Monthly Archives: August 2011

Movie Review Rampage!

Movies

It happened again, I’ve watched a bunch of stuff without writing about it so now it’s time to clear the cache with a Review Rampage.

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is easily the best documentary on the Elm Street series. It’s 4 hours long and covers every movie to Freddy vs Jason and the short lived TV series. There are some comments about the 2010 remake on the bonus disc, but it’s pretty much ignored since a completely seperate team made that movie. As a fan this is a much watch, there’s some great behind the scenes info, inteviews from almost the entire cast of the films and it’s very honest. Has re-inspired me to write a new Nightmare movie.

Rango is such a odd movie. It’s beautiful and ugly at the same time. Animation and world design are fantastic but some of the characters are just straight up ugly animals. It’s a heartfelt movie though that slips into some really trippy and surreal scenes. Johnny Depp has such a great voice and delivery, Rango fits him perfectly. You hear Depp in every syllable but you forget it’s him through the animation of his character. I don’t think I’d recommend it for kids though, it gets pretty intense.

Megamind rules. Such a great idea. I’m a fan of Will Ferrel so that helps my enjoyment a lot, he’s so damn funny. Taking the super villains’ perspective is really refreshing and it’s handled really well. He turns a good guy bad (great work by Jonah Hill too), he gets into and out of trouble in creative ways and the movie is basically gorgeous. The final confrontation has one of the greatest character entrances ever, it’s some impressive stuff. One of Dreamworks best animated movies, they’ve really been stepping it up in the past 3 years or so.

Tangled is a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale by Disney. One of the best animated movies they’re done in some time, this one is great for all ages. Touching, some fun songs and it looks pretty amazing. Quality Disney stuff.

I Am Number Four is the story of an alien who is hiding out on Earth from not so nice aliens. Moving around the globe with his guardian (played by Tim Olyphant who I’m a fan of), John Smith is discovered after 3 of his kinship have been hunted down and killed. He’s next on the list and he has to do whatever he can to survive. It’s a fun movie, but the first half could have used some trimming. It takes a while for the movie to really find it’s grove and most of the action (which is really good) is packed into the last act. Solid film making, I’d be interested in seeing a sequel.

Green Hornetis an average movie. I think that’s my problem with it. It’s not bad but it’s not that good either. I think the problem I had was that Seth Rogan’s character Britt Reid is really just too much of a douchebag for most of the movie that it’s hard to root for him. Some cool visuals and action scenes make it tolerable though.

127 Hoursrides on James Franco’s shoulders and he’s more than up to the task. An amazing tale of the human condition and spirit, Franco continues to star in great and unique movies that push his versatility while director Danny Boyle continues to cement his spot as one of the best filmmakers working today.

Skylineis a demo reel for an FX company. That’s all it is. Some impressive special effects work that were said to be done for really cheap that surrounds a terrible script. It’s alien invasion with characters you could not care less about. When things get dicey and intense there is just no emotional attachment. The finale tries to build up some intense moments between the main characters that might have worked if everything preceding it had any soul.

13 Assassins is a great flick in the spirit of the legendary Akira Kurosawa film, Seven Samurai. When a brutal lord is seen quickly ascending the political latter, his goals and methods are deemed to be too evil to be left to grow any longer. A group of 13 samurai band together t to assassinate him. Directed by Takashi Miike, who is best known for his ultra violent and graphic movies, pulls his reins back to take us through this Samurai tale. While this movie is violent, it’s nothing like Miike’s previous gore fests. We don’t see many movies like this and 13 Assassins hits all the right notes in this genre. Check it out.

Hobo With A Shotgunis grindhouse done today. It’s an over the top vigilante picture that’s really well made. The team making it really know the roots of this genre and it shows. It looks like a ’70s exploitation romp but with some modern film making techniques. It’s vulgar and extremely gory and violent so it’s not for everyone. If you are familiar and down with this genre, take it for a ride.

In Memory of My Aunt Patty

Family, Life

She lost her battle with cancer on August 6th and the loss is a great one. Our whole family mourns and she is missed greatly. I wrote the following for her Eulogy.

When my mom asked me to speak today, the first thought that came to mind was what is the best way to describe my Aunt. A list of her attributes came to mind but I quickly realized that Aunt Patty can’t be summed up with just a few adjectives. Her collective spirit is what defined her.

In her successful corporate career she excelled at dealing with and understanding people. Her professional drive to excel and succeed with the added challenge of being a woman in a dominantly male profession sculpted her into a sharp professional. Despite a high standing in the companies she worked with, she still managed to stay grounded. She had the ability to have that power and be respected and admired for it.

Patty was a brilliant communicator, in speech and in writing. Always ready and willing to lend an ear and offer sage like advice. No matter the time or the topic, a thoughtful and sincere answer could be found. It was always advice to help raise your life a little bit higher. Her generosity to her family and friends never had a limit. She led by example, she pushed the idea that if success is what you need, do what you like and do it honestly.

It’s the trying times like these that make us all think about what all of this is about. Why are we here, what’s our purpose? It’s a question long asked by mankind, but I think the answer is very a simple one. We all live this life together.

Aunt Patty had an energy that was impossible to ignore. When you walk into a room and people smile when they see you, you are doing something right. It’s the positive moments in life that people hold closest and dearest. No one can ever know how long they have here so you need to take today as the most important one. Helping and caring for others builds yourself as well as those immediately around you.

Some of us are fortunate enough to look no further than our own family to see a guiding light.

Instead of mourning her death we are here to celebrate her life. I’m thankful Aunt Patty was part of my life. I’m thankful she found her soul mate in Uncle Richie who walked triumphantly next to her from the moment they met. At this moment let’s all think back and remember how Patty touched our lives. She was a beautiful person and we will always cherish her in our hearts. Her time on Earth may have been too short but I can see no reason to claim that her life was anything but a resounding success.