Movie Review - Hot Fuzz (2007)

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are possibly the ones here to take the baton from the classic parody-makers of the past...like those responsible for Airplane, Hot Shots, The Naked Gun, and the rest of all those over-the-top comedies. After the success of their earlier zombie flick spoof, Shaun of the Dead, these two visionaries decided to break ground in a different area altogether: the action movie scene.

Hot Fuzz is the story of the top-of-his-class London police sergeant Nicholas Angel who gets transferred to the police force in a tiny, quaint village for being "too good" for the London force, as odd as that may sound. Despite dealing with some minor acts of deviance, Sergeant Angel can't really find anything to do in the town--the recipient of Safest Village in the Country for however many consecutive years. Needless to say, the police force he works for is less than interested in fighting crime (which includes his lethargic new partner he befriends as well), and is doubtful of Sergeant Angel's claims that some serious crimes are starting to unfold in this otherwise quiet village.

What makes this movie so great for me personally is the perfect blend of humor and action that really take a stab at a good smattering of the action movies out there. The insanely epic gunfights, acrobatic moves, and cool factor of the heroes are a jab at the more off-the-wall action franchises of the past like Die Hard, Rambo, Dirty Harry, Mad Max, Lethal Weapon, and so many single movies as well that are sure to elude even some of us who think we're afficiandos in the area of action movies. Take caution, though....this is by no means the artsy-fartsy movie you might somehow think it is (I would imagine one look at the poster above would have you convinced it wasn't). This movie is a pure guilty pleasure meant for nothing else but to laugh at and just plain enjoy for the dialog and gunfights and stuff. If that's all you're looking for, though, look no further. This movie is a thrill ride in every overused sense of the word, and it's one of the few movies I could potentially watch again and again until the disc very well breaks.

Movie Review - The Fugitive (1993)

A movie can be ridiculously intense, fast-paced, and thrilling without the constant decapitation, disembowelment, or pouring of fountains of blood, which flies in the face of popular belief (or probably just guys my age...or these guys). The Fugitive is easily the most interesting and captivating thriller I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot considering the hero isn't a "go-out-all-guns-blazing" type of fellow.

Dr. Richard Kimble (played by Harrison Ford) is in a spot of bad luck--a one-armed man killed his wife and all signs point to Kimble as the murderer. But even Ford's best broken, agitated framed man doesn't fool the cops. He's sent to a federal prison for about forever years with about a bagajillion dollars bail. Luckily for Kimble, the plot device steps in and causes the prison bus to crash, allowing Kimble to escape, making him, you guessed it! The fugitive! Without giving too much away, the rest of the movie consists of Lieutenant (or some rank like that) Gerard of the U.S. Marshals (played by Tommy Lee Jones) trying to track down Kimble while Kimble tries to uncover this whole murdered-wife business. But the action really never lets down along the way.

The movie is epic in its scale, spanning across different cities, suburbs, and even rural areas that no one's ever heard of as Kimble tries to escape. The soundtrack is perfect in keeping everything incredibly tense when they need to be, and some of Kimble's escapes are so narrow, they'll have you watching with bated breath. The film serves its purpose as a thriller perfectly, and it does so without ridiculous bloodshed or f-bomb usage (it's PG-13, and a relatively mild one at that!). If you're looking for something that will really keep you engaged and that you won't want to turn off, look no further. This overlooked gem is just what you're looking for.

Movie Review - Die Hard (1988)

Do you know what the best Christmas movie of all time is? If you answered It's a Wonderful Life,How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or even Bad Santa, you could have a point. But you would only be able to make a semi-valid point if you are one of the unfortunate many who have not seen Die Hard.

Let's get something out of the way right off the bat....Die Hard is by no means a cinematic, Academy Award-winning masterpiece, at least not in the way that Citizen Cane or The Hurt Locker or any other of those movies you wouldn't have seen if they hadn't won some kind of award (be honest with yourself!). Although the people who made the aforementioned movies were highly critically-acclaimed for their artistic merit and whatnot, aren't some movies just meant to be guilty pleasures? My answer is yes, and since I'm the only one who can edit this post, I'm sticking with it.

Die Hard begins in a way a bit different from your typical 80's action movie. John McClain (Bruce Willis) flies into an airport and gets on a limo and goes to see his wife and goes to an office Christmas party at some huge tower that just begs to be blown up and infiltrated and stuff, etcetera etcetera. The most exciting part is a mild argument between McClain and his wife...woo hoo. But then, the bad guy, Hans (Professor Snape from the Harry Potter movies), comes in with his gang of German terrorists who look like they're from an 80's power metal band and take hostages in order to acquire the millions of dollars in the building's very secure vault. So, ex-cop McClain sneaks throughout the building, enlists the help of a down-on-his-luck cop on the outside, and the ninety-plus minutes remaining are absolutely amazing. The humor is dark, the action scenes intense, and the plot...no one really cares. If you're watching a movie for the plot, this won't be your cup of tea.

If you enjoy action movies at all, you absolutely have to see this movie. If you call yourself an action movie fan and you haven't seen it yet, shame on you.

Movie Review - Casino Royale (2006)

Not all of the biggest comebacks in history have to come from sports teams or nations at war. Just ask the producers of the James Bond franchise, because for them, Casino Royale was probably their own Battle of San Jacinto (assuming they were the Texas Army, of course).

After GoldenEye was released, the series took a turn for the more fantastic, with the gadgets, plot devices, and action sequences starting to just really go over the top. The movies Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day were guilty of this crime, with Die Another Day just being the zenith of absolute outlandishness (it was the first film to feature CGI effects...and an invisible car...and an ice palace). With many fans in an uproar about Bond becoming nothing more than a gadget operator with a killer libido, the producers decided it was time to change things up a bit and bring Bond back to his roots with Casino Royale, which is very loosely based off of Ian Fleming's book of the same name (the very first Bond novel ever written, incidentally).

So, Pierce Brosnan was canned (or quit, it doesn't really matter) in favor of another Bond, which took some time, but the producers eventually settled on the controversially-blonde Daniel Craig (who now has several blogs devoted to him, with the center of one seeming to be about his role as James Bond). Just about all doubts regarding this fair-haired newcomer (this is seriously why people hated Daniel Craig...no joke) were thrown out the window upon this movie's release, because it was so undeniably awesome.

Casino Royale functioned so well in every area. As an action movie, it was the best yet, featuring a free-running chase scene through a construction zone. The cinematography was incredibly intense; no game of Texas Hold-'Em has ever been made as intense as this movie makes it--even if you don't know a thing about the game. This is the best portrayal of the Bond character yet, with him recently getting his license to kill, which brings him back to his roots and how Fleming envisioned him. He's still a charming womanizer, but he doesn't rely on many gadgets at all. The story itself is intriguing and deep without getting confusing, boring, or angsty, and the ending will be sure to surprise you.

Of all the Bond movies, I'd like to say this may be my favorite, but that's something you'll have to see for yourself. If you were to only see one Bond movie, this would be it.

Movie Review - GoldenEye (1995)

Sometimes patience is more than just a virtue; sometimes it's a saving grace. After nearly thirty years of James Bond movies being released just about every other year, the movie producers realized that their ideas, originality, and ability to spark the interest of others was waning. On top of that, their 1989 movie License to Kill was a box-office flop, probably the least-grossing film in the series to date (although I still think it's a pretty good movie myself, but I digress...). As a result of a couple of downer movies, the producers decided it was time to find a new James Bond since Timothy Dalton (who played James Bond and the evil grocery store owner Simon Skinner in Hot Fuzz, if that helps put anything into perspective) wasn't doing the best job. So they waited. For six years.

But once they finally announced Pierce Brosnan as their new Bond, things started to look interesting, seeing as Brosnan had played a debonair detective in the TV show Remington Steele for several years and was apparently a looker for the times. And the movie itself certainly didn't disappoint. This movie is the Bond movie that I could potentially watch over and over again more than any of the other ones, just because of how wildly entertaining it is. Before the main titles can even start, two death-defying stunts were performed, considered landmarks for their time: an extremely high and dangerous bungee jump, and later a motorcycle jump off a cliff following a plane that had to be reached in free-fall.

It's absolutely jaw-dropping, and the film just takes off from there. I'll admit that it has its slow moments at the beginning, but the pacing is never painfully slow, dry, or boring as the franchise was guilty of in its earlier years. The entire cast was revamped for the end of the twentieth century, featuring much more modern characters with only one returning veteran. The plot itself wasn't focused so much on the Cold War as it had been in the past few movies, so Bond was able to move on to more interesting and complex assignments. The story itself is incredibly engaging and one that won't be easily forgotten. The action scenes were definitely the best in the series at the time, and in my honest opinion, the only movie that beat GoldenEye on this was probably Casino Royale in 2006.

There have been several critics that say this film is too flashy and superficial, relying on gadgets and explosions and eye candy to sell itself. While that could definitely be true, it certainly has me hooked, so I don't care. There was also a video game, incidentally, based off of the movie that was wildly popular, and if you haven't heard of it, I recommend looking it up to see what all the hype was about. But I would really give this movie a try, especially if you're an action movie aficionado like myself.

Ten Things You May Not Have Known About James Bond

Following in the steps of my recent James Bond movie reviews, I thought I would include a few bits of trivia about the whole Bond scene that are somewhat interesting (to me, at least) and are probably unknown to you.

1. The name "James Bond" is the name of an ornithologist. And a boring one at that.

The author of the original James Bond novels, Ian Fleming, got the name for his iconic character from the author of a book called "Birds of the West Indies." Fleming apparently chose this name because of how boring, flat, and basic it sounded.

2. Not all the Bond girls were always girls.

Although she really wasn't a main character, one of the girls from For Your Eyes Only had a sex change only a couple of years prior to landing the role. Director John Glen said she was "one of the prettiest girls on set."

3. Bond has a drink every 24.3 minutes.

Throughout the course of the 22-movie series, James Bond has had over 115 drinks, with a mean time of 24.3 minutes between each one. He doesn't go without style though: he's only had one beer of all those drinks. The rest are champagne, wine, and, of course, vodka martinis.

4. The movies were rated PG for twenty-five years running.

From Dr. No in 1962 up until License to Kill in 1989, all of the Bond movies were rated PG...although I'm sure there is plenty of controversy over this, seeing as how nudity snuck its way into a couple of the films along the way. For the past twenty years, the movies have remained a steady PG-13, and they plan to stay that way.

5. Die Another Day contains references to every single Bond film before it.

This movie was released in 1962: forty years after the first Bond movie and fifty after the first Bond book was released. As a tip of the hat to the franchise, the producers put in both subtle and obvious references to every single 007 movie from the past forty years, and even had Bond posing as an ornithologist (see #1) as his cover, giving kudos to Ian Fleming's work as well.

Movie Review - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

You may wonder why there's been a sudden thirteen-year leap from the last movie that was reviewed. Don't forget that I said I was going to review the better and more iconic James Bond movies. Not that I'm saying the ones in between weren't good, but they weren't big. They weren't awesome and epic. They weren't The Spy Who Loved Me.

I think a little bit of background is in order. Sean Connery, the first actor to play James Bond, left the 007 scene after his 1967 movie You Only Live Twice, which was mediocre at best. Some unlikeable Australian guy named George Lazenby took the helm, did a terrible job, and Sean Connery returned for one film after Lazenby's before calling it quits for good (but not really). Roger Moore, a good old bona fide British man who had been in the running since the franchise started, picked up the next movie and starred in two of the campiest Bond movies to date before finally reaching this real gem.

The Spy Who Loved Me is an espionage thriller about Bond on a mission to thwart the plans of an evil genius bent on world domination by kidnapping submarines and keeping them in his lair (go figure, right?). And despite a pretty cheesy plot and an even cheesier funky 70's soundtrack, this movie actually is pretty exciting for its time. The opening scene (the latter half of which can be seen here) is considered among fans to be one of the best in the series, and the stunts are all incredibly real, all the way to the jaw-dropping end. The story is actually multi-faceted and pretty deep, and the movie brings along a real colorful cast of characters from the beautiful Russian agent Anya to the holy-crap-he-scares-me-every-time henchman with HUGE metal teeth known simply as Jaws. The run time is a little over two hours, so the film never seems rushed trying to get the plot across.

Although this is a Roger Moore Bond film and these are the ones known for their wackiness and campiness, Moore manages to tone it down a little and turn out to be a pretty hard-edged, suave Bond, which is a surprise to anyone who's ever watched any of his other James Bond movies. Namely, this one:

Movie Review - Goldfinger (1964)

If you've ever seen any of the Austin Powers movies, you know how ridiculously extravagant and over-the-top they are. Goldfinger is the first James Bond movie to really go above-and-beyond anyone's perception of reality.

Goldfinger was the third movie in the James Bond series, released a year after From Russia With Love, which came out in 1963. Like I said, this is a movie that marks a starting point for many of the James Bond traditions and stereotypes that exist all the way through today. There are more outrageous plot schemes, inappropriately-named girls (just watch the movie and see), diabolical villains, trademarked henchmen, exotic locations, neat little gadgets, and a whole lot more.

The movie centers around our hero, James Bond, trying to take down a millionaire (or billionaire, maybe) who plans to take over Fort Knox in Kentucky and irradiate the gold supply there, making it useless. Such an act would cripple the world economy and boost the value of his own personal gold supply by millions.

This villain comes equipped with a ranch/lair, a giant laser that almost puts and end to a major part of who James Bond is, a fleet of crop-duster-turned-nerve gas-spreader planes piloted by a crew of good-looking women, and a very strong, mute henchman with a bowler hat that can decapitate marble statues among many other things. James Bond, however, is not alone. Mi6, the secret service agency for whom he works, provides him with an Aston Martin with missiles, a machine gun, an ejector seat, interchangeable revolving license plates; and a tracking device in his shoe so they can keep an eye on him. Along the way, James Bond meets three different girls and uses his libido to get any information he might need--all to his gain, of course.

This movie is replete with action scenes, an epic soundtrack, and a gripping ending, as well as all the other things above that defined who James Bond was. If there's a movie you want to see that really captures this essence and is a pretty good movie for its time, go for Goldfinger.

The James Bond Movies - Introduction

There is no longer and more amazing movie franchise in history than the James Bond one. Starting in 1962 and still chugging along with its latest release in 2008, this 22-movie series has changed considerably over time, but has always remained a very deep personal favorite of mine.

If you haven't heard of James Bond before, shame on you. Unless you've been living under a rock or something.

If you haven't seen a James Bond movie before, that's understandable enough. Perhaps the reason you haven't is only because you've never gotten around to it. Or maybe it's because it's never really appealed to you. Both are pretty legitimate reasons, and I hope to convince you that there are some pretty classic James Bond movies out there, even amidst some pretty terrible ones. And this is a huge fan talking.

So, I figured I would take a break from all these random, artsy-fartsy movies for a little while and review some of the more classic James Bond movies, as well as some of the more shameful ones perhaps. My goal is to convince those of you who have never seen a movie to try and see at least one of the twenty-two James Bond movies out there. If nothing else, do it for cultural literacy!

So, in a few days, I will begin this effort. But in the meantime, enjoy this little warm-up trailer:

Remixed and Recut Movie Trailers

There's something about the presentation of something that can change its tone entirely. Movie trailers have been trying ever since their conception to create previews of their movies that are an accurate portrayal of not only the plot, but the subject matter and feel of the movie. The reason they do this is to appeal to the different camps of moviegoers out there, such as the horror addicts, the war enthusiasts, and the comedy faithfuls.

But what if you take clips from the very same movie that was initially being advertised and cut it a bit differently? What if you used different scenes from the movie and changed the background music and transitions? With a professional enough touch, you could convince a big Disney fan who's never seen Mary Poppins to never want to see it in their life.

There is a whole slew of such videos on YouTube, and they are highly entertaining whether you've actually seen the movie being parodied or not. Some that I've seen that are worth honorable mention would be the recut trailers for The Shining, Toy Story 2, and even The Office. There are so many more I would recommend, but I think you may find the ones that suit your needs best by just searching for trailer recuts on YouTube. And look! I've made it easier for you!

Movie Review - A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Before I begin my review, I think you should see this:

Alright, glad that's out of the way. That should provide a pretty good idea of what I was up against seeing this movie. Having heard that A Clockwork Orange was a very bizarre movie, I couldn't help but want to see it, seeing how it aligned pretty well with my personality. I started off by reading the book by Anthony Burgess, which I can say is amazing and extremely fun to read. As if the book wasn't already a cult classic in and of itself with its perplexing use of a new language called Nadsat (which was pretty frustrating to get through at first) and a very off-the-wall science-fiction plot, the movie came by as one that you will absolutely never forget for a few reasons.

The thing that probably stands out the most in A Clockwork Orange is its incredible shock value. It was one of the first movies to be originally rated X upon its release, and for good reason considering the fact that it was only the beginning of the seventies when this movie was released. Although it may not be grossly more explicit than many R-rated movies of today, there are still some scenes that will make you sick to your stomach. Really. If you're a squeamish person, this probably isn't the movie for you.

Another thing that makes this movie stand out like it does is just how quirky it really is. From the aforementioned Nadsat slang to the way Alex (the main character) dresses, and just to the musical score and cinematography, this movie will certainly leave you wondering what it is you're really watching. Stanley Kubrick (also the director of The Shining) balances almost a zany and colorful aspect with the very dark and frightening one that hangs over the movie. Even when the movie ends, you aren't sure quite how to feel.

If I had a list of the top five movies that stuck with me since I finished them, this would definitely be on it. Ask anyone if they've seen A Clockwork Orange, and it's very unlikely that they'll say, "Yeah, I may have. I honestly don't remember." If someone's seen this movie, they'll never forget it. So if you're into more of the cult classics and darker storylines and can stomach the more graphic stuff, I would recommend you try this out, just to say you've seen it if nothing else.

Blu-Ray or DVD?

I was positively shocked to go to Best Buy in the early weeks of January this year and see a Blu-Ray player for $149.99. And just today, I was looking around at bestbuy.com and found this little bundle of joy for even cheaper...and it outputs 1080p (which is very high-definition, just in case you don't know).

So, if you're not up to speed on Blu-Ray "technology," here's a quick synopsis: Blu-Ray players play Blu-Ray discs which are supposed to be in the highest definition possible. In the past, they've costed several hundreds to thousands of dollars, but nowadays they're selling for much less, depending on the player, of course.

So for prices that low, why not take the Blu-Ray player if you're interested in "maximizing your viewing experience?" Well, many new DVD players offer something new called "upconversion," which boosts up the definition of the DVD to what's supposed to be 1080p, but from personal experience, this doesn't do much.

As another plus, Blu-Ray players still play your old DVDs and even upscale those. If you do not have an HDTV, however, there really is no big point in getting a Blu-Ray player. If you do, it would seem like there's much sense in it. I have a PlayStation 3 with Blu-Ray capability, and I love it. So, in case you were wondering, there you are.

For more information, here's a Consumer Report video that kinda backs up what I said:

Movie Review - No Country for Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men

Winning an Academy Award for Best Picture is a big deal, and when it comes to me, that's when I'm at my most skeptical. No Country is one such movie. I had heard all sorts of stuff about it from various different people and quite honestly wasn't impressed by the premise: a movie set in the 1980's boonies of Texas, which probably aren't much different nowadays anyway. As much as I wanted to run against the wind, I was unashamedly impressed by this movie.

The basic premise for the movie is as follows: Guy 1 finds Guy 2's money, Guy 2 wants to kill Guy 1 for his money, and Guy 1 tries to escape, all in the setting of the desolate West Texas and Mexico. One of the things I noticed as I was watching is the lack of a soundtrack in the film. There are very few moments where music can be heard, and when it can be heard, it's only very faintly in the background. This, however, helps capture the silence and loneliness of the West Texas setting very well, along with a cast of pretty colorful minor characters that certainly seem to have been born and raised in Texas. The villain in this movie, played by Javier Bardem, is a pretty ugly guy and is certainly one of the more unlikeable movie villains I've ever seen with his relentless brutality and propensity to escape. If you've never seen a Coen Brothers movie (this is one of them), you should know that they are known for their quirkiness, off-the-wall and dark humor, and even shock value in many cases. If you've ever seen Fargo or Burn After Reading, you know what I'm talking about (WARNING: links contain violence!). As a thriller, this movie functions very well, and the ending is certainly very different and one that might even leave you frustrated, but not in a bad way, necessarily.

So, as a freshman college student, even I enjoyed watching this. It's right at about two hours and it's pretty simple to follow, already setting it apart from many other Academy Award winners. I would highly recommend this if you like thrillers or are a fan of the Coen Brothers.

Movie Review - The Shining (1980)

The Shining

I have never been much a fan of horror. I grew up a jumpy little kid on the edge about just about everything. Every time I would go to Abilene, Texas, where my grandparents live, I would be scared to death because it seems like I always get shocked every time I went up there and I just had this foreboding sense that it was going to happen this time too.

The Shining was my bold step forward from that, being the first horror movie I had ever seen. I figured that if I was going to make myself watch a horror movie, I may as well go for a critically-acclaimed one.

Here's the deal with horror movies. They basically are split up into two different camps: movies that try and grab you and movies that try and grab you...and hold on. The former group is full of all of these teen scream movies like Sorority Row, Jennifer's Body, the new Halloween movie, or any other movies that rely on cheap scares to make you jump or scream or whatever, but only really get you for a second or two. The latter group is characterized by more psychological movies that don't rely so much on making you jump out of your seat so much as haunt you for a while after the credits roll. The Shining is one of these movies.

The plot of this movie is based loosely off the book by Stephen King of the same title, where a struggling, alcoholic man and his wife and son move in to a secluded hotel for the winter to keep watch and tidy up the place while the hotel is closed. As would happen with any horror movie, it turns out that there was a murder in the hotel in years past and that the hotel is haunted. As a typical result, the family is visited by these evil spirits, especially the boy Danny who has a gift called "the shining," which allows him to communicate with the dead and with other people with "the shining." So yeah, it's kinda weird. Anyway, all sorts of crazy stuff ensues and it won't take you long watching this movie to discover that the wife is one of the dumbest movie characters ever. I won't give anything away, but she seems to make all sorts of mistakes along the way in trying to keep herself and her son alive.

In conclusion, this is a pretty effective horror movie. Sure, it's got that campiness typical of the late 70's-early 80's horror movies, but it still manages to stay with me even today and I have watched it multiple times. I would certainly recommend this to any mature person, whether or not they have ever seen a horror movie.

Next review: No Country for Old Men (2007)

The 5 Most Annoying People to See a Movie With

Going to see a movie at your local movie theater can, when you get past the ridiculous matinee prices ($9.25 at my theater back home!!), be a rather rewarding and enjoyable experience. It's a crying shame, however, that all it takes is one person to ruin your movie-going experience. As far as I've experienced things, there are five groups of people that are destined to suck most or all of the fun out of what should otherwise be an enjoyable time.

1. The Loud Laugher

Yeah, you've sat next to one of these before, and boy, can they be annoying. Because when you're going to see a comedy (or any movie, for that matter), this person just can't contain themselves. Or maybe they can, but they choose to draw all the attention to themselves. When that first funny or even mildly funny moment comes along and you hear that hyena laughter, you think, "Oh, please tell me they were laughing at something unrelated to the movie." But you find out after two or three more "funny" moments that you get a whole ninety more minutes with this little bundle of joy.

2. The Person Who Doesn't Get Out Much

At the Cinemark theater that I frequent back home, I can't remember a movie I've seen in at least the last eighteen months that hasn't featured this wonderful little no-cell-phone ad:

As cute as it may be, there's always at least one family that apparently hasn't seen this in the year-and-a-half it's been out. And while the rest of us are rolling our eyes or trying to keep from grimacing, these people are just goin' to town. They may not be loud laughers usually, but when this comes along, they're the only ones doing it.

3. The Frequent Cell Phone User

Surely these people saw the Happy the Hedgehog ad?! Yeah, you're sitting in the back and trying to take in the climax of the movie when this little skank pulls out their BRIGHT phone and proceeds to text or do something on it, totally distracting you from the movie you paid to see. Sure, there may be emergencies, so that's why I put "frequent." If there's an emergency and they leave to check it out, that's all good. But if they sit there and unashamedly text away, shame on them.

4. The Crowder

Although I'm not necessarily one of them, there are some people that prefer to wait until a few weeks after a movie's release date to see the movie when it's less crowded. As good an idea as this may be, there's no hiding from these space invaders. You know, the people that sit right next to you or just really close to you when there is a whole freakin' theater to choose from. These people are just creeps. Or have depth perception issues.

5. The Lover(s)

Not only do these people take your footrest by sitting in front of you, but they then proceed to engage in a steamy make-out session in your plain sight, with noises and all. And gosh, some of these people just don't know when to quit. They'll just go after it throughout the whole movie and everyone behind them can't take their eyes off of this often horrible scene, much like a bad car wreck. Some of these people are so bad, they'll do this for any movie. Even Schindler's List. And for those of you who have never seen Schindler's List, there isn't one romantic thing about it....because it's a Holocaust movie.

The key to enjoying your movie is early detection. If you see any of these people, find a way to convince them that they're in the wrong movie. Sometimes, it may just work.

Movie Review - Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Life Is Beautiful

Those of you following my blog must by now think I have some gross fascination with foreign films. I don't. Really. The first foreign film I saw was Das Boot in my tenth grade German class, so it wasn't really even of my own volition. The movie pictured to the left, Life Is Beautiful, was essentially the first foreign movie I "subjected" myself to. I had heard that this was a must-see movie and decided consequently to give it a try, just like with all the other "must-see" movies I've reviewed in the past couple of weeks. So, here we go...

I'm pretty sure anyone that has graduated high school has seen at least one movie about the Holocaust in their lifetime, whether they just...like the Holocaust, or because it was part of their English or History class. Either way, there are so many out there I can think of that all just get muddled together. This is one of those Holocaust movies that really stands out. It really is the most inspiring and heartwarming Holocaust story out there as far as I know.

Anyway, the film tells the story of a quirky little Italian man who works as a waiter at a hotel. He's very full of life and finds a woman at the very beginning who he falls in love with. And basically, the first segment of the film is just a little funny love story of him getting the girl from this other guy and marrying her and having a son and what not and it's just so darn CUUUUTE.

Some time after this little happy bit is over, the movie starts to incorporate small bits of shockingly subtle Nazi interference in the lives of the three main characters, with most of them just disguised as funny. All this suspense builds up to the father and son being taken to a work camp (they're Jewish, by the way), and the main character's wife (not Jewish) is so distraught that she follows them there and gets on the train, which is kinda cheesy and even frustrating.

The main part of this movie are the father's various efforts to convince his son that they are all just playing a big game at the concentration camp and that the son has to obey the rules to win. It's really thought-provoking, funny, and sad all at the same time, with unfortunately kind of a sad ending to "the game." I don't want to give much away, because there is a lot to this movie that is better to watch on your own rather than hear about.

After it's all said and done, though, this movie really shines from the heap of Holocaust movies out there. It manages to still be heartwarming and even funny in the midst of all of this turmoil and a father's struggle to preserve the innocence of his son. It's a great movie and I would recommend it to anyone.

Next review: The Shining (1980)

The Nostalgia Critic

As sort of an aside to the biweekly reviews, I like to interject every once in a while and share something about myself or my personal tastes (as if you don't get that enough in the reviews, but never mind that). Today, I'd like to share with you a website I frequent: That Guy With the Glasses.

This website is a pretty diverse one, ranging from movie reviews, to video game reviews, to comic book reviews, to website reviews, etcetera, etcetera. I typically visit it for the movie reviews by the Nostalgia Critic that are posted approximately once per week. The Nostalgia Critic typically reviews movies from our generation's childhood--the things we grew up with that we never saw the flaw in. The Nostalgia Critic takes a look at these kids' movies from adult eyes and just tears them apart...most of the time for good reason, too. Pagemaster was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, and I remember being spellbound watching it as a kid. We bought it right when it came out on VHS and I watched it religiously. Upon watching the Nostalgia Critic's review of Pagemaster, I see now what crap my parents had to sit through.

All-in-all, I think this is a website worth checking out. Sometimes he can be a little vulgar and even immature, but I think just looking back at these movies from a different viewpoint is fun in and of itself.

Movie Review - Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Pan's Labyrinth

It was late 2006 when I first saw the trailer for Pan's Labyrinth. I was attending my first showing of Casino Royale (which rocks, by the way) and this is the only preview I explicitly remember seeing before Casino Royale. If you knew just how anxious I was to see that movie, it would be pretty impressive that I would remember this preview in the midst of all that anticipation. Upon viewing this movie recently, I see why exactly that is.

Pan's Labyrinth is classified on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) as belonging to five different genres, with the top two being Drama and Fantasy. For this review, I'm going to briefly inspect the effectiveness of the working-together of both components of this movie.

Drama

The story of Pan's Labyrinth is certainly a dark and grim one. A young girl named Ofelia moves to the countryside with her expecting mother to live at a small military outpost led by the vile Spanish Army Captain Vidal. It doesn't take but five minutes of looking at this guy to get that, so I don't consider that to be too much of a spoiler. I can't recall a single funny moment, although there may have been a few relatively lighthearted ones, and most of the scenes seem to be cast in a shadow, both figuratively and literally. There's even an element of romance for those interested. This is most certainly not a feel-good movie, but that doesn't mean it isn't effective, because, oh boy, it is.

Fantasy

If I had to mention in passing what this movie was to someone, I would most likely call it an "adult fairy tale," as it has been called by many others before. This movie may be rated R and have plenty of adult themes you would expect to see in such a movie, but it is a very intriguing blend of several different fairy tales, with Alice In Wonderland coming to mind first. The movie just looks absolutely fantastic--Guillermo del Toro does an amazing job of blending the real-world Spanish countryside with the fairy-tale world that Ofelia discovers.

It is the integration of these two elements that makes the movie so immensely watchable. While the wonderful fantastical bits are often interrupted by the main storyline that brings us back down to earth, these often-depressing dramatic bits are interrupted by Ofelia's quest in Pan's Labyrinth. While this is definitely NOT a film for people who don't like to read subtitles (yes, it's foreign), hate dark movies, or don't care for violence too much, it most certainly is a must-see for everyone else. Once you get past the adult nature of the movie, what you have left is a moral that even a child could embrace, and an ending that leaves you feeling several different things at once.

Comments? Questions? Please feel free to ask!

Next review: Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Yes, it's another foreign one.

Movie Review - Crash (2004)

Crash

Just this past Sunday afternoon, I arrived back to my dorm to find this long-awaited Netflix envelope in my mailbox. Crash had arrived not but two days after I had left to go home for the break. And all during that break, I had anticipated going back to College Station and finally sitting down with Crash, considering it won an Oscar for Best Picture in 2006 (took them long enough!) and was rather critically acclaimed. So, late Sunday night, I sat down and finally put this in my PS3.

Before I really review this, I think it's important for you to know that Crash is meant to be somewhat of a cathartic and preachy movie. More specifically, it has to do with the "journeys of self-discovery and the discovery of others" (whatever that's supposed to mean) in regards to racism. The film is set in L.A., which is a good choice considering the melting-pot of cultures the city is.

Anyway, throughout the film, we witness the personal "journeys" of various couples/families/friends of various races, and while Brendan Fraser's character seems pretty normal, you would think that white people are the enemy in this movie. Seriously. Because even if some of the other characters do some vile things (and they most certainly do), it's pretty much just the white people who hold their grudges against people of other races. Whether it be the well-to-do wife played by Sandra Bullock with her Mexican maid and the Mexican man who changes the locks on her and her husband's house after a couple of black guys carjack them one night, or the policeman played by Matt Dillon with a black couple that he pulls over and a black insurance worker, it seems as if the Caucasians are the cause of most of this hostility. Don't get me wrong--there's a pretty bloodthirsty Turkish man, and the two black friends certainly need to get their moral compass fixed, but it seems as though most of the more overt racism takes part because of the white people.

That aside, this is certainly a powerful movie that really portrays America well and perpetuates the blah, blah, blah...All-in-all, this is worth watching if you have about two hours to spare and want to be humbled. Whether you're red, yellow, black, or white, this movie will be precious in your sight. Haha.

Any comments would certainly be appreciated!

Next review: Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

What Am I Doing? (And More Questions I Ask Myself Quite Often)

Welcome, visitor, to my humble blog! Whoever or whatever has caused you to stumble across this masterpiece in the making deserves some serious credit, because in this blog, I hope to save you committed readers hours of time. How? By sifting through the crap so you don't have to watch it yourself.

Because, you see, there are a ridiculous amount of movies out there. Just now, in a quick Google search, I found out that there are apparently 2,085,556,628 that have ever been made--EVER. Whether or not that's a complete lie doesn't diminish the point that probably 90-99% of the movies out there are ones you've never heard of, let alone seen. So why am I doing this again?

I am doing this for your benefit. I'm going to typically watch the movies that are critically acclaimed, and let you know how I see them--as a college student, no less. And yeah, I'm not a professional critic, and no, I haven't taken a single film class, nor do I plan to. But either way, I always think it's good to have a second opinion. From someone without any credibility. So, I ask you to work with me here--let me know what you think of my reviews. Because I'm not doing this only for you guys. Nice of you to assume so much of me, though. And so, I give you now my first announcement:

FIRST REVIEW: Crash (2004)

Hopefully this review will be up by Thursday. This is Aaron, signing out.