FAVORITES OF 2011 - RED STATE

Kevin Smith is a filmmaker that's his vocation, but first and foremost he is a passionate movie goer. That is well established in his very first film CLERKS where you have it's two main characters talk about movies and make Star Wars references all day at work.

Comedies have been Kevin's bread and butter for 17 years and now he has something very different to say and share. After hearing about the infamous Westboro cult leader Fred Phelps during a conversation with a friend, Kevin thought to himself that this wacko would make an excellent horror movie villain. RED STATE was born from this idea.

RED STATE takes place somewhere in middle America and centers on a group of high school friends who are wanting to get laid. They respond to a “personal connection” on Craigslist but this invitation of sex has far more sinister plans when the boys are kidnapped by some “fundamentalist” cult followers. This is when the films true star emerges with an eerie but amazing performance by actor Micheal Parks playing Abin Cooper the leader of the Five Points Church. Abin and his followers are a little too Old Testament and down right crazy. Cooper and his followers believe that they are doing God's will (they most definitely are not) by killing off any and all immoral old testament law breaking individuals.

This is really the only true horror element in RED STATE while the rest of the film seems more like a genre mash-up. You've got a little horror, action/thriller, and some satire mixed together. A lot of viewers have mistaken this as Smith unable to find a tone for his film and therefore making it a complete mess. I disagree with this because in my opinion he pulls it off decently. While the shift from horror to a hostage/siege film is sudden and a bit jarring it fits with what is going on with the characters and does not seem one bit strange or distracting. In fact when the film all of a sudden becomes a siege film this transition is some of the best if not the best directing Kevin Smith has ever done.

I'd like to talk about Micheal Parks for a moment who most of you only know (including myself) as the very memorable Sheriff Earl McGraw from KILL BILL, FROM DUSK TIL DAWN, and GRINDHOUSE. He is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite actors and I find it awesome that Kevin Smith had him in mind while writing the character of Abin Cooper. I am not familiar with Mr. Park's work outside of Sheriff Earl McGraw and Abin Cooper but it does have my interest. Alas another actor that I'm sure Hollywood considers a dinosaur, what a shame.

Giving one of the best performances of 2011 Micheal Parks gives a performance of a lifetime and completely immerses himself in the role of Abin Cooper who gives the devil himself a run for his money. Forget what is nominated or has already won this award season and just watch RED STATE for this reason alone! It is because of this reason that RED STATE was and still is one of my favorites of 2011!

HAYWIRE

HAYWIRE the latest film from Steven Soderbergh is one of his artsy experimental films that essentially is a martial arts exploitation film. Like his other film THE LIMEY Soderbergh gives HAYWIRE the non linear style of storytelling with a flair of late 60's and early 70's style and music.

Steven Soderbergh has said that HAYWIRE is like an exploitation film staring Pam Grier directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Sure I guess? I'll agree with the Pam Grier comment because the star of HAYWIRE Gina Carano retired MMA fighter is indeed bad ass! She's the only redeeming quality of the film and I hope to see her in more action exploitation fare like say THE EXPENDABLES 3, UNDISPUTIED 4, or going toe to toe with say Beatrix Kiddo in KILL BILL 3! I can only wish!

The plot of HAYWIRE is not it's strong suit and that's fine because the film is really Gina Carano's show. HAYWIRE is about Mallory Kane (Carano) a private contractor hired by the government to do a job only to be double crossed so some loose ends can get tied up. So as you can imagine that Mallory is the last person you would want to double cross. What happens next is some of the best fight scenes in American movies in a long time. Soderbergh really knows where to put the camera and just let Gina Carano do her thing. No BORNE SUPREMACY shaky cam action here thank goodness. Soderbergh really understands what it takes for a fight scene to have impact and be memorable. My favorite scene has to be the fight between Mallory and a British agent (Fassbender) in a hotel room. They demolish the room and themselves!

It's interesting that Soderbergh can bring a cast together that consists of Micheal Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender, and Bill Paxton only so that all of them end up playing second fiddle to Gina Carano. It's almost like a trick or experiment on the audience or something? I found it kinda cool actually and just went with it because I knew early on that it's not about them but her.

I really enjoyed HAYWIRE and glad Steven Soderbergh has brought Gina Carano to Hollywood's attention. Now that she has been established maybe we can see her in the next Issac Florentine picture?
Maybe NINJA 2 with her and Scott Adkins, that'd be cool!

FAVORITES OF 2011 - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Last year I had no intention to see MIDNIGHT IN PARIS but I kept hearing such good things about it. A friend of mine who's opinion I take very seriously sent me a text one night saying MIDNIGHT IN PARIS was one of the best films he has seen in a long time, not just of 2011 but just in a long time period. Needless to say after my friends raving recommendation I had to check it out but not right away because films like HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, ATTACK THE BLOCK, and RED STATE had top priority.

So the time finally came for me to watch MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and my friend was right it was indeed one of the best films of 2011. I really like this film! I thought to myself “okay it's my favorite romantic comedy of the year” but the week I saw the movie I couldn't stop talking about it so evidently it's a lot more than just my favorite romantic comedy of the year. I'm not going to pick a “best of” for 2011 but I do have a lot of favorite's and I'll just leave it at that.

What really draws me to MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is how much of a delightful fantasy it becomes. The location of Pairs is just so beautiful during the day, the night, and even in the rain. Next is how great all the characters are, you love the one's you're meant to love and hate the one's you're supposed to hate. Woody Allen loves and cares for his characters because they are so well written. I really connect with Gil (Owen Wilson) and his sincerity, enthusiasm, and hero worship of nostalgia. His girlfriend Inez (played wonderfully by Rachel McAdams) made me think to myself that for a long time now I've been chasing after the wrong kind of girls because the character of Inez reminded me of a few I know. Scary. Thank you Woody, thank you very much!

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS opens with a couple in love on vacation in Paris. Gil who is a successful screenwriter is tired of writing uninspired Hollywood droll and wants to write his great American novel in Paris. Inez wants the rich upper-class American suburb style of life because that seems all she knows. One night Gil goes walking the evening streets of Pairs to get inspired, being a little drunk and lost he takes a breather on some church steps only to find himself being picked up by some happy strangers and brought to a party you have to see to believe. From this point a element of fantasy is introduced that is down right brilliant. Telling you more would just ruin the experience for you and I hate doing that.

So this MIDNIGHT IN PARIS review officially kicks of my return to reviewing movies. If you're a returning reader welcome back! If you're now just reading me for the first time thanks for taking the time to read, I'm a little rusty and hope to change that. I've got a lot I want to write so please stay tuned and thanks again!

BMX BANDITS (1983)

Awe, childhood memories are the best. Growing up in the 80's one of the coolest things was cable television and HBO. If you had HBO in the greatest decade for movies it was the best film school money could buy! I might start a ongoing series about “hidden treasures” that I discovered on Home Box Office! Truthfully I don't think I'll be able to remember them all? But let's talk about one of my favorite understated movies from the 80's called BMX BANDITS.

BMX BANDITS is a kid's movie from Crocodile Dundee's homeland. This had to have been my first foreign film experience, when you're a kid it's easy to think all movies are made in Hollywood. The movie was released in 1983 to mediocre response in Australia and became a hard sell to USA distributors despite the popularity of BMX bikes in America. The cult classic success of BMX BANDITS didn't happen until around 1985 – 1987 thanks to cable channels The USA Network, The Disney Channel, Showtime, and of course HBO.

I remember waiting on Saturday mornings well after cartoons were over switching to channel 7 (HBO) determined BMX BANDITS was playing. This was the only way to see it because at the time my local video store didn't carry the film. This made the experience much more special plus the fact that not a lot of people knew of the film. On the playground BMX BANDITS would be brought up and sometimes sleepovers would be planned around watching the movie thanks to wonderful VHS recording.

The most popular thing about BMX BANDITS is that it has been logged in history as Nicole Kidman's first movie. Thankfully the film delivers more than that, I'm proud to say it's really really good and holds up well. The story is about a couple BMX'ers and their friend stumble upon a stash of bank robbers police transmitters/walkie talkies and sell them off to buy new bikes. The two crooks responsible for loosing the walkie talkies soon track the teenagers down and the rest of the film is a chase after chase throughout Sydney, Australia.

The acting is very good. The kids are very natural and believable which is rare in child and teen actors. The criminals are the comedic relief of the film and bring a nice Abbott and Costello touch to the characters. What keeps the movie timeless in my opinion is the direction and the stunning camera work. The rigs on the bikes and cars keeps you in the action and it's awesome.

I was so excited to find out that BMX BANDITS was going to be released on Blu-Ray! The disc is gorgeous by the way, the use of colors and the breathtaking scenery are a sight to behold!

Give it a watch if you can, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT

The biggest question that going through my mind was why TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT needed to be an 80's movie? During my head scratching; however, I was glad the movie wasn't self aware of being an 80's movie like THE WEDDING SINGER (which I like). Sadly TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT no more represented the 80's than televisions THAT 70's SHOW did the 70's! I mention this not as a nitpick but just as noticing the frivolous use of dates and timelines. The plot points and pop culture references made in TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT would set it somewhere between 1988 and 1989 and I am going to say the movie is set in '89. Where I'm going with this is that maybe a little detail might of made the film a little more nostalgic? Sometimes fashion, movie posters, and music don't cut it.

Here's the skinny. College grad and video store clerk Matt still hasn't figured out what he wants to do with his life. His biggest hang up is that he never told his high school crush Tori that he loved her. One day destiny gives him one last shot when Tori shops at the video store and the two get reacquainted. Matt now can finally ask Tori what he's wanted to say since high school at a party they are both going to later that night!

I love this type of genre! Some of my favorite movies are FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, SIXTEEN CANDLES, SAY ANYTHING, DAZED AND CONFUSED, and SUPERBAD. It's just that TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT wasn't very good. Uninteresting (but funny) characters, plot point dialogue, and weak 80's nostalgia. I'm also a fan of the “dream girl” plot device but this movie made me realize how silly a plot device it is. This genre can still work, just take a look at last years SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE, which if you have not seen I highly highly recommend!

I honestly can't recommend movie theater price for TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT, wait for Redbox or even Netflix Instant Watch. If it's 80's nostalgia you're looking for then seek out HOT TUB TIME MACHINE and ADVENTURELAND.

Catch A Flick Spooktacular - GALAXY OF TERROR

In honor of the ALIEN Quadrilogy coming out on Blu-Ray tomorrow I thought I would share some thoughts on GALAXY OF TERROR a so called rip-off of the ALIEN. The "King" of cult B-movie cinema Roger Corman wanted his studio to capitalize on the success of 1979's ALIEN. To give his film an edge he gave marching orders for the story to have deep psychological implications.

On a desolate, storm-lashed planet, the last survivor of a crashed spaceship is attacked and killed by an unseen force. Without delay, the spaceship Quest blasts off to the planet to search for survivors. As the Quest approaches the planet’s atmosphere, it suddenly veers out of control and plunges toward the surface, crash-landing there. After recovering from the landing the crew make way across the landscape of the planet, they eventually reach the other vessel. Entering, they find evidence of a massacre that took place. The rescue team split into two and explore the craft.
After some exploration, they discover a massive pyramid-shaped structure, The exploration of the pyramid lead to a series of deadly encounters with monsters and other strange things that kill the crew members in exceedingly violent ways.

For being a low budget this 1981 science fiction horror film looks really good! A lot of that may be because future the "king of the world" himself James(Avatar)Cameron worked as the Production Designer and Second Unit Director on GALAXY OF TERROR.

I've seen GALAXY OF TERROR twice now and while the story and plot is somewhat weak and convoluted, I just love watching the special effects!
I can really only recommend this to moviegoers that love cheesy B-movies. GALAXY OF TERROR would work very well as a double feature with something like ALIEN or ALIENS.

Catch A Flick Spooktacular - THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Back in my college days one Halloween weekend I hung out with my Drury University buds. While everyone was deciding on where to go and what to do I flipped between television stations watching HALLOWEEN and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Being quite familiar with HALLOWEEN I mainly kept THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW playing because I had never seen it before. I had always heard about how great of a cult classic it was but never had the nerve to seek it out feeling that the film just really wasn't something I would like.

That night it must have played back to back because I only got to see the first half twice! We left to go do whatever and it was always when Eddie (played by the musician Meatloaf) showed up on his motorcycle. Years since I've seen clips but never had I watched the movie in it's entirety. Being a movie buff I wanted to see it but got turned off by the whole cult craze of it all. I had no interest in the midnight participation screenings at all! So for years I passed the film and it's fandom as "weird".

This year marks an anniversary year for the film (35 years) so they released a Blu-Ray(which looks to be a very impressive release)and it's currently on Netflix Instant Watch! So last night I finally got to witness THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW in it's entirety! The camp value is indeed what makes this probably the most famous cult classic in motion picture history. I liked it and in fact I think it's better than most "cult classic" films. The biggest credit I give the film is it's originality with a lot of old hat horror material. The music is good too and complements the scenes very well.

Newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter a flat tire on a rainy night. They seek help at a castle Brad noticed along the way. What they did not know is that it is the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Futer. The couple are invited to stay for what will become the strangest night ever for the both of them!

With the exception of a dragging(no pun intended) final act I did like the movie for the most part. It surprisingly kept my attention! I can only give THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW a recommendation to people that really want to see what it's all about, that and fans of B-movies I guess.

Catch A Flick Spooktacular - PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

Oh boy! It's good. It's real good! Just got home from a 10pm advance screening and it was one of my best theater experiences of the year. I'm still a little freaked out so that's why I'm writing this immediately to shake off the nerves a little bit.

So, I'm just going to say that these Paranormal Activity movies are going to be the next horror movie craze. (Which is about time, the torture porn genre has overstayed it's welcome). The fist one everybody knows was a smash, this second one should make twice as much and it very well should. It's really good!

I never reviewed the first film so here are a few thoughts about that one first. For what PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is about the film works very well. The movie is meant to be real footage but fails ever so slightly due to that you can tell these people on camera are clearly dramatically acting. It's a little much at times. Don't get me wrong, the film is scary and has some nice spooky moments. I really love the final scare and again it really lets the audience know you just watched a movie.

The ending of the first film really had me interested in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2. I was game when the trailer lets you know the girl from the first one returns and it's not completely the same thing over again but with different people. Now, seeing that this is a horror movie I'm not going to spoil anything for you because what would be the fun in that! I will tell you what we're dealing with story wise.

The sequel focus's on the first films sister and her family, her husband, stepdaughter, and a baby boy. It's all about little baby Hunter. To avoid a convoluted rambling rant I'll put it simply that "paranormal activity" runs in the family. Which is sort of hinted at in the first film anyway. You want more than that? "They" want the baby and that's all I'm saying.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 succeeds because it does what a horror sequel is meant to do and that's up the ante of the original! It's scarier and the story is better too! In the first movie I was freaked out, however; at the same time wondering how they did some of the special effects? The acting also took me out of the moment. With part 2 I was more invested and less concerned about how the filmmakers pulled off some of the things they did? Unfortunately some of the bad acting is still present.
My only real complaint is the ending gets messy. Shaky cam and that last fright is a little too familiar and weak. I'm willing to bet they shot the ending first and built the rest of the movie around that!

Better than the original. Highly Recommended!

JACKASS 3D

Has it really been 10 years! Hard to imagine but it's true. I have always been a fan of the show Jackass. I never got into the spin-off shows as much. When that first Jackass movie came out it was one of the best movie event's of that year! It was one of those moments that shouldn't have happened but did. The opening credit sequence is still one of my favorite bits, It's like oh yeah were taking it up a notch!

When JACKASS: NUMBER TWO came out I didn't see it in theaters, it was around the same time I just didn't care too much to see a sequel and heard they upped the gross out factor so I passed.

When it was announced a third film was being made in 3D I was curious because I knew it'd be good 3D. It's good alright! It's my favorite 3D movie of the year so far (I'm sure TRON LEGACY will trump it). JACKASS 3D is what a 3D movie is supposed to be! The 3D really puts you into the action! With the addition of slow motion you see every hit and cringe like you never had before. You really feel like part of the stunts. JACKASS 3D will make you cringe more and also gag more too. This movie is so gross out at times it make John Waters probably blush! The whole audience gagged in harmony during the Port a Potty Bungee Jump stunt.

I really could have done without all the poop. This movie has a lot of it. JACKASS 3D has so much poo that I'm not even afraid to watch THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE any more, and that movie doesn't even have poo in it shockingly enough! Seriously if any of you can tolerate JACKASS 3D then I'm going to take a wild guess THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE will be a walk in the park.

Why do I like this movie so much? I don't know, it might have to do with the sentimental aspect of it all. These guys have been doing this for 10 years (on television at least) and it shows. They are older now so they complain more about the pain but we don't scoff at it we care because we understand that what they do is stupid to begin with. I'm not implying these guys have gone soft, quite the contrary because they do some of the most craziest stunts ever. It's just fun to see them be not as brave as they used to be. With that being said I really feel this is the last one, they give the movie a real nice ending. Some may return I have a feeling, you know they just love this too much! Highly Recommended (except for all the poo)!

Catch A Flick Spooktacular : A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

As much as I want to compare this remake to the original I don't want to be "that" guy. This face lift to the classic original modern horror classic is not all that bad. Platinum Dunes last remake effort FRIDAY THE 13TH really missed the mark on what made the original film(s) iconic in the modern horror genre! Most of the Platinum Dunes remakes don't work at all, most of them.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET very well may be the best of the remakes. Everything is working here to make a good scary movie. The atmosphere feels like an Elm Street film. The dreams look great and set the mood. The teen characters are halfway decent unlike the kids in the FRIDAY THE 13TH remake who are all bad stereotypes. And the final thing that makes this new Elm Street work is the best thing, Jackie Earl Haley as Freddy! By his second or third scene I wasn't concerned I was convinced!

Where this movie faults is the screenplay and lack of character development. The film does have an interesting story but everything is rushed. It's like the filmmakers and producers decided that Freddy Krueger is so iconic that everyone knows who he is. Yes, everyone meaning real people not characters in your story. These kids suffering from nightmares are too quick to understand and realize just who and what Freddy is! This is a little extreme but it's like these kids know about Freddy from seeing the other movies! Maybe it's not as bad as I'm thinking and I'm just showing my age because I'm sure kid audiences of today(twenty-somethings that think THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is the most boring one) are fine with that. Heads up, spoiler alert! Now this film really could have been great and be a little different from the rest of the series like a real re-imagining, by making Freddy innocent of his crimes and was getting revenge because he really was not a pedophile. I really thought the story was going in this direction in the end but nope it did not. While I like this remake the powers that be had to ruin the end for me and everyone else by recreating the lame ass ending to the original by killing the mom at the very end. Come on guys! Nancy gave Freddy a pretty glorious death, no need to go screwing that up now!

Despite the negatives just mentioned I really do recommend a watch if your a fan of the series or horror in general. The atmosphere is great for a elm street picture, and the dreams look really cool. I also really liked the whole "micro-nap" addition to the series. Everyone is tired in this film so Freddy can jump out at anytime, it's sort of cool! The scene at the durgstore is my favorite!

Catch A Flick Spooktacular : HATCHET

In honor of HATCHET 2 out now in theaters just not any in Springfield, I thought it would be fitting to review the first film. I'm not a very big fan of HATCHET but I see strong promise in Director Adam Green. After viewing his second feature FROZEN which is a nicely executed 90 min. film about 3 people stuck in a ski lift. The premise does sound silly and potentially dumb, the first thing that comes to my mind is that how is something like this going to be scary and keep my interest? I'm not reviewing FROZEN now but what I'm saying is that Green wrote an interesting script and cast actors that make the story seem real. That takes talent and with that I'm thinking we will see Adam Green's break out horror hit someday soon!

In the mid to late 90's we saw a return of the slasher film, the good one's were short lived and the rest of them were just watered down PG-13 wastes of time. It wasn't until early 2000 that moviegoers saw a return of the gruesome horror movie style we movie buffs loved from the 70's and 80's. While bloody good fun was back in horror it was missing something or someone? The SAW film's gave us Jigsaw and with HATCHET Adam Green gave us Victor Crowley!

Growing up Green was a huge fan of horror and a even bigger fan of the FRIDAY THE 13th films. Someone like Jason Voorhees has been missing from horror and thus Victor Crowley was born.

When a group of tourists embark on a tour of the haunted Louisiana bayous they learn of the terrifying tale of Victor Crowley. When they get lost and the boat crashes the tourists quickly learn Victor Crowley is real and anybody who enters his swamp is uninvited.

The origin of Victor is a nice campfire romp that I won't spoil for you here. If your a fan of the slasher flick especially the Jason one's then I recommend the movie to you! If when you watched these films and always rooted for the killer then I highly recommend HATCHET! If you were like me and always rooted for how the killer was going to get killed, then you might just think this movie is just okay? I think it's just slightly better than good. You see HATCHET glorifies the kills and the killer, which doesn't really do anything for me. As my friend always says and I agree that "you always kill the monster in the end". Horror movies today have it backwards, you don't have your monster come back at the end of the film ( if you do that then what's the point) you have them come back at the beginning of the sequel. In the 80's they always killed Jason and they always killed Freddy! We don't want to pay our hard earned money for evil to always triumph in the end!

In closing I have a strong nostalgic place in my heart for HATCHET but nostalgic is just about as far as it goes. I am ready however for Adam Green to stretch out his artistic wings and give the horror genre something fans can really sink our teeth into, I know he can I just hope he does too? Recommended only for the die hard fans!

Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps

In the mid to late eighties I was a Micheal Douglas fan thanks to ROMANCING THE STONE, I also thought Charlie Sheen was cool seeing that he was in RED DAWN, LUCAS, THREE FOR THE ROAD, and his cameo in FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF. At the age of only 10 I didn't understand what was going on financially in the movie WALL STREET, I only knew that I really liked it. It was the character of Gordon Gekko that kept me always wanting to sit and watch the movie when I saw it playing on HBO. 20 plus years later the film plays a little dull but Micheal's performance still rocks.

It didn't really feel all that necessary to me for WALL STREET to have a sequel but I was very curious if Mr. Gekko learned anything in prison? I was ready for him to be the sage telling Shia LeBeouf's character the woes of being greedy and that greed is in fact not good. You do get that feeling in the beginning but then you start remembering that this is Gordon Gekko we're talking about here.

LeBeouf plays a young Wall Street trader (well on his way unlike Billy Fox from the first film) who is dating Gordon's daughter and tries to reunite the estranged father daughter relationship and at the same time getting advice on surviving the latest financial fallout and getting revenge for the death of the young traders mentor.

Sound exciting? Well it's not! This movie sucks except when Douglas is on screen but even he can't save this turd by the time the end credits roll. What you accidentally have is good actors with a boring and sometimes bad script. This story lacked the emotional weight for the audience to care what was happening on screen! Seriously! You could hear crickets in the over half full theater! What was Oliver Stone thinking! Wait, I know. He wanted to remind everybody how the Banks getting government bail outs sucked. Gee thanks Oliver for reminding us you prick!

Even though I knew this film was sinking fast I thought to myself that the pay off for LeBeouf's character getting revenge might be exciting! Nope. It's all very matter – of - fact played out. Even Gordon Gekko's emotional final scene is dull.

In closing this film is about as exciting as reading the Wall Street Journal, so maybe Mr. Stone knew what he was doing all along?

Not recommended at all.

Catch A Flick Spooktacular: GHOSTBUSTERS

As much as I like horror movies the comedy genre played a big part in my childhood. Come to think of it I have always figured the comedy STRIPES was the first movie I was ever subjected to! STRIPES, THE BLUES BROTHERS, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, and CADDYSHACK were common viewings at my house growing up. By the time I was 7 and GHOSTBUSTERS was playing at now historic Tower Theater, I could not wait to see it!

GHOSTBUSTERS is such a classic that I really don't have anything to say that hasn't been said or felt before, but I love it so here we go. The thing I realize during current viewings is just how perfect the movie is. If you ever want to make a movie, watch this one and see how well everything flows together. The four Ghostbusters really anchor the story with interactions between each other and other characters. Winston - the everyday man, Egon - the brains, Ray - the heart, and Peter - the mouth of the Ghostbusters.

Adding to the talent of what makes this film great is the flow of the narrative, every gag, one liner, scare, and supernatural occurrence feels natural. My favorite examples include the gangs first real job with Slimer at the hotel, the classic montage with the movie's theme song, and Peter's first meeting with the prick from the EPA. Really the list could be endless!
Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote a terrific script that they spent years and years perfecting!

And now for the reason I put GHOSTBUSTERS as part of "Spooktacular", the monsters! As every fan knows Slimer warmed the hearts of every kid watching and has sort of been the spokesperson for the franchise. And tell me who wasn't afraid of those demon hounds? I remember it taking me awhile before I watched the refrigerator scene without covering my eyes! The bellowing of Zool was some scary stuff! My favorite monster however was the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. Godzilla made out of marshmallows is pretty awesome!

25 years later it's still a classic and will remain one for ever in my book!

Catch A Flick Spooktacular - RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE

Well RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE saves MACHETE from being the most convolute movie of the year! And all you Paul W.S Anderson haters can't tell me “I told you so” because I like the other Resident Evil movies but this latest installment is a tough one to sit through. It's a good thing however that the 3D is watchable! What's sad is that the film only has about 30 minutes or more that is even worth a damn!

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE has a strong start with Alice finally confronting Albert Wesker by infiltrating the Umbrella Corp. secret underground fortress. In an anticlimactic fight due to flashy CGI our hero is successful but not without the cost of loosing her powers(if you don't follow the series, the Umbrella Corp. made Alice into a weapon). After defeating Wesker, nothing interesting happens for a long time but Alice journeys to Alaska to meet up with the other survivors from the last movie but only finds a shell shocked Claire. The two embark to Los Angeles and find some more lucky ones needing help. While at the compound they find out about a ship off shore that is virus free and offers food and safe haven and decide they all need to get on that ship. Time is short because hundreds and hundreds of zombies are converging onto the compound. It is here that the movie is really any good! Everything else just feels very meh.
The first movie did a great job creating interesting characters, plot, and zombie carnage that was suited more for a movie rather than being based on a video game about running around a mansion looking for keys and solving puzzles while fighting giant snakes and spiders. By the third film things were getting a bit convoluted and messy but all together good zombie fun
.
With RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE maybe the film makers spent too much time on the action scenes looking cool for 3D? Seriously almost every action scene they make look like a 3D money shot! I loved a lot of the action but some of it became old real fast. Another problem could have been the series just becoming to convolute and not knowing where to take the story? I just found myself not caring and wondering why should I care about this person or that person. Oh, Claire Redfield and Chris Redfield are from the video game? That's fine but who the hell are they in this movie!

For me RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE didn't work and is probably the last one I'll see...in the theater at least. Not recommended.

Catch A Flick Spooktacular: FRIDAY THE 13th PART V: A NEW BEGINNING

Before I talk about FRIDAY THE 13th PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING I'll fill you in on a little back story on the series thus far. Despite how awful FRIDAY THE 13th PART 3-D was it did however make a ton of money. It was also during this time that the slasher genre was making a killing at the box office and PTA members along with bored mommies with too much time on their hands were protesting these violent and gory horror movies. So Paramount Pictures caved and decided it was time for Jason to hang up his machete for good but not without having one more romp in the woods. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER came out in 1984 and was an excellent “swan song” for the series. What happened next was obvious, the film made a ton of money. The suits at Paramount were genius, moviegoers are obviously going to come out and see the movie where they kill Jason! And kill them they did! No way he can come back from a machete through the head and being chopped to Kibbles n' Bits! Well he did come back, sort of. FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING tries exactly that by teasing us with the idea of a “new” Jason. It fails and it fails big time.

After spending years in a mental hospital for “killing” Jason in Part IV, Tommy Jarvis is sent to a halfway house for maladjusted teens. After one teen from the house brutally kills another and is sent away, it sparks anew the gruesome killings! But is it Jason, Tommy, or could it even be somebody else? Why would it be someone else? That'd be stupid! Okay so who it turns out to be is not all that stupid but just lazy storytelling. What makes this movie one of the worst in the series is not the fact Jason isn't the one doing the killings it's the fact that all the violence is edited to pieces! It really looked like every death scene with the exception of maybe a few were edited down to nothing. This might have been a decent entry in the series if the kills were not messed with. Seriously, some death scenes were just left funny and or confusing. The best kills in the movie ended up being the ones done off camera. Whenever somebody was about to get killed I was wasn't filled with suspense but rather wondering what was going to be edited this time?

Maybe the movie didn't stand a chance with the MPAA? The rumor is that FRIDAY THE 13th Part V: A NEW BEGINNING at the time was the most brutal one yet! I'd believe it after hearing the “lost scene” involving a victim getting a machete stabbed in her you-know-what! Come on Mr. Director, That's just sick!

Another thing this installment has going against it is everything looks bright and colorful or neon. The cold bleak drabness of the previous films are gone. This was important to me because the look of the films was one of the things that made me feel uneasy watching a Friday the 13th!

But leave it to one of the worst in the series to have one of the coolest but really ridiculous things in it that I love! Toward the end of the movie a Sheriff has some newspaper clippings about the killings at Crystal Lake and about Jason himself. One of the clippings has a picture of Jason, hockey mask and all! I literally began laughing my ass off! Who the heck was brave enough to freaking get that picture! Trust me if your a fan of this particular genre then you understand why that is so funny.


In closing,the film may have worked for a non franchise slasher flick but not here. Instead of a “new beginning” it's more of a “revenge” story instead. It's not until after the “real” killer is revealed that there is any inkling of a new direction for the series. Part VI oddly doesn't follow the new direction (which is a great thing) so it became all for nothing anyway. So I think the story is weak but that's not the reason I hate this film, the reason I dismiss Part V is the editing of the gore. It's down right absurd what all they cut out of this thing! I'm no gore hound but give the fans what they want and don't make your movie look like crap!