Celebrating 50 years of Godzilla, and also marking the last made (until 2014's Godzilla hit theaters) Godzilla film, Final Wars finally pops up. Although unrelated to the previous reviewed Heisei era flicks, it certainly honors some of the earlier traditions of the big G - such as monster a monster battles. With access to higher levels of technology and equipment, can the entire movie be elevated for one epic final battle - or are we destined to suffer another stinker about a giant iguana?
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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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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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Been a while since we had a horror movie hasn't it? What a better day than Valentines day to bring it back then! Before you run off to grab your significant other for some planned terrified huddle-action, you'd of course need to find the right movie huh? Well then, let's find out if this based on a true story option can conjure up images of money well spent or if it doesn't have a ghost of a chance.
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Ah yes, drinking and the Irish, one of the easiest stereotypes to come up with. Sure, some will be attracted to the lovely Ireland, or that wonderful accent, or even the alternate monster-movie themed box art. For me, it was all three, although the simple prospect that somehow beer would be the savior of the people within it was far more amusing than any of the other concepts in there. Well then, it's last call - time to find out if it's all tapped out or the best concoction you've ever tried.
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A beautiful way to start the new year. It's an action movie through and through, and a sequel that contains a complete self-contained story that makes it irrelevant whether you've seen the first. It's also got ninjas in it, and ninjas never get old! If you're a fan of action packed fight scenes, ripped guys not wearing their shirts, and / or ninjas then you might want to skip the review and just go ahead and watch it first.
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When I first saw the trailers, I thought to myself "this ought to be a fun movie, but I don't think I want to pay 10 dollars to see it in theaters." Now, being out on DvD, it finally made it's way to my home for me to check out and possibly enjoy. It's one of those movies where at first glance, you can't really find anything you don't particularly like about it yet you still feel like somehow this movie might be a let down. I'll tell you right now, I might not have wanted to spend 10 bucks at the theater to see it, but between exoskeleton fun and some classic sci-fi staples present me might have a word to say with past me.
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What happens when you take a psychic and combine them with dreams? This movie! Classy story base with a mix of special effects and some decent acting, but does it entertain? You won't need to go to sleep to find out that answer.
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Even people who don't watch slasher movies know of Halloween, with it's iconic Michael Myers in that white mask. What a better day for a horror movie then on Halloween anyways? As one of the first box-office hits in the genre, it's no wonder that it's a classic - it also has one John Carpenter directing it, so we can be relatively assured that it would at least be amusing. So beyond all the nostalgia, let's figure out just what we have here to draw us all back in.
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I watch a lot of what some would call "the classics," not because I think they are superior to modern movies or anything like that - I just get a kick out of some of the old movies. There are some problems present with watching older movies though - namely, sometimes they show their age in unpleasant ways. Blob is a bit of a big thing for the little town it was filmed in, evoking a yearly Blob-fest that even involves a prized running from the very theater in the film to celebrate. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself - simple fan status doesn't really always merit the movie being good necessarily, but please do continue.
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Ever hear the old adage that the pen is mightier than the sword? One way of perceiving that phrase is to say that the word is strong than action, and indeed this proves to be the case in this movie. It's hard to precisely label this in the genre of horror, as some would pass it off as a zombie film - although there are indeed similarities that would undersell the true nature of the film. Tighten your coat and secure the fireplace, this wintry tale of terror comes just in time to mimic the changing seasons.
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I have a soft spot for anthology style movies such as this. There are many like it, and indeed some stories are have some rather foreseeable outcomes as is typical of these style of movies, but I've always loved that Tales From The Crypt vibe that comes from horror anthologies. In classic format, Terror Tract delivers three stories all contained within it's one over-story, but keeps things from pandering on at a modest 96 minute run time.
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I remember seeing this as a kid, and that I thought it was pretty scary at the time. Now rather grown up, I return to my childhood to see just what I was thinking - and let me tell you what, it's a lot more humorous than I recall. Heck, I can even feel for the ever-hungry little balls of fur, being a guy who's constantly on the look for some lunch myself - of course, I don't eat the entire cow in one sitting.
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Many a movie about possessions has been born since the days of The Exorcist, but not all of them ended up being...well... good. This one thankfully doesn't follow the path of the ones worse for wear, but it does leave a few questions to be asked. Little kids and creepy voices, moths and violent behavior, all mushed into a rated pg 13 film. How effective is it really? Read on.
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It's
that time of the year when everything starts getting spooky, so what
better way to usher in the month of October than with a movie that's
more comedic than it is terrifying? That's right, prices aren't the
only thing to be getting slashed - Jason Voorhees returns in what is
(at the time of this writing) the final of the Jason movies (also
known to this point as the Friday the 13th series). I tell
you what, having finished my quest of watching all of these things at
long last, I can totally admit that this is in fact the most amusing
of the movies from an entertainment standpoint, but we'll let you
continue on to figure out why.
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Long before monsters invaded our world from the deep pacific, back further in our past then found footage of a strange giant creature attacking New York, there was one creature that struck fear into the hearts of man on a gigantic scale: Godzilla. The titled King of Monsters, Godzilla graced the world with the idea of giant monsters, and made such an impact it's even referenced in a song by the Blue Oyster Cult. Godzilla is also probably the single reason why I love the man-in-a-suit monster genre as much as I do. This particular entry, admittedly, is a bit in the "Millennium Branch" of Godzilla, but although the long-running series of movies has an over-arching plot between them, each can be thoroughly enjoyed as a stand alone title.
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Imagine if you will a world without feeling, where anything that might cause feelings are banned and the very act of feeling is a crime punishable by death. This is a world brought to life in Equilibrium, a film that many who have seen it consider a bit similar to Fahrenheit 451 if in nothing else but concept. I've found it to be an often unknown movie, something that somehow - despite being an amazing movie - has slipped quietly under the radar of the masses for no logical reason whatsoever. Well, at the very least, I can do my part to remedy that right now.
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Revenge may never get old,but often times it doesn't innovate much either. Hot on the heels of The Expendables , which proved that all the "old boys" still had what it took to have a box office presence, Sylvester Stallone appears in another action flick without the rest of the gang. Does he still have what it takes?
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A surprise of a movie from way back when: a time of bell-bottom jeans, afros, and funk sharing a deadly little secret. There was a lot more thought put into this story then I at first glance would have thought (I kind of figured I was getting into a generic sea critter turned monster flick), and it would no doubt still be right at home on a giant wooden drive-in backdrop. I'm going to need and use some spoiler blocks through this to not spoil the fun little twists in the film though, so just be prepared to actually have to read parts of this if you want the free spoiled-version of the opinion.
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