Sherlock Holmes

New Release Tuesdays Presents:

Sherlock Holmes
Clever film by Guy Ritchie.
Not necessarily my favorite of his, but not
a disappointment either.
This is all eye candy (the special effects and action sequences).
It's a little too long.
Some scenes could of been shorter.
But, a good detective story.
A little unpredictable.

For a one night stand popcorn movie, this won't hurt to try.

Shorts

Shorts
For a children flick, this is surprisingly good.
I'm one of those people who are against Robert Rodriguez
making kid movies. But, after seeing this today,
I didn't mind this flick at all.
I first wanted to watch this to get this out of the way
because I'm a fan of the director.
I had a good time with this silly movie
about a magic rock which includes scenes
that contain a giant booger, crocodiles, and little aliens.

The only negative thing I can say about this story,
was the baby who was super smart.
Didn't like that concept and the voice for that.
Other than that, I say, this is better than
Spy Kids 3-D and Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Day of the Dead / Night of the Creeps

Friday at the Grindhouse Presents:
and

Tonight is a double zombiesploitation feature!

Day of the Dead
Freaking awesome stuff here.
Overall, I found it a little better than alright.
I still prefer Dawn of the Dead as my favorite out
of the Romero movies.
I love the exaggeration in the performances by some
of the actors, made it more comical.
This movie made me feel like I was stuck underground
with these people.
The zombies are great as usual.





Night of the Creeps
Alien slugs turning people into zombies
is always a great fun,
especially with cheesy 80's dialogue.
This was decent.
Would of wanted to see a shit load of more zombies.
The main cop in this movie was my favorite character.
He had some good one-liner dialogue.
Not a need for zombie fans, but if you happen to
come across it, check it out.

Cat People

Cat People
Creepy, but not scary.
Erotic tale about leopards and humans.
I never heard about this movie until Inglourious Basterds
came into my life. One of the songs in the soundtrack
(David Bowie song) is the theme song to this movie.
Last year, I promised myself to watch every movie
that has a song that was referenced in Tarantino's Basterds.
My friend Mike from work happen to have a copy
of this flick. So here I am.
Not bad. A little underrated.
It's got a campy feel to it, kinda like a grindhouse picture.
I like the shots in this.
This is directed by Paul Schrader
(who wrote Taxi Driver, Rolling Thunder and Raging Bull).

Overall, semi decent flick
with an evil performance by Malcolm McDowell.

Schizopolis

Catching Up With A Director Segment
This month's director is Steven Soderbergh.
So far this month, I've seen:
The Informant
Solaris
The Limey
and Bubble.
The fifth and last film to see from Soderbergh it's
probably his craziest:

Schizopolis
Insane how all this is put together.
Crazy random dialogue and random
moments did it for me.
I enjoyed and loved the first half.
The second half was okay.
With a title like, Schizopolis,
you never know what to expect.
This is all created and directed and stars
Steven Soderbergh, but he's not credited in this.
This movie puts it up there with my favorites.

Now that I've seen most of his films,
it's time to put them in order (from my most favorite
to least favorite):

Traffic
Che
Ocean's 11
The Informant
Schizopolis
The Limey
Out of Sight
Bubble
Solaris
Sex, Lies, And Videotape
Ocean's 12
Erin Brockovich
Ocean's 13

The Men Who Stare At Goats

New Release Tuesdays Presents:


The Men Who Stare At Goats
Love the humor in the first half of this film.
Reminds me of the films by the Coen Brothers.
Second half was weak for me.
It had its moments.
Didn't like Ewan McGregor's performance with his
character, but love all the other characters.
This movie has a great concept.
Good music and nice use of flashbacks.
Favorite scenes:
- Bill Django yelling like a Drill Sergeant and the dancing that follows.
- Fork in the road desert scene.

If only the last chunk of the film was good,
I would of called this an "A" movie.
Other than that, good entertainment piece.
Now, I want to join the military so I can learn how to kill
all the birds who've been crapping on my car with my mind.
As well as smashing my head into the wall, and hope that
one day, I would be able to go through the wall.

Bubble

Catching Up With A Director Segment
This month's director is Steven Soderbergh.
So far this month, I've seen:
The Informant
Solaris
and The Limey.
Each film is different from each other,
and the fourth one is no exception.

Bubble
Kinda quirky and very experimental picture from
Soderbergh.
The experiment:
go into a small town where they have this factory,
hire local people as actors, and see what happens.
The story is a little original.
All the actors on here have no acting experience,
but it somewhat works for this project.
Almost everything was improvised.
Some of their performances weren't believable,
especially after they find out about the murder.
Made it a little funny, even though, it's not.
The ending was kinda weak.

Personally, this film is not for me,
but I give Soderbergh props for his artistic approach.
He has some guts to follow Ocean's 12 with
this very low budget flick.

The Stoning of Soraya M.

The Stoning of Soraya M.
This was the most powerful film I've seen in a while.
It made me feel angry and sad.
Nothing bad with the movie itself,
just how fucked up people are in other parts of the world.
This movie is excellent.
Strong performances.
Strong direction.
Good flow.
Nothing I didn't like.

If you see this trailer and it's something that interest you,
by all means, grab this movie. It's worth every minute.

Tokyo Gore Police

Tokyo Gore Police
I was in the mood for some Asian Cinema.
I personally chose three different films
from three different Asian countries to see tonight.
I saw the great epic of Mongol.
Then it was the war drama, J.S.A.
And finally, this bloodfest from Japan.
The first two, I've already seen before.
So here's my brief comments on this one:
This was over the top insane.
They threw all these gorey scenes just for
the sake of being gore.
The story was ridiculous.
It was fun the first 30 minutes, but after a while,
I was just waiting for the story to get good.
It didn't really get good, but it sure did get bloody.
CGI bloody.

So this is only for the gore fans.
Not recommend it for Asian cinema fans in general.
The recommendation I would give related to this
kind of film would be: Ichi the Killer
(it's freaking gorey as hell, but at least with a decent story).

Alice in Wonderland 3-D (2010)

Alice in Wonderland
This is the first official 2010 movie that I got to see.
I'm a big Tim Burton fan.
My top three Burton films are:
Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Edward Scissorhands.
My bottom three are:
Corpse Bride, Charlie and Chocolate Factory,
and Planet of the Apes.
I heard mixed reviews about this one.
So, I went in with low expectations.
With that in mind, I still didn't like the movie as much.
There was parts that were okay.
But, the big problem for me was the story.
I knew that it was supposed to be a follow up to the original story.
But, it was weak.
Visuals were okay.
I didn't like some of the performances as well.

I have to let this grow on me for a bit, perhaps watch
it a few more times before I decide to put this towards the bottom of
Tim Burton films. For now, this was not love at first sight.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Animation Night Presents:

Monsters vs. Aliens
I'm not a big fan of animation from Dreamworks.
I hate the hell out of Shrek.
The only ones I liked was Madagascar and Over the Hedge.
This one wasn't bad.
The story isn't great but the delivery of this animation was good.
The monsters rule.
The main character needed a little more development.
Kudos to the wonderful voices on here.

Another animation bites the dust.
My favorite that I've seen so far this year is
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical
This is a very cheesy musical. Can you tell?
As a musical, it was okay.
As a movie in general, not that great.
It was a nice trippy ride for me.
There was a few laughs, but not as much.
It is based on the exploitation film, "Reefer Madness."
They turned it into a play then this movie was made.
The movie felt like I was watching a play.
All the songs are dumb, but they were made to be dumb.
It's a freaking Stoner musical with an anti-drug message.

Don't recommend it unless you're into cheesy musicals.
I couldn't find a trailer on youtube so here's a couple of clips I found:

High Life

New Release Tuesdays Presents:


High Life
This flick was an alright good time.
The ending sucked.
Some of the plot could of been better.
It's not that original.
But, there are moments that are good.
And some of the music sequences were bad ass,
especially the drugging up scene where
"Have You Ever Seen The Rain" by CCR plays.

Overall, not very strong. Not a movie I would recommend.

The Limey

Catching Up With A Director Segment
This month's director is Steven Soderbergh.
I saw "The Informant" and "Solaris" this month.
The third Soderbergh film to see is:

The Limey
Most claim that this revenge movie,
its one of Soderbergh's best.
While, to me it was okay, I didn't think it's quite up there.
There was one scene that was bad ass, though.
It's the part where Wilson kills some guys off camera
then he gets on camera and yells,
"tell him, I'm coming."
I like that this is told in a non-linear way.
Just wasn't feeling some of the slower scenes.

Whip It

Linda's Chick Flick Night Presents:

Whip It
Not bad of a movie.
It's the same typical story: girl hates beauty pageant,
wants something more real to her. Disappoints mom
but finds something she's happy with.
This movie gave Austin, TX a lot of love.
Almost every other line or scene says or shows
Austin, TX.
Love some of the music (The Ramones).
Good performances by most of the cast.
Before watching this, I thought Ellen Page
was going to act like Juno again, but it didn't feel that way.

Originality: Not as much.
Linda picked a movie that I wouldn't normally pick,
but after seeing it, has my approval.
Good entertainment experience.

Solaris

Catching Up With A Director Segment
This month's director is Steven Soderbergh.
Last week, I saw "The Informant."
The second Soderbergh film to see this month
was this sci-fi flick:

Solaris
I'm not a big sci-fi kind of guy.
I like some sci-fi.
And other sci-fi movies I have to be in the mood.
This is one of those movies.
But this was different.
It was a very subtle sci-fi.
But, it wasn't love at first sight.
I would need to rewatch this sometime in the future for
me to maybe like it.
George Clooney's performance is a little different than usual.
It's very character driven.

While watching this, I kept thinking of a good sci fi movie
that I saw recently. Recommendation: Check out "Moon."

Blindman

Spaghetti Western Night Presents:

Blindman

Not bad of a story.

A lot of jump cuts, bad editing, I don't know if it's the version

that I rented or not.

This is a hard to get spaghetti western (props to I Luv Video).

This movie has its violent moments.

In fact, it's one of the most violent westerns I've seen.
It's also one of my least enjoyable.

My favorite parts are in the beginning (the shootout where

Blindman dances a bit) and towards the end where Domingo

and his men recapture some of the 50 women.
The dialogue wasn't as good as other films of this genre.
All in all, this is an alright flick for hardcore fans of spaghetti western.

Don't recommend it otherwise.

Up in the Air

New Release Tuesdays Presents:

Up in the Air
Charming little story we got here.
Original with a good message.
I really liked the beginning.
Starts off good.
Then it keeps a steady pace after liftoff.
The ending dragged on a bit, but it was okay.
I enjoyed all the cameos as well.

This is worth to check out; maybe with some mixed drinks,
but not too much, it may get depressing.

Black Dynamite

Black Dynamite
This is a modern blaxploitation flick.
It's more of a tribute.
Cheesy dialogue and crazy characters.
My favorite character is "Cream Corn."
Favorite scene: Black Dynamite is talking while sitting in
a desk then he stands up, we see a microphone from above.
They did it on purpose.
It was all a good fun in the first half.
The cheesiness gets a little tiring after a while.

Alright little mix of blaxploitation and kung fu not
to be taken seriously.

Gentlemen Broncos

Gentlemen Broncos
I'm not a fan of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre,
the same director came up with this one.
If I had a choice which movie I would see again,
it'd be this one.
This was okay.
There were a few funny moments,
like the blowing dart scenes.
Also had weird and awkward moments.
I enjoyed the music on here:
the opening title song and
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath.
The only complaints are that
some of the characters and part of the plot
needed a little more work.

The Informant

Catching Up With A Director Segment
For this month of March, I will be watching
five films that I haven't seen before from
director Steven Soderbergh.
The only films I've seen before from him
are:
Out of Sight
Traffic
Che
Ocean's 11, 12, and 13
Sex Lies and Videotape
and Erin Brockovich.
He's got 12 other films.
It'll be hard to choose which ones to watch.
For now, lets go with the obvious:

The Informant
This is Soderbergh's latest release.
This flick has a very clever story.
Love all the dialogue on here,
especially the random dialogue
the main character says in his head.
A lot of smart funny moments,
like the abduction lie scene.
Matt Damon delivers a good performance.
Never a dull moment.
I have nothing in mind to complain about.

This is one of Soderbergh's best works.
Recommended to anyone.

The Vampire's Assistant

Cirque du Freak:The Vampire's Assistant
I'm glad that I rent movies before buying.
I'm able to see a shit load of movies for dirt cheap.
Some might be badass and others might suck or in between.
This one is more towards the suck part.
I mean, the story seemed interesting at first,
but then I started disliking everything.
I didn't like the casting, especially Chris Massoglia,
who plays the main guy.
I can't believe this crap opened it up for possible sequels.

I guess, if you're a fan of the book, check it out.
Other than that, I don't recommend it.

Where The Wild Things Are

New Release Tuesdays Presents:


Where The Wild Things Are
Visually stunning picture.
It didn't bring the child in me like some
movies like these usually do, but
the story was good.
Very cool concept.
It's a good getaway picture.
My favorite parts are with the owls who
I can't understand.
The ending could of been better.
And some of the editing could also use some work
as far as the pacing for the movie.
I like some of the songs.

Fans of this movie should check out,
"Son of Rambow", if they haven't already.
Now, that's a movie that always brings the kid in me.

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

Documentary Night Presents:

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
Love the content and the information on this.
Good soundbites from people.
The only complaint: the structure
wasn't creative enough.
There was times where it was a little bit confusing.
Other times, I was getting a little bored.
For this type of documentary, I was wanting
maybe some comedy and for sure a better flow.
Other than that, the message was clear:
marijuana is healthier and safer than
other things that aren't illegal.
But, it's all politics.

Check it out for some serious stuff.
But, if you want a fun but still informative recommendation,
I would go with: Super High Me.