The Imposter

The Imposter
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Bart Layton (IMDB)

I've eagerly anticipated the release of this documentary ever since I first heard about it back in May on the Documentary Blog. It has a lot of buzz behind it and if Nirvana videos in the 90's taught us anything, it's that you pay attention to anything that's buzz worthy.

Synopsis: A kid in San Antonio goes missing. The grief stricken family gets a call from him 3 years later, turns out he's in Spain. Olé!

Wow... where to start with this one. First off, it's fantastic. It's completely put together in such a stunning way. If you're a fan of Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, or James Marsh... this is gonna be right up your alley. Great cinematography, score, reenactments, and editing all throughout this help elevate it above the norm.

What really impressed me about The Imposter is how fucking insane the story is and how it's real. It's not really spoiler territory to talk about the overall subject matter in this film, as they put everything out on the table right from the beginning... this guy is obviously not their son. All of the details surrounding how he got around customs, child protective services, the FBI, and also fooling the family is what makes this film great.

I couldn't recommend this enough. This is in limited release, you can check the theater locations and the trailer HERE.

Parents

Parents
(1989) [Trailer]
Director: Bob Balaban (IMDB)

I like to drink, especially red wine. It helps dull the pain of this mundane world I live in...

Anyways, I got house ripped last night and decided to watch this movie. When I started this I thought... am I really drunk? I was not... it's just this movie... it's weird as shit. 

Synopsis: Two red wine lovin' and red meat lovin' parents are raising a young boy in the 50's. The kid starts to realize the red meat served at dinner may not be prime rib, but prime human.

I really enjoyed this movie, much more then I thought I would before I put it in. I loved Cousin Eddie's performance in this, the little kid was surprisingly good as well. The 50's modern look to this worked really well with it's creepy tone. There's a few segments which were pretty intoxicating, I don't know how else to describe them. I don't do the weed, but if I did, I would imagine this would be a good movie to get a pizza and zone out on. This isn't too scary, more of a thriller, I'd compare it to The Stepford Wives meets David Lynch.

It's on Netflix instant... Dig it.

Event Horizon

Event Horizon
(1997) [Trailer]
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson (IMDB)

This review is only for my brother Steve Williams. If you are not Steve Williams close this page immediately. Ok Steve are you still there? Good... here we go.

Synopsis: You know the synopsis already man, you're the one that told me to watch this.

Good recommendation, I enjoyed this a lot. It's a nice blend of Alien meets The Thing meets Hellraiser... all wrapped up into a nice package. The effects seemed to hold up nicely and there were some spectacular set pieces... I especially loved the image of the astronaut walking down the hallway towards the gravity drive. The horror elements were really effective... the one scene of "hell" is quite disturbing and secured the film an extra star. Adrienne said "I don't like that woman's scary red eyes" so it's also doing something right there.

I will bump this into my top 50 just for you, cause I love you.... also cause it's creepy as shit.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Christopher Nolan (IMDB)

I can appreciate (and enjoy) when a film maker pulls off a movie that feels like a comic book (e.g. Spider-man 2 or The Avengers), but I always felt like Nolan's Batman was a little different. The Dark Knight is by far my favorite comic book movie, but it's very nontraditional to me. It's almost like a crime flick that happens to have superheros in it. I was also a fan of Batman Begins, which felt a little more comic booky. Is comic booky even a real phrase? So where does The Dark Knight Rises sit among these films?

Synopsis: Batman is back after a 6 year hiatus and is confronted by a new nemesis... Bain capital... I mean Bane.

I liked TDKR but I didn't love it. It would be in third place for me out of all the Nolan installments. Maybe upon a rewatch it'll bump up.

The Good: The movie looks incredible and has some of the best cinematography of any of the films. The Hans Zimmer score is intense as always. The action sequences are awesome, I'll talk about one in spoilers that I especially enjoyed.

The Bad: The pacing was off for me, the first third is pretty slow then the film starts to ramp up a bit through the middle, then finishes strong towards the end. I felt like Alfred's reservations about Bruce Wayne's current state seemed really over blown, especially considering Batman's history.

SPOILER START: I loved the fight scenes between Bane and Batman, especially the big one towards the end. The use of all the police and criminals surrounding the two as they duked it out was extremely effective in my book. I also dug the plan Bane enacted to take over the city, closing it off and trapping everyone in was a interesting spin on things. SPOILER END.

There are a lot of nitpicks you could have with this film, but honestly, I could sit down with any comic book movie and tear it apart. I had a good time with this over all and would recommend it for a good summer blockbuster.

Boat Trip

Boat Trip
(2002) [Trailer]
Director: Mort Nathan (IMDB)

My friend Thor requested on Facebook that I review this movie and I decided to take his order and dive into the cool waters that are home to Boat Trip. I'd never seen this film and based off the synopsis, it didn't look promising.

Synopsis: Two single straight guys accidentally book at trip aboard a gay cruise ship and the comedy ensues.

After 10 minutes into this I realized I had seen this movie, I take back what I said back earlier. Is it bad that I totally blocked any memory of this film from my mind? I don't think so. This movie is pretty shitty, but not awful. Surprisingly, I found there to be a lot of funny moments.  The absurdity of how these character act is unbelievable, but it's a stupid comedy, so I guess realism is out the door.

I don't know.... I could bash this film for a ton of reasons I guess, but it just seems as silly as the movie itself. It was entertaining enough and if you're in the mood to see Cube Gooding Jr do drag (cause I always am)... check it out.

Edit: Best parts about this film are Will Ferrell and James Bond.

Robocop

Robocop
(1987) [Trailer]
Director: Paul Verhoeven (IMDB)

I've brought up the nostalgia pass on this blog many times and I got to thinking about it. Should I really give a 5 star rating to a film I loved as a child, but now, may not be a perfect film? I think so, yes. I love the way movies like Krull, Gremlins, Commando, Aliens, and Rambo make me feel. They're like that favorite dish your Mom makes for you, sure it's not the Citrus Cured Australian Kampachi from Per Se, but it's still one of the best meals ever in your eyes. Robocop is like that for me. It's my shitty Polo sweatshirt I bought from a flea market in the 7th grade... I don't always wear it, but when I do it feels great.

Synopsis: Peter Weller is a Detroit cop who gets fucked up by a group of criminals and is so badly injured that they decide to turn him into a cyborg killing machine called... you guessed it... Robocop!

I watched this film to death as a young lad and for good reason. It's filled with great special effects, gore, violence, and all the other elements that make up a great Paul Verhoeven film. I especially enjoy the use of commercials throughout, which gives you the feeling of desensitization to all the madness unfolding.

There's a lot of theories surrounding this film out there and its deeper meanings. Besides Robocop being a digestible action flick, I think it's also a satirical view on modern times. Big business and capitalism's greed ultimately unfolding on the big screen and allowing the viewer to get a glimpse at the corruption abounding. It's pretty interesting to write things like that into the movie, whether or not it's intended by the film maker is a different story. Ultimately it's a fun ass time and what makes movies so awesome to me.