Classic Slasher Films

          It is Halloween season, so I decided I should watch some horror movies (obviously).  But I wasn't sure which ones.  Then I realized that I have never seen the classic slasher films.  So I decided to change that.

Halloween (1978)

          Halloween was one of the first slasher films and paved the way for others.  While I did like Halloween, I did not find it scary at all.  I really liked the idea and the story, but it wasn't frightening.  Michael Myers is suppose to be evil incarnate.  And for the most part he succeeds as that.  However, there are a few things that pull him down from that level.  If he is evil embodied, don't give him a face.  By giving him a face, he becomes a man.  His face is seen twice, but they could have easily not have shown it.  And there are some other parts that make him look like a kid, kind of innocent.  At one point Michael kills somebody and then looks at the body quizzically. I really liked the shot and thought it was cool, but it almost made him look like he was puzzled that the guy died.

          The movie starts off strong with a cool POV shot.  And it ends with a powerful montage with the theme playing over.  And the THEME SONG is awesome.  It really adds to the film.  Overall, I liked it.  I just didn't find it scary, though I'm sure it was for it's time.

Friday the 13th (1980)

          I was a little disappointed with this one.  Once again, I wasn't scared and I didn't find the story engaging or interesting.  I wasn't invested in any of the characters.  And, though I knew they were going to die, I never really worried for them.  I didn't know how I was suppose to feel about the ending.  Was it suppose to me a twist and subvert my expectations?  I didn't think it led to that.  But, then again, I did know the ending and who the killer was and why; so maybe that ruined it for me.  I imagine that the ending would have been more of a shock if I went in unawares.  I'm glad I watched it but I don't see myself watching it again anytime soon.  I am also curious how this movie led to the Friday the 13th we know today; it seems like an interesting evolution.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

          So, I finished off with Elm Street.  I felt about this one the same way I did about Halloween:  I liked the idea and concept, but I wasn't scared.  But, I imagine that is what happens as movies and audiences evolve over time.  I really liked the idea of not sleeping in order to avoid Freddy; but I didn't think that it was played up enough.  The TRAILER for the remake actually looks really scary and I am curious how they handle the property.

          And there were a few things that bothered me.  The 80s synth music is distracting.  And I did not like the ending.  The final confrontation between Freddy and our heroine makes Freddy look as threatening as one of the three stooges.  It reminded me of Home Alone.  But, overall, it was a good movie.

          With these movies I can certainly see why they are classics (though, I personally didn't like Friday the 13th).  And while they didn't scare me, I can easily imagine them being terrifying to the audiences of their time.  And seeing how each movie spawned a gazillion sequels, I am interested to see how they evolved over time.

     But that's just my opinion...

Bully (2011)

Alex Libby

          Essential plot rundown:  This documentary follows several kids as they get bullied at school and their parents' attempts to change it.  So, I've been wanting to see this movie for a while, initially gaining interest because of the rating dispute.

          I had mix feelings about this documentary, but I liked it overall.  I think the subject matter is important.  I applaud the filmmakers for making this documentary.  It strikes home because this is something that we all will likely have to deal with, if we haven't already.  However, while the intentions were good, I felt the execution was weak.

          Bully follows several kids and I felt it was too many.  Because they have to devote time to each kid, I did not feel like any of them were fleshed out.  There is one main kid (see above) and he is really the only one I connected with.  I understand why they showed all of the kids; each one went through something different.  But part of me wanted to cut half of them out and focus only on two.  This would allow the audience to better connect with the kid.  Or they should have made the film longer, allowing more time with each child.  (The movie is only 1 and 1/2 hours).  Another complaint was a technical one.  Whoever was running the camera should learn to keep his hands off of the focus.  It was constantly shifting and was super distracting.

          Another thing was how the school system was depicted.  It is not a complaint, but more of a question.  The school system is depicted as useless and incompetent.  (And the assistant principal was a total bitch).  I am just curious as to how much of that is really incompetence and how much is the filmmakers twisting things a little to prove a point.

          So, overall, I would recommend this movie.  I liked it but felt it could have been better.  While there were some stirring moments, I really only connected with one person.

     But that's just my opinion...

Finding Nemo (2003)

          Essential plot rundown:  A fish must find his son, who has been captured by the evil white man.  They converted this to 3D and released it in theaters.  And as I'm a fan of 3D, I decided to go check out the results.

          I really liked Finding Nemo.  It is an all around well made film.  The story is compelling.  It is a pretty basic story that anyone can relate too.  The characters are interesting and like-able.  It even has some touching moments between the characters.  Not much to say really about the film itself, other than it's good.

          What I really wanted to address was the 3D.  It was amazing!  I like 3D; I feel it can add a lot to the movie.  However, I'm a little uncertain of my feelings towards converting movies to 3D and releasing them in theaters (i.e. Star Wars Episode 1, Titanic, The Lion King).  It's like taking a black and white film and making it color.  However, when I heard they were doing it with Nemo, I was exciting because this is the perfect movie to be in 3D.  The ocean is vastly immense, with layers and layer.  There is so much more depth in an ocean than in a building or where ever.  And the 3D really accentuates that.  It was like I was really swimming in the ocean.  You can really feel the distances between the fish and the size of the ocean; it feels like it goes on forever.  And not only was it cool for the ocean scenes, but it even worked on a smaller scale.  When Marlin and Dory were swallowed by the whale, the whale's baleen looked awesome in 3D.  So, long story short, not all movies need to be in 3D, but Finding Nemo truly benefits from it.

          So, overall, Finding Nemo is a really good movie.  The story is strong, the characters are like-able, and it touches on some themes and has moving moments.  And, if possible, see it in 3D.

     But that's just my opinion...

Battleship (2012)

          Essential plot rundown:  Aliens must fight a battleship.  So, this movie, as most all probably know, is based on a board game.  And how do they do?  I was a little disappointed.

          I was expecting something action packed like Transformers, but that did not happen.  Most of the action is shown in the trailer.  And while it was cool, it wasn't enough.  But, I did like the aliens.  They did have cool ships and cool technology.  They had these scanner things that could detect the difference between people and machines, and they would use that to choose their targets.  But they never explained why they would attack one thing but not another.  I felt like there was a reason but it was never given.  And that is really the only good about the movie.

          The first half hour is dedicated to "character development."  But it was useless.  We get to know the main character, and he is a douche.  I didn't like him and it's hard to root for somebody you don't like.  They try to get us to care by having a lot of people literally tell him "You have a lot of potential, but you are wasting it" (We never actually see this 'potential', we only know he has it because we are told) and by giving him a hot girlfriend.  But that does't help.  They even try to get us to care for his girlfriend by having her be a physical therapist for soldier amputees.  But you still don't care for her.  They even have a weak character arch with a soldier who is missing both his legs.  I didn't care about him either.  So, basically it is full of people that you don't care about.  And with action movies, that is ok sometimes; but here it hurts.

          Somebody also discovers the aliens' weakness and they use that to defeat them.  And it is totally unbelievable.  It's worst than Independence Day. It feels force and doesn't really make any sense.  And the ending was anti-climatic.

          However, I do applaud their efforts.  They did try to somewhat follow the game.  They have to fire on each other blindly and they use a grid system.  So, there was more connecting them than just the name.  And I give them props for that.  And it was cool seeing naval combat.  I haven't really seen a lot of that in movies, so that was a little refreshing.  Does anybody know of a good movie that depicts naval warfare that they would recommend?

          So, overall it was an ok movie.  The action was cool, but was a little sparse.  The VFX were good for the most part; the aliens never quite look real. Battleship was not a waste of time, but you're not missing out if you don't watch it.

     But that's justs my opinion...

Bully: Anti Christian Propaganda?

          I haven't yet seen Bully, so maybe I should wait to write this til after, but I don't think that will make a difference.  I was looking online to see when the documentary will be coming out on DVD when I found this REVIEW.  Now, I don't know anything about this website or the people who wrote this review other than it is some super conservative Christian group.  And, what I read upset me a little.

          First of all, when the movie came out there was a big hoopla about the rating of Bully and what not.  But this is what this review said about the matter:

               "BULLY also contains a fair amount of strong foul language, which the filmmakers so far have refused to bleep. How childish of them!"

Childish?  Of them?  Because they refuse to remove a few words?  That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard!  They are words; you won't go to hell if you hear them.  And how is it childish of them for not censoring life?  They are trying to show what kids go through when they are getting bullied.  And if they hear the word "fuck", then what right do we have to remove that?  The writers of the review are the childish ones; they need to mature beyond the point of being offended by a word.  And would bleeping the word really make a difference?  You may not actually hear the word but your brain is a smart thing and will fill in the blanks.  And that brings to mind a quote from another REVIEW about Bully that I read a while ago.  I've been wanting to share it, but felt weird doing so without a context.  But now is my chance.

               "And a film, with a few swears, that reveals a problem we know exists but do little to change, can hardly be called offensive.  In that case the good surely outweighs the bad, and if we can’t see that, well, that’s most offensive of all."

And I agree with that statement wholeheartedly.  It is sad that people get hooked up on the small things that they miss the big picture.

          But, that's not even the main thing.  Apparently one of the kids being bullied is a lesbian and this somehow makes the movie evil.  Once again I copy and paste:  

               "The problem with the documentary is that one teenager featured in it is a girl who says she’s a lesbian. There are shots of the manly-looking girl with her slender “girlfriend” and lesbian friends. She and her parents complain that people in her school and in the community have shunned them because of this. However, unlike the other cases in the movie, they give no examples of physical abuse. Thus, there’s little reason to include this politically correct, Anti-Christian content."

She is not getting abused physically, therefore she shouldn't be included?  What the hell?  Does emotional abuse not warrant our attention?  Just the physical?  But, like I said, I have not seen Bully, so I don't know how this is really portrayed.  But the reviewers seem to think that because one of the kids is a lesbian, that the filmmakers have some hidden agenda.  It doesn't matter what she is, only that she is being abused.  Is it ok to abuse gay people?  The movie is not pro (or anti) LGBT but rather anti abuse, regardless of who is being abused.  I find it idiotic that they can't looked past the fact that one person is openly a lesbian and see what truly is the problem.

          So, basically, this is the most closed-minded, bigoted review of a movie (of a movie trying to help those in need, may I add) that I have ever read.  True, we all have our beliefs and don't always agree with what other people do, but that does not mean we avoid them.  They are people too.

     But that's just my opinion...

  

Looper (2012)

          Essential plot rundown:  In a future where time travel does not yet exist, a hit-man must face a future version of himself.  When I first saw the trailer 5 months ago, I knew I had to see it.  And I was not disappointed.

          Similar to Dredd 3D, Looper begins with a v.o. narration setting up the world we are about to enter.  And, likewise, this world is very interesting.  JGL explains the world and his job.  It creates a sense of realism, like this world actually exists.  You really get a feel for this world and the people who live in it.

          I thought the acting was good.  JGL did a really good job  portraying Bruce Willis.  Besides the hair, they look really similar, even down to the nose and squinting.  And there is a child actor here.  Normally, child actors aren't the best and can bog the movie down.  However, 5 year old Pierce Gagnon can hold his own.  The kid can act better than I can.  Even the supporting characters were believable.  But, there was one person that totally took me out of the movie for a second, thought he was only seen for 2 seconds.  And that was Josh Perry.  He is probably best known for his character "The Retarded Policeman" from the YouTubes.  So, it was a WTF moment when I saw him.

          The story is also well written.  And there is so much more to the story than what is seen in the trailers.  The trailer is only the tip of the iceberg.  The movie is deeper and raises some interesting thoughts.  However, due to the time travel aspect and because I'm dense when it comes to story lines that aren't clean cut, I was a little confused at parts.  There is one event that happened twice (maybe?) that I didn't understand.  And, I thought I understood the ending, but then realized I didn't right this second.  But the ending does wrap up nicely.  And there was this part at the end that literally made my heart stop.  And yes, I did get a little teary eyed.

          So, overall Looper is an awesome movie.  Interesting world, good acting, and compelling story.  Though, I personally didn't understand a few things (and it did drag a little in the middle), that didn't stop me from enjoying it.  I would highly recommend it.

     But that's just my opinion...

Dredd 3D (2012)

          Essential plot rundown:  Two judges must survive after being sealed in a gang controlled building.  So, if you have seen the trailer for this, you will immediately see that it looks exactly like The Raid: Redemption.  (And that's assuming that you have seen the trailer for that one too).  And yes, these movies are super similar; the core idea is identical.  But, each movie is it's own.

          And Dredd 3D was an awesome movie.  It was basically everything the trailer made it out to be.  The world that is created here is very interesting.  Most of the movie takes place in one giant building, but there is a little intro and outro that sets the world we are entering.  It 's your typical giant, rundown city, but I thought they did a good job creating it.  I also liked how the judges were portrayed.  The judges are every part of the justice system: judge, jury, and executioner.  And I liked how it showed them going through all of those phases when interacting with criminals.  They would look at someone, list of their crimes and then state the verdict.  It made them feel like real people.  In a lot of action movies the good guys just shoot the bad guys (well, they do do that here too).  But, in this world of Mega-City One, these judges have their rules they follow.

          I thought all of the acting was pretty good.  I was a little worried after seeing that Olivia Thirlby was in the movie.  But she did a fairly decent job.  Karl Urban was good as Judge Dredd.  Though, at times it sounds like he's trying to pull a Christian Bale; but, according to the internet, he's going for a Clint Eastwood feel.  But, the best was probably Lena Headey as the main crime boss.  She totally took that role and made it hers.

          I also thought the 3D was well done; though it wasn't prominent throughout the whole movie.  But, there are scenes where the 3D is just amazing.  They even do this cool matte/VFX layering that helps enhance the 3D.  And the 3D worked really well with the slow motion.  Most movies just throw in slo-mo for fun.  But, here, it is actually worked into the story as a drug and that makes its use that much cooler.  They have quite a few scenes like this

where there is water, blood or smoke flinging through the air in slow motion and it looks really gorgeous.  Couple that with the 3D and it's nigh poetic.

          However, these things also created some complaints.  Whenever somebody drugs up and slows down, everything brightens up.  I don't know if it was an aesthetic decision or if it had to do with them filming at that speed, but it looked weird.  Also, there were a lot of times where the image looked grainy.  Not film stock grainy, but filmed with really low light and then fixed in post grainy.  And then the 3D made it pop out a little.

          Dredd also has a paranormal element to it.  And, when it was first introduced, I was rolling my eyes.  Great, now it's going to get cheesy on me.  But luckily, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, and actually had some cool moments.

          Like I said earlier, this movie is really similar to The Raid.  So, when I went to see it, I was expecting the same intense, fast paced movie.  But, that's not what I got.  It's still a solid action movie, but not as fierce as The Raid; so I was slightly disappointed at first.  But, like The Raid, Dredd 3D is extremely violent, brutal and bloody.  Definitely not for the weak stomached.

          But overall, it is a really good movie.  And it makes me sad that it only opened at number 6 at the Box Office.  It has a solid story, good acting and amazing visuals with the 3D and slo-mo.  I thought it was everything it needed to be.

     But that's just my opinion...

'Movies Recently Watched' Ratings System

          So I just added something new to my blog.  On the right hand side, there is a "Movies Recently Watched" list.  I don't write a review for every movie I watch.  Sometimes I just don't have time to do so.  Or, with some movies, I don't really have anything to say other than "It was good" or "I didn't like it".  So why bother with a post?  So I'm going to just keep track of the 5 most recent, link them to their IMDB page and give them a rating.  I rate my movies from a scale of 1 to 5.  I find keeping the numbers lower is easier on my brain.  And to keep things kind of consistent, I've borrowed my mode of rating from Netflix.

     1 out of 5:  "Hated It" - If I watch a movie that I absolutely hate, I'll give it 1 star.  Though, that has yet to happen.

     2 out of 5:  "Didn't Like It" - This happens more often.  Sometimes the movie is just bad or not my cup of tea.

     3 out of 5:  "Liked It" - A lot these movies are good and have potential, but fail in at least some aspect.  An example would be The Time Traveler's Wife.  I liked the idea and story, but I didn't connect emotionally with the characters.

     4 out of 5:  "Really Liked It" - These are movies that are a lot of fun or connect with me on some other level.  These are movies that I could watch again relatively soon.

     5 out of 5:  "Loved It" - This rating is also rare.  I generally reserve these for my favorite movies (ie RoboCop, Pan's Labyrinth, etc).  So this rating is generally exclusive.  Though, I may try to broaden it a little.

          But this is just a general breakdown.  I don't like all 4/5 movies the same.  I really liked The Island of Lost Souls.  And I really liked The Raid: Redemption.  But I like them for totally different reasons.  And some movies may be bad movies, but are really entertaining, such as Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, so they will get the same rating as good movies that don't quite connect.

          So, I guess you could look forward to that.  Or not; that's cool too.

     But that's just my opinion...

More Transformers 4

          So, some new news(?) has come out about the new Transformers movie.  And I found it a little interesting as it does not concern directors, actors, plot or any of the news that normally accompanies new movies.  It has to do with the Transformers themselves.  And it comes from Hasbro, not Paramount.

          So, apparently Hasbro is a little disappointed with the Transformers franchise.  And their complaint is that the movies didn't generate enough toy sales.  Cuz, I mean c'mon, what is the point of making movies about giant robots if nobody buys the toys?  So they are going to use all different Transformers for the upcoming installment to try and sell more toys.

          That came as kind of a surprise to me because I never really connected the two (movies and toys) together like that.  But it makes sense financially.  But it seems weird that they would complain about lack of sales considering a huge part of their toy-line was Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.  And I was a little disappointed that they didn't have an action figure for Dino/Mirage.

I didn't buy any toys, but if I did, he would have been one.  I thought he was one of the cooler supporting Transformers.

          So that is the news.  There is nothing official, as far as I know, as to whether they will just introduce new existing Transformers (such as Hound or Kup) or create entirely new ones like they did with the Twins or the Fallen.  But either way, I'm interested to see where this goes.

          Oh, and HERE is the article.

     But that's just my opinion...

Spawn (1997)

          Essential plot rundown:  A CIA agent is betrayed and killed and then comes back from the grave to seek revenge.  This movie was based on the Spawn comic.  And I have not read the comic.  However, I have seen some of the animated series that was on HBO.  But, I digress.

          This was an ok film.  It has more going against it then going for it.  The only good thing about the movie was the fact it was about Spawn.  Spawn is a sweet character.  He has cool powers and a bad ass costume.  (See above.  I really liked his costume.  I especially liked whatever they used to make it.  It actually looks like something he would be wearing).  So, naturally, any movie about him is going to have at least some coolness to it.  But, other than being about Spawn, there's not much else going on.

          Some people might be offended by the idea behind Spawn.  But, I was offended by the opening (and closing) credits.  They are horrible.  They look like they were taken from some low budget TV show from the early 90s.  They also use this weird green light/smoke combo.  And they use it a lot; to the point of distraction.  Spawn's eyes will randomly glow green and emit smoke.  Or Clown will fart green smoke.  Or  Spawn will get shot and green light and smoke will leek about.  It was way overused and looked kind of dumb.

          Speaking of looking dumb, the hell depicted here was atrocious.  It is by far the worse CG I have ever seen.  Every time Spawn descends to the pixelated inferno, it literally looks like he stepped into a video game like Doom or something.  And the Devil/Malebolgia was...I don't even have words.  He looked like Blizzard from the Primal Rage video game.

Can you guess which one is which?

So, anything and everything that takes place in hell looks horrendous.  There was no depth, no texture, nothing.  Which was odd because all of the rest of the CGI looked pretty decent.  Whether it's the Violator or Spawn's armor, the VFX were good.  (Though, not always consistent).

          And the story was not very good.  Nothing really seemed to happen.  After an hour, I checked to see how much time had passed because the story didn't feel like it was going anywhere.  (The movie is only 1 and 1/2 hours long).  It wasn't engaging or compelling.  Even the characters don't seem engage.  When our hero wakes up after being killed, he doesn't seem bothered by it.  Nor does he seem bothered when he makes a pact with the devil.  There are no reactions; he acts like these are normal activities.  And the bad guy's scheme to take over the world was a little confusing and a lot overly complicated.  And there is this old guy who doesn't really do anything.  I imagine he was there only because he was important in the comic.  Spawn also has a pet dog and a homeless kid for a sidekick.  Who does he think he is, Indian Jones?  Also, there is a CIA agent that dresses like this:

Why?  I don't know.  Presumably because she is a bad guy, so she has to look bad.  Well, if all CIA agents dress like that, I'm going to serve my country.

          So, overall it is an ok watch.  The only saving quality is the fact that Spawn is the main character.  Him alone is worth watching.  Everything else isn't really that good.  The worse part is that it's not even bad enough to make fun of.  So, maybe check it out, if you want to?

Oh, the poster was cool too.

     But that's just my opinion...