Reviews

Set years after Ghostbusters II in small town America the descendants of Egon Spengler attempt to make sense of their personal relationships with him while also uncovering a mystery. To say my expectations for GBA were high is an understatement. I am a fan of this franchise for better and for worse. I strongly advise ignoring any critical commentary good or bad and judge for yourself. Afterlife hits all the nostalgia feels while laying the groundwork (hopefully) for future installments and I'm here for it. Buy the ticket take the ride and oh and do stay until after the credits roll.

I was a huge fan of this movie when it came out.I must have watched it on VHS 100 times.That being said its been a good 15 years since I've watched it & having just bought it & watched it on Bluray I have to say that I don't know what I ever saw in this movie.This doesn't happen very often with me usually a movie I loved as a kid is a movie I still enjoy as an adult. American Werewolf In London,My Bloody Valentine,Prince of Darkness & They Live just to name a few.Night of the Demons is an ugly movie loaded with stereotyped characters & trope after trope.Watching it now it reminded me of really bad dinner theater.This is not a so-bad-its-good b-movie or even one of the finer trashier Troma flicks.Nope NOTD exists in this vacuum of awfulness that is almost jarring to watch.I see no point in breaking down the story or explaining the highs & lows because I can sum up this movie in one sentence. Night of the Demons is a joyless scare-free Evil Dead knock-off that has absolutely zero redeeming qualities if your not a teenage boy living in the 1980's. Still I love Scream Factory & in 2013 my library increased with more of the movies they released & I'm looking forward to future titles to come.

After raising the bar so high with The Dark Knight Nolan drops said bar with nerve shattering force with The Dark Knight Rises. To say that I had high hopes for Nolans 3rd go at The Bat would be criminally understating the obvious.How could it be bad?!?!?The man had plenty of time to hash out a good script & the full support of the studio behind him.It has taken me months to bounce back from the disappointment I felt after seeing TDKR.If this movie was rushed into production a month after The Dark Knight I might have been able to excuse some of the glaring issues.Maybe.I honestly don't even know where to begin.

****************SPOILERS******************** 1.Batman spends 8 years out of commission over a failed romance & no one notices that both Batman & Bruce Wayne disappeared at the same time. 2.No cartilage no problem just wear this bat bionic brace thingy & you'll be punching holes in brick walls like a champ. 3.Robin knocks on his door & says hey I know your Batman let me in & lets talk about it.OK sure come on in. 4.Catwoman has the dumbest subplot.Worse than the entire Halle Berry feature. 5.Robins name is not Robin. 6.Alfred quits?!?!?!? 7.Batman is broken in half.His spine is broken yet through the magical healing hands of a a deranged prison masseur & some push ups hes up & running in no time. 8.Somehow Bane manges to fly Bruce to the ass end of the world to drop him in a hole then fly all the way back in what 24 hours?A week?Hello continuity! 9.With no friends no money no assets somehow Bruce fully healed crawls out of Banes hole & what walks back to Gotham?Hitchhikes? Gotham is under siege & taken over by terrorists & the rest of the world just does nothing.Really?! 10.More than half of the police force charges into the sewers after Bane & are trapped which has got to be the dumbest thing I've seen on screen since Ernest escaped from jail. 11.When the trapped officers escape MONTHS later they are showered shaved & fit for an epic battle in the snowy streets of Gotham. 12.Instead of oh I don't know planning to take back Gotham they just charge at them with sticks. 13.Longest detonation time for a bomb ever! 14.The second best detective after Batman Gordon is STUNNED to find out Bruce & (SPOILER) Batman are one & the same.Nevermind that EVERYONE in Gotham seems to have figured it out. 15.Bruce kills The Bat & runs away with Catwoman leaving EVERYTHING to Robin.

****************END SPOILERS********************* These are just the most glaring problems to me.There are so so many that I would be here for hours detailing every last one. This is a skilled team of film makers at work here.These plot problems continuity issues & poorly written characters should be at a minimum not at an accelerated high.Sure some of these issues I have are personal but most of them are technical.The Dark Knight Rises is a BAD movie people.This isn't the fault of the actors involved or shockingly the studio.Nolan & company have delivered a well polished turd & it seems that mostly people are very satisfied with it.Which is baffling on so many levels.Now I waited for them to release the bluray thinking maybe we would get a directors cut that at least tryed to reconcile the problems with this movie but nope.Nolan truly believes he delivered a masterpiece & thats that.I want to watch The Dark Knight Rises at least one more time with commentary.I just have to hear its creators try to skirt or justify this mighty mess of a failure.

A recently married man & woman move into the brides childhood home when inexplicable things begin to happen & their happy courtship is torn asunder.Thats all im saying about Lovely Mollys plot because the less you know the better.What feels familiar in this movie from the start gradually begins to dissolve into a menacing piece of fiction that never lets up for its entire duration.There are subtle nuances that separate itself from other movies of its kind that carry so much weight.While watching this I found myself amazed at how all the pieces fit & how very very wrong those other movies get it over & over.This is not a found footage movie or even a horror movie really.It is based firmly in reality & any loose plot thread left open is meant to challenge your perspective as a viewer not mask some deficiency in the mechanism of the story.The performances are solid with a few exceptions but the standout here is Molly herself played by Gretchen Lodge.I was riveted by her portrayal.There were times when I caught myself holding my breath because the tension & suspense was almost to hard to bear.All I can say is watch it with an open mind.I personally loved every detail of this movie & will definitely be adding Lovely Molly to my collection.It warrants repeat viewings & to be introduced to friends for open discussion.

I don't have a clear image of what the Bosnian war was or who was right or wrong.The statistics in the end are horrible due to the loss people suffered during & after it.As with all wars I think any rational person would have to ask in the end was it all worth it? So judging this movie based solely on accuracy in regards to historical fact & consideration is nearly impossible unless you were there. I was not there & I am not a historian by any means. Now filmmakers have been retelling some of the most brutal & historic atrocities for a very long time from various angles & perspectives to a wide & varied degree. So my question is is it wrong to to look at these types of films as purely entertainment? For me personally I think its safer to go into a historical drama with this mindset & if the movie is done well than maybe it can lead you to explore the truth a little further once the credits have rolled.In the Land of Blood & Honey does just that for me.Again I cant account for accuracy but I was moved & entertained & captivated & angered throughout the duration of this movie.I think In the Land of Blood & Honey is a tough film to review but I still felt compelled to write & say give it a shot & form your own opinion.

I went into The Grey with very little expectations other than seeing Neeson vs some wolves. What I got in the first 15 minutes was something broader & more meaningful than that. Then the plane crashes & The Grey becomes a survival horror movie with supernatural wolves & a cast of characters that I did not care about at all because the film makers did nothing properly to flesh them out before hand.Neeson is fantastic for the entire run of the movie but everyone else is so one dimensional that in the end even Neesons character comes off a little flat.

Heres where my mind went when all was said & done. What if they did away with the entire cast right up front & instead of a pack of wolves they just used the alpha or some lone wolf & let Neeson carry The Grey as a straight character study of a man fighting his demons alone. Hell they didn't even have to leave the site. Liam Neeson could have held my interest for the entire duration of this movie because he is such a good actor & because Ottway is such an interesting character either way. I understood all the heavy handed symbolism because they were constantly repeated over & over & over & over. As it stands The Grey is a predictable horror movie shoehorned into a good story about one mans fight for salvation against all odds. Bad movies don't bother me as much as ones like these where the potential is just squandered.Not to mention it frustrates me to no end when someone attempts to disguise a rudimentary action flick as a thinking mans action flick. Who are you fooling???!!! Oh apparently everyone seeing that The Grey is being toted as the first great movie of 2012. What do I know!!

I think time has done a disservice to the truth regarding The Kennedy family so I no longer look at this as a factual occurrence but an actual mythology. I've watched numerous documentaries & read countless books as well as seen dozens of fictional celluloid re-tellings & I don't know what to believe & maybe that is precisely the point. There is no conspiracy or is there? Thankfully this mini series doesn't go all Oliver Stone on the viewer but instead grounds The Kennedys in a reality we can all understand. One filled with love betrayal & death. Thus making this adaptation immensely entertaining so long as you approach this as entertainment & don't try to connect the dots based on whatever you think you might know. Truthfully if you weren't a member of the Kennedy elite you cant possibly know the whole story. I wouldn't call this series a master piece because its a bit too soapy at times but there is a level of fascination knowing that at least at one point these characters were real people that continue to mystify us & capture our imaginations. Greg Kinnear & Barry Pepper as Jack & Bobby have a lot of chemistry & make me wonder why these guys aren't used more often. Tom Wilkinson is Tom Wilkinson nuff said. Katie Holmes is not my cup of tea but the vitriol thrown at her every performance make me nauseous. Shes not that bad in small doses.The Kennedys is an above average entertaining drama which like I said is best viewed from this one single perspective only.

Im going to make this brief because I found this whole experience too painful to relive. Paul is a movie about a foul mouthed alien who crash lands on earth for 60 years until he escapes & is picked up by two vacationing English men on their way back from Comic-con. The men in question are Nick Frost & Simon Pegg & rather get into an extensive essay of their career lets just say that Paul is one short of their usual creative process. The other piece of the puzzle missing here is Edgar Wright. For the record I love Scott Pilgrim. Anway Paul right look I get what Pegg & Frost were aiming for but it just doesn't work. Greg Mottola subs for Wright & up until this point I had nothing against his resume. I liked Adventureland & Superbad was entertaining. So I went into Paul with no objections or expectations. I just wanted to laugh & enjoy myself regardless of any reservations lurking beneath the surface sans Wright. However after 45 minutes of just being beaten over the head with crude language & oh yeah Seth Rogen as Paul smoking it up every few seconds I know what a stretch right! This shtick ran its course with Pinapple Express & recently ruined Green Hornet. Enough already. Im not against dumb humor or light hearted fare but this material is beneath Frost & Pegg. This reminds me of my youth all over again. Great comedians being reduced to disposable entertainment. Pryor,Cosby,Carlin & so on. Look I know you've got to put food on the table or maybe you want to reach a broader audience so you make a few crowd pleasers but come on. Apart from Star Trek Simon Pegg has been flying solo in one easy to swallow movie after another. OK fine not my thing but its separate enough from that world he helped create that it doesn't damage its credibility. Teaming up with Frost for a third go is a definite grab towards that geek demographic & yet what we get is something more suitable for the masses. Call me naive but this feels deceptive. Do your crap movies for whatever reason but don't bait the fans who have supported you since Spaced. Im not big on the theory that one bad movie or album sinks someones career so on that note lets move on.I hope the fourth time around overshadows the third.

Headed by an all star cast & one new comer True Grit is the story of a young girl looking for revenge for her fathers death in 1877 Arkansas. Directed by the Coen brothers in crowd pleasing mode much more akin to O Brother,Where Art Thou? than No Country for Old Men. Which is disappointing & misleading because the trailers framed Grit more like the latter rather than the former. The performers are all there up on the screen doing what they should be but are left hanging scene after scene with nothing to do. Except walk here,babble out dialogue there & look completely lost the entire length of the movie. Admitedly the Coen brothers have done some extraordinary work but lets face it they have done an equal number of crap pictures as well. The problem with True Grit is that it sticks too close to the source material never not once taking any risk in telling this story in a way that would breathe new life into it. It also does the western a huge disservice. Im not interested in bigger set pieces & loud action set ups but seriously utilize the talent you have guys. Character driven stories are what the Coen brothers are know for but True Grit is watery & perfunctory. It seems like this version was tailor made not for movie lovers but the short attention span crowd. Those that don't recall what they watch with any more enthusiasm than eating a sandwich & carrying on. Yet the approval ratings critically commercially & otherwise contradict that & its puzzling to me. This is a pay check to all involved & Oscar bait for the studio executives. I mean the ending of this infuriated me so bad that I had to get up & leave. Even without seeing the original it was badly written but aside from that this is Rooster Cogburn man! How they summed up his story was just disrespectful proving that the makers behind this remake truly not only have no understanding of the original story or story telling in general but clearly no grit what so ever.

I was a 7 year old rabid Star Wars Fan when I first saw Tron in 1982 & I loved it. I believe I saw this movie for fifty cents at the time & at that time being that Disney found it to be a major disappointment it vanished rather quickly. Now if you don't know even the most successful movies released theatrically took a long time to reach the home viewer. The reason being is that the home video market was just dawning. So basically watching a movie in the comfort of your own home was a novelty.One that took a long time to reach you & when it did cost a lot of money to own.As for renting forget it.I can still remember the first video store that opened up in our neighborhood & even if you could afford the fees good luck trying to find anything on the shelf renting. The copies were limited to say the least. This lack of selection lead me to rent in later years movies by Troma,Argento & many many now cult classics from the 70's & early 80's. So Tron became unobtainable to me until it started popping up on the boob tube & once I learned how to record something off the TV onto tape well then I had my fuzzy commercial heavy copy all to myself. My point being is that Tron has been a healthy part of my life for 28 years. I didn't watch the initial Legacy teasers & go oh yeah I remember that movie I thought finally! Tron is everything the haters say it is & so much more & I love this movie every time I watch it. So Legacy is a sequel not a remake retelling or re imagining.BOLD! Jeff Bridges & Bruce Boxleitner reprise their roles.Hell Yeah! Disney opened the vault & poured tons of cash into the effects.OK. Bad news its 2008 & the movies not slated for release until 2010?!? Since I could not see the midnight showing I went to the next one early Friday morning straight after work. All plot holes & grievances aside Tron: Legacy did not fail to transport me back 28 years & leave me awe struck,on the edge of my seat & my eyes locked on the screen for every single frame until the credits rolled & the screen went blank. My first words were more more more more! Thats not an exaggeration. I could fill pages & pages of gushing accolades & geeked out fan boy bewilderment but it wouldn't make anyone want to see Tron: Legacy any more or less than they are already do. These movies are about individual appreciation not as many have said elitist cult fascination. I don't want Tron conventions or Tron to be embraced by the masses. As Sméagol said once: "We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!" If there is never another Tron movie so be it. I've got two & thats more than enough. Thanks Disney for not raping my childhood. I appreciate it very very much.

A recently divorced woman is attempting to sell her home when two lunatics break in & murder everyone she loves or cares about in her life.There's a bit more to the story than that but im not going to ruin it.Besides you'll probably figure it out within 15 minutes anyway. Nothing groundbreaking here there are a few jolts some shocks & enough sustained tension to not bog things down & keep the movie from being too dumb or too overcooked. Open House looks crisp & moves briskly & has a lot of TV actors in lead roles which typically is disastrous for these micro movies. Anna Paquin is topped billed on this site which is understandable considering her bro is the brains behind it but unfair to Rachel Blanchard & Brian Geraghty who are 2 of 3 actors that carry this movie for its duration. The 3rd is Tricia Helfer of BSG fame who does the psycho bitch routine very well.Watch her facial expressions throughout Open House & you'll know what I mean. The only complaint I have is the end which feels rushed & unsatisfactory.However I cared enough about the victims to say a few times aww man I kinda liked that guy.Which is pretty good in my opinion because all the side actors are just lambs to the slaughter & you know it as soon as they pop up on screen.All in all Andrew Paquin is a competent writer & director who should have no problem tackling bigger mainstream movies in the future. Sidenote here I hate True Blood!Am I the only one that feels Alan Ball is slumming it?!?!? I say this only because Sookie & Bill share some screen time here. That is all go watch Open House & Enjoy but if your expecting your two favorite True Blood actors to have a big meaty part in this sorry but its just a selling point.They're screen time is extremely limited.

What can I say I was excited for this new Predator movie. My expectations were high & I walked away bummed out big time. I grew up on 87's Predator.Had it memorized word for word. Even now its one of Arnolds only movies thats withstood the test of time. I thought Predator 2 was/is a good movie & I enjoyed both AVP's on a purely guilty pleasure level.Like an Ed Wood movie. So when it was announced Robert Rodriguez was helming this thing I felt skeptical.The man cannot tell a story let alone direct or produce in any cohesive fashion. Hey man heres a clue stories have a beginning middle & an end. Then things got darker when Nimrod Antal was attached as director. Armored,Vacancy & Kontroll. A crap trifecta for sure. Then the trailers hit & the actors became known & things started to look up. Long story short Brody your a great actor but an action star...no way! The other actors you say? Oh you mean there were more?! Didn't feel like it. Lets talk about the predators. Sad to say that a movie monster from over 20 years ago looks better than the new fangled updated one we got now. Its like no one knew what made these creatures so awesome!!!! It was embarrassing. Also what made the human element so good was chemistry between the actors.That even if one or two were an a-hole you still were rooting for them. Not here.Everyone was either playing to type or mimicking a scene from a better movie & badly.Except Fishburne who I typically don't like.Here he loosens up & grabs my attention then is quickly dispatched & completely wasted.Hell I would have rather have seen a whole movie with just his character than the 8 duds wandering aimlessly across the screen lost in scenery dialogue & all around bad mojo that makes up this 106 minute train wreck.The good news is that unlike Alien where everything hinges on Ripley Predator can be reinvented or re-explored. Trust me there are better Predator stories better directors & better screen writers out there aching for a shot to make a better Predator movie than this.So I say next!

I have no shame admitting that I watched this to see Amanda Seyfried naked. After watching this I realized thats exactly the reason not to watch it. Among other things like it having no plot no point & no purpose. None of the naughty scenes are sexy,seductive or erotic. I actually laughed at how stupefying the whole mess is. Not even MST3K could find a bone of contention here. Watching Chloe fail frame by frame is painful. Amanda gave up Big Love for this Dear John & Letters to Juliet?!?!? I do not care for Atom Egoyan as a director either. His movies are sniveling & rote aimed at a higher class of snobs. Chloe is the creme de la creme of dull pomp and circumstance cinematic drudgery. Oh & hey Liam After.Life & Chloe both in the same year wow did they even have to pay you man?!?!?My new name for Liam Neeson is Ol dirty Bastard.Chloe actually reminded me of another laugh a minute stinker called Obsessed.The only difference is Obsessed doesn't take itself too serious so while its a bad movie at least its not pretending not to be.

Im old enough to remember the original & smart enough to know that watching it now that it is very problematic. Things is I've always felt the downside to most of Cravens movies is that he trys to jam too many concepts into one single idea & then cant figure out which one will make the best point in the end. There is no better example among his body of work than NOES 84. However if there is a personal favorite of mine that isn't too problematic it would have to be The Hills Have Eyes 1977. Other than that I've really grown to loathe his movies. So what makes Freddy & NOES 84 special? Freddy was the first of the group (Myers,Jason) to have a voice. He wasn't just going to stalk & kill you no he was going to make fun of you too. However despite the dare to be different NOES 2 what followed was a dumbing down of one the coolest horror icons of my generation.

About 3 years ago before word of a remake ever got out I actually got to talk to Robert Englund actually there were a few of us in that room & people were firing various questions at him which he was answering with delight like a champ. I was sitting directly in front of him & after a half hour just looked right at him & asked him how he would feel about being replaced in a remake of a NOES. I must of spoiled everyone elses fun because for the next two hours thats all he talked about.Sorry people.

He said that it was OK & that he had done all he could with the character. I tryed & tryed to poke holes in his logic but damn that man has his wits about him. Long story short Robert Englund is one of the coolest people I've ever met.

So there I was reluctantly watching NOES 2010 with Robert Englunds wisdom echoing in my head & everything he had said that day years ago was unfolding right in front of me & it made sense. I must of said to myself "oh thats what he meant" about 20 times in my head!

First of all if you didn't see Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children & automatically think oh sh@#! that guy IS Freddy Kruger then you just don't get it. Second if you think perfect casting just happens when its supposed to your nuts! I was stunned when Jackie got the part but also not really. Notice I've said little of the remake so far? OK so enter Platinum Dunes (oh no)who to date have only gotten the two Chainsaw remakes right & nothing else. Then screenwriter Wesley Strick (game over man)who has done nothing but collect a paycheck on the backs of other peoples art as a career. Talk about a missed opportunity. Wait Samuel Bayers the director wtf is going on here?! This going to be an epic disaster now I have to see it but for all the wrong reasons. Well see it I did & by no means is it a masterpiece but it is far far from the pos I had expected to it to be. I don't know how they did it & don't want to know but all the elements good & bad come together to make a Noes 2010 a smart (what!) lean mean horror machine. The difference between the two Freddys are that Englunds was very physical & deliberate & Jackies is all mental & reigning chaotic rage. Freddy is back albeit slightly modified for a whole new generation but back where he belongs in the collective nightmares of our young. All you need to know about this remake is that Freddy Krueger is creepy again & not the vaudeville clown the studios turned him into back in the 80's. Oh & thankfully Craven kept his hands off of this. Now go see it.

Like most good rock biopics The Runaways thrust the audience into the artists shoes by giving you a first person account of their rise & fall. Sometimes its two members of the band who burned the brightest like Lennon & Mccartney.Often it is one like Morrison or Wilson. Well this generation Twilight version hones in on Jett & Cherie played by Dakota Fanning & Kristen Stewart. Stewart steals the show as Jett & Fanning moves ever so closer to becoming a legitimate actor. I cant say that im a huge fan of the band only that I went to see this purely to be entertained & that I was. Until the last 1/2 when it felt like they had to wrap it all up neat & quick.Something feels missing like they just jumped ahead too suddenly too fast. Michael Shannon as Kim Foley is right on par with Stewart. Then again I've yet to see him in something where I didn't like his performance. Floria Sigismondi is better known for her surreal & abstract videos & photography.Being that this is her first movie i'd say she did an exceptional job. I will be looking forward to see what she does next.

Now the reason im really writing this is because of what happens in the pre credits follow up. We are told about Jett & Cheries post Runaways life then fade to black. It was literally a WTF moment for me.

Ummmm what about Sandy West drummer & founder who died of cancer in 06? Or Lita Ford who went on to record a number of solo records in the 80's? The only exception here is bassist Jackie Fox who refused to give them the rights to her likeness.

Shame on you Joan Jett. Preaching about unity in the face of abandonment by your family only to steal credit away from the women you claimed to be your only family. I can understand a little mystique & hyperbole to enhance the experience but not hypocrisy.Not when the message is so clearly laid out & draped over all the nonsense. Am I being too picky maybe but this is called The Runaways. If Jett & Cherie wanted all the credit why not call it what is, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway?!?!?!?!?

There's a doc out there about The Runaways called Edgeplay look for it. I haven't seen it but im on the hunt for it.

The original Stepfather was one of those movies that wasn't a real big hit or a substantial cult hit yet even if no one remembered seeing it once you explained the movie a bit they knew precisely what it was.Very weird. Most know the original Terry O'Quinn as John Locke but to me he will always be Jerry Blake first then of course Peter Watts & Locke. Having re-watched the original Stepfather just as the remake was released I found myself as I am with most old movies cringing & shaking my head. However O'Quinns performance is the glue that makes the movie still watchable. Enter Dylan Walsh who to me will always be Dr.Sean McNamara. When I first saw the trailer for the remake I wasn't horrified or offended I just didn't care so I skipped it cause if you hate remakes then don't go & pay to see them. I will however watch them for free at home at my own leisure depending on my curiosity level. Dylan Walsh was the motivation for me to even watch this new version & im glad he was because this new Stepfather ain't half bad. Walsh is perfect for the part & im curious to see how he does post Nip/Tuck. In a lot of ways this remake exceeds the original.At least in having stronger actors & a slightly tighter premise.The problem then you ask? Well there's nothing to separate it from the countless other movies like it but considering the mess I was expecting & didn't see well I rather enjoyed it. Penn Badgley (dont know who he is) does a pretty good job as the thorn in the Sepfathers side.His troubled past gives the movie all of its weight & depth. Amber Heard plays his girlfriend & not just high school but childhood sweethearts which albeit a small addition to the story lends a lot of credibility to their relationship. Everyone else in this movie are just playing the part they are required. Which is fine but adds nothing to the movie. Overall The Stepfather 09 is a good way to kill some time when you have nothing else to do.

My eyes were glued to the screen for the duration of Avatar. However my mind was working overtime taking notes. I've been watching James Cameron movies since Terminator. Mostly they are hit or miss for me. In short my favorites of his are Aliens & Titanic. Avatar cribs a lot from Aliens mostly its characters. Giovanni Ribisi & Paul Reiser are playing the same person in two different movies. The other problem with Avatar is after an hour I felt like I had seen everything I was going to see. The rest of the movie was the same stuff except bigger & louder & more of it. Also there is zero emotional investment in the characters because there is zero development. Everyone plays the part you see with no deviation at all. I felt more emotion watching Optimus Prime get killed in Transformers 2 than the anything in Avatar. Which brings me to another point why is Bay a hack & Cameron a genius?! Could you imagine what would happen if the two ever teamed up?!

Anyway Avatar is what it promises a virtual thrill ride from start to finish so in that respect Avatar succeeds.

Im a horror geek. I will watch any horror movie from anywhere by anyone. Now with that said ZL is a movie that lacks potential & constantly wants to remind you that it is very hip & oh so cool. Everyone knows that just because you act cool doesn't mean you actually are right?!?! Maybe im burned out on zombie movies maybe my recent disappointment towards a certain Mr.Zombie & his most recent cinematic adventure left me cold or maybe both. I don't know. The premise of ZL is simple a rampant infection turns everyone into zombies the world ends a zero meets a hero hahas & violence ensue. Good news Mandy Lane & Bill Murray are in it. Bad news Abigail Breslin & Jesse Eisenberg are too. Btw which came first the Eisenberg or the Cera? Ahh who cares they both suck. Oh yeah Woody Harrelsons in it too.Ka Ching!!! Hope that worked out for you. Every joke fell flat. Every action sequence was anti climatic. There's no chemistry between the actors. Hey guess what you can polish a turd. Bottom line is what you see in the trailers is pretty much all you get. Next!

When a well trusted handyman breaks into the home of the family hes working for while they are away he discovers something far worse than himself lurking in the dark.

First off loved Feast but what the makers of that movie brought to the Saw franchise not so much.

The Collector plays like an early Argento/Bava film being very bright yet dark out of focus & dirty while the music sometimes drowns out the dialogue. While the implements of torture & death were straight from Saw thats where the similarities end because there is no moral center or message of right or wrong.

Now the torture genre has been in full swing for years now & while some have been entertaining most have missed the mark by miles. Im looking at you Eli Roth. I grew up on I Spit On Your Grave & Cannibal Holocaust your going to have to try a lot harder than Hostel to win me over or shock me. What The Collector gets right is that it never stops being mean & nasty. The game of cat & mouse played between the killer & the burglar was intense.Everything takes place in one house on three floors & at the expense of this poor family.

There's nothing original or new here yet at every turn The Collector kept me guessing wondering where in the hell it was all going. I don't think the suspension of disbelief was any higher than any other movie so yeah there were a few plot holes that don't add up but the movie is just so ugly & far removed from what average movie goers have come to expect from a horror movie that yup I can forgive it.

Also stick around after the credits.

The idea is great but the execution just fizzles so fast. I love a good cerebral head trip but I need it to hold my attention. One of favorite movies is There Will Be Blood. It has a minimal amount of action yet it is both thrilling & compelling. However Hurt Locker is being marketed as an action war movie in the trailers & a deep anti war movie by critics. It isn't either of these things at all. Were introduced to a group of soldiers whos job it is to diffuse bombs one of them dies & is replaced by a rouge no fear kinda guy(Renner) This is where the movie just plummets! As an actor Renner does not have the chops to carry a movie. Aside from that whole scenes are wasted building up to mini anti climatic moments that are frustrating to watch. The Hurt Locker is one of those rare movies where you start watching one movie & somewhere along the line it becomes a whole different movie. Kind of like Full Metal Jacket. The first 1/2 is amazing the other not so much but still very watchable. Not so for The Hurt Locker. I truly wish & hope somebody rips off this idea & actually makes something good out of it. As it is The Hurt Locker is a dull go nowhere kind of film that for some reason is actually getting a lot of good press & word of mouth. I truly don't get it.

1933 The hunt for Dillenger has intensified & Edgar Hoover & his Bureau of Investigation are looking to put an end to the era of Robin Hood bank robbers. Michael Mann employs all of his best skills here & never being too impressed in the past by his style of camera work here it works very well. Christian Bale plays a more subtle version of himself than were used to as Melvin Purvis & it is a relief. Depp as well steps away from the over the top caricatures he usually plays to reminds us just why we fell in love with him to begin with. I think the biggest complaint people have is how the movie doesn't really focus on anything specific. Which for me was fine watching Public Enemies was like getting a glimpse of that time period instead of an autobiography of one man. Depp at one point when asked who he is rattles off a pitch perfect line of Dillengers life & that was enough for me & all that needed to be said. Mann should be applauded for juggling so many aspects of this time in one movie without ever losing sight of the principle objective. Does it feel a little undercooked again not to me. You could make 5 or 6 or more movies out of this yet I don't think they would be 1/2 as interesting to watch as Public Enemies. There are also a wide range of supporting actors some known some not that add little splashes of color through this movie. Public Enemies works for me & serves as a nice break form the normal crash bang boom of other summer movies out there right now. Also of note 6 people walked out midway through the showing of Public Enemies I saw. Which really made me want to follow them out & politely ask why. To each their own I guess.

If I had to run down the list of every movie LVK aped I would run out of space. However despite the many winks & nods LVK still manages to be top notch from start to finish. Two friends decide to go on a poor mans holiday to some quaint little backwoods English village it doesn't take long for the high camp hijinks to kick in full swing. I am an avid movie watcher but my love lies in horror. Horror & comedy don't usually work for me but that doesn't mean I don't have my favorites in that category. The last & most recent would be the criminally overlooked Poultrygeist. I think the problem is that horror comedies either fall short or just go way overboard its a delicate balance that very few can master & even those who master it once usually don't do it twice. Im looking at you Sam Rami(Evil Dead 2)Peter Jackson(Dead Alive) Lesbian Vampire Killers has it all for me continuous deadpan humor glorious sets the right amount of prosthetics fantastic makeup effects & overall just a really good sense of the macabre. LVK comes across as a studied homage to all the great horror comedies of the last 20 years or so & not just something someone threw together after watching Shaun of the Dead once or twice. I think Lesbian Vampire Killers would make a great theatrical experience around Halloween here in the states if wasn't for the dreaded bully Saw series that everyone is still so afraid to compete with. Oh well i guess those of us who loved it will have to rely on word of mouth to spread this thing around. Otherwise I have a feeling LVK will disappear into obscurity pretty fast.

My fiancée went to the movies to see the original & when it came out on DVD I watched it with her. I wasn't put off by the rampant homosexuality some of my favorite movies are pretty gay(Mysterious Skin,Shortbus & Hedwig)no it just wasn't filthy enough. Well part 2 exceeded my filthy expectations in full campy spades. One hour forty minutes of trash cinema that had me unable to look at the screen for most of that running time. This is one of those movies that people will love or hate. There's no middle ground. If you don't mind stepping out of your comfort zone & shutting off your brain Gays Gone Wild is a lot of fun. Anyone else ready for part 3 Gays in Space?

N & N felt like it was shot in one take & all the actors just met as they were filming. Nothing feels connected. Not the people. Not the city. Not the music. This movie fails at everything. I have not read the book so I don't know how close the two are for better or worse. If you hated Juno man your going to love Nick & Norah. No not really you'll probably want to rip out your eyes & ram them into your ears. Hey I didn't really like Juno but at least it was technically good. Meaning it had a story a plot & cast of people who knew their roles & at least seemed to belong in that world. N & N is just a pile of random scenes strewn together barely representing a movie maybe a 20 minute sitcom. Maybe I guess.