STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D Re-Release Thingy

Yes, I broke down and went to see STAR WARS – EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. Such an unnecessary re-release in my honest opinion. Friends and acquaintances kept asking me all last week about my thoughts on the re-release and the 3D. I told them that the prequels really aren't my thing anymore and as for 3D, I really do not care for the format. For years I quite passionately defended Lucas and his Star Wars Prequels that was until I watched a quite informative and joyfully entertaining film analysis on EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. The guys at www.redlettermedia.com really helped me with my Star Wars Prequels denial.


Praise and criticism of everything Star Wars is infested all over the Internet so anything I have to say good or bad has already been said before. So I'm not going to go into any sort of detail but rather just tell you my initial thoughts on the movie and 3D re-release in general.


While I do believe (just recently mind you) that EPSIODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE and the rest of the prequels are pointless mindless kids films, I can still find a little bit of nostalgic fun in them. As a lifelong fan of Star Wars I guess I could take the low road and curse George Lucas for all the changes for the worst that he has done to my “childhood” but the man is responsible for a lot of what I love about movies so I can't hate the guy. The best I can do is just graduate from the fandom and move on to bigger and better things.

Like I mentioned earlier, friends and acquaintances asked about my thoughts and if I was going to see the re-release? I told them if they are wanting to see it then the best theater in town might be the new B&B Theater in Ozark/Nixa seeing as they have the “state-of-the-art” 3D digital projection! Seeing as I am one for not taking my own advice I took the lazy and convenience route and went to see the film at the Springfield 11. I don't know who to blame, the theater or the movie itself but the 3D sucked. It was in fact some of the worst 3D conversion I have seen! I want to blame the theater but I have heard from other sources that the 3D did not look very good at other theaters either?




2D converted over to 3D has never really looks that good anyway and studios generally go the cheap route on this process but this is Lucasfilm not to mention a Star Wars picture so why the crappy 3D?
A reliable critic said the pod race scene felt like one of those theme park roller coaster motion rides! At my theater it did not, no sir. I'll find out from some folks I know that watched it at the new theater in Ozark/Nixa if their 3D experience was any better? Even if it was better and that is indeed the theater to experience EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE it's just to late for me to care anymore, and I am perfectly fine with that.

BLUBBERELLA

BLUBBERELLA the latest “comedy” from Uwe Boll makes MEET THE SPARTANS look like BLAZING SADDLES. Seriously! The entire time I was watching this “movie” I actually was wishing I was watching MEET THE SPARTANS, VAMPIRES SUCK, and even STAN HELSING which are actual comedies compared to whatever BLUBBERELLA is!

What is BLUBBERELLA? Your guess is as good as mine? My guess is that Uwe Boll finished filming BLOODRAYNE: THE THIRD REICH twenty-eight days ahead of a thirty day schedule. So with all that spare time and budget Uwe thought it'd be funny to give his producers and financiers the middle finger and make BLUBBERELLA.

This very well may be the worst attempts at comedy in the history of filmmaking! It's so bad that I really want to give Uwe the benefit of doubt and say that he was making this un-watchable film on purpose to really give his hatters something to talk about but I don't thing Uwe is that smart or clever.

Instead of a zany comedy about an obese half human half vampire killing Nazis in WW2 and saving the world from an army of the undead, we have Blubberella cooking, eating, and complaining about her love life. We also get unfunny fat jokes, gay jokes, Holocaust jokes, and just when it couldn't get more tasteless we get white actors in blackface!

I almost shut this movie off but I'm the one that knew better so I wasn't about to let the movie win.

I'll watch the occasional Uwe Boll film for a “it's so bad it's good” laugh every once in awhile like IN THE NAME OF THE KING: A DUNGEON SIEGE TALE. But I will never watch one of his comedies, oops sorry I meant “comedies” ever again.

CHRONICLE

CHRONICLE is a reinvention of the found footage genre or better yet a new sub-genre we can call Point of View footage. I'm actually fine with labeling it as none of these things and just look at it as a fresh and new narrative device in movies.

After encountering a strange glowing object in a deep underground cave high schoolers Andrew, Matt, and Steve discover they have telekinetic powers which allow them to move objects with their mind. After practicing honing these new found skills with juvenile stunts and pranks, the boys realize their power is like a muscle and it's only getting more powerful.

The three of them master the ability but Andrew seems to be the most powerful one. Out of the three I got the impression he was the only one that truly embraced his new found gift. I think this is why he becomes more powerful than his friends but the movie never really explains why? Matt and Steve never take their power for granted per say but to them it's more about being able to do something cool that no one else can do. Andrew on the other hand believes he has become the next step in evolution, a new kind of Apex Predator.

My favorite part of CHRONICLE is when it essentially becomes a live action version of the Japanese anime AKIRA. All the ingredients are here – unbridled power, teenage angst, a bullied life, and a friendship put to the ultimate test as one friend tries to save the other from destroying himself and others. Another thing I enjoyed was how focused the story was on it's characters and how the phenomenal but minimal special effects took a back seat. This is important because when CHRONICLE becomes about blowing stuff up it feels legitimate because we actually care about what's happening between Andrew and Matt.

It was refreshing to see the filmmakers take a unconventional route with the comic book/superhero found footage genre tale. And what a excellent feature film debut from director Josh Trank! If 20th Century Fox is seriously wanting to reboot the Fantastic Four franchise then Josh should be the first guy and the only guy on their list for the job.

TOP 11 OF 2011

Greetings, if you haven't noticed yet I just wanted to make it official that Catch A Flick has returned. I'm going to try and post at least twice a week maybe more. Currently I am working on reviews for DRIVE, CHRONICLE, and THE THING(2011). I haven't decided yet if I want to do a comparison piece with last year's THE THING and the one from 1982? Over the weekend I just discovered some awesome Italian Crime/Mob films from the 70's so expect to see some reviews of those!

Instead of playing catch up with posting new reviews along with my favorites of 2011 I'm just going to give you a list of my top favorites of last year. So in no particular order here are my favorites:

ATTACK THE BLOCK

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

X-MEN - FIRST CLASS

RED STATE

CAPTAIN AMERICA - THE FIRST AVENGER

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

MONEYBALL

HUGO

DRIVE

WAR HORSE

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

REAL STEEL

REAL STEEL is my personal sleeper hit of last year! Nobody took it seriously, the popular joke was calling it Rock em Sock em Robots. Right out of the gate this movie didn't really seem to stand a chance. But can you really blame us? With Hollywood pumping out kid/family movie garbage like GARFIELD, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUCKS, THE SMURFS, and TRANSFORMERS 1 – 3 a movie about Rock em Sock em Robots automatically becomes a target for scrutiny. Directed by the guy that gave us NIGHT AT THE MUSSEM doesn't help matters either.

But REAL STEEL delivered. Audiences loved it! I regret not seeing this on opening night. REAL STEEL is the kind of movie you really want to see and should see with an audience so you can share that “feel good movie of the year” unity that truly defines a theatrical experience.

I love the fantasy of REAL STEEL! In the not so distant future humans are swapped out for Robots in the sport of Boxing. This idea has a kind of Japanese Anime vibe to it. I could imagine this as a sub-plot idea in ROBOTECH or something. The production design and CGI of REAL STEEL is top notch. It's very believable that this could be our not to distant future and the robots of REAL STEEL look like something that could actually be built. Unlike another series of robot films where characters are just auto parts thrown together resembling mobile auto scrapyards.

The story of REAL STEEL is the ROCKY franchise, THE CHAMP, and OVER THE TOP all put into a blender and set on puree. A struggling promoter feels he has found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top Charlie Kenton discovers he has an 11 year old son who wants to know his father.

I normally hate and cannot stand most child acting (GROWN UPS I'm look at you) but Dakota Goyo and Hugh Jackman really end up playing well off of each other and become very believable in the father and son relationship. REAL STEEL every now and then becomes the “Boy and his Robot” movie but never lingers on it very long to become sappy and annoying.

Director Shawn Levy really put himself on the map for me and I am very interested what his next movie will be just as long as it's not NIGHT AT THE MUSSUM 3.

CHILLERAMA

CHILLERAMA – It's closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and the owner has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash on his faithful cinephile patrons. Four films so rare that they have never been viewed publicly on American soil until this very night! What could possibly go wrong? That's what the back of the blu-ray read. Sounds awesome doesn't it! Well despite having some really great moments CHILLERAMA sucked!

Within the annals of exploitation and b-movie history is Troma Entertainment the leader of tasteless cinema. To my misfortune CHILLERAMA pays tribute to the kings of trash. Most exploitation films are trashy but Troma always sunk to a level of debauchery either fit for a junior high schooler or that would test your moral fiber. It all boils down to taste and I am not a fan.

Much like CREEPSHOW, CHILLERAMA is a horror anthology film. So like I said earlier it's the drive-in theaters last night and it'll be a night to remember, or In my case a night I'd like to forget.

WADZILLA – Remember me mentioning Junior High humor? Well here it is in all it's glory. A throwback spoof of 60's drive-in horror films like THE BLOB, WADZILLA is about a giant sperm that eats people and terrorizes the city. Bravo lame-o's! Moving on.

I WAS A TEENAGE WERE-BEAR – A mash-up of 50's and 60's b-movie horror meets beach party movie musical. Ugh, musical really! This was my least favorite segment of CHILLERAMA; but, I did like the over saturated look it had. Great job on looking like a exploitation film from it's time but the story was just silly and tasteless.

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN – My favorite among the movies within the movie. Imagine if the Frank family were descendent's of the mad doctor Frankenstein and Anne's famous diary was his journal for creating life from death. This is the sort of tastelessness I can enjoy! Hitler finds the diary and creates a Frankenstein's monster for himself. This truly is the best installment with keen direction from Adam Green. I recommend trying to hunt this down on YouTube or something to see for yourself the brilliance of this spoof.

ZOM B MOVIE – The final movie within the movie climaxes by becoming the final act of CHILLERAMA. Between the segments in CHILLERAMA a sub-plot was formulating with the popcorn becoming contaminated and everybody turning into zombies. It's up to a couple of movie buff love birds to make it out alive. This would have been my favorite segment but that tasteless Junior High humor takes center stage yet again by making the zombies horny and the only way to kill them is to shoot em in the “head”. Just awful I tell you, so dumb and uncreative. I did like how ZOM B MOVIE felt like an homage to one of my favorite Italian horror films from the 80's called DEMONS. It was about a horror movie turning everybody watching it in the theater into a demon like zombie.

I cannot recommend CHILLERAMA it's just too silly and tasteless for me and I'd feel like a jerk if I did.

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)!