A Nightmare On Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street is the latest horror remake. It stars Kyle Gallner as Quentin, Rooney Mara as Nancy, Katie Cassidy as Kris, and Jackie Earle Haley as Fred Krueger. This is the first time that legend Robert Englund hasn't taken on the role of the disfigured villain who comes after his victims in their dreams.

The main impressive thing about this remake is that it really is an original take on the story of Fred Krueger. It isn't just a rehash of the same things we've seen before. Although there are some scenes that are obviously rooted in the original (and some not so obvious). Haley's performance as Freddy is, quite honestly, brilliant. It really makes a huge impact on the film. It's really good how they show Freddy as more of a human being than just a monster. It's very reminiscent of the reboot of Jason in Friday The 13th and Zombie's take on Michael Meyers. He's out to get you, but he's also angry and vengeful.

One special note that should be made is, as far as blood in all goes, it's not as graphic as Craven's original 1984 movie. It's a bit more psychological and verbal. Also too they left out some of the deeper themes that were in the original. Such as the mother-daughter role reversal, alcoholism, divorce...all those things aren't present in the remake

Now onto the negative stuff. Although it's not overridden with a whole lot of CGI, there were a few moments when it's easy to cringe. There's a couple scenes in particular near the end when they probably would been better off just using old fashioned special effects. But it's not that bad.

Furthermore the ending, while not all that bad, isn't quite on the same level as the final 15 minutes of the original.

Honestly this movie was a bit of a surprise...RENT IT.

Review: The Losers

The Losers is the newest comic book turned into a movie. The movie follows well...The Losers, an elite task force. Through an unfortunate series of events there ties with the government are cut and they find themselves stranded in Bolivia. Their fearless leader Clay(Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is determined to get his team back to the states. All seems lost until a mysterious woman Aisha(Zoe Saldana) offers them a way home. There is one catch though, upon their return to the states they must find and kill the person who placed them in their current situation. This as we find out is easier said than done....

Jared's Take: The Losers is the perfect summer action movie, it has action, humor, and serious moments blended into one. The cast felt perfect together and the movie was acted very well. The CG, when it was used, was not over the top and it was believable.

Now for the bad. The story is a bit rushed at the beginning you get a very fast introduction to each of the characters, but I wish that they went a little deeper into the character bio. You never feel fully invested in the characters and their plight. I also believe that some of the scenes that were shot could have been left out as they served no real purpose.

Overall, The Losers was entertaining at best and is at least worth seeing once. Hopefully, as the series progresses the movies will get better.

Rent It.......

Allan's Take

Likes: I really liked the different uses of lighting and how it helped transition different scenes. The action is good. There's a lot of particular things you see that I haven't seen happen in a movie before. A good bit of it you see in the trailer though. Also the acting was good once I got use to it and understood what each character was supposed to be like (I haven't read the book).

Dislikes: The only real problem I had with "The Losers" was following the story all the way through. I kept getting a little lost but then picked up on what was happening later. That may be due to own feeble mindedness though.

Rating: Although this is pretty entertaining movie worth seeing, I don't see it as a classic. At least not yet...RENT IT.

Review - KICK ASS

Kick Ass has finally hit theaters. Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar & John Romita, jr., it stars Aaron Johnson in the lead title role of Dave/Kick Ass. He's joined by Nicolas Cage (Damon/Big Daddy) and Chloe Moretz (Mindy/Hit-Girl) among others. The trailer makes it seem that the entire story is based around a regular high school guy that decides to go out and fight crime like a comic book hero. However, that's really only the beginning of a rather deep, multi-layered, well thought out story. Unfortunately, I have not read the book at this point so I can't really comment on how it compares to the movie.

I honestly loved everything about this movie. The story is original and much better than I thought it would be. It takes different characters with different backgrounds and blends them together in a way that really works and does not ever get confusing. It balances story telling with hardcore action. As the movie progressed it went in different areas that I didn't really see coming.

The performances by all the actors was superb. I've never been a huge fan of Nicolas Cage but he really pulled through in this one for sure. Chloe as Hit-Girl was awesome. Aaron (Dave/Kick Ass) really brought out what it's like to be a regular guy wanting to do good. Not to be famous or popular, but to help others.

A quick note on the musical score - it's very good and does seem to be inspired by the score from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It really does add to the movie and is much better than what was heard in the Clash of the Titans remake.

I'm putting Kick Ass up there as my top movie so far this year. It will be interesting to see if it can get topped in my mind later on. We'll see. There's along way to go with some promising summer films coming out. This movie may not be for every single person out there but it is for alot of people that don't think they would like it...

GO NOW!!!!!!

Summer Movie Calendar

I have been thinking lately of what the summer holds in terms of potential blockbusters and wanted to come up with a calendar of the movies I will be potentially seeing. I know this is not a review, but I thought it would be good to post so everyone knows when the big ones are coming out.

Again, this is just my list of ones I am very interested in seeing. I am sure there are others that may pop up on the radar!

May
Iron Man 2 - 7th
Robin Hood - 14th
McGruber - 14th
Prince of Persion - 28th

June
A-Team - 11th
The Grownups - 25th
Knight and Day - 25th

July
Eclipse - 2nd (If my wife lets me go with her)
UPDATED: The Last Airbender - 2nd
Inception - 16th
Predators - 19th
Dinner for Schmucks - 23rd

August
The Other Guys - 6th
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - 13th

Time will tell to see which ones flop, and which ones top!

Have a great weekend.
James

Review - Clash of the Titans - 3D

Well, when I first heard that this movie was being made, I was honestly excited. I remember watching the original as a kid over and over and it brought so many memories. But honestly, from the onset, I had my reservations. Anytime a movie has been redone, updated, or "rebooted," they are taking a big chance at it actually making some sort of a dent into the box office. Most of the curious fans, like me, wanted to see how this version would compare. I had even read mixed reviews and I decided to at least give it a chance. Now, I have to pick my movies very carefully because I do not get to go as often as I like. I was very much disappointed. This review may sound very bad, but I could hold back. Sorry in advance for my rants below.

This movie was just lame. There, I said it. It was lame. I am usually a nice guy and all, but this movie just fell into the category of "Let's Remake a Classic with Update Special Effects to make a buck!"

SPOILER ALERT...

Let's start with the story. Persius, played by Sam Worthington, portrays a demi-god (half human/half god) son of a unknowing Zeus, one of the head gods who is attempting to stop Hades from totally destroying the quant village of Ares (i think). He has a few tasks he must complete, like how to make friends with three blind witches and how to tame a very badly animated Medusa before taking on the Kracken (Hade's pet sea monster). The Animation was so bad, I actually prefer the animation from the 1980's version-Yes, even claymation.

The characters were less than stellar. You only get to know a few becuase of the of how quickly they die in the movie. There were several you wish had bigger roles like Andromeda and the two comedic warriors who actually survived. Liam Neeson did a fantastic job of getting some cool Halloween outfits and make up, that's for sure. Furthermore, his line "Release the CRACKEN!" will go down as the most predictable line in all movies.

I wish they had done more with Pegasus. I mean seriously. In the old version, the animal played a much bigger role. In the few shots you see of him, you can't help but picture Falcor, from the Neverending Story franchise.

I did laugh, only once though, when the mechanical owl from the old version was pulled out of a trunk, for not apparent reason other than to satisfy old fans like myself. I think I even said outloud, "Well, that scene was totally useless."

Again, if you read this far, you wont mind this major spoiler alert. The Kracken was too easy to defeat. Come ON Persius!!! Use your sword a little!

I know I am ranting, but the people who made this tried to make this a movie blockbuster and failed miserably. Here is a good idea for a movie: Have the Kracken from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise battle the Kracken from Clash of the Titans.

Oh yeah, if you think i forgot to mention 3-D. Well, it did not help it out all.
It was still L-A-M-E. This movie may take the box office #1, but I am sure How to Train Your Dragon - 3d will take over after a week.

Here is my final verdict in reverse order:
The Ugly - poor story, predictable, and no thought whatsover to how
The Bad - "Release the CRACKEN!"
The Good - I have another pair of 3-D glasses for sale...$13.50.

FX IT!!!!

It would be good if you had absolutely nothing else to do...Tivo it and watch it after you catch up on your episodes of Alf.

UPDATE: I thought FX was the lowest rating, but I was wrong.
NEW RATING: STAND OUTSIDE YOUR THEATER AND WARN EVERYONE!

Review ~ Why Did I Get Married, Too?

Three years ago, when I happened to see a movie titled "Why Did I Get Married?", my immediate thought was, there should definitely be a sequel. Tyler Perry did not disappoint, as shown this weekend, with the release of the long-awaited sequel, "Why Did I Get Married, Too?". Everyone returns to continue the story of these married couples, who reconnect yearly at a special getaway. Janet Jackson, Tyler Perry & Jill Scott return, as do Malik Yoba, Tasha Smith, Richard T. Jones and Michael Jai White. Set three years later, the story seems to start right where we left off, although there are obvious changes. Many of the couples face the same challenges as before, and some of them are hiding quite a few secrets it seems. Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster, from laughs, to cries, to talking back to the screen. And as the previews states, one of the couples will NOT make it, though definitely not in the way you think. I must say, I think that this is one of his best movies. It is well worth the money.

GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!