Paranormal Activity (2009)

Paranormal Activity
2009
Horror

Maybe you have heard of Paranormal Activity, if you haven't, it is about a girl being terrorized by a demon from beyond, and her boyfriend documenting their ordeal in the form of home movies.

To refresh your memory, take a look at the trailer they released when this movie first came out. Note the audience reactions.



You see that? The people in that trailer are completely losing their shit while watching like it's the scariest movie ever created. After finally watching it myself I just have to ask, what in the hell movie were they watching? Because not only is PA not as scary as that trailer makes it out to be, it is just not scary in any way at all. In fact all the moments that were meant to scare, and there are only like 4, just made me laugh. I mean one of the big scares is a big bang in the middle of the night. It might catch you off guard and make you jump a little, but there is nothing a scary about it. Another "important" scene features the lead actress getting out of bed then just standing still in her room for hours (thankfully they fast forward through it). Sounds intense, doesn't it? Of course the "scary" parts only make up about 10 minutes of the movie, so the other 75 are just straight up boring.
I don't have only negative things to say about it though. I will give it credit that it pulled off the "real found footage" look really well, just as well as The Blair Witch Project. The two lead actors also did a good job. I never really thought of them as actors, I just thought of them as the couple who lived in the house. Even though I found the climax to be funny and not scary it is really the only exciting scene in the whole movie.
I had my hopes up for Paranormal Activity, not many horror movies get so much positive buzz, but it was just a huge let down.

2 out of 5 Stars
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Early Prediction for my Top Album of 2010

And that album is....

The Morning Of - How I Fell In

How early of a prediction is it exactly? Well it is only May and more importantly, I haven't even heard the whole album yet. I have only heard a few songs but based off those and how much I like their previous work I really am convinced I am going to be completely obsessed with this album. It comes out this week so I will finally get to hear the whole thing and see if it actually lives up to the hype I placed upon it for myself. Here is one of the songs they released beforehand, I have watched this video probably 50 times in the few weeks it has been out. I just hope the rest of the album is half as good as this.



They also have a few other new songs (and some great old ones) on their Myspace at www.myspace.com/themorningof

I just can't freaking wait to hear this album. If you have never heard of this band before now please check them out and I hope you like them.
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Thunderball (1963

Thunderball
1962
Classic
Sean Connery

James Bond Movie #4

The Plot
SPECTRE is back. This time they are stealing nukes and holding the world hostage with them. It is up to 007 to find where the stolen nukes are before it's too late and Miami is wiped off the map.

Villain
SPECTRE henchman #2. Other than wearing an eye patch and feeding people that piss him off to sharks there really isn't much else to say about him.

Bond Girl
Claudine Auger as Dominique 'Domino' Derval. She is hot for sure, but she wasn't really on screen enough for me to care about what happened to her.

Final Thoughts
Overall I found Thunderball to pretty boring. I would say about 45 minutes of the movie are filmed underwater and all those scenes really drag the whole thing down. Since they are underwater there is no dialogue, and if you have never seen two guys fighthing underwater it is slow and boring. Add that to the fact that the villain was lame I would say this is the first Bond movie I didn't like. One thing I did enjoy about it was I finally figured out some of the stuff that was being spoofed in Austin Powers (guy named #2, head of SPECTRE acts like Dr. Evil, killing people with sharks, etc.). Now they remade this movie under a different name (Never Say Never Again) in 1983 so I plan on watching that version. Hopefully they take an interesting plot idea and actually make it exciting the second time around.

2 out of 5 Stars
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Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland
2009
Comedy/Horror
Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson

I think Zombieland might have had the most positive buzz on the internet out of all movies from 2009. So I was very excited when Netflix finally mailed it to me, after having it at the top of my queue for months. Zombieland is the latest in a recent surge of zombie movies (since the Dawn of the Dead remake came out it seems), but it is different than most since it is an actual big budget movie, and is actually good! In case you didn't know, it is a zombie comedy movie similar to Shaun of the Dead, so its not all zombies attacking and heads exploding the whole time. It stars Woody Harrelson as Tallhasse and Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus. No names in Zombieland, just where you are from. I was hoping Columbus would make it back to Columbus since I live here now I wanted to see it in a movie. But instead they meet up with two sisters, Witchita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), and join them on their journey to an amusement park. Woody Harrelson is definitely the highlight of the cast. His crazy zombie killing redneck character is the source of the best zombie kills and the best one liners in the movie. I really like Jesse Eisenberg so it is always good seeing him in anything. The movie does some cool things like putting Colubmus' "Rules To Live By" right into scenes to remind you why they are so important. There is a cameo from a famous actor that people made out to be one of the funniest things ever, and while it did result in a few good laughs it wasn't nearly as funny as people made it out to be. The final setting of the amusement park set up some good scenarios for both action and comedy. Overall Zombieland is a good fun zombie movie, though I wish it would have been a little funnier or a little more violent, but it did a good job of mixing the two ends of the spectrum. Though if I had to choose, I would say Shaun of the Dead did a better job.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger
1964
Adventure/Thriller
Sean Connery

James Bond Movie #3

The Plot
James Bond is on the tail of millionaire jeweler (and gold smuggler) Auric Goldfinger who plans to blow up Fort Knox, and the gold supply inside, making him the last great supply of gold in the world.

Villain
Gert Frobe as Goldfinger himself. A cocky millionaire who only cares about making even more money for himself. Goldfinger is a great villain because he is not physically intimidating (he is older and overweight), but because of his intellect and his resources. I also can't forget Oddjod, Goldfinger's Korean man servant, who was silent and intimidating in Goldfinger (throwing his hat as a weapon), but eventually became the most annoying character for multiplayer for Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64.

Bond Girl
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore. Even if she is not the best Bond Girl ever, she for sure has the most memorable name. She is attractive but I didn't really find her to be anything special. Her character's actions end up being for more interesting than just her physical appearance.

Final Thoughts
The thing I liked most about Goldfinger was the plan to destroy Fort Knox. Even though it is impossible to do, the villain's motivation for doing it makes total sense. This is also the first Bond movie where I really noticed how many chicks James Bond nails. Spoilers: it is a lot. Features James Bond in a sweet Aston Martin for the first time. With what is being set up the whole time I actually expected a little more action in the movie. There is a decent action sequence at the end but nothing special. I hear a lot of fans say this is their favorite Bond movie, it was not mine, but I did enjoy it.

3 out of 5 Stars
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From Russia With Love (1963)

From Russia With Love
1963
Spy Thriller
Sean Conncer

James Bond Movie #2

The Plot
A Russian government employee offers to smuggle a Russian decoding machine out of Instanbul and give it to the British/US. Bond goes to help her with taking the device out of the Russian consolate and getting it out of the country. But there must be a catch right? Of course there is. SPECTRE has tricked her into stealing the device so they themselves can steal it when it is out in the open, then sell it back to the Russians. They also want to kill Bond for what he did to them in the first movie,Dr. No.

Villain
No single "evil" villain here. Just a few SPECTRE henchmen. I believe the one female villain was the basis for the famel villain in the Austic Powers movies. The guy Bond has to deal with later in the film sort of feels like the SPECTRE version of Bond. Cool, calm, and not somebody I would want to deal with.

Bond Girl
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova. A blonde who looks hot in some scenese, and just okay in others. A very classic beauty (well this is a classic movie so I guess thats why), sort of reminds me of Grace Kelly a little (but not as beautiful). I approve. Even if she was a commie. Interesting note about her role in From Russia With Love was that in real life she was an Italian actress who was playing a Russian in the movie but her dialogue in it was actually dubbed over by a British actress. Anyways, onto a picture of her.

Final Thoughts
I really liked it. I loved the whole mood of it. The setting of Instanbul was different and interesting. I liked that the plan wasn't over the top or ridiculous, it was believable and realistic. I think that is the main reason this one is so appealing. The second half of the movie takes place on a train, but that only heightens the suspense towards the end. With Bond being closed in tight with his enemy, hurtline toward the final destination. Critically this is still considered the best Bond flick by many, and I have no problem with that. It still holds up as a great espionage filled spy thriller and can be a great introduction to the James Bond universe.

3.5 out of 5 Stars
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The Collector (2009)

The Collector
2009
Horror
Josh Stewart

The Collector is a rare movie in that I wanted to see it based almost solely on its TV spots (I think its the music they used). The trailer might not impress you, but it drew me in, here it is.



Anyways, the movie is about a guy who breaks in a house to rob it, but it turns out somebody much worse has already broken in. Somebody has taken the family hostage and rigged the house with a series of gruesome traps meant to torture and mame anyone trying to escape the house. So it is up to the guy who came to rob the house to save the family and stop the madman inside.

The movie started out as a prequel to the Saw series and retains several elemtns that make it very similar in many ways (elaborate traps, seeing how much pain someone will go through to survive/save someone). Well I liked the Collector less than Saw but much more than Saw II (the only Saw movies I have seen). I feel like I liked The Collector in spite of itself. With all the awful traps set up and the madman himself there is a lot of graphic suffering that goes on during the movie. This is definately not for the weak of heart. I hated all the "torture porn" type scenes (because I hate that kind of horror movie). But the whole set up drew me in enough that I was very into it almost the whole time. There is barely any dialogue in the whole movie. So being in the moment and imagining you stuck in the protagonists shoes inside the house is where all the enjoyment really comes from. The only part I really hated (other than the torture scenes themselves) was the ending, I feel like it only ended that way to set up a possible sequel, not because it was the best possible ending, and I totally predicted it about 30 minutes into the movie. Another plus is like so many horror movies there is a random teen sex/nudity scene and the girl has an awesome rack, so keep an eye out for that.

One thing I found really interesting and a little bizarre was the "alternate ending." There is an alternate ending on the DVD, but it is the oddest alternate ending I have ever seen from a movie. The alternate ending is just an alternate scene from about an hour into the movie, in which the main character acts completely out of character (does something he does the exact opposite of the whole movie) for no seemingly reason at all. So I guess if they would have went with the "alternate" ending the movie would have only been an hour long? And everybody would have been like "What?" I really want to ask the director how that could have possible been an alternate ending, because it couldn't have.

The Collector is not for the weak of heart, but if you want a newer horror movie to check out you could do much worse. Just watch it and imagine it is you stuck in the house going up against "The Collector" himself.

3 out of 5 Stars
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James Bond Movies

The James Bond franchise has been going strong for over 40 years, yet for whatever reason I had neglected most of the movies. Well not anymore. Over the next few months I plan on watching every James Bond movie there is, in the order that they were released. So expect to see a lot of Bond movies pop on here. Before I started this Bond-a-thon I had only seen 3 of them (Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace), but so far I have watched the first 3 and have the 4th one sitting next to me.

At this point I would rate the ones I have seen accordingly (from best to worst):

Goldeneye (might stay my favorite the whole time, I love Goldeneye)
From Russia With Love
Quantum of Solace
Goldfinger (many people consider it the best one, I liked it, didn't love it)
Dr. No
Casino Royale (a ton of people loved it, I didn't like it at all, but I just taped it on my DVR and will watch it again before I am done)

Should be a fun time watching them all. I think it will be a cool little accomplishment to say I have watched every single James Bond movie.

So how many have you seen? Which is your favorite?
Let me know in the comments.
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Armored (2009)

Armored
2009
Action
Laurence Fishburn, Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich

Armored is about a team of armored car drivers who plan on stealing the money from the cars they are supposed to protect. Now with a heist movie the thing that usually draws me in is that the criminals have an ingenious plan. This is definitely not the case with the plan in Armored. The plan they come up with is one of the worst heist plans I have ever heard in my life. Their plan is to hide the money then just say they were robbed. That's it. It is like something a five year old came up with. If that really happened the police would figure it out in about a day. One of the characters says "the police will be all over us, but only at first" so stupid. Thankfully for the movie's sake the plan does not go according to schedule so they are forced to deal with new circumstances as they happen. And since they aren't that smart to begin with (based on their origianl plan) they don't really adpat that well. All the performances were quality. I don't know how they managed to get so many recognizable actors in this movie when they all only really play supporting roles, but it benefits the film greatly. I mean this isn't exactly Oscar material, but it is always nice when actors still do good work in a movie like this. The last 30 minutes or so were very exciting because you don't really know what is going to happen and how all the characters will deal with the twists happening around them. Armored isn't a great movie, there are much better movies about heists you could check out, but its got enough good stuff going for it (like the cast), that it is worth checking out.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Black Dynamite (2009)

Black Dynamite
2009
Comedy
Michael Jai White

DYNOMITE!

Black Dynamite is awesome, it is as simple as that. Even though it got a lot of positive reviews I avoided it at first because I didn't think it's area of humor would connect with me. Black Dynamite is a spoof of 1970s blacksploitation movies like Shaft, where black people battle the man and say the word "jive" a lot. I have never seen any of the movies BD is spoofing but it really didn't ruin my enjoyment of it at all. I probably would have found a few more subtle references funny but thats probably it. Because most of the humor is BD can apply to everyone since a lot of it consists of sight gags, funny dialogue, and over the top characters. Black Dynamite is played by Michael Jai White. He does a great job, always playing the part dead serious regardless of the ridiculousness going on around him. There are so many one liners and funny scenes that I keep wanting to use or talk about but can't since no one else I know has seen it yet. Hopefully that changes soon though, because I have a copy and will make people watch it at the first possible opportunity. I mean the movie ends with a nunchuck fight against President Richard Nixon, how can't a movie like that be great?

Black Dynamite Trailer



4 out 5 Stars
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Battle of the Warriors (2006)

Battle of the Warriors
2006
Foreign/Action
Andy Lau

Who is up for some historical epic Chinese action? I know I am. Of course Red Cliff is my most anticipated movie in that area, but before I watched that I decided to check out The Battle of the Warriors. In the movie Andy Lau plays Ge Li a man recruited by a small village to help protect it from a massive army preparing to destroy it. For those who don't know, Andy Lau is basically the Chinese George Clooney. I enjoy his acting so the fact that he was the star played a big part in me checking it out. As expected there are sweeping shots full of hundreds of Chinese soldiers and beautiful landscapes. Even though one side is a massive army the movie does not choose to focus solely on huge battle scenes. It deals quite a bit with the strategies Ge Li uses to defeat a superior army. This makes sense since the original name of the comic book the movie is based off of is The Battle of the Wits. They probably should have just kept that title since Battle of the Warriors is probably the most generic sounding movie title ever. Some of the plans he comes up are really impressive. He seems to know what the enemy is going to do before it actually happens, and how to best defend against it. The movie also deals with how the leaders of the village react when an outsider suddenly gains great support from the local population. I probably would have preferred a few more action set pieces, but this movie wasn't going for that sort of feel. A few of the supporting characters just aren't interesting and seem to slow up the whole show when they appear on screen. It is a minor complaint but there are several scenes where they use CGI special effects and a few of those look really awful. Andy Lau delivers a fine performance, living up to my expectations. This isn't the best historical Chinese epic I have seen, but it still a very solid and entertaining flick.

3 out of 5 Stars
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The Informant! (2009)

The Informant!
2009
Based on a True Story
Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale

The Informant! is based on a real guy and true events, which is amazing considering some of the crazy turn of events that occur in it. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, who works for ADM (a bio-agriculture company), in the mid 1990s he contacts the FBI with information that ADM and its competitors are conspiring to fix the price of lysine (a corn additive) which allows them to raise the price of basically every product that contains corn or corn syrup (which is A LOT of stuff), ripping off consumers for millions of dollars every year. When he comes to the FBI with this information he begins working for them as an informant, making tapes and collecting information about the price fixing scheme. I won't say anything else because it takes some crazy terms towards the end. He is obviously not a trained spy or anything so things like watching him trying to fix his wire right in front of the people he is trying to tape makes for some quick laughs. I consider Matt Damon a pretty good actor, but this role is unlike anything else he has done. Which makes the fact that he does an amazing job so much more impressive. Without someone as talented as Damon playing the lead the film might not have worked as well. Because Mark Whitacre is a pretty complex guy. Mark Whitacre is also the source for all the comedy found in the film. From all the crazy stuff he does, to how he constantly compares everything that is happening in his life to Michael Chrichton books. One thing I really enjoyed about The Informant! is that many comedic actors are cast in small dramatic roles throughout. It was nice to see those funny people playing different kinds of roles. It may be because of my degree in Criminal Justice, but I find movies about investigations like this extremely fascinating. The average person does not normally know how exactly the FBI works when it is collecting information and trying to build a case against someone. This movie is only based on true events, but I think the insights it gives about corporate crime and how agencies attemtp to stop it ring pretty true. If you like Matt Damon as an actor make sure to rent The Informant, you will have a good time watching Damon transform into the quirky Mark Whitacre, while at the same time saying "This can't really be based on a real guy, can it?" It is an interesting movie about real life crimes that you may not have heard about, but affected you for years.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Rocket Science (2007)

Rocket Science
2007
Drama/Comedy
Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick

Yes, another Anna Kendrick movie, but I promise, I didn't rent it because she was in it. Although I freely admit she is very quickly moving up my celebrity crush list. No, I rented Rocket Science in my continuing attempt to see every movie set in high school (or college). There are some I have skipped because they seem like they are trying to hard to be quirky or indie or something else like that which I would hate, at first Rocket Science seemed like it could have turned out like that, but having never heard anything about it before I saw it on Netflix I decided to give it a shot. And I am happy I did, because I really liked it. The movie follows the life of Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), who has a terrible stuttering problem, who is recruited by star of the high schools debate team Ginny (Anna Kendrick) to be her new debate partner. Even though he has a terrible stutter and can't speak in public to save his life, he accepts her invitation to be her parter, eventually developing a huge crush on her. A lot of stuff happens after that point, but I won't spoil it. It may sound like sort of a ridiculous premise but the way it is actually presented is anything but. I can honestly say I had absolutely no idea how this movie was going to end or where it was going most of the time, which was refreshing. I think Anna Kendrick may actually be a little cuter in this than she was in Up in the Air, but I can't really put my finger on why (I think it may be because she is a little chubbier in this movie, therefore more realistically in my league). Nevermind about Anna Kendrick because even though she is good in this movie, Reece Thompson in the lead in phenomenal. There is just something about his character and performance that comes off as so authetic. I really believed he was the character. Which is not easy considering he has to compete with the stutter the whole time. I also liked how they handled the stuttering, it wasn't there for you to laugh at, or feel sorry for, it was just part of life, and you accepted that and moved on. Rocket Science containts a variety of emotions, it features some very dramatic (and slightly depressing) scenes, but also has plenty of scenes that had me cracking up, sort of like real life I suppose. Hal Hefner is a character you root for. There were a few things about it that annoyed me because it was trying to be hip (like the parents playing accoustic Violent Femmes covers all the time), but they did not distract from the overall experience. If you think you have seen all realistic portrayals of high school from movies, make sure to see Rocket Science, because it is a great example ofit.

3.5 out of 5 Stars
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Up in the Air (2009)

Up in the Air
2009
Drama
George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga

Up in the Air is about a man who probably has the most depressing job ever, going around to different companies and firing people for a living so the employers don't have to do it themselves. A job that forces him to spend most of his life in an airplane flying around collecting frequent flier miles. With a life like that, and taking into account our current economic times, this movie could have very easily been a very depressing affair. However, I did not find Up in the Air to be all that depressing at all in the end. Even with dour subject matter I found it quite charming and it managed to have me in a good mood almost the whole time. I guess I I would have to credit the cast with that achievement. George Clooney is one of the top actors in the business right now but I don't think I personally give him enough credit. His skill is apparent here where he somehow manages to effortlessly become his character. I totally believed him the whole time and never just saw him as George Clooney playing a part. Anna Kendrick might have been my favorite part of the movie. Her character just came off as so real. She was cute, but with enough annoying personality quirks that made me not fall in love with her completely, just like people in real life. She was nominated for an Oscar for this role and I wish she would have won. I know I will like her performance for more than Monique's who beat her with her part in Precious (a movie I make a point of never seeing in my life). Vera Farmiga also received an Oscar nomination for her part. I liked her as well but not as much as the other two leads. However there is a twist towards the end about her character's life that I really enjoyed and made me appreciate her work more than I previously did. When Up in the Air first came out it seemed like it was critic's favorite to win Best Picture and since I ended up liking it more than The Hurt Locker, I think I would have preferred it to win (even though it was not my favorite movie of the year).

You should definately see Up in the Air. It is a well made movie about a guy who has an usual job, as well as a slice of life in our current economic times. There is a heart and charm about it that somehow carries it above its possibly gloomy storyline. The cast is fantastic and really steals with show without seemingly doing anyting out of the ordinary.

4 out of 5 Stars
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Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

Universal Soldier: Regeneration
2009
Action
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Andrei Arlovski

I finally got to see a new action movie that doesn't hold back and instead chooses to kick all kinds of ass. That movie ws Universal Soldier: Regeneration (USR). The first Universal Soldier movie was kind of an over the top 90s action favorite. I think USR is technically the 4th sequel, but since nobody saw the other ones it is basically a sequel to the original. Too many big budget action movies are all about big name actors and explosions, which has gotten old at this point. Hollywood could learn something from this direct to DVD flick.

I knew this movie was gonna be awesome basically from the start. It opens up with a hostage taking followed by an awesome car chase sequences. Most direct to DVD movies do not have quality chases like the one here. Not only that, most direct to DVD movies to not look this good. All the action scenes look great. They are not over edited so you can't tell what is going on.

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Andrei Arlovski all star in USR. Andrei Arlovski is a UFC fighter and this was his first acting gig and he did a good job. Granted all he really had to do was act like a robot and kick ass, but he did it well. He and Lundren both play bad guys who Van Damme has to stop. I am a huge Lundgren fan so my main complaint is that he really only shows up in the end of the movie. Van Damme really steals the show. He doesn't do much until the end, but when the end comes he kicks epic amounts of ass. I really can't say enough about how awesome the last 30 minutes were. Van Damme takes on a whole building full of dudes with only a knife. How he ends up dealing with Lundren is really just insane. The final fight with Van Damme and Arlovski manages to last for quite awhile without becoming boring or repetitive.

There is one thing I should warn people about this movie. It is extremely violent. There are like five scenese where somebody literally punches someone in the face until the die. Blood flies freely from nice wounds. You also get to see what the back of someone's head looks like when they get it blown out by a shotgun.

Do you want a recent kick-ass and violent action movie that does not pull punches? Rent Rambo. Already seen Rambo, then rent Universal Soldier: Regeneration ASAP. It opens with an awesome action sequence and ends with 30 minutes of glorious violent action. This is not for the weak of heart, but as an action movie fan, I loved every minute. I hope Van Damme and Lundren keep making movies like this as long as they can.

4 out of 5 Stars
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Here is Dakota Fanning Singing

They have released the official music video to the song "Cherry Bomb" from the movie The Runaways. This version has Dakota Fanning on vocals, since she plays the singer Cherry Curie in the movie.



I think she sounds alright. I prefer the original of course. Dakota Fanning's voice just isn't as deep or textured as Cherry Curie's. I am curious to hear the rest of the soundtrack since she covers a couple Runaways songs on it other than Cherry Bomb. For comparison purposes, here is the orignal version by the real Runaways.



I am still not sure who the target audience is for The Runaways. I mean it stars Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart so I guess it could be aimed at the Twilight crowd. But it also stars Scout Taylor-Compton in addition to them as overly sexual teen girls,so it could be aimed at horny young males. It could also be aimed at old people who actually liked The Runaways when they were still together. I guess it really doesn't matter who the target audience it, because I want to see it and thats probably all that reall matters (to me).
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The House of the Devil (2009)

The House of the Devil
2009
Horror
Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan

It seems like no other genre of movies suffers from as many horrible entries as the horror movie genre. Finding a truly great horror movie can really be a hard thing to accomplish sometimes. So I became rather excited when "The House of the Devil" began to get a lot of positive buzz. However unlike other recent horror successes like [rec] or The Descent, I do not understand why this movie got good reviews from anyone. Simply, The House of the Devil sucks. It is easily one of the most boring movies I have ever watched. Since it is only 93 minutes long, fitting about 4 hours of boredom into it is really quite an accomplishment.

It is about a broke college student, Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), who is hired to watch after a man's elderly mother while he goes out. Eventually you find out the man is a memeber of a satanic cult (hence the name of the movie), and that Samantha is really there for another darker reason.

Literally nothing happens for the first 75 minutes. It is either her walking around campus, or her sitting on the couch. Then finally in the last 20 minutes when stuff actually does happen its not interesting and not explained enough at all, with an ending that is basically impossible (based on what happens before it). I would say even without changing the plot greatly, the director could have made things seem a lot less boring my making a few changes. A lot of shots just seem to hang out for a few extra seconds for no reason at all. And there is no music at all during the first half, so not only is it boring but it is quiet too, like you are in a library or something. There was also really nothing to build tension at all. I mean at one of the "exciting parts" in the first hour is when Samantha hears a noise coming from the kitchen drain...scared yet? I didn't think so.

This movie really only has two positives going for it. The first being that Jocelin Donahue as Samantha is really cute. The other positive is they copied 80s horror movies so effectively (film quality, title font, clothing, etc.) that I would have easily believed that this movie was actually made in the 80s and wasn't just made to look like it. Now just being passable as an 80s horror movie in itself isn't necessarily a great thing, but since that's what they were trying to accomplish, I give them credit for achieving their goal.

If you hear somebody talking about a great new horror movie called "The House of the Devil" laugh at them, or smack some sense into them. Because it is certainly not a "great", "good", or even "barely decent" new horror movie. It is just 90 minutes of boredom on DVD.

2 out of 5 Stars
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The Invention of Lying (2009)

The Invention of Lying
2009
Comedy
Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner

While watching "The Invention of Lying" I did not laugh once. This is a problem because it is suppose to be a comedy. I think the idea itself is a good one but it just doesn't pan out here. For those that don't know the movie is about a world where no one has ever lied, until one guy figures out how to. I like Ricky Gervais in other stuff and he is probably the only good thing about this movie (even though he wrote and directed it so he is technically the worst thing about it as well), because there were a few times where he was doing his nervous rambling schtick where I smiled and almost laughed. I usually enjoy Jennifer Garner because she can pull of a very cute character rather well, but here she is mostly just eye candy (which she succeeds at). Then again it probably didn't matter who was cast in it, because the writing just falls so flat the entire time. I want to interview Gervais where he can't lie to ask him if he actually thought most of it was funny while filming to see what he would actually say.

One thing that bothered me was before lying is invented the people in this world don't just tell the truth, they go out of their way to say everything they are thinking. That is not the same thing as telling the truth. It reminded me a lot of "What Women Want" but with everybody saying their thoughts out loud instead of just one guy hearing them. So when a when two people meet instead of just saying "Hello" they say something like "Hello, I find you rather attractive and hope to have sex with you later." It is a lame joke that gets really old really fast, like in the first minute, and that is basically the only joke for the first half of the movie. The second half of the movie basically just makes fun of Christianity, which doesn't even bother me as Christian, it only bothers me because it wasn't funny. Watching Gervais trying to explain the 10 Commandments he makes up out of nowhere is about as close as this whole thing gets to funny, but it's not that close. The last 30 minutes drag on for way too long before coming to the completely predictable "happy" ending, but I don't really see many people caring what happens by that point.

Nice idea with great possibilities, but horribly executed. Maybe in a few decades a writer or director that can actually inject some humor into the outline can remake this movie and make a version worth seeing.

2 out of 5 Stars
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Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Law Abiding Citizen
2009
Thriller
Gerard Butler, Jaime Foxx

I like things where people take the law into their own hands, like The Punisher or the Death Wish movies. So it is no real surprise that I was very excited to see Law Abiding Citizen. In it Gerard Butler's character's family is killed and even though the guys who did it are caught, Jaimee Foxx and the rest of the District Attorney Office gives a plea deal to one of the guys (he is out in 3 years). This pisses Butler off so much he decides to not only go after the criminals responsible but instead turn his rage towards the entire justice system itself for making deals with murderers. Even after he is caught and locked in prison the killings somehow continue to occure and escalate. It is revealed that Butler used to work for the military and is really a tactical genius. Soon the question is not only who he might kill next, but how exactly he is doing it. I also liked that he turned from a vigilante killing "bad" people to a total murderous psychopath killing only to serve his own purpose, it made the audience root for him in the beginning then have to re-analyze how they felt about what he was doing later in the movie.The two big names in this are Gerard Butler and Jaime Foxx, and without them I don't think it would have been as good. This movie's topic isn't Oscar material, but they still turn in top level performances. Their characters are at odds the whole time, but you can tell they respect in some way where the other is coming from. But when you have to strong characters like that going head to head one of them eventually has to flinch.

The first 2/3 of the movie are pretty sweet. It is great to watch the battle of wits between the two main characters. You constantly have to adjust who you are "rooting" for. When the killings take place they happen in such unexpected ways and places you are never really sure when they might go down. The escalated attacks build a great cycle of tension and release. The action scense last anywhere from 1 second to several minutes but each one is shot well and gets your heart beating a little faster.

The movie takes a downturn in the last third, but keeps being entertaining on certain levels. The last third of the movie is discussed below, but it contains plot spoilers for those who have seen the movie already...

*Spoilers*
I don't normally like to give away plot spoilers on here, but I feel the need to discuss the movie and the ending (and since its been out awhile), I will talk about some things that might spoil the plot below.


How Butler's character continues to carry out murders while being in solitary confinement is interesting until you actually find out how he is doing it, by sneaking out of prison for each attack. Because it is really one of the dumbest things I have seen in a movie in recent years. It is just so stupid and idiotic. If a genius was somehow carrying out attacks from inside prison I feel like they would probably monitor him 24/7, or at the very least look at him every few hours, but apparently the warden of the prison felt like helping out the plot of the movie by making an opening for this stupid twist. During the movie they wonder if he has an accomplice on the outside helping him, I don't know if that would have been the best possible idea, but I think an accomplice would have made things better, and more importantly believable. Not to mention he is the most famous man in the city, the whole city is on lockdown because of him, yet nobody notices him when he walks into city hall.

Other people had a problem with the end, but I didn't. He didn't even seem to mind dying, he knew it was going to happen eventually, he wanted people like him to be dealt with harshly. All he wanted to do was make people in the justice system think about some of the things they do when prosecuting criminals, and he accomplished that. His goal was never to kill a bunch of people then get away, because he could have done that.

*End of Spoilers*


I definately recommend checking out Law Abiding Citizen. It is a fun ride with two good performances by the leads. There is a pretty stupid twist towards the end, but it doesn't ruin the enjoyment I had with the rest of the movie. More than a the vigilante movie I was expecting it is more a character study of two men who have more in common than they think, and it looks to see how far those characters will go to stand up for the principles they hold dear.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways (2004)

Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways
2004
Documentary
Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Curry

I figured it was about time I watch a documentary, so I decided on Edgeplay: A Film About The Runaways. The Runaways were an all girl rock group in the late 70s and early 80s, featring Joan Jett and Lita Ford among others. There is a new movie coming out called The Runaways about the band starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, so I figured I might as well learn more about this band before I see that movie. I should preface this review with saying that I was alread a fan of their music before watching this documentary. The story of the band is actually pretty interesting. Most of the girls were only 15 or 16 when they got together to form the band, and weren't much older than that when they first became popular. Sometimes they are referred to as "jailbait rockers" which is probably a pretty acurate term considering their age and the provocative clothing worn by lead singer Cherie Curry. You learn a lot about them in the documentary, how much they didn't really like each other, how much their manager abused all of them, and what utlimately led to several of the members leaving the band. Or how their first big hit "Cherry Bomb" was written in about 15 minutes as a song for singer Cherie Curry to audition for the band with.

Technically, this isn't really a good documentary at all. It is almost entirely shaky camera interviews and blurry old concert footage, and barely any music. There are not old interviews, or live appearances. All of the members give new interviews except for Joan Jett who does not appear in the documentary at all. The documentary was also made by the band's second bassist Vicki Blue, which annoyed me a little, because I know her personal invovlement greatly affected the end product.

If you are excited to see the new scripted Runaways movie check this out first. You can learn the "true story" before seeing the retelling of it. Or watch this if you feel like watching a documentary about the rise and fall of a rock and roll group,and Behind the Music isn't on. I suggest checking out their first album, "The Runaways" too, it is my favorite by them.

3 out of 5 Stars

Here is a fan made video of The Runaways featuring my favorite song by them "Dead End Justice"



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New Found Glory 10 Anniversary Tour

Saturday night the New Found Glory 10th Anniversary Tour came to town. It is the tour celebrating the 10th Anniversay of the release of New Found Glory's self titled album, which most of their fans call their favorite. Besides New Found Glory the other bands at the show were Saves the Day, hellogoodbye, and Fireworks. NFG is probably in my top 2 favorite bands of all time, and I love Saves the Day so I was very excited to go see this show. NFG and STD were two bands I listened to all the time when I was in high school, and both have a special place in my heart. I have seeen NFG live several times before, but somehow I had never seen STD live until that night.

Fireworks was the first band to play. I had actually seen them like a month earlier with Hit the Lights. It seemed like most people had no idea who they were or didn't care which sucked because they have great songs and put on a good show. The only time people got really into them was when they played "Detroit" their most popular song. It was good to see them live again.

hellogoodbye was next. I am not a fan of theirs at all but after this show I might be, nothing to do with their music though. I somehow managed to be standing next to like 4 douchebags who were flicking them off and yelling obscenities the whole time. Thankfully the band called them out on being idiots which I loved. Security came twice to tell them to knock it off which they finally did partly because the one dude hid like a little girl when security came around. So I thank the band for making the part of the show I was looking forward to the least somewhat interesting. And even though I don't like their music I have to say their new songs sounded better than their old ones.

Saves the Day was next and they killed it, really blew me away with how good they were. They just came out and played like 3 straight songs before saying anything, and really didn't take any other breaks their whole set. Somehow this was the first time I had seen STD live, but now I want to see them on a headlining tour asap. The highlight was probably when they played "At Your Funeral" probably their most popular song. The lyrics start out "this song will become an anthem for your underground" and I don't know what but I think it really connected live with the whole place sing along. When they were done a lot of people were actually cheering for an encore, I don't think I have ever seen that for a non headlining band before. I didn't take my video camera with me but here is a video someone else took of them playing "At Your Funeral" live



Here is a picture I did take of them playing though


New Found Glory was the headliner and up last. This tour was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self titled album so they played that straight through. Basically due to how much NFG rocked I am now considering this one of the best concerts I have ever been too. For like half their set I felt like I was going to pass out from singing along so loudly while jumping and dancing around to every song. The whole crowd was so into in there was a crazy amount of energy on the floor, it was great, and best of all nobody in the crowd was acting like a douche. And because they played the self titled album everybody knew all the songs and screamed their lungs out right along with the band. After playing the self titled album they played like 6 other songs from their other albums, all fan favorites.
Somehow, probably while catching my breath I did have a second to snap this picture of NFG.


I did laugh a few times while NFG were playing because some annoying coupole next to me were looking into each other's eyes and kissing during the songs "My Friends Over You" and "Don't Let Her Pull You Down" because those songs are both about not getting too wrapped up with girls and relationships. I guess the message was long on them. So basically the NFG set just had a bunch of great energy and songs I love so it was awesome. Here is a video somebody else took from the tour the show before in Pittsburg.



Basically, if this tour is coming anywhere near you, you should probably go. If you are a fan of New Found Glory or Saves the Day it is a "must-go" situation, because it just might end up being one of the best shows you have ever been to (like it was for me). I had a blast.
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Camp Rock (2008)

Camp Rock
2008
Musical
Demi Lovato, The Jonas Brothers

Yes I did just watch Camp Rock. Why? You may ask. Because I really like Demi Lovato and probably have a crush on her (I know how old she is, I don't care). I had this on my DVR for a long time but finally decided to watch it last night. Now I have a feeling it's because I am not really their target audience, but I really didn't like it quite much. I really only watched it to hear what songs Demi Lovato sings in it, but she really only sang one song the whole (I actually did like that song though). The plot was extremely predictable, in a bad way. A bunch of random minor characters had singing and dancing numbers but I fastforwarded through almost all of those because they sucked and I didn't care. The Jonas Brothers did an okay job acting except for the oldest one. He was playing like a spaced out rocker and was really awful. Thankfully he only had a minor role and Joe Jonas had the larger role and did a fine job. I would say the only real positives of the whole movie was Toledo's own Allyson Stoner who did a great job, and Demi Lovato because her character was very adorable.

There were two minor things that made me go WTF a little bit.
1. Demi Lovato's characters name is "Mitchie." What the hell kind of name for a girl is Mitchie?
2. Her characters mom is a caterer and decides to work for Camp Rock (so her daughter can go) because she said "summer is always slow for business." As someone who works for a catering company I can tell you that is basically the complete opposite of the truth.

The thing I find most shocking about Camp Rock is that Disney hasn't bought an actual camp and made a real life "Camp Rock" yet. With how popular this movie is with young teen girls it would basically be a money making monster. I believe they just finished making Camp Rock 2, but unless it has a better plot, some better supporting actors, and I hear that it features a couple of new Demi Lovato songs, I probably won't go out of my way to watch it.

2 out of 5 Stars
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Dead Snow (2009)

Dead Snow
2009
Horor/Foreign

Nazi Zombies! You heard me right, this movie is about Nazi Zombies. Do I really need to say anything else? Doesn't that tell you all you really need to know about it? Nazis are really the go to villian in a lot of cases where they couldn't come up with a better idea, and zombies are the go to villian for horror movies where they couldn't come up with a better idea. Combine the two and you have a perfect nemesis for a horror movie, an evil villian who is already dead but just won't die. Dead Snow is actually a Norwegian film. It is about a young adults who go away to a secluded cabin for a weekend (what horror film doesn't start that way) but run into the area's current inhabitants, Nazis who were stationed there during World War II but were killed by some angry villagers and never really left.

Dead Snow isn't one of the best zombie movies I have seen, but it is a good one. This is noteworthy since most recent lower budget zombie movies that have come out have been garbage. People are just trying to cash in on the zombie craze by turning out crap cheap and fast, regardless of good it actually is. Some of the characters in the movie actually talk about Evil Dead 1 and 2 which makes a lot of sense because Dead Snow reminded me a lot of the works of Sam Raimi. I say that because of the excessive use of blood and gore, to the extent that it's not even gross, just hilarious.
I mean just look at these examples of what the zombies in Dead Snow do to some of the people:
1. Grab him by the head and pull it apart down the middle so his brain falls out onto the floor.
2. A guy hangs off the side of a cliff by holding onto the intestines of one of the zombies.
3. Five zombies grab a guy then all at once, rip off all of his limbs from his torso.

Zombie and over the top horror movies aren't for everyone. But if you do like movies like Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell, or Hatchet, then definately check out Dead Snow. I mean how can you really go wrong with Nazi zombies eating Norwegian co-eds?

3 out 5 Stars

Below is the trailer for Dead Snow

The Donner Party (2009)

The Donner Party
2009
Drama
Crispin Glover, Alison Haislip

I know this is why you guys come to this blog, to read me ramble on about movies you never heard of and will probably never see, okay actually I know that's not true at all, but this is one of those times. I doubt many of you heard about The Donner Party (the movie, not the actual party) until right now. In real life the Donner party was an infamou group of pioneers traveling to California in the winter of 1846-47 who become stranded by a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and who are then forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. In this movie we follow a small group of that party, none with the last name Donner, as they deal with being stuck in the frozen Sierra Nevada mountains with no food.

I only saw this movie because Alison Haislip is in it. For those who don't know who Alison Haislip is she is one the hosts of the TV show "Attack of the Show" on G4. It is basically a news show about video games, comic books, movies, and TV with a bunch of random jokes and skits thrown in for good measure. I personally love the show, so I rented The Donner Party to support Alison Haislip as an actress.

Sadly, this movie was pretty boring. I guess being starving and freezing really doesn't leave the oppurtunity for much to happen between the characters. The characters are either just sitting around in snow, walking around in snow, or sitting around in snow eating a body part of somebody they had to kill. I realize that they have no food the entire time but it seems like they go from eating the last of their food to eating one of their friends pretty quickly. There wasn't enough debating on whether that was really the best course of action to take.

Crispin Glover is the biggest name actor in the movie. He really did a great job playing the religious but selfish father figure from the one family. He is pretty well known as being a rather crazy person in real life who really becomes the character so I really wonder what he was like on the set of a movie about cannibalism. In case you were wondering, Alison Haislip did a fine job, but she only had like 5 lines so she really didn't get a chance to show off her acting chops. Half the time there is no soundtrack, and what is there is very miminalist. I have a feeling this was done on purpose, but I think a little more obtruse soundtrack could have improved things a little. I don't know where they actually filmed this movie, but I would be remissed if I did not mention how beautiful the scenery is. Though it would probably seem a lot less pretty if I was starving to death in it.

There is really no need to see this movie unless, you are a big Crispin Glover fan (or Alison Haislip fan like me) or interested in the Donner Party from a historical perspective. You won't be missing out on much if you don't see it.

2 out of 5 Stars

Read more about what actually happened to the real life Donner Party (it's quite interesting) at wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party
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The Hurt Locker (2009)

The Hurt Locker

2009
Drama/Suspense
Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie

Heading into this award season many experts have The Hurt Locker as the leader to win Best Picture. Kathryn Bigelow is also considered the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Director, which is pretty amazing considering she is only the 4th woman to ever be nominated in that category (Sophia Coppola got nominated for Lost in Translation, really?). She will actually be competing with her ex-husband James Cameron in that category. The Hurt Locker follows an explosive disposal team in Iraq in the year 2004. When somebody finds an IED (improvised explosive device) on the side of the road, they call in these guys to deal with it.

I absolutely loved every scene dealing with the characters actually disabling bombs. The whole time they were with in reach of an active explosive I was on the edge of my seat. The situation itself as well as the way it was shot created an insane amount of tension and suspense. You sort of get a feeling on what characters are gauranteed to survive, but that does not detract with the fact that you really don't know what might happen when they get a call to a bomb site. I am pretty sure my nerves are nowhere near strough enough to deal with something like that in real life (a question a few of the character's ask themselves in the movie).

Now I said I loved every seen actually involving explosives disposal, but that is only half the movie, and sadly, I found everything else kind of boring. It might have just been because the bomb scenes are so tense and exciting nothing could compare, or it could just be the other scenes just weren't anything special. I never really gained any reason to care about the main characters. They share a little of their backstory but it really made no connection with me at all. Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie as the leads do a fine job. I believed them as their characters. They greatly expressed the wide range of emotions a team like that would go through. As great as they actors were, half of the movie really gives them very little to work with. There is a side story about Jeremy Renner's character befriending an Iraqi boy that starts off good, gets really intense, then diverts into what I consider to be an unrealistic and unnecessary detour that greatly took me out of the situation.

One issue a lot of people had with the movie was that the way the character dealt with the bombs and explosives was unrealistic and not how it was actually done. That did not bother me at all. I wasn't expecting a documentary on how to disable IEDs. I think they chose to show the situations in the way that best built tension and kept people's attention. I am okay with giving up a little realism if it is for the sake of improved entertainment. Though it is a valid complaint.

I recommend people check out The Hurt Locker. It has some of the most suspenseful and intense scenes I have seen in a movie this year. Unfortunately those scenes are surrouned by some stuff I didn't find that interesting. There is probably a good chance you will enjoy it more than me since most critics seemed to. It is not my favorite movie of the year, but I didn't hate it so it won't really bother me at all if it ends up winning Best Picture.

3 out of 5 Stars
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I Went On A Little Movie Watching Spree

I watch more movies than the average person already, but this weekend I took it up another notch and since I had nothing to do I ended up watching a lot of movies. I tried to mix them up a lot by genre, which I think I accomplished. It also would not have been possible without Netflix Instant streaming (and the ability to stream through my XBOX 360 to my TV). When Netflix first introduced their Instant streaming option on their site the selection was really weak. But over the last year or so it has improved greatly. Now there are hundred of good classic movies as well as newer releases and complete TV series ready to stream at the click of a button, it is a really great option than Netflix includes in your membership. So anyways over the past 5 days or so I have watched the following movies:

Planet Hulk
The Hurt Locker
9
The Donner Party
Detroit Rock City
Killing Zoe
Cannibal! The Musical
Dr. Strangelove
I'm Reed Fish
Singles
Cliffhanger

So yea, I guess I had too much free time on my hands. Now lets see how many of those movies I actually take the time to write a little about.
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Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening (2009)

Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening
2009
Stand Up Comedy
Aziz Ansari

Something you may not know about me is that I really don't like stand up comedy. Every so often I will find a comedian I like, but for the most part I never watch stand up routines. But based on what I had seen of Aziz Ansari, both stand up and acting roles and most importantly his old sketch show Human Giant, I found him to be funny so I decided to rent his new stand up special. Overall, I really liked it. Aziz is a funny dude in my book. But to get the enjoyment I got out of it you are going to have to be familiar with the following topics:

- Facebook (and not just in general, but know how people actually use it and react to things on it)
- the MTV show Next
- Kaney West
- Coldstone Creamery
- His character Raaaaaaaandy from the movie Funny People. At the end of the special he does an extra 10 mintues of material as Raaaaaaaandy, his alter ego that only tells jokes about his sex life and has a DJ backing him up.

The only special feature on the disc is him doing another 30 minutes of stand up material in front of an improv class. I loved this extra stand up material because he talks about one of my favorite shows of all time, Kid Nation, and the jokes he tells proves he actually watched it too, which makes him awesome.

I watch very little stand up, but when I do choose to watch some it is usually because I really enjoy the comedian. After watching this special Aziz Ansari joins the short list of stand up comedians I really love. Check it out if you are looking for some new stand up to watch. Now I just wish Human Giant would get released on DVD.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Gamer (2009)

Gamer
2009
Action
Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Ludacris

I rented Gamer not really expecting it to be a good movie at all. I just hoped it was a crazy action movie I could have some fun while watching. It couldn't even deliver in that sense. There were just too many problems that made it an unejoyable experience.

Netlfix summarized the plot like this:
It's 2034, and humans can control and kill each other in a large-scale online gaming world. But Kable (Gerard Butler), a wrongfully convicted soldier forced to join the violent competition, tries to free himself by taking out its evil architect, Ken (Michael C. Hall). While being controlled by a rich kid (Logan Lerman), Kable must also save his wife, Angie (Amber Valletta), who's trapped in her own avatar world.

My thoughts about Gamer and now presented in a handy Pros vs Cons format.

Pros
- Boobs.
There are quite a few pairs of exposed boobs in this movie, and I consider that a positive.
- Violence.
I don't know if I have ever seen a movie with so many people getting shot in the head that actually showed that. Now violence in itself is not a positive, but I appreciate the fact that they went for it and didn't censore themselves.
- Attempts at video game and internet humor.
Only the attempt to reach out to these groups with inside jokes, not the actual execution of the jokes.


Cons
- Makes no sense.
There are so many things about the plot of this movie that make absolutely no sense. I won't list them all so I will just talk about the main one. In the movie a criminal on death row is allowed to play in a real life video game, but their body is being controlled by some kid playing it like a video game. If the kid wins enough matches in the game, the prisoner goes free. Why would they release the prisoner off of death row because some random kid was good at a video game? It literally has nothing to do with the prisoner, it makes no sense. Like I said there are a BUNCH of things about the plot in this movie that make no sense at all, but I don't have the time or patience to try and remember and list them all.
- Barely anything is explained.
In addition to stuff shown that makes no sense there are a ton of things that are not explained at all. How do they pick who controls the convicts? Not explained at all. I have a feeling most things weren't explained because the writers had no idea how to explain them.
- The action scenes.
One thing I did expect out of this movie were fun action scenes, and it didn't deliver. The action scenes are directed so terribly it basically ruins any enjoyment I could have gotten out of them.
- Pointless song and dance number.
Yea, you read that right. And yes, it was pointless and made no sense.
- The execution of video game and internet jokes.
I like that they tried to make these inside jokes to the video game community but all of them were executed poorly. And most of them seemed like they were written up by a 12 year old.
- Trying to make a social statement.
I think this movie was trying to make a statement that technology controls too much of our life. But it was hard to really get that message when the movie was so bad.
- The directing and editing.
Basically see everything above in the Cons section to see what these guys did wrong.


All I wanted when I rented Gamer was to have a fun time watching Gerard Butler shooting guys, but it I couldn't even find enjoyment of it on that level. There are way too many things wrong about this movie to ever suggest someone should watch it.

1.5 out of 5 Stars
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Pandorum (2009)

Pandorum
2009
Sci-Fi/Horror
Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid

2009 was a surprisngly strong year for sci-fi movies. Star Trek was a huge blockbuster hit. District 9 exceeded most people's expectations. Avatar became the highest grossing film of all time. I still haven't seen all the big sci fi movies that came out last year (Moon for instance), but as of last night I have seen Pandorum and I think it might have just been the best one. Somehow it only has a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes which makes no sense to me, and just makes me have less faith in critics' opinions. Because my "Tomato" rating was that it was pretty fucking awesome.

There is really not much new or groundbreaking about Pandorum, but it somehow still felt fresh. The story is very similar to many other movies (notably Alien and Event Horizon). A spaceship is in deep space (where there is no one to help when something goes wrong), some creatures show up, all hell breaks loose, and it goes from there. This time when stuff goes wrong the characters are in hyper sleep (they were basically frozen so they wouldn't age), so when they wake up they have no idea how long they were asleep for, and also suffer from short term amnesia. This makes the craziness going on in the ship to be even more frightening and confusing. When they finally start to get a grasp on what is going on they figure out a plan and set it into action to save the ship and whoever might be left of the crew. Even though I would label this a sci-fi movie, there are a lot of horror elements in it. The creatures that appear on the ship are very disgusting and frightening. So I wouldn't recommend this for people who get scared by stuff easily. Just imagining being chased by them could give you nightmares for a few days. One thing I appreciated about Pandorum was when it came to the creatures they didn't make them CGI. They were created with make up which just helps build the sense of the events really happening. The spaceship was also wonderfully created. Both the exterior shots showcasing its massive shape, and the intimate scenes taking place in its endless supply of winding corridors throughout the ship.

The two big names in this movie are Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid. Ben Foster is the starring role and does a fantastic job. I don't think I have ever seen him in something that I didn't like him in. It is great to watch his character trying to piece together what the hell happened on the spaceship, while at the same time trying to stay alive. Dennis Quaid had a smaller role than I imagined, but his character was still integral. There is a twist involving his character that I saw from a mile away, but it was still entertaining to watch take place.

With about 15 minutes left in the movie I was getting scared that it might end in a very unsatisfying way. Luckily for me the ending was not something I saw coming at all, but absolutely loved. Normally when I watch movies I am constantly checking how much time is left (bad habit), but I wasn't doing that with Pandorum. I was so into the story that the first half of the movie had flow by in what seemed like 10 minutes before I looked at how much more I had to go.

Pandorum isn't the most hyped sci-fi film from 2009 but I think I enjoyed it more than all the rest. It had a great mix of sci-fi and horror elements. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next while at the same time sitting back because I was afraid of what might be popping up around the next corner. Pandorum is really a must seeif you liked the similar movies I mentioned previously. I also say its a must see if you like sci fi, horror, or just want to watch an interesting movie with some creepy stuff going on.

4.5 out 5 Stars

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Bill's Top 15 + Albums of 2009

And with little fanfare here it is, my top 15 (and then some) albums of 2009. Making this list told me a few things about my musical tastes for this year. My musical tastes have evolved over the past several years, but pop punk is still far and away my favorite genre. Pop punk itself has also evolved like my music tastes. Most of the bands in that genre on this list incorporate bits of hardcore or other forms of music, bringing some new life into it. This year has also continued my love affair with pop music featuring female vocals. I am not sure how that started, but as long as they keep making catchy upbeat albums, I will continue to listen. The amount of country artsist on the list is really low, but that's because I really only like a few country artists and most of them didn't release anyting this year, or it just wasn't anything special (looking at you Miranda Lambert). I still listen to country radio more than any other type when in the car. I am sure those of you reading this will be unfamiliar with more than a few bands on the list, but please take a listen, you might find something you like (and if you do, tell me, I will most likely give you a link to download it) that you had never heard previously. I made sure to put a genre description before each link to give you a little heads up on what you might be hearing after clicking.

As always you can check out what music I have been listening to anytime you want by visiting my last.fm page.
http://www.last.fm/user/billcom6
(last.fm is a site that keeps track of the music you listen to)

In No Specific Order Here Are Those Also Receiving Votes...

Alestorm - Black Sails at Midnight (pirate metal)
Everytime I Die - New Junk Aesthetic (hardcore)
BoA - BoA (dance pop)
Tiffany Giardina - self titled (pop)
Broadway Calls - Good Views, Bad News (punk)
The Devil Wears Prada - With Roots Above and Branches Below (metalcore)
Emery - ...In Shallow Seas We Sail (punk)
Farewell - Run it up the Flag Pole (pop punk)
Fireworks - All I Have to Offer is my Own Confusion (pop punk/hardcore)
Say Anything - self title (punk)
Saosin - In Search of Solid Ground (post hardcore)
Cartel - Cycles (pop punk)

And now onto the actual list

My Top 15 Albums of 2009

#15
All Time Low - Nothing Personal
pop punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xJdHkQkBTo
ATL is probably the most popular up and coming pure pop punk band around, replacing Fall Out Boy who held that title for the last few years. Its not hard to see why. Girls think they are cute, and guys can relate their lyrics (and like going to shows for bands where the audience is full of cute girls). I didn't like this as much as their last album, but its still fun stuff.

#14
Dreadnoughts - Victory Square
punk/celtic rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_aqTKCLquo
I am putting this on the list because it is something a little different than everything else. They are a band that mixes celtic influences (and a little Russian IMO) into punk music. I always hear people asking if there are bands similar to Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys and when they ask that I scream DREADNOUGHTs. Because they are very similar to those two more popular bands yet barely anyone knows about them, which is a shame. There musicianship is just flat out outstanding, whether it is on a guitar, a fiddle, or whatever else they are using. They even have one purely instumental song, and another song without music, and I actually like both of them which is amazing because I usually can't stand instrumentals. Listening to this album just makes me want to grab a beer and start dancing around.

#13
Gloriana - Gloriana
country/pop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhEHjlsRQH4
I really have a thing for country groups that feature both female and male vocalists (Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland). Gloriana is the newest, and youngest, band to give that formula a try. The thing that impressed me the most with this album was that it in no way sounds like a debut. Everything about this album (music, lyrics, vocals) sound like they are from a group who has been together for like 20 years, it is really impressive. They were on tour with Taylor Swift for awhile and that makes sense. Their music has a lot in common with hers, and if they play their cards right they could even be as popular as her in the future, okay maybe not but they could be big. They did beat out Lady Gaga for the Best New Artist award at this year's Billboard Awards. I also can't forget to mention that both of the girls in Gloriana are really cute, which is a fact not lost on me at all.

#12
A Day to Remember - Homesick
metalcore/pop punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd-lbg1QQ-Y
For those who don't listen to this kind of music, ADTR is probably the biggest band in the scene right now. The crowd they had a Warped Tour was by far the largest. Even though I like them I am not sure how they became this popular. I guess their mixed of harsh metalcore vocals and guitar riffs combined with their melodic choruses attract fans from both ends of the spectrum. Their latest album is more of them perfecting their sound. Harsh screaming followed up with a extremely catchy chorus sung in clear vocals, just asking to be sung along with at a concert. I have seem them live twice in the past year or so, and that was still not enough.

#11
Cout Your Blessings - Like Gum In Your Hair
pop punk/punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldppUiJCQvw
When I first started listening to this album I put in on my playlist and thought, "Hey, this is pretty good." Then a week later I realized I hadn't listened to anything else, and was Okay with that fact. The lyrics on this album, like the title, are are a little tongue in cheek and cocky. This might be because it is their debut, and because of that, I can't wait to see what they release next.

#10
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
pop punk/rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH9A6tn_P6g
Paramore is probably the most popular band with a female lead singer out there right now. They are not my favorite, but they are close. This being their 3rd album they had built up a reasonably large fan base and with that comes high expectations. And lucky for them, they have met those expectations. This is an album for all of great pop punk songs with the subtle twist having a female vocalist (and lyrcisit) brings. My only complaint, like with most albums it seems, is too many slow songs, if every song was as fast and and upbeat as "Ignorance" this would have most likely cracked the top 5.

#9
Flyleaf - Memento Mori
rock/Christian rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbdCeWoEH1U
I have been waiting for this album for so long. Their debut album came out like 3 years ago before this one finally arrived. Flyleaf is another rock band with a female lead singer. I like Flyleaf more than Paramore because they are more of a rock band and seem less worried about appealing to 12 year old girls. People used to wonder if Flyleaf was a Christian band or not, well with this album they leave no doubts. Several songs feature them openly proclaiming their faith and I appreciate it.

#8
New Found Glory - Not Without a Fight
pop punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1uWuwQGzlU (cool video, its part zombie movie)
NFG is probably my favorite band of all time. Though because of that (rightfully or wrongfully) I will never love anyting as much as their first few albums. Those were albums I listened to all the time in high school so they hold certain nostalgia for me. They have been putting out music I love for over 10 years, by far longer than anyone else on this list. So they are pros, they know what they are doing. They can write another song about girls and friends, but make it sound new and fresh. It pisses me off that kids in high school today that I see at shows don't name NGF as one of their favorite bands, because they are 5 times better than the crap they like better. NFG helped to perfect the modern pop punk style and are still some of the best at it.

#7
Carrie Underwood - Play On
pop/country
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTH-PMNBv9g (but basically every song on this is really good)
Even though this is not that high on the list I really have nothing negative to say about this album. This is Carrie Underwood's 3rd album so you basically know what you are getting, which is a great mix of pop and country. The people who made this album knew what they were doing. This is so finely polished and produced to be a great pop album there are no real flaws. I only dislike one song on the album really (Temorary Home which for some reason was chose as the second single), and any of the songs could easily be a hit single. If you like pop music or country music, there is no reason not to listen to this. Plus she is probably the celebrity I have the biggest crush on.

#6
Demi Lovato - Here We Go Again
pop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWFWRLE1X3Q
I am in no way ashamed to admit that I am a huge Demi Lovato fan. Over the past 12 months she is my most listened to artist. If that puts me in the same category as 13 year old girls, then so be it. Her first album was one of my favs from 2008 and at first I didn't like this as much as that, but after more listens I think it has topped it. The song I linked to, Every Time You Lie, is seriously one of my favorite songs of the year, by anyone. For being so young she is really an impressive artist, writing almost all of her own music. There is a reason somebody like John Mayer worked with her on this album, because she is the real deal. I really should rent Camp Rock soon...

#5
BarlowGirl - Love & War
Christian rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTtENjxrmY8 (by far my favorite song ever from them)
BarlowGirl is a Christian pop rock band made up of 3 sisters. This is their most mature album. In past albums they seem like they worried about proving that they can rock with the boys, but they are not a hard rock band, so playing faster or harder does not really suit them. Instead on this album they explore new sounds and in the process find a sound that is their own. They also stake a claim with their beliefs with lyrics about abortion and what their faith their means to them. Most Christian artists shy away from controversial topics like that, but I am glad that BarlowGirl didn't because it has made them a better band. Can't wait to see what their next album sounds like.

#4
Selena Gomez & The Scene - Kiss N Tell
pop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_YR4dKArgo&feature=fvst
I wasn't that excited for this album's release. I only listened to it because Selena Gomez is best friends with Demi Lovato, and since I like Demi so much I figured I might as well give it a try. Good thing I did, because this album is so fun. Selena Gomez isn't the best singer, but I don't care, all the songs here are great, catchy, pop songs that would be great to dance to, and I loved every minute of it. When I say I like pop music, I mean I want stuff exactly like this.

#3
MC Lars - This Gigantic Robot Kills
nerdcore rap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTbwCsjN4Ek (perfectly describes all the hipster I see)
I would suspect that nobody reading this has really heard of nerdcore rap before. The best way I describe it is that it is rap about nerdy stuff (video games, computers, comic books, etc.) done by white guys. I liked nerdcore and MC Lars before this album, but this made me a hardcore fan. The ryhmes and lyrics on this are so smart and witty. It is also about stuff I can relate to, which something regular rap does not have for me. This album also mixes in other kinds of music, so its not just your regular hip hop beats the whole time. Check it out, it might suprise you.

#2
This Time Next Year - Road Maps and Heart Attacks
pop punk/hardcore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmCK59b0BQM
Well this album came out of nowhere. I had never really heard of this band before listening to it, but I am glad I know about them now. This is some more upbeat pop punk that I love so much. A little less pop that other groups but that is no problem. Catchy hooks about stuff that I could very easily connect with (friendship, relationships, etc.). It is music I can't wait to hear at a concert and scream the choruses with everybody else in the crowd.

#1
Set Your Goals - This Will Be the Death of Us
melodic hardcore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Eb5jZu5UI
Here it is, my top album from 2009. A lot of magazines and websites had this as one of the most anticipated of the year before it came out, and its safe to say it succeeded in matching expecations. I liked SYG's previous album, but not to the extent that I thought I would love this one so much. This album just has such an energy to it. Like they were out to prove that they were good and they know what they are doing. Listening to it you can just feel that they love what they do and believe what they are saying. This album even has great guest vocalists (Hayley from Paramore and Chad from New Found Glory/Shai Hulud), something usually saved for rap music. This album is great and I know it took a lot of work from SYG to make it but I hope that "This Will Be the Death Of Us" is just a figure of speech and not literal...

And there is the list. Now to move onto all the stuff I am already missing from 2010.
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