DVD Review: "Dark Country"

Have you ever wondered what "The Twilight Zone" would look like if it were a modern television show? Well, okay, so they tried to re-launch it a few years ago... didn't go too well. In any case, the Twilight zone is the first thing that came to mind after I watched "Dark Country".

After marrying a girl in Vegas, our main character (played by Thomas Jane, who also directed the flick) takes his new wife out on the open road, heading to their honeymoon destination. However, after driving into the desert at night, they run into a tiny problem that starts a chain of unfortunate events. To say anything else would give away some of what happens... and I think it would be better to walk into this film not knowing anything (which is what I did).

I was never sure where it was going or what the ultimate threat would be. As the events unfold, questions are slowly answered and new conflicts are introduced. Yet, even as I started to find things out, the thought of "what the hell is going on here?", remained in my head.

It starts off as a film noir, with voice over narration by the main character and jazz music in the background. I was almost expecting the picture to turn black and white, or Jack Nicholson to appear out of nowhere and say "Forget it, it's Chinatown". But, thankfully, once our couple drives out into the dessert, the tone changes and it becomes like something out of... you guessed it... the Twilight Zone. Even their surroundings have a surreal look to them... almost cartoonish in some parts (especially when they're in the car).

I'm sure the director did that in order to make us feel like we were in some sort of other dimension... and if so, then he succeeded. The acting was pretty good. Nothing Oscar worthy, but I wasn't cringing at any of their lines. There's even a cameo by Ron Pealman (aka Hellboy), and he always has a good screen presence.

My biggest problem was that there were a lot of unanswered questions when the end credits started rolling. I'm sure this was done to make us think about it (which is what I did), but I was a little let down. I felt like he took the easy way out instead of explaining certain elements. But, besides that, this was a solid independent thriller, and I was engaged the whole time.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

New Review: "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day"

Back in 1999, a little movie came out called "The Boondock Saints". While it was destroyed by critic's upon it's release, regular audiences seemed to get a kick out of it... and it has since then become somewhat of a cult classic. Now, after 10 years, it finally has a sequel. "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" is pretty much what I expected it to be: a badly acted, yet enjoyable little flick.

The film opens with our two anti heros: Conner (Sean Patrick Flannery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus), herding sheep in Ireland and living with their Father (Billy Connelly). Once they get news that a preist was murdered in cold blood in Boston... they set out to kill everyone that was involved... thus returning to their violent ways.

The acting was horrible. Everyone was over-the-top and goofy... seeming like live action cartoon characters at certain points. The entire storyline is spoon fed to us (including black & white flashbacks to the first movie), and it's unoriginal (give the Punisher a brother and make them Irish). There is also a lot of homophobia. I think at least three times in the movie, a character would say something like "don't think I'm gay, because I'm not." That's the type of insecure behavior you see in highschool... not with detectives.

On the positive side, there was plenty of laughter to be had. A lot of it was unintentional, but they hit the right spot a few times. Also, like the first one, the tone/style of the film was very inconsistent. The majority of the movie is very light and cheesey... but every once and a while there would be a very dramatic scene, with slow motion gun shooting and epic choir music. I'm a sucker for melodramatic action sequences, so I enjoyed these parts of the film. But I'm sure a lot of people will just roll their eyes. It's weird how sporadic these dramatic scene's are, and how quickly they change back to being quirky/cheesey.

So, in conclusion, if you're a fan of the original, you will probably have fun with this one (there's even a cameo at the end that fans will truly enjoy). I would still wait for it to hit the DVD shelves though. If you're looking for a serious crime drama with Oscar worthy acting and masterful storyteling, avoid it at all costs.

My Rating: 4 out of 10

DVD Review: "Trick R' Treat"

Just in time for Halloween, "Trick R' Treat" finally gets a DVD release, two years after it was filmed. Why it took so long to be distributed is beyond me. This is one hell of a horror movie!

Taking place over the course of one night (Halloween night to be exact), we are introduced to tons of different characters with four interconnecting storyline's. Sure, it's been done before ( "Magnolia", "Crash")... but it's never really been done like this in the horror genre. All of the characters are interesting and different, and that complimented the separate storylines.

I guess what made this movie so much fun was that it contained almost every Halloween related element possible. That includes: a monster, a serial killer, zombies/ghosts, a vampire, and werewolves. There were even a few shots that were, without a doubt, nods to the original "Halloween" movie at the beginning.

Who knows, maybe it's just because I love the Halloween atmosphere and I'm in the Halloween spirit... but this movie was so much fun for me. It had plenty of laughs, some gross-out scenes, and plenty of suspense (especially the finale), and I would recommend it to horror and non-horror fans. This would be the perfect film to watch Halloween night!

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Trailer Update: 10/28

Today I have 4 new trailers for everyone:

"Cup of Tears"
Looks like the Asian answer to "300". Seems like a pretty cool flick to me. Anything involving Samurai and spaceships together automatically makes it awesome.


"Green Zone" - Director Paul Greengrass ("United 93", "Bourne Ultimatum") and actor Matt Damon team up yet again to deliver another political thriller. Is it just me, or does it bear a striking resemblance to a certain movie with the word "Bourne" in it?


"Invictus" - Clint Eastwoods upcoming film, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon (again). The trailer alone shows that this could have "Oscar Worthy" written all over it.


"Smokin' Aces 2" - prequel to the original, star studded action thriller. Unfortunately, this has very few stars in it and it's going directly to DVD.
Watch Trailer

DVD Review: "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto"

Wow... what did I just watch?

Apparently, Musician/Director Rob Zombie created a comic series a while back called "El Superbeasto", and his latest animated feature "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto" is based off of that series. I was surprised at first that this movie had absolutely no marketing, seeing that Rob Zombie has a large fan base after having directed "The Devil's Rejects" and the re-make of "Halloween". However, once I started watching it, I realized it's simply because there's no way it could have been given a theatrical release (or anything below an NC-17 rating).

Here's the plot: El Superbasto, a famous movie star/action hero, has to save the world from the evil Dr. Satan (surprisingly voiced by Paul Giamatti), after he kidnaps a girl in order to marry her, which would turn him into a sort of "super Satan"... allowing him to take over the world.

That's all there is to the story. There are no character arcs and no thought provoking elements. It's just a bunch weird people thrown into situations that involve extreme violence and constant nudity. Seriously, all of the men are perverts and all of the women are slutty. And for this reason, I didn't care for any of the characters... thus preventing me to feel any sort of excitement. This movie just proves how weird and preverted Rob Zombie is.

As a director, he has an interesting visual style, and that shows in all his other films. Storytelling has never been his strong point though. By directing an animated feature, he doesn't have the ability to apply his visual style, thus relying on the storytelling element and animators to get the job done. While the weird characters and extremely bizarre humor certainly grabbed my attention (I'll admit, I laughed out loud a few times), that's the only thing that kept me watching to the end.
I'd reccommend this if you're a fan of Rob Zombie or just want a different, quirky movie experience. Otherwise, I would stay clear.

My Rating: 4 out of 10

New Review: "Where The Wild Things Are"

Way back in 1963, author Maurice Sendak wrote and published a children's book called "Where The Wild Things Are". Containing many illustrations and only a few sentences, it has since become a classic, and is recognized not only by kids, but by adults as well. Now, almost fifty years later, it has finnally made it's way to the big screen.

Directed by Spike Jonze ("Adaptation", "Being John Malkavich"), the film immediately has a very original feel/style to it. Most of the the shots are hand held, making it very gritty looking. This through me off, because I was expecting a fun film about a childs imagination. While I was right about the imagination part, I was wrong about the fun part. This movie is extreemly dreary and the characters have so much internal pain... including the wild things.

After a confrontation with his single Mom, our main character Max runs away into the woods. It is here that he escapes into his imagination and eventually meets the wild things, large furry creatures with different personalities (with voices by James Gandolphini, Chris Cooper, and Forest Whitaker, to name a few). After he establishes himself as King, Max and the wild things set out to build a brand new empire. Relationships are then dramatized, and conflicts between the characters ensue.

This is definitely not a movie for kids. Even though it's rated PG and is based off a kids book... it's mostly for adults to view and remember what it's like to be a kid. Children will not get this movie! The characters are simply too deep, if your not old enough to understand the internal conflicts the characters are going through, you will be bored. And for adults, the film is rather depressing (especially the ending). Don't get me wrng, there's is still plenty of weird quirky humor throughout, and all the performances are top notch (even the voice acting). But the unerlying theme remains there, and that sense of depression never leaves.

That being said, I still managed to care for the characters... even though there was no direction for the story to go once Max becomes king. From then on, it's all about friendship and the certain conflicts one goes through in a friendship. It's definitely a memorable film, even if it's not as enjoyable as I expected it to be.

My Rating: 5 out of 10

Boondock Saints II: First 5 Minutes!

With the release of the sequel to the cult classic, the studio is looking to build up even more anticipation by releasing the first five minutes of the film. I didn't see the original Boondock Saints until last year, and I have to say, I wish I didn't wait that long to see it. It's an engaging crime drama (with an excellent performance by Willam DaFoe). So it's my hope that this follow up will be as good, if not better.

Check it out!

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/10/26/the-first-five-minutes-of-the-boondock-saints-ii-all-saints-day/

News: Mad Max 4 a go!

This was announced a while ago, but not a lot of people know about it... so I thought I would catch everyone up. George Miller (the directer of the original "Mad Max" and "The Road Warrior") is returning to direct "Mad Max 4: Fury Road". Seeing that "The Road Warrior" contains one of the greatest car chase sequences ever put on film, I'm excited to see what this new film has to offer.

Unfortunately, Mel Gibson will not be returning to play the role of the lead character. I guess he doesn't want to risk ruining his breakout performance (because there's no guarantee that this latest installment will live up to the original trilogy). The film is still in pre-production and is looking to start filming sometime next year. No word on the cast yet, or whether or not the film will star Mel Gibson's character (and be played by some one else).

Let's hope for the best!

DVD Review: "Dead Snow"

Ever since George Romero came out with "Night of the Living Dead" way back in the 70's, numerous filmmakers sought to continue bringing "the living dead" back to the big screen... which lead to the creation of a new film genre: "zombie flicks". The number of movies featuring zombies since Romero's original is extremely large... and we can now add another film to the list with "Dead Snow", a Norwegian horror film that has not just any zombies in it... but Nazi Zombies!!

If the idea of Nazi zombies seems amusing to you, that's because it is. The film doesn't take itself too seriously. This can even be considered a black comedy (... a very black comedy). Here's the plot in a nutshell: a group of med students travel to an isolated cabin deep into the mountains of Norway. Little do they know that the area they chose has a haunting past, one that has to do with WWII Nazi soldiers. I'm sure you can guess where it goes from there.

It starts out as your typical horror flick. The sun goes down, people start hearing and seeing things in the woods, "Hello, is anyone there?" Yeah, stuff like that. Needless to say, it didn't seem promising. However, it's easy to see why this movie got so much attention upon it's release into the film festivals... due to it's action packed, gore filled climax. About 3/4 into the movie, the zombies decide to stop lurking in the shadows and they flat out attack the main characters head on. It goes from a sequence of cat and mouse to an explosively violent finale. It was unbelievable how much blood and guts there were... enough to make my stomach turn. However, at the same time, it made the film much more engaging and suspenseful. Acting was good on everyone's part (especially by horror movie standards), and it was shot very nicely (with some beautiful images of the snow covered mountains). Music was not anything special, but it was effective when it had to be. And, being the films strong point, the make up effects were top-notch.

In conclusion, this is definitely a film that all horror fans should check out. I still wish it hadn't waited until the final act to pick up... but in the end, the wait was worth it. With a few scares, lots of dark humor, and plenty of gore... it's a zombie flick that is sure to stick with it's viewers.

My Rating: 5 out of 10

Blog Created!

Well, I finally created a blog. This is one of those things that I always thought "Hey, that would be a cool thing to do"... but never got around to doing it. Until now, that is. Seeing as I'm a huge movie fan (and a filmmaker), it was obvious that the topic of this blog would have to be "movies". There will be DVD reviews, movie reviews, and links to trailers and news pertaining to new and upcoming films. Should be fun!