For Greater Glory (2012)

For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada
I don't know much about Mexican history.
I'm not really into these kinds of movies.
But, my brother Erik insisted that I watch this one a few months back.
Not bad.
A little too dramatic than it should be.
One complaint is that it was too long for
something that could of been explained shorter.
For example, my favorite scenes is the scene
where they want to kill the brave young boy.
It took two long scenes for them to show that when
they could of just shown that in one dramatic scene.
As far as the whole story, I'm not really into religious stories
and that much with war, so I wasn't into it.
But, I did enjoy the cinematography on this.
 

New Release Tuesday: Lawless (2012)

Lawless
Overall, this was pretty decent flick.
There's only a couple of scenes that pissed me
off. But, those scenes needed to happen
so we can have ourselves a longer movie.
I just wanted more towards the end.
But that's okay.
Shia LaBeouf was okay playing a weak person
trying to be brave and hard.
Would of wanted some more Gary Oldman but
he was only in the movie for two scenes.
Gotta tell you, I've never seen
Guy Pearce play such a ruthless villain before.
He did excellent.
Music was pretty cool for this country setting.
Good movie to check out.
If I ever see this again,
I'll make sure to have me a six pack of Independence Bootlegger.

Savages (2012)

Savages
What a big disappointment this movie was.
I knew this had mixed reviews, but you know me,
I don't give a damn what "critics" have to say,
I'll still see a movie just for the hell of it.
This one happens to be directed by one of my favorite directors.
But, this is two strikes in a row for Oliver Stone.
I personally was let down.
This has to be one of my least favorite movies from this year.
I feel like I need to take Oliver Stone off my director shelf
so I can avoid buying this movie.
It starts okay and the premise was good
but come on, this is bullcrap.
First of all, I hate the narration by the main actress.
And speaking of her, she sucks too.
Second, one of my actors (Benicio Del Toro), didn't have
a good written character.
Could of been so much more.
As for the story itself, this Mexican cartel
has to be one of the most sweetest cartels ever to exist.
Yeah, they torture people and decapitate heads, but when
it comes to our main characters, they only get a few scratches.
Bullcrap, once again.
I thought this would be more gangster.
Instead this is more of love triangle with a stupid
girl and two guys who I don't know why they are so
hung up with this girl.
But she got lucky, because, the cartel that kidnapped her,
treated her with class.
Stay away from this movie.

This movie was served with Tecate and Texas Carne Asada Plate:

Kung Fu Friday: The Man With The Iron Fists (2012)

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.

Went to the theatre for tonight's movie:

The Man With The Iron Fists
Not bad! Not bad at all.

As a matter of fact, I thought almost the

whole thing was a lot of fun.

Good kung fu references.

The ending was weak and RZA being 

the main actor was a bad choice but

other than that, this is a great tribute to kung fu films.

All the other characters were pretty awesome too.

This movie is made for fans of kung fu.

A lot of people who went to see it, saw it because of RZA.

That audience probably didn't get some of the style of this movie.

It worked for me.

Just like other kung fu films,

it starts out not knowing what the hell is going on.

Lots of characters.

Then little by little, you start catching up.

Russell Crowe's character, Jack, was pretty cool with his bad ass dagger gun.

A few cool fighting scenes, some exaggerated blood, and

cheesy moments, makes this a good kung fu late night movie.
Never to take seriously.

New Release Tuesday: The Expendables 2 (2012)

The Expendables
Cool Action Popcorn movie.
I actually liked this one more than the first one.
It was still cheesy but at least this one had
more variety during action scenes.
The first one had mainly shooting.
This one had more knives and martial arts.
And speaking of martial arts, it sucks that Jet Li's character
left way early in the movie.
What the hell?
Van Damme as a villain was pretty cool.
Would of wanted a surprise cameo by Steven Seagal
(maybe in Part 3).
This one had more better plot than the first one.
Still, this ain't something to make a big deal of.
I wouldn't exactly buy it.
But, good to check just like the first one, as a popcorn movie
night without too much to think.

Lincoln (2012)

Lincoln
This should of been called "The 13th Amendment."
There wasn't enough of Lincoln scenes.
The movie was half Lincoln and half scenes about the 13th Amendment.
Actually, the supporting characters felt more
in charge and carried the story more than our main character.
I do love the performances and of course the
Daniel Day Lewis hype set the bar high that I was a little
disappointed with his performance here.
I'm sure most will praise his performance but
to me, it's all part of the hype.
I enjoyed his performance more in "There Will Be Blood" and
"Gangs of New York."
The movie was long and it felt long.
And I didn't like the way they decided to ended.
If they would of ended with a certain scene they showed before
the actual ending, it would of been more powerful.
Other than these things,
it was a well made movie.
Costumes, set designs, and the supporting cast,
helped make this movie okay.
Of course, I'm going to added to the Spielberg section.
If it weren't for that, I say this is probably just worth to rent only.

Home Invasion Thursday: Straw Dogs

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.

Straw Dogs
I saw the original for the first time last year or so.
I liked it.  Dustin Hoffman ruled in that one.
This remake is almost the same thing except they
changed it to Southern America.
Majority of the movie sucked.
It didn't feel like a home invasion movie.
The last 15 minutes were the best parts of the movie
(the actual home invasion stuff).
The only reason I saw this is because I was curious to see
the differences between this one and the original.
The original one was more psychological and character driven.
This one, is all in your face.
But once it was over, it was over.
The bear trap killing scene was my favorite part.
Check out the original.
This one, not so much.

South American Cinema Night: Un Titan En El Ring

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 Ecuador:

Un Titan En El Ring
For a low budget low quality movie, this had something
good going on in the first 30 minutes.
After that, it went downhill for me.
Started disliking the characters.
It got a little preachy towards the end.
Ooh, the foreign priest is a wrestler!
The town whore is named, Zoila.
And the parental figures here don't do a good job
raising their kids.
It left me with a hopeless feeling for all these characters.
All I know is that Ecuador is a crappy place to live in.
And this movie proves that to me just one more time.

No trailer found for this movie.

New Release Tuesday: Brave (2012)

Brave
I had no idea what this movie was about other than a girl
who doesn't want to be a princess.
I was in for a surprise.
I would of liked this a lot more if they focused more
on the girl doing what she loves more (being a warrior)
rather than her and her bear mom.
But, it was kind of cute.
I liked the three little babies (or little bears).
I like the first half.
The ending was so and so.
For a Pixar movie, I expected a lot more.
So this and Cars 2 are probably my least favorites
from the Pixar catalog.

Watch this movie with my son, Nates the Shakes:

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man
It's kind of hard not to compare the first Spiderman movie

that came out 10 years to this one.

Yeah, I'm not a comic book guy. 

All I know is movies.

This Spiderman movie was pretty cool.

A little dark but not that dark.

Innocent people die here and bad guys survive.

What's up with this big lizard?
I didn't like the villain and I'm a villain guy.

While on a personal level, I enjoyed Sam Raimi's Spiderman more,

this one had its cool moments, like Spiderman 

chasing after possible suspects.

He also had more of an attitude here.

But, still, in my opinion, this came out too soon.

So, it didn't feel new or refreshing.

Good popcorn movie to see but nothing special.

Damsels In Distress

Damsels In Distress
Before you make fun of me for watching what appears to
be a girly movie, I gotta say, this movie wasn't bad.
It was mainly my girlfriend's choice.
Yeah, it's a bit girlie, but not as much as I expected.
It was actually quirky and fun.
I like some of the tap dancing sequences.
This is like the movie, "Clueless," but this time in college.
I liked the main actress performance here more than her
performance in "Lola Versus."
It's a movie about suicide and donuts.  Well, not really, but close.
I like the weird dialogue and interactions between the characters.
And the music is also cool.
Nice indie quirky comedy.












Good to watch on a date with donuts:

Beyond The Black Rainbow

Beyond The Black Rainbow
This weird Sci-Fi movie was a bit of a downer for me.
It played at Fantastic Fest last year.
What interested me to this movie was the 80's Sci-Fi feeling.
This is a like a mix of Kubrick and Cronenberg.
It's one of those movies that is hard to understand what
is going on. 
Sometimes, I love those movies.
"Mr. Nobody" has to be one of those that I love
and can't get out of my head. 
But I didn't feel this one.
Still, good 80's vibe here.
It got a little crazy in the last 15 minutes.
But that's it.
Not worth your time.

New Release Tuesday: [Rec] 3: Genesis (2012)

[Rec] 3: Genesis
I'm a fan of the first film of this series.
The second one, shifted things around for me.
They made the zombies possessed by evil.
This one continues with that possession.
This time it all takes place during a wedding night.
The intro was "found footage" style.
Then after the credits, everything else was a normal movie.
I'm not a fan of possessed zombies.
I like more of the infected zombies.
Virus related or anything scientifically.
Apart that I didn't like the concept behind these zombies,
this movie was pretty good.
Good gore in some parts.
Everything was better than expected except
the stupid ending.
No comment on that stupid ending.
Okay, one comment.
Zombies don't feel the feeling of love
(at least not in this series and in most zombie movies).
But, the ending made me upset when they showed two
zombies holding hands.
Oh, that was the bride and groom.
They were the last to survive.
Go figure.
So, I spoiled the ending.
Don't waste your time on this unless you're a fan of the series.

80's Monday: Adventures in Babysitting

Every first Monday of every month is 80's Monday.
There's a lot of movies that came out in the 80's
that were so popular that I haven't seen.
I'm an 80's kid, so this segment will give me a
chance to catch up on some of those popular
typical movies from this period.

Adventures in Babysitting
I never heard of this movie growing up in the 80's.
It wasn't until last year that I first heard of its existence.
Apparently, lots of people seen it.
Hell, it's got Elizabeth Shue in it.
It was cheesy to the max.
A little fun.
Earlier this year I saw "The Sitter" with Jonah Hill.
That movie got its main plot from this 80's movie.
Except, this babysitter here is a lot smarter than the retarded sitter
in the new movie.
Some okay scenes.
I think this is the first time I've seen gangsters
after a Playboy magazine.
Of course, they had lots of valuable information inside that magazine.
Cool to see Private Pyle as Troy.
Okay movie movie.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Safety Not Guaranteed
This was a sweet time travel movie.
Very sweet!
Good characters.
Good plot.
I had some minor issues with the government official guys
but other than that, I liked this movie a lot.
Good little surprise.
Did it work?
Is it really time travel?
Is it just plain schizophrenic?
Dude, there's only one way to find out.
See it.
This is mostly an indie drama but the plot revolves
time traveling.
Some good comedy is also on here.
Wow! I think this is my fourth time travel movie to see this year.
My favorite so far is "Young Gun in the Time."
This one is tied with "Looper" for me.

The Campaign (2012)

The Campaign
Since I voted today for this election year, I decided to
watch this comedy tonight.
It was okay.
A few laugh out moments.
My favorite scene is the dining room scene
where the Huggins family reveal their secrets to each other.
I enjoyed the first half of the movie.
The second half was going downhill for me.
Of course, this had that feel good typical Hollywood conclusion.
But, for some giggles, this was pretty decent.