Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Possession-2012 (Spoiler alert)




 The Possession


UGH!! That is about what covers this bland exorcism film. The same crap over and over again. This time it's a box with an evil spirit in it that takes over a girls body and attempts to take her soul. The film had the potential to be scary fun but even with scenes that could have been creepy like when the main character Em (Natasha Calis) is in the hospital and goes nuts, she uses her own voice. If there were some undertones of a freaky voice or more creep factor it would have been at least tolerable. All this film was about was a family who split up, the wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) ends up with a boyfriend and Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is out on his own. He gets the kids every other weekend and Em's weird behavior is blamed on that. Of course, there isn't much weirdness to see because it was all about how the family dynamic works. If I want to see that I would watch a fucking drama film.

I would love for someone to tell me why there are so many directors, writers producers and editors that don't get it. I mean, we want scary. We want old fashioned crap your pants possessions. I think the issue is that for some reason, possession films focus so much on how the family dynamics are, they don't have enough room for the scare tactic. Horror is trendy nowadays. Maybe the reason possession films are bunk anymore is that the masses are watching horror films because they are trendy, not for true nature of what horror is. I want to be scared when I turn out the lights after watching the film. The Exorcist of Emily Rose and Insidious are really the only two that got me. Those films had that air about them when you looked at a scene, it was either something you had to really look at, then when you did, you crapped yourself, or a fast moment of fucked up surprise would leave you covering your mouth.

I know most directors and writers try to stay away from the traditional Exorcist because they would be chastised for trying to make money off of being like that film. Who cares! At least it would be worth the enormous amount of money we have to pay at the theaters now. Also, we live in a time when it seems everyone is remaking everything or taking parts of one film idea or another to use on their own.

Ok there is my rant for the day. Have a good one and I'll be willing to assist someone if they want to make a worthwhile possession type film.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Magic Mike

I know I know. I wasn't planning on seeing this at the theatre but had some friends that wanted to go. Let me tell you the story..... My friend picks me up and we go to the theatre. We were waiting for 8 more girls so we sat in the 4th row. We got there about 20 mins before the movie started and it was already packed. As the trailers were going I looked around and saw there was one seat open in the whole place. There were two guys, one with a woman (either he was dragged there or were hoping to get some after :D) and another that appears to be by himself (got stood up, was doing a review or she was late. Two women asked if they could sit next to me. Of course, I say. The one next to me was probably late 40's jersey shorish and looked like she had lived an interesting life. She seemed nice talking a bit. I have never in my life been in a theatre that was as loud as this one was. Women were talking and loud.
The film starts. Holy shit, you would think we were actually in the strip club portrayed on the big screen, whooping and hollering, clapping, you name it. It was pretty funny I have to give it that. The dancing was good, as you all know I love dance so I really paid attention to that. They were all good, Channing of course was the best. If you don't know he was in the original Step Up film. Anyhoo, the film turns darker which doesn't surprise you all I would hope. After all, stripping can be a darker profession if you let it.
As they would show the dancing, the lady to my left, the one I was telling you about would make weird noises, some of which sounded kind of gross and not at all sexy. In fact my friend could hear her as well and you know how loud the films are, not to mention 70 women yelling in the theatre during those scenes. I hope she got what she wanted out of that hahahahaaha just wish she was not sitting next to me. She had a friend with her maybe........ ok I am getting off subject.
The film was fun, the choreographed scenes with all of them didn't work out that great. They were not in sync but in real life it is also like that. I just figured being a movie and all they would make sure to stay in sync with each other. The ending sucked, could be a number 2 though.
Like I said it is a fun movie for the most part, so I can't say much. The film was not made to win an Oscar only to show hot guys. This film gets a 2.5 because I laughed a lot. I think the woman next to me would give it a five!
After the film we went outside and I found out one of the girls brought her friend who was Mormon to the film. Both were a bit unnerved and the one kept apologizing stating she did not know it would be that provocative. I had no choice but to ask why you would go to a stripping movie that was rated R and not think you would see what you saw lol. We all went to eat and all except for one said they did not think the film would be that racy. I thought that was interesting. It was funny too because I was dressed in true me style so of course it was kind of weird. I could tell the one's that really did not know me did not know what to think of me. I ended up sitting at the butt of the table figuring I would be hanging with myself. Once I started talking, it appeared to put people at ease for the most part.
I had a great time and would do this again. I have never gone out with that many women before.
Sorry this was more about my experience than the film, but it helps to understand what I consider normal people. I suspect most people are like those girls. I am thinking I would be less jaded if I were like that and possibly less stressed. Too late now! I am off the wall and there is nothing we can do about it :)

Spiderman-No spoiler

The trend is for remake after remake. I was sceptical to see this film especially in 3D because lets face it, most of the movies in 3D are not worth watching in 3D. I parked the vehicle, got my ticket and walked into the theatre. I saw a huge line and knew it was for Spiderman. I patiently waited, wondering how Andrew Garfield would do as Peter Parker/Spiderman. I have to tell you, I figured he would suck. Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) is good in everything so I was not concerned about her.  It wasn't long before the rope was let down and we were able to walk in. After about a half an hour the film started.
I was taken aback. The film was a great ride from beginning to end. Well the ending was a bit weird but I think they left it open for number 2 possibly. The film stayed with the other spiderman movie basics but made it more fast paced. The audience was able to be drawn into each scene, feel like we were there and understood the characters without drawing out each scene to the point of almost falling asleep like a lot of films are doing. Andrew Garfield made a much better spiderman than Tobey Maguire by far. The acting was good, scene cuts were good and yes, it was worth the 3D. I got my money's worth and time well spent away from this cruel world. This is one film you need to see at the theatre.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Medium Raw: Night of the Wolf

Medium Raw

This suspense flick was released in 2010. It is about a serial killer who stalks people in an asylum for the criminally insane. The best of the best you might say. Andrew Cymek wrote and directed this film. There were a couple of scenes you can see there was a change in character placement different from the scene before and other small things but this film is worth it for horror fans. It was fast paced fun with a little twist at the end. Some of you will be able to figure it out, it is not that hard, but regardless it is still a fun film. I gasped and laughed. I give it a 3.5 out of five. Worth your time and money.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter


Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter


I went to this film not expecting much. I came out with a 3 on a scale of one to five. It was average. I think Director Timur Bekmambetov (wow what a mouthful I would hate to have had to learn how to spell that as a kid), did a fine job of piecing together the events of his life in a vampire setting. I was kind of let down that there was nothing about his death. I would have thought there would have been some conspiracy other than Booth shooting him. Being this film kept true to his actual life I would have thought it would have been true to his demise. By true, I mean they followed his life just added vampires in the mix.
There was a lot of CGI in this film. I did not mind that, however being a special effects makeup fan I always like to admire the work people do to create. The vampires in this film were mainly computer generated. They were cool and I know it is easier and can be less costly than the real thing so I get that.
The premise is that Abe's mom gets bitten by a vampire and dies because him and his family feel slaves are people too and should be treated as such. The vampire that his dad worked for felt his dad betrayed him by saving a slave kid. It goes on from there. a stranger , Henry ( Dominic Cooper) finds Abe, teaches him to be a vampire hunter and tells him not to get close to anyone or they will suffer for what he does. As a normal human that does not happen and the battle between good an evil ensues.

Snow White and The Huntsman


Snow White and the Huntsman

Ya'll know by now who is in this film. I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. I decided to after the hype. As usual Kristen Stewert (Snow White) gets people to do whatever she says in a film which in turn leads to drama haha. I do feel Director Rupert Sanders was able to bring to life a kids story into a film filled with darkness and full of special effects, CGI mainly. I will give him that.
He even had the dwarfs. I won't ruin the film but it does follow the old story to an extent. It is not the same sequence but gets the job done. I feel the writers, Evan Daugherty and Lee Hancock could have linked the characters more. it appeared to jump too much to really connect. Kristen did better than I thought she would. I think Charlize Theron (Ravenna) stole the show however. Chris Hemsworth (Huntsman) was his usual self, a good looking fighter. I still have not seen a film where he has much dialog other than yelling and fighting.
I would say go ahead and watch it once because it is worth that much. I would wait until it goes to DVD however. The film was too long. It could have actually been a short film and I think it would have done better.  I would give this a 2.5 on a scale of one to five.