Winter's Bone (2010)

Ebert, I guess called this the thriller of the year, it's far from that. I will say it does possess a pretty good story and in saying that, I didn't think it was that thrilling. The movie is about Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) a 17 year old girl who because of her mother's sickness is forced to take care of her younger siblings in Missouri. The sheriff comes to the door and tells Ree that they are looking for her father and that her father placed a bond on the house. So, now Ree is on the hunt to find her father and she discovers an ugly truth about her father's where abouts. The movie almost seems mafia like, the way most of her the neighbors around her act. It's not a bad movie, butto me it doesn't fit the bill completely.  I give the movie a B- only because Jennifer's acting is absolutely superb and they really found some weird looking people that fit the bill of hicks in Missouri.Talent scouts and casting agents really do a good job finding people to pay certain roles and they achieved that in this film. So a big salute from me to the unsung heroes of these films.

True Grit (2010)

First off, I should start this by saying that if your expecting 3:10 To Yuma or Tombstone, then your sadly mistaken. However, I really believed that this was an excellent story and the real question is would I see it again? In the theater, I wouldn't go again, but I probably would see it again on DVD eventually. The movie stars newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, a little girl whose father has been killed and she wants revenge. So,she hires an old drunkard Marshall named Rooster Cogburn (played by the excellent Jeff Bridges) and runs into a Texas Marshall named Laboeuf (played by Matt Damon) who also wants to catch the man who shot Mattie's father for a different reason. Together, these three embark on adventure they'll never forget. The movie also stars Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) as Tom Chaney, Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) as Ned Pepper, and a full cast of interesting characters. I give the movie an A-

Tron: Legacy 3D (2010)

First, I want to start by saying that I loved the film, but there's always a catch to every review that I make. The little disclaimer at the beginning of the film that stated that most of the movie was shot in 2D with some 3D. Thank God, My nephew had a military ID so I was able to see the movie for the price of a regular ticket. So, whether the movie was in full 3D or not it was still worth the money. I saw a lot of reviews stating that you had to have seen Tron in order to understand this one and that's just a bunch of nonsense because the story is simple enough. The boy's father disappears for a long time, the boy grows a resentment towards the dad's company until his fathers partner and best friend discovers that he received a page from his dad, the kid goes to investigate and gets sucked into the world his father is in. Not too hard to understand! Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is trying to perfect the world and thinks he discovered what might do it until Clu (played by the CG version of the young Jeff Bridges)thinks he has been betrayed and the battle ensues between them in what we are guessing is the 20 years that Sam (Garrett Hedlund) hasn't seen his dad. Sam gets sucked into this world he thought his dad had made up. Now Sam has to try and stay alive in the game and try to save to himself and his dad at the same time. He also has to save what Kevin feels is the cure for earth, a isotope played by the sexy Olivia Wilde (House, Year One). The movie also stars Michael Sheen (Underworld), Beau Garrett (Turistas), Bruce Boxleitner (Tron 82), Anis Cheufra (Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun Li) as Rinzler, and James Frain (The Count Of Monte Cristo). I give the movie an A. Bravo!!!

A new blog

I'm developing a new blog just for horror movies and it's going to completely analyze the movie so If you don't want spoilers, then you might not want to view the blog. I've got movies like Return to Sleepaway Camp and much more to review. So Stay Tuned...

Saw 3D (2010)

I should have posted this a couple weeks ago when I viewed the movie on halloween day, but hey better late than never. I just want to say that I thought a lot of the acting in this movie was flat out awful and the 3D was a waste of money. This is supposedly the final chapter in the Saw saga, but that remains to be seen. The movie stars Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints) as Bobby, a self proclaimed Jigsaw survivor, who may have bite off more than he can chew, when he is suddenly trapped and faced with a task to prove whether he can survive or not. Costas Mandylor (Saw Series) and Betsy Russell (Cheerleader Camp) reprise their roles for hopefully the last time as Costas is trying to kill Jill Tuck. The movie even features Chester Bennington (Linkin Park Lead Singer) making a cameo in one of the traps. The traps is what always keeps this series interesting and I loved the traps. The one person I could have done without in this movie is Chad Donella, who plays internal affairs agent Gibson. This was probably the worst acting job I have ever seen and it didn't belong in a movie that your charging people 15 dollars to see. It was nice to see Cary Elwes (The first Saw) return to this movie and wait until you see what his involvement is in this film. I give this movie a B- because of the factors I listed above.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

Maybe I'm being a little brash in my judgement over this movie, but I am old enough to remember the original starring Robert Englund (Nightmare 84) scarring the living daylights out of me when I was a child. The new one which stars Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears) as the child killer known as Freddy Kreuger in this re imagining of the classic 1984 horror film. The only thing that disappointed about this film is Jackie's costars. I really hated the New Nancy (Played by Youth In Revolt's Rooney Mara, Kris (played by Katie Cassidy) who replaces the character of Tina and not to mention she seems to be too old for a high school student, the troubled Jesse (played by Thomas Dekker) who replaces Tina's troubled boyfriend Rod (played by a very convincing Jsu Gracia in the original), and Quentin (played by Kyle Gallner whose been playing a teenager for the last ten years) who replaces Johnny Depp's first character Glen. What bothers me the most is that the original teens were very convincing in playing insomniacs afraid to fall asleep, not to mention the kill scenes were better and Johnny Depp doesn't survive. I know this is a re Imagining of the film and that they wanted to explain Freddy's motives in more detail, but do it justice. Jackie Earle Haley as I said was a little difficult to get used to, but I see where they were going with him and I bought that. If there is a sequel which there probably will be, I hope they pick better actors to complement Haley next time. I give the movie a B- (riding the thin line of being a C+).

Case 39 (2009)

Before I entered the theater I was a little skeptical about Case 39 and the reason is very simple. How many times in Hollywood have we seen movies about kids and how something goes terribly wrong. Well, we had The Omen, The Bad Seed, The Exorcist, Orphan, and every Japanese Horror movie we've already seen. The other problem with the film before I describe the positives is that because of it's late release, we've grown more accustomed to enjoy Orphan more than this film.

The positives to the film are the actors German Director Christian Alvart (Pandorum) hires to act in the film. Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary) stars as do good social worker Emily Jenkins, a woman so involved in her work that she breaks the number one rule of child care services, never get involved with your work. After her boss (played by Adrian Lester) dumps another case on her already full agenda, she becomes intrigued by the case and decides to get involved. After she discovers this little girl from case 39's parents are trying to kill her, she decides to save her and has the little girl move in. She soons start to discover that the little girl known as Lilith (Played by Jodelle Ferland) isn't as innocent as she plays herself to be. Things start to go terribly wrong for Emily as she discovers Lilith's terrifying secret that she's no normal child. People start to die and everyone is puzzled as to why it's happening.

As I have said in the beginning of the article that when you see the film, you feel as though you have seen this before and everything seems predictable. Ian McShane (Death Race) who plays Emily's friend Detective Baron, Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) who plays his typical Suave role in child psychologist Doug really carry their weight in gold in this film. I feel if it wasn't for them this movie would be worse than it is. I will admit that the cinematography is pretty top notch in this film as they tried to film this movie in some unorthodox ways just to try to keep your interest intact. The movie also stars Callum Keith Rennie (The Butterfly Effect) and Kerry O"Malley (Rounders) as Lilith's parents respectively. I give this movie a C for trying, but there weren't enough real scares and it sort of lacks originality.

The Expendables (2010)

I had to go see this movie which might have single handily resurrected the career of Sylvester Stallone, which he has been trying to do with Rocky Balboa and Rambo. This might have been the trick but there is an indefinite reason for that and it's because of the fact that the movie stars Jason Statham (The Transporter Series), Dolph Lundgen (Rocky IV, Showdown In Little Tokyo), Jet Li (Kiss Of The Dragon, Cradle 2 The Grave), Randy Couture (UFC Legend), Terry Crews (The Longest Yard), Steve Austin (The Longest Yard, The Condemned), Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2, The Wrestler), and Eric Roberts (The Best Of The Best). The movie also features cameos from the governator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator Series) and Bruce Wllis (Die Hard Franchise). As you can see this movie is jammed packed with almost every action star of the last twenty to thirty years and the movie is well done. I really enjoyed watching this film for the little comedy bits it mixes with high octane action. How much more do you really need out of an action film. Not much! I give this movie an A because I'm hoping that Steven Segal, Jean Claude Van Damme, or Chuck Norris will be involved in the second film.

Legion (2010)

So lets imagine this for a second, God is fed up with humanity, he sends his lead angel Michael (played by Paul Bettany) to kill a girl whose baby is the savior of mankind, and they live in the middle of nowhere. Another problem for god is that Michael doesn't want to do the job and in fact, he wants to save the child. The mother, Charlie (played by Adrianne Palicki) isn't sure about her situation being pregnant and isn't appreciative of Jeep (Played by Lucas Black) and everything he does for her. But that is the least of their problems when they figure out something is seriously wrong when the scene I was waiting for happens. Jeanette Miller plays the old woman that comes into the diner and crawls up the ceiling, you remember that one from the trailers, well they deal with it and Michael arrives to try and save the day from Gabriel (Kevin Durand), apparently, he's the next angel in line to do the job. Can Michael help these hicks and stranded strangers in a diner or will Gabriel succeed? The movie also stars Charles S. Hutton (Rudy), Dennis Quaid (Great Balls Of Fire), Jon Tenney (The Stepfather), and Tyrese Gibson (Transformers). I give the movie a B+ because it's somewhat entirely original, not really believe able that a trailer trash girl would have the baby who will save the world, and at least it's not a remake.

Daybreakers (2009)

Now, I thought this was way better than Survival Of The Dead and didn't see what people were talking about it not being good. Imagine a world where humans are farmed for their blood and are going extinct. The Vampires are running the world and there trying to find a blood substitute so that when the human supply does run out, they won't be starving and turning into weird creatures. So, Ethan Hawke (Brooklyn's Finest) is a hematologist looking to discover a cure because he's unhappy about being a Vampire. Until one day he runs into some humans on the run and they change his life forever. The only consequence is that Ethan is also on the run from his boss (Played By Sam Neill) and his brother (Michael Dorman) whose a human hunter. Can Ethan find a cure or will the world become hell? The movie also stars Willem Dafoe (Boondock Saints), Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen), and Claudia Karvan (Star Wars: Episode III) in this interesting new take in the Vampire genre. I give the movie a B+

Survival Of The Dead (2010)

Out of all the George Romero zombie flicks this has to be by far the worst of them all. I mean the acting was bad and I think the overall story just sucked. The kills are pretty good but you can tell the cg and it seems that this might have been low budget. That's the feel you get from the movie anyways. Apparently, there are four soldiers that are on the run from zombies and there looking for that safe from zombies place. Then there's the battle on this island named Plum Island, which apparently is off the coast of Delaware but they all have Irish accents and two families rule this island (The O'Flynns and Muldoons). The O'Flynn patriarch gets kicked off the island and runs into this soldiers, who in turn help him get back for revenge. Whatever, the movie does have a sort of message it's trying to give but unfortunately i have to give this movie D+ because Romero should have known better.

Death At A Funeral (2010)

This is a comedic gem starring some of the funniest men in Hollywood. The movie stars Chris Rock as Aaron, a aspiring writer whose holding his father's funeral at his house and has to deal with a lot of fiasco's. He deals with the fact that everybody lives his author brother Ryan (Played By Martin Lawrence), he's 37 with no kids yet, and his father turned out to be secretly Gay when his gay midget lover shows up. He's no the only one with problems though as we see Tracy Morgan is obsessed with finding out what the rash on his hand is, Zoe Saldana has to figure out a way for her father to like her boyfriend (James Mardsen) whose been accidentally given acid, and Luke Wilson is obsessed with her. The movie has a lot of great moments in it and the fact that the movie also stars Danny Glover as a miserable old man in a wheelchair is classic. So I give this movie an A-

The Book Of Eli (2010)

The world as we know it is no more, it's apocalyptic, it's scary, and Denzel is hunting cats. That's what we see from the very beginning of the movie and it sort of makes sense. Think about it, when the the world looks like nuclear bombs have destroyed it, what else are you going to eat? Denzel Washington (The Bone Collector) plays Eli, a man on a mission from God to bring the only existing copy of the Bible to the west coast. He meets some strange fellows along the way and kills them very swift and easily. He gets caught up with Mila Kunis (That 70's Show, Extract) and is trying to runaway from Commissioner Gordon himself Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight). Oldman plays a man named Carnegie, the only one around besides Denzel that can read and he wants that very book that Denzel has because he believes that it brings great power and domination to whoever possess it. I thought the movie was very good and come on it's Denzel, so of course it'll be decent. I don't think it's the greatest movie ever made, but I enjoyed the movie. The movie also stars Ray Stevenson (Punisher: Warzone, The Other Guys) Oldman's lead henchman, The L Words Jennifer Beals as Mila's mom Claudia, and Tom Waits (Bram Stoker's Dracula) as the engineer. I give the movie a B

The Collector (2009)

This movie really tried to be all it could be, but overall it was an okay movie. I'm glad I waited till now to see this because this movie is a one and done type of movie. Josh Stewart (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button) stars as Arkin, a guy whose been staking out a house to rob so that he could pay off an old debt. Until he runs into a guy who wants something different but it's in that house. Now, Arkin has to figure out a way to save himself and the family that lives there before The Collector gets them all. Again, the movie wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. It sort of reminded me of "The People Under The Stairs" and any other torture movie that's out there. I give the movie a C- for lack of originality. The movie costars Andrea Roth (War), Michael Reilly Burke (Ted Bundy), Californication's sexy star Madeline Zima, and Juan Fernandez (Crocodile Dundee 2) as The Collector.

Brooklyn's Finest (2009)

When I first rented this movie I expected something a little different than what I saw on my TV screen. I really liked the movie and thought it was good because of it's main stars. To me, they saved the movie because most of them were seasoned veterans and there acting abilities made it believable. Richard Gere (An Officer And A Gentleman) stars as Eddie Duggan, a suicidal veteran cop with a week left of retirement. Duggan is a pessimistic cop who doesn't want to get too involved in anything when it comes to his job and obviously has a few skeletons in the closet. Ethan Hawke (Dead Poets Society) stars as Sal Procida, a cop with big dreams of taking himself and his family out of their current living situation into a better one. The only problem for him is that he doesn't have the money to do it and when he goes on the drug busts, he thinks the worst. You can tell the job is getting to him. Don Cheadle (Boogie Nights) plays Tango, an undercover cop being a drug dealer who just wants his life back. Tango struggles with his persona that he's had to adopt while undercover and now has to figure out a way to protect Caso (Played By Wesley Snipes). The premise of the story is that three men who don't know each other will all be in the same place one deadly night. Like I said it is definitely worth watching. I give it an A

The Losers (2010)

This is a movie about a CIA black ops team that goes on a mission, gets screwed, left for dead, and now they want revenge on those that did it to them. The team so aptly entitled "The Losers" is made up of Clay (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Pooch (played by Death At A Funeral's Columbus Short), Roque (Played By Obsessed's Idris Elba), the coolest character and a man of few words Cougar (played by Oscar Jaenada), and the always comical Jensen (Played by Chris Evans) make up this team that struggles to make their way back to the states. Some of the other key players in this film is Zoe Saldana (Avatar) and Jason Patric (The Lost Boys) and everyone in this film does an excellent job. I really enjoyed the flick and as a guy it has everything you could want in a action movie. It's got guns, bombs, a hot chick, and explosions. I'm telling you blow a lot of things up and we're happy. I think that this is obviously one of the cool movies to come from comic books and maybe thats because I'm sick of the supermans and things of that nature. I give the movie a A-

Clash Of The Titans (2010)

I loved the original and I have to say that I enjoyed this one as well and the reason for that is what special effects can do for a movie of this caliber. I had said before that I believed Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator: Salvation) was going to be the next big thing from Australia. I still think I'm right on that one. Sam stars as Demigod Perseus, who wants to extract revenge for the death of his adoptive family by the hands of Hades (played by Ralph Fiennes), the God of the underworld. Man for a while was appreciative of the Gods until man rises up and defies them. Hades has a plan to convince Zeus (played by Liam Neeson) to punish mankind for their disobedience, but is it for his own agenda. So Perseus and a handful of soldiers are on a quest to defeat the Kraken and save the princess from being sacrificed. The very beautiful Alexa Davalos (Defiance) stars as the princess Andromeda, Gemma Arterton (Quantum Of Solace) stars as Perseus's watcher IO, Mads Mikkelsen (King Arthur) stars as Draco, and Pete Postlethwaite (Inception) as Perseus's adoptive father Spyros. There are a lot of great actors in this movie and I give the movie a B because the original still rocks and we need to become more original with movies. The age of the remakes continues!

The Crazies (2010)

Since Piranha is making it's official debut in the theaters today, I thought I would check out another remake before I see that and I picked the George Romero flick, "The Crazies". Now I'm usually skeptical about remakes because their either not as good or better than the original. We live in an age in Hollywood where remakes are the in thing and every body's doing it. I tip my hat to the guys that remade The Crazies because this was an excellent movie and it did not disappoint me but I think that's because I'm guilty of not seeing the original movie. Timothy Olyphant (Rock Star) does an excellent job as the sheriff of a small farm town in Iowa that is under some strange attack from the towns people going crazy and the government who is trying to destroy all of them. I think the movie is definitely worth checking out to see if he can lead himself and his wife (Played by Radha Mitchell), his Deputy (Played by Joe Anderson) and Becca (Played by Danielle Panabaker) to safety. I'll give this movie an A- for now until I see the original. The last point I want to make before I end this is that George Romero is an absolute genius because this movie along with 28 Days Later, and 28 Weeks Later make you think that the government can end up creating something so deadly that we end up crazy or like a zombie. Their only solution is to destroy and cover up the problem. Think about it, some food for thought while you watch this movie.

The Runaways (2010)

I almost felt a little ashamed watching this movie because of the fact of how Dakota Fanning is almost grown up. The 16 year old stars in this movie as Cherrie Currie, the lead singer of controversial all girl rock band The Runaways. The movie is based on the book written by Currie herself, but the movie focuses on the relationship between Joan Jett (Played by Twilight's Kristen Stewart) and Currie more than it does on the rest of the band. It's a shame because Lita Ford (played By Halloween's Scout Taylor Compton) saw success as well in the 1980's after the Runaways, but she's not important in this film. The movie is slow at times and feels like it drags on and on, but the overall star of this film is Dakota Fanning. I don't want to say it but she was really hot in this film and Kristen Stewart was very terrible. I don't see her as a great actress and this movie proves it. Michael Shannon does an excellent as well in the film as the very eccentric Kim Fowley, but overall I don't blame you if you skipped this one at the movie theaters when it came out. I give the movie an C.

Friday The 13TH Part V: A New Beginning (1985)

With every slasher flick in the genre there always seems to be a new beginning or a re-imagining of the series, but I do have to admit that I enjoy them. Slasher flicks are my favorites and like anything good in this life theirs a big three of everything. In case of the slasher flicks, it's Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Freddy. On Friday The 13Th i decided to watch one, which was part five of the Friday series and this one happened to be right in front of me. Now remember that there already has been four previous movies and the last one was named the final chapter. Now the only important actor in this film was Corey Feldman, but he had a small cameo in the beginning. The movie again introduces us to a older version of Tommy, who seems more mentally distraught and he's going to a group home near Crystal Lake. The only problem is one of the patients living there gets murdered by another and someone decides to dress up like Jason and tries to murder everyone. This wasn't my favorite Friday movie, but it has everything from mayhem and boobs. I give this one a C-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwDOtKkw2og

Kick Ass (2010)

I really wasn't expecting a lot out of this film but Kick Ass is Bad Ass. Aaron Johnson plays Dave, a kid that's pretty much a loser and reads comic books until the day he decides to be this pathetic superhero named Kick Ass. The video of him trying to defend people ends up on Youtube and inspires an ex-cop whose obsessed with getting revenge on a crime family that he teaches his daughter about every type of combat. To me that is when the movie is at it's best and most violent point is when Nicholas Cage and his daughter played by Chloe Moretz (Diary Of A Wimpy Kid) and boy does she kick major ass and she swears a lot in the process as she is forced to help Kick Ass fight the crime family. Mean while Kick Ass for most of the movie battles the fact that a girl only likes him because she thinks he's gay. The movie also stars Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) as Frank D'Amico, Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine) as Marty, Lyndsy Fonseca (Hot Tub Time Machine), and McLovin himself Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Role Models, Superbad) as the Red Mist. The movie is violent but it did manage to keep me on the edge of my seat for most of it. I give the movie an A.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

I'm starting to think Clark Duke (Kick Ass, Sex Drive) is gold in the comedy world and he stars in this movie about being sucked back in time to 1986. The movie stars John Cusack (The King Of Eighties Films), Craig Robinson (Pineapple Express), Rob Corddry (Harold & Kumar Escape...) as three down and out friends who haven't really spoken to each other but because of an attempted suicide decide to take a weekend at an old hot spot. The only problem is that they end up going back to 1986 and they have to relive that weekend at the ski resort all over again and manage to figure out how to get back to present time. This movie was very good but it was not better than the Hangover like the DVD case claims. The movie has a lot of old 80's stars that have cameos in the film like Crispin Glover (Back To The Future), Chevy Chase (The National Lampoon Vacation Movies), and William Zabka (The Karate Kid) as well as great references to the 80's. If you love the eighties or grew up in the eighties than rent this film because you'll understand it and probably think it's funnier than the Hangover. I give the movie a A- because it just might usher in the new generation of time travel in Hollywood. Another amazing thing to me was the fact that they found someone that almost looks identical to Cusack in his younger days.

Sex Drive (2008)

When I first saw this movie sitting on the shelf in what used to be a Blockbuster Video store, I didn't know if I wanted to take the risk on renting it. But in a hot summer night with some left over Chinese food and your hanging out with your bud, this seemed like the movie to watch. The movie stars Josh Zuckerman (Lions For Lambs) as Ian, a kid constantly disrespected and socially awkward to woman, 18 year old virgin, who decides to steal his brothers car and head to Tennessee to bang a girl he met on the Internet. He heads down with his buddy Lance played by Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine) and his BFF Felicia played by Amanda Crew (Charlie St. Cloud) and the adventure begins. The real treats of this movie however are the unsung hero's of this movie being Seth Green who plays an Amish man able to fix 69 GTO's and his knack for sarcasm and James Mardsen (Death At A Funeral) who plays Ian's over testosterone, abusive big brother Rex. Clark Duke also delievers in this movie and some of the cameos are okay like the one by Brian Posehn, but be careful which version you watch of this movie. I did enjoy the Unrated and Cream Filled version but not as much as the version you get on Demand. The unrated version promises you more nudity and other crewed things like the camera focusing on a penis for a scene or on an oldman's balls. plus you hear the outakes and the actors telling the director, "cut." The on demand version is just as naughty and you see the movie for what it really is, a comedic masterpiece. The Unrated version gets a B and the On Demand Version gets an A- because you don't have to stick naked women constantly in the scenes to make it a good movie unless thats who you're targeting. But overall both versions will make you laugh.

The Other Guys (2010)

It's been a while since I have gone to the movies with ticket prices being so ridiculous, but I had to get out of the house. I've seen the making of this movie on HBO and it did strike my interest. I went with an open mind and I do have to say that I really enjoyed this movie. Mark Wahlberg (Fear) and Will Ferrel (Old School) made a great comedy team throughout this whole entire film. There were some OK moments in the film but overall the movie was hilarious and that was because of Will Ferrell who redeems himself for his failed attempt at remaking Land Of The Lost. Mark Wahlberg plays a frustrated office detective Terry, who wants nothing but redemption and the chance to be the next great detectives after the deaths of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Gameplan) and Samuel L Jackson's 9 (The Negotiator) Characters. The only problem is that his partner Allen is way too happy doing other peoples work instead of putting himself in danger. But Allen has a good case on his hands and Walhberg decides to go along hoping for his redemption. It was great to see Michael Keaton (Batman) back in films as Captain Gene and he was back doing what he did best and thats comedy. The Movie also stars Damon Wayans Jr. (Dance Flick), Rob Riggle (The Hangover), Ray Stevenson (Punisher: Warzone), and Eva Mendes (The Spirit). I give the movie an A-

Next Stop Wonderland (1998)

My film & society teacher showed us this film that takes place in Boston and has to do with two people that don't believe in fate, but end up together. The movie is about a woman named Erin (Hope Davis) and Alan (Alan Gelfant) and all the trials and tribulations that they go through in their lives. Erin has been dumped by her boyfriend (a brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and is sort of content being alone, but ultimately wants to find someone. Alan is a man that is running away from what everyone believes is his destiny (Being a plumber) and wants to be a marine biologist. Erin goes through all the motions and after her mother places an ad for her in the Boston Herald personals, decides to go on these dates. Of course, all of her dates are disastrous and she never finds Mr. Right, but then she runs into a man that is really a womanizer, but is sort of pushing the right strings with her. Alan in the meantime, has to deal with owing a bookie money, stealing a balloon fish from the aquarium, and dealing with a girl (Cara Buono) he knows isn't the one he wants. Then the faithful scene happens and these two meet and they fall in love. The end. This was an okay movie, but a lot of it could have been chopped off and made into a short film. That would've been more powerful. The movie also stars Ken Cheeseman (Shutter Island) as Rick, Jose Zuniga (Twilight) as Andre, Larry Gilliard Jr. (The Waterboy) as Brett, Roger Rees (If Looks Could Kill) as Alan's professor, The brilliant Holland Taylor (Two And The Half Men) as Erin's mother, and Robert Klein (Poison Ivy) as Arty Lesser. I give this movie a C+

Tuesday March 9, 2010

Note: I forgot to post last night because sometimes life hits you hard and you tend to forget when your going to school and try to plan shoots. So, my apologies to everyone for not posting last night.

Goodfellas (1991)

When you think of gangster movies and you want that can maybe go up against a power house like The Godfather then look no further than the Martin Scorsese classic Goodfellas. This is the movie that made Ray Liotta (Observe And Report) a household name and showed how Robert DeNiro (Taxi Driver) is one of the greatest actors of all time.

The Breakfast Club (1985)

This is one 0f John Hughes's classic movies that he made during his illustrious career. I think it was the only movie that Judd Nelson (Airheads) was ever cool in and another home run for Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles). The movie is about 5 teenagers that have to spend their Saturday serving detention at their high school. These 5 teens are completely different as well with Emilio Estevez (Young Guns) being the jock Andrew, Molly Ringwald playing the popular, very prissy Claire, Anthony Michael Hall (The Dark Knight) as the nerdy Brian, Judd Nelson as the trouble maker Bender, and Ally Sheedy (Short Circuit) as the weird Allison. The movie is great because these kids go in thinking they have nothing in common, but leave discovering something new about themselves that they didn't know. They also have to deal with the tough as nails Principal Vernon (Paul Gleason), who has touch with the generations and has completely no respect for any of them. This is a great teen movie and it also has a great soundtrack to boot. This movie gives you a real lesson in how not to teach a book by it's cover. I give it an A.

The Wrestler (2008)

This movie is a classic one because of how realistic the story is to so many former wrestlers out there that are still vying for a piece of the spotlight. The movie stars Mickey Rourke (The Pope Of Greenwich Village) as a has been wrestler named Randy "The Ram", who because of a heart attack is forced to retire from the only thing he knows how to do. He tries to create a normal life for himself by getting a job as a deli man, reconnect with his daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), and try to date a stripper named Cassidy (Marissa Tomei). But in the end nothing works out for Randy and he has to make a hard decision that could cost his life and he struggles with that fact. He has the chance to wrestle a guy that because of the match, it made him famous. Should he take the match or not? The movie is powerful in a sense that because of the low attendance at the autograph sessions by certain wrestlers of yesteryear that no one cares about the sacrifice these guys put there bodies through. It shows you that when your not hot, your not important to them anymore. The movie also stars Mark Margolis (Defiance) as Lenny, Todd Barry (Beer League) as Wayne, actual WWE wrestler Ron "The Truth" Killings, and many underground wrestlers who are trying to make it themselves. I give this movie an A+.

The Boondock Saints

I was looking forward to the new Boondock Saints movie, so I thought I would review this one

Pineapple Express (2008)

This has to be by far one of the best comedy movies of 2008 and probably by far one of Seth Rogen's (Knocked Up) best films. Seth stars as Dale Denton, a twenty something pot smoking loser who drives around and dresses up in different disguises to hand out papers to people that don't want them because they could be divorce papers, etc and goes out with a high school senior (Amber Heard). After visiting his friendly drug dealer and snatching up some weed called pineapple express, witnesses a guy who he is supposed to serve papers to murder someone. That guy happens to be Ted Jones (Office Space's Gary Cole), who is the head distributor of marijuana. Ted recognizes his weed and sends his henchman to the middle man named Red (Danny McBride) to find out who he had distributed the weed to. So, Dale heads back to his drug dealer Saul (James Franco), tells him what had happened and the both of them freak out and now it's a cat and mouse game for the rest of the movie. This movie has so many great moments in it and so many unforgettable scenes. I absolutely loved the movie and you have to check this out because I think Seth Rogen is a genius. The movie also stars Rosie Perez (Night On Earth) as the corrupt female cop, Joe Lo Truglio (Beer League) as Mr. Edwards, Craig Robinson (Miss March) as Matheson, Kevin Corrigan (Goodfellas) as Budlofski, and Ed Begley Jr. (Greedy) as Robert. I give this movie an A

Casablanca (1942)

This is definitely one of America's beloved film starring one of the greatest American actors in Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon) as Rick Blaine, an American expatriate who owns a saloon in French occupied Morocco. Casablanca is significant because it's the port to freedom in the days of WWII. It was the one point to get to Lisbon, Portugal if you wanted to escape the Third Reich. It becomes all about fate in this movie when Rick runs into an old flame from Paris under some extreme circumstances. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) failed to tell Rick back in Paris that she was married to Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and that she thought he was dead and that's why she get mixed up with Rick. Ilsa and Victor came to Casablanca to get visa's to be able to come to America because Victor is a freedom fighter on the run from Major Strasser (The Man Who Laughs himself Conrad Veidt) who is also in Casablanca looking for Victor. Rick holds the key to their freedom and must decide to free Victor from Strasser and letting Ilsa go at the same time. Claude Rains (The Greatest Story Ever Told) does an excellent job in this movie as sort of a guy playing it close to the fences when it comes to his compassion for people and playing the role of helper for the Third Reich. He is serious about his role as Captain, but loves to mingle with the people and having swagger. The movie also stars Sydney Greenstreet (The Maltese Falcon) as Signor Ferrari, Peter Lorre (The Maltese Falcon) as Ugarte, Dooley Wilson (Night In New Orleans) as Sam, and Joy Page (Tonka) as Annina Brandel. I give this movie an A+

Road To Perdition (2002)

This was one hell of a movie and Tom Hanks maybe one of the best actors living today. Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) plays Mike Sullivan, a gangster who tries to keep his life secret from his kids until his oldest son, Michael Sullivan Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) watches his father kill someone. Sullivan and Connor Rooney (James Bond himself Daniel Craig) hear him and catch him and things go sour from then on. So, Connor's dad and leader John Rooney (The Late Paul Newman) order a hit on Sullivan and his whole family. The only problem is that they only killed his wife and his other son. So, Sullivan and his son are on the run from them and there also on the run from a ruthless assassin who likes to take pictures of dead people (Jude Law). Sullivan devises a plan to get back at them and it works because he frazzles them big time. The ending will piss you off, but it's not because it's a poorly thought ending, but because it aggravates you that it happened. I really suggest that you pick this one up because it's that damn good and it's full of caliber actors as well. It also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female) as Michael's wife, Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood) as Finn, Dylan Baker (Revolutionary Road) as Alexander Rance, and Stanley Tucci (Julia & Julia) as Frank Nitti. I give this movie an A.

21 (2008)

This is a fact based movie about 6 kids from MIT that learned to card count and they took Vegas for a lot of money. It stars Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) as MIT professor Mickey Rosa, who had some knowledge of card counting as well as some experience that trains Jim Sturgess (50 Dead Men Walking) as Ben, Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns) as Jill, Aaron Yoo (Friday The 13Th) as Choi, Liza Lapira (Fast & Furious) as Kianna, Jacob Pitts (Eurotrip) as Fisher, and Josh Gad (The Rocker) as Miles. Together, they run it very smoothly with signals, certain body language, and their brains to take millions from Planet Hollywood. Ben learns a lot about himself in this movie especially after he gets the girl of his dreams and then his teacher screws him. He soon loses everything, but he has a plan to get it back. He just has to be aware of Laurence Fishburn (Boyz In The Hood) who plays the security man at Planet Hollywood named Cole Williams because of some friendly back stabbing advice from someone he was onto Ben's game. This is a great movie to watch because I love true stories. It's the thrill of knowing something like this really took place. I give the movie an A- because even though we've seen plenty of gambling movies, this one is right at the top of the list.

Point Break (1991)

It's a classic movie starring one of the all time greats in the late Patrick Swayze (Road House) as a surfing, bank robber who dresses as a President.

Beerfest (2006)

What more can I say about Broken Lizard other than where is Potfest?

Black Christmas (1974)

Before Halloween, there was Black Christmas starring one of the most beautiful actresses in the world (Romeo & Juliet's Olivia Hussey) in this horror film about a crazy guy that breaks into a sorority house and tries to kill every girl in it.

Forrest Gump (1994)

This is the movie annoying people became obsessed with because of the famous lines that came from this movie. It stars Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) as Forrest Gump, a guy that is just really stupid, but he has a heart of gold. Forrest goes through tons of experiences in his life from playing college football, to opening the door for a African American girl when they segregated schools, to fighting in Vietnam, to running a shrimping boat with Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), and finally getting to marry the one girl who had escaped him for years, the world famous Jenny (Robin Wright Penn). It's a very touching movie and the story is told by Forrest as he is waiting for a bus to go see Jenny. He tells the story of his Momma (Sally Field), Bubba (Mykelti Williamson), and everyone else in between to some strangers on a bench. The funny thing about this movie is that Forrest some how is involved or near every major event that happens in US history and while on his long run is responsible for the world famous Smiley face, the shit happens slogan, and may other things. The nice part is that the movie teaches you to be yourself and not to care what other people say about you. The movie also stars Margo Moorer (ATL) as Forrest's mother's housekeeper, Peter Dobson (Poolhall Junkies) as Elvis, and Haley Joel Osment (Artificial Intelligence: A.I.) as Forrest Gump Jr. Hey, even the man's man Kurt Russell (Escape From New York) gets to play Elvis's voice in this one and according to this Forrest taught Elvis all his moves. I give this movie an A+ because it is an all time classic film and reassures Tom Hank's status as Hollywood gold

Romeo & Juliet (1968)

This isn't the Leonardo DiCaprio version, but the critically acclaimed Franco Zeffirelli (Jesus Of Nazareth) version where Franco took a chance on two virtual unknowns to play Romeo and Juliet in this classic Shakespeare tale of star crossed lovers. Once considered and I still believe is one of the most beautiful women in the world Olivia Hussey (Black Christmas) tackles the role of Juliet, the daughter of a Capulet, a sworn enemy to the Montague's who falls in love with their son Romeo played by Leonard Whiting (Frankenstein: The True Story). Their relationship is doomed from the start as these two families can not get along. To make matters worse, after they became married Romeo kills Tybalt (Played by basil of Austin Powers, Michael York) who before this had killed Romeo's best friend Mercutio (John McEnery). Knowing that Romeo is now a fugitive, Juliet is worried and her father is making her marry someone she doesn't love so she goes to Friar Laurence (Milo O'Shea) and begs him to fix it. He comes up with a master plan, but it doesn't matter because the message doesn't get to Romeo in time and he thinks she's dead. Now comes the famous scene that everyone knows happens at the end of this story and if you don't know then shame on you. This was truly a beautiful movie and Zeffirelli's gamble paid off because Hussey and Whiting were absolutely terrific. No one can ever top that performance that gave in the movie so I am giving them an A for it.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

This was the first time we were introduced to the team of Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds) and Robert Rodriguez (Desperado) who would go on to collaborate on other films. While Tarantino only starred and wrote this movie, Rodriguez would direct this movie about a group of guys trapped in bar full of Vampires. Tarantino stars as Richard Gecko along with George Clooney (Oceans 11) as his brother in charge of things Seth Gecko. Together, they're running away to Mexico to meet a guy when the kidnap a former preacher played by Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs) as Jacob and his kids Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu). Together, they all go to a bar and wait for their guy until it becomes dark out and the vampires try to feed on them. The only question to ask is can they all survive or will they end up becoming vampires themselves? The movie also stars Selma Hayek (Desperado) as a vampire dancer named Santanico Pandemonium, Tom Savani (Land Of The Dead) as Sex Machine, Fred Williamson (Hammer) as Frost, Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong) as three different roles, Danny Trejo (The Devil's Rejects) as Razor Charlie, and a cameo by the very hot Kelly Preston. This was George Clooney's only bad ass role in his career and I give this movie an A cause I still enjoy it.

The House Bunny (2008)

I may be convinced that Anna Faris is the new female face of comedy and she has it all as far as beauty and talent are concerned. She stars as a Playboy bunny who runs away from Hef and the mansion and hooks up with some sorority girls. The only problem is that the girls aren't popular on the big campus and they face some trouble as they have to find 30 pledges to keep their house. So, Shelley (Faris) plans to make these girls over and make them popular on the campus despite some people not wanting them to like Ms. Hagstrom (Beverly D'Angelo). Together along with Shelley, Natalie (The beautiful Emma Stone), Mona (Kat Dennings), Lily (Kiely Williams), Harmony (Katharine McPhee), Carrie Mae (Dana Goodman), and Joanne (the daughter of Bruce Willis, Rumer Willis) make up the sorority girls who are about to discover that it's okay to be yourself. That is the whole theme of this movie is being yourself because Shelley deals with her own problems despite everyone thinking she's perfect. The movie also stars Colin Hanks (Orange County) as Oliver, Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore) as the dean, and Tyson Ritter (The All American Rejects) as Colby as well as Hugh Hefner and the girls next door. It's not the greatest movie , but it has a lot of hot chicks so I give it a B because even though it's a Happy Gilmore production it doesn't top Grandma's Boy.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

This is the movie that made Jim Carrey (A Christmas Carol) a household name and would forever introduce us to the wild man of comedy. He stars as wacky, eccentrically dressed Ace Ventura, a pet detective, who gets hired by Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox) to find out who kidnapped the Miami Dolphins mascot. Ace gets on some hot trails and whacked out missions as he tries to figure out who did it as well as he tries to solves a murder that could be connected at the same time. The whole movie Ace gets no respect from police Lt. Louis Einhorn (Sean Young) as she thinks Ace is worthless and can only get in the way of the case. Ace discovers some troubling things as he figures out that the kicker that missed the field goal in the last Superbowl might be the person behind the kidnapping. But boy does Ace and everyone else get a surprise in the end! The movie also stars Dan Marino as himself, Troy Evans (The Black Dhalia) as Roger Prodactor, Tone Loc (Rapper) as Emilio, Udo Kier (Rob Zombies Halloween) as Ron Camp, and a cameo by death metal band Cannibal Corpse. I give this movie an A because it's a classic and a hell of a lot better and funnier than the sequel.

Stepfather II (1989)

I wanted to watch this before I rented The Stepfather because I've seen the original movie. This actually wasn't bad, but I did feel like it sort of dragged a little at the same time too. Jerry (Terry O'Quinn) escapes from prison and steals a man's identity and poses as a marriage counselor in a new town. He soon falls for his neighbor Carol (Meg Foster) and becomes close with her son Todd (The late Jonathan Brandis) who's having trouble coping with the fact that his father left his mom. Things are going great for Jerry (now known as Cliff) until Carol's friend Matty (Caroline Williams) starts suspecting that Cliff isn't who he says he is, but Carol is blinded by love as she continues on with her wedding to Cliff until she figures him out on her wedding day. Theirs not much action as far as a horror movie would be concerned, but the story is pretty good. The movie also stars Miriam Byrd-Nethery (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) as Sally Jenkins and John O'Leary (Julius Caesar) as blind man Sam. I give this movie a C.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

I loved the first edition of this movie, didn't really care for the second, but I was a little excited for this one for the mere return of Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier) to possibly battle Jean Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport) who is a legend in action films to me. Basically, the movie is about this group that takes the Russian prime ministers kids hostage to free prisoners. They use a universal soldier (MMA star Andre Arlovski) to kidnap them. This alarms the US and they in return bring back their own, but they fail to defeat him. So, they only have one option left and that is bring back Luke (Van Damme) whose been trying to rehabilitate himself. Obviously Van Damme gets the job done and on the way Van Damme and Lundgren fight once again. The only thing is Van Damme looks old and it looks like he's trying to hang on to the genre much like Stallone. The movie also stars Garry Cooper (The Harvest) as Dr. Porter, John Foo (Tekken) as Unisol #2, and Zahary Baharov (War Inc.) as Commander Topov. I give this one a C because the action was great, but the dialogue and story were poor.

Airheads (1994)

This is still one of my favorite Adam Sandler (Mr. Deeds) movies and it takes place in a place I love and that's the Radio station. It's the story of Chaz (Brendan Fraser), a down and out wannabe rock star who just got kicked out of his apartment. So, he and his band mates the brothers Rex (Steve Buscemi) and Pip (Sandler) decide that their going to go into the local station and hold it up until they play the song. Three problems with that, 1) is the machine ends up eating their tape, 2) the cops are outside waiting to bust them, and 3) Chaz's pissed off girlfriend Kayla (Amy Locane) has the other copy. Everyone is patient while the negotiator (Ernie Hudson) trys to meet their demands and the band seems to grow on the DJ Ian (Joe Mantegna). It becomes absolute madness for the whole movie while the late Chris Farley (Tommy Boy) plays a cop trying to find Chaz's girlfriend for the tape. So things start to look up for the band known as "The Lone Rangers" when Jimmy Wing (Judd Nelson) a record executive looks to sign the band just based on the publicity and it's everything the band wanted until they say they want to do it there way and they tell him to screw. The movie also stars Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap) as the station GM Milo, Nina Siemaszko (Suicide Kings) as Suzy, Marshall Bell (Stand By Me) as Swat Man Carl Mace, a young pre-scream David Arquette (Scream) as one of the station workers, Kramer himself Michael Richards (Seinfeld) as Doug Beech, and cameos by Stuttering John himself Jon Melendez as the masturbating rocker, Harold Ramis (Ghostsbusters) as a informant, Mike Judge as the voices of Beavis and Butthead, and Rob Zombie and his former band White Zombie make a cameo appearance in the film. I give the movie a B+ for originality.

Stand By Me (1986)

This might be by far one of the greatest movies to ever come out of the 80's and the last 30 years. It's the story of lost innocence on a journey to find the body of a fellow 12 year old boy whose body was missing. It's a coming of age or as my professor liked to put it a rite of passage type of movie. It's where a character goes through this journey, the separation stage, the initiation stage, and the return. The separation would be the fact that Vern (Jerry O'Connell) comes and tells his friends Chris Chambers (The Late River Phoenix), Gordy Lachance (Wil Wheaton), and Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) that if they wanted to see a dead body, he knew it's whereabouts from hearing his brother talk about it. So, they go on the journey to try and find the body. The initiation stage is the troubles that they face on their way to try and find the body. From Teddy trying to play chicken with the train and Chris pulling him away, to their ordeal with Milo Pressman (William Bronder) and his dog chopper, to trying to dodge the upcoming train, to the ordeal with the leaches, to actually finding the body and making sure Ace (Keifer Sutherland) didn't take it. The return stage is them coming home and feeling like the town had become smaller even though it didn't. The reason for that is the body changed their perception in how fragile life is. Anyone and everyone can relate to this story because this characters are so real to us. We all deep down inside knew a Gordy or a Teddy and why we did the things we did and when we were kids we all wanted to be adults so we did adult things. The movie also stars Casey Siemaszko (Public Enemies) as Vern's brother Billy, Bradley Gregg (Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade) as Chris's brother Eyeball, Marshall Bell (Twins) as Gordy's dad, Richard Dreyfuss (What About Bob?) as The writer, and a cameo by John Cusack (2012) as Gordy's dead brother Denny. I give this movie an A+

Marley & Me (2008)

This movie made me laugh and it made me cry at times. I absolutely loved this movie, but the end just depressed me. It stars Owen Wilson (Drillbit Taylor) and Jennifer Aniston (Love Happens) as a married couple that happen to be journalists as well. With some advice from a friend and colleague Sebastian (Eric Dane), to avoid the topic of kids, John (Wilson) buys Jennifer (Aniston) a puppy they eventually name Marley. Marley is one of the toughest dogs in the world, but no matter what he does that's bad, they love him unconditionally. So, John has always wanted to be a reporter, but finds himself being a columnist and with some inspiration from Marley becomes a hit in Florida. They eventually start their family and life moves John & Co. to Philly where he finally gets his reporter job and then the sadness starts from there as they notice drastic changes in Marley's behavior. One of my favorite scenes in the whole film is when John and Jen go on vacation to Ireland and leave Marley with the house sitter and Marley drives the poor girl absolutely nuts. The astonishing to me is that they use three different dogs to play Marley in the different stages of his life. The movie also stars Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as John's boss, Kathleen Turner (The Virgin Suicides) as Ms. Kornblut the dog trainer, and Haley Bennett (The Haunting Of Molly Hartley) as Lisa. I recommend this movie to anyone that wants a great story of love, but if you want total fun from beginning to end, then rent another one. I give the movie an A.

Sid And Nancy (1986)

Like the description on IMDB.com, this is a morbid biographical movie about the Sex Pistols Bassist Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) and his dangerous relationship with Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). It follows their dangerous paths with drugs and the lifestyle of being an infamous couple. The part of this story that always gets me is; Did Sid kill Nancy? It's a question we'll always ponder and assume that he was that messed up. This to me is a ugly movie, but it hits the nail on the head as to how ugly the lifestyle is. Gary Oldman (Batman Begins) does an excellent job in this film and I believe this was the first time America came into contact with this great actor. The movie also features my least favorite person in the whole world, that being the very troubled Courtney Love. Does life imitate art? This movie also has Xander Berkeley (Year One), British actor Perry Benson (Rough Cut), Sy Richardson (Surviving Christmas), and Biff Yeager (White Oleander). I give this movie an B+, which I could have given this an A-, but I'm not a big fan of The Sex Pistols or Courtney Love.

Meet The Parents (2000)

This was absolute comedic gold for Ben Stiller (There's Something About Mary) and Robert De Niro (Goodfellas) in this comedy about male nurse Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Stiller) who wants to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), but ends up finding out that her sister's fiance asked for her father's permission. So, Greg and Pam head out to visit her parents where Greg wants to make a good impression for Jack Byrnes (Deniro), a tough as nails former CIA agent who has problems with Greg throughout the whole film. So, will Greg get Jack's approval to marry Pam or will the weekend end up being a disaster for them all? There are a lot of great moments in this film that showed you that Stiller and De Niro were just as much a comedic team as was Billy Crystal and De Niro. The movie also stars Owen Wilson (Marley & Me), Blythe Danner (The Prince Of Tides) as Pam's mom, Jon Abrahams (Scary Movie) as Pam's brother, and the late Nicole DeHuff (See Arnold Run) as Pam's sister Debby. I give the movie an A

The Goonies (1985)

This is the classic Steven Spielberg film, which was written by Chris Columbus and was one of my favorite films when I was a child. You know it's a classic when you can still watch it as an adult. The movie stars Sean Astin (Rudy) as Mikey Walsh stars as a kid whose neighborhood is about to be turned into a golf course. Mikey as well as the others are attached to this neighborhood and call themselves The Goonies. The rest of the Goonies are Mouth (Corey Feldman), Data (Jonathan Ke Quan), Chunk (Jeff Cohen), Mikey's brother Brand (Josh Brolin), Annie (Kerri Green), and Stef (Martha Plimpton) round out the Goonies until Sloth (The Late John Matsuzak) becomes an official Goonie towards the end. So, it's the last weekend they'll be able to hang out together and they need to find a way to get money to keep the neighborhood intact and they can't think of anything until they find a treasure map in Mikey's attic that belonged to a pirate known as One Eyed Willy. So, they embark on the adventure and run into a lot of dangerous tasks like boobie traps and The Fratelli's (A criminal family who has Sloth locked up in a room) while trying to find One Eyed Willies treasure. Their are so many classic lines and moments in this film that I could sit here all day describing each one of my favorites. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't seen this then you have to pick it up. The movie also stars Robert Davi (Showgirls) as Jake Fratelli, Joe Pantoliano (US Marshals) as Francis Fratelli, the late Anne Ramsey (Throw Momma From The Train) as Mama Fratelli, Famed director Richard Donner (Superman II) as a policeman, and Steve Antin (SFW) as Troy Perkins. I love this film and therefore it gets an A+

Zombieland (2009)

This has to be the comedy of the year because it mixes some of my favorite elements in a movie which are: Zombies, cool trucks, a hot girl, and zombie ass kicking. The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland) as Columbus, a sort of weakling in the eyes of the fittest rule, that seems to survive based on these rules he made up. It's not until he bumps into Tallahassee (Woody Harellson) that the adventure starts to begin. Now the whole US is vacant of living people except for Columbus and Tallahassee. So, they think until they run into Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who are sisters who are out for themselves. The four of them going on a journey that's a little more than a road trip as they kill Zombies and discover the meaning of family in a world where families don't exist. The best scenes of the movie to watch out for is the small cameo from the legend Bill Murray and the amusement park scene. Tons of action loaded into that scene. Like I said this movie has it all from great special effects to comedy and lots of Zombie killing action. I can't wait for the sequel so I give this movie an A+

The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002)

I thoroughly enjoyed this remake of the original movie which was based on a Alexandre Dumas book of the same name. This one stars James Caviezel as Edmond Dantes, a french soldier in the aftermath of France post Napoleon era that gets framed and sent to prison by his jealous friend. He eventually escapes prison after he received training in books of literature, aritmetic, etc. and sword fighting knowledge by his fellow prisoner Abbe (Richard Harris). He eventually finds some hidden treasure with a little help from Jacapo (Luis Guzman) and becomes the Count Of Monte Cristo to seek revenge against those back stabbing friends including Fernand (Guy Pearce). I thought this was an excellent adventure movie in the same vein as the Three Musketeers. I love the themes in this movie especially like the betrayal, revenge, and of course all the cool sword fighting. This really shows the true heart of a man after he's lost everything except he keeps his will to live to fight another day. I give this movie an A.

The Man Who Laughs (1928)

The Man Who Laughs is a classic silent movie from 1928 from director Paul Leni that stars Conrad Veidt (Casablanca), who plays Gwynplaine, a boy who is the heir to a throne that was sold off to Gypsy's and his father was killed by King James II. The only problem for young Gwyneplaine is that they surgically carved a permanent smile into his face. Gwyneplaine eventually stumbles upon a baby that is still alive but her mother is frozen to death and he saves her. The both of them eventually make it to Ursus (Cesare Gravina) the philosopher, who makes Gwyneplaine a circus draw along with his beloved blind Dea (Mary Philbin), the little baby he save that is all grown up. Gwyneplaine couldn't imagine her wanting to marry him because of the smile and eventually is found out by the Queen to still be alive.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight is a classic movie starring the late Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) as the Joker and the return of Christian Bale (Batman Begins) as Batman in this sequel to Batman Begins. This time around The Joker is heating things up in Gotham City when the Mob has gone scared of Batman and Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) as they have locked up and Indited the whole mob. So now with the Joker on the loose in Gotham promising to kill someone everyday until Batman reveals his own identity, nobody is essentially safe and that sends Batman into panic mode. Along with Alfred (Michael Caine), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), they all try to figure out his every move. We eventually see Harvey become "Two Face" in the movie after a explosion leaves him without half his face and Rachel dead. We see what Batman had been calling him for days, Gothams White Knight, turn into an evil hellbent and disillusioned man wanting revenge for what happened to Rachel. Their is so much action that is packed into this movie and you can't forget Heath's performance that redefined the role of The Joker so that nobody could top it ever. Heath earned a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor for his role as The Joker and a well deserved award for him. The movie also stars Eric Roberts (Best Of The Best), Cillian Murphy (Red Eye) returns as The Scarecrow, Chin Han (2012) as Lao, Anthony Michael Hall (Weird Science) as TV man Mike Engel, Michael Jai White (Tyson) as Gambol, and a cameo by William Fichtner (Blades Of Glory) as the bank manager. Do not miss an opportunity to see Heath's terrific performance because it's unforgettable and all the action and drama. This movie gets an A+

Rock Star (2001)

This movie is loosely based on the true story Of Tim "Ripper" Owens, the kid that after playing in a Judas Priest cover band got the chance of a lifetime and replaced their original lead singer. So, Mark Wahlberg (The Departed) stars as Chris Cole (Basically Owens), a kid who is obsessed with a rock band Called Steel Dragon. He himself is in a cover band called Blood Pollution (A Steel Dragon song) and soon finds himself out when his obsession with playing the songs the way they were meant to be played gets him kicked out of the band. He gets a chance phone call from Steel Dragons leader and guitarist Kirk Cuddy (Dominic West) and gets invited to tryout for the leader singer position vacated by their original singer Bobby Beers (Jason Flemyng). Chris gets the job and it's fun and surreal at first, but then it ends up not being all that it cracked up to be for him. The movie features a mega soundtrack and a mega cast of musicians as well like Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society) as Steel Dragon Guitarist Ghode, Jeff Pilson (Ex-Dokken, Foreigner) as Bassist Jorgen, The son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is Jason Bonham (Bonham) as drummer A.C., Blas Elias (Slaughter) as Blood Pollution drummer Donny Johnson, Nick Catanese (Black Label Society) as Blood Pollution guitarist Xander Cummins, Brian Vander Ark (Verve Pipe) as Blood Pollution's Bassist Ricki Bell, Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) as the singer to a rival band, Bradley, and Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) as Thor. The movie also features real life rock photographer Neil Zlozower, The very sexy Rachel Hunter, Heidi Mark, Carrie Stevens, and Amy Miller as the Steel Dragon Wives, Jennifer Aniston (Love Happens) as Chris's manager and girlfriend, Timothy Spall (Appaloosa) as the sleazy Steel Dragon road manager, Dagmara Dominczyk (Running With Scissors) as their publicist, and Timothy Olyphant (Hit Man) as Chris friend and former Blood Pollution band mate Rob. I love this movie because I'm a big fan of 80's metal and the whole fantasy of singing with your favorite band always keeps me glued to watch this and dream at the same time. I give this movie an A

New Format

There is going to be a new format to how I grade movies and I started with Blood Creek. I'm going to be giving letter grades instead of stars. I can sort of do more with the letter grades than the stars.

Whiteout (2009)

First, I have to say is who in their right mind would live in Antarctica? Kate Beckinsale stars in this suspense thriller about the first murders in Antarctic history. She plays US Marshall Carrie Stetko, a woman who is having trouble letting go of the past and it ends up bringing her to a base in Antarctica where she is about discover some bodies and almost no clue as to who the killer is. She confides her trust to Dr. John Fury (Tom Skerritt) and her pilot Delfy (Columbus Short) when she meets a UN Rep Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht) and she doesn't know of she trusts him completely after she was attacked by the killer. The only problem in the film is that they have 3 days to discover who the killer is before they end up getting stuck in Antarctica for the whole winter and they have to endure Whiteouts. I thought the movie was very good and Kate Beckinsale to me always shines. I give it a A- because I thought they did a terrific job making you believe you are in Antarctica.

American Psycho (2000)

This is the movie that made Christian Bale a household name in the US. He had starred in plenty of movies before this, but didn't become the big star he deserved to be until this horror thriller about a yuppie that indulges in the lifestyle and decides to become a serial killer. Bale was absolutely classic as Patrick Bateman, a eccentric over obsessed about his looks type of guy who is just flat out weird. He has a master plan in mind during the movie that he'd kill people under somebody else's name that he in fact kills. The whole movie you notice Bateman struggling with the fact that he kills people and nobody takes him seriously when he admits to it. It's almost like he wants to get caught, but everyone thinks he's joking. The ending will confuse you or maybe not but it did confuse me. The movie also stars Resse Witherspoon (Fear) as Bateman's girlfriend, Chloe Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry) as Bateman's secretary, Josh Lucas (Wonderland) as Bateman's Colleague Craig, Samantha Mathis (Pump Up The Volume) as Courtney, Jared Leto (Urban Legend) as Paul Allen, and William Dafoe (Spiderman) as Detective Donald Kimball. Like I said, the movie is a classic and very twisted. Bale is great when he drones on about his favorite 80's musicians before killing his victims. The grade for this movie is A- just for Christian Bale's brilliance and the story itself.