Movies Watched The Week of 9/21 - 9/27

Welcome gang.  The time of year is coming where the blood flows free and every white girl in the world remembers they like shit with a pumpkin flavor to it.  Yes, that time is October and horror movies dominate the proceedings.  As the week goes along, it gets horror bound and it may be very horror dominated for a while.  So sit back and relax, here comes the show.

Firestarter (September 21st, 2014)

Director: Mark L. Lester

Starring: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Martin Sheen, and George C. Scott

This isn't the best Stephen King adaptation in the world.  Hell, it wasn't even the best of the early 80s.  That honor falls to either The Shining or Christine.  And the fact that John Carpenter was supposed to do this only makes it hurt even more that it isn't great, because he coulda did something special at the height of his run.  But the movie we have may not be great.  Hell, it's barely even good.  But it has the King tone pretty right, and the story itself is pretty solid.  Although, it feels like a much longer story cut to pieces to make a short movie.  Some of the acting is very low budget 80s acting.  Sheen is Sheen and Scott is amazing.  But Barrymore does her best but she's still a kid.  And Keith is pretty solid actually, but is sidelined for most of the second half.  The most interesting thing about this movie is that it is in line with other 80s sci movies (Scanners being another) that feel like precursors to superhero movies, more specifically X Men.  It has a lot of cool material to work with, but it short cuts itself to get to an admittedly cool ending with Barrymore blowing a lot of shit up, and killing a fuck ton of people.  The movie is good but has a middle stretch that introduces some cool ideas but doesn't execute them well enough.  It's sad but it isn't Dreamcatcher or Thinner.  A decent little 80s sci fi movie, its recommended if one is a King fan.  

Rating: 7/10

Filth (September 21st, 2014)
Director: Jon S. Baird
Starring: James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots, and Jamie Bell

A quick review of this movie would simply say that it's McAvoy doing Bad Lieutenant.  But the movie is a lot more interesting that that derivative summary, and McAvoy is much more interesting.  Right off the bat, this may be McAvoys crowning achievement as an actor.  He goes through pretty much every emotion out there, and he makes it all feel real and earned to make a real man.  Which is kinda crazy, cause his character seems like a one note asshole in the beginning.  But throughout, we see real pain in the man.  It's not surprising that a movie about such awful people has a heart, since its based on a book by the author of Trainspotting.  This is a total surprise of a movie and I don't wanna talk too much about it, to keep some of the surprises in tact.  I'll just say give it a spin, cause even if you can't work with the filthy world this movie shows, you'll wanna see McAvoy show off some serious skills.

Rating: 8.5/10

Halloween 6: The Producers Cut (September 23rd, 2014)
Director: Joe Chappelle
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Paul Rudd, Kim Darby, and Mitch Ryan

This movie has been like the holy grail for horror fans.  Only being available as crappy bootlegs for close to 20 years, the movie is now finally available for legal consumption.  So, is it really good? No.  It's still a mess, like the one released in theaters all those years ago.  It's the 6th movie in a slasher franchise.  But this time out, it's an interesting mess.  So big and bold, it's kinda insane it was released.  It tries to put an explanation onto Michael Myers.  Like all the horror sequels that tried to explain the slashers evil, it is stupid and takes away from the mystique of the character.  But at the same time, it kinda works for this one and is better than most.  The biggest issue with the movie is it has some interesting ideas to shake things up, but its all half assed and looks like a DTV movie so it plays like a knockoff.  It's a shame but this is what we got.  It's better than the theatrical cut by a little, even though it's essentially a different movie.  It's Halloween, so I'll still watch and enjoy it.  But there's no denying that it's kinda crap.

Rating: 5/10

Halloween III: Season of The Witch (August 24th, 2014)
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace
Starring: Tom Atkins, Dan O'Herlihy, Nancy Loomis, and Stacey Nelkin

Now, this movie is the red headed step child of the Halloween franchise and 80s horror in general.  Made after Michael Myers was "killed" in the 2nd movie, Carpenter thought to make a movie a year that is set around Halloween but aren't connected to each other outside the holiday.  So this movie came together, but the lack of Michael threw people and they turned on it.  Which is a shame, because it's a pretty solid little horror flick with some pretty big balls.  Dealing with an evil corporation trying to sacrifice a shit ton of kids for a pagan ritual, the movie has a real sense of danger to it.  It's a brutal movie with some cool kills and a real sense of tension running through it.  It still feels in line with Carpenters sensibility, helped due to Carpenter co writing it and his usual DP Dean Cundey shooting it.  But the real reason this movie works and has a sense of danger is because it kills kids.  It gives you that premise and you think they won't go through with it and everything will be fine.  But no.  It goes full bore and no one is safe.  It isn't perfect, with some campy acting and some really insane ideas peppered throughout, like cyborgs and an absolutely confusing scene with a piece of Stonehenge.  But the commitment to the story and going for broke really sells this movie.  If you wanna see a solid 80s horror movie, this is a good pick.

Rating: 7.5/10

Top Movies

1. Filth

2. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch

3. Firestarter
4. Halloween 6: The Producers Cut

Top 5 Moments

1. The Reveal - Filth

2. The Mask Test - Halloween III
3. The Shutter Effect Hallway Chase - Halloween 6
4. The Fiery Finale - Firestarter
5. The End - Halloween 3

Top 5 Performances

1. James McAvoy - Filth
2. Tom Atkins - Halloween 3

3. George C Scott - Firestarter
4. Donald Pleasance - Halloween 6

5. David Keith - Firestarter

- Tom Lorenzo

Movies Watched 9/14 - 9/20

Welcome back folks.  The newest update is quite a small sampling.  Busy week.  But there is a classic, an unappreciated crime flick, and the death of a film maker.  It's a schizo week but not without merits.  So sit back and relax.  I may have something else coming later today.  If not, no worries.  This is all free any way.

Miami Vice (September 14th, 2014)

Director: Michael Mann

Starring: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Naomi Harris, and Gong Li

I remember really not liking this movie upon an initial viewing around the time it was originally released.  But recently Michael Mann and his visual style has been on the mind, so it seemed time for a revisit.  And it was a total surprise when it turned out to not only be really fucking good, but one of Manns best movies.  An updating of the iconic and trend setting 1980s cop show, Mann set out to bring the show to today.  But since today is no longer dominated by neon lights and colorful suits, he had to work within the newer styles.  Yet, he also had to bring the tone of the show updated too.  The show, despite it's colorful visuals, tended to be a downer of a show.  So what we have is a movie that is visually slick and everyone is dressed to the nines, even the neo nazis in the movie.  It's slick and you kinda want to look like these guys.  The digital photography that Mann spearheaded looks superb, capturing Miami to a tee.  But the tone is super serious.  Almost oppressively so.  But, takin a show that was dealing with drug dealers that ended usually in a loss, this tone is actually well earned.  This movie is grim, brutal and just very direct in that everything in the world of drug dealing kinda sucks.  Farrell and Foxx are great, deceptively so.  There's also a romance at the center between Farrell and Li, that is actually the heart of the movie and is surprisingly strong.  There is a shootout in the finale that is so great, showing off Mann's superb sense of action.  Is the movie perfect?  No.  The movie runs a bit long and the plot is almost too convoluted, with some information not being conveyed properly.  And for some, the super dour tone can really be unwelcoming.  But for me, the tone helped the reality and the tension of the movie.  If there were one liners and the villains were mustache twirling tools, it wouldn't work at all.  This is pretty well made crime fare and is highly recommended.

Rating: 8.5/10




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Tusk (September 20th, 2014)
Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osmont, and Genesis Rodriguez


I was gonna go on a long diatribe about this movie.  Really just lay into it.  But Kevin Smith put absolutely no effort into his movie, throwing every dumb ass pot head idea onto the screen without worrying about quality.  Everything in his head is genius and we just have to deal with it.  If he is gonna be so lazy and show such contempt for the audience, I'm not gonna waste much time.  This movie is a waste, an absolute joke of a movie.  Smith has made some awful movies before, when his lack of directorial talent wasn't mixed together with a mind thats been smoked retarded.  But this is next level awful.  The only things it has going for it is Michael Parks doing that thing he does, and Genesis Rodriguez doing great work with a nothing of a role.  This thing is a mish mash of tones and doesn't do any of them well, just making it a slog to get through.  And if we didn't have enough bad with Smith making another stinker in isolation with no one to tell him no, add in Johnny Depp doing absolutely terrible work.  It doesn't help that Smith can't direct, so Depp is just let loose and it's embarrassing.  This sucked, plain and simple.  Much like fellow 90 indie icon Robert Rodriguez, Smith has fallen very far.  This movie is a warning for having no one keeping a director in check and as an anti drug warning.  Because Smith just keeps getting worse since taking up the weed.  Stay away from this shit pile.  Don't give it money, so this sell fellating fat fuck can stop making movies and just stick to talking on podcasts.

Rating: 2/10

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (August 20th, 2014)
Director: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul Partain, and Gunnar Hannsen

This was a much needed refresher after the abortion of Tusk.  Talk about a movie that didn't know it's tone, we now go to a movie that is a perfect example of tone.  This movie is just a perfect slice of down and dirty violence.  There isn't much to the plot.  A group of kids going for a ride get attacked by a family of cannibals and survival is the game.  One of the grand daddies of the modern slasher movie, this movie is iconic.  Tobe Hooper has never been better.  He shot his load early.  And I can't blame him for never reaching these heights anymore.  Not many horror movies have.  I really can't say much about this movie that hasn't been said.  But it's been a while and I needed to watch something.  I will just add that the new blu ray release of this is phenomenal, a 4K restoration that makes it like watching an actual film print.  It's stunning and an absolute treat, one of the best classic releases on the format.  This is a must see if you haven't already.

Rating: 10/10






Top Movies

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2. Miami Vice
3. Tusk






Top 5 Performances

1. Marilyn Burns - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2. Colin Farrell - Miami Vice
3. Michael Parks - Tusk
4. Jamie Foxx - Miami Vice
5. Gunnar Hansen - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre




Top 5 Moments

1. The Skull Crushing - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2. The End Shootout - Miami Vice
3. The Family Dinner - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
4. The Trailer Park Raid - Miami Vice
5. Franklin Bites It - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 

- Tom Lorenzo

Movies Watched The Week of 9/7 - 9/13

Welcome back folks.  We got a new post this week, and it was an interesting one.  A theme accidentally shows up here, and it is movies with a troubled production history.  And they all have different sorts of problems that affected them in a way.  Only one truly overcomes its problems to be better than ok, but only one is actually bad.  So it's interesting to mine eyes, so maybe you'll dig on it too.  So sit back and enjoy.

Gangster Squad (September 7th, 2014)

Director: Reuben Fleischer

Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and Sean Penn

The problem that plagued this movie was not even it's own fault, it was a national tragedy occurring that threw this movie into a weird space.  Being marketed with a trailer that showed a movie theater shootout, the movie was rushed to reshoot that scene after the Aurora movie theater shooting.  I can't say it would have helped the movie as a narrative, but it was a very striking looking scene from the trailer.  It also had to be pushed back to January, the dumping ground of Hollywood cinema, so it had a massacre accidentally linked to it and then the stigma of being released in January against it.  So it was essentially destined to fail.  And it did.  It was torn to shreds, seemingly by people who assume that any movie set in the 40s about cops vs gangsters, it is an awards wannabe.  But this movie isn't trying to be an arty movie.  This is a comic booky shoot em up.  No depth or deeper meaning.  Everyone is playing archetypes and nothing more.  Penn is really bad in the role, playing more Dick Tracy villain than archetypal gangster.  Gosling also has the distinct disadvantage of sounding like a little girl, so he can never be intimidating.  But the rest of the cast is fine and the movie is shot very well.  And aside from a wanna be Zack Snyder speed ramping scene towards the end, the action is done very well too.  Another piece of contention that critics had that is a bit bullshit is the fact that they get Mickey Cohen in this movie that goes against history.  But if we can accept Tarantino killing Hitler in a movie, why is it so crazy that a movie that is just archetypes having a typical ending instead of the realistic version?  It's hypocritical and helped kill a solid if unremarkable shoot em up.  

Rating: 7.5/10

Rocky Balboa (August 12th, 2014)
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Milo Ventimiglia, and Burt Young

Now this movie had production problems in terms of contract negotiations.  Tarver, actual boxer and not really good actor almost fucked the movie over by demanding more money before shooting.  Now, this was a movie that Stallone had been trying to get made for years and had gotten very much into shape to shoot the fight scene, so Stallone had to do what he felt was necessary and get Tarver more money by taking a pay cut.  He had to because shooting was so close, but the movie could have benefitted from not using an actual boxer, because like Rocky V, he brings nothing to the screen.  Which is a shame, because his character actually has a cool story to work through on the sides of the main story.  But in the end, this is Stallones movie and he gives Rocky the ending he deserves in a beautiful movie that is just dripping with mortality and loneliness.  This movie comes the closest to the thematic and emotional heft of the first one, and it is even more emotional because of knowing this mans entire journey over thirty years.  For fans of the series, Stallone, and/or Boxing you can't go wrong.  This is a great movie that needs to be seen if you can deal with an old man fighting.  I'm really glad I rewatched it this week.

Rating: 9/10

The Day The Earth Stood Still (August 12th, 2014)
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, and Kathy Bates

I feel bad hating on this movie, because Derrickson is a good guy and good director.  But also because it is a writers strike movie, having to push ahead without any opportunities to fix the problems.  And unlike a movie that seems very lazy and no one cared about the problems, Derrickson puts so much effort into this that you can tell he would have done some fixing if he could have.  Visually very good with some great effects and some interesting ideas that don't really come together to form a cohesive whole.  It's very lackadaisical and has no one to really care about.  Keanu is good, but he's just playing an emotionless alien (the only roles he's really good at).  Connelly should never do blockbusters because she picks bad ones and never does anything interesting in them.  Jaden Smith is god awful as the unnecessary kid that so many fucking blockbusters decide they need.  Seriously, The Pursuit of Happyness wasn't that god damn good to keep casting this little prick in movies.  The rest of the cast is really stacked with Bathes, Jon Hamm, John Cleese (literally for 3 minutes), Kyle Chandler, and Robert Knepper.  Nothing is done with any of them and the actors can't do anything to help, because they have so little time to make an impression.  It's a shame because, while having not made any classics yet, Derrickson has shown the ability to tell really interesting stories.  So if we coulda fixed that, his strong directing skills could have been a damn good film.  But for now we have an interesting mess that could have been more.

Rating: 6/10

Red Dawn (August 13th, 2014)
Director: Dan Bradley
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Adrianne Palicki, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

This ones problems are two fold.  One, the studio faced financial problems, so the movie sat on a shelf for 2 years before being released.  The second problem is that the movie was supposed to be about the Chinese invading.  But to appease the Chinese, it was digitally changed to be North Korea.  The first problem doesn't really affect the movie really, but it did star a pre Thor Hemsworth so his fate is kind accidentally crazy that they did it, similar to Cabin In The Woods (for those who've seen the original, he is the Swayze role).  Peck is Sheen and Palicki is one of the girls (I don't remember because that movie wasn't great with characters).  Now, Peck isn't very good.  He doesn't have the stuff to pull off the arc of being a cowboy to being a team player, but he tries.  He handles the action better, but he isn't an action star by any means.  Hemsworth is awesome as the returned Marine leading the fight against the Koreans.  And I may be crazy, but Palicki does the best work in the movie with the least amount to work with.  It's not a surprise, because she is the only one in the cast that has shown a great amount of range on Friday Night Lights.  But she is very real as the girl from Hemsworth past who has a crush, and she crushes a big scene at the end.  That and she shows her chops as an action heroine.  Morgan is also good playing the Powers Boothe role.  Bradley gives out some good action scenes that are kinda hard hitting, but are neutered by the lack of blood and the shaky cammed to shit death scenes.  This is no classic by any means, being too short and having a good lack of character depth.  But it is fun.  Yet the second problem rears its head and kinda of irritated me the whole time.  By changing the villains to Korea, it makes no sense that any of this shit is happening.  China you could believe it since they are a super power.  Korea is a joke and stayed with me the whole time that these little fucks could do anything like this.  If you wanna see Hemsworth or Palicki do some good action work, or watch a decent little action film this isn't the worst thing you could watch.  But it is a bit of a wasted opportunity.

Rating: 7/10













Top Movies

1. Rocky Balboa
2. Gangster Squad
3. Red Dawn
4. The Day The Earth Stood Still



Top 5 Performances

1.Sylvester Stallone - Rocky Balboa
2. Josh Brolin - Gangster Squad
3. Adrianne Palicki - Red Dawn
4. Chris Hemsworth - Red Dawn
5. Keanu Reeves - The Day The Earth Stood Still




Top 5 Moments

1. Rocky's Last Visit With Adrian - Rocky Balboa
2. Rocky Keeps Fighting - Rocky Balboa
3. The Surprise Attack - Red Dawn
4. The Raid On Cohens Stronghold - Gangster Squad
5. Paulie Breaks Down - Rocky Balboa

- Tom Lorenzo

Movies Watched the Week of 9/31 - 10/6

Welcome back ladies and germs.  It's another addition in this ongoing project, and it's a pretty good week.  There's an annoying low point, but theres a 30 year old high point, a really interesting experiment, and a surprisingly decent reboot.  Wildly varying genres and tones dominate the proceedings, so there should be something for everyone.  So sit back and enjoy everybody.  I'll see ya'll soon.

Harlem Nights (August 31st, 2014)

Director: Eddie Murphy

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, and Danny Aiello

I really like this cast.  That's what I told myself when I decided to watch this.  I've heard it wasn't very good, but fuck it.  Pryor, Murphy and Foxx?  There's gotta be some entertainment.  Nope.  There was not.  It was very surprising.  The only surprising thing in the whole damn movie, a completely mediocre, run of the mill movie with no effort put into it.  This is the height of self indulgence for Murphy, taking complete control but just assuming everything will be great.  But it isn't.  It's so half assed it's wild.  Pryor puts no effort into this movie, seemingly bored and well aware that it's shit.  It doesn't help that everyone is completely miscast.  It's like a bunch of wimps trying to play tough and cool, and it doesn't work.  Murphy did good work in Beverly Hills Cop, but he wasn't playing the baddest dude in the land like he is in this.  The plot itself is also just really stupid and so derivative of The Sting, a movie it is so desperately trying to be the black version of.  It's just not worth anybodies time, a complete miss.  

Rating: 4/10

Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World (August 31st, 2014)
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, and James D'Arcy

This is an interesting movie for me to talk about.  It was a very good, thrilling movie with fantastic naval battles and really good performances by Crowe and Bettany.  It looks good and the plot is a really good tale of obsession.  But there is so much about the life on the seas and in the Royal Navy that seems so inside, they never really stop and exposition everything so it seems like we really are outsiders looking in on this certain situation.  Which in itself works, fitting the narrative.  But it could leave some viewers a little confused and have a hard time finishing it.  I know I had a hard time, yet it wasn't actually that confusing looking back.  I'll just say it's a good movie, and if you like Crowe it's a damn fine showing of his skills before he entered his fat Marlon Brando phase of his career.

Rating: 8.5/10

Ghostbusters (September 1st, 2014)
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver

Rereleased in theaters on it's 30th anniversary is the eminently perfect Ghostbusters.  We all know what Ghostbusters is, so we'll skip any perfunctory recaps.  This movie is still hilarious, but watching it now is eye opening.  The humor is not played broadly, nor does the movie stop to actually make the jokes to let the audience know to laugh.  That, and the movie is still packed with jokes that I never noticed before.  The wildest thing is that the movie was sort of duct taped together into the masterpiece we see today.  The big montage after they bust Slimer was all subplots and scenes they had to cut out to keep the run time down and make the narrative cleaner.  Not to mention almost all the dialogue is just improved, as if it was like the original This Is The End, a big effects heavy comedy.  And aside from being a comedy, this movie may actually work better as a supernatural action mystery.  We have never seen a movie this well put together in the comedy landscape since, a movie that just dances in different genres and is perfect the whole time.  Staying so popular for 30 years isn't that crazy with a finished product like this.

Rating: 10/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (September 2nd, 2014)
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Will Arnett, and Johnny Knoxville

This movie shouldn't work.  We've seen what anything Michael Bay has his hands in with 80s kids products turn out like.  And hell, it could be argued it doesn't work.  I kinda can't even argue with that.  The narrative is a mess, with a villainous plot that makes no kind of sense to a villain with no personality despite him wearing a suit made of knives.  The villain is another big problem, orginally being Fichtner but then being changed because Shredder can't be a white guy.  So we get a bland asian man with no personality or reason to be in the movie.  That and the movies real main character is April O'Neill, played by Megan Fox.  She's alright, but does nothing other than look really perplexed the whole time.  And her backstory is hilarious, because we see her father die in a fire, but then Fichtner says he shot him.  Obvious reshoots peaking in.  But despite the mess of the whole thing, they got right what needed to be right.  The Turtles personalities.  Holy shit are these guys amazing.  Visually they are a bit off putting, but in action you forget it.  You just see and hear the turtles, and it's great.  Really sort of mindblowing, since Bay really doesn't do the actual Transformers justice.  It all culminates with a tiny scene with the turtles in an elevator, just beat boxing.  So we are lucky they're not bad, let alone really good.  Also, the action is really good.  The best scene being a chase down a snowy mountain.  And coming from Liebesman, it's surprising that it's all shot so clearly because he's used shaky cam crap before.  Now, with a sequel being announced one can only hope that they do some narrative work in a way to make Shredder a better character and focus more on the Turtles.  Also, add Krang.  Cause holy shit do I wanna see that little bastard on screen.

Rating: 7.5/10

Locke (August 5th, 2014)
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Tom Hardy


This is the most experimental movie of the week, and in a long while.  The movie is about a man driving to a location to deal with a mistake he made because he is all about his principles.  And all he does is talk on the phone.  And because Tom Hardy is playing that man, Ivan Locke,  it's all riveting.  It doesn't hurt that Knight gives him something to really chew on.  Hardy is so good we know this man completely, despite only knowing the bare minimum.  He never leaves the car, so it's all in his voice and body language and his eyes.  It's an absolutely immersive performance and another notch in the impressive filmography of Hardy.  Knight also directs the hell out of this, being limited to the car.  It is shot like a fever dream version of a Michael Mann movie, really neon looking lights at night.  Its really kind of beautiful.  I won't say much, cause it's best to go in cold on this.  I'll just say that Ivan's issues all really speak to me, as they probably speak to every man.  A tour de force for Hardy and just a really interesting movie.

Rating: 9/10









Best Movies

1. Ghostbusters
2. Locke
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Harlem Nights






Top 5 Performances

1. Tom Hardy - Locke
2. Bill Murray - Ghostbusters
3. Russell Crowe - Master and Commander
4. Noel Fisher - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Harold Ramis - Ghostbusters




Top 5 Moments

1. What Did You Do Ray? - Ghostbusters
2. Turtles In The Elevator - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. The Final Battle - Master and Commander
4. I Think He Can Here You Ray - Ghostbusters
5. Are You A God? - Ghostbusters

- Tom Lorenzo