| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Rec] - R |
I usually watch a movie in its original language. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the version I rented was the English dub so take that into consideration. This dub is probably the worst I've ever heard and that includes Anime. This film is too chaotic. Everyone has a smart mouth, and you'd think that if people were biting each other, after the 3rd time you would stop walking up on the infected and turning your head away to talk to someone else. Also since Quarantine, an awful remake, was such a carbon copy of REC (and I saw it first) I knew everything that was going to happen. With that said, REC is still a better movie than the American remake and it did have some good moments towards the end. If you do decide to watch it, avoid the dub. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAnbWCjmOkA |
October 26, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Children - R |
This movie is creepy from the first frame. There's something eerie about being alone in the woods. Throw in some homicidal children, equipped with puppy-dog eyes and sharp objects, preying on their parents parental instincts, and you get The Children. Although people will naturally want to compare this to Children of the Corn, I think it's more closely related to zombie films though there is no flesh eating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAgCHQCF9Jo |
October 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Thaw - Unrated |
The Thaw feels heavily influenced by The Thing. It also takes place in a cold, dark, remote location. The acting is OK, and there are some parts that don't logically add up if you REALLY think about it but nothing major. Another problem is that Mark A. Lewis bashes you over the head repeatedly with his global warming message. Overall Thaw is definitely worth the Redbox cost. Gore is used appropriately in this film but if bugs or the image of someone picking bug eggs out of their open wounds puts you off then you might pass on this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI5LRO25_FU |
October 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Trick 'r Treat - R |
Trick 'r Treat is not bad but not that great either. It's one of those horror movies that you throw on when you are in the mood for horror but don't want to feel guilty if you are not fully paying attention to the screen. Although it's far from scary (unless you are a lightweight), the whole movie takes place at night or in creepy environments so it makes for a good mood movie. Some of the dark humor and effects remind me of the old episodes of Tales From The Crypt. If you want a Halloween movie that won't give you nightmares then this works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jh0DwJZjz8 |
October 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Seventh Moon - R |
Eduardo Sanchez (Blair Witch Project) is back at it again and he apparently still can't afford a Steadicam. This is one of those polarizing movies that you will either think just falls short of being an underground classic or just falls short of being pure garbage. The acting was so-so, but the moon demons were handled well, some of the scenes have a strong Manga feel in a good way, and the soundtrack ambience is great (and oddly relaxing). By the credits I don't know whether I should check for monsters under my bed or do yoga. The shakey camera works in some instances but overuse of this technique with poor edits, and dim lighting make a lot of the high action footage seem disjointed and hard to make out, which ultimately is why you probably wont like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSgyN9u-fOs |
October 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| High Tension (Switchblade Romance) - R | The visuals in High Tension are disturbing, the acting is decent, and the cat and mouse game between the bad guy and our heroine works well, but there was one small problem - something didn't feel right. I couldn't put my finger on it though. When the unusual ending of the movie finally arrived it created more problems than it solved, and my reservations were justified. For execution I'd give it a B. For overall effect it gets a C+ though. | October 14, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The House of the Devil - R | The House of the Devil feels amazingly like it was shot in the 80s. Unfortunately, the first half is incredibly slow. Also the conflict resolves much too quickly. It would have been great to see more time allocated to the latter. Once it gets going though it's really well done. With a low budget and practical effects he does an exceptional job at building tension. THOTD is not as good as it could have been but it's good enough that I will keep an eye on Ti West. The Pre-release rental is available now on Amazon.com for $9.99 | October 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Antichrist - Unrated |
This film is not for everyone. There is a lot of graphic sex, and violent imagery especially pertaining to women. Charlotte Gainsbourg takes the cake on this one. She literally put everything into this role. My jaw dropped on multiple occasions. Willem Defoe plays his part well. At times the artsy presentation and abrupt edits make it feel like a long Calvin Klein commercial and there will probably be moments when you are left scratching your head, but for me the pros slightly outweigh the cons. If you can handle the strong content it's worth a rental. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ravxxc1IQM |
October 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Grace - R | I was really disappointed with this film. There is not much more to it than one would infer from the trailer. The gimmick (baby likes blood) is not even that disturbing considering that every time it feeds it looks like a rubber doll. I can't recommend this film though my next step is figuring out how to sell my copy. | October 11, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Capitalism: A Love Story - R | It was long but provocative. I do love the fact that he tries to motivate the masses to use the power of their numbers to create change but that maybe wishful thinking. Maybe I'm jaded because I got pumped up by Sicko and am now watching the dream of universal health care go down the tubes, in part due to capitalism. It's worth seeing but I think you'll walk away feeling more depressed than empowered. | October 11, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Paranormal Activity - R | Paranormal Activity has some creepy moments but never really achieves it's full potential in the fright department. The problem is in the way the lead male character is written. I won't give anything away, but he does not behave in a rational manner so I can not empathize with him, and empathy is the key to successful horror. This film owes a lot ot blair with and addresses a lot of the complaints people had with BW, but thats all it does. It doesn't really go further. This is a rental. | October 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed - PG | Expelled is at worst shameless Intelligent Design propaganda. At best its an amazingly boring and deceptive faux documentary. I don't know what's worse, the fact that Ben Stein tries to blame the Holocaust on Darwin or that he presents information out of context to support his agenda. Skip this. | October 4, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Zombieland - R | Emma Stone is pretty damn hot in this movie. Whew! Now that I have that out of the way, Zombieland is basically Little Miss Sunshine with zombies. The gore is no joke when it's there but generally it's heavier on comedy than zombie action and the humor is dry. There is a sweet cameo surprise that I won't ruin but that was the highlight. The end was a bit anticlimactic. Zombieland is no Shaun of the Dead but it 's worth viewing, just don't expect to see a lot of zombies. | October 2, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Deadgirl - R | Deadgirl is the most twisted disturbing movies I've seen in a very long time. It asks a seemingly simple moral question but cleverly and subtly adds a twist that makes you second guess yourself. Unfortunately, Sarmiento and Harel smack you in the face with extremely graphic and gratuitous misogyny that ends up working against the film. | September 28, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Pandorum - R | Watching Pandorum is like losing your virginity; When it's over you feel somewhat satisfied yet fairly disappointed. The biggest difference is that I paid for Pandorum. It's basically The Descent on a spaceship with inferior acting and editing. Ben Foster was decent, Dennis Quaid was there, Antje Traue, Cung Le, and Eddie Rousse played their parts but their character were out of place, and Cam Gigandet was just barely better than Channing Tatum. Wait for this one on Netflix. | September 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Pontypool - PG | Pontypool probably the weirdest zombie film I've ever seen. It has some freaky moments but the twist (even more unusual than The Happening) is so "out there" that it's hard to not to second guess what you are seeing. It's worth seeing if you love subtle horror but you'll have to keep an open mind. | September 21, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Haunting in Connecticut - PG-13 | I will give Haunting credit. There is a scene in this movie that scared the hell out of me. It was more shock than fright but it was well done. The movie also introduced a lot of scenarios that have given me chills in the past. Unfortunately, I've seen the "malevolentl spirit/murder mystery" done better in other films. The cancer plot competes too much with the haunting, and Elias Koteas's character is very cheesy. It ultimately starts to feel like a made for tv movie by the end. | August 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Them (Ils) - R | Them is actually kind of disturbing. It's subtle but effective. There are no monsters or crazy effects but Moreau and Palud know how to milk the hell out of the tension in every scene. Though it's not perfect, Them is a breath of fresh air in a genre overrun with gratuitous gore and dumb jokes. | August 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| I Love You, Man - R | I Love You, Man was surprisingly a lot better than I expected, in all fairness I thought it was a Judd Apatow movie (not a fan). There were some moments towards the end where the bromance got to be a little awkward, and Paul Rudd was amusingly and painfully awkward throughout, but despite its awkwardness it was pretty good. On the funny scale: Not as funny as 40 Year Old Virgin, Funnier than Hangover. | August 26, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Paper Heart - PG-13 | Paper Heart stars Michael Cera as Michael Cera, and Charlyne Yi as... Goofy Michael Cera. As you'd imagine, it's very dry and very awkward. This movie is definitely more cute than funny. The documentary style interview footage and "Cera on Cera" romance footage are cut together in such a way that they make each other bearable, but this one is more Redbox than box office. | August 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Bakjwi (Thirst) - R | I'm torn in my review of Thirst. It mixes genres which worked in OldBoy, but here it makes the movie seem really long and unfocused. Thirst is heavy on blood and sex so if that turns you off then you certainly want to avoid this film. I'm a fan of Kang-ho Song (Memories of Murder, The Host) and Kim Ok-vin does a great job as well. There is some good stuff here but it's watered down with a lot of material that should have been cut. For me, the pros outweigh the cons but I don't think the average audience will be as forgiving. | August 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - PG | Hopefully Harry can wrap this up soon because the Potter franchise seems to be losing steam. The first few films were surprisingly good but Half-Blood Prince was long and dull. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but 2 hrs of watching 20 year olds acting out the love lives of 13 year olds is more than I can stand, not to mention that I'm 6 films in have yet to see Voldemort live up to his hype. This film is for serious Potter fans only. Everyone else need not apply. | August 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra - PG-13 | G.I. Joe could be best described as a "live action cartoon". Channing Tatum's performance makes Marlon Wayans look like Sidney Poitier. The acting is atrocious, it's incredibly cheesy, and the CG effects and animation are, at best, comparable to video game cutscenes. There are 3 types of people that I recommend this movie to. If you want to see Dennis Quaid dramatically deliver the line "Knowing is half the battle", go see this. If you like relentless (though unrealistic) action, go see this movie. If you want to make out with your high school girlfriend and not worry about either of you being distracted by a compelling story, go see this right now. Otherwise wait for it on Redbox. | August 16, 2009 | N/A | |||
| District 9 - R | With a meager budget of less than $30 million (less than even what Will Smith got paid for Hancock), 29 year old Blomkamp manages to make one of the most surprisingly memorable sci-fi films that I've seen in years. Yes, it borrows elements from other films (The Fly, Stargate) and even games (Half-Life 2) but the total presentation feels unique. D9 is not without issues, and the violence might be too graphic for some. It has handheld camera work, cleverly supplemented with surveillance cameras, but for the most part its fairly steady. I'd still recommend sitting farther back from the screen. If you are into sci-Fi like myself, definitely make plans to see it at some point. If sci-fi is not your thing, I'm not sure D9 will be the one to win you over. | August 15, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Unborn - PG-13 | David S. Goyer is an enigma. When he writes it hit or miss. When he directs it's guaranteed garbage as is the case with The Unborn. He channels Ed Wood with the whole nonsense dialogue about secret Nazi experiments to give jewish twins blue eyes inadvertently opening a portal to another dimension. Seriously? With writing skills that bad, and a bad guy named Jumby, he has to rely on startling us with loud noises and things jumping out of odd places but you see it coming a mile away... unless you were busy laughing. Skip this one. | August 15, 2009 | N/A |
350 ratings
296 reviews
