Looper

Looper
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Rian Johnson [IMDB]

Rian Johnson is responsible for two of my favorite episodes from one of my favorite television shows ever... Honey Boo Boo Child... I'm playing with you... it's Breaking Bad. I thought his new film Looper looked awesome when I first saw the trailer a few months back and it immediately rose to the top of my must see list. Well I saw it today... so here it goes.

Synopsis: In the future Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a hired killer who runs into his future self (Bruce Willis) and things get a little weird.

I will say this...  to you people reading right now... this is a must see. It's officially Curtis approved, so it's a safe bet... a done deal if you will. It's especially a must see if you're into sci-fi and time travel flicks. It's really a movie that anyone can appreciate and it has great accessibility to it. Looper takes what may seem like a complicated story and makes it easy to follow, plus it keeps you completely entertained for the whole ride. The future world Johnson creates is pretty impressive and the cinematography used to frame it is top notch. The action comes in small spurts and is strategically placed, but it's very well done.  There were a few holy shit moments peppered throughout which were extremely effective, but mostly this is just a well written film and it doesn't need a lot of flash to hide behind anything. Most of the negatives I've heard about Looper were in regards to Joseph Gordon-Levitt's make up and look. I think it's fantastic and he does a great job impersonating Bruce Willis in my opinion.

Again, I'd go ahead and pop on this right away, it opened wide this weekend.

Unstoppable

Unstoppable
(2010) [Trailer]
Director: Tony Scott [IMDB]

Chris Pine is the new Captain aboard the star ship Enterprise. I love Star Trek and awhile back I reviewed The Captains, which is a documentary about the various captains of Star Trek... including Chris Pine. I started to notice over the next few weeks after reviewing it that the post gained a tons of hits... mainly because of one key phrase people typed into google that led them to my site. That phrase is "Chris Pine nude". My review included a joke picture of Chris Pine half naked... Click here. I am only including this info because I want this review to also get a lot of "hits" and also to show you that it's a sick world out there.

On to business.

Synopsis: A big ass train gets loose and head towards a city and Chris Pine and Denzel team up to save the day.

Tony Scott sadly took his own life back in August and like many, I was very bummed to hear the news. I will be the first to admit, I don't dig all his films, but I love many of them and I truly respect the man and his work. This is the last film he made and I ended up finding it for cheap on blu-ray so I scooped it up. It's a lot better than I thought it'd be. It's pretty predictable but I think Scott does a bang up job keeping the suspense high enough that you don't lose interest. The cinematography is fantastic and helps add to the excited tone that this movie carries throughout. I also enjoyed Denzel and Pine together, their chemistry seemed genuine.

All aboard for Unstoppable... God that was corny.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Killer Klowns from Outer Space
(1988) [Trailer]
Director: Stephen Chiodo [IMDB]

Synopsis: Clowns from another world touch down in a small town and begin to entertain the locals... I'm kidding, they kill the locals.

This was one of my favorite horror movies as a young tyke and I loved stupid shit so it's no wonder I found this amusing. This movie is completely ridiculous and that's why I love it so much. If you want to bathe in campy B-movie excess, this is the film for you.  At one point in the movie a cop is ignoring the phone lines because he thinks the whole clown thing is a prank, it was at this point my wife says "this is completely unrealistic." I had to remind her that we were watching a film about killer clowns... from outer space. But that's the point, it's absurd, but a lot of fun. The special effects, costumes and set pieces are incredible... this film has a totally unique look whether you like it or not. The worst thing about this film is the acting, it's pretty awful, but lets be honest, you're not expecting Shakespeare with a film called Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

The Indiana Jones Anthology

Last week saw the release of the long awaited Indiana Jones box set on blu-ray. Bringing these bad larrys to blu-ray is long over due but I can say it was worth the wait... as they look and sound incredible. So let's get into this.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

(1981) [Trailer]

Director: Steven Spielberg [IMDB]

Synopsis: Indiana Jones is on the hunt for a.... like you don't know already. 

God this movie is so good. Its rewatchability is insane and it has to be one of the most entertaining films I know. I would say it's a nostalgia thing, but it isn't, it's seriously epic. I normally don't throw around that word (epic) but in this case it fits. If I had just seen this for the first time last night I would love it just as much as the 7 year old me. The set pieces, music, cinematography, and pacing are all what you would expect from an 80's Spielberg film. Oh, one last thing, the face melt scene is the best.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(1984) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Spielberg [IMDB]

Everything I said about Raiders pretty much rings true here... actually I'm not really sure which one I like better. As a kid this was the first of the Indiana Jones films I remember seeing and it mesmerized me. There's some extremely memorable stuff in here... the heart being pulled from the chest, the chilled monkey brains, the mine shaft chase... I love all of it. I think I enjoy the girl from part one better, but this has Short Round... so I guess they are even.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Spielberg [IMDB]

Indiana's back and this time his father, Sean Connery, joins in on the fun. All the bells and whistles Spielberg implores in the other installments can be found here... for me it's just not as effective here. Maybe it's the addition of Sean Connery or the back story on Indiana in the beginning, but there's something a little off. I love how dark and ominous the tone of Temple of Doom was, but this film loses that and trys to emulate Raiders a little too much. Not that this is a bad film, it isn't, it's great... I just don't like it as much as the first two. There are just not as many memorable moments in this, especially compared to it's predecessors.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
(2008) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Spielberg [IMDB]

I know a lot of people hated this film and many say it's the worst of the series. While I would agree it's the worst of the lot, it's by no means a bad film. I'd say the worst part of it is Harrison Ford. His acting is bad, it's painful to watch at times. I actually didn't mind Shia LaBeouf as the son, I know he got shit on but he's pretty serviceable. The other thing people harped on was the inclusion of Aliens. I actually enjoy that angle and thought it brought something interesting to the table. They are no more absurd than an evil priest ripping a guy's heart out or a man surviving a plane crash with a life raft. These films are meant to be over the top and unbelievable.