Action movies are awesome. I love them, a lot of other people love them. With the recent hullabaloo about Fury Road, I was having a bit of a retrospective about "best action movies" I've ever scene with a pal, and after a moment of revving up my remember-er, amongst the slew of things that came to mind there was one scene that happened to pop into my mind. That scene is contained within this movie, and became a bit famous after it's release for being one giant, continual take. Turn on the stove, it's time to get boiled.
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A super-thoughtful film? Don't do those very often do I? Well, I mean, sometimes you want to think, or sometimes you just hear good things about something and want to check it out. The general premise seems sound enough, and it's got a list of decent named actors involved, so I'd like to assume it's going to at least be an entertaining flick. At any rate, lets dive into this movie and see what the flock it's all about.
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How many times now have we seen the story of Dracula? If I wanted to pan further, I could say 'how many times have we seen the story of the vampire?" And no, I don't mean that badly written worse filmed absent-minded Twilight series. If I wanted to induce vomiting, I would talk about the soundtrack to Nosferatu, which is at least a respectable movie. Back on topic though - we've seen it a lot. Most of us would probably agree at this point that the best rendition of Dracula is probably the Bram Stoker's variant, but Bella did have himself one mean stare. Well, a new age, a new generation, a new attempt at trying to bring back the old monster movies that I really can't be too mad about because I like the old monster movies. Should Dracula have staid untold, or will the movie nipping at your neck have you all hot and bothered?
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Ever find yourself thinking that kids suck? Ever think that kids were so much better and more respectful back in the day? Do you have anyone you'd like to instill a fear of children into? Well, this movie may tarnish your views of the happy-go-lucky younger folks, as this movie slowly turns your views from cute little spunky shenanigans into a weaponized militia of punks. Can this blast to the past show you a good time, or will you find your brain a battleground of chaos?
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Remember that silent guy named Bob? If you do, then you probably already know all about him making movies and being in shows and the likes. This weird little tale comes straight from him - and if you follow his podcast you will most likely get more out of this than those who blindly waddle their way into it, but that's not to say that it's necessarily bad right? Inside jokes are all over movies these days (I'm looking at you, comic movies), so that shouldn't hold anyone back. Will this walrus of a tale get you hooked, or will it be more of a sinker?
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Wold War 2: a very bummer of an event, but great fodder for the entertainment industry. Granted, the last time I saw Brad Pitt in a WW2 movie he was scalping Nazis with the "Bear Jew" - so I expected this one to be a bit more "true" feeling. Most flicks about the 'great war' are at least half-way decent as far as quality, so lets see how one focusing on a tank crew can do. Will it tank our interest?
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Well, the name is kind of a spoiler in it's own right, but it's been a while since a military style flick has shown up in my queue of viewing. Considering it's 'based on a true story' tag, what's going to happen here is a good deal of authenticity with some bad events over in the heated world of Taliban-filled territory. It's certainly a familiar war story to those who like the genre, but it never claims to be anything more than what it is. Will this band of brothers be cause to add to the collection, or would you rather leave the rifle on the shelf?
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Find yourself with a hankering for a world war 2 flick that's less depressing and war-like? Maybe wish Ocean's Eleven had a smaller cast and was set back in world war 2? Ever feel the burning desire to watch some people thwart Hitler by saving art? Well, today might be your lucky day, as this is exactly what Monuments Men promises! Now all we need to do is figure out we celebrate over the survival of art, or if we rather wish the german guy shot us (I promise you'll get that later).
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I've been a fan of knights, swords and steel, armor and wizards since I was a young kid and have just never grown out of it. A coworker I had at one of my past jobs actually recommended this movie to me (unsurprisingly, I find out about many movies from before I was born in this manner), being a man of similar interests (I bought a physical Excalibur off of him to give it a good home), and so I took it upon myself to get it. I've always felt it was a rather long movie (a tad over 2 hours) and in turn it's taken me a long time to get through all of it, but I figured with the Battle of the Nations starting up today, what better time to watch something associated with armor and Arthurian legend? Can this rendition of a well known tale be named king, or is it just a sword stuck in a stone?
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It strikes me as strange to be honest that this movie came after Godzilla vs Mothra. I guess it works, as one can assume that some time would have passed while Japan messed around with robotic parts from Ghidorah to make it - which is a turn over the "robot parts built on top of a Godzilla skeleton" that graces one of the other Mechagodzilla flicks, but considering how tied it is to that it seems as though it would have come first. Well, regardless of when the movie was delivered, can the movie prove to be massive scale metal, or does it prove to be nothing but a toy?
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The interesting thing one notices as time goes on is that each of these Godzilla movies seems to have a unique spin to the human side of things. In last weeks GvsB, there was a very espionage / secret agents feel to what was going on. This week things are a bit different, but the glue that holds these films together is undoubtable Godzilla himself - no matter what happens, at some point the threat of Godzilla rises to the forefront. As an added bonus, this is the first of the Godzilla flicks to really go into the history of Godzilla, outside of just "nuclear lizard."
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Now we start getting into the parts of Godzilla that we all tend to love the most - the monster on monster action! The 1989 entry marks the first step of the Heisei series that involves Godzilla not being the only giant monster to stop around the block - although by far it's certainly not the first ever 'zilla flick to feature multiple monsters (just in this arc). Can the king of monsters hold his ground against the new threat? Will the movie harbor any improvements over Godzilla '85? Did I manage to get the non-Americanized version? Either you are gonna love this like a giant rose, or want nothing more than to burn it with your fiery breath.
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30 years later, the great lizard king returns in the "first" movie of the second Godzilla story arc - called the "Heisei Series." In modern times, we would probably call this a reboot - although its actually more of rebooting a sequel to start again as opposed to erasing the original and starting from scratch. Now, the reason I wanted to do this specific arc or story is because it seems to deal more with how/what Godzilla is, which seems like it very well might tie into the newer one a bit more solidly than some of the others do. Of course, the real question then becomes is it a good thing that it might be getting it's influence from here?
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The one that started it all, the very king of monsters himself: Godzilla (or as he was known before we Americans starting changing things - Gojira). At the time of writing this, we are about a month and a half away before the US Box office tries to recover from the horrendous attempt at making a Godzilla movie (it was actually worse than the classic guys-in-suits movies that came before it) with it's brand new Godzilla movie, I've decided that we need to span the timelines and get a feel for our nuclear lizard king. You'd be surprised to know it, but there are people out there who have never heard of Godzilla! Well, fear not denizens of Earth! I'll be your tour guide on this journey, and I won't let the giant creature eat you (unless you really deserve it).
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I don't normally review movies that are fresh in the theaters, because I find it a less than optimal experience as far as the movie goes. Don't misunderstand, it's great to sit in a theater with the awesome surround sound and big old screen with a bunch of friends, but it becomes hard to concentrate on the movie itself at times when there's a bunch of people screaming over what they thought was scary or hollering over something they thought was great. Let's not forget those pesky kids who always manage to talk through forty percent of the movie roll... Forget that though, I saw this one and figured It'd make a nice change of pace for me to tell you if this guy rose to the top or feel with brave Leonidas and his 300.
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I'm not a huge Pink Floyd fan. Yeah, I've heard some of their tunes and enjoyed them, but it's never called out to me as my particular band amongst the ocean of music to try and catch. Knowing this, I guess you figured I watched this one more by recommendation then absolute desire - I wanted to watch a rock opera of sorts, and a pal goes "try this one." Can Floyd mesmerize the audience, or is this movie just another brick in the wall?
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From the title alone, we can assume it's going to be two guys with guns versus the world. Action, action, action! For best results, go in expecting an action flick and you should be content. Normally, I'd be more than happy to come up with a witty title-based remark that leaves you hanging, but with a title like 2 Guns, the best I can come up with is something like like "is it shooting blanks, or is fully loaded for an assault on your favorites list." Sorry.
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I heard you like stories, so I found you a movie whose stories contain stories. Do us all a favor though, go get your thinking cap out of the closet because I can almost guarantee that you will need it. You see, without your full attention as you travel down the roads of plot that weave back and forth in time you will most likely find yourself in a strange town with no real recollection of how or why you got there, so strap in for a long haul. With all those jumps back and forth, can the movie keep its message clear enough, or does this tale through the ages find itself getting quite cloudy?
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So, this is a true story. That won't fully sink in until after you watch this movie I can almost guarantee. You'll laugh, you'll scratch your head, and you might even feel like a worse person for laughing at some of the parts you will probably laugh at. I know which it was for me, but the question here is whether or not this movie is a doer, or a don't-er.
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I wanted to get one more movie out there at the end of 2013, and Robot & Frank has been sitting in my queue to watch for a solid month or so now. A new year is for some a rather serious note, and the last movie didn't feel quite party enough to be a "out with a bang" or serious enough to represent the hopes for the coming year. Welcome then a tale about a man and his robot, where we are reminded that just because something is new doesn't mean we should abandon the old.
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