Don't Go In The Woods

Halloween is just a couple of days away.
This year my Halloween movie theme is
going to be Horror Musicals.
Tonight is this movie that I haven't seen.
Tomorrow: Little Shop of Horrors (loved it when I was a kid).
There will be no New Release Tuesday this week.
On Halloween, we wrap things up with
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd (another favorite) with a special theme dinner
to accompany it.
So after tonight, I won't be blogging until Thursday.
Happy Halloween!!

Don't Go In The Woods
This horror musical sucked balls.

All the characters were not likeable.

Some songs were okay but others were too "Pop" for my taste.
I just wanted this to end and everyone to die
but this annoying movie didn't deliver in the end.
I first heard about this movie early this year.
The directorial debut by Vincent D'Onofrio.
I been wanting to see it despite the poor reviews.
I mean, this could of been one of those "so bad that it's good"

kind of a movie.  But it wasn't.
Don't waste your time on this.
Can't wait to revisit "Little Shop of Horrors" and
"Sweeney Todd" to make me forget this night.

Kung Fu Friday: The Magnificent Butcher

KUNG FU FRIDAY 

Every fourth Friday of every month this year,
I'll be checking out a kung fu movie of any period.
Gives me an excuse to kick the walls and break blocks of wood.
Also gives me the excuse to go to I Luv Video or Vulcan Video
and catch up on some great kung fu flicks out there.

The Magnificent Butcher
This Kung Fu flick was pretty cool.
My favorite scene here is the fighting scene that
happens near the beginning (fighting with paint brushes).
I like the cheesiness here.
Choreography was very awesome.
What can you expect from this movie made by the same
guy who choreographed Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,
and etc?
This had a drunken master in it (always drinking wine).
This had some five fingers of death stuff
with the evil master turning his hands red.
Some characters were lost along the way but
this is all about the fighting and the humor.
In the old school Kung Fu department, this delivered.
I may add this to my Kung Fu section one day.
We'll see.

This movie was served with Asian pork and veggies over rice:

Take This Waltz

Take This Waltz
Last minute decision to rent this movie.
I like most of the actors on here so I figured why not.
It was a decent drama.
Seth Rogan's Chicken Book Writer and
Sarah Silverman's recovering alcoholic were my favorite characters.
Man, they made Michelle Williams look like crap in here.
And that one guy that she likes looks gay.
But, here we have a story about a possible infidelity.
It's a hard tough subject.
The ending was a little confusing.
I did like the message that new and exciting things become old
and routine like other things.
I think the ending was going for that but
they never went too much on it.
Mostly about a girl trying to find happiness.
I'll probably never see this movie again.
So, not worth buying.

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World (2012)

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
The first 20 minutes of this movie was pretty awesome.
Then the rest was so and so for me.
I love apocalyptic movies.
So having one that it's a comedy, is interesting.
The premise was going good.
It became predictable about halfway.
I mean, it's pretty obvious that these two main characters
were going to fall in love.
But I just wanted something new to be added for the last part.
Instead we got what was predicted.
Still, it was decent to see.
A few good scenes in the beginning include:
doing heroin in front of kids and a paid suicide/murder.
Also, good soundtrack.
I'm not a fan of Keira Knightley.  

Wreck-It Ralph 3D (2012)

Wreck-It Ralph
Dude, this was freaking amazing.

Probably the best Animation I've seen this year.

Right above Frankenweenie (and that's saying a lot because

Frankenweenie was a great experience).

This one was very cute and funny.

Lots of good moments.

It kept my attention throughout the whole thing.

I'm not much of a gamer but I do like old school gaming more

than the stuff that's out today.  

This movie is for both gamers and movie lovers in general.

John C. Reilly did great voicing the main character.

Sarah Silverman rules here.

Even the one guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall does good

stuff here as Fix-It Felix.

Good flow and good ending.

All the excitement towards the end made me literally shed a tear.

I recommend watching this in theaters this year.

Also, have lots of candy with this movie.

Chocolate, gummy bears, laffy taffy, etc.

Do not miss this one.

This is another possible Top 10 favorite for this year.

Rock Of Ages (2012)

Rock of Ages
After a long day at work decided to throw down some beers
and check out this rock and roll musical.
Not bad!
I expected worse.
A lot of songs are mixed with other songs.
But they did good in mixing those.
Some songs were bad ass classics and others
were okay.
Tom Cruise and his monkey (Yeah Man) stole the show
with his exaggerated cliche rock star character.
The whole thing was rocking but it slowed down for
me there in the last part of the movie.
I think I fell asleep for a few minutes.
So, not a memorable ending.
Oh yeah, Eli Roth has a tiny cameo, but that's it.
Okay Musical to see with low expectations.
One last thing, I hate the main characters (the young guy and girl),
bad acting.  

Home Invasion Thursday: Trespass

HOME INVASION THURSDAY 

Every third Thursday I'll comment on a home invasion movie
I've never seen before.
When I saw Kidnapped from Spain last year,
I decided to start a home invasion section for my collection.
Might as well do a special on this.

Trespass
This home invasion movie had a similar plot to the 

Spanish home invasion movie, Kidnapped.

But, this one is not even near as good as Kidnapped.
This one is more of a Hollywood take on it.
Man, what's up with Nicholas Cage?

Looks and acts very strange.
His character here was annoying.
Nicole Kidman looks pretty decent but still has an annoying character.

The bad guys are a bunch of idiots. Go figure.

The little twists didn't help the story either.

I just wanted all of them to die.

Too bad this wasn't one of those typical home invasion movies

that have good endings.

New Release Tuesday: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY 

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
My son and I got hyped up a bit for this movie.
I have a thing for circus stuff.
So, I thought this would be interesting.
It was okay. 
Some of the stuff that goes on here was a little bit over
the top.  I guess I stopped caring for these characters.
One movie was enough.
Part one is my favorite.
Part two and three weren't really adding anything special
to me.
There was nice sequences but that's about it.

Lola Versus (2012)

Lola Versus
I got in touch with my feminine side by watching this movie.
Actually, my girlfriend wanted to watch it, so decided
to make it a girlie night for her.
It was okay.
This is the same studio that brought us "500 Days of Summer."
Similar movie to this one.
Of course, girls (especially the single ones) are going
to relate to this more than the guys.
Guys would just think some of the stuff that goes on here
just stupid.  But, that's the real world right there, I guess.
I like that this doesn't have the typical Hollywood romantic
comedy ending.
Another thing I like was that the best friend went and fell
in love with another girl instead of our main girl here.
Awesome.  He didn't deserve her.
Well, that's all I got to say about this movie.
Okay to see with your other half.


 

This movie was served with a chorizo and sweet potato hash
with over easy eggs and Sparkling Wine:

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
I've seen the first one. I was a fan of it.
The sequels never caught my eye.
But, I have a son now (crazy 2 year old).
I'm going to see lots of movies with him.
And since this coming Tuesday I have my son and
it happens to be the same day Madagascar 3 comes out,
I figured, let's watch them all. 
I saw this one this late afternoon with my son, Nates the Shakes.
I enjoyed it.
Damn zoo animals are back again but this time
they're out in the wild.
I didn't like much of the human (the New Yorkers) survivors sub-plot.
Overall, I did like this movie.
The penguins are in it.
The "I like to move it, move it" dancing crew are in it.
They just packed every character in it.
Look!! They're all back and they're all in Africa.
There were some scenes that were Lion King rip-offs.
But, for a kid's movie and for a sequel, not bad.
I'll be seeing Madagascar 3 for this week's New Release Tuesday.

Argo (2012)

Argo
Ben Affleck does it again.
Very badass movie that kept me on my toes and feet.
While the acting was okay for me,
the treat here was the directing and the pacing of the story.
Loved it.
A few intense scenes there towards the end.
Definitely nail biting scenes.
I also love that there's a bit of humor on here to levels out the drama.
John Goodman. That's all I have to say.
Very good political thriller.
All it needed to make this even better was to
show parts of the science fiction movie they
were supposed to be making.
But, this is not a perfect world and it is based on actual stuff.
Kudos to this movie.
Must see this year.
Possible Top 10 contender for me.

High School

High School
As a stoner comedy, this was okay to see once.
There were a few scenes that made it okay.
The rest was not that funny or interesting.
This movie should of been called, "What?"
instead.  If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.
The cool moments happen at school but not
with the main characters but the scenes that have
Tom Hanks's son in (that one guy from Orange County).
This was just a typical stupid comedy with an Emo kid as
the main character.
I have a stoner section.  I know which stoner comedies I like
and which I don't.
After this movie, I screened "Super High Me"
to make the night worthwhile.

This movie was served with the following munchies:

South American Cinema Night: Goodbye Momo

SOUTH AMERICAN CINEMA NIGHT 

Every 2nd Wednesday of every month
I'll be checking out a movie from any country in South America.
My goal is to see one movie from each country.
This excludes any films I see at film festivals.

Tonight's movie is from Uruguay:

Goodbye Momo
Clever cute moments makes this movie pretty good.
I like the first half of the movie.
Just watching that first half, I should of had me a bottle
of coke and some cake (which is what this kid eats in
like three scenes).
The second half gets a little artsy for me.
Nothing wrong with being artsy.
Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't.
There's a lot of things here that I guess you have to
know a lot of about Uruguayan culture to understand,
especially the ending.
I like the clowns stuff in the beginning.
It get a little tiring later.
The weird writer tutor guy was pretty good.
That was probably my favorite moments in the film:
the parts where our main kid is learning to read and write.
Not a bad movie.

New Release Tuesday: Prometheus (2012)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY

Prometheus
Great Sci-fi/Alien movie.

Felt good, like I was there with this crew from beginning

to end.

Even a non-human Michael Fassbender made it cool.

Love the little alien suckers.

They're hardcore.

One of my favorite scenes is when our main girl

did surgery on herself in order to remove something creepy.

Loved the last part of the movie where

everything goes to hell.

I liked how they did the movie:

A slow build up in the first half and a crazy second half.

Good for the Sci-fi section.

A Separation

A Separation
I was a bit disappointed with this Iranian drama.
It won the Oscar for Best Foreign film this year,
so, it had to have been really good.
The title is misleading.
Only the beginning and the ending of the story
deals with the separation of this couple.
The rest of the movie is about a lady who miscarries
and accusing the main guy for it.
There were some okay moments.
I just felt like it wasn't powerful enough.
Now, the ending was powerful.
It's a tough choice for an 11 year old girl to make
(choosing between the two parents).
Why it won the Oscar, might be political.
I liked "In Darkness" and "Bullhead" more than this
(those two were also nominated).

Looper (2012)

Looper
Awesome time travel flick.
Been waiting to see this one since they first announced it.
Didn't know what to expect.
I like the story a lot. Crazy stuff.
Joseph Gordon Levitt does pretty good and they
made him look a little like a young Bruce Willis.
A few cool action scenes and an awesome mutant
twisted scene towards the end.
It didn't feel much like a Rian Johnson film
but was a good solid story.
It met my expectation (it didn't exceed it).
Maybe some of the sub-story elements took
something away for me.
Maybe, because the time travel stuff wasn't all in your face.
But, it was still enough to consider this a time travel movie.
There were a lot of good moments.
Liked it a lot.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

BATTLE FILM ROYALE 2012

Time to add my comments to the last screening of this marathon.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
This has to be the stupidest movie I've ever seen.
Well, with a title like that, one can't expect pure greatness.
I thought it was going to be cheesy, fun, and awesome.
I just didn't connect with it.
Maybe I should of smoked something before.
I've always seen pieces of this but never had
the chance to see it until tonight.
Disappointed.
If they were to add more musical scenes
to this, maybe would of been cool.
I know there's a cult following to this,
but, I'm afraid I won't be part of it.
I mean, I like movies such as Troll 2,
Killer Klowns From Outer Space, and Munchies.
So, I'm not discriminating against bad cheesy movies.
The absurdity of this film just wasn't for me.
The beginning stuff was cool (little tomatoes killing
people just like that).

There you have it, the marathon is over.
Can't wait for the next Battle Film Royale.
I know it's going to be more organized and awesome.

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror

BATTLE FILM ROYALE 2012 

The fifth screening of this marathon was a cheesy
grindhouse zombie movie:

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror
This movie was very fun to watch.
I think this is the movie we made a lot of fun at.
The whole group was saying non-stop jokes about this.
I liked the experience.
Not sure if I would of loved the movie as much if I saw it on my own.
This is one of those Italian grindhouse horrors.
But, of course, we saw a dubbed version.
I want to mention that this has one of the most creepiest characters
ever (and he's not even a zombie).
I'm talking about Michael (a kid character played by an adult).
Without him, this movie would of sucked.
This kid wants to have sex with his mother and
he makes it very clear. Wink, wink.
This movie has the smartest zombies ever to be seen
in any other zombie movies.
Of course, they're very slow as hell.
Only stupid people would be killed by these very slow
zombies, which is all the characters in the movie.
This is one of those "it's so bad, it's good" kind of movie.
Loved it.
I'm adding this stupid cheesefest to my zombie section. 

Another Earth

BATTLE FILM ROYALE 2012 

This is Day 2 for this event and now for
my comments on the fourth screening of this festival:

Another Earth
I liked this Sci-fi/Drama.
Didn't love it but I was into the story and
it was decent.
Some of it reminded me of the movie, Melancholia,
except this one I like the main character more.
This movie focuses more on the drama but
the sci-fi element comes into play from time to time.
It starts out crazy with a tragedy and then turns
into a character driven movie.
Good solid movie.

Midnight Madness

BATTLE FILM ROYALE 2012 

After The Beastmaster, I screened
Juan of the Dead as the second screening of this
marathon.  It was a hit.  Since, I've seen Juan of the Dead already,
not going to blog it again.  Let's move on to the third screening:

Midnight Madness
Right at midnight, this third movie started.
It was a very good surprise for me.
This is an 80's movie I've never ever heard of.
It has that one guy from American Warewolf in London
as a main character.
This is also the movie debut of Michael J. Fox.
This was an all cheese fest.
I loved every minute of it.
Reminded me of my own grindhouse nights.
It had lots of different moments that
are so memorable.
The Pabst Blue Ribbon factory tour, the miniature golf scenes,
the Bonaventure hotel scenes, are among the favorite stuff here.
Lots of characters.
We were all laughing with the movie and sometimes at the movie.
I can't wait to own this for my 80's section.
Best scavenger hunt movie ever (not sure if I've ever seen
other scavenger hunt movies, but, you get my point). 

The Beastmaster

BATTLE FILM ROYALE 2012 

This year, a group of friends and I, decided to throw our
very first annual movie marathon.
It was five of us in the group and each of us were to
pick two movies that we can screen for others.
The movies can be any movies of any genre.
Very random.
It was an awesome all nighter experience.
We were able to pull off a total of 6 movies this year.
Five of those, I've never seen.  So here's my comments on
the first one:

The Beastmaster
I always hear about this movie but never made time
to watch it.  It's one of those classic adventures from the 80's that,
unless you saw it as a kid, the magic isn't the same as an adult.
This was the first screening of the night.
It was pretty cheesy and cool creature effects.
Since I didn't grow up with this, I didn't like it as much
as most people who did.
It was a pretty basic storyline:
Guy who talks to animals and saves a kingdom.
Cool cheesy music.
I enjoyed it as a nice surprise but not enough to be called
a fan. 
Some creatures did look a little scary.

Chico & Rita

Chico and Rita
Nice and cute love animated story
from Spain, Cuba, and the U.K.
This was nominated for Best Animated Movie
at this year's Oscars.
I like the style of this animation.
And the music is also cool.
It's basically has one of those sappy Casablanca story lines.
We humans make mistakes and sometimes
our mistakes become regrets later in life.
This is a story about eternal love and fame.
Nothing special just two love birds who go through
different emotions and heartbreaks.
This almost could of been a nice musical too.

This movie was served with "Molletes."
I know it's not a cuban thing but I felt like making them.
At least it's latin inspired.

Klown

Klown
Man, this had me going for a while.
Very awesome raunchy comedy from Denmark.
A hit at last year's Fantastic Fest.
This is a mix of The Hangover and Sideways.
With that said, the final moment of the movie
disappointed me.  They could of done things a little
different to still have what they wanted.
Besides that final moment of the movie, everything else
was hilarious.
This is definitely a drinking movie.
And now all I want to do is to plan a trip to go canoeing in Denmark.
The raunchiest parts of this movie is not the action but in
most of the dialogue.
I mean, there's scenes of old people talking about pearl necklaces.
Can't believe he did that to his own mother in law. Wink, wink!!
Crazy canoe movie here.
There's an American remake that is in the works with Danny McBride
and Todd Phillips involved.
We'll see how that goes.