Enemy Mine

Enemy Mine
(1985) [Trailer]
Director: Wolfgang Petersen [IMDB]

This was a big favorite of mine as a child and back then it was one of my favorite sci-fi films. It has been a long time since I've seen it, but thanks to Twilight Time, it's now available on blu-ray and it looks spectacular.

Synopsis: In the future, Humans are at war with the Dracs and when Dennis Quaid (the Human) crash lands on a deserted planet with Louis Gossett Jr (the Drac) they have to learn to live with one another. Do they become friends or will their hatred grow? Watch the movie and find out you inquisitive fuck!

This movie rules very hard.... from beginning to end, it's a certified banger and just as good as I remember. Its major strength is that it takes a solid science fiction universe and instead of loading it with tons of flashy space battles, it focuses on two characters and builds them up in an impressive manner. You become so invested in these two that you start to forget that this is all taking part in the future. Their conflict is an obvious allegory for racism here in the present, but it doesn't bang you over the head with it in my opinion. I'd highly recommend this film if you're the least bit interested in sci-fi, it's a winner in my book.

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas
(2012) [Trailer]
Directors: Andy Wachowski (IMDB), Lana Wachowski (IMDB), Tom Tykwer (IMDB)

They should have hired Eddie Murphy for this movie.

Synopsis: We are all connected... each other's actions affect another in the past, present and future... or at least I think that's what this movie was trying to spit out.

I really dug this film, but I must say it's one I think I need to rewatch. It's extremely ambitious and very epic... which you might  have been able to gather by looking at the film's run time. I referenced Eddie Murphy earlier because he is the king at playing multiple rolls in one movie, which pretty much everyone in Cloud Atlas does. It's a cool idea and fairly well executed. I thought everyone also did a great job with their roles, the stand outs being Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent and Tom Hanks. The special effects were superb and are what you would expect from the Wachowskis. The negatives for me would be the interweaving story lines, they are all over the place and some felt more relavant than others to the overall plot. Again, I think on a rewatch it might help solidify everything... plus I was about 10 minutes late which could have possibly helped with wrapping my head around everything.

They Live

They Live
(1988) [Trailer]
Director: John Carpenter [IMDB]

This week saw the arrival of They Live on blu-ray... one of my favorite horror films and one of the best John Carpenter movies ever. I've eagerly been awaiting this title on blu and after watching it last night I can tell you... it did not disappoint.

Synopsis: A drifter stumbles upon a rebel force who have discovered a secret race of aliens who hide as humans and can only been seen with special glasses.

This a must for any horror and sci-fi fan and it looks glorious on blu-ray... it's a perfect transfer. This movie rules so much, now let me tell you why.

1. They Live has the best fight scene in film history... ok maybe not the best but it's one of the best.
2. The subliminal secret world of the aliens is a work of art, there are scenes and matte paintings in this that are fantastic and stills of them should be hanging in a museum.
3. The score, like all Carpenter films is the best.

This movie's rewatchability is insane, I feel like I could pop it back on right now and still love every second.

The Campaign

The Campaign
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Jay Roach [IMDB]

Synopsis: Will Ferrell plays a congressman who goes up against a surprise candidate... Zach Galifakjnakjnfdfsdis.

The trailer I saw for this film held a lot of promise and seemed like it could rise to "best comedy of the year" status... sadly, that was not the case. Actually, the biggest problem I had with The Campaign is that all the best parts are in the trailer. It was a real flat line for me and all the unspoiled comedic moments weren't really enough to make it a pass. Will and Zach do their shtick and it's what you'd expect from them at this point in their careers, but something seemed off for me. I didn't hate this, but it certainly could have been much better.

Halloween Anthology

Here's a beautiful poem called 'Halloween' to get you in the mood for this upcoming holiday season... Bonfires burning bright. Pumpkin faces in the night. I remember Halloween. Dead cats hanging from poles. Little dead are out in droves. I remember Halloween. If this beautiful limerick from the great Glenn Danzig doesn't do it for you, maybe a full detailed analysis of the Halloween anthology will.

Halloween

(1978) [Trailer]

Director: John Carpenter [IMDB]

Synopsis: A psycho killer escapes from the mental ward and goes on a killing spree.

I consider this one of the greatest horror films of all time and it's absolutely the best slasher film ever made. From that very first long extended shot of Micheal going through the house and killing his sister... I instantly fell in love with this movie. I really dig how Carpenter keeps injecting Michael into the background and letting the viewer know that he's always stalking his prey. The score is a masterpiece and untouched by any other horror film. For it's genre and time, it is perfection for me. Get on it.

Halloween II

(1981) [Trailer]

Director: Rick Rosenthal [IMDB]

Synopsis: Picking up moments after the ending of part 1... Michael returns to kill again.

Rick Rosenthal takes the directing reins, but Carpenter is still involved as a writer, so for me part two feels similar to it's predecessor. However, it's not nearly as good in my opinion. It's tends to drag it's feet a little towards the end and I started to lose interest. I'm not saying this is a bad film, it's not, it's just hard to recreate the glory of the first installment.

It was nice to see the kid from The Last Starfighter in this and also the return of Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch
(1982) [Trailer]
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace [IMDB]

Synopsis: Michael is back and ready for... wait... no he's not.

You read that right, there's no Michael Myers in this chapter and honestly I couldn't give a shit. I have 5 other movies starring that fucker that I have to watch, so it's a nice change of pace for me. Basically this film feels like an extended episode of the Twilight Zone but with a little more gore. It also reminded me a lot of They Live and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I really enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. The concept is a bit involved and the execution of it isn't 100%, but it's still solid film. Highlights for me were: 1. The overly catchy shamrock song I will probably be singing tomorrow. 2. The Doctor and girl's hook up that starts with the line "Where would you like to sleep, Dr. Challis?" 3. The score. 4. The creepy old lady knitting. 5. The kid being murdered... that's always fun.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
(1988) [Trailer]
Director: Dwight H. Little [IMDB]

Synopsis: Michaels back alright...

This film pays heavy homage to the first chapter. It hits on everything that makes these movies click and does a decent job at it. It's not miraculous but it's pretty entertaining. Acting wise it's alright, there are some spotty moments here and there. Donald Pleasence is back and this time there's a little girl that eats up most of the screen time, she's okay I guess... you may recognize her from Adventures in Babysitting.   The Return of Michaels Myers best moments come towards the last 20 minutes and the ending of the film is really solid.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
(1989) [Trailer]
Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard (IMDB)

Synopsis: Do I really need to add a synopsis at this point... I don't think so.

If part 4's intent was to emulate part 1, part 5's intent is to emulate part 4... basically it's the same soup warmed over... and definitely not as good. Judging from the close proximity of the release dates, it seems like this installment was cranked out to ride on the success of part 4. Revenge stars the same little girl, Donald Pleasence, and the main older teen from part 4. The weird thing is the older teenage girl is killed in the first 15 minutes and after she's killed it seems like no one even cares where she is or if she's ok... especially considering the circumstances. It seems pretty useless to me to bring that character back. Also there are these two cops who are partners and the director tries to give them this hokey slap stick vibe which didn't work for me... even going as far as to put these weird sound effects in, which were ridiculous. The last thing is the ending, it was bad... I won't spoil it but there's this unseen man with steel toed boots that's completely unexplained and pointless.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

(1995) [Trailer]

Director: Joe Chappelle [IMDB]

Synopsis: Refer to part 4.

This movie is a mess. Tonally 'The Curse of Michael Myers' is completely unlike the others so far and you immediately know that it was made in the 90's. I knew instantly that I was going to hate this film when the narration started in the beginning... you have this guy lazily giving you back story that really doesn't help support the film itself. I felt like most of this movie didn't really add up to anything cohesive. There's zero character development, so everyone that you're introduced to you could give a shit about when Michael is hacking them up. The addition of the druids and their back story didn't add much to this film as well.

One other glaring problem is... this is 6 years after the last movie, which would mean that Michael's niece (the little girl from the last two movies) is 15 years old and pregnant... there's no way the girl cast in this film is anywhere near 15.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
(1998) [Trailer]
Director: Steve Miner [IMDB]

Synopsis: Jamie Lee Curtis is back along with director Steve Miner from the Friday the 13th franchise.

This film moves back towards the original tone of the first two. There's a pretty long stretch with no activity in the middle of H20, and by no activity I mean... Michael chopping up people. You actually have a surprising cast of people who went on to bigger and better things... Josh Hartnett, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michelle Williams... oh yeah and L...L... Cool J? This installment focuses on Jamie Lee Curtis getting over her fear of Michael and confronting him head on. H20 is ok I guess and not as bad as I had heard.

One thing real quick... Michael steals a car in Illinois and drives it all the way to California.... how's he getting gas?

Halloween: Resurrection
(2002) [Trailer]
Director: Rick Rosenthal [IMDB]

Synopsis: Michael terrorizes a group of reality TV stars who invade his former home.

This movie is a turd. It's chopped full of product placement to the point where it bothered me, which it normally doesn't. It's a pretty weak story and delivered by a bunch of shit actors including Busta Rhymes. I'll be honest... I fell asleep halfway through this and I seriously have no desire to go back and see how it ended.

  

Cinderella

Cinderella
(1950) [Trailer]
Directors: Clyde Geronimi [IMDB], Wilfred Jackson [IMDB], Hamilton Luske [IMDB]

Synopsis: Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the... sorry... wrong movie.

I'm pretty sure everyone in the world has seen this film, well not everyone, but a shit ton of people have. You know what though, not everyone has seen it on Disney blu-ray (because it just came out this week) and I can tell you it looks like a whole new movie. Cinderella was an effective pacifier in the salad days of my young childhood and looking at it now brings back fond memories. My parents probably thought I was a little jerk and one of the most effective ways to shut up a little jerk... sit him in front of a Disney cartoon and let him zone the hell out. I don't think I need to explore the deeper meanings of this film, or why Disney's main character always come from single parent homes... that's right... think about it. Anyways, this is a good time... bibbidi-bobbidi-boo-boo bitches!

Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Martin McDonagh [IMDB]

This is the newest installment from the guy that brought you In Bruges, which I thought was a good film. His resume, besides that, is rather short so I was a bit hesitant going into this, especially considering some of the reviews out there for it.

Synopsis: Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken are dog kidnappers, when they steal the dog of a mob boss (Woody Harrelson), things start to go to Shih.... Tzu. See what I did there?

This film's greatest strengths lays in it's characters and dialog. Most are pretty memorable and extremely hilarious. Sam Rockwell stole the show for me, he was awesome. Walken, Waits, Harrelson, and Farrell are all strong too and help usher in the laughs. It was rad to also see a little cameo from Harry Dean Stanton as the Quaker psycho... Harry Dean Stanton rules. Seven Psychopaths is also pretty violent and serves up a ton of gore... which I loved. So people who have problems watching heads get hacked off with pipe saws... be warned!

Some of the things that annoyed me were all the meta references to itself and the process of writing the film as things unfold, it was ok at first but started to drag on after awhile. I felt like all the stuff with the Vietnamese psycho could have been just cut from the film all together, although I did enjoy Christopher Walken's resolution to that whole part of the story at the end of the film.

I don't know... there's actually not a ton to dislike here for me personally. I really enjoyed this a lot and found it highly entertaining. I will probably pick it up on blu-ray and give it a rewatch by end of year.