they get a dog in the mix and you think "Ok that, was weird", the you think "Oh, that'll create tension!", finally "....well that was a waste."

CONCLUSION

This may seem like I hate the movie. Well at first I didn't. But after thinking about it and looking over this review, I do. Now if this looks funny to you, I say see it, just wait 'till DVD.

RATING

ME: RUN AWAY

YOU, IF IT LOOKS FUNNY: RENTABLE 

Trick r' Treat CR:11 Halloween Special!

The time is upon us...

YES!!!! It's one more day 'till Halloween, Halloween, Halloween... dang it I knew it was going to get stuck in my head again.  Anyway, to celebrate this wonderful holiday I'm going to review a classic Halloween themed horror movie that was been scarring audiences for years...

What? Were you expecting some other masked killer?

Let's begin.... 

PLOT

Trick 'r Treat is an anthology movie which means that it follows many different story's with all of them being connected in some way, in this case being that that they all take place at different times on Halloween night.   

A man trying to hide a dead body, a couple of kids paying respects to dead trick 'r theaters, and a young women trying to find a date are some of the terrifying tales you'll find here.

PROS

All of these story's are cleverly connected together, even referencing upcoming tales of horror in creative ways, like hearing a wolf howl in back-ground and then the next story will involve werewolves.

This movie doesn't go over board with the usual modern horror stuff, you know like excessive blood and gore or some girl taking her shirt off every 10 minutes, while it's still in here it's toned down by a lot. The most gore you see is some fake organs, no literally they are fake organ, and the most nudity you see is 1 shot of breast and that's it.

The movie actually surprised me. You know most horror movie today are so predictable that you can tell who's gonna die first in the first 5 minutes, well this one doesn't. There were many times that I predicted something was going to happen, and it took a completely different direction then I thought it would.

The movie is very well shot. I'm the best at knowing if a movie is "shot" well of not, but I could tell here. It has some very cool shots and one creepy shot that's just seeing a girl's face while hearing horrific sound in the back-ground.

For the third time this month, I'm reviewing a film that has good real effects. While it only shows up every once in a while, there still a lot better than if it was CG.

This is more of a personal pro, but there is a scene here that pays homage to one of my favorite horror movies, Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, at least I think it does.

CONS

The film has a dark sense of humor that, well, only worked sometimes. Most of time it felt a little out of place. When the film wanted me to laugh, I was confused at what it wanted me to laugh at.

The acting and writing at the begging of the movie aren't that good. While it does get a whole lot better after words, It could still turn off some people.

CONCLUSION

This is the perfect film to watch on Halloween, it got me into the Halloween spirit, heck, I want to dress up as that kid on the poster! So I strongly suggest watching this tomorrow while you give out candy to the kids. You also have hardly any excuse not to watch it, you can probably rent it at your local video store, it's very cheap to buy on DVD or Blu-ray, it's on Netflix instant streaming, AND the cable channel FEARnet is having a 24 hour marathon of Trick 'r Treat on Halloween. NO EXCUSES!!!!

RATING

RUN TO!!

       

The Thing (1982) CR: #10

To continue my month of Horror, I'm going to review a classic horror movie that is SO classic it got a remake this week...or is a a prequel...um...a remake/prequel? Who cares, it probably sucks anyway! So let's look at the source material that the prequel rips off from! Or does it rehash the scenes if it's a remake...GAH, I have to stop doing that, where was I? Oh yeah! This is John Carpenter's classic...

Let's Begin...

PLOT

Our film follows a team a researchers in the Arctic who have recently has there communications cut off. They find a dog being hunted down by a crazy man! They shoot him don and discover that he was with a Norwegian research team. They investigate the research facility and find that they had found someTHING in the ice. Once they return back to base, The discover that the dog is not a dog, but what the Norwegian had found in the ice, an alien who can absorb living organism and take them over! Once they think it's dead, they soon realize that this Thing has token over someone in the base! Now they just have to find out who is real and try to survive until a search party comes.

PROS

This is one of the definitive bottle films, A bottle film, for those who don't know, is a film where a group of characters are stuck in an isolated, claustrophobic area trying to find a way out and this does it with barley any flaws. It feels like a psychological horror film that let's you know that, yes, there is a Thing, but doesn't tell you who it is. 

One important aspect of a bottle film is that you have good characters, and The Thing succeeds in that level.

None of them are annoying and their motives are clear and make sense.

The Thing is mostly known for it's gore, and boy does it deliver. One great example is a scene where one of the researchers is using a defibrillator on another guy. At one point, the guys chest opens up like a mouth, with  teeth and all, and bites the researchers arms off!

The practical effects are some of the best ever seen for its time, and even today. There are some scenes where it looks so real, there is no way they did it with effects. They had to have killed that dog, It looks to real!

The film does a great job at giving you the feeling of isolation. For example, there is a scene where a guy is watching the price is right on T.,V., he then takes a VHS (remember those?) out of the T.V. and puts in another. This shows that they have little to no access to T.V. and have to watch things they've seen over and over again.

The film does a great job at hiding who is the Thing, There is a famous seen where they test to see who is real and whose the Thing. It's very suspenseful and leaves you guessing 'till the end. 

CONS

While the characters aren't annoying, they're not three-dimensional either. I just didn't really feel anything when a character was killed.

The special effects get worse as the movie goes on. While the first time you see thing is just plan nasty and creepy, the last you see it is just ridiculous.

CONCLUSION

While not perfect, The Thing is still a must see for horror fans, but I say go in with caution if gore is not your thing. And if you see it, you can see the remake/prequel, compare it to the original, and hate it!

RATING

WALK TO

P.S. For next weeks review, I just can't choose which one I want to see, so I'm letting you, YES specifically you, choose which movie I watch, leave a comment on the Facebook post of this which movie I should see..

Movie A: Misery

Movie B: Basket Case

Movie C: Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Movie D: Buried

Just type the letter of the movie you want me to see. Thanks!  

  

An American Werewolf in London CR: #9

Everyone this month who does reviews are doing Horror themed movies. We'll I'm going to be ENTIRELY un-original and do the same. And, I'm starting with a classic 80's movie, and then another next week, and another..BUT after that, I'm doing a NEW movie! that was released in 2007...anyway, my first Halloween review is...

Let's begin...

PLOT

Location: Northern English country-side, Time:early 80's, People: best friends David and Jack, Context: Best friends hiking in the Northern English country-side. After leaving a strange pub, David and Jack are attacked by a werewolf! while Jack is killed, David survives and is in the hospital. After a few weeks, shocking dreams, and a visit from Jack's bloody and mangled ghost, David goes home with a hot nurse and just as soon as they get home, they start a moon dance and romance. The next day, David transforms into a werewolf. The next day he doesn't remember a thing, but soon puts 2 and 2 together and the only option left? David must die!

PROS

  This movie has a perfect blend of terrifying horror, and gut-busting comedy. This was John Landis's third film after Animal House and The Blues Brothers, so of course it has comedy. but, it's mixed well with the horror. One minute, you'll be jumping out of your seat it's so scary, the next, you'll be rolling out of that same seat with laughter.

The music collection for this film is very clever. Landis uses up-beat catchy music just because they have moon in the title. Songs like Bad Moon Rising and Blue Moon are used and, just like the comedy, mixes well with the horror.

     

This film is most known for having the best transformation scene in any form of entertainment EVER, and I have to say, I agree 110%. The amazing fact is that it's all done with practical effects, no CG. The guy who did the special effects, Rick Baker, even won an Academy Award for his work. He was even hired to do the special effects for The Wolf Man remake last year. But they were all cut out and replaced with crappy CG... screw you Hollywood.

The scenes with Jack's ghost are great. Every time David see's Jack his body is more mutilated and decomposed than the last time. Shaun of the Dead even did a parody of the famous "Mirror" scene.

The night David changes, he kills 6 people, and you barley see him actually kill them. I liked the restraint Landis had in showing the deaths. Any movie today would have stopped the movie for 20 minutes just to show WereDavid gruesomely killing the victim, but you would have no idea what was going on because the camera would be shaking like it was in a washing machine on it's highest setting.

CONS

The movie's pace moves a little too fast after David is put into the hospital. The pace goes back to normal the next day, but it still affects the movie.

CONCLUSION

This is a classic horror movie that anyone who loves horror MUST SEE. Also, if you think practical effects are "Fake" and "Stupid" then watch this movie and if you come out of it still thinking that, your a Lier and should be banished from this Earth!

RATING

RUN TO

P.S. Next weeks review will be of the original of a remake coming out next week, BUT WHICH ONE!?!?!? Find out next week!

Ed Wood: CR #8

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in 2 weeks, but life gets in way the sometimes. So for this week I'm reviewing a picture I've heard so much about and have always wanted to see. A picture that is, in my opinion, Tim Burton's best film...

Let's Begin...


PLOT
This biography follows Edward D. Woods Jr. writer, director, actor, producer. Being known as THE worst director of all time, we follow Ed as receives his chance to direct his first picture. We now follow Wood from "Glen or Glenda" to "Plan 9 From Outer Space". 


PROS
Fist off, this is a 1994 picture that is in black and white. Tim Burton really was invested in this project, he even didn't want to be PAID! It was his choice to shoot in Black and white, and while it did get the production moved and postponed, I feel that it was the only way to shoot it. Also, I realized just how beautiful Black and white looks, and how even better it looks in HD.

Johnny Depp is great as Ed Wood. Ed has been seen as someone who would do anything to get a picture done, even shooting 30-40 scenes in a single day! Depp really shows this in his performance

Martin Landau plays Belia Lugosi, the ORIGINAL Dracula. He's even the reason for Dracula's Hungarian accent. Landau is AMAZING as Lugosi. He really feels like an old washed up actor past his prime. It's very tragic, but his spirits are lifted once he meets Ed Wood. You really feel like Lugosi is alive and on screen. Landau even won an award for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes!

Burton puts some cool little homages here and there. For example, whenever Lugosi is having a sad moment, they play "Swan Lake" during the scene, which is the opening theme to the original Dracula.

The picture shooting scenes actually show just how fast Wood shot his films. There's a scene where one of his actors hits a wall trying to walk through a door and he just rolls with it, not even doing another take.


Everyone is perfectly cast. I've already mentioned Depp and Landau, but whoever played Tor Johnson, Criswell, and Vampiria are almost exact clones of these real life people.

This is more of a personal thing, but this is the first time in a picture I actually didn't hate Sarah Jessica Parker, even though the picture makes you want to hate her.




CONS
I know this is the third time in row, but I really can not find anything I didn't like about this picture. Upon further thought, I have found problems with both "Limitless" and"The Fly"



CONCLUSION
This movie is officially in my Top 10 Pictures of All Time. I LOVE THIS PICTURE. This is one of Tim Burton's best, Johnny Depp's best, and one of the best picture's from the 90's! (That I've seen) I would suggest this picture to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE.

P.S. There is a sub plot I forgot to mention about how Ed Wood likes to dress in women's clothing. While he is not gay, and this happened in real life, AND it not bother me personally, I know this may be something some people will get offend by. Just add that into consideration before watching this Picture.


RATING
RUN TO!     


.    

The Fly (1989): FTQ #1, CR: #7

The Labor Day curse is upon us. Yes, no big releases came out this week, so I decided to my NEW segment early (Aren't you lucky!) What is that new segment you may ask? Why it's something I like to call..
FROM THE QUEUE!!!! I have a LOT of movies in my Netflix instant queue that I've never seen. With this segment, I'll finally be able to force myself to watch these movies. This segment may come up a lot more then I'd like, but most of my Classic review will be of movie I love already if I don't. So what is this weeks FTQ? It's the 1980's remake of...

Let's Begin...


PLOT
Our story follows Jeff Goldblum...I mean Seth, a Scientist working on a way make teleportation a reality. While at a formal party he meets a reporter named Veronica, who is looking for the story of a life time. Seth brings her back to his Lab/House where he shows her his teleport pods. She doesn't believe him at first until he teleports her shoe. Veronica sees huge potential in this. The problem, it can't teleport any living things, as painfully shown to us by a monkey. Veronica decides to record Seth and his discovery of teleportation. One night, Seth things he's got and tries it on himself. It appears to have no effect on him, until he finds out that a fly was in the pod that night. The system decided to splice Seth's and the Fly's DNA together. Now Seth is slowly becoming part man part fly!


PROS
This movie is gross, vile, and nauseating thanks to the amazing Special effects. I say that practical effects beat CG any day and this movie proves it. It would have not been as effective without those Special effects.


I commemorate Jeff Goldblum for what he did. He had to be in a heavy suit or have tons of layers of makeup all over of his body for god knows how long, and it shows. Every time you see him, he looks sicker and more disgusting then the last time you saw him.

I really enjoyed the way the transformation started out slow and barley noticeable. It doesn't just go straight to the half-human half-fly stuff, which is better in my opinion.

The human drama in this movie is a lot better then I though it would be, Epically with Seth. You've followed him and his trails throughout the first 40 minutes of the movie and it breaks your heart to see him change and become more grotesque. You feel just like Veronica, wanting to help but not knowing how.

I'm not sure if this is repetitive or not, but the gore in this movie will have your hands over your fave going OHHHHHHHHHHHH! I know I did. David Cronenberg is famous for grossing out his audience and it shows.


CONS
I can't think of any good cons, all of the ones that come to mind are either forced or just nit piking to an extreme.


CONCLUSION
This is a great movie, disgusting, but great. I feel the best way to enjoy this movie is to invite a couple of friends over, tell them just the bare minimum about it, and watch them squirm around at the awesome gore. The reactions will be priceless and maybe even Youtube worthy.

RATING
WALK TO

P.S. Tell me if like this segment and if you might like deciding on which movies I watch from my Queue!