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Prometheus (2012) (Guest Author)
Prometheus (2012)
From Director Ridley Scott comes the fifth installment in the Alien series – a prequel. It stars Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, and Charlize Theron. The story follows the crew of the spaceship Prometheus, who is following a star map found by archaeologists as they were researching many different ancient cultures. They believe that the inhabitants of the planet they have landed on could help them discover where and how the human race began, but they find something horrifying instead. Instead of finding out how humanity started, they may very well have brought about the end of humanity.
I must admit, I went into this movie knowing I wouldn’t like it. A prequel to Alien (1979)? With Charlize Theron? How could it possibly be any good?
I was wrong. Ridley Scott never disappoints (well, with the exception of 1997’s G.I. Jane, a pile of excrement I prefer to pretend never existed), and Prometheus took my breath away. The special effects were amazing, the acting was first-notch, and the ending…well, I’ll just say Wow! and leave it at that.
Noomi Rapace plays Elizabeth Shaw, and she was outstanding. I had never seen her in anything (as I never saw the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)), but I look forward to seeing her in more movies. She is a great actress and I totally identified with the character. She was very Ellen Ripley-ish.
Michael Fassbender was the android David, and he was fabulous. I was very much reminded of Rachel in Blade Runner (1982) – he was almost wistful and obviously wished to be human.
Charlize Theron was Meredith Vickers, and she made my blood run cold. She was icy, calculating, and oddly like the android David; they looked enough alike to be brother and sister. It was odd and effective.
Guy Pearce played Peter Weyland, Meredith’s father. I must admit, he rocked the old-man makeup; it was so good that he was in several scenes before I realized who it was. As always, he was wonderful in his role.
I give the movie an 8 out of 10.
Buy, rent, or run?
Buy it on DVD and watch it over and over again, as I plan to do. So far, I’ve seen it in the theater, watched it twice on cable.tv On Demand, and I am currently gloating over my newly-purchased Prometheus DVD.
Prometheus is one of the movies that Brock would like to see.
Guest Author: Eddie D. Shackleford is a writer and loves to write about entertainment, movies, and TV. You can follow Eddie @Eddie20Ford
Trailer for About Time (2013)
About Time (2013)
I have always been fascinated with the concept of time travel. About Time is about a guy who is able to go back in time and re-live any event that he wants in order to try to make it better. He basically gets an everlasting do-over.
You might ask yourself, if he can do things over and over again until they are perfect all the time, then what is the point of living? I think that there has got to be a catch. There is always a catch. I just don’t think that the preview shows what the catch is.
Rachel McAdams has made another time travel movie. It looks like this one might have some similarities to The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009). I guess I’ll just have to see it to find out.
It does look a bit like a chick-flick, but the time travel topic is enough to make me want to see it.
The movie is written and directed by Richard Curtis. The cast includes Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lee Asquith-Coe, Lindsay Duncan, Domhnall Gleeson, Tom Hollander, Margot Robbie, Rowena Diamond, Vanessa Kirby, and Catherine Steadman.
The movie is set to release on 11/8/13.
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
I have not really ever been a big fan of the Star Trek franchise. I have seen some of the earlier movies and an assortment of episodes from a few of the television shows. For one reason or another, I just could not get into Star Trek. Star Trek Into Darkness appeared like it was going to be different than the previous movies. This new movie looked intriguing and it made me decide to give Star Trek another chance.
Star Trek Into Darkness follows the crew of the Enterprise lead by Captain Kirk (Chris Pine). He is tasked with tracking down a man responsible for attacking their organization.
I saw the film in 3D and the special effects were wonderful. It’s the best 3D movie that I have ever seen. Technology has sure come a long way. This was one film that I think is completely worth the extra cost to see in 3D.
Many parts of previous Star Trek movies have seemed a little too corny at times. They all have had a lot of cool ideas mixed with some cheesy dialogue. There has also been some great technology and some things that have seemed so far out that they come off as tacky.
In Star Trek Into Darkness, they seem to have gotten all of the tweaks out. I felt that the filmmakers did an excellent job of updating the entire concept of Star Trek. They successfully made it more appealing to a wider audience. I am living proof of that because they got me to go out and see it, when I wasn’t going to let that happen before.
The movie is directed by J.J. Abrams and has a very solid cast that includes Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchin, and John Cho.
The film was exciting. The computer graphics, special effects, etc., etc. were all amazing and made everything a bit more believable, considering the subject matter. The dialogue was well-written and didn’t get cheesy this time around. There was a bit of humor thrown in throughout the whole film to help make it more entertaining. The characters were well-rounded and the story kept my attention.
Overall, in my opinion, Star Trek Into Darkness is the best Star Trek movie that I have seen and likely better than the few that I haven’t seen. Do yourself a favor and see it in 3D to make your movie watching experience even better. Star Trek Into Darkness got me into Star Trek. I might just have to go back and watch Star Trek (2009) and we’ll see where that takes me.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Corner is a black and white film about a private detective (Mark Stevens) who becomes entangled in a web of deceit and murder. His secretary (Lucille Ball) goes outside of the boundaries of her job description to fight to try to help him survive.
This movie was much better than I anticipated. Even though the film is 67 years old, it can still pack a punch. It was all beautifully filmed. The story had some creative twists and turns and was told at a reasonable pace. I was thrilled at how exciting this movie was. It’s classic storytelling at its best. It was a little slower at times, but just enough to build up the suspense and keep your attention.
The characters were thoroughly developed which made them super fun to watch. But what made the characters even better were the actors playing them.
It’s my favorite Lucille Ball performance that I have seen so far. Obviously she isn’t making any more movies, but there are still plenty of her films that I have yet to see. She brought a level of class to her character that most women are not capable of. It was one of the stronger performances that I have seen from an actress in a classic film in a long time.
Mark Stevens and William Bendix both played their parts well, but Clifton Webb went above and beyond. He carried himself with a great deal of charm and energy. His words were not only heard, but felt. The powerful force that he brought to the film made it that much more enjoyable.
The movie was directed by Henry Hathaway and also starred Kurt Kreuger, Cathy Downs, Reed Hadley, Constance Collier, and Ellen Corby.
If you are looking for a classic film noir picture to watch, look no further than The Dark Corner. If you like older movies, this one should not disappoint.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
A Haunted House (2013)
A Haunted House (2013)
I did not expect much from A Haunted House. I decided to skip seeing the movie in the theatre. I knew that it was not going to be the greatest, although I thought it might be at least good for a few laughs. I was wrong, dead wrong.
I figured the movie would be like Scary Movie (2000) or any of its 4 sequels. Why shouldn’t it be? It is a spoof movie like those movies. It was written by Marlon Wayans who also wrote all of those movies. He also stars in those movies. It is bound to be at least kind of funny like those movies, right? I thought it would be and that is why I watched it. I was sorely mistaken. I can honestly say that A Haunted House was one of the worst movies that I have ever seen. Not the worst, but certainly one of them. That is saying a lot, because I have literally seen thousands of movies.
The film is a spoof on Paranormal Activity (2007) and several other horror movies. Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) asks his girlfriend (Essence Atkins) to move in with him. As soon as she arrives, bad things start happening. Paranormal events occur and the couple eventually starts to think that their house is haunted.
I am not lying when I tell you that I did not laugh once during the entire movie. I knew that the movie would be raunchy and stupid, but it went way beyond that. Instead of being raunchy humor and stupid humor, it was just stupid and sick. Moments that were on the verge of being funny, fell flat because they were extremely unoriginal.
The movie was written my Marlon Wayans and Rick Alvarez. It was directed by Michael Tiddes. The cast also includes Marlene Forte, David Koechner, Dave Sheridan, Nick Swardson, Andrew Daly, Cedric the Entertainer, Affion Crockett, and J.B. Smoove.
A Haunted House is a comedy without the laughs. The movie is a complete waste of time and money. My only hope is that I am able to spare you the torture of viewing this rancid piece of excrement.
I rate this movie a 1 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? RUN! And don’t look back.
The Impossible (2012)
The Impossible (2012)
The Impossible left me breathless multiple times.
The movie is based on a true story about what happened to one family in 2004 who were vacationing in Thailand when the hotel that they were staying at gets hit with a tsunami.
The way that the disastrous tsunami is depicted in the film is absolutely incredible. The movie seems so real that it could be mistaken for actual footage. The chaos portrayed in the film is a work of art all by itself. Not only does the natural disaster seem so genuine, but I was left wondering how anybody could possibly try to make a film like this one and succeed.
The film brings with it a wave of emotions. You can almost feel the grief, loss, and pain that the characters on screen are feeling. As they fight to try to survive, you are right there with them hoping that they can make it and willing them to keep trying and don’t give up. You wish that you could reach into the movie and help, but you can’t so you are helplessly stuck just watching and waiting for the story to unwind.
It is one of those movies that are hard to watch and makes you cringe, but you are compelled to keep watching because you must know what happens next. You get entangled in this mess of a story and you fight to keep watching.
This movie far exceeded my expectations. The filmmaking was a work of genius. I credit the director Juan Antonio Bayona who is also known for directing The Orphanage (2007).
Sergio G. Sanchez wrote the screenplay and Maria Belon wrote the story. The cast includes Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Marta Etura, Sonke Mohring, Geraldine Chaplin, and Ploy Jindachote.
Naomi Watts did an amazing job. Her part stood out above everyone else. She didn’t become her character. She was her character.
This film would have been spectacular in the theatre on the big screen, but it was still pretty great on DVD.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Trailer for The Way, Way Back (2013)
The Way, Way Back (2013) (Click on the title for my full review.)
A dysfunctional “dramedy” that takes place over summer break.
This movie looks appealing to me because it’s a comedy with Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell. I am a big fan of both of those actors and I think it will be funny to see them both in the same movie together.
The rest of the cast includes AnnaSophia Robb, Toni Collette, Amanda Peet, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Rob Corddry, Jim Rash, Liam James, and Nat Faxon.
The film is directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
I’m not sure that I’ll rush out to the theatre to see this one, but it definitely looks like it would be worth renting at least.
The film is set to release on 7/5/13.
Trailer for Violet & Daisy (2011) Rumored to release on 6/7/13
Violet & Daisy (2011) (Click on the title for my full review.)
Another one of those movies that has been kept on the shelf for one reason or another. The film was made in 2011 and is rumored to release on 6/7/13. I say rumored because I think that the original intention was to release the film in 2011, but it continues to be pushed back. So, who knows, maybe it will be pushed back from being released again.
Movies like this are always intriguing to me because I bet everybody involved in making the movie is just beyond angry that it has not been released yet. I know that I would be.
I have a feeling that this film has not been released yet partially due to the fact that it is a risky movie to make. The movie is about a teenage girl duo hit man squad. With all of the violence going on in our world, it’s probably pretty hard to release a movie about teenage girls who kill people. With that said, the film looks tastefully made and has a good cast which includes Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel, James Gandolfini, Danny Trejo, Cody Horn, and John Ventimiglia.
It is written and directed by Geoffrey Fletcher.
The film has sparked my interest enough to want to see it, that is if it ever gets taken off of the shelf.
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