“Starship Troopers: Invasion” on IMDB
Sci-fi, 90 Minutes, 2012
Hells yes, people! This is, finally, the sequel that the original “Starship Troopers” [IMDB] deserves. It’s an animated film – a beautiful, intricately-detailed computer animated film to be exact. (If you still need to be told that animated films aren’t just for kids then call over whoever let you on the Internet and tell them you aren’t ready for it.)
Fantasy, 113 Minutes, 2012
I think I had some trouble with this one because the trailers all prepared me (very well!) for a light-hearted fish-out-water (or, more specifically, a vampire-out-of-time) story decorated with some gothic trim. Instead we get an almost completely deadpan melodramatic horror-themed love story more befitting the film’s soap-opera roots.
Action, 90 Minutes, 2012
I got this because Danny Trejo [IMDB] was on the cover, period. It wasn’t until about 20 minutes in that things started clicking that this was somehow, sorta-kinda based on the YouTube-famous AC Transit Bus Fight (also known as the “Epic Beard Man” fight). This is just… weird.
Comedy, 93 Minutes, 2011
Famke Jansen [IMDB] has a hell of lot riding on this. This is her writing, directing and producing debut. The story is rather basic. A mother, Milla Jovovich [IMDB], is raising her son, Bobby, on the road and trying to escape her con artist past. When she can’t outrun it any longer and ends up in prison her son is taken care of by a friendly couple (Bill Pullman [IMDB] and Marcia Cross [IMDB]) still reeling from the loss of their own child.
“Friends with Benefits” on IMDB
Comedy, 109 Minutes, 2011
My wife had this on in the background. It was all very rom-com from the start and I kinda tuned it out. I was working on some new code to parse dates correctly regardless of timezone differences –
Horror, 107 Minutes, 2009
Low budget horror movies can take several directions. Some attempt a tone of such complete, sincere seriousness that they can do nothing but fail when delivered by terrible actors. Others veer off to the other extreme where they attempt to downplay their shortcomings with parody or comedy. These tend to fail even more completely because parody and comedy aren’t remotely the shortcuts these folks think they are. In fact they’re almost impossible to pull off correctly.
“The Mill and the Cross” on IMDB
Drama, 92 Minutes, 2011
Although not completely necessary it might be a good idea to become at least passingly familiar with Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 1564 painting, “The Procession to Calvary” [wikipedia] before watching this movie. I’ll wait.
“The Midnight Meat Train” on IMDB
Horror, 98 Minutes, 2008
This is a theatrical version of Clive Barker’s 1984 short story of the same name (found in the “Books of Blood” volume One). While the story was greatly extended (the original story encompassed only a single evening) and several characters added the basic message and drivers remained thankfully untouched. While Barker definitely isn’t to everyone’s taste at least the movie allows his story to stand fundamentally unscathed.
Drama, 3,000-some-odd-Minutes, 2008
Look at that box! All those awards! This must be a great movie, right? My 10 year-old daughter is going through a horse phase so an uplifting feel good movie about a horse should go over well, right?
“The Raid: Redemption” on IMDB
Action, 101 Minutes, 2011
My daughter’s one-line review: “THAT WAS AWESOME!”
Who knew that Indonesians could make one of the absolute best action movies that I’ve ever seen? Hong Kong maybe. Japan, possibly. But Indonesia? Really? How in the hell did this happen?
