Avatar

So it's been a week since James Cameron's Avatar came out in theaters and I finally just got a ticket to see it in the true IMAX 3D experience. This show has been sold out in every theater since it's release and rightfully so, James Cameron has been working on this film for longer than I'd care to remember. Was the wait worth it or was it just another flop?

The movie open's and creates a back story that isn't to original but yet created a completely new environment that just screams beauty. We learn that sometime in the 2100's Earth's population has found a new planet where everything is hostile, from the animal and beasts to the plants and indigenous people. The human's are there for one reason and one reason only, to mine a rare mineral that seems to thrive under the surface of the beautiful planet of Pandora.

Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a marine drop out who is only chosen to come because his brother was killed right before shipping off and since he has the same DNA, he's able to drive his brother's avatar. Jake is a handicapped marine who's stuck in a wheel chair but doesn't like to be told what he is and is not capable of.

Jake is introduced to the mercenaries of Pandora, since the pay is better most of the human army is mercenaries. Then in complete contrast to the brute force of the mercenaries is the scientific team consisting of Grace (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm (Joel Moore). This group is only in it to find out the fascinating details behind this incredible planet.

On his first day out in the field he gets attacked by some animals and gets completely lost in the jungle. He then must fight the odds and survive a night alone in this new world that only wants to destroy him. Strangely, one of the indigenous people, the Na'vi, saves his life. After this Jake begins to see the wonders of this beautiful world.

Now this movie is suppose to be completely epic, and NEEDS to be seen in 3D. As many of you know, I don't like this gimmick partly because... well, that's all it is, a gimmick. This movie didn't change my mind about the 3D but at the same time, for once, it did enhance the experience. This film didn't use corny 3D tactics like throwing anything at you, but instead, they use the 3D to show the depth of the scenery. During this entire movie I really felt like I could move to another part of the theater and find myself seeing everything from a different point of view.

Everything about this movie was brilliantly done and you can tell that this is easily Cameron's baby. This is the movie that he's been dreaming of making for years. From the individual styling of each character to the smallest details of the Na'vi people this movie was just done completely brilliant, even the animals had their own personalities.

To sum up this masterpiece, this was what should have been a summer blockbuster but instead it came out in the winter. If they continue to make films using these characters this could be just as great as the original Star Wars saga. Topping out at a 9 out of 10 this movie had very few flaws and couldn't have been done better.

Sherlock Holmes

Guy Richie has yet to make a movie that I do not thoroughly enjoy. With that said, I have to marvel at yet another one of his movies with one of my new favorite actors, Robert Downey Jr. It has been years since I've read Sherlock Holmes but I believe it's safe to say that Guy Richie did for Sherlock Holmes what J.J. Abrhams did for Star Trek.

Robert Downey Jr. does an immaculate at portraying the opium smoking Sherlock Holmes and while they never actually say that he's smoking opium it's easily apparent that he is out of his mind half the time. When Richie shows us how Holmes goes through his mental process he does it in such a spectacular way. Holmes clearly see's the entire fight through while planning out every action and reaction and explaining the ramifications of his movies.

Jude Law plays Dr. John Watson, Holmes' assistant and physician. Both actors did such a surpurb job at playing such classic characters that you begin to forget they are just actors and not actually best friends who solve crimes together.

Without giving to much of the plot away, Watson is trying to move out of 221 Baker St. and in with his girlfriend Mary, but can't seem to pull himself away from the charismatic Holmes. With a touch of super natural in the mix it brings together one hell of a murder mystery. In right fashion when the story comes to a close, Sherlock explains everything and lays out every little detail that you never even picked up on until now.

Through and through, I've tried to find something that I could say would have been better but I'm at a loss for words here. Even the musical score fit the moods and scenes brilliantly. I don't know how it could have been done better and frankly I don't really think it could have, it lead perfectly into a possible sequel or more without even coming off hokey once. The film was a perfect match of action, comedy, and drama. Without a doubt in my mind one of better films of the year. Sherlock Holmes easily gets a 9 out of 10.

Apologies

So as of late, I have run into a bit of financial issues. Thusly, I have not had the time or resources to see or review any new films. Though, I am excited to finally be seeing Avatar when it comes out. Just wanted to send the apology to anyone out there who does read this. Changes are coming to updates and everything, so be excited!

Another tid bit of information I wanted to send out your way, just downloaded the new browser Google Chrome, and it is crazy fast. Sure, it's got it's bugs with videos and netflix instant view isn't supported yet, but what can you expect? It's still in it's Beta testing. Runs a lot cleaner and faster than firefox and new add-ons are added daily, so check it out... Just a few thoughts

Paranormal Activity

Horror fans, ghost fans, and anyone who genuinely want to get terrified by a movie will all enjoy this dirt cheap movie for what it is, a purely scary movie. Oren Peli directed this movie with the lowest of low budgets of only $15,000 and creates this movie that plays on all your scenes.

The story is as follows, Micah and Katie have moved in together and Micah finds out that Katie has been haunted by this "entity" since she was 8 years old. Micah then decides to document the paranormal activities that go on in their home. At first things just start building up. Nothing really happens during the day until shit hits the proverbial fan. But the day shots really set up the scenes for the night terrors.

On the plus side of this movie there is no descending once this movie gets going. The most terrifying scene is the final scene when everything goes bananas. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone but it is the second ending that has been attached to the film.

Originally, the film was released in 2007 at a scary movie festival and took tons of awards. Steven Spielberg caught wind of this and supposedly locked himself in his room because this movie was so scary. But the films ending was changed to really try and get one more massive scare out of audiences.

The scare tactics used in this movie are very simple and easy to pull off but Peli uses your senses and lack of senses to really terrify each person. Though this movie is filmed in another Blair Witch rip off, it's not suppose to be a high budget scare fest.

As a critic of all kinds of movies, I have to say that scary movies are my favorite. I loved being younger and having a movie scare me so badly that I couldn't get to sleep because I was so terrified of the thoughts that the movie put in my mind. Not saying that this movie made me stay up all night, but I have to say this was honestly one of the few movies that actually scared me and had my heart beating faster and harder than it has in years.

Though, I must say that the acting was not the best acting I've ever seen. I also had a tough time believing that Micah and Katie lived in this gorgeous house, since Katie's a student and Micah was a Day trader. It just didn't seem believable for them to be living in such a huge and amazing house.

All in all though, I must say that this was a great movie that kept me on the edge of my seat, literally. But I have to say that this movie easily deserves the 7 out of 10.

Marketing Problems

So it has been a recent occurrence that movie trailers are portraying films to embellish the action scenes and stories. The only problem with this is once you sit down into the movie and watch it, you are then disappointed in the fact that this movie you went to go see isn't at all what you were expecting. Granted, sometimes this can be great but when you go see a movie entitled "Gamer" one would expect more than fifteen minutes of the game itself. Or better yet, a movie called "Inglorious Basterds" where the the Basterds only appear in four scenes in the movie.

Now I have no issues with either of these movies, in fact, I enjoyed both of those thoroughly and plan on purchasing them to add to my collection of films. All I am trying to say is that when you watch a trailer for a movie that looks like it's going to be more action than story, your going to be really surprised and almost put off when you find out it's exactly the opposite of that.

Let's start with the big blockbusters of this summer. First, was District 9, Peter Jackson's film that no one really knew about because there were very few trailers out. Most of this movie was viral marketing but when all the marketing is clearly viral, your going to miss out on a great deal of the public. Friends of mine were completely put off to this movie because of the fact that the trailers were very few and didn't show much of anything. Though, if more of the film was shown, the amazing story in this film would have been ruined.

Next, we have Inglorious Basterds, the Tarantino film based around World War 2. The only problem with this movie was that the Basterds themselves were on screen for little more than thirty minutes. The story line itself was amazing and though it was a story about the other characters, the movie called "Inglorious Basterds" might not have been the most appropriate name for this film.

Thirdly, we have Gamer, the movie with Gerald Butler and Micheal C. Hall, about real people control the criminals who are fighting in a constant slayer game. Though our "hero" must win 30 games in order to win their freedom, we only see five minutes of games 27-30. Granted that's all you really needed to see, but I would personally have liked to see a few more games and how ridiculous and intense these games can be.

Lastly, the most recent movie I have seen "9", the Tim Burton movie (he produced it). By watching the trailers, one would come to believe that this movie is a complete action movie with very little on the story itself. Though, to my great surprise, this movie is completely story driven with very little action sequences.

Even with my complaints about the marketing techniques, I must say that each and every one of these movies I thoroughly enjoyed. The only thing I wanted to comment about these movies was that with such great stock footage to work with, it's a little absurd that the marketing companies used these scenes to spread the movie on false pretenses. All I'm asking for is a little more truth behind the trailers rather than sloshing a random bunch of scenes together.

Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino has done it again. Another great movie to add to his cartography of films. Inglorious Basterds is the fictional story of two groups of people during World War II. All the stories intertwine in a brilliant combination of comedy and satire.

The first story we come across is the story of Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent. Shosanna, a young Jewish woman who was hidden when Col. Hans Landa, Christoph Waltz, comes in and shoots her entire family. Shosanna then runs off into the distance.

We are then introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine, brilliantly played by Brad Pitt. This Lt. has gathered a motley crew of army men, who just happen to be Jewish themselves, to go behind enemy lines and hide out in the woods and do nothing more then kill Nazi's. They call themselves the Inglorious Basterds, and they take great pride in what they do to a point where it becomes comical.

Brad Pitt really proved he has some chops left with his portrayal of Aldo Raine. The character is so brilliantly written and portrayed that it clearly falls into one of my favorite character ever in a movie. The only issue with this whole movie that stands out like a sore thumb is you only see the Basterds for about 20 minutes of actual screen time.

This film is broken up in traditional Tarantino fashion as chapters. Although, his chapters actually line up threw me for a loop at first but this movie should have been longer. I don't say that very often but the characters who were so enthralling just needed more time. Parts of the movie were a tad slow but only if you weren't paying that close attention to the plot but if you were, this was truly a story that was music to my ears.

This movie forced my thought process going again after a long summer of unsatisfying movies, and makes me want to go back and see it again. While also making me laugh at the absurdity of the characters and the witty satirical dialogue. Without even taking a second thought, this movie pulls a 9.5 out of 10.

District 9

District 9 was one movie that I never had my radar on to because I didn't see much about it that really sparked my interest. Even the online buzz never brought me into it, what really made me go see this film was Peter Jackson's name attached to it. I figured he deserved at least one redeeming movie since King Kong, and hopefully this would be it.

Most Alien movies are the humans trying to fight for survival whilst the aliens terrorize the planet, or more simply New York, or somewhere in the USA. This movie flips that norm on its head when aliens, called Prawns for how they look, come to Earth and just hover over Johannesburg and don't invade at all. Instead, the government takes it's place and takes the aliens out and put them on Earth so we can "help them be healthier". I don't want to give to much away because this was such a great story and to really know anything is to ruin some of the amazement of the story.

This film was filmed in a very interesting way. It started out as a documentary with interviews and scene footage. Then turns to a regular movie and then closes as it would have if it was a documentary. Throughout the movie they show scenes from local news shows just to keep the mythos in mind that this is actually going on now. Some of the camera shots were just spectacularly shot and literally makes you feel the uneasiness of the people in this movie.

To my surprise, there is not one big name actor in this movie. The actors in it do a decent job of seeming like ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Though none of them really shine through as amazing actors but they pull off their characters as if they were merely extensions of themselves.

This was the movie you've been waiting to see all summer but didn't know it until you walk out of that theater. It was cleverly hidden and given just that little bit of mystique to draw you in. Strangely, the only problem I had with the movie was the simple fact that everyone in the movie didn't really have much of a back story other than the main character Wikus, played by Sharlto Copey. Though, it doesn't really matter because they cleverly close up all story elements and there are small twists that show intents that could lead us to a District 10.

Like I said, this is the movie you've been waiting to see all summer without knowing it. District 9 gets a 9 out of 10.

Push

How is it that a movie that looks like it's going to be a sequel of a terrible movie can come out and actually a pretty good movie? Well this is exactly what Push is able to succeed in doing. At first glance the movie looks like it's going to be a sequel to Jumper, a terrible movie that tries to show off as many "cool" special effects and places that they can physically can. Although, once you get into the movie you realize that this is not only it's own movie and has nothing to do with Jumper, but it pulls off it's own storyline better than Jumper ever could have.

Imagine a world where people with powers are controlled by a government group called Division. Super humans are put into groups of similar powered people, i.e. Movers are Telekenetic, Sniffers can smell or touch an object and know where it's been, Watchers can see the future (but it's constantly changing), Shadows who conceal objects, Screamers who... well, scream and break things, and Pushers who can get into your brain and make you do things.

The story follows Dakota Fanning as Cassie Holmes, a second generation Watcher (meaning her mother was a watcher also), who runs into Chris Evans, aka Nick, who is a second generation Mover. Though Nick is terrible with his powers since he rarely uses them, Cassie and Nick set off to find a suitcase with six million dollars in it when things turn sour once they find that the future changes and shows them all dead.

The movie does a very good job at not having the abilities take over the film. The abilities are very well used and only used to enhance the scene rather than to control the scene. One scene in particular jumps out, Nick walks into a restaurant and draws two guns, but not with his hands. He uses his abilities and floats them five feet above himself to give the appearance that he came unarmed.
As sad as it is to say, the major draw back from this movie was the fact that Jumper came out first. This movie wasn't a brilliant masterpiece but it was a lot of fun to watch. Dakota Fanning has matured a lot but still seemed to hold something back from finding true greatness in her character. While the special effects were actually on par with this movie it's hard for me to say that this movie is worth the price of a theater ticket.

I would have to say that if your interested in a movie to have on for just a fun time I would recommend Push. The story may have some holes, and it may not be the best super hero movie out there. It definitely does well for starting a story from the middle and doesn't keep you wondering about the past or the history of the characters.

Basically, if it's a rainy day, and you want something to amuse yourself, pick up Push because if worse comes to worse, this movie won't make you hate yourself. Rating for this movie? Wasn't spectacular but it wasn't terrible so 5.5 out of 10

Funny People

Judd Apatow finally shows the true range of his brilliance with his newest movie Funny People starring Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler. Upon first seeing the trailer, I believed that this movie was going to be all laughs just like his other movies but this time focus on the lives of comedians. Boy was I in for a special treat! This movie was much more serious than Apatow's other films but still has a great amount of comedy to lighten the mood and make sure the movie doesn't go to far into the drama.

The movie centers around George Simmons (played by Sandler) who use to be a great comedian and actor, but recently, just found out that he has a type of lukemia and will probably die soon. What does he do? Goes back up on stage and does more stand up. His first show he bumps Ira Right/Weiner's (Rogan) set back. After the show George asks Ira to write jokes for him and thus begins the apprenticeship of George and Ira.

The whole movie is centered around three themes which are Love, Death, and the apprenticing of George and Ira. While many of these themes can be very depressing and turn Georges life into a dark place where one can only wonder if this is was ever suppose to have comedy in it.

I truely was blown away by the fact the Apatow could really write and direct a movie that was so serious that I was sucked in. The characters are so completely believeable and played so well by the actors that no matter who you are, you'll find someone in this movie to see bits and pieces of yourself in them.

This movie was so up and above my expectations of Apatow that I'm almost speechless, and was speechless afterr the movie. There are so many cameo's in this movie of actual comedians like Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Dave Attell, Ray Romano, and so many more that just throws laughs right at you.

This movie clearly deserves a 7.5 out of 10.

Dead Snow

Let me start this off by saying I'm not going to use any of the actors names because I don't know how to type them with a keyboard (it's a Norwegian film).

Ok, well for all you horror genre fans like me out there. Here comes the best zombie movie I have seen since the remake of Dawn of the Dead. This twist on this zombie tale? They are Nazi zombies that were frozen in the snow.

The movie centers around 7 medical students, well 8 but the first one dies before the opening credits. Didn't anyone teach you not to go wondering around alone when your in a horror film? Well either way, these kids are all on Easter Break and heading to their friends cabin to hang out and have fun. First night there, a creepy old man wanders in and tells the kids about the history of the land. But being normal people, they just laugh it off and continue on their marry way till everything just blows up in their face.

This film was spectacular, simply put I loved every minute of this film and I am very critical of my zombie movies. The soundtrack was German heavy music and played along with the atmosphere of the film. The theme song is a fantastic choice with "Peter and the Wolf".

I can't really speak to much on the acting since it was a German film, it was shown to me using dubbs. I know, upsetting, but the movie was amazing. These zombies are a new breed of zombies that we haven't seen and the closest thing we can come to is Land of the Dead zombies but that doesn't come quite close enough. These zombies were freakishly fast, could climb trees, use weapons... Ridiculous!

There is one scene in familiar that stands out to me and it centers around the death of one of the female characters. It's a first person shot which was fantasically done with all the effects. Which leads me to the effects. Normal zombies have a great deal of decay showing, but since these have been in the snow frozen for all these years, that haven't decayed much which brings more fear into these mindless madmen.

Overall, this film kept me laughing, scared of zombies once more, and showed that truely brilliant shots have yet to be shown to the public. THis film gets a 9.5 out of 10.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Ok, before I even get into the review, let me just say that if, no... correction, When you go see this movie be prepared for one of the most amped up, epic movies ever to hit the screen.

Micheal Bay has turned what started out as a movie to promote toys into something that well has turned into it's own cult following and this second movie only solidifies the fact that only Micheal Bay with his infamous explosions should be the only one to touch this franchise.

First off lets start out by saying that in the first movie we only see a handful of transformers and what we saw in that movie was epic enough to be the iceberg that sank the Titanic. This second movie takes everything that was good in the first and gives it that extra push to become something absolutely breath taking. We see at least a hundred or more transformers from both Autobot and Decepticon sides.

The movie takes place two years after the previous movie and Sam (Labouf) is heading off to college leaving everyone behind. This includes the amazing Megan Fox (I would never leave someone like that back at home alone), Bumblebee, and the Autobots. The Autobots have joined forces with the government and started to hunt down any and all Decepticons that come to Earth.

When Sam goes to leave though, he grabs the clothes he wore when the Autobots first came and finds that a piece of the cube had been attached to him. When he touches it, things go bananas for him and he starts to see Cybertronian writting everywhere, much like his relative that found Megatron.

Ok, enough of the plot because I don't want to give much away, but the simple fact remains that everything in this movie was amped up and become a movie that has very few faults in it. The acting especially shines here, even though you don't get much acting out of normal action movies this one just brings everything it has and you really begin to want certain characters to live and others to.... well, fade into the sunset.

The only thing I can say that might be remotely negative is about the Twins. These two autobots are basically the Jar Jar Binks of transformers but in a better way. They talk just about as much as Jar Jar did and at first I really was upset with them but the more I saw them the more I realized that these were just two more characters in this universe that fit perfectly. Think about it. Don't you have that one friend that you invite because you know they'll complain if you don't? That's the Twins.

Even with them though this movie is astounding and I sat there and was just thinking to myself that I had mothing bad to say about this movie. It was Epic in the most simplist of terms, I'm still speechless. Easily 10 out of 10, without even thinking about it, this movie deserves it.

Update

Hey Guys, Sorry that I haven't had many updates lately, I got fired from my job as a grill cook. I went to the beach and let them know ahead of time that I wasn't coming in and they fired me. First shift I didn't come to and I told them and they fired me.

Oh well, I got free advanced tickets to Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen so I'll definitely start this back up again once I start working at Best Buy. But meantime I'll write up my review of Micheal Bay's Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen which will be up June 24th since I'm seeing it on the 23rd.

Adventureland

Greg Mottola comes back for his next movie since Superbad for a movie that could be called Superbad 2 since this feels just like the first. Our main character James Brennon, played Jesse Eisenberg, has just graduated from college and is planning on moving to New York City for Graduate school when his parents drop the news that they are not making as much money and needs to work at the local amusement park to save up money for school.

Adventureland, run by Bobby and his wife Paulette, played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, hire Brennan after a long arduous look for a job. The characters that work in this park are the outsiders of your typical school group. Think Freaks and Geeks but a movie instead of your television series. This is where the movie really starts to roll and get the hook of this film.

The first we meet is Tommy Frigo, played by Matt Bush, who was Brennan’s friend from the fourth grade who constantly punches him in the balls. But Joel, played by Martin Star, becomes Brennan’s new best friend who went to college for Russian Literature and Slavic Languages, but is truly the nerd of all nerds but is also Brennan’s voice of reason. Ryan Reynolds plays the opposite of Joel as your typical cool mechanic that is a musician, Mike Connell. Connell is very much Brennan’s devil to Joel’s angel.

Kristen Stewart plays Em, Brennan’s love interest once she saves him from getting stabbed by a knife. While Joel thinks that Em is the best person Connell pushes Brennan more towards Lisa P, Margarita Levieva, the popular, hot dancer.

Brennan is very much like Michael Cera’s character but much later, pushing the thought that Mottola writes himself into these movies. Jesse Eisenberg really plays a great version of Cera’s character as a believe-able fish out of water virgin nerd. The romance between Stewart and Eisenberg is very well played and actually takes center stage to this movie.

Breaking your typical roles as the girl being timid, Stewart plays a very sexual being while Eisenberg is the virgin. This movie is very much a movie that wants to be an indie movie but only plays to the trend of making indie movies popular. The sound track to this movie is straight out of the 80’s, given it’s set in 1987, but this movie is riddled with some of the best, and worst music, of the time period. Amadeus is played the most throughout this movie and was joked about in the movie but also references Judas Priest and the crazy fads of the 1980’s.

If you’re not interested in watching the new Fast and Furious movie, and enjoyed Superbad, Freaks and Geeks, and Undeclared this movie is definitely a movie you’d enjoy. Though, keep in mind, this movie’s comedy is much more subtle than that of Superbad, I would highly recommend this movie. Overall, this movie is brilliant and gets a 8.5 out of 10.

The Haunting in Connecticut

Relatively new director, Peter Cornwell, bring us a based on a true story horror film cleverly named “The Haunting in Connecticut”. The Haunting in Connecticut follows the true story of the Campbell family when they first move up to a house in Connecticut so that Matt, the eldest son, can live closer to the hospital for his cancer treatment. The story takes place in 1987 when Sara and Matt are on their way home from a treatment center and run into a very old house for rent. The rent is so cheap that Sara begins to question.

The movie takes off from this point but isn’t so much of a new horror film but more of a “jump out of the closet” shocker film. Although, the director stops short in every scare, each scary moment could be seen from miles away. The graphics look beautiful but they end up short-lived because of the lacking in the actual terrifying way.

Strangely enough, you’ll get more fear from Virginia Madsen’s performance as the mother from her god-awful acting. Every scene she’s in, and she is in way to many, you wish that she would just stop acting. Though the true savior of the movie is, obviously, Kyle Gallner, who plays Matt Campbell.

Campbell’s performance as a teen with cancer is nothing short of enjoyable. You route for him to get rid of the sickness while battling his own demons living in this house. Although, when you move into a house, and you choose bedrooms are you really going to give the sick boy the basement to live in? Not to mention creepy factor with the strange doors and the brick walls. To me, that just doesn’t seem like a logical choice.

The movie can pretty much be split into three parts. First is the obvious introduction to the plot and the characters. Second comes all the horror and scare, but remember they stop short of actually terrifying. Then, thirdly, comes the rest of the plot. All of the horror comes about a half hour in to maybe an hour in. After we find out what’s truly going on with this house and it’s “occupants” all the horror is finally over.

With very few decent horror films coming out one would hope and assume that this based on a true story would be terrifying. A real jump out of your seats and keep the lights on movie. But with a PG-13 rating and a director who just didn’t really seem to want to show any real horror, it just drops off as an ordinary horror film. It’s an enjoyable movie to watch but is most definitely not a movie you want to hold your plans and run out to see this movie. I don't know what to say else about this movie, it was entertaining but didn't keep it's drive so it earned 5 out of 10.

Transformers 2 - Fallen Character Revealed

As you can see here, this is the new character to the Transformers universe, The Fallen. Micheal Bay has said multiple times about how the Fallen is not a reference to the ''dead" Megatron, but an actual character unto his own.

One of my favorite movie sites, Firstshowing.net posted this tid bit of knowledge this morning and well... Here it is. Now, I don't like posting these kind of rumors up because they change your expectations of what is going on in the movie. Personally, I read all these kinds of articles and when I saw this I could not help but post this up.

This picture looks insane, and if you look closely as to what this toy is standing atop, and you keep in mind that Bay has been seen shooting at the pyramids. My best conclusion is that we will see this brilliant piece of death atop the pyramids.

My question here is what will he transform into (if he does at all)? The more and more I read about these updates on Transformers 2 the more excited I get about seeing this movie. Just a reminder for everyone out there, if you want to see the new trailer it will be debuting just before the remake of Friday the 13th.

Fanboys

The year is 1998, six months and counting till the premier of Star Wars Episode One comes out. Now lets forget for a moment about the travesty that was the second trilogy of Star Wars. We meet our main characters Eric (Sam Huntington), Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Jay Baruchel), and Zoe (Kristen Bell) who are the cream of the crop of fanboydom. In true fanboy fashion, our group of misfits knows everything that is possible to know about the Star Wars Universe circa 1998. One night at a party they decide to storm Skywalker Ranch in attempts to see the infamous Episode One before anyone else does.

If you are a Star Wars fan of any dosage, ranging from true fanboy to just seeing and enjoying the movie, you will find this movie a great comedy. With celebrity guest stars such as Billy Dee Williams (who played Lando Calrissian in Episode five), William Shatner, Seth Rogan, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, and Carrie Fisher (who played Princess Leia) there is truly an endless amount of great acting in this movie.

If ever there was a movie that is able to encompass the nature and hilariousness that can ensue for true Star Wars geeks, this is the movie to do so. The dialogue just puts the humor right out in front of you. Many times throughout this movie one or more of our fanboys have to prove their true fandom and spew knowledge of their love for the original saga.

If I were to have to pick out one flaw in this movie it would have to be if you don’t know anything about the Star Wars universe, you’ll be lost from the get go. The director of this movie is very dependant upon the fact that you’ve probably seen Star Wars at some point in your life that it makes sense why this is only a limited release movie. Don’t get me wrong thought, even if you have seen the whole saga once you’ll go into this movie being able to catch some of the jokes.

Dan Fogler who plays Hutch has really come a long way since his last movie Balls of Fury. He almost seems to be able to accept the geek knowledge that was spat upon him and makes for a great leading role for the first time. While Sam Huntington, who plays Eric, the guy who moved on and started a real life takes a step back and where you feel like he should become a main role, just takes a step back and lets everyone else bring the movie to life.

When push comes to shove though, this was a brilliant movie and even though, it took an excess of five years. This movie was well worth the wait. If you have any reservations about seeing this movie, I would highly recommend it. This movie has laughs, celebrity guest stars that exceed any thought of what you might think will happen, and a great cast that has you routing for them every debacle step of the way. This movie really made me reminisce of my childhood watching these movies and ends up with a 8 out of 10

My Bloody Valentine in 3-D

First off, I would like to say that this movie should only be seen in 3-D. The whole advertising of this movie was to see the new technology of 3-D and if you don’t end up seeing this in the new format you will be greatly disappointed. The new technology is definitely an upgrade from the last time 3-D movies came out but as far as the plot for the movie, we get a decent, not great, throw back to the 1980’s hack and slash films.

The movie takes place in a mining community where there was a collapsed mine that trapped six miners. Eventually, one survivor was found, a guy by the name of Harry Warden. Although once the public finds the other bodies, Harry Warden falls into a coma because the other miners were killed with a pickaxe. All this back story was shown with the 3-D newspaper clips and radio clips flying by.

Cut to a few years we see Harry wake up and start his villainous rampage again, this time in a hospital before heading back to his beloved mines. Though, in true horror movie fashion what’s going on there today? Well a bunch of teenagers drinking and throwing a party.

Four of the kids at this party become our main characters. First we have Sarah and Tom, and for Sarah, Tom is the love of her young life. Then we have Sarah’s best friend Irene and her boyfriend Axel. Once these kids enter the mine they begin to get scared because no one else in the mine is left alive. Harry Warden jumps out and ends up mentally scaring each and every one of them because they actually have the smarts to run and drive away.

Then we jump ten years into the future where Axel and Sarah got married, Tom left the town because of the trauma that he ended up having to deal with but comes back only to sell his fathers mine. Irene, well, Irene no longer becomes important to the story line.

From this point on you go through the same motions of any typical 80’s horror flick. If you’ve watched the Scream movies where they lay out the horror guidelines, then clearly you know what I’m talking about. Apparently, the writers of this film decided to stick as close as they could to this time tested formula. The slut get killed really quick but not before falling down when trying to run away, etc.

Not to say that this is a terrible part of the movie, not at all. It’s just this movie was specifically designed to follow the guidelines to show off the 3-D, which it does great. This is really shown through the deaths of the various characters in the movie. At one point, a pickaxe goes through someone’s eye and the eye jumps right out at you making the whole theater jump. Another great piece of 3-D was Harry Warden throwing his pickaxe at the four kids as they begin to backup their truck.

Although, this movie is nothing special, it was very entertaining to watch and a fun ride to go through to see the new features of 3-D tech but the story was unfortunately lacking in some aspects. The twists of this movie were pretty well hidden, although they were hidden right where you can see them. The run time for this movie is roughly an hour and forty-five, which for any other movie these days would be a good length but with the glasses on, your eyes begin to hurt and makes it to long.

All in all though, if you’re a fan of horror, and interested in this new 3-D tech you might find this a fun ride. It’s definitely a new way to look at the horror genre. But on the flip side if you don’t like either of these, horror and 3-D, then the price of admission for this doesn’t warrant the time. I was rather interested in the 3-D tech and I love horror but this movie still just jumps in at a 5 out of 10 but if you don't see it in 3-D it's going to drop down to a 2-3.5 out of 10. So do yourself a favor and if you do see it, only see it in 3-D.

The Spirit

With Frank Miller's solo directorial debut, he puts together a beautifully looking movie with the Spirit. Immediately, you can see the influence that was shone upon him when working on Sin City. This movie is shown in black and white but with very carefully placed colors which really bring out the emotions in this movie.

The Spirit is about a super hero who's only powers are that he cannot die. Spirit fights crime while speaking to himself in his monologues. Gabriel Macht plays the Spirit beautifully as he woos all the women that come to his city. Samuel L. Jackson, one of my personal favorites, plays the Octopus who is bent on none other than becoming immortal and a god.

The women in this movie, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, etc. are all placed in this movie for simply eye candy. While their characters are important in their own special ways, they are nothing more than gorgeous to look at in all their scenes.

Eva Mendes plays the stunning Sand Seref. Sand is the love interest of the Spirit who left when they were children to collect shiny things. Now when I say shiny things, I mean she calls them shiny things. The main treasure for her, which I shall not name, is mentioned as "the shiny thing to end all shiny things."

The dialogue and visual effects just put this movie to be nothing more than a moving graphic novel. Clearly this movie was designed to be this, but is just so beautifully done that you will sit on the edge of your seat laughing and fully enveloped in this movie. Sometimes the dialogue can be a little cheesey, but at the same time, its the kind of cheesey that one would expect from a comic book.

As an avid comic book fan, it was truly interesting to see someone finally make a movie that was designed to be a graphic novel movie and not just a movie about a super hero that has been done up to this date. There is very little blood since they cleverly disguised it with bright reds. You immediately recognize this as blood but it's such a bright red that it almost becomes comical.

Overall this movie had very few down points, unless you go into this movie thinking it is going to be anything other than a graphic novel movie, to it and clearly puts its best foot forward for this to get the rating 8 out of 10.