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Reviews
Cobra Kai (2018)
Simply Amazing
I was reluctant to watch this series, I am not going to lie. I loved all of the movies, even the terrible attempt at a reboot with Jackie Chan. In the end the hype over this series won out and my curiosity led to me watching just the first episode. That was last week and I am almost done the third season. It is that good, I cannot pry myself from it.
This series takes a good hard look at the lives of Johnny Lawrence and Daniel Laruso more than three decades after that fateful night at the end of the Karate Kid. What I love most about this movie is it takes Johnny from the role of a generic villain and shows the human side of him, and it does it so well that you will often find yourself rooting for him.
Johnny reopens the Cobra Kai dojo after his neighbor gets jumped by several kids outside of a convenience store. He wants to do better than his sensei did by him and soon finds his class attendance swelling with other marginalized kids that just want to end the bullying. As life often does though, events happen to hamper his success.
In response to Johnny opening his dojo, Daniel opens up Miagi-do karate and teaches his sensei's brand of karate to his daughter and Johnny's son. Daniel has turned into a success in life, and he credits all of it to the teachings of Mr. Miagi.
This series does an excellent job of running us all down memory lane and blending that with modern times. I could not recommend this enough!
Slasher: 3am to 6am (2019)
Decent final episode to a decent season
This review is more for the season than the episode, though I will touch on that as well. I have seen quite a few people hating on this season and I am not quite sure as to why. Certainly the first season was the best and probably will not be topped, but this one had a lot to offer. The writing has improved as has the choice in actors since season one, though the story is not as rich.
I do feel that this season especially tries to climb up on a platform and teach us the viewers a morality lesson, but so hasn't every piece of media we have consumed over our lives, some are just better at hiding the obviousness of it than others.
I did figure out who the killer was pretty early on, though there were enough red herrings thrown in to keep me from being 100% certain, so kudos to the writers on that. This episode does a nice job at tying up all the mystery that the season has presented and even allows for the redemption of some characters, though I personally did not care to see them redeemed. Just a great over-all series here.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
What just happened?
Just a brief preface here, I thought the first Wonder Woman with Gal Gadot was perhaps the best super hero movie not just from DC, but in recent times. It was intelligently written, supremely acted and heartfelt. I was beyond excited when I heard this movie was coming out. This movie, with the exception of one scene, was none of that.
For whatever reason this movie was set in the mid 80s, and all of their "glory", and parts of it felt like it was filmed in the 80s. Watch in amazement as Wonder Woman who took on an entire battle field of Germans and the fully automatic weapons as well as the God of war Aries, struggles to defeat a woman that wants to be a cat and a dude that grants wishes. Yeah, you read that right.
While the acting by all the leads was good, none of it was great. I do not know what DC has against putting out good movies, I really don't, but the evidence is substantial that they do. As I am a huge WW fan, I will probably add this to my movie collection, but I will only watch it when I need to be reminded of how badly it sucked.
I feel I must address the "special" effects here. In this day and age, with a movie as grandiose as this with a budget so large, no one should ever be able to tell that effects of any kind were used. Without spoiling things there is a scene where it is very clear that a gun is made of rubber, a scene where a dummy was used and it fooled no one, and a lot of the CGI is absolutely fake looking. I feel that if I can sit through Avatar or T2, movies that are ancient in comparison to this, that I should not be able to pick out suck flaws without even trying.
I give it a five star rating because as I said the acting is good, but also because the story and special effect were just weak. Watch this if you're a fan of WW, but not for any other reason.
Slasher (2016)
Horror anthology as it should be
Move aside American Horror Story, there is a new king in the anthology world.
At the time I write this I have only seen the first two seasons, but my review would have been the same after just the first episode to season one. This is a Canadian made anthology series about serial killers. The writers do an excellent job with the plot and keeping you guessing as to the true identity of the killer in each season. As the title implies it is a series about someone murdering people a lot like the horror movies of the eighties. Where AHS is superior in the casting department, this series in far superior in the gore and story telling. The only exception to this is the second season of AHS which I do not feel will ever be bested by any series ever, but I digress.
For everyone that is complaining about the casting, as I stated before this is a Canadian made series, so I am sure that they casted Canadian actors first, and those actors do a great job in their roles. If you are a true horror fan, then I cannot ay enough good about this and I suggest you drop everything and watch it poste haste. I did not give it ten stars only because it is close to perfect but not quite there.
Cabin Fever (2016)
I did not hate this.
Cabin Fever is a movie about five friends that rent a cabin on a body of water in some Podunk town where the locals are all a bit on the eccentric side, to be polite. On their first night a diseased man tries to enter the cabin and when denied entry tries to steal their car. They force him to leave through violence, but before long the members of the group start showing signs that they too have the disease.
I saw the original forever ago when it first came out and pretty much forgot about it. Going through Netflix, I saw this and decided to watch it. It was pretty close to a shot for shot copy of the first film, but I must say that the special effects were better. If you are not someone that is part of the cult that loves the original and have not seen that one for years, then this one will not disappoint you. Pretty solid horror movie here.
W lesie dzis nie zasnie nikt (2020)
Good low budget horror
I found this on Netflix and since it has been a while since I last saw a decent horror, I decided to give it a go. The story is centralized on five teens and their counselor at a camp where parents send their tech addicted kids for a forced detox. On the first night of them camping in the woods away from the larger group they are besieged by a pair of unnaturally large and deformed men that are driven by the need to kill.
This is described as a slasher film, but it is more along the lines of Wrong Turn or The Hills Have Eyes.
So the positives; First the gore factor is pretty high for a newer movie and the effects are all definitely practical. This being the first Polish produced film I have ever seen, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the acting. Over all the effects are good, though there were some issues with a severed head and the prosthetics that the killers wear.
The negatives; The movie is like every other horror that has come before, the groups is slowly killed until there is but one lone survivor, and you can tell who that will be pretty much from the beginning. The only other negative I could see was the afore mentioned issues with the effects, up and until the ending. There is a scene at the end after you think the movie is done. I would say that you should skip watching that scene as it detracts from the rest of the movie
All in all this was an enjoyable entry into the horror franchise.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Great movie despite the fact that the book was far superior
Doctors and paleontologist/paleo biologist Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant are invited by one John Hammond to inspect a biological reserve that is "right up their alley". Reluctant at first, Hammond makes them a monetary offer that they cannot refuse and they join up with Hammond's lawyer Gennaro and a mathematician Ian Malcolm. They are whisked away to a small Island by Costa Rica where Hammond's scientists have cloned dinosaurs. The team is at first swept up in the magic of the place, but a disgruntled employee with designs on getting rich by selling pilfered dinosaur embryos soon sets events in motion that sees the dinosaurs freed from their enclosures. What follows is a edge of your seat thrill ride as the cast tries to avoid becoming dinner to a host of carnivores.
This movie still holds up even though it is approaching three decades since it was released. The special effects are phenomenal and the cast is superior. It is easy to get sucked into the story even if you have seen this movie thirty times.
If you have read the book but never seen the movie, you will be disappointed by some of the choices that were made when adapting the screenplay, but it does hold pretty close to the source material. Overall one of my favorite movies.
A History of Violence (2005)
Great character study
We are introduced to Tom Stall, played with greatness my Vigo Mortensen, a mild mannered owner of a small restaurant in a small town. He is married to a lawyer named Edie and played by the lovely Mario Bello. They have two kids and seem like the perfect nuclear family. One day a duo of would be robbers come into the restaurant with more than taking money and goods on their minds. Thinking that the pair means to ends everyone's lives, Tom leaps into action and dispatches the pair, with seemingly unbelievable ease. This brings the unwanted attention of the press as Tom is lauded as a hero. Gaining national attention it is not long before someone shows up in town, calling Tom by a different name and alleging that Tom had wronged him. It is clear that this man had malice in his heart. Could this be a simple case of mistaken identity or has Tom been hiding a secret past where he led a life of violence?
This movie is a gripping thriller with an excellent cast. I have only seen this a few times and once I am done writing this review will seek out an buy a copy. The acting is on point and the pacing is just slow enough to keep it interesting without the action being the central theme. Highly recommend this movie.
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Julia Roberts best movie
If you have not seen this movie, I assume that you live under a rock. This is the mostly factual story of Erin Brockovich. She is a struggling single mom of three kids. The story starts out with her getting into an accident and hiring a lawyer. Ultimately she loses her case because of her surly attitude and foul mouth. Unable to find work and flat broke from her accident, Erin begins to pester her lawyer Ed Massery until he agrees to hire her in a minimalistic role in his small firm. When Erin is given a seemingly simple task on a real estate case she stumbles upon one of the biggest cases of industrial poisoning and the ensuing cover-up. As they dig further and further the depth of PG&E's negligence becomes massive.
This is a great movie on so many levels. Ms. Roberts shines in this role as never before and the supporting cast is equally as amazing. What this company did, and what so many more like it have done, is beyond reprehensible, yet they are still allowed to operate and make money. This is a great movie and everyone should watch it at least once.
Black Rock (2012)
I do not get the terrible reviews
This is the story of three women that were once really close friends that decide to get together on a remote island in Maine to reconnect. Very swiftly their idyllic trip falls apart when they run into some men with nefarious intentions. The women must come together like never before to survive and outwit their hunters.
This is not a great movie, but it is definitely good. As other reviewers pointed out, it is formulaic, but aren't 95% of the movies out there? The three lead actresses do a great job and there are some legitimate tense moments.This is a great movie for you to shut down your brain and go on a thrill ride.
Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
What? I found it funny
I have always liked Tom Green and thought this movie was quite funny. It is not a 10 star film as others would have you believe, but is certainly is not a one star film either. If you enjoy Adam Sandler in his earlier movies, then you should like this one just fine.
Casper (1995)
I enjoy this just as much today as I did 25 years ago.
James and Kat Harvey played by Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci, head to Maine. Dr. James Harvey has made a name for himself as a psychiatrist to the dead and helps ghosts move on. They arrive at Whipstaff manor and find it haunted by fours ghost, only one of whom is friendly and his name is Casper. The joke is that up until this point the good doctor had never actually encountered a ghost before. Kat and Casper become friends while the doctor tries to work on the three other ghosts to help them move on. It is discovered that there is a treasure hidden within the walls of Whipstaff and the rightful owner of the house, a "delightful" woman named Carrigan wants it and nothing will stop her from getting it, not even murder.
This is a delightful film that is suitable for most ages. This movie was the first to use CGI for a leading character and for the most part that animation holds up. I have watched this quite a few times and always enjoy it. I do not understand the low rating here.
Heavenly Sword (2007)
This is my favorite game of all time-no really
This is the story of an evil ruler, Bohan who is on a quest to collect mystical weapons as trophies. He will slaughter all who stand in his way. This quest leads him to the clan of Nariko and her people. They have been guardians of the Heavenly Sword, once wielded by a deity and known to claim the life of any mortal that uses it. Nariko is the daughter of the leader Shen and tasked with protecting the sword. When given the choice between handing the sword over to Bohan or surrendering her father's life, Nariko decides to use the sword instead. She is helped along the way by Kai, a catlike woman that is an expert with a bow that is a lot like a mini gun. When Nariko ultimately loses the sword she must fight to not only regain it but also save the lives of the rest of her clan.
This game is perfect in every aspect. It is a wonderful and layered story. As such, even though you know the ending you will want to revisit it often. The animation, especially on the PS3 is phenomenal and I can honestly say that in the cut scenes I have not seen the equal, even to this day. Ninja Theory designed the crap out of this and the best feature they came up with is the after touch. This allows you to slow down projectile weapons and by tilting the controller direct them where you want them to go. This comes in quite handy with the catapult and the bow.
I have played through this game more times than I can remember and it is the only reason I still have a PS3. Everyone that I told about this game and let borrow my copy ended up buying their own. Yeah it is that good. If you have a PS3 still and have not yet played this, then do it. If you do not have a 3, go get one along with this game.
Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)
Great for all ages.
Jim Carrey plays Mr. Popper, a man that has little joy in his life. He is separated or divorced, I do not think this is specified and sees his two kids infrequently. We learn from the start of the movie in flashback form that his father was some kind of explorer and never home. Sadly he never came back. This sets the believability stage as to why Popper is such a failure as a father.
One day a mysterious box shows up and within it is a penguin. After much hullabaloo in trying to rid himself of the bird, Popper reaches out to the company that delivered it and in a misunderstood conversation gets five more. His kids, of course fall in love with the birds and his ex Amanda starts to see Popper in a different light. There is a subplot thrown in here about how Popper works to buy real estate cheap and then sell it off for a huge profit, but that has little to do with the story until the ending.
The only part of this that I had a problem with was the "evil" zoo guy trying to get the penguins for his own purposes, but I suppose every story needs a villain.
This is a great comedy that works for all ages. It is a great story of redemption and second chances as well. Pop in Mr,. Poppers Penguins whether you have kids or not and enjoy a funny story that just might tug at your heart strings as well.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Before Tom Holland, this was THE Spider-Man
The sequel to the smash Spider-Man could not come fast enough for me. It did not disappoint. This movie deals with the inner turmoil of Peter Parker as he tries to ignore his desire for love and happiness in an effort to be the hero that New York needs. Peter's jobs are suffering, his college work is suffering and his personal life is non-existent as he rushes from one crime to the next. He is still pining away for MJ, but is firm in his belief that to keep her safe she must stay at arms length from him.
Harry Osborn has taken on a project led by Otto Octavius to create a source of renewable energy akin to a small star. Ocatavius employs a device that plugs directly into his mind and outfits him with an additional four arms that can withstand the reaction in his device. When things go wrong, the inhibitor chip in the arms gets fried and Octavius become corrupted and is now the super villain Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man starts to lose his powers as he fights his inner demons ans Peter hangs up the suit and tries to live life as a normal man. Fate would prove to be against him and he is forced to once again don the suit and take on the guise of Spider-Man in order to defeat Doc Oc.
This is probably my favorite of all the entries into the world of the web slinger. It does a tremendous job exploring the human side of the superheroes we all admire. Doc Oc was always my favorite villain and Alfred Molina breahtes him to life in a far better fashion than I could have hoped. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that is a fan of Spider-Man,
Predator (1987)
Definitive action movie
When some American diplomats are taken hostage, the army calls in a elite team of soldiers led by Dutch (Arnold) to go a retrieve them. They are air dropped into the thick of a Central American jungle as a team of six with a forced upon them seventh, Dillon (Carl Weathers). Before long they find a green barret team that has been killed and skinned. It does not take them long to discover that they are being hunted by something that is not human and next to impossible to kill. As Dutch tries his best to lead his team to the extraction point, it becomes clear that the hunted need to become the hunters.
At the time I write this, this movie is 33 years old, and it still holds up. This is a great action movie, a great sci/fi movie, a great guy movie, it is just great. Forget what has come along with the Predator name attached to it and watch the grandpappy of them all, you won't regret it.
Interesting side not, this movie features two future Govenors, Arnold Swarzeneggar and Jesse Ventura.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
A sad and somber look at humanity
This is the story of Monica and Henry Swinton, a couple that loses their son to a disease. In their despair they turn to a company that makes robot children, to help fill the void of grieving parents. They get David, and he bonds heavily with his new mother. In a twist though their son Martin makes a miraculous recovery and this causes David to be left out. The robot children are highly sensitive and adaptive, so as to make them seem more human. In a gut wrenching turn of events, David's mom decides to abandon him in the woods so that her real son feels neither neglected nor like he is second fiddle.
David begins a quest to find his mother that leads him into eternity. Along the way he encounters many like him, though they are not children, that have been discarded by the humans that created them. This movie puts out the ultimate question to me; What right do we have trying to create intelligent machines that love us when we will ultimately abandon them?
This is a very sobering look at the human condition and our range of emotions and greed. This always makes me feel a little worse about humans as a whole. Very good movie and it should be seen by all.
Love (2015)
Not great, but far from bad
Let's just get this out of the way, there is a lot of unsimulated sex in this movie. This is definitely on par with porn, but since it was shot with "real" actors it was allowed in theaters. I did see somewhere online that there is a super cut of all the sex scenes from this and it comes in at just under 30 minutes, so let that inform your decision to watch or not.
This is a story of a couple that are in a very sexual relationship and decide to invite their beautiful neighbor to join them. This causes problems.
If you like 9 Songs then you will most decidedly like this. Love probably features more sex but does offer a lot more plot as well.
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
Porn with a depressing plot
I did not like volume I, and I liked this one just as much. People are more worried about whether the penises were really those of the actors and the same for the vaginas. Were they really having sex or was it CGI? This is little more than pretentious porn with a depressing plot line. Go to a website and get your jollies there and save yourself some time.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Never understood the draw
I saw this in the theater when it came out, and the only thing I got out of it was a migraine. This movie deals with a local legend about a witch that haunts some woods and a group of people that try to find evidence of her. It was the first in the "found footage" genre, and that is about the only good thing that can be said about it.
I sat through the entire run of this waiting for something scary or even creepy to happen and it never did. In fact, just when the movie started to show promise it ended.
Hated this then, still hate it now.
The Thing (2011)
This is why you leave perfection alone
I am not going to lie, when they announced this movie, I was pretty excited. Carpenter's The Thing is not only a classic, but is pretty damned near perfect.
This movie tells the tale of how the Norwegian team finds the thing and the ultimate destruction of their camp unfolds. There are some interesting pieces to the puzzle that are added, but outside of that the movie did not really meet the mark. This could all well be because we all knew how this had to end, I am not sure.
I gave this 5 stars because the greed of Hollywood should have just not made this movie. Sometimes there is no need to revisit something that is almost perfect.
2001 Maniacs (2005)
Not even Freddy could save this.
Eight people, in different groups, are heading south for spring break when they encounter a detour sign. They end up in a tiny town that has no power or running water and the residents are about to throw a jubilee. It seems that these eight people are to be the unwilling guests of honor. It slowly becomes obvious (if it wasn't already) that the town folks mean to kill all of the outsiders in a vendetta against northerners.
I remember seeing the original film a very long time ago and this one pales in comparison. Robert Englund does his very best to carry this movie, but alas it was not meant to be.The director throws in plenty of very nice gratuitous nudity but as soon as that passed I found my interest lagging.
Don't get me wrong, it was not all bad, but it was far from good. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had never seen this original.... Go ahead and watch this if you are a fan of Englund and B movies.
Sister Act (1992)
Before Whoopi lost her mind
This is the story of Deloris Wilson who grows up to be a Reno lounge singer and takes on the last name Van Cartier, played by Whoopi. She is dating the married casino owner named Vince and played with a suitable amount of menace by Harvey Keitel. After Deloris decides to leave both Vince and the casino to seek her fortunes elsewhere she overhears him order the killing of a man. Deloris is placed in protective custody by a cop named Eddie and played by Bill Nun.
She ends up staying in a convent, much to the chagrin of the mother superior, under the guise of being a nun, Marie Clarence. It swiftly becomes evident that Deloris cannot conform to the life of a nun and is put to work to occupy her time. She ends up running the choir and turns them into a sensation. The mother does not agree with Deloris's choices with the music arrangements, but everyone else is thrilled with the new sound of the choir and it even helps bring more people to the church.
On the day that the Pope is set to visit and see the new choir it comes out that Vince has learned of Deloris's hideaway. His thugs capture her and the nuns launch a plan to save her.
This is a total feel good movie and all the parts are played excellently. The musical numbers are both fun to watch and hear. I invite you to go back and visit or revisit this film and forget the fact that Whoopi is now psych.
Until Dawn (2015)
Absolute perfection.
This is a horror movie where you get to play as almost every single character, need I say more? OK. The game opens with the unfortunate death of two sisters. Their brother Josh calls all of the friends back together one year later. They gather in his family's cabin up in the snow covered mountains. There is something or someone sinister about, trying to or succeeding in killing off the characters (results will vary depending on your choices).
This game was a blast. I am on my third trip through and let me tell you, the tension is still there. Granted it is a little less than the first trip through, but it's there. This kind of game where you do more choosing that taking part may not appeal to a lot of gamers, but if you're a fan of all things horror you would be crazy not to play it.
Cat People (1982)
A definite classic
This story centers around Irena and Paul Gallier, played by Natassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell. They are an estranged brother and sister as she was raised by adoptive parents. The day after Irena arrives Paul goes missing. We are then introduced to Oliver Yates played by John Heard as the head of the local zoo. He is called in when a black panther is discovered with a dead hooker in a hotel. By pure happenstance Irena and Oliver end up meeting and she starts to date him. When Paul returns he makes sexual advances on Irena, insisting that they can only mate with each other or they will turn into the black panther and kill others. Irena tries to hide from the truth but she is inexorably drawn to Oliver.
Back when I first saw this movie, what seems like forever ago, it was quite creepy if not scary. I just had the chance to rematch this and I can say that it seemed to drag on a bit. This was one of the entries into the horror genre that tried to tell a story, and it did indeed tell one. I would say that it seemed like McDowell over acted a bit, but that could have been the director's decision.There is not a lot of sex or nudity in here, but Natassja walks around the entire movie without a bra and wearing transparent clothing. She is in a couple of nude scenes, one with a very explicit full frontal shot where her genitals are clearly seen. Annette O'Toole also has a rather lengthy topless scene. This is a solid thriller that does take some concentration to make it through when viewed through the lens of modern movies.