Sinister

In Sinister, Ethan Hawk plays a writer who has found his niche writing about unsolved crimes. The research for his current book leads his family to a new house. And to facts he isn't quite ready to deal with. He also finds comonalities to other unsolved crimes as a result; leading him to believe that this will be his most successful book yet. That is, until he starts getting that feeling that something is off. I guess moving into a house where a quadruple homicide took place could have that kind of an affect on you.

The research begins to take him down a path he knows nothing of. Nor is he prepared to deal with. It just goes to show, non-belief in something won't protect you from it. On top of making you question what you do or don't believe in. Sinister will make you look at every picture you own a little closer. As well as keep a closer eye on your kids.

Sinister was not only fun to watch but you feel yourself being pulled into the story. If something so eerie could be considered fun. An added level of depth is reached in Sinister by poking some fun at itself. This is usually done by giving a realistic voice of reason to a Character in the film.  Until recently its been a given that in Horror films you have to dispense with certain rationales to increase belief in the world of the film.  Certain things were either a given or foregranted.  You had to remember that going in. This is one tide turning in film. One, if not the only benefit of adding some reality into beloved fiction.

So why go see this movie?

Because it was awesome! Eerie, creepy. Way more than a good time! It doesn't matter what you call it. All that matters is that you go see SINISTER

LOOPER

Looper is the new sci-fi, action film from Dir. Rian Johnson. Starring Bruce Willis & Joseph Gordon Levitt as old and young Joe, respectively. In Looper, time travel hasn't been invented yet. But 30 years in the future it will have been.  Controlled by the mob time travel is used to "get rid of" people.  So when they need somebody to "disappear" they send them to the past. To a predetermined place and time to a waiting Looper. Who promptly pulls the trigger on his trusty Blunder-buss, collects his payment (in the form of silver) from the back of his mark. Incenerates the body then goes on about his day.

Sounds pretty sweet right? Well wait for the catch. The only downside is the retirement plan. To earn your retirement you have to kill yourself. Your future self. The mob doesn't like loose ends. Therefore one day (no looper knows when) your silver payday will be a golden one. The gold represents your last job. Yourself.  This means you just earned your retirement.

The next thirty years doing whatever contents your heart. Until the day they come for you to send you back in time to be killed by your... (younger) self.

Now if that wasn't enough to fry your brain. Strap up b/c you're going to love the rest of this ride.  On top of the action, in addition to the thought provoking temporal storyline. This movie is deep.  Joseph Gordon Levitt is a man searching for something to live for; on top of trying to find himself.  Bruce Willis is a man fighting to save a woman he will never see again. Even though they play the same character, they are two eentirely different people. The beautiful duality of the story enters as each man is on his chosen path. They each become more like the other.

If I were going to pick a nit. l would say, it could of had more action. But it wasnt even needed. The Characters and the story are more than entertaining. [Side-note]: Once you get to the farm.... That little boy is off the hook!

Why should you go see Looper? Because hands down it is the best movie Ive seen yet in 2012! The moral of the story is also multifaceted.

Its never too late to change.

The Amazing Spider-Man

This Tue July third. Our beloved Spider-Man franchise is getting (because of SpiderMAN 3) a much needed reboot. Starring Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone, I was surprised to see Martin Sheen & Sally Fields portraying Peter's legal guardians; Uncle Ben and Aunt May.This is not the Peter Parker of yester-year. Spidey's got a brand new bag. One of the revamps to be appreciated is the more accurate portrayal of Peter Parker.


Petey is a smart kid. But he doesn't know everything.  And even though he wasn't built like an athlete or anything, he still wasn't a punk.  And Spider-man is a super Hero, but at the same time he was still human.  He limps. He bruises.  So that was definitely an interesting. I can't count how many times I've asked myself about a Hero. Having super skin.  This ain't Superman we're discussing.  When you get hit, why wouldn't you get a black eye for it?

One theme that remains unchanged is RESPONSIBILITY.  Toby's rendition included the line "With great -power, comes great responsibility".  In this update its more of an underlying theme throughout the whole picture. Which starts out because Peter is a teenager, therefore he's irresponsible.  But later translates into  he accidently creates the Lizard. So he has the responsibility if righting that wrong.  Not that he wanted to take matters into his own hands.  He even went to the cops in hopes they could handle it. Of course they couldn't. Big surprise.  And guess who was there to save the day.  Hint: No it wasn't Mighty Mouse.

Why go see this movie? Its Effn all that!  A brand new spider.  With a whole new attitude.  He's agile, nimble. And he MADE HIS WEB-SHOOTERS!  In case the last incarnation misled you.  Spider-man has NEVER generated webs out of his body/wrists.  That was not accurate.  He home-made web-shooters, which take replaceable web cartridges. But I digress.  I already can't wait for the sequel.

Go see Spider-Man

BATTLESHIP

Ok to be 100% honest I was seriously concerned about this movie.  Namely b/c it is based off of the game from many of our childhoods.  This comes off as a bad idea.  To my knowledge, nobody asked for a movie about the game battleship.  This means they're off to a bad start.  The story is told over the backdrop of an alien invasion.  Always a step in the right direction.  I may be speaking for myself only, but I can't get enough of these.  Any and every interpretation of what the day looks like when we finally meet aliens; I can get my hands on, I want.


One positive point for me, This movie highlighted the Navy.  All branches of service deserve their fair share of shine.  Having been a while since we had a good Crimson Tide, the Marines are threatening to monopolize the entire market.

The story is a familiar one. A boy forced to grow up, and all it took was the death of his big brother and potentially the end of the world. Our villains left something to be desired.  When you're getting your invasion on, there is no room for mercy.  While I'm hopeful there's a reason behind it.  The aliens didn't get their hands as dirty as they could or should have.  Prolly the reason they lost. I'm assuming they wanted to keep down the violence on humanity to keep their PG-13 rating.


All in all, I wanted to see this movie b/c of the aliens.  Definitely worth a look.  Go check out Battleship!

Three Stooges

This year Friday the 13th brings three great April Fools.  I was eager to see this movie!  But, with much excitement, also comes the greater potential for disappointment.  Of all the SHIT Hollywood remakes. Wait strike that. Of all the good things, shows movies etc; Hollywood remakes into SHIT.  I'm and pleased to inform you that. this Stooges movie was on point.

So why see this movie? Let me count the ways!  Because its the three stooges!  It was classic!  The Farrelly Bros. got it right.  This movie single-handedly brought back the Sunday afternoons of my adolescence.  Yet the best part is that you don't even have to have a relationship with the Stooges to appreciate this movie. Kids in the Theater laughed beginning to end.

Number one definitive reason to see this movie...
Snooki gets eye gouged!

Fux wit this movie!
FUX wit this movie!

The Raid: Redemption

This was an entertaining film.  Worth going to see, AND paying for!  A squad of police officers have orders to raid an apartment building, in an attempt to arrest its Druglord owner.  On the 14 floors between the officers and the kingpin's top floor penthouse apt; the building is filled with goons, muscle, look-outs and the dealers themselves. It's a kung-fu movie, but it's also current.  More precisely it's Gun-fu.

So why see this movie?

The action.  Enough people got molly-whooped so distinctively that you must see them die!  If a movie doesn't have at least one death that blows your mind, the action fails. It is predictable.  From the rip you know that these guy are gonna be betrayed.  If they haven't already.  Some of the fight choreography begins to get stale, but its still worth the ticket price. I would definitely say go and see The Raid: Redemption.

John Carter

John Carter is based on the novels of Barsoom.  I don't know what Disney was thinking or why.  But for whatever reason more than 100 years after the novel's first printing.  They have produced 'John Carter'.  Clearly this is not a story the American people have been waiting for.  Why would we, when Superman is based off the same basic principle.  A man goes to a different planet.  And b/c of the differences on this planet versus where he is originally from.  This man has abilities not previously possessed on Earth.

Once he's on Mars there's a princess who's fighting a losing battle for her planet.  John can help, but refuses to get involved.  Still troubled by the loss of his family, during the civil war.  John is having trouble committing to any cause now.  Kinda understandable when you're in a movie that cost $250 Million to make and you only get  $68 mil back on it. (domestic)

Why go see this movie?  I don't have a good answer for that. If you got a chance to see it for free or you want to get rid of the kids for an afternoon.  This'll be right up your alley.  Outside of that.  Save your duckets for the pleathorea of other cinema that'll be out this summer.