Repo! The Genetic Opera
is a frickin' riot. It reminded me of Dracula the Puppet Musical from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Wish I could have seen on the big screen but it only played 1 night in Chicago. hrmph. Paris looks like she gained a lot of weight for it.Red Cliff is part 1 of John Woo's ambitious and bloody period piece of one of the greatest wars in Chinese history; the north's attempt at taking over the south. Part 1 came out in 2008 and leads up to right before the Han assault on Red Cliff. The half builds up the characters and it's in the second half of part 1 that things really get interesting and intense. It's a strange move for Woo but I always appreciate the subtlety of Tony Leung's performance. Great to see Vicki Zhao in a strong role. The Guqin (seven-stringed zither) scene alone is worth the watch.
. Maybe the most the deaths I've seen in a Hitchcock film. Peter Lorre is just awesome.
gets made but how it also rec'd a theatrical release. It's not terrible but it's really not very good considering the wealth of talent (mostly SNL alums) contained within.
: why do so many of these horror flicks start the same way? Post-teens hang out and go somewhere (vacation, road trip, vacant house, "ruins", etc) then the horror ensues. There must be a better way to spin this.
: another Thai flick that supports my theory of the mandatory 2 or more wacky, offbeat characters in the story. Not worth the minute and half of Tony Jaa (w/Ong-bak inside joke). Petchtai Wongkamlao (Humlae from Ong-bak) wrote and directed this mess.
(wanting to get my Clive Owen mancrush on) and the first hour left me uninterested and only mildly interested in the Chicago setting (despite the errors). But the 2nd half picked up when the twists finally arrived. Not a bad flick to take in while doing a little work.
: Aliens! Who knew?!
, another of Takashi Miike's earlier yakuza flicks. The editing is nuts and the story gets nearly as crazy as DOA at the end but still an entertaining flick.
was not at all what I expected but still a rather fun albeit silly ride. Patton Oswalt = best. Not a bad flick and I'm pretty sure I could watch anything with Maggie Q. 
just wasn't happening. I didn't hate it but my expectations were so low going in that I found it mildly okay. Goofy as all hell but whatever. It's a head-scratcher.
for the first time. It was cute but not all that. I got increasingly annoyed at overwhelming attempts to be clever sandwiched between the expected indie tunes. I liked it but wasn't overly impressed. Still a good flick.
is mighty intense chanbara (samurai cinema). Tatsuya Nakadai is wickedly marvelous as the merciless rogue samurai who's completely insane and hellbent on killing everyone.
so soon after being made aware of its awesomeness. A real winner and possibly a movie night HOF candidate. "Girl with Special Needs has Special Need to Kick Ass!" Love it. Prachya Pinkaew can keep bringing it. 
was another evening surprise (unaware that Ron was in possession of this dandy little Swedish vampire flick). All the accolades this one has rec'd are well deserved. It lives up to the hype and inclusion in almost every critic's top ten for 2008. 
I saw last year at Facets and was mildly amused at the time. It's definitely much better in a movie night setting despite all of us dozing off at the end (long day and night!).
in its entirety until now. It's a little dated but holds up.
was a "family flick". What a bizarre, drug-induced trip this is. Still shaking my head over this one.
. Based on the manga of the same name this is the type of flick that plays right into my wheelhouse. It's total shojo but it's done rather well. I dig the whole music scene vibe and the attached emotions.
, prequel to the original 
is still quite fun but I don't agree with the need for an American Godzilla (per the creators). It seems the historical significance of Godzilla is lost on them. But the flick is cool for a variety of reasons. 
rec'd a lot of underground, festival buzz and I can see why; the old school effects are done exceptionally well and the story isn't half bad. It wasn't great by any means but decent.
. Both leads are cute and mesh well onscreen. Lots of strange characters abound and visuals are a treat. 
was big disappointment. The TV show clearly doesn't translate to the full feature output. Even worse that Stephen Colbert wrote this underwhelming and strange flick. Even Philip Seymour Hoffman can't save this one.
is one I've somehow managed to avoid far too long. As a substantial remake of 
for a while and was prompted recently that I oughta take it due to the parkour action sequences. Flawed but totally entertaining.
is flick I only barely remembered from back in the day. Not surprisingly it still holds up rather well but I could see a remake on the horizon. 
got such a bad rap upon its theater release because I LOL'd a lot. Maybe it's my fondness for Lucha libre and Jack Black. Whatever the reasons, this flick worked for me.
I just had to watch before taking in 
is reminder why I've become a bigger fan of Ben Stiller in recent years. He's only got a couple of notes he uses over and over but I dig him. Vince Vaughn and rest of the cast are serviceable. 
isn't your parents' Lupin! This 1997 edition is hella more violent and bloody than those 70s classics. And not nearly as interesting or good.
until now but I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. Bruce Campbell is stellar even as the flick gets a little wacky towards the end.
, yet another tale about Okatsu, the revenge-filled, sword-wielding vixen who avenges her parents in this installment. Good watch and lots of fun.
has all the hallmarks of a Peckinpah western yet in this one it's the last survivors of the old west colliding with the early 1900's. If you're a fan of Peckinpah or sprawling westerns loaded with violence then check this out (if you haven't already).
DVD when it was on sale last year but it was out of stock. Now I'm glad I didn't. The animated modernized version of Stephen Strange leaves a lot to be desired. It's more like Tony Stark-cum-Batman Begins in drawing out his origin story with limp conclusion in defeating his greatest foe, Dormammu. The best thing about the disc is the featurette on the original Dr. Strange comic book. 'Course Stan Lee talks about how he came up with the idea but at least it (along w/lots of the artwork and original panels) is more interesting than the film. Now I'm wanting some of those original comics!
years ago but it got buried away with many other notable movies. It is everything everyone has said about it and then some. Insanely good. See it if you haven't. 
is flick I will openly admit I've never seen beginning to end. I had only seen bits and pieces on TV and understood the premise and characters but never watched the complete film. I wasn't aware of the big names attached to this (Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg, & Chris Columbus). Since I have no nostalgic attachment this flick I can say that it's not very good (despite the involvement of those aforementioned names) but it's cute and I can see how it became so revered. It's ripe for a remake and introduction to a new generation. Great to see Josh Brolin as a kid.
is a guilty pleasure. Sorry! I don't think it's as bad as it's made out to be. Paul Reubens' Spleen character is the best. And I love Ben Stiller in this.
has been on my list to see for years. And it's actually pretty good! Makes me wanna see O12 now.