Movies #179-191

07/06/2008

190. Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
Off DVR, Shown on Turner Classic Movies (widescreen, uncut)
This movie illustrates when there was a big down turn in quality in blaxsploitation movies, the movie never lives up to the title. Why Pam Grier is in this movie is anybody's guess, steer clear even if just for the vampire parts.


191. The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
Off DVR, Shown on The Movie Channel (widescreen, uncut)
For a movie that stars the most unanimously critically appraised actor of the modern era, Daniel Day-Lewis, this movie is one that everybody forgot about but really shouldn't be, there is a lot going in this movie and surprise it's really well acted, worth viewing if you enjoy watching Daniel Day-Lewis act (check your pulse if your answer is no).

07/05/2008

187. Control (2007)
Other Means
This biopic is one of the rare times when someone who was around for a lot of the events got to make the film about it, the director collaborated with Joy Division back when they were together. This movie is really well done I just wasn't surprised at all, but it was still good.


188. Brass Target (1978)
Off DVR, Shown on Turner Classic Movies (widescreen, uncut)
This movie is about a plot to assassinate General Patton, when he goes after the soldiers who stole some Nazi gold, the investigation continues, blah, blah, at least Max von Sydow is there to keep things from going completely stale but I didn't see anything really memorable going on here.


189. Seduced and Abandoned (1964)
Off DVR, Shown on Ovation (widescreen, uncut)
This movie is about an Italian family and the lengths that the father will go to protect his honor with his hurricane force presence, he threatens to kill one or multiple of his daughter many times throughout the film. While this movie does work pretty well, this family sometimes seems built on stereotypes because it's so over the top at times, even though this is an Italian film, but overall this was a good family tale with redemption and all the good stuff, mixed with plenty of domestic violence.

07/04/2008

186. Legend of the Lost (1957)
Off DVR, Shown on Turner Classic Movies (widescreen, uncut)
The poster for this is more exciting than the movie, lots of slow moving desert scenes unroll with little pay off at the end which makes this one of the blandest supposed adventure movies that I've ever scene.

07/03/2008

184. Sudden Impact (1983)
Other Means
This is a Hitchcock thriller that for some reason has Dirty Harry placed in it, the scenes without Harry seem like they are from a completely different movie. Eastwood directed this Dirty Harry installment, I think he was trying to prove too hard that he range was beyond Dirty Harry, I just think he overshot for this movie.


185. The Dead Pool (1988)
Other Means
This is easily the worst looking of the Dirty Harry films, the whole movie is so flat looking. This film is notable because there is an early appearance by Jim Carrey as a addiction addled actor, and also Guns N' Roses make an appearance at the funeral scene, This is typical 80's sequel crap.

07/02/2008


182. Magnum Force (1973)
Other Means
This is the sequel to Dirty Harry, and I like that it's an extension of the plot line of the first film in that Harry seemed to be advocating vigilante justice and then they take that to the extreme in this film.



183. The Enforcer (1976)
Other Means
This is where the franchise get's a little wacky, Harry nemesis here is a crazed Vietnam vet who doesn't really use a full deck. While this one is shot really well the series is obviously starting to decline.

07/01/2008

180. WALL-E (2008)
In Theaters (DLP Screening)
This movie is really good but do yourself a favor and if you catch this in the theater go to a late screening where hopefully there will be less kids, because they ruin everything.


181. Hancock (2008)
In Theaters
The script for was going around Hollywood for years because it was almost seen as unfilmable, now I don't know that this end product is really the best fate for the script. I feel like a lot got left out of this movie, either it wasn't in the script originally or it was cut from the movie the story of origin just isn't there, and that is a bad thing when the plot shifts later in the movie kind depend on that. I hope there is a director's cut of this released later on.

06/30/2008

179. Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
Other Means
I really enjoyed the Animatrix when it came out so I had kind of high expectations for this because animated Batman is my favorite kind of animation. But thankfully this is even better than the Animatrix and all the segments go together well, highly recommended if you ever liked animated Batman

Movies #175-178

06/29/2008

178. Dirty Harry (1971)
Other Means
I was pretty sure I had seen this before, but when I sat down and watched I realized I had only watched multiple segments of this in classes and on TV but I hadn't ever viewed it in it's entirety. Vintage Eastwood and Frisco combine to make this movie still work today.

06/26/2008

177. Wanted (2008)
In Theaters
If you saw the trailer, then you have seen parts of all the action scenes in this movie. While lots of stuff does go boom, I couldn't really see myself watching this again, even for an guilty pleasure viewing. This movie tries to break the action movie cliche boundaries but just ends up sticking to them.

06/25/2008

176. Drillbit Taylor (2008)
Other Means
This has Seth Rogen credited with the story and screenplay so I did have some expectations that weren't really met, I don't think that Owen Wilson was right for this part, this whole movie kind of falls flat and isn't really interesting. But one to note with this movie is that it does feature a strong supporting part from Danny McBride who I reviewed below. Skip this Apatow production and move on, a rare misstep so far.

06/24/2008

175. The Foot Fist Way (2006)
In Theaters
I had been hearing buzz about this movie for awhile because of the lead performance of Danny McBride which had gotten him early casting opportunities in a few of this summer's big movies. Now I really did like this movie, but raised expectations will make this a disappointing view for some people but I feel like this movie will appreciate with more viewings, more so than the buzz that was around Son of Rambo earlier this year. I really like Danny McBride because he isn't really some one who fits into a star mold at all much like Seth Rogen when he first arrived on the Hollywood scene.

Movies # 168-174

06/22/2008

174. Superhero Movie (2008)
Other Means
So the only reason why I gave this a chance was because there were a few reviews on aintitcool that suggested that this didn't suck, well they were wrong, this movie sucks. The majority of the movie so closely follows the plot of the first Spider-Man that's it's not really parody, just an extremely shitty remake.

06/19/2008

173. In Bruges (2008)
Other Means
The ads for this film kind of sold it as a really dumb movie, so that's why I didn't catch it during it's theater run. In this film Colin Ferrall continues to show that he really can act, and this movie has a nice grasp really black humor, I was really surprised with how good this movie was. Recommended Viewing

06/18/2008

172. The Signal (2007)
Other Means
They were able to do quite a bit with the budget, and for the most part this movie is pretty watchable, I just didn't really care for the story breaks and the third segment was as strong as the others. Your not going to waste your time watching this but it wasn't quite the revelation that the ainitcool staffers had hyped it up to be.

06/17/2008

170. Puffball (2007)
Other Means
This movie wasn't bad, it's got some weird stuff in there, but it's nowhere as memorable as some of Nicolas Roeg's past work, so I can't really recommend it unless your a Roeg follower.


171. War, Inc. (2008)
Other Means
Even though this film didn't get a huge numbered screen release, this movie feels just as homogenized as any mainstream Hollywood film, I would like to see what the original script looked like compared to this, I bet it probably had a lot more edge than this final product did, skip this one.

06/16/2008

168. Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show (2006)
Other Means
I had pretty low expectations about this movie going but I was pleasantly surprise with how good the unknown comic featured in the film are and this is a pretty good tour documentary which I've been a fan of for a long time, and don't worry Vince isn't really on screen that much.


169. The Grand (2007)
Other Means
This movie looks pretty cheaply done, it screams out made for cable/dvd movie, and it doesn't that there are quite a few lame jokes and scenes that fall completely flat. This has a really great cast that could have produced something a lot better. This was written and directed by Zak Penn who some how got all the screen credit for The Incredible Hulk even though what made it to screen he had little to do with, and he has screen credit for X-men 3 also, so maybe he should stick to making bad movies instead of ruining superhero movies.

Movies # 163-167

06/15/2008

167. Chaos Theory (2007)
Other Means
I'll admit that I had misread the plot description for this movie and only half paid attention to the trailer that I had seen for this but for some reason I had thought this film involved time travel of some sort, but it's just one of those I'm having a mid-life crisis movies, so while this wasn't nauseatingly cliche, it's just a good run of the mill movie, that won't really stick with me that long.

06/14/2008

166. The Happening (2008)
In Theaters (DLP Screening)
Now I've been on of the few people I know that has actually been able to enjoy all of M. Night's films up to this point, but with this movie I feel like he missed a golden opportunity, the apocalyptic earth destruction genre is my favorite when done right and while Night has all the right pieces here he doesn't build the characters up enough through out the movie, and is Mark Wahlberg supposed to be sarcastic all the time or that just his take on the character? Either way, Wahlberg's high register in his voice caused quite a few laughs throughout the movie, intentional or otherwise. Watch this on video if you must see this, no need to go to the theater.

06/12/2008

165. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
In Theaters
This is a vast improvement over the first Hulk film because I never believed Eric Bana as a scientist because he looks like a rugby player, now scrawny Ed Norton, now that's scientist material. Now while this movie is really easy to enjoy I have to wonder what Ed Norton's changes to the movie would have been that got shot down, this isn't really the path that Marvel studios should go down with not listening to the talent that they should be trying to keep happy. At this point I don't know if Norton would be willing to come back for a sequel. But anyway, this movie is a lot of fun and the CG is really well done.

06/11/2008

164. The Garment Jungle (1957)
Off DVR, Shown on Turner Classic Movies (widescreen, uncut)
This is a classic workers versus the industrial establishment story that is pretty well written and mostly well acted, the lead actor of the story, the garment factories owner's son, is extremely wooden and really sticks out among the above average acting ensemble. Nice watch but nothing genre defining.

06/10/2008

163. Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008)
Other Means
I was so hyped to see this movie being a huge Futurama fan, and this movie didn't disappoint. I love these epic story-lines they have been developing for these Futurama movies and I can't wait for the next one, this is a must see for any Futurama fans.

Movies #156-162

06/07/2008

162. Chained Heat (1983)
Off DVR, Shown on FLIX (widescreen, uncut)
If you only watch one women in prison movie in your life (why limit yourself?), than make it this one because it's a tour de force in how to make create a genre, this is some great acting and there is plenty of T and A around also, which makes this a camp classic.

06/06/2008

161. Funny Games U.S. (2007)
Other Means
This wasn't really worth my time. I reached levels of boredom with this movie that I hadn't experienced since I watched Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park.

06/05/2008

160. Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Other Means
This movie is alot of fun, I had realistic expectations that this would be a silly movie, and it is, yes it does have a soft ending but that didn't kill my enjoyment of the movie, as long as you know this isn't the greatest movie ever made going in your like this.

06/04/2008

158. Shotgun Stories (2007)
Other Means
Michael Shannon really steals this movie, this script could have easily been rendered meaningless by bad direction but this movie does well on all fronts I thought, probably one of the better family dramas that I've seen in a while.


159. Bill (2007)
Other Means
Aaron Eckhart does well with playing the likeable but faulted main character, but the main stage for this movie is Elizabeth Banks, this is the most screen time I've seen her have with a film and I'm in favor of making more movies with E Banks as the lead. Why was Jessica Alba even cast in this movie, her character could have been played by anyone. This film is slightly above average in that it doesn't suck but it's still pretty so unique that you need to seek it out.

06/03/2008

157. Redbelt (2008)
In Theaters
It's a David Mamet film so of course it's going to be interesting but was it good, well yes this is a good movie, but that's not to say that it doesn't have it's complications, we cover so much with the characters over the movie I felt that maybe the film could have benefitted from an extended running time, but that's just being picky I guess, this is worth catching on DVD.

06/01/2008

156. Diary of the Dead (2007)
Other Means
This had potential to not be awful, if the annoying narration and dumb editing had been fixed this movie could have at least been respectable, as it is currently it's a disaster and not one that's worth driving slow and staring at.

Movies #149-155

05/31/2008

155. The Machine Girl (2008)
Other Means
This movie is completely ridiculous and a must see. There is a continual one up manship in this film to constantly up the ante with more blood and violence as the scenes go on with leads to more and more laughter as the movie goes on. That's okay, they want you to. Not for the faint of heart but a must see movie for the multiple WTF did I just see that action scenes, lots of fun.

05/29/2008

154. 10,000 B.C. (2008)
Other Means
So this movie had some nice trailers but I knew better when dealing with the director of Independence Day/ lots of other crap, so I settled in for a real stinker and it definitely delivered that. The most annoying part of the movie that would have been a simple fix was the "spirit healer"/ unknown character narration, it adds nothing to the movie and other just restates something that just happened, as if I was blind and the scene I just listened to is being visually explained to me. Also for as much as this movie cost, there is tons of really bad visual effects in this movie, the big effect centerpiece the saber-tooth doesn't look real for one second. Also this movie moves so slowly, that I could have sworn the movie was over two hours, but it was really around ninety.

05/28/2008

153. Street Kings (2008)
Other Means
I remember being blasted in the ass with the TV spots from this movie around the release date, and they boiled the movie down to a few terrible catch phrases and because of that I was so ready to rip this movie apart and was ready for a camp-fest. But I can say that the ad company hired to make the TV spots should never be hired again, because they presented the film as god-awful and this movie is really just average and splits with the cliche good cop bad cop story-line a few times, but really not that memorable, but not anywhere as bad as the ads made it seem.

05/27/2008

150. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Off DVR, Shown on Sundance (Widescreen, Uncut)
I felt this movie had some good characters to set a story on but the character details seem a little glossed over which may have benefitted with a longer running time, nothing really special about this movie, the kids in the movie look like they grew-up in the neighborhood I live in now.


151. Looking for Richard (1996)
Off DVR, Shown on IFC (Widescreen, Uncut)
This documentary covers the process that Al Pacino goes through to stage a production of Richard the Third with an all star cast, a large portion of this film is just the actor's doing the production and not as much insight onto the production but there is a ton of information of what happens in Richard the Third, they break down quite a few parts like a literary analyzation would be in an class but more compelling, I wasn't really knowledgeable on Richard before but I definitely got my fill of it through this though.


152. Jumper (2008)
Other Means
The two leads of this movie (Hayden & Rachel) have zero screen chemistry or presence at all for that matter, if two solid actors had been put in these parts maybe the flimsy script could have been over looked but the film's plot doesn't resolve or wrap-up at end of the movie it just ends, like the whole film wasn't important at all, and would require a sequel just to explain all the parts they left out of the first film. I doubt that would ever happen thought, although I could see this becoming the next cheap sequel sensation and they pump out a bunch of knock offs through the direct to DVD market.

05/26/2008

149. Son of Rambow (2007)
In Theaters
If you've seen the trailer for Son of Rambow you should know that the movie they are selling in the trailer isn't what the film turned out to be. The trailer suggests a more lighthearted romp than this ended up being and while I don't know if that's a bad thing I feel really mixed on this film, because I felt that there was so much potential there that I may catch on to later in a while and I might like it better but I didn't really like this movie. And the french kid becomes annoying by the third time he's on screen and he's on screen quite a bit.

Movies #146-148

05/25/2008

148. Death at a Funeral (2007)
Other Means
I was really taken by surprise at how funny this movie ended up being, I don't that this is worth seeking out but worth a viewing that requires little effort.

05/22/2008

147. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
In Theaters
So I really liked this movie, the rest of the review is in inviso-text that you will have to highlight to read because it contains spoilers.

So for most of the film things are going the right way to a really good movie, and what you would expect from an Indy adventure, but at a point later in the movie they take a hard right which leads to the most unimpressive ending of all the Indy series. What the hell do UFO's and Aliens have to do with Indy? But it does have the required amount of action scenes to be considered an Indy movie.

05/20/2008

146. Speed Racer (2008)
In Theaters (DLP Screening)
I had really low expectations going into this movie because I saw the first trailer and thought the movie looked awful, and is yet another reason why I like to avoid trailers as much as possible because I really ended up enjoying this movie. You'll quickly forget any comparisons to Spy Kids that the trailers may have brought to mind because the script and super stylized word will hold your attention. I have to admit though, either you buy the style or you don't, but seriously thought, if you can't enjoy this silly movie on some level your clearly operating at level of seriousness that I can't comprehend. This movie is tons of fun, but make sure you go to a late night/ early afternoon screening so you don't have to children, because they can suck the fun out of all living things.