Archive for the You’ve Gotta See This Category

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Finding Meaning in a Meaningless World: Blade Runner and 2049

Posted in Whatever, You've Gotta See This with tags , , , , , , , on 06/30/2021 by Taylor Holt

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Released in 2017, Blade Runner 2049 appears to have had a largely similar effect as its 1982 predecessor: a financial disappointment that divided audiences. The difference this time around is that critics were all on board; something that can’t be said for the original at the time it released. But there are much deeper connections between the two than that; even deeper than the average sequel cash-in that simply didn’t have the attention paid to it so it would stand on its own.

As any sequel worth its salt, 2049 expands upon the central theme to the original film. Director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner asks the question, “What makes us human?” Director Denis Villenueve’s sequel asks something that takes that question a step further with “What gives us meaning?”

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Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Doctor Moreau

Posted in Reviews!, You've Gotta See This with tags on 09/01/2015 by Taylor Holt

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After hearing all the buzz on the newest Fantastic Four movie and the problems the cast and crew had with the studio and each other, I started getting more interested in that than the movie itself. Which went from boring to cliche, by the way.

It’s the perfect way to do some far off observing into how the studio views the subject itself versus how the filmmakers do. After deciding to look into some other filmmaker/studio clashes, I rediscovered the 1996 The Island of Doctor Moreau. Holy crap. Continue reading →

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My Unpopular Comedy Choices

Posted in Top 5 Lists, You've Gotta See This with tags , on 07/30/2015 by Taylor Holt

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I recently watched Vacation, the sequel/remake to...National Lampoon’s Vacation. I didn’t like it. I can count on one hand the number of times I laughed out loud. If you’re sitting there for a whopping 90 minutes, you should be laughing at more than four moments in the movie.

And after reviewing Spy and deciding that Comedy movies aren’t movies I think I want to review anymore, I’m just gonna give a short list of Comedy films that I love that make most people say “Oh, you actually like that movie?” if they know what I’m talking about at all. Continue reading →

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You Gotta See This: The Guest

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , on 07/28/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Leland Orser, Brendan Meyer, Shelia Kelley, Lance Reddik, Chase Williamson

Rated R for strong violence, language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality, 100 minutes, Action/Thriller

If The Equalizer took Sinbad’s place in House Guest, you’ve got The Guest. And no, I’m not just combining titles, it really is like the Denzel’s character hopped into another movie.

From the makers of the Horror/Slasher You’re Next, which I hated, comes a movie that I actually really liked. I’d seen The Guest around but only looked it up when I found out that co-writer/director Adam Wingard would be doing the live action Death Note movie and figured it would be presumptuous to think this was bad based on one movie I’d seen of his. And I’m glad I’m so darn open-minded. Continue reading →

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YGST: GOON

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , , , on 12/05/2014 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Sean William Scott, Liev Schreiber, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Marc-André Grondin, Kim Coates

Rated R for brutal violence, non-stop language, some strong sexual content and drug use. Running time 92 minutes, Comedy/Action/Drama

Compare to: Happy Gilmore (1996), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)

For years at a time, I’d all but forget about Sean William Scott, most famous for his role as Stifler in the American Pie series. It seemed all he was good for were jocks that never had a lesson to learn; this didn’t change with the critically positive response in 2008’s Role Models either.I actually avoided Goon at first partly based on this poster. It says “Hey. I’m Sean William Scott and I’m still that smirking wisecrackin’ jock you wish you were.”

Long story short, high school Taylor thought he was hilarious but past that stage, I was done.

Then I watched Goon (2011) recently and I’m remembering why I liked him in the first place. Man, this movie is hilarious. Continue reading →

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You Gotta See This: Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , , , on 10/17/2014 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, cast and crew of the majority of The Elm Street films

Not rated though the language, gore and violence is present throughout clips of The Elm Street films, all of which are rated R. Running Time- 240 minutes, 2010, Documentary

Compare to: Behind the scenes of Horror films and the like

Available on Netflix, Hulu

A couple months ago, over the course of about five nights, I would end each with a bit of this film. It’s about four hours yet any time I had to put the computer away, I’d hate to. If you’re into Horror at at all, even if you’re not a Freddy fan, you’ll enjoy this.

Heck, if you’re just a fan of behind the scenes stuff and you don’t like Horror, this might give you a new perspective on it, becoming a fan in the process. Continue reading →

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You Gotta See This: Odd Thomas

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , , , , on 08/18/2014 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Anton Yelchin, Addison Timlin, Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Not rated but nothing here seemed past PG-13 due to some language, and the entire movie involving the dead and occult, Running time 97 minutes, 2014, Mystery/Comedy/Thriller

Compare to: The Frighteners (1995), Fright Night (2011)

After GI JOE: Rise of Cobra, I’d pretty much written director Stephen Sommers off. This is the guy that not only did one of the worst movies I’d ever seen, but also movies like The Mummy Returns (2001) and Van Helsing. So you get the idea- big, CGI-infested crap with no soul.

So while initially turned off to Odd Thomas in finding out that he wrote and directed it, a friend put in a good word and I checked it out. And though it’s not prefect, it’s definitely worth an hour and forty minutes of your time. Continue reading →

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You Gotta See This: Only God Forgives

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , on 11/21/2013 by Taylor Holt

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Spoilers!

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm

Rated R for strong bloody violence including grisly images, sexual content and language , Running time 90 minutes, 2013, Crime/Drama/Thriller

Compare to: The American (2010), I Saw The Devil (2010)

Now, I use this title with caution. Most of the movies in this category are things that you may have to jump a mental hurdle or two to get out of what may be your normal movie-watching headspace; if you do that, you should love just about everything on this list. Continue reading →

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You Gotta See This: I Saw the Devil

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , , , on 10/07/2013 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Byung-Hun Lee, Choi Min-sik

Not rated although the language, gore and violence is present throughout, Running Time- 141 minutes, 2010, Horror/Drama/Thriller

Compare to: Se7en (1995), Oldboy (2003), Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Seeing as how this week already has a few posts that are unlike what I’ve been doing on the site lately, I figured I’d throw one more in that’s Horror related, more or less. In fact, given the subject matter and the way it’s handled, the scenes and actions in Devil could be considered that much worse.

It’s not rubber monsters and masked men to fear in this, it’s just a single man and his obsession with preying on women all on their lonesome: a fear that almost as horrific for the loved ones as it is the actual victim. 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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