Tag: Review

Movie Review: I Spit on Your Grave

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“I Spit on Your Grave” on IMDB

Horror, 108 Minutes, 2010

This is not a movie for a first date… or a third for that matter.  Or, in fact, any week were you might want to actually have sex… on second thought make that any month.    This is a remake of the controversial 1978 classic horror movie of the same name [IMDB].  Often mislabeled an exploitation film the original was anything but sexual.  (While I’m sadly sure that some people must enjoy this kind of brutality it was clearly not the intention of the film to cater to that audience.)

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Movie Review: Knife Edge

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“Knife Edge” on IMDB

Thriller, 90 Minutes, 2009

The grunting, slobbering core of this movie is an unwieldy, multi-tentacled plot that drags itself into your living room, sits in your favorite chair and demands, “what kind of snacks you got?”  It sits there eating your food and throwing what it thinks are insanely clever ideas at you for 90 minutes then gets up.  That’s when you notice the smell and the movie’s core, noticing your look of disgust, admits: “By the way, I shit in your chair.”

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Movie Review: Texas Killing Fields

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“Texas Killing Fields” on IMDB

Crime Thriller, 105 Minutes, 2011

I have to admit I’d never heard of this movie before.  My wife started it before I came into the room and when I saw the title I assumed “B-grade horror”.  Then when I started seeing the cast I thought, “Hey – this is an actual real movie!”  And indeed it was – A-list actors and everything!

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Movie Review: Matching Jack

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“Matching Jack” on IMDB

Drama, 99 Minutes, 2010:

Just to clear the field, to begin with this movie revolves around kids dying of leukemia.  Much of it takes place in the hospital room of two kids dying of leukemia.  The rest of it deals with the parents of those two kids who are dying of leukemia.  Basically if you’re already sick of hearing about kids dying of leukemia then you probably won’t like this movie much.

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Movie Review: Cold Storage

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“Cold Storage” on IMDB

Thriller, 95 Minutes, 2009

While the description and the title may lead you to instantly think “slasher flick” (I did) there’s actually a deeper story here.  It doesn’t always work (and sometimes it really doesn’t work) but it’s an honest attempt to break the mold and for that alone it deserves some love.

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Movie Review: Circle of Eight

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“Circle of Eight” on IMDB

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.)

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Movie Review: The Grey

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“The Grey” on IMDB

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.

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Movie Review: It’s Alive

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“It’s Alive” on IMDB

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.

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Movie Review: Iron Sky

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“Iron Sky” on IMDB

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.

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Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

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“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.

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