Clash Of The Titans (1981)

I Wanted to watch this version in prep for the remake coming out this weekend. I predict the remake will be far better simply because of enhanced special effects, as long as it sticks to the legendary plot.

Note that this was released in 1981 and the special effects of this film are horrid. What makes the effects even worse is knowing that Star Wars was released 10 years prior. Yet this film had crap my only analogy for it would be, its like using 1933's King Kong effects...in 1981.


Despite the films poor effects I still really enjoy and there is a good reason for it. Here is some background info on myself. I am a history major and my favorite era of history IS Ancient Greece and Rome and their polytheistic beliefs, if a school would allow me to major in a more specific aspect of history, this is what it would be. I enjoy everything about and I wish the Greek Gods had a more prominant role in todays religion.

Clash tells the tale of Perseus who embarks on an epic journey (im not calling it EPIC using it in the term similar to Homerian Epic Poem) to win the love of the beautiful Andromeda, but in order to keep her he must defeat the dreaded Kraken. He journeys to seek information from the 3 witches who possess only one eye (many might recall this trio from the Disney version of Hercules), they tell him the only way to defeat the Kraken it to kill the legendary Medusa and take her head. Many people might already know the story because it was often told in school, and Perseus was the very first Olympic Hero and fought notable enemies.


As I said before I probably enjoy the movie more than most because of my personal interests. But hey, it is an amazing time in the worlds history. When Gods were amongst men.

Clash '81 is by no means a Must-see but if you enjoy History as much as I do, watch it. Try not to be detered by the terrible effects event though we all know they could have done better at the time.


Clash Of The Titans recieves 7 "Releasing of the Krakens"...out of 10
Its a higher rating than it deserves but it peaks my personal interests.
Hopefully I will get out to see the 2010 remake this Friday and have a review up this weekend.

The Informant! (2009)

Seeing the trailers a few months back made me really want to see this film, but i never got around to it in theaters. Well, it was all for the best because I saved myself a few bucks from seeing this crap in theaters.

I thought it had real promise, looked funny and thought it would be enjoyable. What I got was an unfunny, boring and confusing movie that was a waste of 1 3/4 hours of watching.

Matt Damon plays the President of ADM's Biochemistry Division who gathers intel for the FBI about the company's price fixing schemes. Thinking he is the good guy in the whole affair he thinks he will be in the clear while he defrauds the company out of millions.

ADM catches on and brings this to the FBI no the investigation turns towards him. He tries to weasel his way out, spreads lies and falsifies documents all in an effort to clear his name. So whats starts as him trying to do a good deed and fight corruption lands him 9 years in jail and everyone else 3.

That sentence is most definitaly not justified. He should get 25 years for them making a movie about an making people sit through it because that is the real crime here. Once the credits rolled I had only one question to ask "Who decided this would make a good film?"

The trailer and many summaries made the film out to be a comedy, there was nothing funny about the movie, other than my optimism towards it.

Hopefully I detailed the basis of the film you and do yourself a favor and skip it or rent it from the library. Im a bit of a Matt Damon fan but this movie is beneath his caliber.

The Informant! recieves 2 "I'm Fucking Matt Damon's"...out of 10

Ghostbusters I (1984) & II (1989) and Video Game (2009)

What can be said about these films that has not already been said? These are classics and appeal to all ages and generations because they are one of a kind. The Ghostbusters will never go out of style and Im a total nerd for them.

I recently played Ghostbusters: The Video Game and playing thourgh that made me miss the films so I bought them and watched them back to back. The game was actually very good had a good story good mechanics only issue, it was too short. It was the first game I could think of that I beat in less than 24 hours of starting since TMNT2 on NES.

Now on to the first film. A group of 3 paranormal research scientists (Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis) get booted from the local university which enables them to go into business for themselves, the business of Ghost Hunting. The group gains fame around NYC but with it comes controversey of wether or not they are unleashing the spirits. There is a surge of spirits in the city due to the evil dieity Gozer trying to break into the human dimension. Gozer emerges in the form of the loveable Stay Puft Marshmellow but with a mean spirit. The Ghostbusters risk their lives to defeat Gozer which stop all paranormal activity for years to come, which leads into the sequel.

Ghostbusters II takes place 5 years after the events of #1. The group has disbanded and are even barred by the city from ghost hunting. They are all just trying to make ends meet when another surge of paranormal activity begins to occur. A painting of Vigo the Carpathain makes its way into the Manhatten Museum, the painting is possesed by an evil spirit and tries to embody Dana Barret's (Sigourney Weaver) child. However the unsung hero of the 2nd film is not the ghostbusters themselves but the Mood Slime that Vigo is using to try to take control. Because the slime can be minipulated in both directions good and evil. The Mood Slime is the ultimate downfall of Vigo as New Yorkers are able set aside their issus for one night and be happy.

The first film is so great and the 2nd film greatly accents it. I have nothing bad to say towards the films comedy wise they are gold, on the level of MP: And the Holy Grail, Shaun of the Dead and Airplane!. Bill Murray is the greatest comedian of our age evertying he says is pure comedy gold. But its Dan Aykroyd's child like enthiusim that really makes the films in my opinion, he stares evil in the face and laughs at it.

There has been rumors of a potential 3rd Ghostbusters film in the works due to come out in 2011-12. I for one am excited for it and have high expectations I do not expect it to dissappoint as long as they do not introduce any new characters it should be comparable to the 80's versions.
The Ghostbusters series is one of my favorite film series on the market everyone needs to see these films if they already havn't because they are that damn good. And if you have a few hours to spare go rent the game its pure fun.

The Ghostbusters series gets 9 "Slimers"...out of 10

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)

This movie was pretty damn awesome, I came into it not expecting much. The first was so unbelievably good, how could Troy Duffy even come close? Well, in my book he did a pretty dam good job.

Fans of the first will not be disappointed at this sequel and will even be left asking "Are they going to make 3rd?" I know i was left hoping for a trilogy

Other than lack of Rocco, because he died in the first one, there is little to say ill of towards this film. The new characters were decent replacements. They tried to turn Clifton Collins Jr's character (Romeo) into the new Rocco, I have a small feeling Troy Duffy regrets killing off Rocco, but I'm not sure that Collins was the right fit. However, Julie Benz character (Eunice) was the make or break role of the film and she makes a good replacement for Willem Dafoe's Agent Smecker, as his protege. She is everything Smecker was but she has that enticing sex appeal that you can not turn away from. Oh and keep an eye out for Judd Nelson. =)

I don't want to give away much of the plot and upset loyal Saints fans. This sequel actually has a overall plot to and they are not just out being vigilantes like in the first. It does give many looks back to their past as well as their father's past which plays a very important role in this sequel and some references to the first film. Be forewarned, brix will be shat at the ending and leave you wanting more.

The movie stays true to some of the best parts of #1 with those knee slapper moments, jokes and one-liners. Yes, they do bring back the barkeep with tourettes. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus are as badass as ever in their reprisals of Connor & Murphy. I was surprised to see Greenly, Duffy & Dolly back and they actually have more of a role than before. They do again play the butt of many jokes but as I said, they are more important than in #1.

Well hopefully I didn't give away to much about the film. I think all fans of The Boondock Saints should see this sequel. So go out and get, it is not as good as #1 but this sequel does it justice and I hope we don't have to wait another 10 years for a third installment.

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day gets 8 "Poorly Cut Ski-Masks"...out of 10

"I'll Tip her!"

Repo Man (1984)

This was a rather bizzare film and I'm not quite sure that I fully grasped the concept of the film but I'll give it a try. I picked this up because I've heard that it is one of the more popular cult films (which may be my reason for not fully understanding the film) additionaly, it was labled in Sci-Fi and I love me some Sci-Fi.

Before watching this I could only question How is this Sci-Fi? They're Repo men they take cars...not Sci-Fi. Well after about 45 minutes I found out why...Aliens...yeahh

The whole movie consists of every repoman in town searching for one car. A car that the government wants tracked down for "classified reasons" setting the value at $20,000 which puts all the repomen in a frenzy. But the car is driven by an Alien in the human form and when people check out the trunk of the car...SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION!

I'll leave this one short because I did not really understand or overly enjoy the film. I would however, give it another watch and maybe a 2nd viewing would help me understand it better. So if you're into the whole Cult genre of films give it a go, if not, I'd skip it.

Repo Man gets 4 "Floating Alien Cars"...out of 10

Zombieland (2009)

I saw this film on opening night a few months back and I recently watched it again, with no changes towards my feelings towards the film.

Take notice that this is not a ture Zombie flick. It is more of a comedy than a gorey Zombie flick that made the genre boom.

Now, I am a pretty big zombie film fan, I enjoy my Romero films. But in terms of zombie content this cannot hold a torch to Dawn of the Dead. And in terms of post-apocalyptic comedy nothing will ever come close to my favorite Zombie flick and my favorite Comedy of all time, Shaun of the Dead.

Zombieland clocks in around 82 minutes in length and some scenes were over before the began. So the viewer really cannot develop feelings for the characters, but the director tries to make us.

The film did have one of the best celeb guest appearences I have ever had the pleasure to view, in Bill Murray, ever second this man is on screen is gold. (Speaking of Bill Murray...so excited for Ghostbusters 3!!!)

The last bit of the film takes place in an amusement park and this has a few reasons of appeal to me. As an avid player of the video game Left 4 Dead 2, one campaign is called Dark Carnival and takes place in an amusement park, as well as one chase that takes place on the immobile roller coaster. So the 2 almost mimic each other in a few ways. And I basically work at an amusement park and trust, that is the last place I would go when the Zombie apocalypse occurs.

As a man who enjoys his zombie films I give this one a thumbs up, go ahead and see it. Its good, but its no Shaun of the Dead

Zombieland gets 7 "Evil Zombie Clowns"...out of 10

Touch Of Evil (1958)

A few words to start.
Orson Welles.
Janet Leigh
and
Charlton Heston...In Brown Face...

Sadly the fact that they had Heston portray a Mexican distracted me from the film as a whole.

The Overall plot to the film is like a good cop / bad cop dealing with jurisdiction and moral issues and some minor racial tension along the Mex-American Border. Starting off with a wonderfully shot scene in which a Mexican bomb explodes a car on American soil.

Welles plays a corrupt dectective who always solves the case...yea, cause he planted the incriminating evidence! Heston plays a Mexican DEA type agent who is faced with the moral dillema to expose Welles hindering the investigation or let things unravel, either way he is putting his life at risk.

The moral to the story is that good overcomes evil and that we all have a bit of a darkside to us. An honest man can only be pushed so far without cracking. Whereas others can start out bad or worse use good resources for evil being completely corrupted by society.

Now I am a HUGE fan of all 3 stars in this film so that was the main attraction for me.
I feel I need to watch it again to give it a justified rating but in a first viewing
I give Touch Of Evil, 5 "Damned Dirty Apes" ... out of 10.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

This was the 3rd or 4th time that I have viewed this Kubrick masterpiece. And I still cannot figure out why I love it so much. I mean, not much happens in it, not much dialogue and a few boring scenes but I just enjoy every minute of it.

I think its mostly due to one of the greatest villians ever created, in the super-computer HAL-9000. Its stone cold expressions strike fear into the viewer. Fear that one day we may become so dependent on technology, that it can take over all human control, similar to Terminator.

The special effects are outstanding for the time and can even hold its own against some modern sci-fi films. Often touted as the #1 Sci-Fi film of all time, for me that is still up to debate, but deffinately Top 5.

Back to HAL though, He is one of the greatest characters to ever be written. His conflict with the crew of the Jupiter Mission is stuff of legends.

When he says that famous line "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" in response to Dave asking HAL to open the pod bay doors, The veiwer realizes ALL HELL HAS JUST BROKE LOOSE! IT'S TIME TO TAKE THAT MO****F***** DOWN! And is one of the most heart dropping lines every delivered on film.

2001 is such a great film and I implore everyone to see it. But other than the hardcore Sci-Fi fans, many might find it boring.

2001: A Space Odyssey recieves 9 Stone Cold Death Stares...out of 10
I Still have no idea as to the purpose of the black monolith...anyone?