Major Update

So my laptop is dead, and I got screwed by HP with their warranty, fuck them

Here is a major update, I'm trying to remember everything I've seen since I've last updated, bare with me.

Black Swan:

Holy shit, Aronofsky can still make insane flicks. I really do hope that this gets some award wins. The acting is great from the whole cast, the cinematography was insane, and the story works. My only complaint was it ended in a similar way like one of his previous films, I won't tell you which one.

Overall Grade: A-

Enter The Void:

Wow, this movie was a total fucking trip. Quite possibly one of the most ambitious films I've seen in years. Noe's camerawork isn't as nauseating as Irreversible, but I think this film is very well-done. NOT FOR EVERYONE!

Overall Grade: A

The Fighter:

While this is one of those predictable, yet inspiring sports biopic, there was a real edge to this one that stand outs. I'd say the adult-orientated subject and it's often funny as well. David O. Russell's choice of biopic was perfect for him. I really do hope that Christian Bale gets nominated cause he was fucking good. Mark Walhberg was Mark Walhberg, but that isn't a bad thing cause Marky Mark is a badass.

Overall Grade: B+

Faster:

This film tries too hard to be a clever revenge tale, that is really is just a cliched revenge film. There were certain aspects with this film that you can tell that the writer thought he was a genius when he wrote this. The Rock (I don't give a fuck if he doesn't go by that anymore, he's still The Rock to me) is giving much to do, just walk fast, look angry, and shoot people. The film characters' name were fucking archetypes (Cop, Killer, Driver), GEE, HOW FUCKING ORIGINAL. I originally thought that this was going to only focus on The Rock, but it focus on two other characters, Billy Bob Thorton as a junkie cop and some annoying British guy as a killer assigned to kill The Rock. The killer portion of the film was so pointless, just of bunch of pretentious rambling that doesn't make any sense. At first, I thought this film was average, but once the plot twist comes in, I was instantly turned off.

Overall Grade: D+

Micmacs:

Normally, I'm a huge fan of Jean Pierre Jeunet. While I'm not saying this film was bad, I still liked it. It just wasn't as strong as his previous work (Amelie is fucking amazing). While Jeunet's films rely on whimsical visual gags, I thought it was too whimsical. It seems like he was overdoing it to cover the flaws. I will say, I still liked the film.

Overall Grade: B

127 Hours

James Franco gives an award worthy performance in this, since he is pretty much the film. The films plays like your typical Danny Boyle film, but that is not really a bad thing though.

Overall Grade: B+

The Disappearance of Alice Creed

While I did like this film, I think it relied too heavily on plot twist, there was a twist every 10-15 minutes, after awhile I just wanted it to get on with the conclusion.

Overall Grade: B

Skyline:

This is quite possibly one of the worst films that I've ever seen, I have nothing good to say about and my complaints with this film will take forever. I think I might just do a separate entry on this just to talk about how much I hated it.

Overall Grade: F

Valhalla Rising:

I call this the brutal, yet artsy viking movie. I was expecting something more action-packed, but I got something better. Go an watch this one. Nicolas Refn Wedding is slowly becoming one of my favorite directors (check out Bronson....fucking amazing, plus is stars Tom Hardy, who is going to be huge).

Overall Grade: A-

Life During Wartime:

Just as good as Happiness, the approach was rather unique. I can't say that this film is for everyone, the issue tackled in this and Happiness can be disturbing for many people. Others will find the humor in this, I hope Todd Solondz doesn't take another 6 years to make another film.

Overall Grade: A-

Update

The Social Network

Well-acted and directed, my only complaint was that Trent Reznor's score was a little much at times.

Overall Grade: B+

Dogtooth

Quite possibly one of the most unique and disturbing films I've seen this year, not for everyone, but if you're able to sit through it, you'll find something that is quite powerful.

Overall Grade: A

Trash Humpers

This is not for everyone, this is possibly the best work from Harmony Korine, while I laughed at some parts, I was disturbed throughout the majority of it.

Overall Grade: B

Middle Men

Didn't feel like there was much of a movie, just a bunch of narration to me. Luke Wilson isn't bad, but it just seems like it relied too heavily on the narration aspect.

Overall Grade: C-

The Town

Ben Affleck proves that he is a much better director than he is an actor. The story was good and the acting was mostly good. While I don't consider this ilm amazing, you should still check it.

Overall Grade: B

The Killer Inside Me

This movie is fucking brutal, there are a couple scenes that could be a little much for people. I thought one scene was just pure overkill on how one violent scene was directed. I saw improved perormances from Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, but Casey Affleck seemed like he was doing more of the same.

Overall Grade: B-

Update

The American

This film reminded me of the old Europeans film that would contain one american, that being Clooney. The film is beautifully made, but its pacing may turn off casual movie goer. My only complaint was the tastefully cliche ending.

Overall Grade: A-

Machete

This is pure violent fun, this doesn't dissapoint. I personally thought they could have trimmed at least 10-15 minutes. The cast was obviously having fun with this one.

Overall Grade: B+

Resident Evil: Afterlife

I still haven't changed my mind about Paul W.S. Anderson, he still sucks. These sequels get more stupid every time.

Overall Grade: D-

Another catch up

Predators

While it's not better than the first one, it sure beats the shit out of the AVP movies. Plays more like a reboot of the second film. This one is also better than the second film as well. The cast does its job with the material, despite the insanely predictable twist ending with a certain "out of place" character. Still a good entry regardless.

Overall Grade: B

Piranha 3-D

Similar to My Bloody Valentine in 3-D, but far more superior. This film provides boobs, gore, and laughs. This is possibly one of the most fun films I've seen this summer. If your expecting something serious, you should see something else.

Overall Grade: B+

The Square

This film is similar to films like Body Heat and Blood Simple, but made by Austrailians. It is definetly one of the best neo-noirs that I've seen in awhile. You should definetly check out this film debut from Nash Edgerton, I'm keeping my eye of this guy's future work.

Overall Grade: A-

Massive Update

So I obviously haven't been on in awhile (enjoying my summer and working now), I've also caught plenty of flicks

Inception

Would I call this one of the most amazing films ever? No. Is it good? Indeed it is. Everything works so well when it opens and flows well throughout, my only complaint was the predictable ending. Any movie that involves the blending of dreams and reality always seem to end the same way, I'm pretty sick of that.

Overall Grade: B+

Dinner For Schmucks

Oh, Paul Rudd, why did you take part in this piss-poor remake. The original was a good and somewhat dark comedy and it also didn't pack a hypocritical message like this new version did. I can't believe what has become of Steve Carrell, went from a good start to now playing the same character in all his movies. The only semi-amusing part was Jermaine Clement from Flight of the Concchords. Dinner For Schmucks schucks.

Overall Grade: D-

Salt

The first hour starts off pretty good, after that, it becomes plot twist after plot wist after plot twist. This film eventually progressed to a giant mess of twists and turns into a rather stupid movie.

The Expendables

Funnest action film this year, while the story is not a strong point, that is not the reason people come to watch this. We want old school actions dude, tons of action, and over the top violence, and the film delivers that. I just wished the film was as awesome as the last 30 minutes.

Overall Grade: B

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

This is the closest to a video game movie that an actual video game movie is going to reach. The film is funny and it's also quite a visual spectacle. I'm surprised Michael Cera has been able to keep this act going after this and Youth In Revolt.

Overall Grade: B

Mother

This film is just so odd, the story is somewhat pretty straightforward, but the way the story is told is so interesting. I have to see this is one of the best films I've seen in involving the relationship between the mother and her son. The film is also pretty funny and very well-made. One of my favorites this year.

Overall Grade: A

Chloe

This film starts off like it's going to lead up to a good erotic thriller, but it just leads up to almost nothing. The film is basically a build-up to nothing. I was enjoying the build-up too, especially when there is a naked Amanda Seyfried.

Overall Grade: C

The Other Guys

Farrell and McKay are still on a roll with this team-up. Mark Wahlberg is fucking great in this as well. If you enjoyed their other mash-ups (Anchorman, Step Brothers), you'll like this.

Overall Grade: B

A Serbian Film

This is quite possibly one the most insane and fucked up movies I have ever seen. I don't want to go into description into what I witnessed. This film is NOT for everyone, and you will not see this playing at a theater near you. While the film is well-made and acted, there is some satire, but the message doesn't exactly pack the punch. If you can stomach films like Salo, Antichrist, and Irreversible, then this film is for you.

Overall Grade: B

Film Review: Greenberg

Greenberg is the latest film from Noah Baumbach (The Squid And The Whale, Kicking And Screaming, Margot At The Wedding), it is also contains one of the best performances from Ben Stiller.

Ben Stiller is Roger Greenberg, a 40 year old who just got out of the hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown. It comes back to LA to "do nothing", he housesits for his brother who is in Vietnam for vacation, gets into an interesting relationship with his brother's assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig), reconnects with some old friends (Rhys Ifan, Mark Duplass (who is really funny in this), and Jennifer Jason Leigh).

To me, this contains the best performance from Stiller, people will tell that he is actually trying to act in this movie. It makes me hope that Stiller will start taking more of these roles. The film perfectly blends comedy and drama.

The only reason someone may not like this movie is the fact that Stiller's character can come off as unlikeable. But that aside, this film is worth your time, you need to go out and find it.

Overall Grade: B+

Film Review: Cyrus

Cyrus is the latest comedy from The Duplass Brothers (The Puffy Chair, Baghead). Like their previous films, these brothers are now taking their mumblecore genre with some mainstream appeal.

John (John C. Reilly) has been divorced for seven years and is still having trouble adjusting to the single life. After going to a party, he meets Molly (Marissa Tomei), John thinks he has found his possibly new life partner. After a couple dates, he finally meets her 21 year-old son Cyrus (Jonah Hill). John is trying to make the romance work with Molly, but he gets the feeling that Cyrus is trying to destroy the romance.

While this cast work very well with the material, it may not be for everyone. The humor is dry and it doesn't play like an Apatow movie. There are good performances from Reilly, Tomei, and Catherine Keener. The real standout for me was Jonah Hill, his performance was rather creepy and dry. Whenever he had this bug-eyed look, he looked rather creepy, but that definetly seemed like what the Duplass Brothers were going for.

Besides the cast, the film is also frequently funny. My only complaint with the film was that I thought that the dark comedy elements just didn't get dark enough. Hill's performance gave this vibe that made it seem like the film was going to go to a dark place. Put it just didn't dig deeper into that element.

If your a fan of the cast and liked either The Puffy Chair or Baghead, this one is worth your time.

Overall Grade: B

Catch Up

Toy Story 3:

While I don't consider this one to be as good as the first two, this latest entry is still good. It would have been up there with the other two if the film stayed to be as good as it did in the first 15 minutes. Some new stuff worked (the daycare plot, the toys at that little girl's house) and others than didn't (spanish Buzz Lightyear, Ken doll). I think it's still worth your time.

Overall Grade: B

The A-Team

Is it like the TV show, in ways, yes. This one is much more action packed. Some of the action scenes ranged from cool to completely idiotic. The cast was hit and miss. If you're looking for something big and stupid, it'll most likely be worth your time.

Overall Grade: C+

Brief Catch Up

Get Him To The Greek

A somewhat sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but nearly as good. Jonah Hill is his usual self in this movie, Russell Brand is annoying and not very funny in this. The songs are not very good either, but the read standout from Puff Daddy, anytime he was on the screen, I was laughing quite loudly. Plays like a typical Apatow-esque comedy, throw in the funny in the first half, and throw in some laughs along wiht "dramatic" moments.

Overall Grade: B

Splice

I was surpised by this, judging by the preview it looks like another Species. The film is FAR from that and it more about the relationship of the animal-human hybrid and the two scientists. I must say, this is a solid sci-fi movie, well-directed and goes into a weird direction. A good way to describe this is Cronenberg meets Frankenstein.

Overall Grade: B+

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The first entry of this trilogy is rather solid, it's a little long but there is enough going on to keep you watching this. The performances are good, the plot is nothing spectacular, but this film is done well enough to get to anticipated the next two entries of the trilogy.

Overall Grade: B+

Catch Up

Prince Of Persia:

When I was watching this, all I could think is was how much of a dated political allegory this was. The whole story was basically an allegory towards the military not finding the WMD's in Iraq. It also seemed like Disney took over this thinking they were going to make a Pirates of the Carribean-like franchise with this one. The cast was bland and the action was dull, and as far as video game adaptations go, this was in the middle of the list.

Overall Grade: D

She's Out Of My League:

When I first saw the trailer for this, all I could think of is that this film is cashing in on the Apatow-style comedy bandwagon. Upon watching, I was surprised to find that this film seems to be more of a Farrelly Brothers movie more than an Apatow flick, even though there is elements of Apatow in this. I'll admit, I chucked at parts here and there, but the predictable romantic comedy formula ruined this film from being any funnier.

Overall Grade: C

Film Review; Macgruber

Macgruber is the latest film to be based off an SNL skit, while it certainly isn't fit with all the terrible ones (Superstar, Night At The Roxbury, The Ladies Man, etc.), it still isn't fit with the best ones either (Wayne's World 1 and 2). It fits in the middle, and I'll have to say that it is better than the skits itself, since I'm not a fan of the skits.

The film plays off like a homage/spoof to the chessy action films of the 80's. Macgruber (Will Forte) dissapeared off the face of the earth after his wife was killed by Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer). After found by the colonel (Powers Booth) and Phillip Dixon (Ryan Phillippe), they offer Macgruber to take part of an assignment involving Cunth and a nuclear missile. At first, he declines, but he eventually takes the job after some convincing.

Macgruber teams up with Dixon and Vicki St. Elmo (Kristin Wigg) in order to stop Cunth (the film is filled with 'Cunth' jokes, and it does get old fast) from obliterating America. Upon the mission, Macgruber keeps messing up for the sake of comedy, while Elmo and Dixon are picking up the pieces. That is basically the whole joke of this film.

Most of the time, I found this movie to be very stupid, but the film did have several laugh of loud moments. I wished it focused more on making fun of action cliches than it does with Macgruber messing up a mission. The film also makes a good running joke involving throat-ripping. Kilmer is also pretty good in this, but I was hoping he would have delivered a campy villian accent instead of his normal voice.

Overall, this film is a one-note joke that occasionally contains some funny moments, while the rest of the film is just insanely stupid.

Overall Grade: C+

Catch Up

Robin Hood:

Ridley Scott delivers another ambitious miss, but that doesn't mean this is a terrible film. Scott proves he can still direct and give believable performances, even though I wasn't a fan of casting Crowe as Robin Hood. There are some good actions scenes thrown in, but there are too many dull scenes. There are also some inaccuracies with the Robin Hood story as well, I don't recall King Richard dying before Robin Hood is considered an outlaw. As far as prequels go, this did an ok job.

Overall Grade: C

The Human Centipede:

Your liking to this movie will depend of how sick your sense of humor can be. To me, this is one of those movies where when you talk about it to your friends, basically pitching this would be funny. But it doesn't come off very funny when put on the screen. I admire Tom Six with coming up with an outlandish idea and sticking with it. If you think the idea of a "human centipede" is disgusting and unfunny, then this film is not for you, others lie myself would think it's not that good. While this film works as being what I call a fucked up movie, there are still some flaws. I admire that Six didn't attempt to being too gross, but still being gross. The acting and pacing is awfully dull. Many of the actors aren't very good, and the dialogue is pretty poor. There are moments of sick brilliance, and moments that go a little too far. I also enjoyed the campy performance from Dieter Laser. I read that Six is planning to make a sequel, and he promises that this film will be tame compared to the sequel. I thought this film was disgusting enough, but I'm probably watch the sequel out of curiosity.

Overall Grade: C+

Catch Up

Yeah, It's been awhile

Death At A Funeral

If you've seen the original, there is nothing new brought to this. It's the same movie done by different actors. Some of it still worked, the performances from Columbus Short, Marsden, Glover, and Luke Wilson did well. If you haven't seen the original but want to see the new one, go ahead.

Overall Grade: C

Oceans

Beautifully shot, but the narration of Bronson is rather dull, and it ends with a message we've seen too many times before

Overall Grade: C

The Losers

Somewhat enjoyable, but there are too many scenes that were stupid and most of the comedy didn't work. If you want to watch a big stupid PG-13 action movie, you'll enjoy this. This film has a shitty villian though, he seemed bored. Columbus Short was good in this, everyone else was ok. The final ending moment was stupid.

Overall Grade: C

Nightmare On Elm Street

What an unnessesary remake, well-done lighting mixed with shitty performances. Jackie Earle Haley's Kruger was rather boring, all the humor of the original is gone. Don't waste your time.

Overall Grade: D-

I Love You Phillip Morris

Ewen McGregor is on a roll this year, and this is one of Jim Carrey's best comedies. The sexual content may be uncomfortable for some (makes Brokeback Mountain seem tame), but if you can sit through it, you'll find yourself laughing through the entertaining black comedy. Also one of my favorites this year.

Overall Grade: A-

Iron Man 2

I'm pretty dissapointed with this one, it was too heavy on plot and pretty light on action. The film was uneven, and it reminded me of Spider Man 3 at times. The performances are all good, and Faverau seems to improve as a director. I think they were cramming too much just to set up the Avengers movie.

Overall Grade: C

Film Review: Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass is the latest highly anticipated adaptation of a popular comic book, while the ending is different and leans toward the typical happy ending. Kick-Ass is still Kick-Ass.

Aaron Johnson plays Kick-Ass, a once average teen who was sick of getting picked on and all the bad people in the city. He decides that he wants to be a superhero and fight crime, the problem is; he doesn't have any superpowers. After becoming a Youtube phenomenon, Kick-Ass gets dug deeper into the gritty and violent crime underworld. He meets Big Daddy and Hit Girl (Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz), who are out to get mob boss Frank D'Amico (played excellently by Mark Strong). Big Daddy and Hit Girl offer Kick-Ass to team up with them to stop D'Amico.

I'll be honest, I haven't enjoyed a film this year, like I enjoyed Kick-Ass. It's gleefull with the graphic violent, it's profane, and often funny. It's obvious that the cast had a good time being involved with this. If you have enjoy tons of bloody violence and a sense of humor, you will enjoy this. If not, you might want to watch something that clearly isn't badass like this. The title clearly speaks for itself.

Overall Grade: A-

3-D Catch Up

I caught two 3-D flicks recently, heres some quick thoughts.

Clash Of The Titans

If you "have" to see this movie, watch it in 2-D because the 3-D was uglier to look at than my asshole. Anywho, the movie, well, it wasn't good. I don't get what's the big deal with this Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation sucked, Avatar was extremely overrated, and now this). I'll admit, he's not a terrible actor or anything, but when the fuck did this guy come in to big in huge blockbusters already? About the movie, there was too many plot holes when it came to the inconsistent references to Greek mythology. Its brief reference to the robot owl made me cringe in my seat. The CGI was bland, and it wastes it's talents. Neeson and Fiennes seemed wasted in their role. The scene with Kraken was boring, go watch the campy original instead.

Overall Grade: D

How To Train Your Dragon

It seems like Dreamworks is starting to take advice from Pixar in the storytelling department, since this is one is better than some of the recent Pixar flicks when it came to in-depth characters. The story formula is nothing new, but it was still a tad convincing. The 3-D is actually well-done (up par with Avatar in that department). The comedy was simply "meh", mostly jokes I've seen in every other kids movie. This movie could have been better if it didn't try to be funny.

Overall Grade: C+

Catch Up

So I saw a shitload of flicks recently, here's a breakdown:

The Ghost Writer:

This is already one of the best films to come out this year. Everything about it is very well done. While it doesn't rank up to Chinatown, Repulsion, or Rosemary's Baby, it still ranks to The Pianist. Even though Polanski is going through some shit now, he can still make a damn good movie.

Overall Grade: A-

The Runaways:

I was somewhat surprised by this one, while it's not a in-depth look of the history of the band, it sure got the music down. Kristen Stewart does a pretty good job as Joan Jett, Dakota Fanning on the other hand, was not good. She got on my nerves, she also can't sing like Currie either. The highlight belongs to Michael Shannon, he shined everytime he was on screen. Overall, not a bad as I expected, but still not very good either.

Overall Grade: C+

Hot Tub Time Machine:

This is basically the spring's answer to The Hangover. Both movies are indeed funny. Rob Corddry is simply comedy gold anytime he was on screen. The rest of the cast was good too, especially the running gag with Crispin Glover. Would I call it the funniest movie of all time, no, but is it worth checking out, certainly.

Overall Grade: B

Survival Of The Dead:

This is the 6th entry of the Dead series. You'd think that Romero would run out of steam, while he is starting to reach that territory, there is still good moments in the last couple Dead flick. This is one is tied along with Diary Of The Dead. The story isn't anything groundbreaking, but there is still some good deaths for zombie lovers like myself.

Overall Grade: B-

Defendor:

Woody Harrelson has been on a roll recently, and this is keeping the wheel rolling. Harrelson is perfect for this role and does a great job with it. The film perfectly blends comedy and drama quite well. While I think the ending has it's flaws, this one is definetly worth your time.

Overall Grade: B+

Alice In Wonderland:

Want further proof that Tim Burton is overrated, this film will validate my argument. While this is technically a sequel, it doesn't have the feel of the original animated movie. Burton doesn't do a good job with the material, the 3-D was pointless, it seemed like they wanted to throw in the 3-D at the last minute in order to compete with Avatar. Depp got on my nerves in this one, he changes his voice every 5 minutes, this movie reminded me of Speed Racer due to the fact that it seems like they want to throw in some visual tricks to distract us from the pedestrian story. Do yourself a favor, and avoid this one.

Overall Grade: F

Green Zone:

So basically this is just a 4th Bourne movie, except based on actual events and came too late. I can't stand Greengrass' documentary style directing, he over does in the Bourne movies and with this one too. The camera movements were giving me a headache. This movie is just Matt Damon trying to find WMD's, with Bourne directing. Once you get to the "twist", you feel completely unsatisfied cause the audience knew how it was gonna turn out.

Overall Grade: C-

Repo Men:

This movie had a somewhat interesting story, but I was only looking forward to see this for the violence. The film has a good start and good end, but a pretty lousy middle. There was a sub-plot involving Jude Law's family and it was completely uninteresting. Forest Whitaker delivers an enjoyable laughable performance, and he does some badass shit. This could have been a good movie if they tried to flesh out a better story.

Overall Grade: C+

A Prophet:

Very well done prison mobster flick. Very-directed, great performances, and quite gritty. Check this one out as soon as possible.

Overall Grade: A

Film Review: Leaves Of Grass

Leaves of Grass is quite an interesting film, one of the obvious reasons is because Edward Norton plays two people.

The film stars Edward Norton as a pair of twin brothers. One brother Bill is an Ivy League philosophy professor, while the other brother Brady is a Oklahoma pot dealer. After Brady is part of a drug scheme gone wrong, he decides to lure Bill to Oklahoma to take part of his scheme, the problem is that Brady had to fake his death in order to get Bill to come back to Oklahoma. Upon arrival, Bill is already confused many of the town people think he is Brady. Bill gets knocked out and wakes up to find that Brade is still alive.

After Brady explains why Bill is here, Bill isn't necessarily happy with his plans, but he uses this as an opportunity to reconnect with his family which he hasn't seen in years. One of them is finding a love interest (Keri Russell).

This film is pitch as a comedy-thriller. While some of the content would easily filed under black comedy, I wouldn't call it a thriller. As far as comedy goes, this movie is pretty funny. The cast is good, while Norton is great as usual, the highlight of the films has to go to Richard Dreyfuss as the king of the drug trade in Oklahoma.

My only complaint is that Tim Blake Nelson's directing is a little uneven. While it isn't a "good" comedy, there is plenty of parts that were quite interesting. Leaves of Grass is still worth your time.

Overall Grade: B

Film Review: Brooklyn's Finest

Brooklyn's Finest is the latest entry to the trend of gritty cop films, sadly, this one is a giant cop movie cliche. This was directed by Antoine Fuqua, who directed one of the good recent cop flicks Training Day. You can tell that Fuqua is trying hard to replicate Training Day in this one.

The film focus on 3 different cops. The first one being played by Don Cheadle, as a cop who's been working undercover for the last few years, because of this, his private life hasn't been the same. He is trying to get out of the undercover game.

The second cop played by Ethan Hawke, who is a family man with 2 more kids along the way. Hawke is trying to save money to move out of his moldy apartment to raise a family in an actual house. With his recent cases of trail and tribulation, he decides to start stealing money from gang drug busts in order to get the new house.

The third cop is played by Richard Gere, who has been on the force for 22 years and is about to retire in a week. No one on the force likes him, since he is a coward. He is also suicidal and loves a certain hooker.

The three stories interwine barely and the plot is nothing we've never seen before. The film is also more than two hours, I was checking the time alot. I can't really buy Cheadle acting like a thug, if I was a gangster, I would've easily been able to tell he is an undercover cop. Hawke seems like he is trying and Gere seems bored.

Another reason this film is getting some attention is because of the return of Wesley Snipes, his role is pretty small and his performance wasn't bad, didn't really stand out. I was hoping his performance would be similar to New Jack City, not even.

Overall, the actors seems to try to do work with such a cliche piece of shit. Don't waste your time.

Overall Grade: C-

Film Review: The Crazies

The Crazies is another entry along the recent trends of horror movie remakes. Unlike the majority of these flicks, this one doesn't suck.

Along with this and the remake of Dawn Of The Dead, it seems thaat remaking a George A. Romero flick with possibly lead to a good remake (except for Night Of The Living Dead and Day Of The Dead).

The plot is pretty straight-forward, people in a small town start acting weird and become "zombies" and start killing people. Timothy Olyphant (who actually doesn't suck in this) and his wife (Radha Mitchell) are trying to survive and also slowly discover what's going on.

Once you get to what is going on within the first 30 minutes, the audience are hoping that these characters survive. While this film isn't breaking any new grounds, it's still entertaining.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

Overall Grade: B

Film Review: Cop Out

Cop Out is a departure from Kevin Smith, it's the first film he directed without taking credit for writing it. Sadly to say, this is a complete miss for Smith.

Cop Out is basically a "homage" to the 80's buddy cop flicks like Beverly Hills Cop and 48 Hrs.

Willis and Morgan are partners who just got suspended, Willis needed the work to pay for his daughter's wedding. He decides to sell an old baseball card, but it gets stolen. This stolen card leads to the drug underworld, and it's up to Willis and Morgan making amends without their badges.

Morgan is playing the same character Morgan always plays, I didn't buy him being a cop. Willis just seems bored in this. The couple of chuckles I got from the movie was from Seann William Scott.

Make sure you skip this one.

Overall Grade: D-

Film Review: Shutter Island

Shutter Island is latest flick for Martin Scorsese, probably one of his most ambitious film so far in his interesting career. I was really looking forward to this since I tend to find 80's Scorsese a tad underrated, and this film reminds me of the ambitious projects he did during that period. While it isn't a bad movie, it sure isn't good up to Scorsese's standards.

The film stars Leonardo Dicaprio delivering another one of his funny accents, "federal MARshall". He plays Teddy, a federal marshall who goes to Shutter Island with his partner (Mark Ruffalo). They both are invistigating the dissapearance of mental patient Rachel Solondo. Upon arrival, things are already starting to look sketchy, as Teddy is trying to find answers, the staff is keeping a tight lip (this is the point where I already knew where this was going, I hope you do too).

During this investigation, Teddy gets "migrains" and starts having flashbacks of his dead wife and kids and memories of his time during WWII. I found all the flashback stuff very interesting, as some of the images were quite surreal.

Here's the good, the film starts off good, and Scorsese can obviously direct (questioning his direction is pretty stupid at this point).

The bad, the story is insaaaaaaaanely predictable, I predicted the ending right when the trailer came out. The story is very similar to Sam Fuller's "Shock Corridor", and the ending pretty much identical.

Overall, Shutter Island starts off good, but it's dull and predictable ending knocked it down several points.

Overall Grade: C+

Brief Catch Up

The Wolfman

I wanted to like this movie, it had potential. It had a good cast, a promising director (the director is also directing the Captain America movie), and it's the fucking wolfman. While it isn't a bad movie, sure isn't a good one neither. While the Wolfman moments do not dissapoint, it tries to hard set up mood and atmosphere.

Overall Grade: C

Zombies Of Mass Destruction

This is by far the most amazingly stupid zombie film I've ever seen. I don't think there was a moment where I wasn't laughing. The movie tries to attempt to be a commentary towards post 9/11-esque xenophobia, but it fails and turns out to be completely racist. It's so wrong, it's right.

Overall Grade:
Professional: F
Entertainment: A

Film Review: From Paris With Love

From Paris With Love is the latest film that has Luc Besson's name on it, but he didn't direct it. He wrote it this time around, this one comes off more as an R-Rated version of The Transporter.

James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, he seems to have the good life; a good job, his own place, and a hot french girlfriend, but Reece aspires to be a low level operative for the CIA. That opportunity came in a phone call where if he does this mission sucessfully, he'll get the job. The problem is, his partner is the loose cannon Charlie Wax (played awesomely by John Travolta). Reece has to drive Wax around while he is disposing casualties like it's his ABC's.

The film is basically a buddy cop flick, you got your action and you got your chemistry between the two leads. Travolta and Meyers work well together, but it's always Travolta who shines throughout the film. If there is one reason to watch it, it's for Travolta. The story is nothing we haven't seen before and the story and some of the action movie dialogue is quite predictable, but I didn't care, I enjoyed the so called ride.

If your looking for a good escapist action flick, then I suggest checking this one out, if your looking for something original and not violent, you may want to check out one of the films that received an Oscar nomination.

Overall Grade: B

Film Review: Edge Of Darkness

Edge Of Darkness is the potential comeback for Mel Gibson (hasn't acted in a mainstream flick since "Signs". While Gibson is good in this, this isn't exactly a fully triumphant return.

The film is about Thomas Craven (Gibson) finding out who murdered his daughter and why she was murdered. The mystery leads to political conspiracies and Gibson being a badass, if there were more scenes of Gibson being a badass, I would have called it a triumphant return.

While the film is well-directed and acted, the only flaw is the predictable story. I knew where everything was going, it reminded me of all those political mystery thrillers. While the story was predictable, I was still entertained, thanks too Mel.

This movie was a mildly less badass version of Taken, except the violence is more satisfying in this one. Despite the film's predictable plot, the film still entertains and Gibson hasn't lost his touch as far as acting goes.

Overall Grade: B-

Film Review: Legion

Legion is another entry of violent religious movies. In Legion, "God" realizes that our humanity is going to waste (probably because most of them pay money to watch Twilight, Avatar, and Transformers 2 over and over again). So he sends some angels to possess to human and making them into insanely brainwashed Christians on a zombie-esque killing spree. A falling angel named Michael (Paul Bettany) comes down to a middle of nowhere diner with a few other humans and packs a shitload of ammunition. He is protecting humanity and some baby that is still in the stomach of a chain smoking waitress. This baby is some sort of sign for a better humanity. So Michael and the survivors fight off religious zombies to save humanity. Puh-lease.

Let's start with the good, the first half is fucking hilarious, unintentionally. All I could do was laugh a the predictable dialogue, hammy acting, killings, racism, and Dennis Quaid (what the fuck is up with this guy lately?). The second half was just plain stupid.

There is one thing I learned, violence and pro-religious views don't mix (recall The Book Of Eli, The Passion Of The Christ, and Constantine).

Overall Grade: C-

Overall Grade:

Best and Worst Films of 2009

Best Films of 2009

Note: Films I didn't get to see: A Single Man, The Lovely Bones, and Crazy Heart

20. Broken Embraces
Not the best for Almodovar, but still a strong effort from him.
19. Looking For Eric
The story itselfs with pretty grim, but the tone is very light an it blends very well. One of ken Loach's best.
18. Surveillance
Coming from the daughter of Lynch, I would have thought the whole movie would have been very Lynchian, but that doesn't occur til the end, I've noticed the ending split people, I still enjoyed it.
17. Moon
Sam Rockwell is too good in this, too bad he got ignored award attention, this is one of the better sci-fi films I've seen in awhile.
16. The Hurt Locker
Best film that involves the Iraq War, The Messenger was close to being on the list, but this one beat it.
15. Bronson
It's like A Clockwork Orange, except Tom Hardy naked alot and beats the shit out of cops....alot.
14. Antichrist
One of the most disturbing films I've seen in years.
13. Where The Wild Things Are
I felt like a kid watching this.
12. Big Fan
It's a shame that Patton Oswalt got ignored any award attention for this, I don't think any other film can deliver a dark, realistic, and often funny look at an obsessed sports fan.
11. District 9
The other really good sci-fi film that came out this year.
10. World's Greatest Dad
This is the one movie I kept telling everyone to watch, this is Robin Williams at his best (yea, I typed that). Honestly, Williams needs to do R-Rated films from now on, his kids movies are terrible, I get more into that in a bit.
09. In The Loop
One of the smartest and most profane comedy I've seen this year, it's Dr. Strangelove, but with more F-Bombs.
08. The Road
One of the most depressing films I've seen in years, Viggo is probably going to get ignored when the Oscar noms come out.
07. Black Dynamite
This film is the most fun you'll ever have, if your a fan of blaxploitation flicks. This film is spot on, I've already seen more than 5 times.
06. Gommorah
This film is better than The Departed, nuff said.
05. Inglourious Basterds
One of Tarantino's best.
04. Bad Lieutenant: Port Of New Orleans
This is Nicolas Cage at his most wacked out, I actually like this version better than the Harvey Keitel version. Cage and Herzog need to team together again.
03. Fantastic Mr. Fox
One of the best flicks based on a children's book.
02. The White Ribbon
After I saw this, I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks.
01. A Serious Man
I personally liked it better than No Country For Old Men, like The White Ribbon, this one is still in my mind since I've last seen it.

Worst Films Of 2009:
15. Knowing
This movie made me laugh, but it was a less retarded version of 2012, this also continues the trend of shitty mainstream Nic Cage flicks.
14. Angels And Demons
This is just as stupid as The Da Vinci Code, also as stupid as the National Treasure movies.
13. Paper Heart
It had a not bad idea, but I was all I could think of in this movie was how many different ways to self-mutilate myself by using a spoon, I came up with several.
12. Dance Flick
Not as bad as White Chicks, but still stupid.
11. Miss March
Such a shame when this film came from members of The Whitest Kids U Know (which is fucking funny).
10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This made me hate Brett Ratner a little less, but I still think he sucks.
09. The Stepfather
How can you make a movie about a killer stepdad, but only kill people in the most PG way. Fail.
08. Pandorum
Why do people let Paul W.S. Anderson direct movies?
07. Jennifer's Body
The existence of this movie proves me few things:
1. Megan Fox can't act her way out bubblewrap
2. Diablo Cody did not deserve an Oscar for Juno, stick to striping.
3. Why the fuck do you leak topless pics of Megan Fox on the set, and not have it in the movie.
4. Why America's economy sucks
5. Hot Topic should not exist anymore
06. 2012
Overtly religious and overtly stupid.
05. Saw 6
The sad thing is that I didn't see all of 3 and didn't watch 4 and 5 and I didn't feel lost. Talk about story progressing, right? Why is 70% of the movie just footage of the previous movies. Another reason why test scores are going down.
04. Push
I'd rather look at an abortion then watch this again.
03. Old Dogs
You wonder why there are murderers out there, cause their brains get warped after watching shit like this and Wild Hogs.
02. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
I can't believe this made over 400 million bucks in America, and at the same time, unemployments rates go up. (sigh)
01. Transylmania
This movie was the only film where it made me so angry, that I was kicking the seat in front of me throughout the movie (don't worry, there was only 7 people in the theater, 4 of them were enjoying the site of my expressive anger), after the movie, I really wanted to break whatever I saw. I took my friend's lighter and threw it on the ground.

The movie I didn't have to see to know I would have put it on the list:
Twilight: New Moon
My cousin explained to me the story of this film, I can't believe people like this shit. How the fuck can a vampire be a vegan? Why the fuck do they sparkle in the sun? How can anyone who is a male enjoy watching the flat faced fuck stare at the screen blankly for 40% of the movie? Of enjoy watching 17 year old boys without a shirt? This movie gets me no hope for humanity.

2010 Films Update

I kick started my new year with a few flicks.

Wonderful World

It's a shame that Matthew Broderick hasn't been in a good movie in the past few years. He plays the same role in this movie compared to the last couple duds (Finding Amanda, is the one I'm thinking of off the top of the dome). This is just one of those bland indie dramedies. Nothing bad about it, but nothing good about it either.

Overall Grade: C

Bitch Slap

Post-modern girl exploitation flick in the vein of Russ Meyer, except this doesn't come close to any Meyer has done. While there is plenty of violence, hot women, and lesbianism, the writing and directing doesn't even reach B-Movie standards. Just because your movie is intentionally chessy, doesn't mean that the whole movie has to be shot with a fucking green screen. Shooting a movie with a green screen only work when it's meant to be used for stylistic purposes (Sin City, 300, Sky Captain). Exploitation flicks never really used green screen, that is a big reason this movie fails.

Overall Grade: D+

Fish Tank

Add this to the list of good movies that Michael Fassbender has appeared in. This film has a Dogme 95 vibe to it. The acting is good and the film does display some gritty realism of the life of a British teenager. Go out and find this one.

Overall Grade: B+

Daybreakers

Compared to the recent trend of vampire movies, this one can be added to the good list. The story is interesting take on vampire stories, and the movies supplys some good action with some violence. My only complaint was that some of the explanations in this movie were a tad on the lame side, Other than that, I enjoyed this one.

Overall Grade: B

Yoouth In Revolt

This is Michael Cera's best film in awhile. This film reminded me of Jean Luc Godard's "Pierrot Le Fou", as far as plot similarities go. There are plenty of laughs and the plot is entertaining. Go check this shit out.

Overall Grade: B+

The Book Of Eli

This is the best religious movie I've seen. This is also Denzel at his most badass, too bad the story is uneven and the final twists were quite underwhelming.

Overall Grade: C+

Harry Brown

This movie is basically Death Wish, but starring Michael Caine. If you don't think that is a good movie, then your a moron and should stick to wasting your money watching the new Twilight movie 10 times.

Overall Grade: B+