Johnny Handsome (1989)

Title: Johnny Handsome (1989)

Director: Walter Hill

Cast: Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker, Lance Henriksen  

Review:

I did an article a while back called 16 of the Top ‘Revengiest’Revenge Movies; in it I included these films where something awful happens to the main character, but then things turn around and eventually the main character gets his or her revenge, usually in pretty gruesome ways. I didn’t include the film I’ll be reviewing today because I had not seen it in such a long time. When I first saw Johnny Handsome I must’ve been about 13; all I remembered about Johnny Handsome was its basic premise and the fact that I liked the story a lot. There’s something gratifying about revenge tales, they always start out with something awful happening to the good guy of the film, then in the end whamo! That sweet, sweet revenge. The bad guys get what they deserved and the good guy gets his revenge. Though in this sense, Walter Hill’s Johnny Handsome is a bit different than most revenge films, Johnny isn’t your typical good guy, he’s actually a crook.

In Johnny Handsome we meet John Sedley, moments before he pulls off a diamond heist. John is not just any crook though, he is a mastermind in pulling off robberies. Also, his face is severely disfigured due to an anomaly in his genes. His deformity doesn’t stop him from doing what he has to do. Johnny is pulling off this diamond heist with the help of two individuals. One is a tomboyish lady called Sunny Boyd (Ellen Barkin) and the other a low life called Rafe Garrett (Lance Henriksen).  The three stick up the diamond store, and as we might expect in this kind of movie, things get ugly. The cops are called upon and at the last minute Rafe and Sunny decide to double cross Johnny and shoot him and the owner of the store, their idea is to keep the loot to themselves. Rafe and Sunny leave John for dead, unfortunately for them, John doesn’t die. Instead, he is rescued by the police and taken to a hospital where he is given the opportunity to jumpstart his life. You see, the doctors want to perform a surgery on him that could give him a normal face again. Will he take this opportunity to begin again? Or will he go back to his old ways?

It occurred to me that Johnny Handsome plays out a lot like a ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ story where the main character has a duality about him. He has his good natured/kind side, and he’s got his evil side, which he is at battle with. Johnny used to be a crook, because his looks led him to become an outcast, ridiculed and made fun of all his life. But what happens when he gets his face back and he no longer looks like a monster?  What kind of battle will be waged with the demons inside of him? This is what is at the center of this story. Johnny is even given a chance to fall in love with a beautiful woman, and lead a normal life, unfortunately, his former life calls him. Revenge calls him. Should he heed its call?

This is a Walter Hill film, so it’s not just any director we’re talking about here. This is the guy behind such action packed 80’s classics as 48 Hours (1982), Extreme Prejudice (1987) and Red Heat (1988). Hill’s a director whose films are very male oriented, he makes films for guys to holler and cheer at, they are about tough dudes, shoot outs, guns and explosions; tough dudes and sexy ladies. This time around things are a bit different though; not that Johnny Handsome doesn’t have its fare share of action and shoot outs, but the story is told in a more film noir style. It’s darker, grittier, more character driven. The film starts with a shootout and ends with a shootout, the middle of the film is the whole process of Johnny going from looking like a monster, to looking like Mickey Rourke before he turned to boxing. Funny how in real life, Rourke know looks like Johnny before the operation, oh the irony of life!

Hill invests a good amount of time getting you to know Johnny, getting you to feel for him. Rourke does a good job here, he plays the tormented soul, you feel like he’s the Frankenstein monster or something; a misunderstood creature who’s just looking for some love. At first, when we first meet Johnny he looks like a deformed monster, similar to the character that Eric Stoltz played in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Mask (1985), someone deformed because of genetic defects.  The character of Johnny also reminded me of Marv, another beat up character that Rourke played in Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City (2005). During the first half of the film, Rourke plays his character through heavy amounts of makeup. But half way through the film, after the operation, he transforms, and then we get the real Mickey Rourke, the mind boggles at how much Rourke has changed through the years! The rest of the film is populated by an excellent cast of supporting characters. Ellen Barkin has always been great at playing these rough, tom boyish ladies, on this show she plays a woman with no moral values whatsoever, she hangs out in bars, being a whore, stealing, killing and double crossing. She hangs out with low lives like Henriksen’s Rafe Garrett. Henriksen has always been great at playing villains, here he plays the main baddy, not much of a stretch acting wise, but he gets the job done. Rounding things up are Morgan Freeman as a cop who knows Johnny’s true nature, and Forest Whitaker as the doctor who operates on Johnny. Whitaker plays the guy who wants to give Johnny that second chance to improve himself, the guy with hopes that we can all change.

Johnny Handsome is a very underrated Walter Hill film. The film didn’t hit it big in theaters, in fact, it was a downright flop. It cost 20 million to make but only raked in 7.2 at the box office. I guess the film really didn’t connect with audiences for some reason. A pity because the film is a good revenge tale, and it has an excellent cast, this is the kind of film that makes you wonder why exactly did it slip through the cracks? Maybe it was due to the fact that it had some hefty competition at the box office. Upon it’s release it went up against Ridley Scott’s Black Rain (1989), which by the way was the #1 film that week, and it also went up against Sea of Love (1989) which starred Al Pacino. Also a bunch of successful family comedies like Uncle Buck (1989) and Parenthood (1989), so I guess a dark, brooding film about a deformed dude wasn’t at the top of anybodies list that weekend. But whatever, those that know, know; and on my book, this is a solid revenge tale with good performances and a dark, grimy look. If you’re ever in the mood for something like that, then this is the film for you.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Graduate (1967)

Title: The Graduate (1967)

Director: Mike Nichols

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross

Review:

The Graduate is one of those classics that every film buff should see at some point in their lives. It’s a classic film with a fantastic script that manages to capture an era while addressing social issues at the same time. It is also, simply put, one of Dustin Hoffman’s best performances ever. What The Graduate achieves so well is that it captures the aura and general malaise of the 60’s; a time brimming with revolution and social unease. This film was made during the days of Nixon and Vietnam, a time when most Americans weren’t happy with the way the country was being run. Staying true to the idea that “art imitates life” the general discomfort felt in the nation during those days was subtly caught in Mike Nichols’ The Graduate. The fantastic thing about The Graduate is that at first you can’t really tell what’s wrong with its main character, Ben Braddock, but you know something’s definitely bugging him. Little by little and in very subtle ways we discover that it’s modern society that’s got him on the edge, this world is too crazy and Ben can’t seem to take it.

   

In The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman plays Ben Haddock, a young man who’s just returned from college. His parents throw him a welcome home party populated by family, friends and neighbors, all of them curious to know what Ben is going to do with his life now that college is over with. Problem is that Ben himself doesn’t even know what he’s going to be doing now, he feels uneasy, not ready to take any significant steps in life just yet. For now Ben seems contempt with just chilling by the pool and getting a sun tan, in a way, blocking out the rest of the world. But life has other plans for Ben. He ends up meeting Mrs. Robinson, a foxy lady who’s about to shake things up for Ben, the naïve young man. The character of Ben is one of the best things about the film; Dustin Hoffman perfectly embodies the insecure 20 something with everything to learn about life, a young man afraid to face the harsh realities of the world. I loved those scenes that mark the sharp contrast between Mrs. Robinson, an adult who is extremely sure of herself and knows her way around life and Ben, a young dude who doesn’t even know how to ask a waiter for a drink. The awkwardness between the two make for some truly great scenes.  

What I loved the most about The Graduate is how it satirizes and comments the typical American family of the 60’s. Ben lives in a family that expects him to be a productive member of society, problem is, Ben doesn’t seem to like society very much. But his parents expect him to follow the program, go to college, get the job, fall in love, get married have kids and settle in your perfect suburban home with your pool and your perfect neighbors. Ben doesn’t care for any of these things at this point in his life, many things are wrong in the world for him, so everything else stops making sense to him. All this pressure “to do something with your life” is getting to him, especially when he sees the world around him falling apart. Coming back from college feels like he just came back from war, he simply can’t settle back into “normal” life. When we first meet Ben, he’s out of it; he can’t focus on being polite or having a light conversation. He has too much on his mind. It is hinted that his virginity also makes him uneasy, so he has a lot of that pent up sexual anxiety in him; fortunately, this is a problem that Mrs. Robinson is willing to help him with.

Aside from Ben’s sexual exploits, the main focus of the film is society and how Ben wants to turn his back on it. For example, the whole idea of marriage isn’t taken too seriously in the film; in fact, Ben is willing to get married to the object of his affections from one day to the next; at one point he nonchalantly asks her to marry him. “Are we getting married tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?” It is clearly shown that Ben doesn’t care about the institution of marriage; he just knows he loves Elaine and wants to be with her. Marriage is portrayed as something that we do out of tradition, or simply because it’s what you’re supposed to do, but not something that you really want to do. The whole ending of the film with Ben trying to stop Elaine’s marriage to some douche bag is a big “screw you!” to the institution of marriage. Elaine was just going through the motions; she was getting married to this doctor because it seemed like the safe thing to do, not because she loved the guy. She loved Ben, not the guy she was marrying. The final moments of the film are a revolutionary outcry to the status quo of things. Elaine and Ben seem to be saying “screw this world, we’re doing things our way!” So expect a film that displays young people trying to go against the grain, trying to change things. If you ask me, this is a natural reaction to the way the world was at the time. American was extra crazy during the last half of the 60’s, young people trying to shake things up was a gut reaction to the crazy world that surrounded them. By the way, the whole ending for Wayne’s World 2 (1993), in which Wayne tries to stop Cassandra from marrying Christopher Walken was completely copied, almost shot for shot, from The Graduate! They even filmed it in the same Presbyterian Church!

But then again, many filmmakers have been influenced by The Graduate. Director Wes Anderson, the guy behind The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Moonrise Kingdom (2013) and Rushmore (1998) is very obviously an admirer of The Graduate. For example, same as The Graduate, Rushmore focuses on the life of a student going through an existential crisis while looking for love. The only thing that Anderson did differently with Rushmore is that he turned things around, instead of the mature lady trying to seduce the naïve young man; it’s the other way around, it’s the naïve young man that wants to seduce the foxy lady. A couple of more elements from The Graduate show up in Anderson’s Rushmore, for example, there’s a scene in The Graduate that takes place as Ben and his family are hanging out by the pool. In this scene Ben’s parents are constantly asking things of him, so when Ben can’t take his parents constant yammering, he hides underwater, trying to shut out the rest of the world. In Rushmore there’s a scene that mirrors that one in which Bill Murray’s character does the exact same thing, he shuts out the crazy family by hiding underwater. There’s also the aspect of criticizing the modern American family and what is wrong with it, an element that can clearly be felt in The Graduate and has also been present in most of Anderson’s films. So as you can see, Wes Anderson has always had a hard on for this film.

And yet another aspect of the film that makes it memorable is its soundtrack which is almost entirely composed of songs by Simon and Garfunkel. It might take a little getting used to (especially for those who didn’t grow up listening to Simon and Garfunkel) because Simon and Garfunkel are all over this movie, but after a while you realize that this movie and Simon and Garfunkel are and will forever be linked together, one goes with the other. I think the soundtrack gives the film uniqueness; the duo are an integral part of this film, right down to having a song called “Mrs. Robinson”, just like one of the main characters in the film. So if you ask me, The Graduate is a bonafide classic. It's class A, grade A, filmmaking. It explores family life in a somewhat similar fashion to films like American Beauty (1999) and the more recent Silver Linings Playbook (2012). It holds a mirror to our collective behavior and then asks the question, why are we the way we are?  

Rating:  5 out of 5

Behind the Scenes on the making of The Graduate

AE: Apocalypse Earth (2013)

REVIEW BY: Jeffrey Long

Company:  The Asylum

Runtime: 87 mins

Format: BluRay

Plot: In the future, a group of refugees flee from a dying Earth only to crash on an exotic planet where they must fight ruthless aliens to survive.

Review: Earlier this month I watched and reviewed Asylum's other most recent flick, Age of Dinosaurs and thought it totally raised the bar as far as expectations go on all future Asylum movies, because it was so incredibly good that now that I know they're capable of such a high caliber of entertainment, that anything less then such caliber will simply no longer do. Shortly after I was able to watch and review an early copy of an upcoming Asylum movie, 100 Degrees Below Zero and thought, for lack of subtlety, that it was pretty much utter crap and a gigantic step back in the wrong direction from Age of Dinosaurs. While the trailer for this one had me excited and expecting something more along the lines of Age of Dinosaurs in terms of how I think of it, knowing that 100 Below Zero fell way below what I was expecting had me kind of worried for this one. However in the end, it landed somewhere between the two.

AE: Apocalypse Earth arrives just in time to cash in, as Asylum always so expertly does, on a recent upcoming Hollywood Blockbuster, the Will/Jayden Smith-starrer, After Earth, though how similar to each other the two end products will end up being still remains to be seen. This movie starts right off in the thick of action, as Earth's population is being evacuated by the military into giant transport ships while the planet is being attacked and destroyed by invading alien forces. We don't really get a whole lot of backstory on this part, like no info is given at all on these aliens or why they're invading or anything like that, but I'm fine with that as this part of the movie isn't really that important anyway and it's just an excuse to get our main characters into space and crashing on the unknown jungle planet that the bulk of the movie takes place on. It's here that shortly after crashing, the survivors get ambushed and attacked by unseen cloaked foes that are relentless in their pursuit. It isn't long before our cast of characters team up with and receive help from a green-skinned humanoid Native alien girl as she helps lead them on an expedition to a downed spaceship that just might be in working order and could get them off the planet. Of course the journey is not an easy one, as there are other dangers along the way other then the pursuing cloaked figures, such as the many dangerous man-eating species' of wild life that live on the planet as well.

Along for the adventure is Richard Grieco playing the main boss company man in charge of this particular transport of people, and many will know him from the original 21 Jump Street TV show, Veronica Mars, or a recurring voice on Gargoyles, although fellow B-Movie philes such as myself will probably know him best as Loki from another Asylum movie, Almighty Thor, and as pretty much the only strong aspect of that movie. Just like in that one, he's excellent here as well and continues to be an entertaining actor to watch in these movies, although it is a bit disappointing that he spends about half an hour of the movie unconscious. Joining him is Adrian Paul from the Highlander TV series and latest two movies, though some may also recognize him from the Killer Yeti SyFy Channel movie from earlier this year, Deadly Descent, aka Abominable Snowman. It's actually kind of fitting (albeit it totally coincidental) that I'm posting a review for AE: Apocalypse Earth today, seeing as how it's actually Adrian Paul's birthday today, so Happy Birthday, dude! Here he plays the leading military man who butts heads initially with Richard Grieco, although they eventually learn to accept one another. Unfortunately, his character in this movie doesn't really have a whole lot of personality or really any charisma, which is never a good thing for a lead character to lack, but in terms of his acting he did fine what what little he was given. The girl playing the green-skinned alien chick that falls in love with Adrian Paul was actually better then you would expect, considering this is the very first movie for that actress and she came across very competently in the role. I also felt the love story subtplot was not nearly as forced I was initially expecting it would be, although I have no idea what she sees in him since he's very emotionless and bland. In the trailers, I was actually thinking this part of the movie would be a pretty big riff on James Cameron's Avatar, but seeing it in execution I can say that it really doesn't resemble that at all. The rest of the cast are also mostly unknowns, and are about as good as you would expect in a movie like this – not really all that good, but serviceable enough. The Android character provided a few good chuckles though, and was often the comedic relief, and most of his comedic bits were Hits more often then they were Misses so he was normally a joy to watch, especially during a scene where he had to act as bait to lure a giant killer lizard away from the rest of the group.

And speaking of a giant killer lizard and other such things, the CGI in this movie was a mixed bag. The giant killer lizard and most of the shots of spaceships were good, but some other parts such as a scene with giant insects, any time that laser blasts are shown, and the evil invisible aliens, the CGI didn't really look impressive at all. Luckily though, it was better more often then it was bad, however even when it was good it wasn't as good as I've come to expect from some of Asylum's more recent movies so in that regard it was a slight step backwards – but only slight, mind you. 

With that said, the biggest fault of the movie is making the main villains invisible. Sure, we see a few bad-CGI shots of them as they dart around here and there, but they are, essentially, completely invisible. It was my biggest complaint of one of Asylum's movies from last summer, Alien Origin, and it's again my biggest complaint here – it doesn't give us anything to invest ourselves in during the action scenes and, quite frankly, it's just not fun to watch people fight invisible bad guys. I realize it's a cost-saving measure but really, it's just a slap in the face to those of us who have to watch the movie because there's just nothing to watch when what we're supposed to be watching is something that's invisible! It makes you want to just skip ahead to the next scene because you get bored very easily when all the action is invisible.

AE: Apocalypse Earth may not be groundbreaking or quite as good as some of Asylum's other recent stuff, but it's not a bad effort either; Despite a few flaws, it was enjoyable enough for its short runtime and was a decent little sci-fi adventure flick filled with some fun scenes of danger, a few good story beats (including a twist ending that's easy to spot coming from as early as the opening minutes, but that doesn't stop it from being any less fun of a twist), and a bit of good acting, however in the grand scheme of things it's pretty forgettable overall. I'm writing this review the day after having watched the movie and even now it was a bit of a chore trying to remember enough stuff about the movie to pump out a review. Not to say that it's a terrible movie, just that there's nothing that's really stand-out or memorable about it either. Add to that, the overly-annoying fact that the bad aliens are all invisible and they ask that we use our imaginations to picture them, when they play such an integral part to the movie, really brings it down a bit for me as well.

In the end, it was a decent effort that fell a bit short of its mark, but it's still a fine enough one-time viewing time-waster for fellow B-Movie fans that enjoy the work that Asylum puts out for us. Just don't expect it to stick with you for long after you've finished watching it.

5/10 rooms in the Psych Ward

100 Below Zero (2013)

REVIEW BY: Jeffrey Long

Company:  The Asylum

Runtime: 90 mins

Format: Online Streaming Via Space Channel

Plot: When a chain of volcanic eruptions rips through Europe, the enormous ash cloud blocks out the sun, plunging the continent into a new ice age. An American couple must find their college-aged kids and get them out of Paris before it freezes over.

Review: There's nothing like coming home from a long and hard day at work to find out that an upcoming movie from your favorite B-Movie production company has hit the online interwebs early, for free and legally, via the website for the TV channel Space, Canada's affiliate for SyFy. This great revelation was brought to my attention via the lovely Shannon The Movie Moxieso really, it's just as much because of her that I'm able to bring you this early review of 100 Degrees Below Zero (or just simply 100 Below Zero as some sites call it – not really sure which is the official one, seeing as how Asylum's own website and IMDB each list a different version of the title) as it is Space for putting it up in the first place. If you live in Canada, you can head on over to hereto check that out (For a limited time, and with a few commercial breaks), but if you live outside Canada the link is probably Region-Locked and thus you'll have to wait for the official DVD/BluRay release on June 11th.

Now first off, I'm sure I'm not the only one to find it weird that Asylum is releasing a winter disaster movie in the middle of summer. Like seriously, that seems like a missed opportunity to not release this kind of movie in the winter, where the natural ambiance of wet snow beating against your windows while watching this could add that bit of extra oomph. As it is, I'm also not usually a fan of Asylum's disaster movies, and after Age of Dinosaurs earlier this month set the bar for my expectations when it comes to future Asylum movies, 100 Degrees Below Zero had quite a few hurdles to jump over for me.  

A good way to win me over is to have a good and well-acted cast, and that is one thing this movie can proclaim it has loud and proud. We have the always-entertaining John Rhys-Davies as a military General that's keeping an eye on this weird weather phenomenon and in charge of evacuating all the important people of the area. Most people know him from Lord of the Rings, B-Movie fans know him from plenty of SyFy movies like Sabertooth and the later Anaconda sequels, but I will forever know him as The Professor from Sliders – Long live Sliders! It was nice to see a military General in one of these movies actually be a nice guy and not the stereotypical asshole they tend to be in these things, so props for that. It also helped that John Rhys-Davies was actually laugh-out-loud funny at times, especially with his perpetual shock at pretty much any news that was delivered to him – the guy can rock these kinds of movies all day and night, and make every last minute of his screen time enjoyable.

We also have Jeff Fahey (Lost, The Eden Formula, last year's SyFy movie Alien Tornado, Operation Delta Force) once again taking up the role of a pilot, which is quite the nice treat for those of us who are die-hard Lost fans, along with Sara Malakul Lane (Sharktopus, Asylum's 12/12/12, the upcoming Jurassic Block) as his daughter and a couple pretty unknowns as Jeff Fahey's son and new wife, but the fact that they are unknowns is not a testament to their acting as, much like with the others I've mentioned, they were actually surprisingly good actors. Jeff Fahey's kids here are college-age and are actually going to university in Paris, which pleasantly surprised me as that for once, the main focus of this movie is actually not in the U.S. but in France. Normally these kinds of movies (Asylum-made or not) take place in the U.S.A., so it was a nice change from the norm to have this take place largely in Paris. The actors for his kids also had great chemistry together which made their scenes that much more fun to watch, even though Sara Malakul Lane's accent kept slipping in and out, but I can overlook that as she was better then I expected, plus she's just an overall adorable cutie. There are other people and characters in the movie, but they're all pretty crappy to be honest, and pretty much exactly what you would expect from a movie like this.

In all honesty though, it's quite impressive that the acting is as good as it is, because what they're given to work with isn't much – the dialog they have to spew is just painful to listen to, because it's so unrealistic and just not how real people talk. Sentences are very awkwardly-structured, and more often then not filled with piles upon piles of run-on exposition that is not even delivered in any realistic fashion. I can overlook that if it was only in a couple scenes, but the majority of the movie is filled with that, so I'm amazed the actors did such a great job with such crappy dialog.

But the real reason B-Movie fans would be watching a movie like this isn't for the actors or dialog – sure, when those things turn out good, it's an extra bonus, but the real reason people tune into these things are for the fun scenes of disasters. Well...we kind of actually don't get a whole lot of those with this one – For the first hour of this short hour and a half movie, all we get is one scene of some falling hail of larger-then-normal proportions (which admittedly comes with a fun beat of Sara Malakul Lane soccer-kicking one away), and a small earthquake....

...And that's it. 

We do see the aftermath of some major big destruction, but we never actually get to see it happen on-screen, which is a major cop-out seeing as how that's the kind of stuff people are wanting to see in a movie like this. Even during that final half-hour, we don't get much more then that, just one scene of some rushing water flooding a tunnel and a bit of really high wind for the climax that knocks over the Eiffel Tower, and nothing more then that. Hell, the title isn't even accurate! For a movie titled 100 Below Zero, the main characters roam the 'destroyed' city in nothing more then t-shirts for the majority of the time, with not even their breath showing! 100 Degrees Below Zero, my ass.

As for the special effects for these very few scenes of disaster, well they're a mixed bag. Some are better then others, but overall they're not the worst I've seen from this company but they're also nowhere near the best either. The falling hailstones and rushing water was decent, but there was also some truly terrible green-screen work going on in some scenes, even scenes that didn't really require it as there wasn't even anything going on in terms of disasters, just a couple characters walking down a street. Even the scenes where the CGI was decent, such as in the aforementioned moments, it was just kind of a bit of wasted effort since the scenes are so few and far between, and only last about 60 seconds or so.

My anticipation wasn’t very high for this title, but I still had a smidgeon of hope that maybe it would be better then the other recent Asylum disaster movies like Super Cyclone, 40 Days and Nights, or 500 MPH Storm. While this movie certainly had a better, more well-acted cast then any of those, and that cast all had great chemistry with one another, plus the film started off seeming like it would be a better movie at the beginning, but it ended up loosing all of the leeway by having a boring script with no really fun disaster scenes, and hardly any disaster scenes, period, which is the one thing those other movies actually did kind of well, even if their effects work wasn't the greatest for those scenes. Add to that the annoyingly atrocious dialog and this is yet another Asylum-made disaster flick that can probably just be skipped.

3/10 rooms in the Psych Ward

Chronicle 2012 English DVD-R (Dual Audio) Torrent Download

Chronicle (2012)

17 3

Details: DVD Rip, Dual Audio, English sub

Seeds: 123
Peers: 64

Year: 2012
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan

Description:
During a party, and three high school friends gain superpowers after an incredible discovery in the underground. But they soon find their lives out of control and their bond tested embrace their dark sides.
Review:
Enjoy trolling? Like watching people you check? Heres the movie. Chronicle stumble in the halls carefully underestimated. Although it has its flaws, but it has opened a new path worn in the superhero genre. Chronicle reports every major issue to be addressed superhero game? Where are our powers come from? How should we use our powers? In the end, however, these issues are irrelevant. This film is not about the three super heroes. These are three teenage boys who just happens to have film Super powers.This is extraordinary. All three of the main actors are unknowns. When the film begins, they all promise me stereotypical high school students? The popular, the excluded and stoner. As the film progresses, these stereotypes worthless. These players were up to the challenge. Each main character changes so much that you do not recognize them from beginning to end. Mix this with the unique history and this film has a very strong core.A good part of this movie is funny simply because it is realistic for life. Bullying is brutal. The kind of things that the characters do with their powers is exactly what I would do. What is the bright spot in this film. It 's true to life. The warranty does not cover the life or try to smooth over simplifications. This film is beautiful with his honesty. It allows the viewer to laugh hysterically one moment and cringe problems next.The are smaller but still present. The incredible climax is followed by a lackluster conclusion. The ancestral character is rather over-the-top. I can not say if it was the writing or the acting that made it so. These two facts used to pull away from enjoying the film. Its just a shame that such a good movie would have ended on a low note.This film is worth seeing. Some people find it difficult to see it in theaters, because it's a shot from the first person and can be jerky at times. If you agree, I suggest you see it in the theater. I watched this movie with a big audience? As it seemed to add to the experience. For the average Joe, this will be a fun movie. For fans of superheroes, this could be a cult classic.reillyreviews.wordpress.com

Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

Title: Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

Director: Justin Lin

Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Gal Gadot, Ludacris, Luke Evans, Elsa Pataki

Review:

The important thing about a summer blockbuster is that it has to entertain; it has to blow you out of that seat and it has to make you leave that theater with a big fat grin on your face, and quite possibly the desire to see the film again. Fast Six achieves all these things with spectacular aplomb. With each film, the Fast and the Furious franchise has improved in quality; each film bigger than the last. Keeping in line with this tendency, Fast Six is more explosive and more action packed then the previous film and in my book that’s saying a lot because I truly enjoyed Fast Five (2011)! Aside from the fact that the film was shot in my home town and I had an amazing opportunity to see it getting made, Fast Five ended up being one of my favorites of the summer 2011 season, it was simply put a good action film. Now can somebody tell me how in the hell did this franchise which I initially disliked turn into one my favorite guilty pleasures?

Fast Six starts out exactly where the previous one left off, with Toretto and crew enjoying the fruits of their last heist. Torreto is living in Brazil with Elena, his new girlfriend cop. Brian and Mia are learning how to become parents, and basically each of the characters has gone off into their own world, doing what they want with their millions, enjoying the fruits of their labor. Enter Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) the cop who almost caught Toretto and crew in the last film. Hobbs is having a hard time catching an international gang of thieves who are searching for the parts to build an emp device that could shut down a whole country for 24 hours. Hobbs needs the aid of Toretto and his team to stop these guys. Will the gang accept the mission?

When talking about films of this nature, there’s a term used to describe the artifact that triggers the action in the film, I’m talking about ‘The McGuffin’ whatever it is that the good guys and bad guys are after in the film. The McGuffin is a name given to the excuse to get the show on the road. Sometimes, it doesn’t even matter what the McGuffin is, all that matters is how they go about getting it, which in a Fast and the Furious film means vehicular warfare and massive destruction of public property, and trust me, there’s lots of that in this film! The stunts are the best part of these films and this one delivers the goods when it comes to fast cars and destruction in massive amounts. The film has two major action sequences, but they are both extended, which means that they last for more than 20 minutes each. This is something I enjoy about the action sequences in these films, they are intricate and extensive! The same can be said for the chase sequences which take place in both the streets of London and Brazil. If you are a fan of cool cars and watching them fly in the air, you will be pleased.

The whole thing about these films getting bigger and badder with each passing film stays true to the characters as well. These characters started out being a gang of street racing thugs from L.A. on the first film, by the sixth film they’ve turned into indestructible super heroes! They can jump from one moving car to the next! They can shoot their guns while jumping through the air! I mean, these guys can fall down a flight of stairs or crash into the windshield of a car and never even break a bone! Vin Diesel can even take a freaking bullet and go on driving in the next scene just fine. So my advice is to throw all your expectations of reality out the door. This film isn’t interested in being real, it just wants to wow you, entertain you with its exaggerated action sequences, which I have to say are truly fun. We get a bunch of cool cars, a tank and military plane! They really do go all out here in using all manner of cool vehicles.

It was a genius idea adding Dwayne Johnson into these series of films. I’ve always thought that Johnson is the natural successor to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it seems there’s no stopping him now! The Rock starred in three films this summer season (G.I. Joe Retaliation, Pain and Gain and now this one)and they’ve all been huge money makers. I’m thinking we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of Dwayne Johnson in action films! Now all he needs is a cool sci-fi film or a super hero film, I can’t believe they’ve taken this long to do that. On Fast Six he has a couple of cool moments, but one of them involves him going ‘mano a mano’ with another massive dude, the battle is epic, the people in my theater where chearing! Audiences are really into these films! When the title for the film came up on screen some dude screamed “Whoo-hoo!” And speaking of fist fights, the girls in the film also get a chance to show what they are made in a fight that takes place in a subway station in London. Pretty cool scene, Michelle Rodriguez and Gina Carano give a whole new meaning to cat fight. They really go at each other’s throats!

True, the acting is not good at all in these films, especially when Vin Diesel tries his stab at sentimentalism and gets all mushy on us. It’s just too funny. But whatever, we don’t go to a movie like this one searching for the performance of the year, we go into a movie like this for the fun factor and on this one, the fun factor is quite high. When the action gets going, it gets going. On the downside of things, there’s some faults in the logic of some scenes, for example, there’s a scene that takes place on a landing field, with a plane attempting to take off that was cool as hell, but also unbelievable as hell because the landing field seemed to last forever and ever. The filmmakers obviously had lots of cool stunts to pull off for that big finale, unfortunately they forgot all about the logistics of a landing strip. There’s no way in hell that a landing strip would go on for as long as the one in this film does! That minor quip aside, I had tons of fun here. These films are similar to reading a comic book, with a “to be continued” attached to the ending…and this entry is no different. The ending will leave you wanting more, I aint gonna spoil it for you, but if what I saw in the ending is any indication, part seven should be pretty kick ass as well. I hear they are going back to L.A. for that one! The series will apparently come full circle, looking forward to that.

Rating: 4 out of 5 

Hugo 2011 [English] [DVD-R] 720p Torrent Download

Hugo (2011)

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Details: DVD Rip, Dual Audio, English sub

Seeds: 114
Peers: 59

Year: 2011
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz

Description:
Set in 1930 Paris, orphan who lives in the walls of a train station wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and automaadi.Set 1930 in Paris, rare, who lives in the walls of a train station wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and the automaton.
Review:
Today I saw a preview today at the Directors Guild in Los Angeles. James Cameron, who confessed masterpiece and the best 3D to date. And basically right on both fronts. The film is beautifully done. Cinematography and set design is likely to take some home golden boy. It's a film movie lovers dream. Like many Scorsese films inspired film history lesson along being dreamy fable children. A truly unique combination that will work for movie lovers and demanding families. Maybe a little long for the general public with very young children, but the images are so charming, he should win over most everyone. Sasha Baron Cohen is brilliant and hilarious climax as nervous guard. It must be only the 3D very well.

The Saturday B-Movie Reel Podcast

As a pretty big fan of podcasts, I tend to be subscribed to far more then I will ever have any hope of being fully caught up on. However, one of those podcasts that I make sure to always listen to the newest episode of as soon as it goes online is the lovely Saturday B-Movie Reel podcast, which is an offshoot of Tuning into SciFi TV, a podcast about various TV shows and such on the SyFy Channel.

The Saturday B-Movie Reel covers pretty much every movie that is a SyFy Channel Original Movie on a weekly basis, plus some older 'vintage' movies from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's about once a month, as well as a 'Could Be SyFy' section where they also cover direct-to-video B-Movies that come out that never aired on SyFy but probably should have.

The main host is a pretty cool guy named Kevin Bachelder who genuinely loves these movies and instead of just ripping them apart with savage hate like many podcasters and reviewers do, he actually talks about them with love and respect (well...for the most part. To be fair, some of these movies make it pretty hard sometimes - haha). Joining him every episode is a revolving door of special guest hosts that love these movies just as much as he does. I myself have been on a few episodes (Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, 2-Headed Shark Attack, and Jurassic Attack/Rise of the Dinosaurs), and most of the guest hosts tend to return for multiple episodes so you get to know most of them just as well as you do Kevin, and you can tell that everyone involved just has a blast watching these movies, and just as much of a blast discussing them afterwards.

If you're interested in checking the podcast episodes out, you can go to the overall Tuning In To SciFi TV website which I linked to above, or go directly to the Saturday B-Movie Reel archive here, or you can do a search on Itunes for 'Tuning Into SciFi' and access the episodes through there, which includes the episodes for all the podcasts under the Tuning Into SciFi TV banner (including the Saturday B-Movie Reel episodes). You can also join the Facebook Group for the show, where Kevin, myself, and many others often frequent and have a few laughs, as well as post B-Movie-related articles and updates, or become a Fan and Like their official page. They now also have a Twitter feed dedicated to their podcast and all things B-Movie. Check it out and be sure to Follow them if you're not already.

Anyone who's a fan of B-Movies (which should be anyone reading this, otherwise why the heck are you on my blog?), I highly recommend this podcast. As for the episodes I've been a guest host on, you can find them listed below, along with links to those episodes as well as links to my own personal reviews for those movies.

May 23rd, 2013 Update: The newest episode in which I Guest Host on, the Jurassic Attack/Rise of the Dinosaurs podcast review episode is now Live! Check it out at the link below and enjoy!


Saturday B-Movie Reel Podcast Episode #34: Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus
You can listen to the episode Here.
You can read my own personal review of the movie Here.

Saturday B-Movie Reel Podcast Episode #55: 2-Headed Shark Attack
You can listen to the episode Here.
You can read my own personal review of the movie Here.

Saturday B-Movie Reel Podcast Episode #112: Jurassic Attack, aka Rise of the Dinosaurs
You can listen to the episode Here.
You can read my own personal review of the movie Here.

The Silence of the Lambs 1991 English.[DVDRip].480p Torrent Download

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Details: DVD Rip, Dual Audio, English sub

Seeds: 133
Peers: 96

Year: 1991
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Jodie Foster, Lawrence A. Bonney, Kasi Lemmons

Description:
A young FBI cadet must believe the killer is in jail and manipulative killer to get his help in catching the next series of skin exposed to it.
Review:
Sweeping all five major Academy Awards (Oscars for best film, director, actor, actress, screenplay) is a great achievement. Doing this for almost a year convened as and when the film was released in miracle, given the short attention span of famous Oscar voters. It is a powerful example of how a great film when great writers, directors, actors and others working on their craft. `Silence of the Lambs is a story about a young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), who is called to help find a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill`. for another interview. Promoting performance is absolutely superb. Although Anthony Hopkins accepts most credit (deservedly) for his portrayal of the terrifying serial killer Hannibal `imprisoned? Cannibal lector, the Fosters performance that holds the film together. Fear that it shows up just outside the eye make Clarices courage more interesting and sensitive. What better way to play the role, as he explains the interest in Teacher Clarice. His only bargaining chip to get teachers help you `feed her deepest secrets and fears, in exchange for his brilliant insight to the mind of a psychotic. Title of the film comes from these discussions and very masterpiece poignant.Director Jonathan Femme. The one scene at the end of the film that will not spoil. It is one of the most brilliant scenes ever only place in the film. I do not know if all credit goes femme and authors, but it is the moment in the film where the tension builds beautifully to what seems to be a common scene from the film. However, through careful timing assumptions of the audience will be used against them, and when the truth is revealed (hint: it involves ringtone) is alarming and cause the joint moment the audience I see it in the theater. In setting the stage for edge-of-your seat climax.Do not miss this movie.The film is very long and absolutely must see.

The Last Dragon (1985)

Title: The Last Dragon (1985)

Director: Michael Schultz

Cast: Taimak, Vanity, Julius J. Carry III, Faith Prince, Leo O’Brien

Review:

Back in 1984, John G. Avildsen’s The Karate Kid (1984) was a huge success in theaters; it told the story of Daniel LaRusso, an American kid who has trouble adjusting to his new neighborhood. His school mates make fun of him, bullies have a field day kicking his ass around. Fortunately, Daniel befriends the magical Mr. Miyagi, a Japanese old man who teaches Daniel the ways of Karate and how to confront his own demons. The Karate Kid was such a hit that it spawned three other sequels after it. It also inspired producer Berry Gordy to make an all black version of The Karate Kid, which turned out to be the very eclectic, funny and entertaining flick called The Last Dragon. Both films share similarities, both are about young dudes trying to harness the powers of Karate, both have old oriental guys teaching these youngsters martial arts, but while The Karate Kid is more of a drama, The Last Dragon differs in that it’s not trying to be a serious film at all, The Last Dragon actually embraces it’s ‘cheesetastic’ roots and swims in them effortlessly.  

Here’s a film that mixes Kung Fu Masters, Television Dance Shows, Vanity, Music Videos, Disco Dancing, Pizza Parlor’s, Gangsters, Music Producers, Piranha’s and Break Dancing! Oh and let’s not forget the wonderful world of fortune cookie making! So as you can see, The Last Dragon is very different in tone to The Karate Kid. Yet at the same time, it delivers that “believe in yourself” message that’s so popular in cinema; the idea that once you start believing in yourself you can achieve anything. In contrast with The Karate Kid, The Last Dragon sends its message in a more lighthearted manner, with characters that don’t take themselves too seriously, hell, the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, everything unfolds in a goofy, fun vibe. Michael Schultz, the films director (a.k.a. the guy who directed Krush Groove (1985)) mentions in the dvd commentary that he wanted the film to be cartoony, which is pretty obvious when we take one look at the films main characters for example, one of the villains is this guy who walks around with football gear, and calls himself “The Shogun of Harlem”! So don’t expect a serious drama, in fact, expect the complete opposite, a cartoonish homage to Shaw Bros. Kung Fu movies. For example, the film opens up with Taimak in a dojo, throwing some Kung Fu moves, which is the traditional way in which many Shaw Bros. film started out, with a Kung Fu master displaying some moves as the credits roll on screen. Also, the whole thing with the glowing hands comes straight out of The Five Fingers of Death (1972). There's also direct homages to Bruce Lee films, so while it's a parody, the film knows exactly where its coming from. 

Taimak, the twenty something actor who starred as Bruce Leroy, had never done a film before this one; he basically learned how to act while making this film. He was obviously chosen because of his martial arts abilities more than his acting abilities, yet, that raw, rookie naiveté that Taimak exudes through his performance is exactly what was needed for the character of Bruce Leroy, a nerdy kung fu freak who is obsessed with all things Bruce Lee, so much so that he dresses in Chinese clothing and eats his pop corn with chop sticks while watching Enter the Dragon (1973) at the local theater. Yet, even though the guy is extremely skilled in martial arts, he’s not very skilled with the ladies. Leroy doesn’t even know how to make a move on ‘Laura’, the television host of a dance show called ‘7^th Heaven’.  Laura was played by 80’s pop star ‘Vanity’, whom some of you might remember from her role in the over the top action film ActionJackson (1988), where she starred alongside Carl Weather’s as a junky looking to get rehabilitated. On The Last Dragon she plays the role of a VJ who gets muscled around by a music producer who wants to make her play one of the music videos he produced. If she doesn’t play his video, she dies!

This whole element about a music producer trying to muscle his star into fame is the part of the film that some people felt got in the way of the film. Some feel the movie might have been just fine had it just been about Bruce Leroy looking for his inner glow. The whole musical thing is probably there because this film is produced by Berry Gordy, a Motown producer who sometimes produced films as well. Actually, the official title of the film is Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon, so it’s his film. By the way, I think this might be the only time where the producers name is placed on the screen as part of the films title. Gordy also produced The Wiz (1978), the all black cast version of The Wizard of Oz. But most of the time, Berry Gordy would produce these awesome Motown songs that got used in film soundtracks all the time. Speaking of film soundtracks, the one for The Last Dragon is extremely 80’s! I mean, it doesn’t get more 80’s than DeBarge singing “Rhythm of the Night” now does it? Well, if that doesn’t get your nostalgic juices flowing, how about kung fu masters who busts into movie theaters carrying boom boxes and spontaneously break dancing? Ha! The movie also has its own theme song called ‘The Last Dragon’, by the way, this song was nominated for worst song of the year at the Razzies, but damn, I haven’t been able to take it out of my head for the past few days! Vanity sings a tune called '7th Heaven' but by god it's terrible! It was also nominated for worst song of the year at the Razzies.Still, I gotta be honest, for the few minutes that Vanity is on screen performing this song, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, I watched the whole thing with morbid glee. So expect a movie with a super 80’s vibe and a soundtrack filled with hits from that era, and one or two songs made specifically for the movie.

One of the more entertaining aspects of  The Last Dragon is its main villain, Sho Nuff, The Shogun of Harlem, played by Julius J. Carry III. The guy looks like a clone made out of Busta Rhymes and Samuel L. Jackson’s dna. In fact, Busta Rhymes actually dressed like The Shogun of Harlem in the music video for his  song ‘Dangerous’. At one point in the video Busta actually quotes this film! And even more of a concidence is the fact that Samuel L. Jackson was actually going to play this character in a remake of The Last Dragon that was in the works, but nothing ever came of that remake, I guess it stayed in development hell. Sho Nuff almost steals the film from Taimak, if Taimak’s character didn’t eventually find his glow and become “The Master”, which is a pretty cool scene in my book. The climactic battle was what I loved the most about the film when I watched it as a kid because both the villain and the hero start glowing as they fight, and their punches create these sparks! It made for a cool visual; by today’s standards these visual effects are tame, but for me, the idea, and the visual still retains its charm. Bottom line with The Last Dragon is that, yeah it’s silly, yeah it’s cheesy, but it’s fun cheese, recommend it for that.

Rating: 3 out of 5  

Kon-Tiki 2012 English.BDRip.[Dual Audio] Torrent Download

Kon-Tiki (2012)

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Details: DVD Rip, Dual Audio, English sub

Seeds: 100
Peers: 90

Year: 2012
Genre: Action, Adventure, Biography
Director: Joachim Rønning
Starring: Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård

Description:
The story of legendary explorer Thor Heyerdals epic 4,300 miles across the Pacific on a balsa wood raft in 1947, in an effort to prove that it the team was able to settle in South America to Polynesia in pre-Columbian period.
Review:
As I like to look at the story-telling like this! What a talent in writing and film making that is! This is epic and important.This is the best story of the famous Kon-Tiki trip across the Pacific on a balsa raft-just to prove this has happened in ancient times, made by large manufacturers journey Max Manus.The , taken on the basis of an idea of ​​the explorer Thor Heyerdahl was completely absurd and no one believed it could be done. and how could a trip like this be said better than by Heyerdahl himself in the documentary made during the trip.Back in 1947 this was only the history of the world wanted to say after the 2nd World War and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The documentary of the journey went on to win an Oscar (1951), and the book has been translated into 70 languages ​​and has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide wide.Finally you get to see the journey dramatized as it should be. And the result is truly amazing and epic holding two hours of researcher-ism, excitement and fear. I think we really get to imagine what it was like 6 people on the raft floating uncontrollably in the middle of nowhere for over a hundred days. The hole, the fear of discovery, fear of the time, sharks and whales. The psychological toll, friendship ... His great story and a great movie that will make future generations to take the book with the same name, before watching the original documentary. Beautifully shot, well played, even to the Heyerdahl incredibly bad English pronunciation. Not all are correct. Theres been a debate about the premiere of Herman Watzinger make a character so clumsy, when in fact we had to Norwegain record of 100 meters and a strong good looking guy, but the authors have found the story needed a heart, and not just a bald and crazy feeling young at heart. I agree. More than 100 days on a raft is at least 90 days boredom.Thor Heyerdahl himself made this trip to prove his idea that no one would believe, and then became famous. He made the trip even though it was not only able to swim, but really afraid of water, if you can imagine! And it also tells the story of those left, and his wife kids.This is the most expensive Norwegian film production of all time, and the story is a story holy Norwegian explorers, as good as they come, changing the history of the world . Fortunately, the film floats as good as the raft, and is well Wort watch has. Big manuscript, beautifully shot film is well handcraft.The in both Norwegian and international version (in English) spoken, which gives the possibility film to be shown around the world. And it will be. Treat yourself to a crazy journey, but epic, and get to be a researcher himself. This is a great story! Loses one of the 10 stars because of the annoying (though in fact) English pronunciation of Heryerdahl. There is no need to re-experience that make a good story.