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
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
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 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.
Friday, January 9, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Marley and Me
Marley and Me is a wonderful tale of John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and his wife Jennifer Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) who move to Florida after they both receive jobs at their respective newspapers. They end up adopting a tiny lab since Wilson doesn't want to have children yet. On the ride home, Wilson turns on the radio and names his dog Marley after the Bob Marley song that plays in his car.
From here is where all the hijinks's ensue. Marley turns into this untrainable dog that does whatever he wants, which includes tearing up the garage, eating the wall plaster, and eating a whole answering machine. All this goes on while Wilson and Aniston try to retain a normal lifestyle while keeping this demon dog.
Wilson's relationship with this dog is really the true magic in this movie. While his relationship with Aniston is done well, Wilson just constantly seems like he's uncomfortable and a little goofy being with her. Though, with Marley, he hits right on key. These two are just amazing together because even as Marley is at his wildest, he seems to pull back while with Wilson which shows the true connection one can have with their pet.
The story is laid out beautifully and never gets dull. The movie runs about an hour and a half and not once did I feel anything slowed down or missed it's mark. If I were to pick something out that just doesn't seem to fit, it's Wilson's character doesn't ever seem happy with his current job. Though that could just be a normal issue in anyone's life, Wilson changes what he does at the newspaper at least three times, but this in no way detracts from the movie.
The creators of this movie really pulled some great emotions out of their cast and it shows through to the audience. Many times I felt the same feelings that Wilson was going through and this just puts the movie ahead of a ton of movies that might fall into this season. Though this movie does have a sad ending, you don't walk out of this movie feeling depressed, you come out feeling surprisingly pleasant. Hence why this movie warrants the 8.75 out of 10.
From here is where all the hijinks's ensue. Marley turns into this untrainable dog that does whatever he wants, which includes tearing up the garage, eating the wall plaster, and eating a whole answering machine. All this goes on while Wilson and Aniston try to retain a normal lifestyle while keeping this demon dog.
Wilson's relationship with this dog is really the true magic in this movie. While his relationship with Aniston is done well, Wilson just constantly seems like he's uncomfortable and a little goofy being with her. Though, with Marley, he hits right on key. These two are just amazing together because even as Marley is at his wildest, he seems to pull back while with Wilson which shows the true connection one can have with their pet.
The story is laid out beautifully and never gets dull. The movie runs about an hour and a half and not once did I feel anything slowed down or missed it's mark. If I were to pick something out that just doesn't seem to fit, it's Wilson's character doesn't ever seem happy with his current job. Though that could just be a normal issue in anyone's life, Wilson changes what he does at the newspaper at least three times, but this in no way detracts from the movie.
The creators of this movie really pulled some great emotions out of their cast and it shows through to the audience. Many times I felt the same feelings that Wilson was going through and this just puts the movie ahead of a ton of movies that might fall into this season. Though this movie does have a sad ending, you don't walk out of this movie feeling depressed, you come out feeling surprisingly pleasant. Hence why this movie warrants the 8.75 out of 10.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Seven Pounds
With a run time of nearly two hours, this melodrama staring Will Smith is nothing shy of great. Will Smith plays a character by the name of Ben Thomas who is in search of finding people who deserve a dramatic life change that only Ben can give them.
The movie, played in a flash back mode, had a very confusing first half. The issue here was that the time line of the movie is all over the place to the point of confusing the audience. You have no idea what is truly going on or in what order this movie has appeared to be put in. Although, as the movie goes on, tiny bits of the truth start to shine through and this is where the actors really shine.
Seven Pounds has such a great pace that even when the plot seems like an endless pit, the actors come out and give such emotion and play their characters you begin to forget that these are not real people. Rosario Dawson plays the amazing Emily Posa who slowly becomes the love interest of this movie, but be weary, this is not a romance in the slightest sense. Smith and Dawson are remarkable together, never once does their relationship seem phoney. They really seem to be in love with one another and it comes out beautifully.
The major twist in this movie not only changes your outlook on the movie but turns everything you thought about the movie on it's head. Everything comes together in the most amazing way that turns anything bad you thought about the movie to become a real tear jerker.
Smith has always been a favorite of mine. He started out as a mildly funny T.V. star and then was magically transformed into one of, in my opinion, the best actors in the business today. I really enjoyed this movie and it really gets the rank of 8 out of 10
The movie, played in a flash back mode, had a very confusing first half. The issue here was that the time line of the movie is all over the place to the point of confusing the audience. You have no idea what is truly going on or in what order this movie has appeared to be put in. Although, as the movie goes on, tiny bits of the truth start to shine through and this is where the actors really shine.
Seven Pounds has such a great pace that even when the plot seems like an endless pit, the actors come out and give such emotion and play their characters you begin to forget that these are not real people. Rosario Dawson plays the amazing Emily Posa who slowly becomes the love interest of this movie, but be weary, this is not a romance in the slightest sense. Smith and Dawson are remarkable together, never once does their relationship seem phoney. They really seem to be in love with one another and it comes out beautifully.
The major twist in this movie not only changes your outlook on the movie but turns everything you thought about the movie on it's head. Everything comes together in the most amazing way that turns anything bad you thought about the movie to become a real tear jerker.
Smith has always been a favorite of mine. He started out as a mildly funny T.V. star and then was magically transformed into one of, in my opinion, the best actors in the business today. I really enjoyed this movie and it really gets the rank of 8 out of 10
Monday, November 10, 2008
Movie Announcements
As of recently, there have been a lot of movies that have been announced and rumors that have been shooting up like none that we've seen before. This is not to say that we haven't had rumors for movies in the past, but my favorite announcement has been that of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
The main point I want to bring here is the announcement that Johnny Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter in this new adapted movie. Along with Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter have joined the cast of Alice in Wonderland playing the White Queen (Hathaway) and Red Queen (Carter) respectively.
The main curiosity I have here is the choice of unknown Mia Wasikowska to play Alice. Wasikowska is relatively new to the "biz". With Depp and Carter and Hathaway being such big stars, it makes my curiosity tingle with Burton moving to possibly create a new star in that of Wasikowska.
Other announcements that I stumbled upon today was that of the new X-Men movies entitled X-Men Origins and will focus on specific characters such as Wolverine, Storm, and Magneto. We all know that Wolverine will be getting his own movie but the announcements that were big for me has been in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine cast.
Obviously, Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role of Wolverine in this movie but the real treat is the other characters in it. In this movie we will officially see the Weapon X program and the recruits such as Sabertooth, Deadpool, Beak, Silverfox, and (drumroll please?) Gambit.
Ryan Reynolds will be playing the role of Deadpool which leaves a little to question since his preformance in Blade III was subpar, in my opinion. Taylor Kitsch, known for only his role in the movie Covenant, will be playing the mutant Gambit in this movie. I only saw the Covenant once and enjoyed it. When it comes to Kitsch though, his role was not one that stands out in my mind so I'm a little worried about the fate of my favorite mutant.
With both ups and downs of the movie seasons to come, I'm very excited to see what happens in the future to these movies and will try to keep an update of both these movies and maybe throw some more announcements in the future.
The main point I want to bring here is the announcement that Johnny Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter in this new adapted movie. Along with Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter have joined the cast of Alice in Wonderland playing the White Queen (Hathaway) and Red Queen (Carter) respectively.
The main curiosity I have here is the choice of unknown Mia Wasikowska to play Alice. Wasikowska is relatively new to the "biz". With Depp and Carter and Hathaway being such big stars, it makes my curiosity tingle with Burton moving to possibly create a new star in that of Wasikowska.
Other announcements that I stumbled upon today was that of the new X-Men movies entitled X-Men Origins and will focus on specific characters such as Wolverine, Storm, and Magneto. We all know that Wolverine will be getting his own movie but the announcements that were big for me has been in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine cast.
Obviously, Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role of Wolverine in this movie but the real treat is the other characters in it. In this movie we will officially see the Weapon X program and the recruits such as Sabertooth, Deadpool, Beak, Silverfox, and (drumroll please?) Gambit.
Ryan Reynolds will be playing the role of Deadpool which leaves a little to question since his preformance in Blade III was subpar, in my opinion. Taylor Kitsch, known for only his role in the movie Covenant, will be playing the mutant Gambit in this movie. I only saw the Covenant once and enjoyed it. When it comes to Kitsch though, his role was not one that stands out in my mind so I'm a little worried about the fate of my favorite mutant.
With both ups and downs of the movie seasons to come, I'm very excited to see what happens in the future to these movies and will try to keep an update of both these movies and maybe throw some more announcements in the future.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Role Models
Paul Rudd plays Danny Donahue in the new movie entitled Role Models. Seann William Scott plays Danny’s best friend Wheeler and together Danny and Wheeler go from school to school taking about why kids should not take drugs but buy their energy drink, Minotaur, that ends up turning your pee neon green. One day, everything goes wrong on Danny and ends up driving his Minotaur truck up a statue after getting into a fight and trying to steal his truck back from a tow truck.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, better known as McLovin, as Augie Farks. Augie is your stereotypical D&D dork but instead of playing it in his basement, there is a whole group that he plays this with in the park. Bobb’s J. Thompson breaks out of the mold in this movie playing the foul-mouthed Ronnie. Ronnie has gone through tons of different “big’s” because of his foul mouth and antagonizing character.
I cannot honestly think of a better match than this match up of Rudd and Scott. These two actors play so well of each other that there friendship is actually believable. While the “littles” of Mintz-Plasse and Thompson end up stealing the scenes most times because of the ridiculous lines.
The plot of the movie is very straightforward in that because of Rudd’s “blow up” he and Scott are forced to do 150 hours of community service with a mentorship program or spend 30 days in jail. Given their options they go with the mentorship and meet Thompson and Mintz-Plasse. Initially, they can’t find anything in common as there first day with each other are full of awkward jokes and aggressive comments.
Eventually both pairs find a connection but the funniest of either is that of Scott and Thompson’s with the love of Kiss and boobs. The connection starts when the mentorship offers a big/little camping trip and in order to fill the hours, Scott and Rudd attend. Though, Rudd’s depression and hatred towards the world hinders the relationship with his little. Eventually Rudd comes around and realizes that he and his little have in common they feel isolated from everyone else.
The laughs in this movie are continuous from the moment it starts to the final scene in the movie. Your sides will hurt from the amount of laughing you do during this film. Writers Paul Rudd and David Wain really have a great movie with this masterpiece of comedy under their belts. In the end, this movie was probably one of the funniest movies of the year and was well worth the price of a movie ticket.
This movie laughed its way to an 8 out of 10
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, better known as McLovin, as Augie Farks. Augie is your stereotypical D&D dork but instead of playing it in his basement, there is a whole group that he plays this with in the park. Bobb’s J. Thompson breaks out of the mold in this movie playing the foul-mouthed Ronnie. Ronnie has gone through tons of different “big’s” because of his foul mouth and antagonizing character.
I cannot honestly think of a better match than this match up of Rudd and Scott. These two actors play so well of each other that there friendship is actually believable. While the “littles” of Mintz-Plasse and Thompson end up stealing the scenes most times because of the ridiculous lines.
The plot of the movie is very straightforward in that because of Rudd’s “blow up” he and Scott are forced to do 150 hours of community service with a mentorship program or spend 30 days in jail. Given their options they go with the mentorship and meet Thompson and Mintz-Plasse. Initially, they can’t find anything in common as there first day with each other are full of awkward jokes and aggressive comments.
Eventually both pairs find a connection but the funniest of either is that of Scott and Thompson’s with the love of Kiss and boobs. The connection starts when the mentorship offers a big/little camping trip and in order to fill the hours, Scott and Rudd attend. Though, Rudd’s depression and hatred towards the world hinders the relationship with his little. Eventually Rudd comes around and realizes that he and his little have in common they feel isolated from everyone else.
The laughs in this movie are continuous from the moment it starts to the final scene in the movie. Your sides will hurt from the amount of laughing you do during this film. Writers Paul Rudd and David Wain really have a great movie with this masterpiece of comedy under their belts. In the end, this movie was probably one of the funniest movies of the year and was well worth the price of a movie ticket.
This movie laughed its way to an 8 out of 10
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