New Year's Evil

New Year's Eve to me is one of the most overrated holidays. It is a holiday where we wait for hours for basically just a ball to drop and it is just an excuse for party goers to party. It becomes more and more each year and is a tiresome thing. If it were up to me, I would just treat New Year's Eve as a normal day. The film, New Year's Evil from 1980 just adds more bad stuff to all of this.

New Years Evil is the story of Diane Sullivan who is the host of a cool punk television countdown show celebrating the New Year. She receives a phone call from a person claiming to be named Evil and saying he is ready to kill. Thinking it is a prank, Diane thinks nothing of it until learning from the police that a killer is on the loose.

The whole idea of this film is new. Not many films use the concept of New Years Eve and mix it with horror. It is interesting to watch the 80's music here and the drugs but still though, New Year's Evil's biggest problem is actually many things. The cast is not good and has nothing to them, the kill scenes are boring, and everything in this movie can be described as uneven. It is all filled with typical ideas with most of them coming from other films.

Another downfall is the killer. Played by Kip Niven who has a Bruce Jenner feel, the character lacks a lot of substance and gives no reason why we should even be interested in him. During the third act, the film throws us a twist that is out of the blue but it's comes across as more leaden than ever. This is a very bland killer.

                                         
                           Possibly the worst slasher mask ever.

New Year's Evil is kind of a hidden stoner film and it is also a film to watch to seek out some 80's music. Still though, it is a horror movie that I couldn't see as being very good back in 1980 and surely not good now close to thirty years later. It's a horror movie that in the end should be forgotten like it has been.

2.5/5

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Christmas Vacation

During it's fourteen year run, the National Lampoon Vacation series was pretty top notch. It produced a different concept of following a family and all their crazy adventures. It was a series that besides "Vegas Vacation" showed Chevy Chase in his prime as a comedic actor and also many series can't say they used every rating from R, PG-13 and PG for the various films which shows it's a series that works for everyone.

That said, every one especially knows about the third film in the series, Christmas Vacation. It is said to be a classic Christmas film, and is well known by non-fans of film industry. The film is something you can just find on about every station during Christmas time even though it is now more than twenty years old and I don't see this dying anytime soon. Call me crazy me though, because for me Christmas Vacation is just a merely an above average film.

In the heart of Chicago, the Griswold family craziness begins during Christmas time. The Griswold extended family is here with Clark (Chevy Chase), his trashy brother Eddie (Randy Quaid) and the rest of the family. Clark deals a lot of stuff including Christmas lights, presents, a Christmas bonus issue and really everything that comes with Christmas.

I could just be nitpicking and maybe the Christmas scrooge has come out from inside of me but Christmas Vacation suffers from a lack of plot. Most of film is wandering around in an 80's style house watching a family who don't know the ways of life. With the setting being just a house, it shows off the low $27 million budget, and I don't know why the movie is called "Christmas Vacation" because the family doesn't go anywhere. Christmas Vacation is full of sex, bathroom humor, old people and dysfunctional family jokes that are typical in comedy films.

I think if a film is going to use just one setting, then it really needs to rely on the characters. The main star of the film and the father of the family, Clark Griswold (Chase) can't seem to do anything right and has numerous problems. He is an annoyance and by the end of the movie it just becomes too much. The mother of the Griswolds is Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) who is innocent in all of this and really doesn't seem to fit into this craziness. The kids are Audrey Griswold (Juliette Lewis) who is a bitchy teen who has problems with just about about everything and the younger brother is Russ Griswold (Johnny Galecki) who does nothing noteworthy. From Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) to Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel), the old people in this story are what some old people are. They are off in there own world and have no purpose or able to relate at all to the present time. The only character that really earns his keep and is worth watching is Eddie (Quaid) who's pretty funny and who has some heart. Still, none of these family members has an inch of character development.

This movie has the Christmas spirit and is original to the series so I see a reason why some people call it a classic. To me though, it just has too little on substance, has big flaws on the important parts and really all I got out of it was some smiles. Christmas Vacation is an easily watchable movie but it is a film I would rather choose to forget than to remember.

3/5

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Looper

When I look back at films I watched during my high school years, you could say it was "Joseph Gordon- Levitt time". Gordon-Levitt first became really well known as the young kid on Third Rock on the Sun. Then he appeared in films and didn't become a big name until 2009. He was an actor that always seem to be cast by good directors like Steven Spielberg in "Lincoln", and also supported by good actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Micheal Shannon. Looper is more of the same but is one of the first films with him that you can really question.

Looper is set in the future where time travel is illegal and used by criminal organizations on the black market. Once the person is caught by the mob, they are sent back thirty years to a looper. A looper's job is to kill those sent back in time and is how Joe (Gordon-Levitt) makes his money. One day though, his future self comes back to be killed causing an interesting situation for him. Though this is an original plot, there is just too much to grasp here and it is a confusing piece. This film could have went many different ways but it ends up going many places we didn't want it to go. You can like some aspects of this movie but not all of them.

As with most films he is in, Gordon-Levitt delivers a very well done performance and has a cast to support him. Emily Blunt plays a different role and she is much more gritty than she has ever been before. Bruce Willis is the future Joe who does not put out a bad performance but he doesn't at all look like Gordon-Levitt which is a problem. Willis does get some makeup but it doesn't go hand in hand enough to be the future Joe. All these characters are well developed and do have a lot to them.

Director Rian Johnson sets this film in 2044 and in the future realistic world. All we really see though is rundown buildings, poor looking towns and no color in this world. In the third act, the film's setting is a farm where we feel like Shoeless Joe Jackson and kids from Nebraska are going to be coming out of the fields but this setting ultimately makes us feel like we are back in the present time and it's takes us away from the film. Basically, Rian Johnson wanted to portray a future world but he didn't have any ideas for it.

A second viewing might be interesting but for now I think Looper is potentially a good film but with a few bad ideas. This film seemed to forgotten once 2013 came along and you wonder if anybody will have heard of it twenty years from now. For now, Looper is an overrated film from 2012.

3/5

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An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story

Found dead in her bed in 1986, Christine Morton's death left Williamson County, Texas in shambles and caused her husband Micheal Morton to be found guilty of murder and facing a life sentence in prison. In November of 2011, with the case now twenty fife years old, we learned of the startling new evidence of another man's DNA linked to Christine's murder. "An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story" is the documentary story from CNN Films about an innocent man convicted of murder and the family he lost because of it.

Even though we don't want to admit it, we seen have this story before. We all know of people who have gone to jail because of a crime they did not commit. This murder mystery is nothing new and could have been just another 48 Hours Mystery episode.

That said, five things still make this one different.

 1) Michael Morton is an honest, down-to earth southern guy who was really in a bad spot. He was a very likable guy which adds a good perspective to the story.

2) There is a hidden secondary plot that focuses on prison life including sleeping conditions, food, the plantations and the scary images of rape.

3) As we should, we learn more and more about the in's and out's of the criminal justice system and  again this is just one of many examples where the verdict of the criminal justice system isn't always right.

4) From attorney John Raley and the many others, there are many great interviews in this film which add to the depth of the story.

5) The ending provides some interesting closure going every which way we want it to go and in the end provides the justice that is needed.

In sum, An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story is a documentary that needed to be told and make it's point. This documentary will likely be forgotten down the road but it is still a very fine work from CNN films and famed director Al Reinert.

4/5

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Curse of Chucky

To say in 1988 that we were going to have a horror film about a doll as a killer that later spawned a successful series would seem unreal. No doubt it would be interesting but very silly regardless and also a risk film due to the possible bad reactions to it. Still as history showed, Child's Play was a hit and it made it's mark on the horror world. It was the first movie in a popular series that still has nothing close to it in the horror genre.

That said, now in 2013 after nine years, we get a new Chucky film. The whole idea is again forced, questionable and asking for trouble. The series already faced it's fate if it wanted to be a black comedy film like the last sequels or edgy horror like first two movies in the late 80's and early 90's.

Curse of Chucky uses only one set and obviously was made with a smaller budget. A small package has been sent to the home of wheelchair-bound mother Sarah Pierce (Chantal Quesnel) and her daughter Nica (Fiona Dourif). The package containing good doll Chucky, which of course always leads to trouble.

We have seen this type of plot before with a house in the middle of nowhere but with the Chucky films, you can say that it's a little different. The movie uses it's budget here, introducing more characters than usual with "Clue" vibes and these characters all bring something unique to the table and that's something different with this series.

Obviously, the main reason why these films are successful are the main attraction, the doll Chucky who is the center of attention and he leads all ships to these films. In this installment, Chucky is not as funny as previous and he seems to show up when he wants to but he is still the same Chucky. He does bring fresh and new kill scenes which I liked. Brad Dourif does his usual good voice work for Chucky and Chucky does have a new look which gives him a little different vibe than before.

Once the third act is about to come to a close and the dvd player is about to turned off, we see that the ending is ambitious and wants to do a lot of things. It takes you in many directions so you need to follow it all but still though, this is a very different ending for the series. The ending is smart and an example of how a movie can go against the grain in a direct-to-dvd film. It also gets bonus points for a cool cameo that pays homage with characters from earlier films in the series.

Like most sequels, this really is an unnecessary film and for a series that returns after almost ten years, this should not have been very good especially considering that it is a direct-to-dvd film, but it was good. I think this film will end up being one the biggest surprises of 2013 and maybe even in horror movie history.

3.5/5

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Thor: The Dark World

 

 

Out of everything in the Marvel Universe, when it comes to paper (comics), Thor is about the dumbest character. He will always look like the California surfer guy smoking the second hand smoke. He's a character that is supposed to fit into Norse mythology but I don't see much of that in him whatsoever. Unlike someone like Batman or Spider Man, this character has only one weapon and that is a hammer and this is cheesy.

That said though, Thor still has a lot of potential. The character is different every which way. Also Norse mythology is a very uncommon thing in the comic book world and also in the film world and this shows originality. Thor is also a character with an interesting history that breaks many norms and no doubt the series has an audience.

After an impressive run at the box office with the first feature film, Thor: The Dark World is the sequel. The plot has Thor (Chris Hemworth) fighting Malekith ( Christopher Eccleston) who is a villain that is trying to destroy this world by making it darker using the weapon called Aether.

Like the 2011 film, the cast here is a hit. Chris Hemsworth is the likable Thor who again brings a sarcastic tone. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman ) is Thor's love interest and is a character that goes with the flow and who along with Darcy (Kat Dennings)  brings more humor than the first movie which was unexpected. After what he did in The Avengers, (Tom Hiddleston) Loki is the character we are most looking forward to seeing. Here Middleston plays Loki, Thor's brother, as the same type of character as before. Loki is silly and an un-credited villain though ironically he ends up being on the good side here. Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is the humble father who is trying to keep the peace between the brothers and also outsiders.

This being a superhero film, the next biggest question that comes up is just what does the villain  bring to the film. Even with the tired concept of trying to take over the world again, Malekith is the villain we want. With different makeup and being a dark character, the weapon of Aether brings a different element to the table. It's also not that hard to follow the story like some other superhero films plots that we have had in the last couple of years.

Unlike the first movie, there is a big ending here presented in a joking matter that feels like something out of a David Lynch movie. There are so many turns in the third act and final scenes that it creates a lot of discussion coming out of the theater. Still though, it sets the Thor series up for what seems like an interesting sequel and it also shows that director Alan Taylor is willing to make some very risky moves. Call it a mixed ending at best.

After the story, the next interesting side of Thor is the main world Asgard which is full of interesting colors, lights and tones. Nothing in the Marvel Universe really comes close to Asgard. As with the 2011 film, the part of the sequel in Asgard is a little thing of the film but it goes a long way and something I would enjoy seeing many more times.

It is probably something we don't need but Thor: Dark World is still none the less a very solid sequel. It is so good of a sequel it shows that something of this depth can work again. This will get even more interesting when we get the next sequel.

4/5

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Ted

Is there anyone in this world who really didn't grow up with a stuffed teddy bear? It's something that defines childhood and can create long lost memories. A fine example of this in the film world is Pixar's first film "Toy Story". It was about a boy's childhood told through toys; a story of kindness and the early years of school. Even though it may be somewhere in the back of the mind with those notions, the movie Ted is the exact opposite of what a teddy bear is or a film about teddy bears should be and that's what makes it fun.

In 1985 on Christmas morning in Boston, 8 year old version of John Bennett (Brett Manley) gets a stuffed teddy bear and John wishes the bear he calls Ted could be real. As it goes, Ted does turn real and an everlasting friendship starts. Now in 2012, still as friends, Ted and John are pot smoking, both have bad jobs and they look like they will never grow up. The plot involves both of them growing up and some more of that friendship.

With the older John Bennett being played by star Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane directing the movie and voicing Ted, no doubt this is a star-studded cast. Wahlberg is playing a tough character that brings both characteristics of a slacker and a hard worker but he evens out this character and gives a good performance. With many ties to the television show Family Guy, Ted definitely is more of a slacker than John but MacFarlane with good voice work makes Ted fit nicely into the story. Ted creates some messages that we have never seen before nor I don't think we will see again. The needed story that we do get is John's love interest Lori Collins (Mila Kunis) who has the necessary chemistry with Wahlberg and is a very likable and even lovable character .

Out of everything that MacFarlane does here that I like, what I like the most is how he plays a nerd in this story. From the Phantom Menace jokes, the Indiana Jones poster in the background in the first scene and all the cracks he makes about Flash Gordon, he gives a side of a director that is welcome in a film and I enjoyed it.

Ted is a strange concept and a silly film, especially the scenes at Fenway Park. Still, if you just go with it, it's pretty much bearable. (pardon the pun) This is a different coming of age story that could never not stand out.

4/5

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Blackfish

Founded in 1964 by Milton C. Shedd, Ken Norris and David DeMott, Sea World was the newest theme park attraction in the 60's. It was a theme park attraction that was different for the 60's and even now due to it's marine life theme. From it's popular roller coaster Kraken in Orlando, Florida to the Madagascar Live! Operation:Vacation show in San Diego, California, this points to why Sea World is so successful. That said, Blackfish by CNN is made for the whole world to show us what is underneath the surface of this company and some of their wrongdoings.

Blackfish makes it's main points through Tilikum the 12,000 pound killer whale who has had 21 offspring and has helped make Sea World successful but has also been responsible for three deaths. Tilikum is a whale that has put his mark on Sea World and now will always define it. Through the use of nets and hooks, Tilkum was wrongfully captured off the cost of Iceland in 1983. I don't think there is anyway a whale or any other type of marine animal for that matter should be taken away from a place where they grew up or where their family is and taken to a Sea World park. It is like taking a human being out of  their house and putting them in a far away place without any hope of ever getting back.

To learn information about Tilikum, we see interviews with the former trainers of this whale. These are great and informative interviews that show the power, love and intelligence of this whale. They also point to more of Sea World's wrongdoings.

The biggest point Blackfish makes is about the deaths caused by Tililkum that we do see through some scary scenes. One involved a 1991 incident with the trainer Keltie Byrne, another is a strange 1999 incident that involved Daniel Dukes and also an incident in 2010 involving the now well- known trainer, Dawn Brancheau. Afterwards, you cannot look at this large mammal the same but also there are many holes in place in these stories. Where was security in the Daniel Dukes incident where he got in the Tilikum's tank? Dawn Brancheau's story has obviously been covered up many times by Sea World. There is a lot interesting information out there that we really still need to learn.

Also included in this film, are some fun commercials from Sea World. We see a family from Detroit from the 90's doing a promotion, a first time baby whale shown in 1994 and it's fun to look back at this. We also learn about whales' brain which was unexpected. It's the little things like this shows off some Sea World nostalgia and you can see that director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has done her homework.

Blackfish is one-sided but it is a film we need. It is great for what it tells us and it's effect on us. Frankly, nothing in this will want to make you go back to Sea World again. Blackfish is a chilling documentary that can't be always full explained but it is nothing short of amazing. Even though it is a documentary, Blackfish is still no doubt one of the top films of 2013.

5/5

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The Blair Witch Project

"In October 1994, three film student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary...."

"A year later their footage was found"

This great quote in short tells the details of the Blair Witch plot. It is a plot that like most horror films can be questioned. How can the woods be the only setting? What is the purpose to this? Could it really work with only three cast members? Taking this all together, still The Blair Witch Project is something we could never have experienced or predicted what it was going to be.

By using a small budget of only $20,000 to $25,000 aside from the opening shots, The Blair Witch Project is set only in the woods. The setting of the woods helps this film break the norm for horror movies. The woods here have a strange eerie feel, and is very original. You have the feeling along with characters of never getting out and no doubt it will you make at wilderness quite differently.

With the small budget, the film only needs three cast members. Heather (Heather Donahue) is the only girl of the group and really emerges as the leader as they try to get out of the woods. Mike (Michael Williams) is a character who becomes very creepy once the harmful effects in the woods prey on him. Josh (Joshua Leonard) is the quiet member of the group in this bad situation. The cast really works due to the good acting by actors who are unknowns who we don't recognize making it realistic.

After a plot and story that seems like it can't get much better, the ending is one that REALLY can't much better. The ending comes out of nowhere as again it is in the woods and in a place that seems like it's in the middle of nowhere. It is a heart-pounding and very scary ending. The final shot is very clever as there are different possible theories raised about what just happened. This is one of the best endings in movie history, no doubt.

The Blair Witch Project is not normal horror. It is horror that goes way above the normal common ground and makes it's own mark on the movie world. We know we are going to get good horror films in the years to come but The Blair Witch Project will always be beside those at the top.

5/5

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Carrie

'

While living in his trailer, a very young author Stephen King started writing "Carrie" for Cavalier Magazine. After writing three pages, he thew it in the garbage but was later pressured by his wife Tabitha to finish it. King, an English teacher at the time shaped the story from two girls he knew from high school and grade school. After successful profiting from the successful novel, King quit teaching and moved full time to being an author.
    
Only two years later in 1976, a film adaption was made and directed by Brian De Palma. A classic film for it's time, it made every actor in the film to what they are today and as the saying goes "The movie made the book and the book made Stephen King". You can also say that after the Carrie movie it was the norm to make as many as possible film adaptions of Stephen King novels.

Now in 2013, there is a Carrie remake. Actually, you could say it's the second remake of this story with a 2002 tv film being the first remake but no one really saw it. To me, remakes are always a mixed bag. It's puts an older story into the present world while putting new actors in. But usually there is a question of why do need a new story of one we have seen once before and it usually shows that the director does not a have creative bones. If a remake like this goes bad, it's a waste and just a bad film to usually good story or in the rare case sometimes, a bad film to a poor story (Prom Night).

Following the same story as original and using similar dialogue, Carrie is about Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz) who is an awkward teen who does not fit in well at high school. After a tampon incident in the girls locker room, Carrie learns that she has telekinetic powers that changes her life dramatically.  This is a story of horror, teen life and culture.

Carrie is a movie and more important than most remakes, where the cast is important. The story works and revolves around characters more than the other elements of the film. Chloe Grace Moretz has been around since even before 2010 with small parts but then found herself cast in larger movies like "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and "Kick-Ass". She is a child actor that really has had a lot of variety to her career. Being pretty as she is, it's very hard to envision Moretz ever being an outcast in school but it's a flaw that is overshadowed by a powerful performance where she really runs with this character.

To anyone that's been through it, we know that the high school experience sometimes is not a positive one. While trying to do all the schoolwork, you have to try to fit into the cliques and the popular groups of the school. While Carrie White deals with that, she also deals with a crazy mother played by Julianne Moore.  Unfortunately, we are given no background as to how she had Carrie along with a very confusing first scene of Carrie's birth. This character is very unsettling and awkward and you want her out of every scene though that's exactly what the character purpose is and why she is there. When we will look at Moore's career down the road, this no doubt this will be one of her most different and unique roles while being still very much a positive one in this movie.

As mentioned earlier, this is a different type of remake with a really good cast and the prom scene is also very important different due to how it unfolds and it's importance to the plot and the close of the movie. There are some negatives with bad digital blood and a dated 70's feel but the prom scene does what it needs to do. It definitely shows another side to Carrie and is the big and spectacular action scene as it should be and it is very much out there.

In the long run, Carrie has a lot of  messages. A teen who in the end finds herself even though it's not a positive experience. A teen who's living with a difficult mother who never really resolves the issues with her. It is also about what really high school is and kid's manners and how they relate to each other. As with the original, there may not be a main overall message but this movie is still very powerful.

While a good movie, its is still really unnecessary. I don't think it is something that there is a big audience for and there are still much better horror movies out there in 2013. Like the 2011 movie Fright Night even with it's flaws, Carrie is a positive remake that pays homage to the original as well as bringing a good new and fresh light to this story.

3.5/5    
      

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Gravity

In this day and age, when it comes to films about space, there are some very different kind of films. On one end, there are truly low budget horror films like Jason X , Critters 4 and Leprechaun 4: In Space. There are also some decent small, indie films about space like the popular 2009 Moon and Europa Report from 2013.

That said, Gravity breaks all traditions regarding space films. Gravity has a well known director in Alfonso Cuaron, two big name actors, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the leads and is trying very hard to appeal to a mainstream audience. When you put it all together, Gravity is one solid space movie but not perfect.

With the exception of the very last scene, space is the setting as we follow medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney ). During a standard spacewalk to the Hubble Space Telescope, the crew learn from Mission Control in Houston that debris is drifting towards them from a dead satellite destroyed by the Russians. As the debris damages the Shuttle and eventually disengages them from the ship, Ryan and Matt find themselves stranded in space with no communication with earth and oxygen running low.

I do not know why big name actors were needed in this film. Some of the small space films I mentioned earlier were just fine without a big name cast and in some ways very popular actors can be a distraction to an original film with the interesting subject like space. None the less, these leads are accountable, and do some very fine acting with some well established characters. Ryan is kind of a loner with a rough past and has lost a young child and is still very much recovering from that and trying to find herself.  Ryan's lost daughter is her main source of motivation and support for her. The leads do have some chemistry and both are quite likable and this is good.

The plot is not complex and very simple and this lends itself to a short running time for this movie. One main focus of this movie is to simply show space. Through excellent design and cinematography, it makes space look spectacular and strangely claustrophobic and it really stands out. There are some highlights to the plot but it is still too thin. At times, I felt a little bored and it felt like there just was not enough to this movie. If there was just a little more to it, this film could have been something else.

 As credits roll, one question I had was, "What is the meaning of the film?". Frankly, there doesn't seem to be one. Without it, you could question why should I care about this. The film doesn't even touch this. Why not? It's a beautiful movie but so what?

Gravity is a good film and I guess I wouldn't call it overrated but you might say it's something of an unfinished movie. That said, this is a film that will be most important more on a second or third viewing.

4/5

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Rush

 

Along with being a film guy, the other passion in my life is sports and the credit for that has to go to my family. My dad played baseball throughout his youth and we have been Detroit Tigers season-ticket holders for years. My mother's family is a hockey family and my uncles and aunts have won numerous high school championships. My younger brother is a baseball and hockey player and I enjoy cheering him on during his games. One sport my mother and father were into before I was born was Indy Car Racing. Unfortunately that sport has declined in popularity and these cars no longer race at our local track, the Michigan International Speedway so I never had a chance to get into it.

Ok, so I went to see the movie Rush which is a movie from Ron Howard about Formula 1 Racing. Being a film person, I knew every actor in this movie but I knew absolutely nothing about the actual people depicted in this movie nor Formula 1 Racing which is a European and not an American thing. Frankly, this is a movie I should have not liked nor cared about at all.

Rush is based off a true story and set in 1970's, about Formula 1 race car drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). The movie tells the story of the fierce rivalry of these drivers who were opposites in just about every way and how they interacted with each other and eventually became friends.

As he did in " The Cabin in the Woods",  Hemsworth plays playboy, fun-lover James Hunt. Hunt is a partier who drinks heavily, is frequently hungover, takes drugs and has a new woman every night. He is still a very good driver who is very fun to watch and in the last act shows a high level of determination chasing the championship. Olivia Wilde plays Hunt's wife Suzy Miller though the movie does not allow any development of their relationship as they are married shortly after she is introduced in the movie.

Where as Hunt is just thrown to you as a character and given no back story, Niki Lauda is depicted as a very in-depth character with a detailed history. Lauda is a character who's family has given up on him after choosing to be a race car driver instead of going into the family banking business. He is the exact opposite of James Hunt. Lauda is mean, anti-social, disagreeable and a "my way or the highway" type of guy. After throwing in the towel at a party, on his way home Lauda meets his wife Marlene Knaus (Alexandrea Maria Lara). The love and chemistry between these two is strong and the exact opposite of the empty marriage of Miller and Hunt. Lauda's character also endures a terrible fiery crash with extreme burns to his face and the movie does an excellent job with his makeup and the story of his very painful rehabilitation and return to the track.

For someone who had no knowledge of Formula 1 Racing, this movie was a perfect introduction and a way to get into it. The movie also depicts the 1970's realistically with the men's long hair, fashion and drug use. Formula 1 Racing is shown through the various racetracks and the film show it's cultural impact and popularity in Europe. Rush includes strong cinematography showing high level racing and anybody would be entertained by this movie whether you are into automobile racing or not.

When it's all said and done, Rush is a moving and powerful movie by director Ron Howard to add  his already great resume. Howard makes us care about a story that most Americans don't even know about. Rush is likely one of the top films of the year. No caution flags or pit stops are going to stop it.

4.5/5

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Aliens (1986)

Initially, I blew off the Alien series as if it was nothing. I thought it was a series that was just normal sci-fi stuff so I had with no intention to go run and watch these movies. Well, the Alien series is not just your ordinary series. This series is quality and deserves attention. Aliens which is a sequel to Alien and the second movie in the series is the movie which made me first love these films.

The plot involves Ridley (Sigourney Weaver) who is going to investigate a planet where contact has been lost with the colonists with aliens likely having attacked them. The cast led by Weaver is very good and all bring something to the table but I don't really like Bill Paxton and how the film portrays him as one of the Marines aboard the warship on it's way to the planet colony.

Released in 1986, you would expect this film and the sets to be dated and showing age of only that time period but actually it is just the opposite. Director, James Cameron has a style here that seems ahead of it's time. The ships really feel as if they are from something in space and considering this movie is over 25 years old, that makes this even more sweet and impressive.

The first Alien brought action but it never really stood out even though it was quality but the action in Aliens is what I would call "blown me away" fantastic. The pieces coming together in just right amounts including great killer aliens and I can't see anyone not liking it.

 Aliens does what most sequels don't and that is to surpass the original and helps this series stand out even more. I believe Aliens is one of the best sequels of all-time that any audience would love.

4.5/5

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The Serpent and the Rainbow

Wes Craven really is kind of a hit or miss director. He made The Serpent and the Rainbow in 1988 at an interesting time of his career after having some success with Nightmare on Elm Street but after the disaster of Deadly Friend. The Serpent and the Rainbow has a few interesting ideas but Craven never really develops them very well. This is really a big miss film from Craven.

Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman ) a researcher out of Harvard goes to Haiti to tackle the mystery of a zombie legend and also a type of drug that might be connected. There is also a voodoo theme as the drug is used in Haitian voodoo rituals.

You really to have to question what Craven was doing with this film. He starts with what seems like an interesting plot and the really lets it sink. The plot really goes everywhere and is very hard to follow. There is also a love story that is very shallow as well as dream scenes that never seem to end. By act 3, you expect that it can't get much worse but you would be wrong. It also has an ending that has you saying "What am I even watching?" Frankly, this is a movie where in the end, you don't even know what you just watched.

Interestingly, this was Bill Pullman's second film ever and before he had his big roles. Actually, he plays his role very well and the character is smart, has a heart and is easy to root for. Pullman makes this movie somewhat bearable along with some rather different zombies.

I think this is a case where Craven basically had a couple of random ideas and put them together and called it a film. I hated this movie with a passion even more so considering what it could have been.

2/5

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Ragin' Cajun Redneck Gators

Even though they reach a limited audience, 2013 has been the year for Syfy films. With it's original name, Sci-fi, it's was a channel in the beginning that brought us reruns of old films and some original films that didn't really have an audience. As time went on, the channel delivered some popular tv shows including Ghost Hunter and also cult shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Firefly. In 2010, it made a drastic change when it broadcasted WWE Smackdown drawing in the wrestling audience. Through the power of social media including twitter in 2013, it's original film Sharknado was a major hit that brought much more attention to the channel. Because of the Sharknado hit, their films are finding more of a audience. These films are very strange and all over the spectrum including Aladdin and the Death Lamp, Ghost Shark and Flying Monkeys. Ragin' Cajun Redneck Gators is another film to add to this strange collection.

Ragin' Cajun Redneck Gators is set in the swaps of Louisiana where a Cajun redneck community finds themselves getting attacked by strange killer gators. These gators are far from typical, quite dangerous and more than what they seem.

Like Sharknado and Ghost Shark, there is a definite lack of budget but an extra effort by the filmmakers to make this work is evident. There are Cajun rednecks that are funny and kind of realistic, mutant gators, and a Romeo and Juliet love story involving feuding families. It's all a unique and interesting combination.

Unlike the Ghost Shark and Shakando, we don't care much about these characters. Attractive lead character, Jordan Hinson plays Avery from one of the feuding families but nothing memorable really comes from her performance. Her love interest, Tristan (Victor Webster) is a character who is frankly limited and who we don't really root for even though he is in danger from the gators throughout. The only positive person who steals the show is Michael Baird who plays Avery's father Dale. He has an excellent Cajun accent and is a charismatic "life of the party" kind of character who kind of steals the show.

For what it is trying to be, Ragin' Cajun Redneck Gators should have been better. It has a good original idea and tries to go with it but falls a little flat because I think it tries to do much. Because of that, I think it is probably the weakest Syfy films of 2013.

3/5

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Bats: Human Harvest

After watching many horror films over the years, the idea of bats being the central feature of a film never really crossed my mind. Bats sometimes are in the background but not the stars of the show. These little mammals are obviously small and maybe a little creepy but unless you get very close, I just don't find them very scary.

That said in 1999 came the movie Bats which received negative reviews and has been long forgotten. Bats was only for die hard horror fans. Then close to ten years later in 2007 and really out of nowhere, came this sequel on the SyFy channel, Bats: Human Harvest.

The setting is supposed to be Afghanistan but unfortunately it looks nothing like Afghanistan. Here there is a Delta Force groups of soldiers trying to track down a terrorist who is a rogue American weapons researcher but along the way, they are attacked by genetically-altered killer bats.

Looking at this, the main reason this film fails is because of the bats. There are no close ups of the bats and they are very generic and boring. They just don't work as a villain or a source of danger. Being a SyFy film, there are many unknown actors who are shallow and really struggle at times. All in all, the horror aspects as well as the CGI here is just of very low quality.

One thing I was wondering is just what does this film want to be? It has horror aspects to it but it also contains a war story that is itself pretty shallow and wouldn't work on it's own as a war film. Frankly, I do not think war stories mesh well with horror ideas so this puzzle doesn't really fit even though it is original no doubt.

Bats: Human Harvest is frankly very low quality junk horror that is very hard to sit through and I couldn't wait until it was over. Frankly this series is useless and unnecessary.

1.5/5

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Win Win

Even though you maybe could question it, I think being a teenager is one of the toughest parts of a person's life. It's the end of childhood and many things need to be done as you transition to being a grown up. We have seen many films throughout the years on this subject; some good and some bad. Win Win tackles this subject with excellent results.

Here Kyle (Alex Shaffer) is a troubled teenager and is put into an alternative family billet home of Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) after running away to New Jersey to his grandfather Leo (Burt Young). Flaherty is a wrestling coach so there is a wrestling theme to the story as well as stolen money and a teen trying to find himself.

Initially you go into this expecting a sports story but it's not really what this movie is all about. There are many genres and subjects in this movie. There is a drama involving a troubled teen. There is a sports story. There is a story involving economic problems from work. This all comes back to the story of a kid just trying to be himself in the toughest time of your life. All of these aspects are covered very well with just the right amount of attention to each. Usually a type of mish-mash of things like this in a movie is not good but here it works.

Similar to Hailee Steinfeld who was an unknown teenager casted in the 2010 movie True Grit, Win Win puts Alex Shaffer in the lead role as the troubled teen. Shaffer is someone known for being a wrestler and had never been in front of the camera before. In spite of that, he delivers an outstanding performance that you can't not love and I can't say enough about him. The rest of the cast which includes Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale and Burt Young is solid and works in every way.

Many films stood out in 2011, but I think Win Win bettered all of them. It's a great film with a huge heart but it just didn't seem to find its' audience. I consider this a forgotten classic.

5/5

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Invasion Roswell

For years, the government denied the existence of Area 51, a mysterious area in Nevada rumored to be the site of alien spaceship crash and governmental experiments. It is an area where nobody has been allowed to enter which has fueled many conspiracy theories including alien life and storage of an alien spacecraft, time travels, and weather control. What a place! Finally in 2013 after years of denial, we got confirmation from the government that this place actually exists. It's real! Well anyway pop culture has used Area 51 from time to time including the tv show the X-Files and also the comedy movie Paul. I think Area 51 is interesting and could be used more by Hollywood. That said, Invasion Roswell is a cheap SyFy film that does use Area 51 as a backdrop.

The plot is basic, that being an alien invasion of Earth and a former fighting alien team that gathers together again to fight the aliens and stop the crisis.

Ok, with a cheap film like this, you aren't going to know any of the cast and that's ok. It has the feel of other low-rent movies like Leprechaun 4: In Space with action involving cheesy-type guns that's not terrible but not memorable either. The aliens are kind of different but they are not really interesting and it looks like the movie has some kind of budget but I don't know that it was used well with these aliens.

Also, this is supposed to be a massive alien invasion of the world but other than a few shots, there is nothing shown outside Area 51. The invasion only feels like it's happening in Area 51. Showing the invasion to be more universal would have helped. The film also seems to go and on and it's seems like it will never end.

Invasion Roswell is not a bad film especially considering it's a cheap SyFy production but this type of movie has been done before and much better.

2.5/5

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Ghost Shark

 

Even though they are highly enjoyable subjects in the film world, sharks are kind of limited if you think about it. Obviously they are confined to water, so the killer sharks are limited to that type of atmosphere. Well Ghost Shark is a Syfy film so you know this is going to be a different type of shark film. Let's just say Ghost Shark is quite different and also entertaining.

The movie was shot in Louisiana and is set in a coastal town. The town is having strange and mysterious killings around water that might be caused by a shark or a different kind of shark. As the story unfolds, we learned that the shark is a ghost shark and the story is primarily told through a local drunken sea captain named Blaise Shaw (Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis).

Obviously this is a very dumb concept if you think about it. A ghost is somehow a shark that is out to kill people? That said, once you accept this rather strange concept, the movie offers more than you might think. The shark has blue tints and good CGI. It's also a shark that can attack outside of the ocean creating different kill scenes in a slip'n slide, a pool party and in the middle of the street from an open fire hydrant. These kill scenes are new and very unique and you can be sure we will never see this again. The captain's story about the ghost shark really just kind of comes out of nowhere and there is very questionable acting here. There is good effort in the storytelling which brings us some different atmosphere and settings including caves, a maritime museum and a lighthouse.

Obviously the ghost shark is entertaining but the characters are good too. Ava (Mackenzie Rosman) is a bratty, self-centered character who does what it takes to confront and kill the shark. Again Blaise is the sea captain and a hot-shot guy who knows things about this shark and is a very likable and entertaining character. Cicely (Sloane Coe) is a young girl that does not get her way because of her young age but she still tries to be the best she can be without being unlikable. Cameron (Jaren Mitchell) is one laid back character and Mick (Shawn C. Phillips) is one large guy who offers some pretty good comic relief.

Unlike most Syfy movies including Sharknado, Ghost Shark pays homage to other films including Jaws with a July 4th setting, seashore atmosphere and the shark obviously. There is also a kill scene in a water-filled bathtub like Nightmare On Elm Street. The eerie lighthouse has vibes of Adrienne Barbeau from The Fog. This film's homage to other films is one reason why Ghost Shark works so well as a film.

The movie does drag through most of the entire third act and as with any Syfy film, it would probably be better on the big screen. Still, not as many Syfy films are this watchable nor as smart as this one. Ghost Shark is one fun movie and one of the best Syfy movies I have seen.

4/5

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King Kong (2005)

When you think of famous cinema monsters, King Kong definitely comes to mind. First released in 1933, it was a film very different for the time and it still has an impact now. There was a sequel in 1962 with another Japanese film in 1967. American King Kong films followed in 1976 and 1986. In 2005, young director Peter Jackson after two years of finishing the successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, made another King Kong.

The film is in it's original setting in the 30's and depicts the Depression era. Theater actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is out of work due to the economy. Questionable film director Carl Denham (Jack Black) with a warrant out for his arrest learns of an island called Skull Island to make a new film. After hiring Ann, they head to an island they have never seen before with strange creatures including a beast called Kong.

I enjoyed looking at the different aspects of this film including the 1930's setting and old cameras and good CGI. The film captures every aspect of the period from the cars and fashion and shows how times were quite different with economic conditions and a world war going on.

As for director Peter Jackson, he gives a meaty plot here as he usually does. Skull Island feels like an old Jurassic Park including a giant sea monster with again some great CGI. There is also a Mayan horror idea and some surprise kill scenes. Unfortunately, the main battle is all over place and you get the feeling that film was on the island too long but in spite of these flaws this is typically fine work by Jackson.

The characters here are a little complex and hard to out together. Black, who career is mostly comedic work is has different aspects to his character and at time he's got a big smirk of a villain but other times he is caring and does good and is not all bad. It is probably Jack Black's best performance up to then. Watts who has played many different characters in her career does a good job in this adventure as someone who is finding love with supporting actor Adrien Brody.

Even though it's a thick plot, of course most of the audience is most interested in seeing King Kong and this is where the special effects in the movie are the best. Even though King Kong is a dangerous creature, he is loving, fragile and hits in the heart.

This film does have a very long running time of 3 hours and 7 minutes. This is a pretty good remake but I think maybe it tries to do too much. If you took out a few scenes and ideas and tightened it up, it could have been a masterpiece.

4/5

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Children of the Corn

Of all the Stephen King books and films, I find the movie Children of the Corn to be about the most interesting. As a fan of horror movies, I think films with children as villains seem to work for me. Poltergeist and Insidious are two quality horror movies that involve children and families. Village of the Damned was another and this spawned others. Children of the Corn is one of the most interesting of these films because of it's originality, atmosphere and it involved many kids, not just one. This series had some sequels with the first one coming out in 1984 with mixed reviews. The most recent in the series was a remake on the Syfy Channel in 2009 eight years after the last one.

This remake uses most of all all the same ideas of the original including corn fields in Nebraska and kids with religious views who have killed their parents and looking to strike again. This time the victims are an argumentative couple who were on their way to a honeymoon trip in California.

As a creepy kid film, it is very important that there are good performances from the child actors. Here, I was disappointed in the child characters. Other than the Isaac character (Preston Bailey) just about every kid plays their part like extras. At the same time, these characters are not creepy and don't work well as villains.

Even though you could pick at it a little and get maybe something, there isn't much of a plot here. I do like the leads of David Anders and Kandyse McClure but they aren't given much to do and they really mope around a lot. There are some interesting sets here but the kill scenes are not particularly good. There are some beneath the surface ideas that do come into play here. and these include the idea of race, spiritual aspects of the corn and religious overtones throughout.

Of course you can't take any of this story too seriously, but obviously there is no way something like this could happen in our country with our government. A town full of killer kids and young pregnant girls would be responded to quickly by the police and military and would be a CNN headliner for weeks. A minor flaw maybe but still hard to overlook.

I found Children of the Corn to be disappointing and a movie with an hour and half plot that ran too long at two hours. This is a tv film that feels like a tornado stringing things and ideas around with no purpose and really just wasting our time.

1.5/5

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Kids

You can look at the film Kids in a lot of different ways. Maybe it's a film for teenagers. Maybe it's a film for adults. Maybe both. Well anyway this film came out in 1995 and never really never got a chance. A difficult film with an uncomfortable subject but that is why it works.

Directed by controversial director Larry Clark, Kids from 1995 was originally given an NC-17 rating but was then released unrated. The plot tells the controversial story of  a group of poor teens  who's life consists of mostly drugs, alcohol, sex and AIDS.

The movie has a thin plot and even thinner character development. Even with these flaws, Clark is trying to depict a teen world that we don't usually see where these kids get away with a lot. I could relate a bit being with familiar with classmates who have similar problems. Some scenes are quite realistic and very hard to watch but many of the actions have very real consequences. This is a film that could only be made by a director with an attitude and a lot of confidence and Clark has that.

I found the New York City setting to be very real and effective. This is a setting we've seen quite a bit but here New York City is not glamorous but is gritty, run down with a dangerous feel to it. Not the New York City we usually see in movies. The setting is very effective and helps makes the story.

Kids is an interesting movie that depicts the dangers of our world and is a wake-up call to parents. It is probably one of the most controversial films of it's time and for an audience of the right age, it is a must-see.

3/5

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Fright Night

I wish I had seen the original Fright Night from 1985. Usually you don't watch a remake until you see the original but with Fright Night it was different for me. This remake of Fright Night is one of the few films that I liked that is aimed towards my (teenage) age group.

With the same idea as the original, a teenager finds that his neighbor is a vampire. With many ideas involving teen themes, this turns into survival story in the Las Vegas area.

Unlike most remakes which usually have bad casts, this film is just the opposite. Known actor Anton Yelchin is the lead with rising stars Christopher Mintz-Plasse and David Franco in supporting roles. Established star Colin Farrell plays the villain who is a vampire let loose into a cast full of teens. The vampires in this movie are of an old style and not like the modern vampires of recent movies and I appreciated and liked this.

The Las Vegas setting provides cool hip scenes as well as some desert scenes which is kind of different for the horror genre. The movie also has an ending that puts everything into perspective and closes the film very nicely. All of this makes this film really stand out.

Fright Night is solid and a hit. I think it is one of the top remakes ever.

3.5/5

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Hugo

I read the book Hugo in the 5th grade I think but it is only a vague memory. The film adaption is is a different type of kids movie. It is a masterpiece film that does everything the right way and works on every level.

The main setting is in a train station in the middle of Paris in 1931. The plot follows the book storyline of how an orphan named Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) finds a key and a secret that dates back to his dead parents. The key and secret will change his life and history forever.

The film is directed by Martin Scorsese. He brings the film into the light by making it more of a family film than you might think. He makes Paris of the 1930's really stand out. CGI works in the backgrounds even though it's does not really seem like a heavy CGI film.

The film has some good performances. Asa Butterfield is a rather new actor who hasn't been in many movies and delivers a fine performance that should help his career. Chloe Grace Mortez is another lead who's really in her prime now and is also good. The supporting cast of well known actors from Jude Law, Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Cohen all do their usual solid work.

This film kind of got overlooked because I don't think this movie had a big target audience nor do I think many people remembered the book that well. I also think many people will regard it as only a kids film which it's not. Obviously, Martin Scorsese has done wonderful work in his career but to me, this is one of his most magical and powerful films. Hugo is a film that I wished more people cared about.

5/5

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Scream 4

After two pretty solid films, the Scream series hit bottom with Part 3. Actually the whole horror genre kind of went downhill in that early 2000's time frame. Ten years after Scream 3 came Scream 4.

Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell ) is back in Woodsboro after ten years to promote her new book in her old town. Ghostface however is back and has struck again killing off a new set of victims.

The film has a difficult task of reviving a series after ten years. It does brings us new cast members and characters from Emma Roberts as Jill Roberts to Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed. Some of the old stars are here also including David Arquette and of course Neve Campbell. The actors seem to be giving a pretty good effort but without a good plot which we don't have here, it doesn't matter much. The plot is full of dull antics with poor kill scenes marked by bad gore. The new characters are a little hard to get used to and the movie does have a rather long opening and ending too. The first couple of Scream films were not really scary they could possibly scare someone. That said, if you are scared by this one, you don't what scary is.

While Scream 4 is marked by flaws and holes, there are some highlights. The new killer is an interesting idea and there is a movie club that felt right up my alley. Also a couple of party scenes felt like the good old Scream films were back.


I know people still love this stuff but to me the Scream series is gone and played out. It really has no ideas to it, tries to go over old successes and really feels like something that was just thrown together. The Scream series should have never gotten to this point.

2/5

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Blast Vegas

I have said it before and will say it again, films from Syfy are not my favorite. Most are low budget with bad plots but the bottom line is you know what you are getting going in. These films are not designed for the whole world but instead for a very small audience. Blast Vegas works on this level.

Blast Vegas has a very cheap Vegas vibe going on and involves a group of college kids that head to Las Vegas. They eventually take out a sword in a casino and put it in the ground which set off an ancient curse that causes the entire city of Las Vegas to be attacked.

The plot is full of holes and loose ends but the movie does work as a cheap flick with some ups and downs. The police are nowhere to be seen and there are some cheap storm scenes with awful special effects but it is original and that's what matters to me. The ending is laughable no doubt but Blast Vegas is full of adventure and fun. As usual, Vegas works as a magical town that it is and it is a setting I don't think I will ever get tired of.

As with most Syfy films, many of the actors are actors who's career is in decline. Frankie Muniz from Malcom in the Middle is the lead and plays the same type of offbeat character. Muniz is likable and has a love interest which is not very common for this type of film. He is a nerd who does not fit in but he finds his way. Barry Bostwick plays a cool guy who plays the piano at the casino. Maggie Castle is the love interest even though she's a little stiff here.

As mentioned before, Blast Vegas is a film that is not for all and certainly isn't going to win any awards but it is a fun cheesy movie. I say cheesy in a positive way and frankly this one is better than the recent Syfy hit Sharknado. Call it a mixture of the Hangover and Mummy films.

3/5

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Sharknado

 

 

On July 11, Sharkndo made it's debut on the Syfy channel. It was a twitter sensation that had non-stop talk on any film site for days and you could probably call it a cult movie by now. An Asylum film and one of the few types of films I don't follow because we know the lack of quality of these. The films are usually rehashed from popular films like Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies, Snakes on a Train and The Almighty Thor. I do appreciate that a small market film like Sharknado had such a big impact on it's release but it's still a film I can't recommend.

In Los Angles, a hurricane has swept over the city with sharks attacking due to the heavy amounts full of flood water onto land. Restaurant owner Fin Shepherd (Ian Ziering) leads a survival group ready to fight the sharks.

After doing some research, I see that only two storms of this size have hit California since 1900 so this something that really doesn't happen. This is no doubt a original film but science here is awful all the way around. The survival teams are driving around in the floods and police and rescue teams are of course nowhere in sight.

I do enjoy shark movies but I do not find sharks enjoyable when they are shown as green things and obviously the effects are lacking on this low budget film. The budget really doesn't allow any spectacular kill scenes and the action scenes are just not exciting and frankly dull. The ending is lacking and there is no logic here anywhere.

The funny thing about the film is that the cast is pretty good. Lead Ian Ziering who is most known for his tv work is above average, though just barely and that's enough for me for a film like this. American Pie star Tara Reid works but is in the background for most of the film. Long-time actor John Herd has a silly role that is very limited but he does help carry the first act. Though I like the cast members, we still don't care very much about the characters and their development is shallow all the way around.

When it's all said and done, maybe I shouldn't criticize a film that is not supposed to be serious in the first place. Well it might have cheese to it but it's not the type of cheese that produces a lot of good laughs and you can't really have a fun time with it. In some ways it is a film that was made to feel like a real film which it isn't and is one reason it fails for me.

2/5

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