The Other Woman

The Other Woman
I'm a fan of Natalie Portman.
So I was bound to see this movie sooner or later.
It was a decent film.
It wasn't what I expected.
I thought it was going to be about this one girl
and her troubles and adventures about being "the other woman."
We got a bit of that but instead this movie
focused more on her loss of her baby.
I like scenes where she interacts with her stepson.
Her stepson is a mean little bastard but later
she wins him over and he ends being really nice.
I like the ice cream (lactose intolerant) scene
and the ice skating scene.
This movie gets a little sappy and emotional,
but still alright to watch, even for a guy like me.

It was good to wake up with some nice pancakes
and maple bacon and checking out this drama.

In A Better World

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


In A Better World
Excellent film from Denmark.
Duh, it won the Oscar this year for Best Foreign Film.
It was a film that touched so many subjects like:
loneliness, revenge, coping with loss, and rejection.
That one actor who plays the boy who lost his mother
did a good job playing that role.
Very convincing.
My favorite scene:
beating the crap out of the bully with a bike pump.
The only flaw to this was that we didn't get to know
the motherless boy's dad very well.
We knew the other boy and his dad (the doctor) well
but not this other character.
But, good movie to check out.

You know I'm a sucker for Foreign films.
If I see this one on sale, I wouldn't mind buying
it for the collection.

Blitz (2011)

Blitz
A wise person once said to me
that she's a fan of cop-killer movies.
That was a misunderstanding, of course.
She meant, fan of cop movies and killer movies.
But it sounded so specific.
In the cop killer genre, this one was pretty effing cool.
You got this killer guy who kind of reminds
me of Gary Oldman.
And of course, you got your badass Jason Statham
kicking ass and taking names.
This straight to video movie was more entertaining
than another Jason Statham movie that came out
this year (The Mechanic).
Nothing bad about The Mechanic,
I kind of liked it, it's just that this movie
here was cool and simple.
No big hollywood gadgets.
There's a couple of characters that were introduced
but wasn't necessary because they were killed
instantly.
I like some of the weird characters on here.
And of course, my favorite scene was the final payoff.

Nothing major but if you're looking for
a night of entertainment without any letdowns,
this should do the job.

Class of 1984 / Rock 'N' Roll High School

FRIDAY AT THE GRINDHOUSE


Class of 1984
Violent classic high school movie.
These kids are mean and cheesy as well.
Love the punk music.
One can easily make fun of most of the moments
in this movie.
I like that one moment where this kid took PCP
and climbed up to the flag pole outside
the school. He started saying the Pledge of Allegiance,
and in the middle of it, he falls to the ground and dies.
The movie slowly turns into a revenge film.
The new teacher takes revenge on these bad kids.
I always hear about this movie I just never
had the chance to check it out.

Good midnight movie.



Rock 'n' Roll High School
Now this was fun.
Cheesy, quirky, and rock and roll, baby.
I've seen parts to this before when I was young.
My brother Robert is a big Ramones fan
(he got me into the Ramones while growing up)
and I know he's seen this a bunch of times.
Seeing this as whole for the first time was awesome.
Went well seeing this after the last movie.
This is a good rock and roll make you feel good kind
of movie.
Love the absurd stuff as well like a walking giant mouse
in the concert smoking it up.

Definitely a must buy for me.
Now I'm playing my Ramones playlist in the Ipod.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
I feel like I didn't learn anything new
but this film was still entertaining.
Some funny moments throughout the documentary.
I know how product placement works.
I know marketing and brainwashing by
brands. I know all this.
But it was cool to see people putting their two cents
on this. We have lots of celebrities here like
Quentin Tarantino, Ralph Nader, Big Boi, and Peter Berg.
Short and simple.
I like the Jimmy Kimmel part and the actual
commercials he made for these products.

I really did enjoy this but as a documentary,
it didn't teach me something valuable.

A Bloody Aria

A Bloody Aria
I've said it once and I'll say it again,
put in any South Korean movie, and
it's guaranteed to be at least alright.
I have not seen one that sucked.
That's the case with this one.
It was alright.
Love that the whole story takes place
in one place: in the middle of nowhere.
It has a nice flow and characters were pretty good.
My favorite scene happens to be near the beginning.
Our main character, the instructor, looks in the rear view mirror
and sees this weird guy walking near him with a bat.
The weird guy kills a bird with his bat.
The mood of the movie begins.

For a movie that has bloody in the title, it wasn't bloody
at all. It was violent. Good to check out.

Trollhunter

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Trollhunter
Man, this was a lot of fun.
Them Norwegians know how to capture a story.
The only downer to this was the ending.
I was somewhat disappointing with it.
I wanted to know what exactly happened to these
filmmakers.
That wasn't clear.
But I love the special effects to this.
Considering the budget, that aspect was badass.
I love the Christian idea and the
legends of these trolls.
I was entertained in the first half.

You gotta give them props for pulling something like this.
The trolls looked awesome.
Just wished they would ended this a lot better.
But that's just my personal opinion.

Strange Brew

Strange Brew
This Canadian movie didn't really do it for me.
I had my beers ready, I had
my hopes ready, and I got tired
of it halfway through.
Didn't laugh once (or at least entertained).
I mean, any movies about beer should
be enjoyable to me.
Beer is one of the things I truly enjoy
and damn proud of in this world.
This movie was like Cheech and Chong but with
beers instead of that special green plant.
I also got to note: they eat donuts with beer here.
I can never eat a sweet with beer.
That's kind of nasty, in my opinion.

Anyways, I wasn't feeling the story.
Probably won't see this again.
But at least I got it out of my system.

What To Do In Case Of Fire

What To Do In Case Of A Fire
I love me some great German cinema.
Took a risk watching this one without knowing
anything about it.
It's got a good cast.
This movie somewhat reminded me of the movie,
Sound of Noise (from last year's Fantastic Fest).
I got into it from the very beginning.
Love the story.
Basically, a group of friends made a bomb but it didn't explode.
Many years later, the bomb went off.
The friends, now much older and most of them mature,
unite to cover their tracks.

Must buy for the Foreign Section.

Yakuza Graveyard

YAKUZA NIGHT THURSDAY

Every third Thursday of every month of this year,
I'll be watching a yakuza flick.
Love the yakuza genre but haven't really seen a whole lot.
There's a lot of classics out there.
This will help me explore these Japanese movies.
I'll be watching a few from directors,
Kinji Fukasaku, and Takashi Miike, as well other
yakuza flicks from the 60's and to the present.



Yakuza Graveyard
We have another awesome yakuza movie from
Kinji Fukasaku. Just like the others ones I've seen,
it's got the same style, music, and shots.
Here we focus on this cop and his relationship and
business with yakuzas.
Couple of badass shootouts.
Some predictable stuff.
Lots of talking and yelling so it was a bit
hard to follow.
But nice 70's feeling.

I'm going to have to do a Kinji Fukasaku section one day.
This went well with some Saporro beers and sushi.

The Bang Bang Club

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


The Bang Bang Club
This was a little too violent than I expected.
I love photography and how
people take the extra mile and the risk
to capture reality.
This was quite enjoyable.
Based on a true story.
This delivers crazy war images
and the adventures of freelancers and other
photojournalists.
If you're not interested in what I mentioned so far,
then don't bother watching this one.
It's nothing special.
It was just a movie to see once.

It came out today and it was the most interesting
movie from today's list. It was okay.

3 Extremes II

[Note to fans of this blog:
Yesterday was supposed to be
Linda's Saturday Pick. But due
to some conflict of interest and as
a request from Linda, this segment will
now be cancelled from here on out.]


3 Extremes II
I bought this movie for two bucks
(same price as a rental).
I'm somewhat of a fan of the first one.
So I decided to give this a try.
It was a little disappointing.
The movies weren't too crazy or not
what I expected.
Just like the first one, this one also has three stories.
The first story is directed by Kim Jee-Woon (I Saw The Devil).
I was wanting this one to be badass because
this is one of my favorite Korean directors.
All his movies kick ass.
The story here wasn't that exciting.
But, I do gotta give props for those wonderful shots.
The second story is about puppets.
And man I was wanting some Puppetmaster stuff here,
but it wasn't.
The third story was probably my favorite.
This one was a little crazier than the other two.
I mean if a guy thinks his dead wife will come back to life,
that's crazy, isn't it?
And he keeps her around his place and stuff.

So overall, a little weak.
I wouldn't recommend it but I do recommend
watching, "Dumplings" (the first story from 3 Extremes Part 1)
if you haven't already.

30 Minutes Or Less (2011)

30 Minutes or Less
Pretty funny.
While I expected a lot funnier,
this was okay.
Two people made this enjoyable:
Danny McBride (of course)
and Aziz Ansari.
If it weren't for them, this movie
would of sucked.
At least I was laughing here and there.
Some beers and pizza went good with this.

Comparing to other comedies this year, this one is okay.
Probably par with Hangover 2.
Better than Horrible Bosses and Cedar Rapids.
But not as funny as Bridesmaids and Hall Pass.
All this, of course, it's according to my own sense of humor.

Tombstone

SHAME ON ME

[The second Wednesday of every month
I'll see a movie that I am ashamed
to admit I've never seen before.
A movie that most have seen
and it's usually referenced in pop culture.
As a fan of cinema, I shouldn't have missed
these movies, but I did, so shame on me.
This will give me the chance to catch up on those
movies.]

My focus this month is Westerns.
The following five Westerns I've never seen before:

The Searchers
The Wild Bunch
Tombstone
High Noon
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

There was a three way tie with my film panel.
So I went to two other sources to break the tie.
Tombstone won by majority votes.

Runner Up: The Wild Bunch


Tombstone
Excellent western.
I really liked the story and the characters.
My favorite character is Doc Holiday
played wonderfully by Val Kilmer.
He steals the show every scene he's in.
Possibly my favorite Val Kilmer role
(wait, he was badass as Jim Morrison from The Doors).
Here, we have traditional western setup.
It's great.
Shame on me. I wasn't raised watching westerns.
I wasn't into them until I got much older.

Glad I finally had the chance to see this western masterpiece.

Super

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Super
Awesome. Super Awesome.
If you like the movie, "Kick Ass,"
then you should get a good kick out of this one.
Good dark comedy from James Gunn.
The same guy who wrote Tromeo and Juliet and
the Dawn of the Dead remake.
Lots of violence.
Lots of blood.
Lots of unexpected moments.
My favorite stuff is at the end where
our superhero is actually killing the hell out
of these bad guys.
Love the pacing on here.
Left me with a nice kick ass feeling.

This is a must buy.
If this movie would of been a 2011 movie,
it would of made my top 10 for sure.

Waiting For 'Superman'

Waiting for 'Superman'
Interesting but sad documentary.
The most important thing we value the most is our kids
and their education.
And the school system here is not as good as it should be.
This documentary breaks it all down.
From lack of government support, budget cuts,
to the way the system handles bad teachers.
Let's just say, if you're a bad doctor, you will more likely
lose your license before a bad teacher does.

I like the Superman metaphor.
Not necessarily a must buy, but this is a must see documentary.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Very awesome movie.
Love that these apes seemed more real
and their performances were top notch.
I don't know how they did it, but they did it.
City overrun by apes.
Love that this was a slow build up for the last 30 minutes
of ape chaos.
My favorite scene is San Francisco's famous Golden Gate
bridge scene. That was badass.
One of the kick ass moments, when
the big ape jumped way up to the helicopter.
I know I've seen lots of movies in the theater
but I have to make a note:
a few people got up from their seats and applauded
to this movie at the end.
I hardly see that.
But this one deserves to be seen.

Must buy for the Sci-fi section.
Possible candidate for my top 10 favorite films of the year.

Twisted Nerve

Twisted Nerve
Gotta say special thanks for Vulcan Video to
carry this rare movie.
Remember in Kill Bill Vol. 1 when Elle Driver
enters the hospital to kill The Bride and
she's whistling this tune?
Well, that tune is the theme song to this movie.
And it comes out throughout the movie.
The film is fantastic.
The main character is this sick grown man who acts like
a kid and does crazy things at times.
This is mostly a drama/psychological thriller.
Has a lot of good moments especially when
this grown man changes personality back and forth.
I like the dialogue on here.

Need to add this one to the Grindhouse section.
Must see for sure.
Couldn't find a trailer but here's two different scenes I was able
to find:

Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs
Crazy classic film with Dustin Hoffman
at his finest. I been wanting to see this one for a while.
It's not really a shame on me but it is known in the
cult and independent world.
Love the slow build up and tension for those last crazy
twenty minutes of the film.
I can't help but wanting a shot of whiskey to go with this film.
It's gritty, dirty, violent, and classic.

For some reason,
I feel like watching the original Night of the Living Dead
after this one.

Outside The Law

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Outside The Law
Good but very long flick.
Lots of killing but nothing too extreme.
Just the right measure of war violence
and politics.
I decided to check out this French film because
first of all, I'm a big fan of foreign films.
Second, this was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign film
this year. And third, the trailer looked awesome and
I needed a movie that came out today.
Good choice.
It felt real.
And there's tragic scenes.
Strong scenes like the riots led by kids and they
get shot by soldiers sent from the government.

If you're in the mood for a long revolutionary movie,
check this out.

Newsies

MUSICAL MONDAY

[To expand my knowledge in this genre
and for the sake of trying something different,
every first Monday of every month this year,
I'll be checking out a musical I've never seen before.]


Newsies
I liked it.
I liked the premise of the story.
My favorite parts and the most interesting parts
are the last 20 minutes of the film.
From the point where Jack sells out to the end
when he returns back to the Newsies.
Good to see Robert Duvall and Bill Pullman in this.
A make you feel good and reminds you of being
a kid again kind of story.

Good to wake up to this on a Monday morning.