All Is Lost

After all of these years, Robert Redford proves time and time again that he can still act. And there is no better way to show this than being the only person on screen for the entirety of a film with minimal dialogue, while still being able to keep the audiences attention.

I'm not exaggerating when I say minimal dialogue. Unlike "Cast Away", this film has no inanimate object given to the character to keep his sanity. All there is is our man alone with his thoughts and the audience trying to get inside his mind through the filmmakers story telling.

"All Is Lost" is about a man, alone on his sailboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean (I hope I don't sound like an idiot right then). He is awoken one day by the crashing and cracking of his boat after hitting a shipping container and the water rushing in through the gigantic hole it has made.

Right away, you know that this film needs no dialogue, and that simply watching a man trying to survive is enough to help you connect with his character. With the accept ion of a letter written to his family read at the beginning of the film, every word spoken is either involuntary from being injured, or a last chance of being rescued. Yet you find yourself needing no more than what is given.

Depicted Above: Robert Redford being a badass.

The intensity of each moment surpasses any words that could be said at the time. And despite not having to memorize lines, Robert Redford's performance is as impressive as any other this year.

My Grade: A+

12 Years A Slave

This movie was one of the hardest movies to watch, and for obvious reasons.

I have never seen such an intense depiction of slavery in my life. It's so incredibly horrible, you can't help but not look away. This tells the real life story of Solomon Northup, a black man who was born a free man during a pre-civil war America. A noteworthy violinist, he is conned by some trusted colleagues into leaving his home and traveling South to Washington D.C. for a performance. After the performance, they go out for a celebration where his colleagues get him drunk and he is subsequently kidnapped by slave auctioneers and sold into slavery. And being the time period that it is, no one believes him when he claims who he really is.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup in arguably his most significant role to date. Directed by Steve McQueen (No, not that Steve McQueen), together they show the brutal, terrible truth of slavery in all of the awful, cringeworthy details. Rather than cut away from inhumane acts, McQueen forces you to watch the actions taking place in long, uncut takes making you feel as emotionally, physically and mentally drained as possible without actually putting you in the characters shoes (or lack thereof).

This was, without a doubt, the most stressful 

time I've ever had watching a movie

With amazing performances by the entire cast, "12 Years a Slave" has by far one of the best ensemble casts of 2013. With such big names as Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Michael K. Williams, Scooty McNairy and very randomly, Taran Killam from "SNL", each and every actor gives a fantastic performance worthy of the recognition they're obtaining. "12 Years a Slave" is well worth a watch. But be prepared for a stomach churning story.

My Grade: A

Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey has come a long way since his "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and "Fool's Gold" Days. I'm not saying those are terrible movies… but they're pretty terrible. After the release of the former, McConaughey took an unplanned hiatus from acting. I say unplanned, because he says he didn't really make a conscious decision to do so. He simply just started turning roles down and decided his time was better spent with his family.

Somehow, this was the best decision (or coincidence) of his career. Some would argue since his return to acting with the film "The Lincoln Layer", which I have yet to see, that his filmography has become significantly higher in quality and his roles have become more deep.

This is all extremely apparent with quite possibly his best role yet, in "Dallas Buyers Club".

In the film, McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a bigoted rodeo-cowboy/electrician who lives every day as if it were his last. Consumed by drugs, alcohol, gambling and unprotected sex, his life takes a turn for the worse when he passes out after being injured on the job and wakes up in the hospital. The doctor's tell him that while performing some tests on his blood, they found that he was HIV positive and only had 30 days to live.

This film takes place in the 80s, when AIDS and HIV weren't as widely understood as they are today. The extreme ignorance is shown throughout the film through Woodroof and his friends who now believe that Woodroof is a homosexual and is contagious to the touch. They shun Woodroof and force him to become estranged. Through all of his tribulations, Woodroof befriends a man he would have shunned and belittled in his past life. A transexual named Rayon, played by Jared Leto.

The big thing that stands out in this film are all of the great portrayals, particularly by McConaughey and Leto, who both took extreme measures to become their roles. Both had gone through dramatic dramatic weight loss to look their parts. But I feel even without their transformations, they still would have given outstanding performance worthy of several award nods.

I could never be an actor, because I like to eat too much.

This gritty, emotional and at times, humorous film is sure to see some Awards this coming season. Specifically Leto and McConaughey. But Judging by the trailers I saw prior to seeing this, they're gonna be given a run for their money. Regardless, these two give their best performance of their careers, in my opinion. This is definitely a hidden gem.

My Grade: A-

Europa Report

Sometimes, writing movie reviews for free every time I see a new movie (at least 4 times a week… at least) is tiring. It becomes a chore that I feel I need a long break from so I can enjoy movies without worrying about what I'll say while watching it. And then, there comes a movie that I just have to share with everyone I know, and that kicks my review writing back into overdrive.

"Europa Report" was that movie this time.

"But, Mike--" you ask, "why did you decide to do it for a movie extremely similar to 'Gravity', but not do 'Gravity' itself? It was awesome!"

Well I'll tell you, random reader! Everyone and their Grandmother's saw "Gravity". And deservedly so. That was a fantastic film. Probably one of the best this year. And anyone who disagrees wasn't paying attention. But "Gravity" didn't need my help to bring it viewers. It has been going strong in theaters. "Europa Report", for one, is out of theaters. And two, very few people saw it. So if I can introduce even one person to it through this blog, I feel I would have done my job.

"Europa Report" isn't your average "found footage" film. It is done through the style of a documentary about a privately funded mission to land on Jupiter's moon Europa and try to find life. Unlike most films like this, it isn't in it for the cheap scares and thrills.

"Europa Report" is filled with emotion and character development that attaches you to the characters you are introduced to and makes you feel for them in every single way. And no character does a better job at this than James Corrigan played by the vastly underrated, Sharlto Copley ("District 9", "Elysium"). With the film opening with Copley's character recording a message for his family, you immediately feel his home-sickness which adds to the feeling of claustrophobia.

Seeing someone in an Astronaut suit gives me anxiety,

even when they're still inside the ship.

Contrary to the trailer, I wouldn't consider this film a horror film, but rather a Sci-Fi thriller. Nothing really horrifying happens, but there is a lot of suspense and a lot of emotion throughout. To everyone that complains that there is nothing to watch on Netflix, open your eyes. There are plenty of hidden gems like this throughout their instant-watch inventory.

My Grade: B

The World's End

In my opinion, The Cornetto Trilogy is the greatest trilogy ever created. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a group of there movies Directed by Edgar Wright, Written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The trilogy includes "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End".

...I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Oh, man. That is the best trilogy ever created. He's right"... I know I am... No need to say it.

This movie is exactly what the trailer implies. Five friends meet up after almost 20 years and try to complete the pub crawl that they failed as teenagers. During said reunion, the five discover that the town that they grew up in has all been replaced by evil robots! Only they're not robots, because robot means slave... and stuff... you'll understand what I'm getting at when you see it.

Anyway, even after they discover their predicament, they are too drunk to do anything but continue the pub crawl... So, they drink pint after pint becoming more and more drunk as the world's end (AAAAHHHH) crawls up on them.

Because no one has a better idea!!!

This was a great send off to a great series of completely unrelated movies. It was hilarious, had a reference to Cornetto and had their amazing "shit just got emotional" scenes. And one of the many reasons why I think the Cornetto Trilogy is the best trilogy is because I don't know which one is better. They're all amazing. They're all completely different, and they're all hilarious. I seriously cannot put one in front of the other, and I can do that with most trilogies.

It kind of makes me sad that this will probably be the last one. I hope it's not, but I am not getting my hopes up. It's a great series, but all great things must come to an end. And if they're going to end it, "The World's End" is better than how most things end...

I'm looking at you "Lost", "The Sopranos" and other such let downs!!!

My Grade: A+

The Butler

John Cusack as Nixon? That I'm not quite sure about. But what I am sure about is that regardless of casting choices, "The Butler" is a heart wrenching, intense film about the civil rights movement of the 60s and 70s.

Forrest Whitaker stars as the man who became a butler at the White House and his conflicts with the civil rights movement and his sons choice to take a different, more out spoken path to equality in America.

The follow up to his praised film "Precious", Lee Daniels decides to take, for lack of a better term, a more mainstream story and create a phenomenal film from it. As you watch the film, he takes you on a journey through the build up, climax and decline of the Civil Rights movement of the late twentieth century and he throws you into the scene with the characters.

Fun fact about me: When I'm tired, my eye goes all

Forest Whitaker on me.

I loved everything about this movie except one thing. The acting was fantastic. The directing was amazing. The set decorating, make up and wardrobes were spot-on. I was so deeply and emotionally involved in this movie until one scene. The Obama Propaganda scene.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very indifferent when it comes to politics. I neither love or hate President Obama. And I'm well aware that the country electing a Black President is a huge part of the plot. I just felt that they put it on far too strongly, and it seemed as though it were paid for by the Obama Presidential Campaign. I was expecting Obama to come up at the end of the movie and say "I'm Barrack Obama, and I approve this message". It took me out of the movie for a minute or two. And I hate that!

Other than that little distraction, this movie was up there with the best movies I've seen this year. With the exception of John Cusack as Nixon, the casting was spot on for all of the Presidents. And Cusack wasn't bad. It's just that after Frank Langella's portrayal of the President, anything else seems sub-par.

This movie is definitely one to see in theaters.

My Grade: A-

Trailer Tuesday 8/20/13

Some should right a theme song for Trailer Tuesdays... I always feel like I should be singing one while I write these.

FRIGHT NIGHT 2 (10/1/13)

How many Vampire clichés can you find in this trailer? Also, how many scenes completely ripped off from Russia's "Night Watch" can you find in here? I only counted one, but it was enough to make me feel obligated to mention "Night Watch". In the words of Charles Barkley, "This is turable".

WADJDA (9/15/13)

Wow. APparently this is the first Saudi Arabian film, and it's directed by a woman. That's awesome. It's great seeing film spread over the world, and I had no idea Saudi Arabia had never made a film before. This looks like an awesome movie.

BEARS (4/18/14)

AAAWWWWWWWW!!!!!! They're little killers!!! They're so cute! :D

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (12/25/13)

Why has Meryl Streep only been playing bitches lately. It makes me hate her. And Benedict Cumberbatch is reason enough for me to want to see this. Other than him, I don't really have any desire to see it.

ROMEO & JULIET (10/11/13)

Other than role my eyes when I first heard they were making yet ANOTHER adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, I first thought "I wonder how romantic it really would have been before deodorant".

100 BLOODY ACRES (6/28/13)

If you know me, you know I love dark comedies. "Tucker and Dale VS. Evil" is one of the funniest movies ever made in my opinion. And this looks very similar to it. I can't wait to watch it! I wish I had known about it 2 months ago so I could have tried to see it in Philly!

Elysium

After I saw "District 9", I had a slight obsession with Neill Blomkamp. I thought he showed great promise as a director and I couldn't wait for his next movie. Needless to say, I was extremely excited when I heard about "Elysium". Then I heard that Eminem was a possibility for the main role. As far as rapper-actors go, Eminem isn't terrible, but seriously? Eminem? Luckily he refused to be in the movie if they couldn't film in Detroit and Matt Damon got the role.

"Elysium" takes place in a futuristic world in which all of Earth is devastated from overpopulation and everywhere looks like the slums of Mumbai. The rich leave the planet to live on a space station called Elysium (OOOOOOH, That's why it's called that!) to obtain their way of life. Thus creating a not-so-subtle metaphor for the failed "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

1% of the People have 100% of the free Healthcare not 

performed by a guy with tattoos or robots. I am the 99%!!!

Max finds himself pumped with radiation in an accident at his work and is only given 5 days to live. He sets off on a mission to get up to Elysium to use one of their Medical Bays, a machine that can fix any ailment just by spinning around you. Modern Medicine has it all wrong! No Pills! Just have a Machine spin around you to fix cancer, AIDs and Whooping Cough!!!

The only thing it doesn't fix is bad ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

As high as my expectations were for this movie, I was only slightly disappointed. It was still a great movie. Better than a lot of the crap out there this summer. And none of my problems were with the story. It was all with the Audio. There were a lot of scenes where they had ADR, which to most people, is unnoticeable. But thanks to Film School, I don't have the privilege to ignore it anymore. Jodie Foster in particular had a lot of ADR. I've heard a lot of people say she was bad in this movie, but what I think people are confusing with bad acting is the bad ADR. But you can't notice something that you're unaware of. She wasn't terrible, just her audio was.

Sharlto Copley returned to Neill Blomkamp's set, but this time as a villain. And he was quite awesome as usual. He was evil, bad ass and funny all at the same time. This guy impresses me with every movie he's in and I'm glad he's getting the recognition and work he deserves.

"Elysium", although not as good as I had hoped, was a fun and thrilling movie that was more original than any other summer movie other there this year. More movies need to do that. As safe as reboots of old Western TV shows from the late 1940s may seem, (I'm looking at you Disney!), people will never appreciate remakes as much as they do originality. And that's not bashing all remakes. There are some phenominal remakes out there. It's just fact. Originality trumps remakes 10 out of 10 times.

Although, "Elysium" could be a rip-off of some obscure sci-fi movie that only 3 people have ever heard of and I could sound like a complete idiot to them right now.

My Grade: B+

Trailer Tuesdays 8/13/13

Hello there. Have you missed me? I sure have missed you!

HER (11/20/13)

Wow. I dig this trailer. I dig it a lot. It looks fantastic. Joaquin Phoenix looks like he brought his 'A' game as usual, as well as Spike Jonze. It looks like a very interesting concept as well. This just went up on my top ten most anticipated movies for the rest of the year.

PHILOMENA (11/1/13)

DAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMME Judi Dench... That's all I have to say about this. Looks good.

THE MONUMENT MEN (12/18/13)

George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray... what more do you need? This looks like a different kind of War movie and it looks interesting. Can't wait to see it.

CBGB (10/11/13)

A movie about Rock 'n' Roll's most infamous club with the most infamous toilet. Starring Alan Rickman and a slew of other celebrities, this seems like it's going to be a fun movie.

ENOUGH SAID (9/20/13)

This is James Gandolfini's second to last movie. It's such a shame when actors die before they are able to see their work. He will be missed.

ALL IS LOST (10/18/13)

A lot of people don't like movies where there is only one character with nothing but his thoughts for the majority of the film. I personally love them. It's one of the best ways to see who that character really is, and see how he or she thinks. I can't wait to see this one.

MAGIC MAGIC (8/28/13)

I'm glad to see Michael Cera doing something different. He looks creepy as hell in this movie. Although, I don't have much hope for the movie as a whole.

AMERICAN HUSTLE (12/25/13)

In David O. Russell's follow up to "Silver Linings Playbook" he brings back Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as well as Christian Bale and Amy Adams from his film "The Fighter". It looks very different from "Silver Linings Playbook", but it looks equally as good.

LONE SURVIVOR (1/10/14)

This has a lot of actors I love in it. I'm a little skeptical about a January release which to normal people sounds like crazy talk, but trust me. Bad movies come out in January for the most part, but I think this could be the exception of next year.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (12/25/13)

People are freaking about this because they think Ben Stiller is trying to out do Danny Kaye, which is completely ridiculous. The two movies, although based from the same short story, look completely different. Ben Stiller is one of the most underrated Actor/Directors out there. He has such diversity in his work. He's done ridiculous comedies with "The Cable Guy" "Zoolander" and "Tropic Thunder". He's done action movies. He's done quirky comedies like "Greenburg" and now he's making what seems to be a deep, thoughtout drama about a man who wants more with his life. Even if this ends up being a disappointment, I have so much respect for him trying. This is my most anticipated movie of this year.

We're The Millers

A lot of people wanted to see this movie to see Jennifer Aniston strip. I wanted to see it to see the white kid rap! And some RON SWANSON!!!

You can gather what "We're the Millers" is about from the trailer. It is a raunchy comedy following a drug dealer, a stripper, a homeless girl and a super dooper white kid on a major drug smuggling mission. Hilarity inn sues. Especially when Ron F***ing Swanson shows up!

Honestly, I thought this would be one of those movies where all of the funny parts are in the trailer. And apart from Nick Offerman and Will Poulter (White kid, "Son of Ranbow"), I'm not a huge fan of anyone in this movie. But it exceeded my expectations.

I'm gonna take this moment to ask a question. Do I seem like a broken record. I feel like I say the same stuff for every movie. Perhaps I just have a smaller vocabulary than previously thought, but I just don't know how else to describe these movies. Oh, well.

Anyway, this movie had me laughing throughout and even pumping my fist in celebration at some moments. Not many movies can do that.

Go see it. Or else... Nothing will happen, but still, go see it.

My Grade: B+

Fat Kid Rules the World

I just found at that Matthew Lillard from "SLC Punk" and "Scooby-Doo" directed this movie... awesome!

"Fat Kid Rules the World" begins with Troy trying to throw himself in front of a bus. But when he is saved by Marcus, his life starts to change. Marcus inspires (or forces depending on how you look at it) troy to learn how to play the drums and join a band, which gives Troy something to live for.

Once again, this is a movie I stumbled upon on Netflix instant watch, and I was not disappointed. Jacob Wysocki of Bath Boys Comedy infamy stars in the leading role. It impresses me that he can go from this...

...to movies like this and "Terri" which have more dramatic elements to them. I think he is definitely someone to look out for for years to come.

My Grade: B

Holy Crap this is based on a book?! I keep learning stuff, man!

Kumaré

There are a lot of interesting documentaries out there. If you ever are bored and looking for something to watch, go to the documentaries section of Netflix Instant watch. I have done that twice now, and both times were great documentaries. The first was for "The Imposter", and this time around I was fortunate enough to pick "Kumaré".

"Kumaré" is a study in religion and faith, but it does not attack religion or faith. Vikram Gandhi was brought up in a strong Hindu household. When he grew older, he began to have doubts of his families beliefs. So he set out on a journey to find where it comes from. Along the way, he meets several fake Gurus with huge followings and decided to make a documentary about how easy it is to fall for a hack.

At first, he starts out just seeing what he can get away with. And he finds he can get away with a lot, including drawing a phallic symbol onto someones head as well as having him meditate to pictures of Obama, Osama bin Laden and the picture of the character he created, Kumaré.

Eventually, he learns to love these people and he finds what caused them to turn to eastern Gurus and decides to try to help them realize what he already know. That they do not need a Guru, they just need themselves.

This is a great documentary with a great message and does a great job of not bashing any personal reliefs. Rather it shows the viewer that you do not need to define yourself by your religion and your beliefs, but that you can be whoever you want to be.

If you don't have anything to do right now, go watch it. It's worth it.

My Grade: B+

Fruitvale Station

I have something to confess. This time around, I was one of those idiots who got upset because someone spoiled a movie that was based on a true story... I am shame faced.

"Fruitvale Station" tells the true story of Oscar Grant's last day alive. (Don't worry, you find that out in the first two minutes.) In doing so, you see how much he is trying to change for his daughter, and how much he wants to be there for her in this unfortunate and tragic story.

In his directorial debut, Ryan Coogler has brought us one of the most well thought out and personal films any director has made. Being from the bay area, where Oscar Grant was shot and killed, I am sure he felt a strong connection to the case which inspired him to make this film. And you can tell in the final product.

One thing I appreciated about this film, it shows that the Police Officers responsible for the death of Oscar Grant did show some remorse and a little bit of shock after it all went down. They had realized they had made a mistake. It wasn't just a straight "F the Police!" movie, which get tiresome so very quickly.

I thought this was a well made movie that presented the facts and didn't try to shove topics such as "racism among the Police" and "profiling" down your throat. They were definitely present, but not in a slap to the face manner like Spike Lee would have it.

This is a heartbreaking movie that I'm sure will receive some Oscar attention this Winter.

My Grade: A

The Way Way Back

There is a reason independent films are often better than big budget Hollywood movies. And that's because they don't have a thousand hands throwing garlic into the cake batter. Did you like that metaphor? I came up with it myself. Go me!

I'm just gonna go out and say it. Steve Carell is a major dick in this movie. Like, the worst person ever. I would punch him in the face if he were real and I saw him talking to his girlfriends kid like that. What the hell, Steve?! What the hell! I guess he did a good job if he made me hate him so much. And I love Steve Carell! So, in that case, well played good sir.

"The Way Way Back" is the directorial debut for Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, the Academy Award winning writers of "The Descendants". You may recognize them from this photo.

Nat's on the left and Jim is on the right striking his best

Angelina pose.

"The Way Way Back" is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about a teenager, named Duncan dealing with the divorce of his parents while on a vacation with his Mom and her dick of a new boyfriend... Did I mention he was a dick?

Anyway, he finds his solace and comes out of his shell when he lands a job at the local water park run by Owen, the laid back owner played by Sam Rockwell. Owen helps Duncan come out of his shell by basically forcing him to break dance with a lot of intimidating B-boy-ers... Is that a thing? Break dancing community, correct me if I'm wrong. Please! I'm terribly, terribly white and the only dances I know are the Chicken Dance and the electric sliding part of the electric slide.

What the hell?

With his new found confidence, Duncan starts hanging out with his summer neighbor's daughter, Susanna. The two of them bond over how immature their parents are acting and are basically the only sane people in the movie outside of the water park.

"The Way Way Back" is a good, heartfelt movie with a message that could help any awkward teenager. And believe me, Duncan is more awkward than most. Go see for yourself.

And as always, Sam Rockwell is a scene stealer.

My Grade: A

RED 2

I've missed you. I hope you've missed me too. Let's never fight again.

"RED 2" starts off with our favorite retired agent and his new, young girlfriend shopping at Costco trying to lay low. But I think we all know how that works out. They are yet again, dragged into something they don't particularly want to be involved with. And as always, they're joined by their lovable, insane friend, whom regardless of what character he's playing, I refer to as John Malkovich from "Being John Malkovich".

Unfortunately, this time sans pig.

"RED 2" is exactly what you'd expect from a sequel to it's predecessor. It's fun, it's action packed and it's got a  lot of memorable moments. However, this one didn't come with the element of pleasant surprise that the first one did. At least for me. It's a great film with a lot of funny and quotable lines, but I feel it quite do the first one justice.

But what sequel really does do the first one justice. Besides "X-Men 2". And "The Dark Knight". And "Terminator 2". And "Star Wars: Episode IV". And I would say "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", but I consider them to be one long-ass movie.

What I'm trying to say is, if you enjoyed the first one, you'll enjoy this one...

Here's John Malkovich with a bomb strapped to his chest.

My Grade: B-

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

Wh-....But..... I mean.... I've heard of depressing movies, but this is just unfair.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is the story of the Holocaust through the eyes of the young son of a high-ranking German Soldier during World War II. His sheltered existence and naivety help him see a young Jewish Prisoner as a friend rather than the vermin his Father and country see him as. As he gets to understand his new friend, he has trouble wrapping his head around why the young boy is supposed to be his enemy and tries to help him on the way.

This is a heartwarming and heartbreaking movie all at the same time. The innocence of the young boys juxtaposed with the monstrosity that was the Holocaust really puts into perspective just how difficult it was for young children on both sides of the imprisonment to comprehend what was really going on. The two young actors who played the German boy and the Jewish boy did so with surprising skill and understanding of what exactly each scene was about.

This has, without a doubt, one of the most depressing endings of any movie I have ever seen. It is painfully beautiful and horrible, and had me just staring through (not at) the TV screen once the credits started rolling. I don't even... Wow. Just wow. I'm I'm writing this literally 5 minutes after watching it and I am still in shock. The beauty of innocence and the horrors of war all in one.

My Heart Hurts!

My Grade: A-

Trailer Tuesdays 7/23/13

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (5/2/14)

This past week the makers "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", starring Jamie Foxx playing a white man (yes I know that's not true) released a teaser trailer with the revealing of Electro... It looks weird, and I'm not a a fan, but we shall see where it goes.

Kick-Ass 2 (8/16/13)

Looked better than the first trailer. I'm still not sure this story can carry a franchise, but we shall see. I'm not too excited for it at this point.

Metallica Through the Never

So, this is a movie that combines a Metallica concert and the Vancouver Riots? At least I think it's Vancouver. Or are these riots unrelated to the 2011 Stanley Cup loss? Either way, this seems to be an interesting way to have a concert film. I'm intrigued even though I don't care for Metallica.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (11/22/13)

I was getting kind of tired of the old trailer and losing my interest in seeing this movie. Then I saw this and it peaked my interest again. Well played, "Hunger Games". Well played.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (1/3/14)

I don't know much about Mandela, but I feel Idris Alba was the perfect casting for him. I can't wait to learn more about him from this movie. Who says you can't learn anything from a movie?

Last Vegas (11/1/13)

Look! It's "The Hangover" for our Dads!

Rush (9/27/13)

For those of you have seen it, this trailer is way different from the first. It's less inspirational, but just as intense and entertaining. This is definitely a movie I look forward to.

The Fifth Estate (10/18/13)

I don't know how to feel about this. I'm not a huge fan of what Julian Assange did. I get why he did it, but I don't think it was necessary. I never cared enough to look to deeply into it though. But I love Benedict Cumberbatch. I just feel Julian Assange's hair is gonna bug me throughout the entire thing. Oh, well. We'll see.

I love this time of year because the quality of movies coming out is starting to get better as studios make a run for the Oscars! I can't wait until next years 24 Hour Marathon!

The Conjuring

G-G-G-GHOSTS!!!!

I seem to have a love or hate relationship with horror movies. I either love them, or I think they are the biggest piece of crap in theaters at the time. And I've noticed a pattern. Give me a slasher movie where you see the killer 1,000 times before he actually gets to the main characters and I hate it. Give me a movie where you don't see who is doing it, why they're doing it or how they're doing it and reveal a little bit of information at a time and I love it. "The Conjuring" does just that.

Now, I wouldn't consider myself a firm believer in ghosts. The best description I can think of is that I am a ghost-agnostic. A ghostnostic if you will (shut up). I have seen and heard things that could only be described by two things in my mind. One: ghosts, and two: I am schizophrenic. And knowing what my Grandfather went through as a schizophrenic, I'd prefer the former.

Now, I don't scare easily in movies. But if it's a movie about ghosts or demon possession, I will act like a little baby. If a ghost-movie followed me around for it's plot, it'd be more of a comedy.

This is the part where I scream "Aw, Hell Naw!" 

and run away if it were reality.

The fact that "The Conjuring" is based on someone's actual experiences freaks me out even more. I don't even care if it's massively exaggerated, if anything even remotely like what happened in the movie happened to me, this is how I'd react:

For those of you who don't watch this show, check out Psych on Netflix!

This movie does a great job at keeping you interested. Like I said above, it's better when they slowly reveal information to you rather than tell you everything at once. That's why I don't like the Freddy Krueger or Jason movies. They're too much of an open book in the beginning.

"The Conjuring" is an intense movie that has some laughs (both intentional and unintentional) but overall is a pretty freaky and entertaining movie. Although I don't agree with the 'R' rating. It should be PG-13. The MPAA is getting softer than it already was!

My Grade: A-

Stoker

South Korean films are a lot of things, but if I had to narrow them down to two, it would be f'ed up and insanely good! Perhaps that's just the films that were popular enough to be shown over seas, but that's how I see them for now. And one man stands in the forefront of the f'ed up and insanely good category. "Oldboy" director Chan-wook Park. And his first English speaking film continues with that pattern for the most part.

Wow, what? Opening a trailer with something so intense is simply perfect! There is no beating around the bush here. They are telling you exactly what this movie will be like from the very beginning. "Stoker" tells the story of a teenage girl named India, who's father dies on her 18th birthday. At the funeral, her Uncle whom she'd never met until that day shows up and stays at their house for a while. Things, while already creepy from the first shot of the movie, begin to get creepier as India's mother begins finding herself infatuated with the devilishly handsome Uncle (not on her side of course).

This is one of those movies that reward the patient viewers. While it keeps you tied in from the opening shot with it's spectacular cinematography, the story slowly reveals what is going on and is often times confusing. But it all comes full circle in the end.

I love movies that do that. I forget who said it, and a quick Google search didn't help me at all, if you know who said it, comment below, it could have been Hitchcock, but I heard a saying that went "suspense isn't about what you show the audience. Suspense is about what you don't show them". That is the perfect way to describe this movie. Throughout the entire film, it seems as if they are showing you meaningless information, but for the patient viewers that stick around, everything becomes oh so clear and oh so fantastic.

I was expecting Dr. Manhattan to appear throughout most

of the movie, but he didn't. Mind Blown!

This is definitely the kind of movie you have to watch again to see what you've missed. I've only watched it once, but I'm sure I've missed a lot of information and hints. Things that could have been hidden in the music and sound effects that I missed because I was watching it at 4 AM on very quiet with subtitles because everyone was asleep. I really need to move out of my parents house.

Everyone in this movie was so intense, and so great. Matthew Goode was especially Goode (Yeah, I did it!). He was the perfect blend of creepy and charming. But look at that face. The latter wasn't hard for him at all, was it?

My Grade right now: B+. It could go up the more times I watch it. Great movie.

Also, do yourself a favor and watch the original "Oldboy" before that stupid Spike Lee version comes out.

Pacific Rim

Giant Robots fighting giant monsters... what else could you want in an action movie?

How about Charlie Day!!!

As the trailer shows, "Pacific Rim" is about a not to distant future in which Monster Aliens begin to attack the major cities of the world. To fend them off the World Powers come together to create the Jaeger program. They begin to build giant robots piloted by two people to fist fight the monsters back to hell!!!! AWWWWWWW YEAH!!!!!

Despite it's terrible acting and cheesy dialogue (which was expected) "Pacific Rim" is an extremely entertaining movie with giant fight scenes (pun intended, sorry). This is the movie that all men wanted to see when they were kids. It just wasn't possible until now. When you see this movie, you must first connect with your inner child.

Possibly by playing a game of night crawlers with Danny Devito.

This is the kind of movie where you can't be digging for logic through out the entire thing. Seriously. Come on. It's a movie about GIANT ROBOTS FIST FIGHTING GIANT MONSTERS!!!! Why are you looking for logic in the first place! It is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously and neither should you! So STOP IT!!!! STOP IT NEW YORK MAGAZINE!!! STOP IT!!!

People need to just have fun!

My Grade: B

Trailer Tuesday 7/16/13

Oldboy (10/25/13)

Spike Lee has possibly done something to make me hate him more than I already did. He took one of the best South Korean movies ever made, (seemingly) took out major plot points and toned it down to make it more tolerable for the American masses. Granted, this is all just speculation on my part at this point, but why? Why did he tone it down for Americans if that is what he did? The people who would be insulted by the original aren't going to see this movie anyway. I'll still see it, but why? Also, be on the look for messages forcing White Guilt on you throughout the entire movie... Spike Lee... go back to watching the Knicks suck!

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (6/20/14)

I have to admit, this was a little bit underwhelming for me. I loved the first one, and as cool as the flying sequences are, this just seems like a gimmick to me. "Oh, look! Now he can fly too! Come see this movie!" The art of subtle teasers is lost on some. Either way, I look forward to this.

The Grandmaster (8/23/13)

Chinese movies always have beautiful cinematography. Even if the story isn't good they're always pretty to watch.

12 Years a Slave (10/18/13)

Wow. This movie looks great. It has everybody's favorite people! Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Not to mention Paul Giamatti! This just feels like an Oscar contender already!

Saving Mr. Banks (12/20/13)

Speaking of Oscars, here's another film that may be a contender! The story behind the struggles Disney had obtaining the rights to "Mary Poppins". Little fun fact, the author hated that they casted Dick Van Dyke as a British person and refused to watch it... what a jerk!

Out of the Furnace (12/6/13)

There are only two things I don't like about this trailer. Zoe Saldana and Pearl Jam. Other than that it looks good.

Seventh Son (1/17/13)

I feel like I won't be able to hear anything but a drunken southern accent coming from Jeff Bridges mouth in this. It looks interesting, but I'm not really a huge fan of fantasy movies.

Filth (10/4/13)

If I were to judge Scotland on this trailer and "Trainspotting" alone, I'd say there is a massive drug problem there. I feel like the title of this movie is a very good warning to anyone who is offended easily.

Curse of Chucky (10/8/13)

........Why?