Horror, 83 Minutes, 2009
I was a little put off when this started up and I discovered the production company was “Mountain Dew Green Label Studios” About 20 minutes in we also get treated to some elaborate art created primarily with Mountain Dew. Yes, this is a movie funded by soda pop and featuring soda pop. (Although, to be fair, they really weren’t that heavy-handed about it.)
Thriller, 117 Minutes, 2011
Survival thrillers are a favorite of mine. Seeing people use the materials at hand and overcome incredible odds never gets old. I assumed I’d see men at their breaking points MacGyvering weapons and overcoming fierce wolves. Unfortunately this isn’t that kind of movie (although it repeatedly probes in that direction). But I really thought it was and I must admit that I had a very hard time switching gears and it definitely colored my perceptions.
Horror, 80 Minutes, 2008
The original “It’s Alive” [1974, IMDB] is a camp-horror classic. It was over-the-top, silly and just serious enough to keep it from completely disappearing into obscurity. The idea is simple: a woman gives birth to a mutant baby that kills people. This 2008 remake take the same premise and tries to make a straight, emotional horror movie. It pretty much fails completely.
Sci-fi/Satire, 93 Minutes, 2012
Nazis on the moon! That’s pretty much the premise and, surprising nobody more than me, it actually (kinda) works. Where the movie (a Finnish/German/Australian production in English and sub-titled German) tries and fails hardest is its often ham-fisted political satire. This movie has nothing nice to say about anybody (except maybe Finland, who still comes off as slightly pathetic) but the United States definitely gets the brunt of things.
“The Dark Knight Rises” on IMDB
Action, 164 Minutes, 2012
There are two ways (at least) to consider “The Dark Knight Rises”. The first (and correct) way is as the capstone to a self-contained “Batman” story that owes us nothing but a profound respect of the character we love. The second way, one that the angrier parts of the Internet seem to have latched onto, is as an entry into a larger, continuing “Batman” timeline. Considered as part of a larger whole, or worse, as a stepping stone to the rumored, much-anticipated “Justice League” movie, the film fails to properly stage the character. I would simply argue that there was no requirement to do this.
“Birdemic: Shock and Terror” on IMDB
Horror, 90 Minutes, 2010
My son made us watch this. Apparently some guy on YouTube did a review and he just had to see it. It was on NetFlix which fooled us into thinking it was actually a movie. So we watched it.
Drama/Comedy, 93 Minutes, 2008
[The third and last movie in our unexpected Tyler Labine [IMDB] film festival. After watching two in a row by accident, we decided to hit up our good friend NetFlix for others and this floated up.]
“Tucker and Dale vs Evil” on IMDB
Horror/Comedy, 89 Minutes, 2010
[The second movie in our unexpected Tyler Labine [IMDB] film festival. It became a “film festival” when we said “hey – that’s the guy from the last movie!” Our rules for these things are clearly somewhat loose, but we find they work for us.]
“A Good Old Fashioned Orgy” on IMDB
Comedy, 95 Minutes, 2011
[This movie is the first in what unexpectedly became a Tyler Labine [IMDB] film festival when we coincidentally watched two movies starring him in a row.]
“The Amazing Spider-Man” on IMDB
Action, 136 Minutes, 2012
No matter where you fall on the question of a character reboot this soon after the Sam Raimi trilogy or the whole “Mary Jane Watson versus Gwen Stacey” thing or even the “biologic versus mechanical web shooters” decision it’s hard to argue that this isn’t a damn good movie. That said it’s impossible to talk about this without drawing comparisons to Sam Raimi’s masterful effort released a very short 10 years ago – but we’re not bitter!
