Archive for November, 2012

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Movie Review: The Collection

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , , on 11/29/2012 by Taylor Holt

Stars: Josh Stewart, Chris McDonald, Emma Fitzpatrick, Randall Archer

Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, language and brief nudity, Running time 82 minutes, Horror/Thriller

Compare to: Cube (1997), Saw II (2005)

I’ve got to be honest, I’ve been waiting on this one for a while. It’s not that the predecessor to this film, The Collector (2009) is a must-see film before you die, I just liked it for what it was anyway: bloody horror, with an antagonist to the villain, something we rarely get in horror movies. Usually, the most we can hope for is a woman running away in her underwear that actually survives, but that’s about it. Her jock boyfriend isn’t as likable as he’s meant to be either. But those are other Horror films.

So an antagonist to the villain would make him a protagonist correct? Again, usually this is true but here, that basic plot lines are abandoned since this is Horror and it’s all about the villain anyway, right? Continue reading →

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Twilight and the Era of Filmmakers that Don’t Have to Care

Posted in Whatever with tags , , on 11/27/2012 by Taylor Holt

LOOK AT IT

After a ridiculous weekend filled with sparkling and moody stares, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2: Electric Boogaloo hopped its way up to the number one spot and just laughed at everybody else that tried. It made $340 million dollars globally, the first weekend alone (At the time of finishing this article exactly a week later, it’s bumped up to $578 million, respectively).

Far be it from me to judge a person based upon their movie selection, my favorites are certainly open to mockery in one form or another, but dang; they don’t make as much as Breaking Dawn in their existence as a film, much less one weekend. The following is a short examination as to the success of the film series’ success with reasons being a little more than the obvious selling points of that kid taking his clothes off, as well as musings on an age where cast, crew, and fans alike all agree to make something they openly acknowledge sucks.

If you needed any more signs of impending doom the earth is soon to experience, then this should do the trick. God help us all. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Red Dawn

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , , on 11/22/2012 by Taylor Holt

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Will Yun Lee

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense war violence and action, and for language , Running time 114 minutes, Action/Adventure

Compare to: Iron Eagle (1986), Battleship (2012)

This remake of the 1984 film Red Dawn does for war what a comedic overtone would do for a story involving pedophilia. Is pedophilia funny? Nah. But the Red Dawn creators will have you thinking war and killing people is fun. Who cares, though right? We’re already exposed to so much. Might as well have a movie about a bunch of kids killing soldiers passed off as “intense” and “cool” while we’ve got the chance.

Don’t get me wrong- I’m all about violence in film. But in a story like this, it should be handled a little more seriously. So when the movie’s premise is “Go ahead- be a man and KILL SOMEBODY,” we’re not only behind the enemy lines of Stupidity, we’re POWs.  Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Rise of the Guardians

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , , , on 11/22/2012 by Taylor Holt

Stars: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law

Rated PG for thematic elements and some mild scary action, Running time 97 minutes, Animation/Adventure/Family

Compare to: How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Brave (2012)

Of all the animated films to come out this year, I have to admit that I was looking forward to this one the most. The idea of all these mythical figures coming together to fight the personification of an actual nightmare just intrigues me. Was it worth the time? Does it live up to the hype that only Santa can bring?

Depends on what you want to get out of it. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Life of Pi

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , on 11/22/2012 by Taylor Holt

Stars: Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma, Rafe Spall, Tabu, Adil Hussain

Rated PG-13 for emotional thematic content throughout and some scary action sequences throughout and peril, Running time 127 minutes, Adventure/Drama

Compare to: Cast Away (2000), Into the Wild (2007)

While the book that Life of Pi was originally deemed unfilmable when it was published in 2001, director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain) has not only done it, but done a pretty good job of combing massive amounts of computer generated imagery and well delivered drama.

The movie didn’t blow me away as I’m reading it did with many critics, but even a feign interest in this could be worth your trip. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Lincoln

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , , on 11/16/2012 by Taylor Holt

Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Jackie Earle Haley, Tim Blake Nelson

Rated PG-13 for an intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage and brief strong language, Running time 150 minutes, Drama/History

Compare to: Gandhi (1982), Schindler’s List (1993)

After all that Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg have achieved separately, it almost seems strange that this is the first project they’ve worked on together. You would think they would’ve realized sooner the kind of film they could collaborate on to go to win an award for this and for that. Well, here it is and Lincoln is bound to be exactly what was just described.

This film opening the same day as the last Twilight movie. Ahhh….makes me laugh. Continue reading →

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The Greatest Secret Agents Known to Fiction

Posted in Whatever with tags , , , , , , on 11/15/2012 by Taylor Holt

Secret agents are great aren’t they?

Out of all the spies you know (or don’t), throughout history, they will never compare to a spy you know in the world of fiction. Once James Bond set that bar, there was no raising it, only trying to get to it. With Skyfall having been released last week, it seems appropriate to compare some of the greatest fictional spies of all time. There were so many to list, only a few were chosen to represent the more discreet side of the ka-razy world of fiction. Seriously, there’s so many secret agents and spies it’s like finding pennies on the ground. From the unappreciated to the pretty-freaking-obvious.

No particular order by the way, that’s all up to you folks. You won’t see Austin Powers on the list, just to let you know ahead of time. I’m still sick the impressions. Continue reading →

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That Guy- Bruce Greenwood

Posted in Whatever with tags , , , , on 11/14/2012 by Taylor Holt

I love this guy. He’s always playing figures of authority that, in many cases, turn out to be terrible people. That’s not necessarily something you want to be typecast as but he just does it so well.

You may recognize him in films like Disturbing Behavior (1999) where he play Dr. Edgar Caldicott; the man who was pretending to educate and change high-schoolers for the better while he was secretly brain washing them.

I, Robot (2004) where he played the CEO of the robot company. There’s a twist here however, because even though he’s suspected of controlling all the robots gone bad, they get to his office and he’s been strangled by one of them. Whups! Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Skyfall

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , , on 11/09/2012 by Taylor Holt

Stars: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, Bérénice Marlohe

Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking, Running time 142 minutes, Action/Adventure

Compare to: Goldeneye (1995), Mission Impossible III (2006)

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is. The movie you’ve all been waiting for. Bond is back in his twenty-third movie at his fiftieth year. Though he only looks about forty-two or so. How will this compare to the last two? How will it compare to all others? In the hands of director Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition, Jarhead), there wasn’t really any doubt that it would have the drama a man of twenty-three films needs to keep things interesting. But the action, suspense, and the “Bond-ness…?” Is it all still here?

YES. Continue reading →

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Samurai Cop is the Greatest Movie of All Time

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , on 11/08/2012 by Taylor Holt

You may think I’m joking but I’m not. If The Room plays the role of the stupid bully in class who eats glue, Samurai Cop is his annoying little brother who you still wouldn’t mind hanging out with if you had to.

It’s editing is shoddy, it’s acting is among the worst I’ve ever seen, and the point of it all is nowhere to be found. It may have showed up on a milk carton sometime in the early nineties to which all other filmmakers where saying “At least it’s not my movie.”

Also, it’s degrading to women in ways that are not so subtle. In fact, this movie is a baseball bat to subtlety’s face. Let’s dig in! Continue reading →

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