Prometheus - It starts with a BLERGH...

Prometheus - (4 Stars)

The Alien series has been around since the original 1979 "Alien" and has had various sequels and spin-offs spanning the decades. Now Ridley Scott has begun to bring the circle back around with his long-gestating (pun completely intended) prequel of sorts. "Prometheus" is not a direct prequel to Alien, but rather takes place in the same universe which leaves it free to follow it's own story beats and not be a slave to what happened in the original Alien, but still have plenty of nods towards the "future" movies.

For this trip to the Alien universe introduced by Ridley Scott in the original, we find ourselves following an expedition to an uncharted planet where several scientist believe they will find the origins of the human species. Noomi Rapace plays the lead scientist, the strong female lead, and is joined by a diverse (and entertaining) cast of other scientists, engineers and crew. Most notable of the remaining crew is Michael Fassbender as David (an android). His acting is top notch, especially when he shows off David's penchant for imitating T.E. Lawrence (as portrayed by Peter O' Toole in the classic "Lawrence of Arabia"). Of course, once everyone arrives at the planet, things do not go as expected.

Prometheus is a visually stunning sci-fi horror movie. Full of intrigue, suspense and various alien landscapes, the movie is definitely fun to look at. It definitely nails the atmosphere of its predecessors, but with more modern effects. Prometheus actually blends a lot of practical effects with CGI, so it doesn't like watching a video game like some more modern CGI heavy movies. The movie asks a lot of questions, answers a few, and leaves more open. For me, this approach works as I have not built up years and years worth of questions from the previous movies waiting for answers. Others who may be expecting to be able to run down their list of questions they want answers may be disappointed.

My advice for enjoying the movie is to just sit back and take it all in. Don't sit by waiting for each and every thing to be neatly explained or answered: because it won't. But with how well done everything else is, that doesn't make the movie any less enjoyable.
(124 Minutes - Rated R for sci-fi violence including some intense images, and brief language - 2012)

Halloween Quick Review: The Mummy (1932)

The Mummy (1932) - 3½ Stars

After discovering a sarcophagus with strange inscriptions on the inside and an unusual scroll, some British Archaeologists accidentally unleash an ancient Mummy bent on restoring his deceased lover to life. Boris Karloff (the original Universal's Frankenstein monster) stars/chews the scenery as Imhotep/Ardath Bey the Mummy.


The Mummy is classic in terms of the mood, characters and makeup. Overall, however, it is more of a retread of some of the other Universal movies in terms of the story (Dracula in particular, there's even a Van Helsing type character played played by the same actor who played Van Helsing in Universal's Dracula). There is also a very disappointing amount of time with Karloff in full Mummy makeup.
(73 minutes - Unrated - 1932) (Netflix Streaming)

Halloween B-sides

As I was working on my list of my personal favorite Halloween movies, I found myself having to leave out several movies in order to keep it to 5. I also wanted to keep my list to those that have a great October creepy feel (with the exception of Nightmare Before Christmas). So, that means that I was left with several great Halloween comedies that didn't make my list (but are definitely worth watching). Consider these the lighter alternative to my previous list: the B-Side. A way to laugh away any lingering creeps you may have left over from Halloween. Click on through to view the list (note: there are parallels to some of the titles on the previous list):

My Personal Halloween Movie Picks

Let me start off by saying that these are my favorite Halloween movies to watch each year and NOT what I consider to be the best Horror/Halloween movies of all time. That would be a separate list, one that I will probably not make anytime soon. Please feel free to weigh in with your Halloween movies in the comments section (and to add a little suspense to the list, I've added a 'jump.' You'll have to click on through to see the list).

The Survival of Temple's Iron Hood

Here are a couple more movies I've watched recently. It's a pretty mixed bag with mixed results as well. Temple Grandin is from a few weeks ago (forgot to include it before), but the other 4 I just watched this week and most are relatively new releases.

Temple Grandin* - (4 Stars)
A touching, and wholly interesting look at the life of one of the leaders in humane livestock handling who also happens to be autistic. Won the Emmy for best Made for TV movie (it was on HBO), as such it is not rated. It is basically the equivalent of a PG movie along the lines of Finding Neverland (no real objectionable content but not really interesting for younger kids). (103 minutes - NR - 2010) (Netflix)


Survival of the Dead^ - (1 Star)
George A. Romero has officially lost his touch with zombie movies. It's a good thing "The Walking Dead" starts on AMC on Halloween night (10pm) or else there would be nowhere to turn for good zombies anymore. I have four words to summarize how bad this movie is: zombie riding a horse. Oh yeah, and he uses digital effects instead of makeup effects (see my review of Zombieland if you really want to know more about how I feel about zombie movies) (90 minutes - Rated R for strong zombie violence/gore, language and brief sexuality - 2009/2010)(Netflix)


Iron Man 2  - (4 Stars)
Great follow-up to the original. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. I like that they are building up to a big team-up movie (The Avengers), but they are forcing too much information into the Iron Man story that could just be saved for the actual Avenger movie. As a side note: I thought Sam Rockwell stands out as being perfectly annoying as Justin Hammer, Tony Stark's business rival, whereas my wife just found him annoying. (124 minutes - Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language - 2010) (Netflix)


Robin Hood - (2 1/2 Stars)
Ridley Scott, who apparently lives to make epic battle movies, brings his style to a Robin Hood prequel tale. Some of the changes to the mythos work, others are just confusing. I found myself liking some parts and hating other parts of this movie. Overall, the movie is a bit long and convoluted (too many extra characters, some of which are probably set-up for a potential sequel) and probably would have been better had it not been about Robin Hood. (140 minutes - Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content - 2010) (Netflix)


Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths^ - (2 1/2 Stars)
Not the best and not the worst of the DC Animated movies. Standard comic book fare that is at the very least an entertaining popcorn watch. (75 minutes - Rated PG-13 for action violence - 2010) (Netflix)


*Recommended Pick of the Week
^Netflix Instant Play

John the Night Road Stalker: In Rome!!!

Finally, after quite a long hiatus, I have some new movie reviews. I've had a lot going on and just haven't had the time to getting these reviews finished and posted. They've been partially completed after I watched each movie, but now here they are. Part of the reason I didn't post was also due to not watching as many movies (nothing coming in, starting to watch "Fringe" again). However, now there should be a pretty steady stream of movies coming in (and maybe a few theatrical reviews as well!)

*The Road – (3 ½ stars) – 

“The Road,” based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, is a bleak vision of a post-apocalyptic American wasteland. The story follows a man and his son as they trek the wasteland in search of food and hope for a place that is free from all of the destruction. The movie is fairly faithful to book, however some character chemistry is lacking until the end of the movie, which does take away from the movie since most of the story emphasizes the relationship between the man and his son. I also found that the young actor who played the boy was quite annoying (more than I remembered the boy being in the book). Overall the movie does an excellent job of adapting the book although, at the same time, you really could just read the book.

(Netflix) (111 minutes - Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language - 2009)

The Night Stalker – (3 Stars) – A television movie that kicked-off a subsequent series, “The Night Stalker” is the supernatural precursor to “The X-Files.” The story follows the exploits of the great character of Darren McGavin’s Kolchak, a newspaper reporter, as he tracks down what he believes to be an actual vampire preying on young women. The movie is a bit dated, but still a lot of fun. There is a second movie and the series, however it was short lived, but there was another an attempted resurrection a few years back (to no avail). Also, for those not familiar with the name Darren McGavin, he is the dad who finally relents to getting his son a Red Rider BB gun in “A Christmas Story.”

(Netflix) (74 minutes - Not Rated/Television Movie - 1972)

Dear John – (1 Star) – Chances are that if you are sitting in on “Dear John” you are either the intended audience or were dragged there/coaxed into renting it by the intended audience. Either way, expect the expected. As is standard in a Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie adaptation, we have our typical boy meets girl story full of bad acting, annoying characters and plenty of clichés. You can definitely tell that Sparks is a man trying to write a woman character because they always turn out terribly two-dimensional. By the way, I checked with the intended audience (two teenaged girls and one twenty-something girl): they didn’t like it either.

(Netflix) (108 minutes - Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence - 2010)

When In Rome – (3 Stars) –“When in Rome” is a romantic comedy that doesn’t take itself seriously and doesn’t require you to. Starring Kristen Bell (who is most know from her turn as Veronica Mars on CW) and Josh Duhamel (mostly known for being Fergie’s husband), as the couple of interest. They meet at a destination wedding in Rome near a famous fountain of love. The movie includes some funny bit parts from comedians Jon Heder, Danny DeVito, Will Arnett and Dax Shepard (Bell’s real-life love interest). Overall the movie is pretty predictable but remains enjoyable.
(Netflix) (91 minutes - Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content - 2010)


Upcoming Reviews:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (for real this time)
The Wolfman (2010)
Dead Alive


Some potential movie reviews currently in theatrical release:
Grown Ups (definite review incoming, I have free passes)
Toy Story 3
Inception

Paranormal Activity (Who You Gonna Call?)

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your bedroom or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre, or ghost? Then get out your video camera and start recording. At least, that's the solution our characters in Paranormal Activity come up with when faced with a supernatural threat.

The movie centers on Katie and Micah, a couple who experience...paranormal activities. In an effort to determine the source of the disturbances, Micah decides the best course of action is to video record their (almost) every move. What they discover shakes them to their core.

The idea for Paranormal Activity seems sound enough: create a ghost story that feels like a home video in order to escalate the thrills. The movie starts out creepy enough but  as additional encounters occur, the movie becomes more laughable. Even during moments that should have been tense, I found myself chuckling as opposed to being scared. This was due to the fact that I had already reinvisioned the threat into something less menacing because of the way in which the filmmakers decided to portray the presence. Paranormal Activity could have been a  pleasant surprise of a movie (Much like what Cloverfield did for monster/disaster movies) but instead ends up as another disappointment in the horror genre. (Netflix)

(99 Minutes - Rated R for Language - 2009)

Zombieland (of the Dead?)

Zombieland - (3 1/2 Stars)

Zombies are an acquired taste. But, like a popular meal, they can be "prepared" in different ways to suit different tastes. There are your "Zombie Lite" movies which appeal more to a wider audience, but in doing so take liberties with the zombie rules, and then there are the zombie movies that adhere more closely to zombie canon for the purists like myself. Zombieland is of the former category. The movie offers an enjoyable introduction to zombies that can serve as a "gateway" to the more established zombie movies.

Zombieland follows a group of four misfit survivors to a plague that has wiped out most of mankind and turned them into zombies. Going by location names so they aren't too attached to each other, the group faces the zombie horde, and each other, with shotguns in hand. Among the group are Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), who's fear of everything helped keep him alive, and his exact opposite Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson).

With vampires taking center stage in current popular media, it only makes sense that someone would try to resurrect another favorite "monster" of the horror genre and make a movie that appeals to a wider audience. Zombieland is that movie. It is a horror-comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously and just wants you to enjoy the ride along with its cast of characters. The movie has its share of comedic moments (and one hilarious cameo) to keep the momentum going back and forth between horror and comedy, but if you are a zombie purist, this is not the zombie movie for you. Instead of the shambling, corpse-like zombies of Romero fare you have the quicker, "pop culture" brand of zombie. To make a long review short, Zombieland is a movie that is enjoyable as long as you don't mind the bits of flesh and blood flying around and tongue in and out of cheek humor. As a horror-comedy it's definitely worth a watch, but for those who like their zombies shuffling and stumbling it won't quite have the decaying legs to stand up to some of the more definitive in the genre. (Netflix)

(88 Minutes - Rated R for Horror violence/gore and language)