Sweet Karma / Yesterday

Fantastic Fest is here.
This is a bad ass genre film festival in Austin
at the Alamo Drafthouse that shows
a shit load of movies from around the world.
For more on that here's the site:
http://www.fantasticfest.com/
Since I only have a day badge,
I can only see movies that start before 6pm.

The last two movies I was able to see were the following:


Sweet Karma
This is an entertaining female revenge flick from Canada.
It's got a lot of drama.
It looks low budget but the acting was great.
The story is alright.
It was dark and gritty and it felt almost exploitational.
There's some good kills in this but not as much.
Inspiration: Ms. 45 and Thriller: A Cruel Picture





Yesterday
Surprisingly, another movie from Canada.
This one is a zombie flick.
Damn, this was awesome.
It's low budget all the way.
Everything flowed right.
There's a lot of good funny characters.
Also, there's a crap load of gore.
A lot of innocent people die at the hands of other
innocent people who mistake them for zombies.
There's even a tribute to spaghetti westerns on here.
Highly recommend this to any zombie fan.
So whenever it comes out on dvd, grab this sucker.
This was my favorite film of the Fantastic Fest.
What a good way to end my experience with the festival.

The Hills Run Red

New Release Tuesdays Presents:

The Hills Run Red

I rented this DVD that came out today because

the trailer looked awesome.

Also rented it in honor of Fantastic Fest.

This doesn't turn good until half way.

But only for a bit.

Not that original.

Kills are good.

Love the movie within this movie.

I wish this movie would of turned out the

same way "The Hills Run Red" was inside the movie.

I thought it was going to be gory as hell like the fake movie.

I hated all the actors and actresses in this film.

D+ for some good blood but bad performances

and not great of a story.

Not worth the rent.

Adam Resurrected

Adam Resurrected
At first the story was interesting.
We go back in forth from the mental institution to
the concentration camps during WW2.
Then slowly, I was getting tired of it.
This is a slow drama. Nothing wrong with being
slow for this kind of movie, but the way they edited
wasn't flowing right for me.
I lost interest about halfway through.
I said to myself, if they were to put all the WW2 stuff
in the first half, and the hospital stuff in the second half
with some flashbacks, I would of liked the movie.
Jeff Goldblum was okay.
I liked William Dafoe as a nazi commander.
The director is Paul Schrader, who wrote
Taxi Driver and Rolling Thunder.
That was the reason I wanted to see this movie,
plus being partially a WW2 flick as well.

Grade: C- for some good performances but not
so interesting storytelling.

Kenny Begins / The Legend is Alive / Buratino, Son of Pinocchio

Fantastic Fest is here.
This is a bad ass genre film festival in Austin
at the Alamo Drafthouse that shows
a shit load of movies from around the world.
For more on that here's the site:
http://www.fantasticfest.com/
Since I only have a day badge,
I can only see movies that start before 6pm.

3 different films I saw today.

Kenny Begins
The first one and that one I liked most of the three is
this Swedish Sci-fi flick.
It was a little cheesy but still funny.
I liked some of these characters.
Shampoo scene was good.
And I liked the music they had throughout the film,
especially, "Woolly Bully."

The trailer doesn't have subtitles but you'll get the idea.



The Legend is Alive
The second screening I went to was this Vietnamese Kung Fu flick.
I expected a lot of kung fu scenes.
There was hardly any. The fighting scenes that it had
was not very exciting. Most of the story is a drama.
It is about this mentally disabled fighter and his relationship
with his mother. There's some sad scenes in here.
Good movie to watch on Mother's Day.
I was a little disappointed because I was expecting some good
kung fu scenes.



Buratino, Son of Pinocchio
The last screening for today was this Estonian/Russian fairytale
musical. The concept is interesting.
I liked some of the shots.
But again, I was disappointed because I was expecting a musical.
There was a few songs here and there but
it was mostly straight up dialogue.
I liked the world the director created here and
all the things that happen.
This is definitely a weird kind of movie that you hardly see out there.
It almost had like a Troma feel to it (Toxic Avenger stuff).

That wraps it up for me for today.
I will be going Wednesday for one or two more films at this
Festival.

K-20: The Fiend With 20 Faces

Fantastic Fest is here.
This is a bad ass genre film festival in Austin
at the Alamo Drafthouse that shows
a shit load of movies from around the world.
For more on that here's the site:
http://www.fantasticfest.com/
Since I only have a day badge,
I can only see movies that start before 6pm.

Today, I had the pleasure of watching one.

K-20: The Fiend With 20 Faces
This Japanese action comic-based flick was entertaining.
The first act was okay, it was a little slow.
But, that second act was freaking awesome.
Especially when our hero is training to be that
hero he must become.
The feeling of the movie is mixing V for Vendetta
with a little bit of Spiderman.
I think they overdid the ending a little.
Overall, I enjoyed it.

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
Crazy ass animation by Rob Zombie.
I was enjoying all the stupidity humor
and wacky stuff on here.
Typical Rob Zombie stuff.
Imagine the show, "Family Guy" with more crack,
and blood and nudity every 30 seconds,
then you can imagine the insanity on here.
My complaints were:
It was full of cliches and the story was a little silly.
I guess that was the point.
But if you were a fan of Beavis and Butthead and you loved
that animation sequence that Rob Zombie did
for "B and B do America," then this won't disappoint.
I love all the rats and some of the songs.

This is a good movie to watch after hours.
No kids allowed.

7 Soles

[To explore cinema from all over the world,
every 4th Thursday of every month I see a Foreign Film
that I haven't seen before. Any film that is not American or Asian.]

Foreign Film Thursday Presents:


7 Soles
This is a drama from Mexico.
Although I like the message and some of the concept,
the film was a little disappointing.
The actors were acting more like a theatre play,
therefore, the characters weren't that believable in film.
They tend to exaggerate in their performances.
The story itself is believable because these things happen everyday.
The only thing that bothered me with the story was
that one coyote was being too nice on one scene and
a total a-hole in the next scene (ex: rape scene).

Better movies to watch for this kind of story would be:
El Norte, Mi Familia, Sin Nombre, and Under the Same Moon.
I don't recommend this one.
Grade: D

Observe and Report

New Release Tuesdays Presents:


Observe and Report
A lot of interesting movies came out today.

It was a hard choice to pick one for New Release Tuesday,

but here is this one.

I wanted to see this one in the theatre.

This was freaking funny.

Better than expected.

No, it's not the usual kind of comedy from Seth Rogan.

It's more of a dark comedy with some drama.

Love the ending scene.

All the punches and the shot.

There's some good moments throughout the film.

The only thing that would of made it better for me,

if the other security guards besides the ones played by Rogan and Peña,

were funny in their own way.

They were just there to fill up space.

I do like all the cameos.

It's not a comedy masterpiece like "The Hangover,"
but this is worth the peek.

This is definetely on my top 5 comedies of the year, so far.

Good soundtrack, too!!

Grade: B++

Brooklyn Rules

[Being a big fan of the gangster genre, every third Monday
of every month, I will see a Gangster film that I haven't seen before.
Even though, I end up seeing more than one a month,
it is mandatory on the third Monday.]

Gangster Night Monday Presents:


Brooklyn Rules
This is an alright flick.
Good entertainment wiseguy shit.
Even though there's also like a little love story going on,
for the most part, is about friendship.
Where does the gangster stuff come in?
From the very beginning and throughout the movie.
One of these friends is getting himself involved with these gangsters.
There's consequences.
It felt like a cross between A Bronx Tale and Boyz in the Hood.
These two movies are still way better than this one.
Freddie Prince Jr. was getting on my nerves at first,
but then he turned out to be a little alright.
Alec Baldwin does make a good gangster.
The story is the same old story.
Grade: B-

Next Day Air

Next Day Air
This was a little different than what the trailer shows.
The main story is about these two crooks who
try to sell a shit load of cocaine they accidentaly got
from a box delivered to their apt. It's got a little bit
of comedy and some good action.
It's not a totally good movie but it is entertaining.
It flows right.
There's some unexpected stuff in the end which
I kinda liked.
Good hip-hop soundtrack.

This is worth the rent.
Grade: B-

Bridge to Nowhere

Bridge to Nowhere
Imagine Scarface as a pimp and he's also a wannabe,
and have a straight to tv feel to it, you have a Bridge to Nowhere.
This movie is about consequences with a lot preachiness.
It was alright at first, but then it gets a little off with
the performances.
If there were better actors filling the main roles, maybe,
this would of made a bad ass movie.
I like some of the concept,
but for the most part, it wasn't enough for me
to like it.

This reminded me of another disappointing movie
called, "Carlito's Way Part 2 (Rise to Power)."
Grade D.

Almost Human

Almost Human
This movie was a little crazy (in a good way).

It was entertaining.

I'm starting to become a fan of Thomas Milian's acting.

This had a grindhouse feel to it with a shit load

of gangster scenes.

A lot of memorable stuff here.

One of the best parts is when the kidnappers break into to

the house party. It was a little intense.

Other than that, it didn't blew me away,

but it met my fair expectations.

Worth the rent.

I would buy it one day if it's under 10 dollars.

Grade: B.

Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die!

Spaghetti Western Night
[To gain more knowledge of this genre,
every third Wednesday of each month,
I watch a spaghetti western film that I haven't seen before.]

Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die!
This was alright. I like the revenge plot.
Here we have a simple story.
I liked the intro where the main character
is practicing with a "gun" inside the jail.
And of course everyone is willing to help
the main character with a little money.
Some bad ass scenes.
The final standoff could of been a little better.
And what would of made a whole lot better was
a little music by Ennio Morricone
(the master of spaghetti western music).

All in all, satisfied with it, but there's a lot better stuff
in the same genre like The Hellbenders,
The Great Silence, or any Leone western.

X Men Origins: Wolverine

New Release Tuesdays Presents:

X Men Origins: Wolverine
I went into this movie with low expectations.
I'm glad I did, because I would of been really disappointed
going in with high expectations.
But for low expectations, it was alright.
I wish it could of been a little bit more darker.
I wanted some bad ass kills and stuff.
The best part is when Wolverine cuts Weapon XI a.k.a.
Ryan Reynold's head off.
It was fucked up the way they had Gambit on here.
They totally messed up that character for me.
And almost everything was predictable.

I'm glad I waited for this on DVD instead of the theatre.
Worth the rent if you like the X-Men franchise.
Grade: C-

City of Violence

Asian Cinema Night
[Every second Monday of each month
I watch an Asian film I haven't seen before.
Even though I see about two or three Asian films a month,
it's mandatory on the second Monday]


City of Violence
Bad ass Korean action flick.

It kinda copies Kill Bill a little bit.

It starts kinda slow but the second and third act

delivers.

This is a must for any Asian film fan.

It has a revenge/gangster action story.

There's some fair amount of violence but not extreme.

They get a little creative with the editing.

Grade A-

Pacific Inferno

[Side Note:I been watching this 20 WW2 movie DVD Set
I bought in August in honor of Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.]

Classic WW2 #13


Pacific Inferno
Simple storyline. It takes place after Pearl Harbor.
The picture quality was horrible and distracted me
from focusing on the story.
There's some good scenes here and there,
but overall, it wasn't good.
Surprised to hear some good music on it.

No trailer to be found but here's the intro:

The Last House on the Left (2009)

The Last House on the Left

I had the original on my mind throughout the

whole time I was watching this one.

I saw the original earlier this year.

I love the ending shot in this one.

There's several major points they changed from the original.

But, I'm not going into detail on that.

Fuck it, the girl survives on this one.

But the major thing was, the parents weren't as weird

as the original.

Oh well, I still liked it, considering it was a remake.

I just hope I'm dead before they start remaking

good movies like Hostel or The Devil's Rejects.

The Dawn Express

Classic WW2 Film #12

Side Note:
I been watching this 20 WW2 movie DVD Set I bought in August
in honor of Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.
Here's the next one.

The Dawn Express
A good average 40's flick.
This wasn't really a WW2 film, even though it takes place during WW2.
It had more of a gangster/spy/film noir feel to it.
The only relation to WW2 was that these scientists that were being
blackmailed by these gangsters were creating a secret formula
for the war.
I enjoyed it. It was only an hour long.
This had two to three jump cuts with the editing.
Like the way they did the bar scenes with the music.
Good for a 1940's film.

Here's a scene from the beginning of the movie:

Kelly's Heroes

Kelly's Heroes
This was freaking awesome.

It's kinda long but it doesn't feel like it.

Love all these characters.

There's some good memorable scenes.

Like the western scene with the tiger tank.

The story is very original.

Group of soldiers going into enemy lines to steal gold.

Highly recommended for fans of Inglourious Basterds.

Surveillance

Surveillance
Where can I start? This movie was alright.
Nothing special and nothing you never seen before.
It is directed by the daughter of David Lynch.
There's some weirdness with the characters but
the acting wasn't good.
The twist in the third act is not the greatest twist ever.
It's been done before.
There's also something wrong with the plot.
(Spoiler: Why did the bad guys leave these witnesses in the first place?)

The sound of the whole movie was awesome.
That was probably the only good thing I liked.

Grade: C-

Sleep Dealer

New Release Tuesdays Presents:

Sleep Dealer
This was a very original spanish sci-fi flick.
I love the concept and enjoyed the movie.
The ending could of been better.
But, I like the way they put everything together
and especially with a low budget.
I like the music they play here.
The older people listen to some kind of techno music
and the young listen to something more advanced.
In the movie, they use these wires for immigrants to
work in the U.S. without crossing the border.

Grade: B

The Mighty Peking Man

The Mighty Peking Man
A King Kong exploitation rip-off.
Very cheesy effects with a lot of explosions.
This was an alright film.
You can't really take it seriously.
It's made to be silly.
There's a lot of plot holes with the story.

Of course, the climax and ending is very predictable.
Not recommended unless you're in the mood for an
exploitation film with low budget looking King Kong.

Prince of Darkness / They Live

(Friday at the Grindhouse Encore Special)
Since it was my relationship anniversary yesterday,
I decided to push the grindhouse night for tonight.

Tonight I'm having a John Carpenter double feature.


Prince of Darkness
This is some evil stuff.
I liked the way they put together the dreams
people kept having.
Like most of his films, John Carpenter did his own music,
and the music never stopped for a moment.
It was a nice slow build up for the last 20 minutes of the movie.
It reminded me of some of the italian horrors from the 70's
like The Beyond.

Never looking at a mirror the same way again.



They Live
While the other one was more of a horror, this one
is more of a sci-fi/action.
Love the concept.
Love the paranoia feeling people get in here.
It star Roddy Piper (the wrestler).
His acting is way better than "The Rock."
These aliens are creeping looking but bad ass.
Good climax and ending.

Need to get me a pair of these glasses to see
who's who around me.

Slaughter

Slaughter
Just finished watching this bad ass blaxploitation flick.

This is another movie that I first heard about it by

the Inglourious Basterds soundtrack.

The opening song is the same song that comes out in IB

(in the part where we are introduced to Hugo Stiglitz).
From beginning to the end, this was all good.

This has a simple 70's gangster story with a lot of killing.

This would make a great double feature with Coffy.

The Informers

And the worst movie of the year goes to......
(drums rolling)
.....The Informers.

Seriously, I don't like to be harsh on movies because I love movies.

I respect them all just the fact that they are movies.

But this one pissed me off.

The producers of this shit should be shot to death.

I mean, we got some decent stories here.

But just the way they pulled it off and all these

actors they put in here, it's freaking ridiculous.

I thought this was going somewhere.

Ended up going nowhere.

And I was putting up with all this crap.

The worst scenes are with that one dude

who is the nephew of Mickey Rourke's character in the movie.

I lost my respect for Rourke, Thornton, and Basinger for signing up

for this movie.

Recommendation: Stay far away!!! Once you get there,

move a couple of miles more.

Grade: F.

Rudo y Cursi

Rudo Y Cursi

I enjoyed the film a little bit more than I expected.

At first, I thought it was going to be all about soccer,

but I was dead wrong. This has a very good story.

It's about two brothers who share the same career

but have different dreams.

I love all the dialogue. It's freakin' crazy.

I just wanted to have a six pack of beer

with me and enjoyed this cool experience.

I laughed my ass off during the cup o noodles scene.

A must have for a spanish collection.