| MOVIE & VIDEO REVIEWS (January 2006) |
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| AEON FLUX (PG-13) Paramount Pictures (Theatre) 2005 Starring: Charlize Theron, Morton Csokas, Johnny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Frances McDormand. This movie is based on the MTV cartoon of the same name that used be on back in the early 90's. The story takes place 400 years in the future after an apocalypse. There is a small city surrounded by a huge wall. On the outside is supposed to be baring land & disease, inside the walls is the perfect city. Aeon is an assasin whos family is wiped out by the government. She goes rogue & tries to take on the government herself. There are secrets about the city she finally finds out & reveals to the public. There was a decent amount of action in the film, but the story seemed a bit weaker than the cartoon did. Charlize Theron does a good job looking the part & looks good in the tight outfits, but this wasn't her best acting role. The story could have been a bit better & more violent & action packed like the cartoon was. It was an ok watch!!! www.AEONFLUX.com |
| AMITYVILLE HORROR, THE (R) MGM/Sony Pictures (DVD) 2005 Starring: Ryan Renolds, Melissa George, Jesse James, Rachel Nichols, Chloe Moretz & more. This is a remake of the original film released in 1979. The film plays off mostly like the original, but this was a little faster paced. A family moves into an old home where a grisly murder happend. A family member killed the rest of his family & was said to be possessed by demons. The father of this new family starts acting weird & getting really violent. He becomes abusive to his wife & the kids. They find out the house was buiilt on the site where Native American Indians were tortured. There is more gore & better effects than the original & Ryan Renolds really pulled the part off really well. He plays a good psychotic killer. If you liked the original then you'll love this remake!!! www.AMITYVILLEHORRORmovie.com |
| BEYOND THE DARKNESS (R) Aquarius Releasing Inc (VHS) 1979 Starring: Kierau Canter, Cinzia Monreale, Franca Stoppi, Sam Modesto, Anna Cardini & more. This film is about a young rich orphane who loses his fiancee to voodoo doll mischief. This was done by the hands of the house keeper, who is jealous. Theman digs his fiancee up & stuffs here & places her in his bed. He tries to find a replacement for her, but winds up killing the women. He tries to dispose of the bodies with the help of the house keeper. The film was ok, it was a little slow in parts & not much of a good story. This was an ok horror film for the time it was released. |
| DERAILED (R) Miramax Films (theatre) 2005 Starring: Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Addison Timlin, Melissa George & more. This film is about man who is stuck in a rut in his everyday life. One day he misses his train & must take another one to work. On this train he doesn't have money to pay for a ticket & a women offers to pay for him. He then goes to talk to her & they wind up meeting for coffee. One thing leads to another & they go get a hotel room in the city. While ther they are ambushed & a robber breaks in & beats him up & rapes the woman. Thise thief starts harrassing him & his family for more money. Things just keep getting worst. There is a twist to the end of this film. There is a bit of tense drama through out the picture. The film was pretty decent & kept you guessing what would happen next!!! www.DERAILEDthemovie.com |
| GHOST HOUSE (R) Imperial (VHS) 1988 Starring: Lara Wedel, Greg Scott, Mary Sellers, Ron Houck, Martin Jay & more. This is a foreign horror film about an old abandoned house. A bunch of teens come to this house to party & fix up the place. As all the friends arrive at the house they have weird vibes already. Once they settle in the place some of them start seeing visions of a young girl & her doll. Once she keeps appearing strange things start happening & people start getting killed off. There wasn't much gore in the flick & it was a bit slow moving, but it was a decent film for a 1980's horror film. |
| HIGH TENSION (R) Lions Gate Films (DVD) 2003 Starring: Cecile De France, Maiwenn Le Besco, Phillippe Nahon, Andrei Finti, Oana Pellea & more. This is a French horror film that I really wanted to see when it came out. The film is about two young girls, going to visit the one girls family on a holiday. The girls family lives on a huge farm in ahuge farm house. Once everyone is settled in they are greeted by a dranged stranger who attacks & brutally murders the girls family. The one girl is chained up & tortured. The killer puts her in a van to take her somewhere to torture & kill. The other girl tries to help her escape & take down this killer. There is a lot of gross, but cool gore scenes & there is a twist at the end of the film. This was a really good foriegn horror flick. One of the best I've seen in awhile. Check this one out!!! www.HIGHTENSIONmovie.com |
| HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY (R) Almi Pictures (VHS) 1981 Starring: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina & more. This is an old Lucio Fulci horror flick. The movie is about a drangged man who lives in the basement of a mansion. He pops out every so often & commits murders when he feels like it. He does some be headings, ripped throats & even kills someone with a fireplace poker. He needs to restore his cells, this is why he does the killings. He has maggots for blood, which is cool, huh? The film has some slow parts to it, but is still a decent Lucio Fulci film. Fans of his other films will like this as well!!! |
| JUST FRIENDS (PG-13) New Line Cinema (Theatre) 2005 Starring: Ryan Renolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klien, Chris Marquette & more. Ryan Renolds is an over weight dorky guy in high school who is in love with his best friend, Amy Smart. She sees them as "just friends", but she finds out about his deep love & so does the whole school. He leaves town after graduation & goes to New York. He is a big record executive & goes back to his town for christmas & show everyone how great he is now. He tries to get Amy to fall in love with him, all while his ex-girlfriend & newest music client tries to get him back. This movie was a lot funnier than I expected it to be & Ryan Renolds is one of the funniest new guys out there now. This is well worth checking out & it's not a chick flick. www.JUSTFRIENDSmovie.com |
| LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (R) Vestron Video (VHS) 1972 Starring: Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain & more. This is one of Wes Craven's first films. In this film two girls go to the city to see a concert. They want to score some drugs before they get to the show & they are approched by a guy. he invites them into his apartment. There are a few other people there. Once they all get high, they start to torture the women & kidnap them in their car. They take them to the woods & continue to do some gruesome things to each of them. They eventually kill them & on the way home their car breaks down. They stop at a house for help. This house happens to be the home of the two girls they killed. The parents relize who they are & take their revenge on the killers. A very cool & realistic film with a coll ending!!! www.MGM.LASTHOUSEONTHELEFT.com |
| SAHARA (PG-13) Paramount Pictures (DVD) 2005 Starring: Matthew McConaughy, Steve Zahn, Penolpe Cruz, William H Macy, Rainn Wilson & more. Steve Zahn & Matthew McConaughy are treasure hunters who travel all over the world with their team & look for lost treasures. They find coins that were on some huge metal ship that was built during the Civil War. It disappeared & no on knows what happened to it. It is said to be buried in the Sahara Desert somewhere. They team up with Penelope Cruz who is a world doctor trying to help these people who ar becoming sick from the drinking water. The film had a good amount of action in it & even some comedy too. I not a fan of McCognauhgy, but I am a big fan of Steve Zahn. He is the best part of this film, if he wasn't in it this film would have been a lot worst & not nearly as good as it was!!! www.SAHARAmovie.com |
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| CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, THE: THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE (PG) Walt Disney / Buena Vista Pictures (Theatre) 2005 Starring: Georgie Henly, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Skandar Ketnes, Anna Popplewell & more. I wasn't too sure what to expect from this movie. I heard it was a Christian based movie, but there was actually know dominante Christian beliefs forced upon you. The movie is about four young children who find a gateway into the world of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe in an old mansion. Once in Narnia they frin many different creatures who can speak & tell them of their destony in this world. This destony is to defeat the White Witch & rid the land of the 100 years of winter. The special effects were pretty cool & the movie reminded me of a kids version of the LORD OF THE RINGS movies! www.NARNIA.com |
| SAW II (R) Twisted Pictures / Lions Gate Films (Theatre) 2005 Starring: Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell, Franky G, Glenn Plummer & more. I loved the first film, so I was hoping to love this film. I did. Sometimes sequels never live up to the first one. This one surpassed it. This time there are more victims trapped in a house that is being pumped with poison in the air. They must find their way to escape the house & survive. The police find the killer from the first film & he toys with them about where the victims are that they can see from video monitors he has set up. There is more twists & surprises in this film as well as more gore & blood. There is even another good twist at the end of the film as well. This was probably the best movie I saw all year long & has the best tagline for a movie! "Oh Yes, there will be blood!" This is a must see for any fan of intelligent horror films!!! www.SAW2.com |
| SORRORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 2 (R) New Horizons Home Video (VHS) 1990 Starring: Gail Harris, Melissa More, Stacia Zhivago, Michelle Verran, Dana Bentley & more. Five sorrority girls find an old house that they eventually buy & want to turn into thier new sorrority house. They get the place for super cheap because of the grisly murders that took place in this house before. The girls spend the night & will help the movers in the morning. After the girls shower & get settled they start getting creeped out by the weird neighbor, who keeps poking in to see what they are doing. They find a ouija board & start messing around with it & then some really weid stuff starts happening & the girls start getting murdered one by one. The story was pretty weak, as well as the special effects & acting, but there were some hot naked chicks in showers (for the typical horror movie cliche) Worth at least one watch!!! |
| SPIDER BABY (UR) American General Pictures (VHS) 1964 Starring: Lon Chaney, Jr., Carol Ohmart, Quinn K Redekker, Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner. This film is about three women who are the last generation of a family with a strange disease. The girls degress mentally to the age of ten as they get older. The chauffer takes care of them & covers up their problems. Trouble starts when distant relatives arrive to get the families estate. The movie was a little slow, but it was weird enough to keep you interested. Not the greates film, but worth checking out at least once!!! |
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| HOUSE OF WAX (R) Warner Bros. Pictures (DVD) 2005 Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki & more. This is a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price film of the same name. A group of friends head out on a road trip to see a football game. They find a place in the woods to camp out over night, when they are harrassed by some rednecks. They have car trouble & the rednecks take them to a small town close by. This is where the House Of Wax is found. The town is very quiet & strange. They soon find out the people are all wax, but real human bodies underneath. Two crazed brothers have captured everyone & turned them into wax figures. The film was a lot better than I was expecting. It was slow at first, but then kicks in. There is some cool gory scenes & the special effects are done very well. You even get to watch Paris Hilton die in a very brutal & cool way. This is one worth watching a few times!!! www.HOUSEOFWAXmovie.com |
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| HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (PG) Touchstone Pictures (DVD) 2005 Starring: Mos Def, Martin Freeman, Zooey Deschanel, John Malkovich, Allen Rickman & more. Moments before Earth is to be blown up a guy reveals to his friend that he is an alien. He hitches rides through out the galaxy & vists planets. He takes his firend with him just before Earth is destroyed. As they travel through the galaxy they hitch a ride on aship owned by president of the galaxy, who happens to be his old friend. They all go on a quest to find the all knowing one & find the answer to the meaning of life. Along this journey they encounter many strange & crazy creatures. The film was actually done pretty well & was changed a little from the book. There were some cool special effects & a lot of funny parts as well. This is a good flick for fans of Sci-fi comedies. Give it a ride, you might actually enjoy it!!! http://HITCHHIKERSmovie.com |
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| LONGEST YARD, THE (pg-13) Paramount Pictures / MTV Films (DVD) 2005 Starring: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds, Nelly, Bill Goldberg & more. This is a remake of the 1974 Burt Reynolds movie of the same name. Sandler is an ex football player who is arrested for drunk driving & is sent off to prison. The warden wants him to put together a football team from the inmates to play against his team of players made up of the gaurds. There is a lot of action in the film mixed with tons of comedy as expected from Adam Sandler & Chris Rock. Once he assembles his misfits of inmates they learn to play as hard as possible so they can get even on the gaurds. The end game of the movie was the best part of the film. This was a decent Adam Sandler film, but I liked Waterboy a lot better!!! www.LONGESTYARDmovie.com |
| LORDS OF DOG TOWN (PG-13) Sony Pictures (DVD) 2005 Starring: John Robinson, Emile Hirsch, Rebecca Demornay, Heath Ledger, Johnny Knoxville & more. This film is about the legendary Zephyer Skateboard team from the 70's in Dogtown California. The film documents their uprise & events of them creating the great sport of skateboarding today. The film mostly focuses on Tony Alva, Stacey Peralta & Jay Adams's life in this run down town & how they try to crawl their way out with skateboard stardom. The film is done very well & is pretty acurate, because Stacey Peralta & Tony Alva had a lot to do with it. I enjoyed this film a lot, as I grew up watching these guys & skateboarding myself. I liked the documentary film DOGTOWN & THE Z-BOYS a bit better, because it was told by the actual people who lived these experiences. It's worth checking out even if your not into skateboarding!!! www.sonypictures.com/movies/LORDSOFDOGTOWN/index.html |
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| CURSED (UR) Dimension Films (DVD) 2005 Starring: Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Eisenber, Shannon Elizabeth, Mya & more. This is a Wes Craven film about a brother & sister who get into a car accident when they hit or are hit by an animal. They hit another car & it goes down a cliff. Once they go to help the person in the care & get her free, they are attacked by an animal. The girl is then ripped to bits in front of them. They are bitten by the animal but escape. They start getting all these weird feelings & sicknesses. They are slowly become werewolfs themselves. They must find the head wolf & sepreate his head from the body in order to return normal. This was an ok film that had little mix of THE WOLFMAN, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON & TEEN WOLF all rolled into one. Worth a watch if into teen horror movies!!! www.tfmdistribution.com/CURSED |
| HOSTAGE (R) Miramax Films (DVD) 2005 Starring: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollack, Jimmy Bennet, Michelle Horn, Serena Scott Thomas & More. Bruce Willis plays a Hostage nagotiator who has become a small town sherrif, because of a failed hostage situation. He finds himeself a year later in another situation, when a robbery gone wrong turns into a hostage situation. Things go from bad to worst when, some other crokks want something that is in the house as well. They kidknapped Bruce's family & he must get this item in order to get his family back. There is a lot of intensity & action in this film. This was a really good flick & reminded me a lot of Willis in his DIE HARD days. If your a fan of those films then you'll really like this one as well!!! www.miramax.com/HOSTAGE |
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| CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (PG) Warner Bros. (DVD) 2005 Starring: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Deep Roy & more. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this movie. I like Johnny Depp & I'm a huge fan of Tim Burton's movies. The original version of this movie was so good & original it didn't need to be remade. Charlie is a young boy from a poor family who all he wants to do is be able to see inside the Wonka Chocolate Factory. There are five golden tickets hidden in the chocolate bars that are passes to get a tour of the factory. Charlie finds the last one & takes his grandfather with him. Inside are all crazy & amazing things. Tim Burton swayed a bit from the original film, but I liked his version better. I liked Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka a lot better too. The only thing I liked better in the original is the Oompa Loompa's & their songs. This was a good film!!! http://CHOCOLATEFACTORYmovie.warnerbros.com |
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| DUKES OF HAZZARD, THE (UR) Warner Bros. (DVD) 2005 Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, Willie Nelson & more. I had a feeling I was going to like this film. I was a huge fan of the TV show & a big fan of the movie SUPER TROOPERS. The guys who did that movie did this one as well. The Duke boys find out that Boss Hogg is seizing all the farm land in the area to dig for coal. He is tryine to sell the properties off to the highest bidder. The Dukes do what they can to try & stop them. If you watch this film & don't keep comparing it to the TV Show then you will actually enjoy this film. It was really funny, crude & a lot better than I thought it was going to be. The best part is of course that they kept the General Lee car exactly how it was in the TV Show. I would recommend any fan of the Broken Lizard movies to check this out, but many fans of the TV show may not enjoy this film that much. http://DUKESOFHAZZARD.warnerbros.com |
| FUN WITH DICK AND JANE (PG-13) Sony Pictures (Theatre) 2005 Starring: Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, Tia Leoni, Carlos Jacott, Stephine Wier & more. This is a remake of an old film I believe from the 60's. Jim Carrey is Dick, who works in some big huge company. He gets a promotion one day & tells his wife to quit her job. Shortly after she does, they find out he was set up to take the fall for the company going under. Tons of people lose their jobs & Dick & Jane do what they can to stay afloat in their elaberate lifestyle. They start robbing resturants, coveniant stores & a bank. They finally realize this is wrong & plan to get their money back from the boss (Alec Baldwin) who actually stole all the companies money. There were some funny parts in the film, but this was definately not Jim Carrey at his best. Worth watching once or twice, but not one to watch over & over again!!! www.sonypictures.com/movies/FUNWITHDICKANDJANE |
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| KING KONG (PG-13) Universal Pictures (Theatre) 2005 Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis & more. As soon as I found out that Peter Jackson was doing a remake of KING KONG I couldn't wait to check it out. The movie starts off in New York City in 1933. Naomi Watts is trying to become an actress & Jack Black is a struggling film director. They meet up & he takes his crew to a remote place called Skull Island. Once they are on the island they run into some natives who worship KING KONG a gigantic sized gorilla. Also on this island are dinosaurs & huge strange bugs. After they go on a crazy adventure to save Watts from the gorilla, they capture him & bring him back to New York. Once he is put on display in atheatre he breaks loose & wreaks havoc all across the city. Peter Jackson pretty much stuff to the original 1933 version of this film & did an amazing job. There was plenty of action, comedy, special effects & more all through out. This one is highly recommended to everyone to go see. It has something for everyone!!! www.KINGKONGmovie.com |