Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary
(1989) [Trailer]
Director: Mary Lambert (IMDB)

I used to love playing music. I played in bands, toured, and recorded records... all that's dead now. My dreams faded away and that passion is no longer pulsing through my veins. I look back on those days and remember my first foray into that world. My two best friends and I decided that for Christmas we would each ask for an instrument. Them, the drums and guitar, and me the bass. We were nice that year and Santa delivered the goods. Now we were a band, but what to call ourselves? We all were fans of horror movies, especially Stephen King's Pet Sematary, why not something from that? We decided to name ourselves "Dead is Better" after one of the more iconic lines in the film. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess, like my dreams, dead really is better.

Pet Sematary is about a special cemetery, and if buried there, things come back to life, but they never come back the way they were...

This movie was one of my favorite horror movies growing up, and I still really enjoy it. It's not a perfect film, but it still holds up in my book. The casting is spotty, I like Lieutenant Tasha Yar and Herman Munster, but I'm not a fan of the Dad and little girl. It's still creepy as shit, and there's a lot of arm hair raising moment. I also enjoyed the practical effects, the blood and gore scenes were well done. It's one of those films where you'll question a lot of things, like why would Herman Munster take the dad to the graveyard knowing what happens after the dead come back, and why wouldn't these people just throw up a speed limit sign, but I guess then we wouldn't have a movie now would we.

Anyways, it's available on Netflix instant and I'd recommend you check it out.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
(1991) [Trailer]
Director: Stephen Herek (IMDB)

This is my second review about a babysitting movie in as many as 6 days. Both movies star Keith Coogan. I could imagine Coogan's agent calling him up about this film.

Agent: "Hey Keith, great news, got you another part."
Coogan: "Oh awesome, I need the work, what's the roll?"
Agent: "Ok, now hear me out... It's another movie about... babysitting."
Coogan: "Shit..."

A group of "kids" are left home with a babysitter when their mom decides to head to Australia for a little me time. The babysitter bites the dust and the comedy ensues.

Just like my last review of Adventures in Babysitting, these kids are way too fucking old to have a babysitter and to make matters worse... there are two "kids" that are clearly of age to babysit. That said, it didn't ruin the film, I actually enjoyed this. It's corny at times and a bit silly, but harmless enough. Christina Applegate is pretty good in the role as substitute mom... is it just me or does she always look a little white trashy? The Coogar is a pothead in this role and hangs with a bunch of cliche rocker types, but he's much more memorable in this movie. There's definitely a lot of cheese in this but for a movie that's easy to put on and tune out for a bit, it gets the job done.

War Horse

War Horse
(2011) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Spielberg (IMDB)

Sam Slater (EVFS contributor) and I are having a debate here. I believe that Steven Spielberg has never made a terrible movie, Sam is under the impression that he has. While he does have some stinkers in his collection, I still wouldn't say they're terrible. Terrible is a strong adjective, and a word I don't throw around lightly, kinda like how Justin (another WFR contributor) doesn't throw around the word 'love'. I guess we all have our special words... So next time I say something is terrible, you'll know I mean it.

War Horse is about... you guessed it... a horse. His story is interwoven between different care takers and all takes place in Europe during WWI.

The film was pretty decent and it has a lot of the tropes that make a good Spielberg movie. One element would be a great score which is strategically placed to tear at the heart strings or to make you smile. Another would be the cinematography, which I thought was fantastic. The story of this film is okay, but a bit far stretched at times, and a little overly cheesy. It had a bit of a "oscar bait" feel to it. I felt that every actor was serviceable but not very memorable, with probably the best (and too short) performance coming from Benedict Cumberbun...I mean Cumberbatch.

To sum it up, War Horse is okay yet a bit forgetful in my book. It came out on blu-ray and VOD this week and you can peep the trailer HERE.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
(2012) [Trailer]
Directors: Mark Neveldine (IMDB), Brian Taylor (IMDB)

This video highlights why I love Nicolas Cage. He's not always in the greatest films, but even shit like 'Season of the Witch' is a little more tolerable with him in it. I never saw the first Ghost Rider film, I heard it was awful, but when I saw the trailers for this movie a few months ago, I must admit, I was kind of curious to check it out.

Johnny Blaze (aka Nic Cage) is the Ghost Rider, a man who made a deal with the devil and now is unable to control himself as he periodically turns into a flaming skull head who rides a motorcycle. Pretty ridiculous right?

I'll start by saying... I didn't hate this. I figured it would be garbage but it surpassed my exceptions; however, it's not a great film by any means. I did think the special effects were impressive, the ghost rider was awesome and the CG flames didn't bother me at all, I especially liked the scenes with him riding during the day towards the end of the film. There were some parts when he's transforming that looked wanky, but once he becomes the Ghost Rider it's okay. The supporting cast were alright and It was nice to see Stringer Bell up in there.

Now the bad: The story was really weighed down, and has a lot of unnecessary details that didn't seem to be really important, maybe they were more related to the first film, not sure, don't care. Overall I think the general plot was just... boring.

I might pick this up on the baby blu if I find it on the cheap and revisit this... see maybe if it gets better after another run. It's still in theaters and you can peep the trailer right HERE.

Rad

Rad
(1986) [Full Movie]
Director:

The 1980's. A decade of excess, Ronald Reagan, new wave, video games, cold wars and other nifty things. This era saw some incredibly awful fashion and music trends, all of which found their way into cinema. One movie that encapsulates this decade better then any other would be Rad.

Cru Jones (what a great name) is a paperboy who's looking to showcase his biking skills at Hell Track, a new course and home to the biggest race in BMX history.

As mentioned before, this movie is extremely dated. Really awfully in fact, but I almost kind of enjoy it, like a "so bad it's good" deal. I am gonna take a second of your time to showcase some of the things that I found ridiculous.

1. The dance. Wow, there's so much bad here it's almost too hard to believe it. First the twins, lets take a second to check out their wardrobe. Example 1. Example 2 (Example 2 is from later in the film, but wow). Is this Star Trek or Rad? Also, their dance moves rule. The bicycle dance between Cru and Aunt Becky featuring the band Real Life's "Send Me an Angel" can only best be describe by viewing it with your own eyes... which you can do right HERE... simply amazing.

2. The log water slide scene is absolutely hilarious. When brought down into slo-mo, it becomes the cherry on top of the Rad sundae. Also, what's with Aunt Beckys sweat suit? You can preview this wonderful gem right HERE.

3. The bike race at the end is sweet. It still holds up, and is fun to watch. Especially the big drop scenes, I enjoyed the camera angles on those. But... I will say one thing... Cru's a fucking cheater. He take multiple "shortcuts" throughout both races, that kinda shit would normally disqualify you.

It's hard for me to hate this film seeing as how I watched it everyday one summer as a kid. I would say a comparison film would be North Shore, but unlike Rad, I think North Shore is legitimately good, not bad good. I definitely enjoyed re-watching this, and I recommend you do the same.

Adventures in Babysitting

Adventures in Babysitting
(1987) [Trailer]
Director: Chris Columbus (IMDB)

This was a movie that I looked back fondly on and as a child I remember thinking it was incredible. I haven't seen this since the 80's and obviously I'm an old piece of shit now who's soul has been hardened by the cruel hand of life... will I still feel the same way about this movie?

Elisabeth Shue is a babysitter who gets more than she bargained for one night when she's forced to take the kids that are under her custody into Chicago to pick up her dumbass friend.

Well, sadly this film didn't hold up to my memories of it... guess I really am jaded. First and foremost, Keith Coogan is WAY too old to have a babysitter, he's a freshman in high school, if anything he should be boning Elisabeth Shue. The little girl's obsession with Thor is a little over the top and unbelievable. The neighborhood kid that comes along is annoying, but Elisabeth Shue's friend is the absolute worst. The worst, seriously... lets break this down. She's a senior in high school and running away from home? No bitch, it's called growing up, move the fuck out if you're unhappy with your parents. Okay next, she runs away to the city bus station... then loses her shit because she decided she doesn't want to run away. Now she's freaked out because she's stuck at the station... TAKE THE BUS BACK HOME. If you run away from home without enough money to get a return ticket to the suburbs (which is only a few miles away from the city), you deserve to die (plus where was she deciding to head off to after the city if she doesn't even have money to get back home...fail.) When I was in high school in Virginia Beach I was taking road trips up to Richmond and DC all the time, which were hours away. God, that girl sucks, and so does this movie.

Almost forgot... the blues club scene is brutal... almost unwatchable.

The Ocean's Trilogy (Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen)

I tend to enjoy Steven Soderbergh's films and have been meaning to check out all the Ocean's films for some time now. I dug Ocean's Eleven when I saw it in theaters but for some reason never got around to seeing the other two. Recently I picked up the trilogy on blu-ray and I will now dissect all three films.

Ocean's Eleven

(2002) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Soderbergh (IMDB)

A group of thieves including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and others plan to rob three of the biggest Vegas casinos in a heist of epic proportions. 

This flick is still as good as I remember it being. It rides the line between being stylish, cool, funny, exciting and suspenseful. I was quite fond of Soderbergh's direction in this and there's lots of really interesting panning shots and fade outs. All the characters are pretty memorable and seem well cast - I especially enjoyed Clooney's performance. Even though I normally hate him, I thought Andy Garcia was decent as the bad guy. The selecting of the team and planning of the job are both detailed and fun to watch unravel. Ultimately the story is straight to the point and Soberbergh gets the heist into gear quickly without everything seeming to drag. So far this is my favorite and overall just an extremely entertaining film.

Ocean's Twelve
(2004) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Soderbergh (IMDB)

 The gang is reunited and off to Europe to pull another set of jobs after Andy Garcia hunts them down to collect on his stolen money.

There's a lot more of the same in this film from Ocean's Eleven: cool cinematography, a great roster, a tremendous score, but with Europe as the back drop this time which visually turned things up a notch. I found the plot to be a little dense and uninteresting at times. Since George Clooney and Julia Roberts held down the romance in Eleven, Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones step in to fill that role this time around and honestly.... I felt as if the movie could have done without that element. I also didn't feel as if the heist was that epic, at least when compared to the first installment. I don't know, I definitely didn't hate this but I think it's missing a little something.

Ocean's Thirteen
(2007) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Soderbergh (IMDB)

The team find themselves back in Vegas when one of their members is screwed over by Al Pacino in a bad hotel deal. When the boys catch wind of this double cross they plan to enact vengeance.

This movie, again, has all the elements that made the last two movies memorable so I'll save you the breakdown on those parts. I noticed Soderbergh over saturates a lot of the scenes in the this film, especially inside the casino, which stands out at times. The addition of Al Pacino as the bad guy was cool, but didn't seem to elevate anything. Julie Roberts and Zeta-Jones do not return and the romance angle had been removed, with the exception of Ellen Barkin (who looks disgusting I might add) and Matt Damon's fling, which is more of a joke then anything. Again, the heist isn't as grand this time, but it's better then part two. Twelve and Thirteen are in the same boat ratings-wise, but Twelve barely edges this out as the better film based off of some of the more fascinating things done with direction; however, Ocean's Eleven is by far the best of the trilogy.

RIP Bernie Mac.