So upon completing the requirements to enter the secret level (amply titled Whimsyshire) in Diablo III, I jumped at my chance to reign havoc down upon unsuspecting unicorns! Little was I prepared for what awaited me. Upon entering Whimsyshire I was promptly greeted by two purple Unicorns which proceeded to rip me a new a-hole! I was prepared for cute shit but cute shit that can kick my ass? Well needless to say I ran through this little side trip with the blood thirst of a 1000 year old vampire who hasn't fed in several hundred years and the results...
Well, at least they have cupcakes!!!
You see, I'm not very fond of girly pink and purple unicorns and teddy bears kicking my ass so my monk promptly repaid the favor 10 fold and took the loot they dropped in kind. I walked out of Whimsyshire 10k richer with a few shitty drops, one or two nice drops, and some blacksmithing/jewelcrafting pages. All-in-all it was a fun level and it will be repeated once I save up the 250k to go through again in Nightmare difficulty. Have fun kids!
I've heard so many good things about The Hunger Games so before seeing the movie I picked up the first book in the trilogy. While I have heard amazing things and was not let down by the storyline and content of the book, the grammatical errors and overuse of stuffy paragraph fillers that crept in and out page after page started to piss me off after a while.
Other than those little errors that could be overlooked once the story itself picked up, I loved the storyline even though it became a bit predictable at times. I am looking forward to picking up the two final installments to the series: Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Once I see the movie I'll give my actual review on that, expect it to suck seeing as movies never live up to the book.
Disney is notorious for having Princesses that are weak and needy, always needing a Prince to save them and to fall in love with. Not Brave, Disney Pixar's first feature length film featuring a female lead, an independent one at that. Brave's princess hales from Scotland and her name is Merida (played by Kelly Macdonald). She carries a bow and arrow and rides freely on her stallion, Angus. She is certainly a free spirit and her personality matches that of her fiery hair.
The story unfolds as Merida becomes of age to become betroved and her mother insists on her marrying one of the three clans of Scotlands heirs. Merida doesn't agree with this of course and sets off into the wilds where she meets a witch and begs for the witch to change her mothers mind. I won't go into specifics, but I will say this is a movie fit to be seen on the big screen! It is beautifully done, rich colors and attention to detail are stunning and leaves you awestruck. Brave is definitely one to be added to the collection as soon as it comes out, especially since my picky daughter loved it. I give Brave a 10/10! Check it out!!!
Today I ventured yet again into the world of Wes Anderson. The Darjeeling Limited is by far my least favorite movie out of the recent Wes Anderson movies I've watched. While I liked the music of this film I just wasn't really captured by this one as I was with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Royal Tenenbaums. This movie did have a great cast, as expected of Wes Anderson films. However, the story of three brothers, one whom is pushy and uptight, one who is thinking about leaving his pregnant wife, and one who is afraid of commitment just didn't suit me I suppose. Did love the scenery and the music though! Overall I gave The Darjeeling Limited a 3/10.
Someone very important to me recommended I watch Chronicle, so I picked up a copy from my local Blockbuster and began my adventure back in time. Back... To High School! However, to my knowledge there were no boys with crazy ass telekinesis at my school, just one big ass mother fucker who could pick up anyone and drop them on their head. I digress. I was skeptical about Chronicle because I'm a bit hesitant when it comes to "found footage" films. However, Chronicle delivers.
The movie starts off slow following this one kid who's mother is dying and his mentally abusive father who lost is job and is living off of unemployment terrorizes him whenever he leaves the house. The kid saves up enough dough to buy himself a camera and we start our adventure through the eyes of a kid who gets beat up and picked on constantly. At a party with his cousin shit changes and he and his friend and cousin experience a new found power source that gives them telekinesis.
Unlike the X-men, these boys do not have some great and wise male role model to look to for advise and wisdom, instead--they act like what you would expect teenage boys to act like given super powers. Forcing the wind to lift up skirts, terrorizing kids in a toy shop, etc. etc... However, things start to go bad. While the story starts off slow and sort of tedious to keep up with, except for Steve, Steve was awesome! (As a general rule, in movies, people named Steve generally are pretty awesome)--The movie definitely picks up and makes up for in pace and volume what it lacked in the beginning.
Overall? I gave Chronicle a 7/10, because seriously, who wouldn't want to do the things those kids were doing? I know I would!
It's probably a sin for someone who loves zombie movies as much as I do--but I've never seen Return of the Living Dead Part II, at least not that I could remember. So, while I was scrolling through the HBOgo Archives I saw this little buried treasure and decided to dive right in. Note: Finding copies of RotLD Part II or RotLD 3 are exceedingly difficult to find, though 3 is on Netflix and as I stated previously, Part II is on HBOgo (you have to have HBO to use the free go feature).
"We got a fire fight on our hands and the enemies already dead! Beautiful!"
Let's start with this really awesome fact first off. See that guy in the picture? No not the guy on the right, the guy on the left who's face looks like it's about to explode it's so red? Yeah? Can you guess who that is? No you say? But he looks familiar right? I thought so too, so as soon as I got done watching the movie I went to my faithful and trusted companion... er... Movie source, IMDB and looked up The X-Files (TV series) and sure enough, Agent Skinner (played by Mitch Pileggi) is none other than good 'ole fire fight lovin' Sarge in that there picture!
As for other notable characters that I should point out, well, you remember Freddy (played by Thom Mathews) and Frank (played by James Karen) from Return of the Living Dead? Well they're back in Part II, this time they play two grave robbers named Joey and Ed and of course all Hell breaks loose on them, Joey's girlfriend (who is incredibly hot, if not annoying at times), this boy and his sister and her boyfriend. Of course what zombie movie wouldn't be complete without some bit of older wisdom/comedy, so there is a Doctor (who's an alcoholic) as well.
Either way, other than the movie seeming overwhelmingly similar to the first (which they actually pick fun at during the movie), this movie was pretty good. The whole movie feels similar to what happened with The Evil Dead and The Evil Dead II. I tend to just look at those as seperate entities and that way I can enjoy them more.
Overall, I give Return of the Living Dead Part II a 6/10. I would've given it higher, but the higher marks are for Return of the Living Dead which I would say in my book is about a 7.5/10 and a 8/10 for Return of the Living Dead 3 (what can I say, I love a girl in glass).
I love when Wally-World has their CD's on sale in the $5 bin. I love it even more when the one I was going to pay full price for happens to ring up as $5! So, I went to Wally-World yesterday looking for some Madonna and/or Prince CD's and what did I come away with? Two Madonna CD's (Like a Virgin and Like a Prayer) and Prince and the Revolution's Purple Rain CD! So awesome! I've been contemplating a quote tattoo or phrase or something, not something stupid--obviously--but something with symbalance to me and after re-watching Purple Rain for like the second or third time this year, I think it's safe to say I may have found my tattoo. It won't be until the fall or the spring at the latest, but hopefully I can get a little of the song tattooed either on my arm or around my ankle. We'll see.
On a lighter note, I rekindled my relationship with Vodka. So--yeah! Today I will be reviewing a bunch of stuff just very quickly that I've watched and just haven't gotten the opportunity to touch on, hehe get it! Touch. On. Hah! Anyway, dirty--drunken jokes aside; the list will be comprised of Gummo, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Secret World of Arrietty, and Stormhouse(did I do that one already, oh well).
First off: Gummo. Oh Gummo, you lull your victims into this secure place with your themes of innocence and then cut the throats of kittens and beat homosexual rabbits with children who probably aren't even seven years old yet. This movie was amazing--to say the least. Satanic undertones and a rich storyline mixed with real life videos of people the director grew up around make the movie that much more amazing. The cinematography is beautiful, sometimes shaky and sometimes still, focusing in and becoming unfocused depending on the scene. This movie blew my mind--my overall score for Gummo, you ask? 8/10. I would've given it a 10 but I would really like to think those kittens were real. Something tells me they weren't.
Secondly: Wes Anderson brings this beautiful messed up hodgepodge of a family together in this story of lies, money, betrayal, lust, and loss in the Royal Tenenbaums. The story surrounds the Tenenbaums (nah, shit Sherlock!) which consists of Royal, his ex-wife who focuses all her attentions to her children and later in life becomes some kind of anthropologist digging up skeletal remains and delving specifically in human history, their adopted daughter who marries a therapist but is filled with many secrets, and their two sons (one is a famous tennis player and the other is this over achiever who is kind of OCD craziness). I won't give away any more than that because it would ruin the movie, and let's face it, from what I've already said you know you want to go out and get this little gem right now! My score? 9/10.
Thirdly: Oh Studio Ghibli how I adore you! You brought us such amazing masterpieces as Ponyo, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Princess Monoke. Here you are again, leaving my daughter and I slack-jawed in a theater full of aw-inspired children of all ages to witness The Secret World of Arrietty. I must say, I was truly impressed with the quality of the storyline, the voice acting, the artistry, and the score set up for this movie. I would go so far as to say I would even consider paying full price to own this on Blu-ray (Combo pack of course). If anyone hasn't guessed it yet, I gave this movie a 10/10. It takes a lot to impress me, however, it takes a lot more to impress my daughter. If she sits still for longer than an hour, unmoving and completely captivated and spellbound, then yes... That belongs a full-score rating.
Finally: Stormhouse...Stormhouse...Stormhouse... Sorry, I thought if I said it three times it would undo ever having watched this movie. I guess not. The storyline had potential, it could have worked. I think they should have tried to get the actors to act a little less auto-matronic and more psychotic and it could have possibly worked. This piece of trash earned itself a whopping 2/10.
Update: I loved The Secret World of Arrietty I just had to buy it for my daughter for her 5th birthday, Amazon.com--I thank you for your ever low prices! Target usually runs DVD/Blu-ray combos of this movie for $29.99 yet I found it on Amazon.com for $19.99! Woot!
Lollipop Chainsaw came out Tuesday and I finally picked up my reserved copy from Gamestop with the Jimmy Urine and Ash skins for the PS3. I don't know if it's all the typing I've been doing for my final project in my Professional Research and Reporting class or it's all the Diablo III that I've been playing, but my fingers hurt when I'm playing this game!
The game revolves around Juliet, a cheerleader at San Romero High who just so happens to be trained as a Zombie Hunter. She goes to school on her birthday to find that the school has been overrun by zombies and her boyfriend has been attacked by a zombie and bitten. Beheading her boyfriend and using some kind of magic spell to prevent him from dying she carries her lovers head on her butt, still alive and well, almost like something out of Futurama and they set off to rid the school of the undead and the bad guy who has brought this terror upon the world, and on Juliet's birthday no less! I'm only up to the cafeteria in the game so far, which is a lot of fun and very challenging. Even though I haven't beaten the game yet I give it a 8/10 so far! I love it, it's so much fun!
Today's review is of the new "gateway" horror film, The Woman in Black, starring the one-the only, HARRY POTTER! Er... No? That's not his name... I knew that... Starring the one-the only, Daniel Radcliffe! And a ton of seriously creepy kids... But when aren't kids creepy? I was told not even to bother with this movie, as I work at Blockbuster and most of the people I talk to generally aren't as thrilled over horror movies and don't know what they're getting into as I do, I figured 'Hey, Why not?'. Free rentals aside and all, I've definitely seen worse offenders, AHEM, Drag Me To Hell anyone. But The Woman in Black is definitely no amazing horror movie that I'll be paying to rent much less purchasing for my collection.
Case in Point: The Woman in Black
First of all, let me just get off my chest that, yes, I did watch this movie while I was working on my research paper for my English class. So I may not have grasped everything that was going on, which wasn't a lot from what I saw. Most of the scares were produced by loud noises that produce a "cheap thrill" sensation equal to that of my daughter hiding behind the door to scare me though you can still see her toes sticking out from the frame. You know it's coming but dammit all if they didn't make it so loud that it doesn't make you flinch a little just due to the sound. The spectre of the movie, the Woman in Black, reminds me of the woman from Dead Silence, so overall not frightening for me at all. Not even ranking a 1 on my Terror scale. I will give the movie one kudo. Good job on the spectacular scenery and cinematography of this movie. The way the film was shot and the costumes and the overall eerieness of the movie lends to what COULD have been a spectacular movie, had they just upped the atty a little bit. Can we stop making movies for 10-13 year olds and start making movies for people who are in their 20's and 30's? Secondly, as stunning as Daniel Radcliffe is to stare at (particularly naked, yes I'm talking about Equiss or however the Hell you spell it) and as easily as I could get lost in those gorgeous eyes of his or that stunning British accent, all I can see him as is Harry Potter. I would like to take one lesson from Harry Potter for this movie and just Avada Kedavre the whole bloody mess! Creepy children, shitty story line, and an amazing child actor who's just too short for this role. Stick to drama's Danny boy!
Overall I give this movie a 4/10, just for the scenery though. Watch for yourself and let me know what you think. Until next time kiddies.
Dear Doctor... Please, Let me see how long it takes you to pronounce the last name "Jones", five seconds. Got it. Well, Doctor............. Strong, is it? Obviously reading was not your strong point in school, good thing you went into a field where all you do all day everyday is READ.
Now that I've gotten my little pet-peeve out in the air about that bit of bad acting, I'll get to what it's from and go to the news about the horrible film quality of this flick. Tonight's not so horrifying horror flick is Humans Versus Zombies. Now onto why I dislike this movie SO much. A) The cast is made up of amateurs, which some times doesn't show and you can't tell. This is not one of those times. The cast is inexperienced and lack-luster for lack of better words. One guy is down right the most annoying character I've ever had the displeasure of seeing on screen, Chip Joslin plays this guy who you just want to die, he even has a shirt that says "Terrible One" and he definitely lives up to it. One of the other characters is a total geek who gives the feeling like he's a walking encyclopedia... Not likely at all unless he has Asberger's syndrome. The one girl I thought I might like in the movie, "GamerGirlTommi" played by Dora Madison Burge becomes unlikable within the first 10 minutes of her appearance. She gives all girl gamers a really bad name, not only demanding loot from live feed viewers but also being a complete and total fucking wimp when faced with real zombies. I don't know about everyone else out there, but I've watched countless zombie flicks and played every Resident Evil and Silent Hill game and I for one at least wouldn't break down and scream my head off like a little bitch when faced with impending doom. While yes the threat of zombies chewing my tits off would be frightening, I'd certainly grow a pair and take down as many of the bitches as I could instead of hollering and attracting more. Lamesville! The one likable character is this ex-Army vet turned security guard on the college campus, who has guns and guts and is just fuckin' awesome.
B) Every once in a while the DVD copy of this movie shows off a nasty little digitized mess wherever the white is where they have obviously altered stuff in the movie, what? Probably the weather or just over-processing the colors. But still that pixelated bullshit is really annoying when trying to watch a movie.
"My eyes! My eyes! This movie sucked so bad I had to pull my fucking eyes out to stop the bad from getting in!"
I'm not even going to rant anymore about this movie, think I'll just go to bed instead. I still have a good 30 minutes left in this movie, but I give it a 2/10 overall. Definitely NOT one to add to my zombie collection.
Cinema Overdrive at The Colony Theater was last night. This time they showed cult classic A Boy and His Dog (1975). I may have hyped this up in my mind, so I was a bit disappointing with the overall presentation of this showing, it is hard however to beat Ginger, which was the last presentation by Cinema Overdrive. A Boy and His Dog is a post-apocalyptic tale of a young man and his telepathic connection with his dog (who just so happens to be the dog from The Brady Bunch) and their struggle to survive and hopefully find "Over the Hill". Blood (the dog) communicates through telepathic waves sent to his companion Vic/Albert, the voice is done through voice-over. Vic finds the food in exchange Blood uses his powers to search out females and find out when danger is near.
The movie was over-all enjoyable though I wish they had shown the Screamers that had been mentioned once or twice. The ending was enjoyable, though a bit on the predictable side. The movie did seem to jump around a bit. But for what it was it was a good movie, not one I'd want to own unless it was on VHS (which very well may be the only way to purchase this classic). I give A Boy and His Dog a 5/10 overall.
So I finally got around to watching One Day last night. I have rented the movie at least three times never once even putting it into the PS3 but finally I saw it on HBO On Demand and decided why not. I was having a good day, why not a romance movie? One Day was why I don't do romance. I give the movie a 7/10 overall. One Day is the story of two friends who meet in the late '80's and stay friends over twenty years, their relationship evolving and changing in complexity as they, themselves grow and change. The movie takes place on the same day each year, July 15th YY, which I found very refreshing. I love stories that mix up the time line or do something different than the day to day time events. The characters are both loveable and annoying in their own ways. Em (Anne Hathaway) is this shy little poet who is rather poor and can't seem to really speak up for herself in the beginning of the movie, Dex (Jim Sturgess) on the other hand is the exact opposite, which plays on the whole opposites attract theory. The movie was funny, clever, and heart warming but leaves you feeling alone and broken just as the characters feel. It's definitely worth seeing in my opinion but I recommend having a batch of chocolates and a box of Kleenex handy when you watch it. Maybe some vodka, just in case.
Finally! I can say that I have seen not just the first Back to the Future but all three. While I absolutely loved the first one, the second and third began to just drag after a while. The movies deal with paradoxes and other various themes. Appropriate for both children and adults I give the first movie a 9/10, the second a 7/10 and the third a 6/10 (for pure awesome use of the name Clint Eastwood.) While I did like how the movies all intertwined, they could've done without using the same gags time after time. It became too predictable. As far as the movies over all go, I wouldn't mind having these in my collection on Blu-ray. And might I just add it's always a pleasure to see the gorgeous Crispin Glover and also to see how great Christopher Lloyd has always been (and probably will always be!)
Also found this link that compares the first and second film opening/closing. Thought it was pretty cool!
