owtkast Blog by owtkast

What a bad movie

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The Happening (2008)

God forbid the 1 hour of unshown footage featured on the dvd is as bad as the rest of this movie. I mean M. Night can only take stupidity so far in movies. Uwe Boll is one that needs to quit, I was hoping M. Night was better but it's not looking like it. Its amazing to his credit how he convinces great actors to do horrible scripts.

Posted Thursday, October 09, 2008 2:33 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Not really horror

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

With fantastically scary moments and an amazingly well done double-twist ending, it's hard to top the horror of Sixth Sense... regardless of your feeling for M. Night Shyamalan. Though many dislike his movies, this one is masterfully plotted, suspenseful and emotionally powerful. Perhaps most impressive about this 1990s horror classic is it's thought provoking take on the afterlife, a realistic depth not typically seen in the genre. Well acted and intellectually scary, this is one film most will love

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 3:29 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

What can I say

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Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club is, quite simply, flawless. The casting is perfection, the acting exquisite, the humor totally unexpected, and the rollercoaster ride of a plot is intense, thrilling and utterly unpredictable. When you watch Fight Club for the first time, it is impossible to anticipate what will happen next. Other than that you will definitely see it again. And again. And again. It will have an impact on you. It may even leave you literally breathless. The fact that many reviewers have felt the need to explain Fight club, variously, as a morality play, an existential masterpiece, a socio-economic commentary, an exercise in gratuitous violence, a bizarre hetero romance, a festival of homo-eroticism, etc, attests to the truly profound effect Fight Club has on nearly everyone who sees. Personally, I prefer to regard Fight Club as exactly what it is: an incredible, superb piece of entertainment, creative, original, unique, engrossing, puzzling, hilarious, unpretentious and, oddly enough, quite charming. It is unlike anything else, including "Clockwork," where the brutality is sexual foreplay joyfully inflicted on hapless victims. By contrast, the violence in Fight Club exists for its own sake alone, and it is joyfully sought and entered into by the participants, with no overt sexual overtones. For whatever reason, they ENJOY it. The pain, the bruises, the audience, the secrecy - all of it. And the pleasure and release the find in the fighting, being incommprehensible to the vast majority, is undoubtedly the reason why so many need to find an underlying theme.

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 3:01 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Tale is the word

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Southland Tales (2006)

Extremely bizarre trippy story. Melodramatic, and WAY over the top but amusing. It is hard to follow and a bit slow / long. As the confusing plot begins to piece it self together the intentions and direction of the film are revealed. There were a few good ideas here but as a whole it just didn't seem to come together AS well as it should have. It is part stoner Requiem of a Dream, and part time travel fantasy like Primer. It is part Spiritual like the Fountain and it is narrated with a very politically driven tone. (It has the signiture feel of Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko). All these elements together, it is extremely strange. The movie tried to do too much with a new drug and time rift and a man made "Natural Disaster" affecting people brains and demeanor. For me there was too much political tone to start. The Bad acting was intentional but still awkward. Rock did show a vulnerable side but a bit cheesy and I found it slightly uncomfortable; but the reasons for the strange behavior are later explained so if you forgive that, the problems lie with the story. I have yet to decide if I liked it. It did have a Huge number of small roles and cameos from A-listers (lots of faces I recognize and admire). Still, I have a hard time actually recommending this movie. It is going fit a very small number of movie viewers. If you like the weird twisted head game, then give this a shot but know that it is still only mediocre with in this style of movie. It was not Richard Kelly's best job directing, and is nothing like Donnie Darko but if you loved that abstract feel you might tolerate this one. Otherwise you may want to pass

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:57 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Is this our future?

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Children of Men (2006)

How do you rate a film that you admired for artistic achievement accomplished and disliked for it's endlessly depressing view of the future? You may love it or hate it. It is after all showing us that we all have 20 years until the end of the world. And the way it ends, all too realistically, is in pollution, pandemics, starvation, suffering, bombings, filth and cruelty. Alfonso Cuaron feeds us this apocolyptic meal based loosely on the P.D.James novel, casting a dissolute, Clive Owen as the unwitting hero in the last country surviving, the U.K., in 2027. Its all shot in a grim grey/blue hue. The direction of Cuaron and the camera style of Emmanuel Lubezki is a terrifying visual statement attempting to warn us of our tendencies towards war. You are caught up in the story of an infertile earth where no children have been born for 18 years and a "Black Madonna" of sorts appears to have conceived a child. The woman's life is at stake and despite the bleak unexplained beacon of hope,"The Human Project", we can't imagine anything but the endless evil we're shown. It doesn't have the sleek techno look of "Gattaca" or "Clockwork Orange", It's gritty and more like a novel by Margaret Atwood or a play by Caroll Churchill. The year of 2006 is seminal for showing us disturbing visions of violence through the eyes of filmmakers worldwide "Babel", "Pan's Labyrinth", "Blood Diamond" "Last King of Scotland", "Departed", "Letters from Iwo Jima, "Flags of our Fathers", "Apocalypto" and "Children of Men" are but a few to frighten you.

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:52 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Wolverine and the Lycan

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Van Helsing (2004)

The problem most people seem to have with this movie is a failure to realize that it's a comedy. If you go into it expecting an action or horror flick, you're bound to be disappointed. If, however, you're willing to take the obviously comedic scenes as they were intended, you'll love it. The movie is fast-paced, has plenty of action and special effects, and has enough tongue-in-cheek humor to keep you grinning the whole way through.

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:41 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

I'll be back

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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Anyone who knows anything about the Terminator series knows what to expect when they walk into the theater for T3. If you expected intricate plot lines, detailed character development and Academy Award winning performances, you are saddly mistaken. You saw this movie for the action - and this movie serves that up on a silver platter. The amount of damage inflicted on the sets in this movie is inconceivable. T3 takes the action genre and raises it a notch. No more car chases - we have firetrucks and supersized cranes. No more explosions, we have mini hydrogen bombs. This movie is one big demolition. Arnold is great as the Terminator, but his schtick is getting a little tired - but I think in the dark corners of our mind - we still love it. Kristanna Loken is outstanding - even though she barely utters a word. Not as imposing as Robert Patrick in T2 - but still just as lethal. Nick Stahl and Claire Danes are good, but they are mere sketches next to the full life special effects on display here. There is no way T3 could surpass the brillance of T1 and T2, but I think it is a decent installment on the story. Terminator fans should not be disappointed

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:39 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Place ur bets

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Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)

was a big fan of the first three Freddy movies and I was in the theaters cheering on Jason for the first few Friday the 13th's, but after a while, both characters lost their teeth for me as the stories were dragged on and on and continuity became something of the past. But with Freddy vs Jason, I had to check out how they would handle it and see who would win, and for the most part I was very entertained. The story seemed a little un-necessarily convoluted at times with extra side stories added for seemingly no reason at all, but it kept me watching to the end.The interaction between Freddy and Jason seems to have been left very thin while the plots surrounding the victims became annoyingly complicated. The conclusion is handled about the best way I can imagine so as not to leave fans of either killer out in the cold. I enjoyed this film as a nostalgia trip with two great splatter masters from the past

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:35 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

U be the judge

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War of the Worlds (2005)

War of the Worlds has great special effects and plot tension but feels on the whole too slick and packaged. You can't see enough detail in the effects, which seem to burst out of nowhere, right on cue. (Tom Cruise flees the initial alien onslaught with split-second timing, human bodies disintegrating at his elbows and his ears.) There's a wealth of suspense, but it's big-movie, SFX-induced suspense so it feels smarmy or painted-on; this movie made me want to see the original film, with its story-driven suspense, even more than ever

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:30 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Revenge of the robot cop

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Robocop (1987)

Some people will think this is just the average 80's action movie; in my opinion, it's a lot more than that. It makes a statement about modern society, by presenting a horrifying look into a future that maybe isn't as distant as you'd like to believe it is. The very essence of RoboCop himself(or itself) is a perfect cop, but with almost no human emotion; and that's what the government wants in a perfect cop, at least in this movie. Apart from the perfect future cop, this movie also has a few visions of the future of advertising, the future of buying a house, the future in board games, the future in pretty much everything that exist in or modern world today. Paul Verhoeven has a very interesting science fiction future world view, and he presents it very well in this movie, just as he presents a future war in Starship Troopers; whereas that's about waging war, this is about the modern police force, the police of tomorrow. Even if you don't care about the future view presented in this movie, give it a try; it's got great action too, some of the best for an 80's action movie.

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:11 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Before its time

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The Thing (1982)

Twelve men, alone in an observation station in the Antarctic, with only there work and each other to while away the days. Sounds like a dream vacation for "The Village People"? Wrong. It´s the setting of John Carpenter´s 1982 classic remake about an alien who crash-landed on Earth 100,000 years ago, dug up, brought to the observation camp, and begins to assimilate those he is in contact. With amazing special effects by make-up genius, Rob Bottin, and superb acting by a Grade A list of actors, including a brooding Kurt Russell, and a pre-oatmeal Wilford Brimley, The Thing showed moviegoers that horror and science fiction were legitimate movie genres, not just to be relegated to the drive-in. The extras in this Collector´s Edition package are exceptional, especially the 90-minute documentary. Rob Bottin´s interview, while being manic and nerve-racking, is one of the most interesting I have ever heard. And John Carpenter and Kurt Russell´s commentary should be analyzed and copied by any director who considers recording a commentary track. Although not a commercial success, the Thing has developed a cult following over the years. It is finally beginning to be recognized for the masterpiece it is...something the audiences of 1982 were not ready for. It´s tough to come out with a movie about a malevolent alien the same year that audiences were swooning and cuddling up to E.T. And Carpenter can hold his head up, as he has refused to make any sequels, even though he left the door open to do so. Integrity is a wonderful and rare thing these days.

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 2:03 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Not meant to be (scream) horror

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Alien vs. Predator (2004)

You have to admit - The Predator and The Alien are two very intimidating creatures. And this film does an outstanding job of showing you how incredibly lethal they are. The fight scenes are well choreographed and sufficiently brutal. In fact - they kick some serious butt. While the creatures are the main attraction, Sanaa Lathan is awesome. Not the kind of movie I expected to see her in, but she can hold her own. This one is one thrilling sequence after another - well worth the price of admission

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 1:56 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

The beginning of the Sparrow

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Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Johnny Depp in the role that really made me appreciate his acting talent. Depp put more depth and character into Edward Scissorhands with limited dialogue in the first 30 minutes than most actors with speaking roles do in an entire movie! Dianne Weist, the perpetual mom is great as well. There is just something about a Tim Burton movie. He brings a dimension to his movies that is dark yet entertaining. Forebodding yet inviting. Even when you don't want to watch a Tim Burton movie, it's almost like you're compelled to

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 1:53 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

The only color that matters is blue

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Lakeview Terrace (2008)

A tattered personality uneasy with interracial relationships is at the heart of this good neighbor gone bad suspense thriller. With some cause, the over reaction and subsequent harassment from bad guy Abel (Samuel Jackson) creates real tension and successfully avoids predictably. It also avoids any sort of racial guilt or liberal message that could have undermined the effort asking the question is it pride, anger or mere racism behind the eventual open hostility? And although the movie is capable of holding ones attention, the semi-long runtime and contrived, mutual threat last act do little for the overall effort. In some ways a mediocre movie but the lingering questions of ambiguity and an excellent effort from Jackson go a long way. Lakeview Terrance is hardly stellar but a good time regardless

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 1:49 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

Tyler Does it again

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The Family That Preys (2008)

If You liked Kathy Bates and Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt" and you liked Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in "The Bucket List," you will adore Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard in The Family That Preys Together. These two women have a winning chemistry together--makes one believe what friendship is really about. Tyler Perry's movie is predictable (although when leaving the theatre, I did hear a couple viewers say they were surprised at the ending) but warm and fulfilling. I love this movie not only for the story line but for the combination of Woodard and Bates--two of my favorite screen stars. I've never seen a bad perfomance from either performer. If, like me, you love these two--you will not be disappointed with this film.

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 1:46 AM by owtkast | with 0 comments

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