Movie Survey

Go take this survey and peruse around the website, Price Minister.  Seems based in the UK, so for all of you who are located on that side of the world, have fun.  Everyone else, have fun too.  Plus by letting them know where you linked to their survey from might help your favorite movie Blogger out; Me.  Have a nice day and enjoy your New Year.  I will be probably be asleep due to being scheduled to work New Year's morning at 5:30 in the morning.  Fun times.

Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

          Having not kept up with many original comic book created animated films, I am quite disappointed in myself that I let this one fall under my radar.  Especially since I consider Batman to be my most favorite superhero amongst so many other characters with all kinds of phenomenal powers and origins.  I came across Under the Red Hood many times while skimming my Netflix cue but never stopped and pushed the play button.  Thanks to my brother for putting me onto this truly well developed comic gem.

            We pick up sometime well into Bruce Wayne’s (Bruce Greenwood) career as the famed Dark Knight and find Robin (Vincent Martella), with Jason Todd now being the second boy wonder to don the sidekick costume, at the mercy of the Joker (John DiMaggio) and a crowbar.  After beating the teen within inches of his life, the maniacal villain leaves Robin locked in a warehouse which has been rigged to explode.  A speeding bat-cycle ridden by Batman doesn’t get him there in time to his save his young protégé.  Robin’s lifeless body which is found by the Caped Crusader among the rubble provides proof for this death in the Bat-family.

Read On...

December 28th DVD Releases

Mr. Clooney is back and doing what he seems to do best; be all secretive and get women.  Our favorite Alice (Milla Jovovich) has also returned for her fourth chapter and this time in 3-D (like everything else in the world seems to be).  The animated hit Archer has its' 1st season released on DVD and I wanted to tell you that I made this post just before T-shiiiiiiirt Tiiiiiiime!

Read On...

The Last Airbender (2010)

           Since one of the most financially successful directors & producers of all that is time snatched the title Avatar away to describe his mega-tall blue people, M. Knight had to simply call his film The Last Airbender.  Adapted from the very popular animated series created by Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko.  The story plays off of aspects of Chinese culture including martial arts.  The central viewpoint of the story is composed of the four main elements of our world: Air, Water, Earth & Fire.  Many of the characters within both the series and film have the ability to “bend” or manipulate these elements as they see fit.

            Our hero of the series and its’ film counterpart is Aang (Noah Ringer) who is the last airbender alive.  At the beginning of the film he is found frozen within a block of ice by a brother and sister duo, Katara (Nicola Peltz) & Sokka (Jackson Rathbone).  The two children accidentally free him and eventually learn of his legendary identity.  This being that he is the Avatar, a special member and last of a clan of air nomads whom have mastered the ability to bend the air around them.  After learning of his destiny to protect the world from evil and maintain peace throughout it, he fled his village and became suspended in ice for a hundred years until he was freed. 

Read On...

Easy A: Prepare to be Besmirched (2010)

Everyone remembers high school right? The bus rides or car rides, if you were lucky. The awful smell of the locker room, especially in the guys’ area after sweating all through-out gym class. The lunch; sometimes it looked it like it might have moved when you weren’t looking. Of course the popular and unpopular people and how the latter were relentlessly ridiculed without remorse. But the thing that probably drove high school the most were the random rumors. Some true, most of them more false than the idea that I can dunk a basketball. Gossip pretty much made or broke reputations during those four years and it wasn’t always a good thing. Director Will Gluck chooses up-and-comer Emma Stone to help him tell a story of how far tall tales can grow.

Stone plays Olive, a 17-year old girl who flies pretty under the popularity radar when it comes to school. Her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), is constantly going on and on about how Olive hasn’t done anything with a guy yet. So in order to get out of going on a camping trip with her friend and her parents, she makes up a lie about having a date. This false date is with a false older college guy which leads to her having some very false sex with him in an attempt to get Rhiannon to stop pestering her about it. Unfortunately this untruth is overheard by the school Jesus-lover, Marianne (Amanda Bynes). Marianne quickly scolds her for being a “whore” and initiates the spread of this fiction story all over their high school.

Read On...

December 21st DVD Releases

This week is a nice combination of a little of everything.  Thrillers, action, drama and comedy.  Angelina Jolie stepped in after Tom Cruise turned down the role for Salt, jumps off of a bridge and lands on DVD this week.  After almost two decades, the sequel to Wall Street arrives home just in time for Christmas.  Family Guy puts out their final piece in their Star Wars parody.  The lovely Emma Stone plays a teenage sexual reputation repairer in Easy A and we can't forget about M. Knight's latest and first installment in his new Night Chronicles, Devil.  Merry Christmas!

Read On...

Pointless Scribble

I am pleased and quite proud to announce and introduce the creation of my new blog, Pointless Scribble.  It will contain content of everything other than that of movies.  I have found that I sometimes have things to say that has nothing to do with film that might interest someone out there.  It will provide posts to whatever I feel like writing about at that moment or day.  I wanted to name it Random Scribble but someone whom it may seem is just as creative as myself has already claimed that title.  So I settled for "Pointless"; it has a certain ring to it, don't you think?  If you don't, sorry I'm not changing it. But I do encourage those of you interested to take a peek.

Right now there's not really much up on there because it's brand new.  But I have ideas a lot so it'll fill up over time just as how Movie Sense has.  This will in no way, shape or form defer me from my numero uno love of movies, however, so no need to fret.  You will still have access to all the reviews, movie news & trailers that I deem important enough to share with you all.   To everyone who has been following me thus far, I thank you and encourage those of you who haven't clicked the "Follow" button to do so immediately.  Thanks, 'preciate it.  Plus I have now developed a Facebook fan page, so you can "Like" Movie Sense and become a fan.  You can also follow me on Twitter, @SilentScribbler, if you especially like me.  Eventually I think you will. 

Oh and another thing, I will also be posting all of my random fiction stories, including the very popular "Another Chance" Cafe story that I will eventually turn into a novel.  Sorry for the long hiatus on it.  New chapters are on the way, I promise.  With that said, they will be removed pretty soon from this site's archive. So if you want more of "Patrick & Shea", you'll have to dip on over to the new one.  Sorry for any inconvience.  Hope you all enjoy this new project.

"HBL" Post Production Interview

Here's one of the post-production interview videos hosted by none other than yours truly.  Big stars are so difficult to work with.  I felt especially threatened by Mr. Ali-Baba but I maintained my professionalism. 

("HBL" is a You Tube motion picture written, directed, filmed & produced by St. Elmo, master filmmaker, check out his You tube channel link in my favorite links on the side)

Enjoy!!

2010: The Year in Movies

As the year draws closer and closer to a close and we find ourselves on the precipice of 2011, it can be more than understood that time is continuing to go on.  With it we all continue to age and look at some of our youth with the same confused expressions that our elders once gave us.  As we try to make sense of some of their styles, trends and sometimes erratic decisions, I'm sure that they also question some of their older peers' choices in certain things.  Film being one of those things some of the younger demographic might not be able to always agree on.  They could find it difficult to attest to just how great many of the movies released years ago were. 

I personally feel that there has been a slight resurgence in the quality of movies recently.  2010 can prove that.  There have been several films to hit the big screen that have delighted audiences and the box office.  In almost every genre, there were a couple of films that might make next year’s Golden Globe and Academy Award categories tough to decide.  From Shutter Island to The Karate Kid, The Crazies to Inception, Toy Story 3 to Despicable Me and everything in between.  There are still some potentially great films that are yet to be released but they can easily be included in the stand out bunch.

Read On...

Twilight Question

I have a question.  Yes I have asked many questions before and I feel that they are all of a shared importance simply becuase I have asked them and my curiousity is the only thing that matters in the world.  Well at least in my world.  Anyways my question is quite simple.  Its simplicty is simple.  Yet I am still without an answer.  I am hoping some of you awfully intelligent and very endearing readers will consider answering it for me.  It has to do with the gi-normous book & film franchise that the tweens and even some adults call Twilight.  It has gained about a ka-jillion fans and probably even more money and is still not finished with its plan at world domination. 

Yes I have posted about this mega-series before asking whether or not those of you who care think I should actually read the books.  As it turned out, not many of you did care but that's quite alright.  I understand your non-concern for my indecisiveness about what I read.  This time around I have a slightly different question.  I could answer it myself by actually reading the books but I really don't feel like it.  Well I mean I haven't had time.  So if you feel the need or even if you don't, I ask that you spare me that effort and answer my question.  For those of you who have actually read the books:

Read On...

The Tourist (2010)

Two of the mega-stars of our time combine their talents with director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck to bring us a remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer.  The Tourist apparently follows its’ parent feature accordingly but lacks something for me.  I can’t exactly place my finger on it, but I went into it thinking that it was something that it was obviously not.  Nonetheless, I exited the theater a little disappointed in my evening purchase.

            The story begins in France and eventually takes us to Italy where it turns somewhat interesting.  Elise (Angelina Jolie) is a quite mysterious woman who literally turns the heads of every male, and even some female, patrons as she walks down the street.  We discover rather early on that she is being persistently tagged by a group of authorities from the International Police.  This mini-squad of investigators and followers are led by Inspector John Acheson (Paul Bettany) who seems rather obsessed with apprehending her very elusive and absent boyfriend, Alexander Pearce.  Through a, in my opinion, not very clever way of slipping her a note, Pearce instructs Elise to board a train and meet him in Italy.

Read On...

Fast 5

Diesel & The Rock says...Time to get revved up for the next action packed installment; and the gang's all here.

On Stranger Tides

Mermaids, Zombies, the legendary pirate Black Beard & the Fountain of Youth.  Captain Jack Sparrow is back.  Johnny Depp reunites with his Blow co-star, Penelope Cruz, to set sail once again.  But this time there's no drugs; it is a Disney movie. 

December 14th DVD Releases

We got a few of this summers film juggernauts being released on DVD this week.  The A-Team, Despicable Me & The Other Guys are all recommended buys.  Ben Affleck's latest, The Town, hits stores this Friday along with the CGI creation Legend of the Guardians.  WWE fans get a treat while this years most anticipated western remake's original blueprint starring John Wayne is also available for pick-up.  Oh, and we can't forget about Season 8 of Jack. 

Read On...

New life found on the...Dark of the Moon

The Walking Dead: The Best thing since sliced Dead…I mean Bread

This year’s Halloween frenzy was a pretty decent one in my opinion. I love horror flicks, I mean I love them. There isn’t quite anything like being scared. Suspense building up inside of you, heart pounding so hard it feels like it’ll burst straight through your chest. Trying to anticipate those “jump” moments in a movie so you aren’t the only dummy in the room that’s startled when the killer jumps out of the closet. Didn’t work did it? Yeah I didn’t think so.

This year’s products of Halloween weren’t that bad. My Soul to Take, Buried & Paranormal Activity 2 all making pretty decent showings at the box office. Case 39 filling the theaters and the final Saw, in 3D nonetheless, coming out swinging to make its’ case for 2010 horror champ. Not knocking any of these films but sometimes quantity over quality is a good thing. Hollywood was making sure there are more than enough of similar products out there to keep all of us satisfied until the Christmas season rolls around. But I was mainly impressed with another product. One that wasn’t included in the cinema Halloween slugfest.

Read On...

December 7th DVD Releases

Arguably the best film of the year will be released on DVD this week so you can watch it how many ever more times to try to pick up on things that you didn't quite catch the first 10 times you saw it in the theater.  Shrek 4 and a plethra of T.V. series also come out this week including one of ABC's finest, Boy Meets World.  Oh and don't forget to follow the white rabbit to Wonderland to meet up with Alice for some tea before popping these movies in your DVD tray.

How about...Dinner and a Movie?

             Going on a date?  More specifically a first date?  What should you do?  Where should you take her?  Food is always a good idea.  Feeding your date has got to be the number 1 thing to gain some kind of positive cool points with her.  With her stomach full, she just might forget the fact that you don’t drive a Mercedes.  Oh, and to those guys reading who actually own a Mercedes, news flash: she’s only paying attention to you for your car.  Ladies, where would you like to be taken on a date?  What would you like to do?  What do you like eat?  All great questions. Yes, fantastic questions.  But with plenty of different answers.

            Unfortunately for those of us on an actual budget, those different answers can mean many different price ranges for that evening.  Yes Nicki Minaj, I look at the price tag.  But although the cost of a date may be important on a certain level, a more important aspect is the actual date.  What to do while you spend time trying to get to know someone?  Being a gi-normous lover of film, quite frankly I can probably go to the theater every day if I could (again, my budget does not permit this, movie prices are not going down any time soon).  Whereas whomever I deem lucky enough to allow to hang out with me for an evening may not embrace my same desire.  One that lets me sit in a dark theater and either thoroughly enjoy or ridicule a film that Hollywood or an independent filmmaker has placed on the screen in front of me.  So what to do?

Read On...

November 30th DVD Releases

The final day of November brings us some movie delights.  Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz get acquainted while doging flying bullets, a Disney classic comes to Blu-ray and the third chapter of the vampire event of possibly our time finally drops on DVD.  So special, it gets its' own release date, Saturday, December 4th.  Alongside it comes a side DVD, Destination Forks: The Real Twilight.  It's parody film, Vampires Suck, comes out as well around the same time, go figure.  We also have Justin Long & Drew Barrymore giving instructions on how to maintain a long distance relationship.  Choose wisely or simply choose them all:

Read On...

November 23rd DVD Releases

This week we got a couple of goodies you might be able to do some early stocking stuffing with, or watch while you try to digest your Thanksgiving meal.  Movies are usually better than hearing your family members trade embarassing stories about you around the new girl or guy you finally brought home to meet them.  We go from an action delight with a hall of fame cast to the revival of a Disney classic and a couple Blu-ray action double features.

Read On...

Go...Vote!!!!

So as it would seem, enough of you have submited many nominations for little old me and my little old blog to make the Top 5 nominees for our category.  That category would be for Best Newcomer Movie Blog.  I always thought my mediocre number of followers was lack luster.  But you all have certainly proven that has always been quality over quantity.  Thanks to TheMovie411 for all of their hard work setting up and processing this online award show for us hard working and dedicated movie bloggers. 

It should really go without saying that you all should vot for my blog.  I mean you could choose any of the other nominess as well if you like them better, this is true.  But you are my dedicated readers that I try ever so hard to impress.  But the choice is all yours alas.  So all I'm saying is to choose carefully and very wisely.  I will now leave you to your voting or whatever it is you were doing before you stumbled upon this very well written post.  Voting ends on the 16th of December.  So go to it!  Again, because FranchiseSaysSo.

http://411movienews.blogspot.com/p/movie411-blog-awards-2010.html or click the little picture to your right.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...part I: Midnight Madness

A total of 13 years, including the release date of the very first book, 6 films and 7 books later, we are finally introduced to the first installment in the final piece of the great epic that is Harry Potter. Hope everyone was able to follow that. Assuming that you were, I’ll press on. I am quite proud to say that this is probably the first modern movie that I have actually read the book that it was taken from. I have actually read all of them. Due to my sister’s liking of the story when she was much younger, (she could care less about it now; teenagers) I took her to see the very first film way back in 2001 and have been somewhat of a fan ever since. I took the opportunity to catch the midnight release for this one.  I must say that the many films that have been brought to life have done a pretty good job mirroring the books.  This latest and maybe greatest does no different.

We pick up where the last film and book left off. It’s rather difficult to explain the synopsis of this movie without giving away spoilers from the previous films but I’ll try my best. Plus you should have done yourself a favor and simply read the books or at least watched the movies. Anyways, the famous Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is now dead and the wizarding world is at war. Half want the muggles (non-magic folk) to have nothing to do with the wonders of magic and the other half would like for things to stay the same. That is filled with peace and allowing whomever desires it to try their hand at magic without of course revealing their secret magical society to the rest of the world.

Read On...

Skyline (2010): You'll be standing in line for a refund

Ever look up at the sky and wonder if there might be life out there? Inter-galactic life that we don’t know about? Yeah, me too and about a ka-zillion other people. Many of whom who have made only about one or two films in our history communicating what their imagination says about life from another planet. Another set of people/filmmakers, Colin & Greg Strause (aka The Strause Brothers), have chosen to call their alien imagination Skyline. An imagination they might have done better to try to communicate through a comic book or not at all perhaps than on the legendary big screen.

Set in Los Angeles, Skyline tells the science fiction tale of two long-time friends, Jarrod & Terry (Eric Balfour & Donald Faison). Jarrod and his girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) travel across the country to visit Terry who is a well known special effects producer and is celebrating his birthday. When they arrive, everything is going well and everyone is enjoying the partying, alcohol, music, blah blah blah. Sometime during the night, mysterious blue streaks of light begin falling from the sky. They illuminate the entire the city and draw any and every random spectator towards it. Once seeing the strange but beautiful blue light, one can’t help but be pulled in. People lose all sense of control over their bodies and only seek a way to get closer to it.

Read On...

Unstoppable (2010): Might stop you from working for a freight train company...

So what do you get when you take an arguably incompetent locomotive engineer, an unmanned freight train dangerously hurtling towards a highly populated Pennsylvania town and two train workers just trying to do their jobs? Pretty long question huh? Well the answer is much shorter…you get another film starring acting vet Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott which deals with trains. The two also worked together on last year’s remake, The Taking of Pelham 123. Known for his rapid fire sort of film making utilized in movies like Man on Fire and Domino, Scott puts together another action drama, Unstoppable.

28-year freight train veteran, Frank Barnes (Washington), finds himself partnered up with newcomer Will Colson (Chris Pine) for another day of hauling freight via Pennsylvania railway. The two’s initial relationship is questionable with expected errors by the young rookie conductor which are corrected with some added animosity by his much more experienced driver. They eventually get to know each other before discovering that a train headed in their direction is traveling without anyone at the wheel.

Read On...

November 16th DVD Releases

This week we have a wide array of new releases to please the soul.  Jim Carrey taking on a holiday classic, really tall blue aliens in their um-teenth release and the book series turned cartoon series turned M. Night movie that had to drop its origal title because of the aforementioned blue aliens who could probably start in the NBA All-Star game.  Happy Holiday shopping.

Read On...

Movie Trailers Galore!!

Just a few (I use that term loosely here) trailers for some upcoming films headed our way pretty soon.  Don't feel like watching them all?  Here's a couple suggestions; The Kung Fu Panda 2 teaser is pretty funny and the trailer for Hall Pass has some funny moments, watch closely at the end.  More soon.  Enjoy!

Read On...

November 9th DVD Releases

This week's releases are led by the Epic of Epic Epicness and bunch of guys who choose to act like they were kids again for a weekend.  Topped off by one of my personal favorite crude cartoon television programs, The Boondocks.

Read On...

Lovers of Poetry, take a trip over to Never Land!

Although still quite "wet behind the ears" when it comes to this writing thing, I have developed an opinion about it.  At first, I hated it, couldn't stand it.  I was very good at it in school, in fact English was indeed my best subject, well other than P.E. (if you want to count that).  I usually got decent grades, not always though due to laziness, but never really enjoyed it.  In fact one assignment we were given while in 11th grade consisted of a literary outline about the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.  Great book but I forgot to actually do the assignment until it was almost too late.  It was due on a Monday and I suddenly remembered the Saturday afternoon before.  No one is thinking about doing homework during the weekend, especially not me.  That was my time for basketball and an awful lot of television. 

Not wanting to take yet another bad grade in a class that came easy to me, I sucked it up and followed the instructions our teacher gave us to a preciseness.  It must have taken me like half an hour to complete the entire thing.  I kind of just slept walked through it.  I really didn't care, it was better than getting a "0" and now I was free to waste my weekend anyway I saw fit.

Read On...

Oh, the Horror! pt. 5...

Tamara (2006)

Add the on-going high school tradition of hazing and bullying that will most likely carry on forever with the practice of witchcraft and you get this film, Tamara. Usually revenge based horror films are “A-ok” with me. They make for some pretty entertaining shots of viciously getting back at those who did the main character wrong. Look at the perfect template for that, Carrie. This film, on the other hand, could not hold that movie’s hair if it had to throw up from watching this one.

The basic premise consists of a teenage girl, Tamara (Jenna Dewan), who dresses with no self esteem, is constantly teased and whose father rather give affection to his collection of beer bottles than to his own daughter. She develops a crush on a teacher in school and decides to try a love spell on him after she makes a move on him and is rejected. A couple of mean teens decide to play a cruel joke on her by pretending to be the teacher and invite her to be with him at a motel. Bottom line, things go horribly wrong and she winds up on the other side of the living, or so they think. She goes through the rest of the movie magically controlling them into doing whatever she wishes, some in the bloodiest of ways.

Read On...

National Novel Writing Month 2010

Soooo, I've decided to place another challenge upon myself.  In addition to seeing as many films as I humanly can, working on my on-going romance fiction and holding down a full-time job, I've signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo.  This "competition" was brought to my attention by a writer whose blog I follow. 

The criteria seems pretty simple.  Participants have exactly one month, November, to write a 50,000-word novel.  From the 1st to the 30th.  What caught my interest was it doesn't even have to be good; just 50,000 words long.  I mean I'm not going to just submit some complete dog crap and call it a novel (maybe half dog crap/half bird crap).  But I'll try to pull something worth reading out of my pink (dark pink, sounds less girly), wrinkled, amateur writer brain.  For those of you who would like to follow me on my plight for 50,000-word stardom, follow that link above and search for my name.  There's also a link on the side under "Also Worth It" with a couple of other sites you should considering checking out.

Read On...

Freaky Like my Lady Pyramid!

My new Favorite Commercial:

You think this blog managed to have of all these film reviews, discussions and creative content by being slow? TIMES UP!  It got all of that stuff because it's Faaaasssst.

Movie Sense is niiice, it's Niiice...


D. Rose & Slim Chin:




Here's to a great NBA Season, hopefully this time with a different result.  That would be niiice, really niiice!

Let's go Knicks!!!

Oh, the Horror! pt.4...

Dead of Winter (2007)


A horror movie that contains young people, partying and drugs. Wow, where have I seen that combination before? Oh yeah, pretty much everywhere. However, Dead of Winter is the only scary movie (that I can remember anyway) where the drugs are the main antagonist. Well, the drugs combined with not so smart twenty year olds.

Also titled Lost Signal, the paranoia filled journey begins with a couple, Kevin and Tiffany (Al Santos & Sandra McCoy), preparing to begin the New Year by deciding to move in with each other. While attending a New Year’s Eve party, they experiment with crystal meth and decide to make their way home. The trip is loaded with hallucinations and visions of them thinking that they are being followed by an unknown stalker. They “crash” their vehicle and find themselves attempting to navigate their way through a snowy set of woods. Their drug induced experience turns out to be a not so good one as they soon begin to turn on each other and lose their minds.

Read On...

Oh, the Horror! pt. 3...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Not exactly a horror film per say keeping up with my scary movie theme to go along with this very special time of year, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo does contain shades of horror movie lore. The story and scenes of suspense will keep you captivated until the very end just like a good horror movie would. Hearing of all the praise and accolades this film was receiving, I couldn’t wait until next week to check it out.

The plot revolves around two main characters; Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), an ace reporter who has been seemingly framed for gun-running among other crimes after he tries to take down a tycoon of a major corporation. The other is an expert computer hacker and researcher, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), who is hired to follow Blomkvist and keep tabs on his life. After he is found guilty on the afore-mentioned charges, he is hired by a wealthy man named Henrik Vanger to solve the 40-year old disappearance of his niece, Harriet before his jail sentence begins.

Read On...

Oh, the Horror! pt. 2...

           Growing up, I was always more afraid of Freddy Krueger than Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers or any other sadistic fictional killer who viciously murders their victims just for the hell of it.  My reason: same reason as everyone else’s; the man haunts your dreams.  There really isn’t anything you can do if someone decides to invade a place where most people should probably feel is their safe haven.  After a long day at work or school, you can always fall into a good dream during a nap or at night where you can make anything happen.  Sneak into the hottest girl at school’s window for a midnight treat, hit the lottery and do what you want with the loot, win the Super Bowl with your favorite team and then tell the world that you’re going to Disney World afterwards. 

Read On...

Oh, the Horror!

In general the horror genre is my favorite.  But these days, the lack of good horror films has proven to be much scarier than the movies themselves.  In the spirit of Halloween, I’ve decided to try to delve deeper into the horror movie catacombs in search of films that have flown under the radar.  Somewhat invisible to the big Hollywood limelight, there are many films that people have never heard of usually that turn out to be better than the ones we pay $8.00 and up to go see in the cinema.  I still have a lot of work to do but here are a few that I’ve checked out recently.

Blackout (2007)

          Complete strangers find themselves trapped in an elevator due to a neighborhood blackout.  Each one of them desperately needing to be somewhere else at the very time they become entombed with each other.  As the minutes turn into hours and frustration turns into being terrified, they slowly learn more and more about each other.  Including the fact that one of them is keeping a secret; that they are a serial killer.

            I know what you’re thinking, “ok, this sounds just like M. Night’s Devil that came out last month”.  I thought the same thing, in fact that was one of the main aspects that lured my attention.  The outcome is that, yes, it is similar but I may remind you that this film was released in 2007.  So if anyone is actually playing copycat, it would be the newest project.  But there are differences; the obvious number of people trapped on the elevator, their reasons for wanting to rid themselves of the transport their sharing and there’s nothing supernatural about this one. 

Read On...

The Proposal (2009)

           There probably have been about a million different takes on the “date-night” favorite, the romantic comedy.  I for one think these different plays on two characters falling in love are a good thing.  It keeps the genre fresh and always delightful.  The Proposal directed by Anne Fletcher continues the flow of somewhat unique plotlines.

            The story begins where else but in New York City with aspiring editor Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) trying to work his way up the corporate ladder as the executive assistant, or secretary, of Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock).  Margaret is a “take no names, unforgiving” type of business woman.  She doesn’t play games and is all about getting work done.  An unexpected dilemma concerning her legal status in the U.S. presents itself when the company’s top executives inform her that she will be fired and deported back to her homeland of Canada. 

Read On...

Paranormal Entity (2009)

There are many films that try to capitalize on the success of other projects.  Usually these types of movies are referred to as “mockbuster’s”.  I’m not sure if Paranormal Entity was truly created with the intention of attempting to play on the success of its better known counterpart, Paranormal Activity, but it sure seems quite obvious.  Director/producer/writer and one of the main actors, Shane Van Dyke, tries desperately to recreate the mood and mindset that audiences found themselves in when they left their viewing of Activity.  I personally feel that he failed at this task.

            Similar plot, story, setting, climax, result, everything.  Thomas Finley (Van Dyke) lives at home along with his mother, Ellen (Fia Perera), and sister, Samantha (Erin Marie Hogan).  Before the release of this footage, Thomas was arrested for the alleged rape and murder of his sister as well as the murder of a paranormal investigator.  He tried to convince the authorities that it was actually the doing of an invisible demonic force that terrorized his family within their home.  The movie begins with the disclaimer that people close to the family felt this footage should be shown to the public to help explain the mystery of the family’s downward spiral after the death of their husband and father, David.

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Jackass 3D

With subject matter that included the likes of insane stunts, painful pranks and disgusting results, I don’t think anyone ever thought that Jackass would progress into an all out franchise. But after considering how much people love to see the misfortunes of other people, especially when it usually winds up with them in some kind of severe pain, are you really surprised? With the success of the Mtv-born show created way back in 2000, Jackass has since spawned two movies and even a couple of spin-offs; Wildboyz & Viva la Bam. Now the entire original cast has returned to utilize the growing technology that 3D has to offer.


Jackass 3D is typically more of the same…but this time with three-dimensional special effects. Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Wee-man, Chris Pontius, Preston Lacy, Steve-O and the rest of the gang are once again voluntarily hurting themselves for our viewing pleasure. Being continuously rammed by a goat, staging a bar fight and arrest provided exclusively by little people, peeing into the jet stream of a plane, and the hysterical huge hand “high-five” stunt seen in the trailer are just the beginning. Of course the gang pushes the rated-R cushion to the limit not caring about what they reveal to the audience or what they do to each other.

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Legion (2010)

           Say your prayers, be nice to your fellow man, stop all the hatred and fighting, live in peace and harmony and most of all honor and praise Him.  There’s a lot more to it than that obviously, according the Good Book itself, but those are a couple of the basics.  Legion provides a look at a possible result of what can happen if we all don’t follow these rules.  Taking it just a smidgen past living by the Ten Commandments, this film shows us that the Lord is not always all merciful and his Army will do what is necessary to get His point across.

            Basic plot: God is pissed off and sends his Army of angels to take out an unborn child who is destined to lead humanity out of our period of darkness.  Whoever stands in the way of this mission will suffer a similar fate.  Basically, we’ve had our chance to live in His vision and have failed miserably.  Michael the Archangel (Paul Bettany) takes it upon himself to disobey his orders to kill the child and decides instead to try to protect it.  His faith in mankind hasn’t wavered and he alone stands in the way of humanity and complete extermination.

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TheMovie411 Blog Awards 2010

Well, it would seem that someone actually likes me, or least likes my blog.  It's been nominated for TheMovie411 Blog Awards 2010 under the category of Best Newcomer Movie Blog Award.  Voting for this and all of the other categories involved begin on November 20th.  If you deem my blog worthy enough to possibly win this award, I first thank you for your generally superb intelligence and decision making.  Secondly, I direct you to the the award picure posted right underneath my list of loyal followers which I hope will continue to grow. 

The award picture is linked to TheMovie411 blog where you will be able to vote for your favorite blogsites.  Again, voting begins on the 20th of November, so for those of you who care, don't hesitate to join in and share your opinions on your fellow bloggers.  I know it sounds incredibly cliche, but it's quite an honor to simply be nominated.  Thanks again and keep blogging!

Keith (2008)

           Not your typical romance chick-flick, Keith directed by Todd Kessler, poses a different spin on the outlook of teenage high school romances.  Although still about love and trying to find one’s self, it dives a little deeper into the fact that you simply cannot control what turns your feelings take.  No matter how hard you may try. 

            Natalie (Elisabeth Harnois) is a high school senior who pretty much has her hand in just about everything.  Star tennis player, straight-A student and year book editor, her schedule is kept pretty full in order to give her that edge in acquiring a scholarship to Duke University.  Not really having much time for herself, she meets and takes an interest to a transfer student named Rafael (Ignacio Serrichio).  They begin to spend time with each other and eventually become a couple just when she is paired up for a chemistry assignment with a care-free, rebellious unorthodox student named Keith (Jesse McCartney).  At first, he is quite un-cooperative with her in completing their project which annoys her and she tries to get out of working with him but to no avail. 

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Romance Films ♥ N.Y.

             In the light of my ongoing romance fiction, I’ve decided to combine that genre with the backdrop of my hometown for my 100^th posting.  A feat that some might consider small but that I am personally quite proud of.

  With other popular cities such as Spain, Italy and some spots in the Caribbean which are known for their uber-romantic effect on unsuspecting visitors only seeking a cool vacation spot, New York is sometimes forgotten.  It’s probably just as special to get down on one knee in Times Square or Central Park as it is to do the same underneath the Eiffel Tower.  Yes, the Big Apple goes by many names and yields countless reputations for several different things, both positive and negative, but it is quite the romantic environment.  Not actually having done this myself because I am hip to the enchantment that can take over one’s mind, especially a love-sick female. I dare any guy to take their girl or one that they may be trying to impress into the city that never sleeps and leave without her staring at you with those googly eyes.  Especially if you take them shopping along Fifth Ave.  Better be toting a pretty big wallet if you want to do that.

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"If Christ Cracked the Sky" - David

Here's the lateset track from a friend of mine:

The Social Network (2010)

         Unless you have simply had something against the internet for the past 6 of 7 years, you know what Facebook is.  You also know what MySpace and many other social networking sites are and for.  Want to find a long-lost relative, let everyone know your phone number has changed, publicize the end of a relationship, brag about the start of a new one or just keep in touch with a friend who lives across the country?  Facebook has served as an easy way of doing all of this.  Even more so than the traditional and now too common way of basically picking up the telephone.  Constantly adding friends, changing relationship statuses, and letting other Facebook members what you might be doing this weekend are just some of the basic features that can be utilized.  The Social Network, directed by David Finchers, gives an inside look at the creation of the site. It is based on the novel written by Ben Mezrich titled The Accidental Billionaires published in 2009 which tells the story of the founding of Facebook.   

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The Town (2010)

           A more than proud New York Yankee fan myself, I am supposed to be geared to hate everything Boston.  From their sports teams down to their way of life.  But I can’t, I must give credit where it is due, even if it is owed to a city who houses the despised Red Sox (who missed the playoffs this year might I add).  They are a loyal bunch, they stand by their teams and stick with their own no matter what happens.  I happen to occasionally root for the Boston Celtics, only because I like Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo and yes, although slightly on the older side, they are a very good team and will hopefully do well this upcoming season.  I must also give credit to their films. 

Some of the best movies ever placed on a big screen have taken place in, around, or near this city.  Many of the individuals who are linked to these films are from the Boston area and have done well to entertain us.  Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and one of my ultimate all-time favorites The Departed have come out of Beantown.  The latest and perhaps one of the greatest, The Town, directed by Ben Affleck a Cambridge, Massachusetts native, carries on that legacy.  But yes, I still retain my loathing for the Red Sox.  I have to, as a New Yorker; it’s just the right thing to do.

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The Hurt Locker (2008)

The Hurt Locker delivers in ways and areas that other war films don’t touch on.  Not only focusing on the action, killing and death facets of war, it shines a light on the human side of soldiers and those involved in the violent result that comes along with it.  Director Kathryn Bigelow puts us right in the middle of present-day Iraq to tag along with a U.S. Army bomb-unit who only has a little over a month left before they can go home.

            Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) takes over a bomb containment squad after its former leader, Staff Sergeant Matt Thompson (Guy Pierce), is killed while trying to neutralize an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) left in the middle of an Iraqi town.  The team, Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), is left to learn to take on and deal with James’ reckless and unorthodox tactics.

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Comment for crying out Loud

Still quite the amatuer at this writing thing, I'm trying to grow and evolve to possibly one day even become pretty decent at it.  But I won't know if I am without any feedback.  Especially feedback from you, the wonderful take precious time out of your own important days to actually read my stuff you.  The readers of my work are the main reason why I continue to even consider a part in the writing game.  A small talent that I refused to even acknowledge I might have until this almost too late portion of my life. 

As it would seem, my ongoing romance story, "Another Chance" Cafe, has become surprisingly popular and developed a small fan base who are all threatening me whenever I take too long to create a new chapter.  Mostly friends, co-workers, family and a certain girl that I, or was, trying to impress have become loyal followers.  But I want to hear from those of you whom I don't know.  Die-hard readers who will tell me if I suck.  Be gentle with your words please.  My non-existent ego is quite fragile.  My many thanks to those of you who have provided words on stuff thus far and I encourage you to keep them coming.  To those of you who haven't, I push the same previously mentioned encouragement upon you ten-fold.  Maybe even twenty-fold.  I want to hear what you think!

This would be gladly appreciated.  So comment, comment, comment.  Or at least follow or simply tell your friends to check it out and then maybe they will comment.  Looking forward to discovering if I have a chance to run with the literature wolves or  whether I should chuck my pen out of the window (Because there's no way I'm going to throw my laptop anywhere).  Thank you all in advance.  And remember:

Comment!

It's good for the mind, body, and yeah the soul too.

Devil (2010)

Some of the past creations of M. Night Shyamalan have been scrutinized for trying too hard to boggle the mind and push the limits of normal storytelling.  While some have been met with rave reviews and been considered classics, others have melted and withered into the “why did I just pay money to see that?” category.  After The Last Airbender, M. Night returns to his area of expertise: the supernatural thriller.  This time around, the genres of supernatural & thriller have been combined with a case of whodunit.  Although still mildly skeptical, I found myself quite eager to catch this one.  Devil delivers suspense and thrills that will keep most of the audience, including those who feel that they are quite proficient in solving mysteries.

            This one gets set-up pretty quickly which plays into the uncommonly short run-time of only an hour and 20 minutes.  We begin with a seemingly random suicide by way of a man jumping out of a window and falling to his death onto a truck.  A small group of four people sign in and board an elevator within the same building that produced the jumper along with a security guard who also works there.  The elevator car doesn’t seem to travel but a couple of floors before it suddenly stops.  Then all of the fun…and terror begins.  Along with the security guard in the stuck elevator is a young woman, a mattress salesman, a guy on his way to an interview, and an older lady.  All strangers to each other, they are all obviously uncomfortable being trapped in a tight space with people they don’t know.

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Armored (2010)

Ever think about what it would be like to transport large sums of money back and forth? The excitement, the anticipation of possibly something happening. The awareness that you must have in order to become accustomed to new surroundings again and again. But what about the temptation? The feeling that you can just take this valuable cargo and no one would be the wiser. That’s what Armored directed by Nimrod Antal brings into the picture. A team of armored truck security guards try their luck and take a chance at early retirement when a 42 million dollar package drops in their lap.

The decently put together cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno with Columbus Short as the rookie Ty Hackett and Matt Dillon as their leader Mike Cochrane. Hackett is left to care for his younger brother after their parents passed away leaving them with two mortgages and a slew of hospital bills.

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