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
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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!

The Expendables

Stallone has done it again! With ROCKY BALBOA he reminded us why we love the character Rocky. RAMBO gave us a mission we'll never forget and Stallone sent our favorite vet home. Now with THE EXPENDABLES Stallone reminded us of the glory days of 80's action movies. Back in the day if you were fans of these movies you know you had talks with friends about how cool it'd be to see a movie with Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, and whoever else all together in the mix! The movie we dreamed about wasn't exactly the movie we got, because in reality that would probably not be as cool as we thought. With THE EXPENDABLES what we have is old fashioned cheesy (in a good way) 80's and early 90's action! This my friends is Tango & Cash not Jason Bourne!

I don't think Stallone could gave gathered a better group of guys. The fact that Jason Statham is in this proves Stallone knows what he is doing. Dolph Lundgren back on the big screen is major too! He's already made his comeback but I still get that welcome back feeling when I see Mickey Rourke on screen! And the scene with the “three” at the church, let's just say it's my favorite non action scene of the film. I sure hope Schwarzenegger comes back to Hollywood when he's done with politics? I can see him make a comeback as a Dirty Harry tough guy type or something! I almost forgot Eric Roberts having an awesome time playing the villain. It's just great casting all around.

The story of THE EXPENDABLES is simple: Group of mercenary's for hire that take on missions the devil himself would pass on are offered a job to take out a dictator and slime ball ex C.I.A agent. Barney and his second in command go and get a lay of the land and decide to pass on the mission but not without having a little fun first. This little “escapade” gets the groups cute informant in trouble. Shortly thereafter Barney decides he's going back to save her. That's all you really need to know at this point.

Sadly this movie may fall victim to being labeled as “dumb macho fun” but truth be told deep within the clunky dialogue the film does have deep character development. Just listen and watch (this is a motion picture and these guys can act) when these men are interacting with each other. It's some of the best performance's we've seen from these guys in awhile. Dolph is especially amazing in this! His DTV (direct to video) work these past few years is pretty good for DTV.

The only thing I had a problem with was how some of the action scenes were edited. The car chase scene was just way too jerky and confusing; however, Jet Li was a bad ass in this scene! I loved the movie but scratch my head at some of the editing of action, especially after what Stallone showed us in RAMBO.

Overall THE EXPENDABLES is one of the best movies I've seen this year!

The A-Team

My favorite of the two big summer movies of last week! As I write this I really want to see it again. A-TEAM has all the fun that a action movie should have. I really don't remember a lot of the t.v show so a few weeks ago a friend of mine refreshed my memory the best he could. He told me it was tough guy smarts mixed with Magnificent Seven attitude helping out people and friends in sticky situations every week. Four soldiers get charged for a crime they did not commit and get sent to jail. They break out of prison and go into hiding in L.A and become soldiers of fortune helping the helpless. The crime that they got set up for was never a pilot episode but rather just the shows introduction every week.
This new movie tells us how these guys became the A-Team. The director Joe(Smokin Ace's) Carnahan really knows his A-Team because right from the start he nails the tone of the series pitch perfect if not better. It's like he's telling us "You remember how fun the A-Team was? Well, get a load of this"! To start off the fun Carnahan introduces us to the future team in the deserts of Mexico in a Sergio Leone fashion, which of course I thought was very cool. What happens next is a very very entertaining strong character driven action movie!

Eight years after a fateful (and explosive) mission in Mexico united four unlikely Army Rangers, The "crack commando unit" led by Colonel Hannibal Smith are stationed in Iraq and sent on a mission by the CIA to go into the heart of Bagdad and retrieve a set of stolen money printing plates that are a threat to national security. Hannibal and his team, comprising of suave con-man "Faceman" Peck, burly B. A Baracus and comically insane "Howling Mad" Murdock, succeed in their mission. Returning to base, something goes wrong. The team in the wrong place at the wrong time, are charged with the famous "a crime they did not commit" from the series, dishonorably discharged and sent to separate prisons. Six months later, Hannibal Smith escapes and breaks his teammates out and start their first mission as the A-Team, to clear their name.


It's a blessing to see a real action director turn what most will pass off as tentpole summer action movie fluff into a bad ass action film with awesome characters! Carnahan knows his craft, all the action beats work and only improves on the fun of the original series.
THE A-TEAM just saved the summer movie season of 2010!

The Karate Kid (2010)

I'll try not to sound like a jaded 33 year old movie fan because I'm sure that's what some of you will think? I am not arguing or saying that the remake of THE KARATE KID is bad, I liked it. It's not better than the original by a long shot. The original ( I really hate people are going to have to start saying that now) was not just a product of it's time but rather a classic movie made in the 80's. I wont go on and on but know this, I love THE KARATE KID (1984). It's the first movie that I wanted to see multiple times at the theater, we taped it on VHS from HBO, and I even watched it on HBO even having it taped on VHS. That VHS was the best; it had THE KARATE KID, THE LAST STARFIGHTER, and THE NEVERENDING STORY. Now that's what I call a triple feature!

Where does THE KARATE KID (2010) fall short? The two things that come to my mind are the acting and emotional development of certain characters. It wont happen but I honestly feel that Will and Jada need to stop putting their son Jaden in movies. This movie is the best work so far but I just don't know if he is going to get better? Some of his lines were cringe worthy and a lot felt like one takes to me. Don't get me wrong, he is not the worst child actor I've ever seen and If I'm wrong then cool, just don't expect him to follow in his dad's footsteps any time soon.

While being two different characters Ralph Macchio's Daniel Larusso is far more interesting and fleshed out more than Jaden Smith's Dre Parker.
The same goes for the Mr. Miyagi / Mr. Han characters. Jackie Chan is the perfect choice to play Mr. Han who teaches Dre kung-fu, but that's all it is a great casting choice. Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi was so much more, it's no wonder that Mr. Morita got nominated for an Oscar for the role. When the dynamics of these two characters start to take off it just falls short of the relationship that Daniel and Miyagi had. These two ended up best friends even on a sort of father and son level. In the new movie Mr. Han is just some guy teaching Dre kung-fu.


The film makers had plenty of chances to work on this but instead focused on a sub-plot dealing with a girls violin recital. More time could have been devoted to training for the tournament. In fact, a lot more time could have been devoted to training for the tournament. Nothing ever topped the jacket on, jacket off lesson. The best training moments were few and far between plus highlighted only in montages it seemed.

Okay so what did I like? The kung fu. As much as I like Daniel it's no contest that Dre would kick his butt. The fights and fighting style are better in this new film. The story taking place in China was a nice touch.

In closing it was entertaining and better that I thought it would be not by no means is it a classic nor will it ever be one.

IRON MAN 2

I knew that IRON MAN 2 was going to be good if not great but this movie superseded all my expectations. Plus there was only two AC/DC songs which was a good thing, I was worried every song in the movie was going to be from the bad boys from down under. So many good things to say that I don't know where to begin? First let me say that MARVEL STUDIOS is quickly becoming the studio for comic book movies. I've been very impressed with what they have done so far that I believe THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and THE AVENGERS will be just as good as the Iron Man movies, oh and that new Hulk one as well.

IRON MAN is one of my top five comic book movies and it's sequel is as well. Back in the day when I read comics Iron Man wasn't one of the titles I read. I knew about him and liked the character it's just that I didn't read the series. I am more of a fan of the films.

The first thing that makes these movies great is Robert Downey Jr. (let's stop referring him as RDJ please). I don't know nor care how Tony Stark is like in the comics, I like the character Downey Jr. has created. The second thing is small but I just think that it's super cool and that is the Marvel Universe continuity. Once all the other movies I've mentioned come out it will be all that much cooler. Lastly everything else falls into place nicely; humor, great comic book action, the suits, and of course special effects.

There is a lot to explain but I don't want to ruin anything so my explanation will be brief. It's been six months since the events of the first film and Tony has proclaimed world peace but the U.S government thinks otherwise and wants Mr. Stark to hand over the Iron Man or “weapon” as they like to call it. Tony won't give them the pleasure so to make matters worse Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries helps the government by applying more pressure. To make matters worse a mean Russian bad ass engineer that has a grudge on the Stark family creates a suit using similar technology from Stark Industries and makes some wicked looking electrical whips. I know you may be thinking but these whips are awesome! To make matters worse Tony is dying. A element that is keeping him alive is also making him deathly sick. He doesn't have much time left. The short of it is Justin Hammer hires the Russian Whiplash to make him an army of Iron Men that would put Stark out of business. During which Whiplash is planning his own revenge. War Machine is born ( I smell a spin off). Nick Furry and Black Widow tell Tony more about the Avengers. I think I told you enough without giving to much away.

What makes this movie great is everything that made the first one awesome but just multiply that and you get IRON MAN 2. More action, more laughs, War Machine, did I mention more laughs, and the new Iron Man suit at the end is killer! Start the summer of right and see this movie!

Rolling Thunder (1977)

It is such a great feeling when you finally see a movie that you have been waiting to see for years pays off when you see it. ROLLING THUNDER is that kind of movie. Quentin Tarantino who is one of my favorite directors working today loves this movie so for years I have tried to track it down but the thing is it's not on DVD. After years of waiting I became convinced that the movie was just going to become that sort of film that's really cool and if you missed out you just plain missed out. Well my friends I finally got to see the movie I only dreamed about seeing. No it didn't finally get released on DVD which I hope someday it will? A friend of mine who apparently wanted to see it more than I did ,went ahead a bought a bootleg DVD version of it. I was almost afraid to watch it because I didn't want to jinx the idea that ROLLING THUNDER is the coolest movie that I'll never see. Did the movie and my watching experience play out 100% like I thought it would? No, but man this movie is cool!

Major Charles Rane comes back from the war and is given a number of gifts from his hometown because he is a war hero. Some greedy thugs decide that they want to steal a number of silver dollars from him. In the process they also manage to kill his wife and son and destroy his hand. The Major wants revenge so he enlists the help of his war buddy Johnny to meet the thugs in a final showdown.
This history of this movie hails it as a 70's gritty exploitation B-movie which very well may be true but in my opinion it has the heart and soul of an A list movie. That maybe why it's a cult classic?
I urge people to see it, so I'm not going to give much away. The things I love most about ROLLING THUNDER are the interesting characters and how the movie builds up to the moments of revenge. When it gets to the final showdown you know without a shadow of doubt that Major Charles Rane and his war buddy Johnny are going to show these low life greedy thugs just exactly who they are dealing with. At all costs please see this movie! Enjoy!