Friday, April 14, 2006

Thank You for Smoking

Jason Reitman delivers an astonishingly funny and astounding indie film with "Thank You for Smoking". The film stars Aaron Eckhart as the pitchman/lobbyist for Big Tobacco. To say his character could sell sand to a bushman is an understatment. The highlight of the film is the MOD Squad - Mechants of Death - lunches he hold with his counterparts in the alcohol and firearms industries. A must see movie for everyone and not just the art-house crowd.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, April 1, 2006

Slither

This film is a comedic throw-back to the old 50s and 60s sci-fi thrillers we all loved as children. Michael Rooker is fantastic as the local town bastard who gets turned into a slimely, parasite spewing monster who is only looking for love. Nathan Fillon, the local put-up-on sherrif, delivers comedy goal as he tries to keep order and save the life of the girl he lost to Rooker. This movie is a popcorm muncher with the lights out and the sound turned up for all the squishy goodness. Rent it and have a good laugh.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Inside Man

This thriller delivered to us by Spike Lee is fully engaging, fun, well acted, and keeps you guessing until the end with its myriad plot twists and red-herrings. A trifecta of acting prowess collides wonderfully when Clive Owen, Denzel Washington and Jody Foster hit the big screen. Spike Lee has always been a great director but it is refreshing to see him take on a film that goes beyong being afro-centric and relates to a broader audience. Kudos on the film to Spike Lee and a must see for all thriller genre fans.

Click here to check out the official website.

Stay Alive

This movie is a return of the killer video flicks like Arcade and Brainscan. The pity is the cast includes descent actors like Adam Golberg and Frankie Munoz but even they cannot save this should-have-been straight-to-video movie. A better version of this movie was done as an episode of the X-Files called "First Person Shooter". The plot is predictable as the cast start falling by the wayside in fine video gameing fashion. If you are looking for a fun, scary rental to kill some time, pass on this anemic waste of celluloid and acting talent.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

V for Vendetta

Despite Alan Moore's seeming hatred for any adaptation of his work to the big screen, V is pretty dead-on to the original source material. This producion was produced by the Wachoski brothers after their success with the the Matrix trilogy. Hugo Weaving is spectacular as the enigmatic V who must delivery his performace without any form of facial exprexssion while in a Guy Fawkes mask. Natlie Portman is his perfect compliment in portarying the innocent and malable Evey who comes to know, understand and even love the mysterious V even though he has taken her prisoner. To push this off as another in a long list of comic book movies turned in to films, is to deny yourself a great movie going experience and a movie that delivers home a much needed warning for our troubled times.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

The Hills Have Eyes

This film is Alexandre Aja's reinvisioning of Wes Craven's 1977 classic cult horror film about a family being terrorized by mutants in the wastes of a former nuclear testing facility in the mid-west. Aja's directorial talents shine through in the disoreinting and disturbing images he delivers when the mutants finally attack the lost family at their most vunerable. The breast feeding scene has been burned in to my retinas and will not dislodge from my memory no matter what I try. This film surpasses its predecessor on every level except for its cult status. It is comforting to know Wes Craven was consulted on the remaking of his film and was willing to give Aja the freedom to create an even better film for his legions of fans.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Ultraviolet

Milla Jovovich appears to be the go to tough girl for any sci-fi, action, thriller that comes out these days. Based on Charlize Theron's anemic performance in the live-action Aeon Flux movie that came out this past December, this may be a good thing. The movie is very stylized and loaded with enough CGI to choke a horse. While it is cool to look at and Milla is as hot as ever as a super-human vampire-like assassin, the story is short on plot and it doesn't sucessfully get you from one action sequence to another in any sensible way. Rent it but get a better back up film like Versus to round out your evening on the couch.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Nanny McPhee



Nanny McPhee is a slightly darker and charming take on Mary Poppins. Emma Thompson plays the visually repulsive nanny who is now the eighteen nanny to be tasked with straightening out the unruly tykes. As the children soften and change so does the appearance of Nanny McPhee. Sans the Disney touchy-feely moments, this is a good family movie that parents and children will both enjoy.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Underworld: Evolution


Kate Bekinsale is back as Selene in the continuing saga of the war between the Vampires and the Lycans. This time around we learn that the two species are in fact descendents of the same siblings and the action takes off just after the events of the first film. Kate still looks great in the skin-tight leathers and kicks werewolf butt as gracefully as ever. A great follow up to a film that dared to twist the stale and over-done vampire/werewolf mythos on its ear and in to something a bit cooler that stills packs a bite. If you can't see it on the big screen, definately check it our on DVD.

Click here to check out the official website.

Friday, January 6, 2006

Hostel

Eli Roth's follow-up to 2002's Cabin Fever follows the adventures of three friends who are backpacking across Europe when they are waylayed at a local hostel that seems to be every horny teenagers wetdream come true until they each start to go missing. Jay Herneandez dishes out a revenge sequence that is the best I have ever seen placed on film. This film is not for everyone and the torture sequences are gruesome and gory. The return of splatter horror is here with this film and should be considered a preview of the type of horror films that will be hitting our theaters by the bucket load in the future.

Click here to check out the official website.