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Showing posts from August, 2020

Scoob! (2020) Review

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 "I handle our accounting." -Scooby-Doo As Mystery Inc. prepares itself to become a legitimate business, Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) and Shaggy (Will Forte) become the targets of the evil villain, Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs).  With killer robots out to get them, the goofballs have to team up with the Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg) to stop Dastardly's evil plans. What Works: Surprisingly, Ken Jeong is the best part of this movie.  I like him in Community and the first Hangover , but find him obnoxious in everything else I've seen him in.  Here he plays by far the most level-headed character in the film, Dynomutt the Dog Wonder.  Right off the bat, he is sick of everyone's crap and I could strongly relate.  He has some funny moments and is the only character I never really got annoyed with. It was pretty fun to see some of these old Hanna-Barbara characters in a movie together.  Not only do we get everyone I've already mention, but also Muttley (Billy West) and Cap

We Summon the Darkness (2020) Review

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 "I'm the Wrath of God." -Pastor John Henry Butler After a rock concert, a group of heavy metal fans have a party.  However, there have been a string of murders committed by a Satanic cult and not everyone at the party is who they say they are. Heads up, I can't really talk about this movie without spoilers.  Very quickly, this movie sucks and I can't recommend it in the slightest.  It's an awful film so don't waste your time.  Spoilers ahead! What Works: This section will be brief.  The first act of the movie makes you wonder which group of rockers is the satanic cult.  It's pretty obvious that it's either the guys or the girls, but when the twist is revealed, it actually works.  They aren't actually Satanists, they are Christians trying to scare people into joining their faith by making it look like Satanists are killing people everywhere.  I wasn't expecting it and I liked it. The only other positive I have is Alexandria Daddario who pla

Lost: Season 3, Episode 3 "Further Instructions" Review

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 " I wouldn't want you to have to start punching yourself in the face." -Charlie Pace The 3rd episode of season 3 of Lost kicks of with Locke (Terry O'Quinn) waking up in the jungle after the implosion of the hatch.  Locke is unable to speak and builds a sweat lodge to communicate with the island and figure out what to do next.  He has a hallucination of Boone (Ian Somerhalder) who tells him he needs to rescue Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) from a polar bear. Locke and Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) go off on their quest and run into Hurley (Jorge Grace) and they fill each other in on what has happened.  Locke goes into the bear cave and fights off the bear with hairspray and a torch and saves Mr. Eko.   Hurley runs into a naked Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) who tells Hurley not to worry about his captured friends because Locke gave a speech about rescuing them.  Hurley is confused by this as Locke hasn't given any speech.  However, when Locke and Charlie return with

The Snubby Awards: 2020 Oscars

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It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if one was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award! This time we'll be taking a look at the 2020 Oscars, which was an excellent field and I thought all of the nominees were at least really good.  The nominees were:  1917, Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with the winner being Parasite.   Did Parasite deserve to win or did another film get snubbed?  Let's find out! #9.   Joker Joker may take last place, but that simply speaks to how strong this field was.  I really liked this movie.  Joaquin Phoenix is excellent (although he shouldn't have won Best Actor), the violence is surprisingly rare, but effective when it appears, and the subject matter is uncomfortable to the

The Host (2006) Review

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 "How much sleep can a body take?" -Park Hee-Bong When a strange creature goes on a rampage in South Korea, it kidnaps a school girl, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung).  Her father, Gang-du (Song Kang-ho), forms a rescue party of his siblings and father to rescue her while avoiding an incompetent and uncaring government. What Works: The opening attack sequence is nothing short of awesome.  It's the most elaborate set-piece of the movie and does a great job of showcasing how dangerous this monster is.  We get a lot of death and chaos and it also does a good job of setting up our protagonist, Gang-du. Speaking of Gang-du, Song Kang-ho does an incredible job as our hero.  The character is very flawed and has some issues, but the emotion Song brings to the character is fantastic.  His performance is my favorite part of the film. I also really liked the character of Gang-du's father, Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong).  The two have great chemistry and have some great scenes together.  His last

Eight Legged Freaks (2002) Review

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 "They're not aliens!  They're spiders mutated by contaminated waste!" -Deputy Pete When a barrel of toxic waste falls off the back of a truck, a nearby exotic spider farm is soon contaminated.  The spiders quickly grow massive and begin attacking the citizens of Prosperity, Arizona.  It's up to Chris McCormick (David Arquette) and Sheriff Sam Parker (Kari Wuhrer) to save their town from the arachnids. What Works: I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't.  It has a couple of decent action beats and that's about it.  Early in the film, we get a sequence where the spiders attack a group of dirt-bikers.  It's a fun little sequence, especially when one of the bikers kicks a spider while in midair. The only other sequence I liked was the big spider attack on the town.  The chaos was fun and gave us a few entertaining moments.  The best one was where one of the citizens escapes a trapdoor spider by dropping a ladder on top of it.  What Sucks: On pape

Crimson Peak (2015)

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 "Ghosts are real, that much I know.  I've seen them all my life..." -Edith Cushing After her father is murdered, Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) marries Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and moves to his manor in England, where he lives with his sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain).  The mansion is in disrepair and the Sharpe's have precious little money.  Edith soon starts to see ghostly figures haunting the mansion and learns the dark secret of Crimson Peak. What Works: I love the look of this movie.  The mansion is classic del Toro and is a beautiful nightmare.  It's an excellent setting especially as we see more of the red clay seeping throughout the estate. There aren't as many ghost scenes in this movie as I thought there would be, but the ones we do get are excellent.  The designs of the spirits are awesome and more than a little disturbing.  Del Toro is a master of creepy creatures and he does not disappoint here. There are a few death scenes scattered thro

Lost: Season 3, Episode 2 "The Glass Ballerina" Review

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 "You taste like fish biscuits." -Kate Austen The second episode of season 3 starts off in a flashback to young Sun (Yunjin Kim), who breaks a glass ballerina and allows the maid to take the blame, which gets her fired.  As an adult, Sun is revealed to have had an affair with Jae Lee (Tony Lee), but is discovered by her father, Mr. Paik (Byron Chung). Mr. Paik tells Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) that Jae is stealing from him and that Jin must kill him.  Jin refuses at first, but eventually is manipulated into agreeing.  Jin attacks Jae, but instead of killing him, Jin orders him to leave South Korea and never return.  As Jin returns to his car, Jae jumps to his death and lands on top of it. On the island, Sayid (Naveen Andrews) believes that Jack's (Matthew Fox) group has been captured and wants to move to a different position and start a fire to lead the Others into a trap, but Jin does not want to put Sun in harm's way.  Sayid and Sun both lie to Jin about the plan, but Jin