Sherlock Holmes

First things first, the Iron Man 2 trailer on the big screen looked fantastic and I cannot wait to see the movie when it opens on May 7th, 2010.

Guy Ritchie, the cult favorite direct behind such gritty, hardcore, action films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, brings us an updated and adrenaline fueled re-imagining of the world's most infamous detective. Holmes and Watson, played by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, are supposedly going their separate ways when their last case comes back to haunt them as Lord Blackwood seems to have risen from the dead to take revenge on London. All the elements you love being a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation are here but tweaked to ramp up the pace and cement the duo's friendship. I could have done with a few more sexy scenes with Rachel McAdams but it looks like all of them were accounted for in the trailer. The film is fun and a must see for all Downey fans making it a worthwhile Christmas Day movie event.

Click here to check out the official website.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

As the movie title states it is a squeakquel and all of the stops are pulled out. Those stops of course being the appearance of The Chipettes voiced by none other than Christina Applegate, Anna Farris - luv her - and Amy Poehler. Alvin causes trouble, there is a rift between the boys while Dave is recuperating in a hospital, a musicical competition is on the line and the Chipmunks and Chipettes band together to save the day and their school. The plot is a given for anyone over the age of ten but who does not love a signing Chipmunk? My niece Morgan will love this film when she finally gets to see it and it was an OK diversion for me as I wait to go to my best friends's house for the holiday.

Click here to check out the official website.

Happy Holidays to one and all!

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

I walked in to see this movie because it was there and it was not going to cost me anything except my time. The chemistry between Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker is non-existent and the the comedy painful and best served by the trailer. The only saving grace for me in this film is Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen - who I can watch in anything - as the Wheeler's who must protect our witness relocated couple. No matter how much your date loves SJP and Sex In The City, skip this film and go see Up In The Air. You will be thanking me later.

Click here to check out the official website.

Up In The Air

Jason Reitman, the director of Thank You for Smoking and Juno, brings us a comedy drama dealing with a traveling corporate killer, played by George Clooney, who is being pulled from the field due to budget cuts but gets one last reprieve as he must mentor a new start colleague, played by Anna Kendrick. The movie seems appropriate for the times we are living in and the comedy moments involving Ryan Bingham's travel rules of the road are hilarious. Vera Farmiga plays a traveling love interest for Clooney who shares in his travel obsession who is too perfect to be true. Clooney is always good and gives a great performance here but I don't think it is Oscar award winning worthy. A good date movie and an alternative to seeing It's Complicated.

Click here to check out the official website.

Avatar

The wait is finally over and James Cameron's much hyped and anticipated 3D epic is now playing on the big screen and I got my ticket. Unfortunately I did not pre-order a ticket for the IMAX version so I will be waiting awhile to see it in that format. The film is glorious, beautiful and everything I hoped for even if the plot was telegraphed to me like a haymaker - you just have to see it. The best comment on the movie was Cameron's interview with Kevin Pereira on Attack of the Show where he said the goal of the CGI animators was to ensure that Neytiri - played by Zoe Salana - was doable and oh my she most certainly is! Lastly, Sam Worthington adds another big action film to his resume to go along with Terminator Salvation and next year's Clash of the Titans remake - grab that golden ring my man while you can!

Click here to check out the official website.

Young Frankenstein @ The Kennedy Center

My friend Sharon promised me we would go see this show for my birthday when it came to the Kennedy and we lucked in to box seats - the box left of the Presidential box in the Opera House - oh yeah! Outside of this being a live musical version of one of my favorite horror comedies by Mel Brooks, it had the bonus of featuring the original Broadway cast leads such as Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and The Monster. The stage set was awesome and I got to snap a pic of the stage before a couple next to us got busted by the ushers because they used a flash - how foolish can you be. All in all a great evening with fantastic music even if some of the jokes worked better in the movie than on the stage. A great birthday treat and thank you again Sharon - smooches!

Click here to check out the official website.

The Princess and the Frog

I have always been a fan of the classic Disney animation style and liked the look and sound of this film from seeing the first trailers in the theater. Mixing up the classic fairy tale with a New Orleans sensibility was inspired and the featuring of a black heroine has been long overdue for Disney. I was not expecting the story to deal with the death of a main character so well and have to attribute this to Executive Producer, John Lasseter, who we all know as the genius behind all of the Pixar films. The original soundtrack by Randy Newman is awesome and will definitely have to be added to my iPod collection. If there is one family film out there you need to see this holiday season, it is this soon to be Disney classic.

Click here to check out the official website.

Invictus

Any Clint Eastwood directed film is a must see and his latest film retelling the story of Nelson Mandela and how he helped inspire the South African national rugby team to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup and unite the South African people in a common goal is no exception. Toss in Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the rugby team captain, and you have a trifecta. The story is truly inspiring and the rugby is so real that Damon had to let his stunt double fill in for him because it was so rough and nothing was being pulled in the scenes. I like biopics and this was a pleasant surprise to see there were still great stories to be told dealing with the final fall of Aparthied and the rise of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa. I recommend seeing this film to everyone.

Click here to check lout the official website.

The Slammin' Salmon

The Broken Lizard troupe who brought us Puddle Cruiser, Super Troopers, Club Dread, and Beerfest now take their swing at the restaurant business with Kevin Heffernan taking the directorial reins. The Slammin' Salmon is a high end Miami restaurant owned by boxing great Cleon Salmon who sets up up a contest that the highest selling waiter gets a $10,000 bonus and the lowest earning one gets a beating all so so he can pay off a gambling debt. This is only a premise the Lizard guys could pull off and they do it well with a huge roster of Hollywood favorites making cameos. These cameos include Vivica A. Fox, Morgan Fairchild, Lance Henriksen and Michael Clarke Duncan as Slammin' Cleon Salmon himself. If you are a fan of the Broken Lizard guys like me, this movie is a must see and great for huge belly laughs.

Click here to check out the official website.

It's Complicated

Yes it is a chick movie through and through; and yes I saw it any way; yes it is hilarious and I loved it. Alex Baldwin, Meryl Streep and Steve Martin are as great and funny as you would expect but the stand out scene stealer is John Krasinski as Harley. Harley discovers that Jake and Jane are hooking up for a booty call at the same hotel he and Lauren are having lunch and the hilarity that ensues is great to watch. The dialogue is witty and sharp and Nancy Meyers' comedic direction is flawless. A perfect date night movie that is funny, engaging, and well worth seeing.

Click here to check out the official website.

Fear Itself

I picked up this series from my local Best Buy to add to my DVD horror collection because it really was the third season of the great cable series, Masters of Horror. With the move from premium cable to network TV, Mick Garris' original series of one hour mini-horror films got a tamer opening credits sequence and brought in a difference set of director's to try their hand at horror with a few of the legends still participating even though the network TV curbed alot of the visuals and subject matter. The stand out episodes are Family Man directed by Ronnie Yu, Eater by Stuart Gordon, and The Spirit Box by Rob Schmidt with Family Man being the best story of the anthology. It seems that the move to network TV has killed the series which is truly a same but was to be expected. If you have not seen this show and want to see a few of your favorite director tackle the TV medium for horror, this is definitely worth putting in your Netflix queue.

Click here to check out the official website.

Transylmania

David and Scott Hillenbrand bring us a teenage horror comedy with the latest movie craze of vampires. The film is weak as a comedy with mostly no name actors and lacks any form of horror that I could see. The only decent effects scene was when the college stoners tried to sew the female body back together before getting found out by the returning evil doctor / dean of the school. Cast notables are the nubile Jennifer Lyons, genre favorite babe Musetta Vander, and the up and coming James DeBello. There is some vampire / stripper nudity and fart humor to keep the movie rolling along but nothing that stands out as memorable or worthy of a repeat viewing.

Click here to check out the official website.

Armored

2007's Vacancy director, Nimrod Antal, brings us a good heist-gone-wrong movie this week with a full cast of Hollywood stars to keep it rolling along. The cast includes Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Fred Ward and Columbus Short as an actor to keep your eye on. Short stars as Ty Hackett a returned war veteran who is trying to take care of his younger brother and keep their family home after the loss of their parents and is offered a part in an armored truck heist by his long time friend that involves his security guard co-workers. The action is fast paced and the plot tight and crafted well. This is not Shakespeare but it is a heist moving worth seeing and enjoying until the last handful of popcorn is gone.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

I did not see the 1999 film The Boondock Saints but after hearing about it from a my co-worker Carl I figured I should check this movie out. This sequel was hands down funny, violent and had a great cast which makes me want to pick up the first film on DVD to get all of the back story on the Irish brothers and their vigilante murders of Boston mobsters. The cast includes Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as the MacManus brothers with help from Clifton Collins Jr. and Julie Benz to seek justice for the killing of a local Boston priest by the mob. Other cast notables are Billy Connolly, Peter Fonda and Judd Nelson as the MacManus patriarch and the mobsters behind the priest's murder to lure the boys back to the states to seek their revenge. A good movie to see even if you missed the first one - thanks for the recommendation Carl.

Click here to check out the official website.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson, the director behind such cult favorite films as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, tries his hand at stop motion animation with this Ronald Dahl children novel. Wes Anderson's voice cast includes his regular stable of actors with a few new ones you would not expect like George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, and Brian Cox. The story is about the trickster Mr. Fox and how he tries to steal from the three largest farmers in the valley while keeping his activities secret from his family and the consequences. The animation is quite good and gives the film a very surreal atmosphere with great dialog that engages the adult even more than the child. A good family movie but also a great film just to enjoy sans the kids.

Click here to check out the official website.

Old Dogs

John Travolta and Robin Williams, Charlie and Dan, are best friends and business partners doing well until a former girlfriend comes back in to their lives with a set of twins in which Dan is the father. The movie is meh and the only real draw for me was Seth Green and it turns out all of his best moments were in the trailer. The movie limps along and the laughs are few and far between. It was nice to see that Kelly Preston is still hot and makes me nostalgic for seeing Mischief again. A rental at best so save you money.

Click here to check out the official website.

NInja Assassin

James McTeigue, who brought us V for Vendetta, delivers an adrenaline fueled revamping of the tired ninja film that explodes off of the screen. Instead of the old fountains of blood spray and ridiculous fight sequences with no physical harm, this film gets a healthy kick of CGI enhanced in-screen kills that look cool and all kinds of flying blades in Matrix -style bullet time. The story revolves around Rain, played by Raizo, who is taking out his former ninja clan brethren and exposing them to the world. If ninja films keep this up then I want to see more and hopefully they make it to the big US screens instead of just to the foreign DVD racks at the local mall. Check this film out and you wont regret it.

Click here to check out the official website.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Let me start out by telling you that I abhorred this movie once I finally saw it after being asked by a co-worker, Kristen, if I would see this move. My reaction to it was so vehement and visceral that my friends could not believe my hate for it but this movie struck at my very core and made me angry and literally hate Mary, played by Mo'Nique, the mother of Precious, played by newcomer Gabourey 'Gabby" Sidibe. I was so appalled by Mary and how she hated and abused her own daughter that it made me physically hurt to watch the film and has taken me a while to write this review to make sure I am doing the movie justice. The reveal in the social workers office literally brought me to my knees. Due to the subject matter of this film I cannot recommend it to everyone but if you see this film and are not moved by it - maybe not to the extent I was - I feel sorry for your very soul and Mo'Nique deserves the Oscar for her performance if for nothing else but making me believe her character was real and hurting me like no other movie has ever done.

Click here to see the official website.

Planet 51

With all the voice talent in this film I was bummed that is was just mediocre at best. I actually found myself nodding off a couple of times because it could not hold my interest. The story is about an astronaut who lands on a planet that is inhabited by little green men but who seem to be stuck in their own 50's like era. The role reversal should be interesting but it is not. This movie is a pass until it shows up on cable.

Click here to check out the official website.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

I did not know anything about this movie but I loved Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant from 1992 that starred Harvey Keitel with the unforgettable scene where he pull's over two young women for speeding and makes the driver give him a blow job before letting them go with a warning - and you see his penis too! This is not a sequel but Nicholas Cage is a New Orlean's police lieutenant who starts out hooked on prescription drugs for his back pain and then starts snorting coke, has a prostitute girlfriend played by Eva Mendes, is trying to solve a drug multi-murder case while owing his bookie played by Brad Dourif for not making the spread of the game of the week. Other cast members include Val Kilmer as another crooked cop, long-time no-see hottie Fairuza Balk - in a lovey black bra and panties - as a female cop over seeing a police evidence locker room, and Tom Bower and Jennifer Coolidge as Cage's recovering AA father and still drunk on beer stepmother. The movie is interesting and is art house and indie film fodder at its best with a few surreal moments thrown in to really make the audience laugh. If you like your cops really bad and strung out then check this film out and you will not believe the luck that gets thrown to Cage's character as you are hauled away to the last scene and the light come up.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Blind Side

I had high hopes for this movie based on the trailers and to my delight I was not disappointed. The story stars Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw and Quinton Aaron and tells the story of Michael Oher and the family that takes him in off of the street and gives him a family that supports and loves him and how he goes from being an under-educated but giant teenager to become a much sought after recruit for major college football programs. Quinton and Sandra's performances are terrific and heart felt with Tim McGraw showing his acting chops just may be better than his music. There is Oscar buzz already for this film and from what I have seen it is well deserved. I dare anyone to see this movie and not be moved by it or have to wipe a tear away from their eye.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

The next installment in the most anemic vampire series known to man hit the theaters today. I read the books and the highlight of the series was the werewolves with Jacob Black learning to deal with his family heritage and his love for Bella after being left by Edward. The effects are OK but could have been better and the plot of the story is almost word for word the same as the book but thankfully the internal monologues are absent which makes the films far superior to the books if that is even possible to imagine. The howls and wolf calls the audience made when Jacob took of his shirt were ridiculous and goes to prove why this series makes any real horror or monster fan just cringe. Stephanie Meyer is not the next J.K. Rowling but may be the tween set's Barbara Cartland.

Click here to check out the official website.

Pirate Radio

Richard Curtis, the director of 2003's Love Actually, brings us the story of a band of rogue rock-n-roll 60's disc jockeys who broadcast from the high seas to bring the people the rock music the British radio stations would not play. The movie is a romp with killer music that has plenty of British comedy regulars on board to man the ship like Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Chris O'Dowd, and Rhys Ifans with indie favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman to throw an American in the mix. The best parts of the film involve Kenneth Branagh as Sir Alistair Dormandy and his crusade to rid the air waves of the filth of rock-n-roll. The film has no deep message but delivers a love letter for the music and the life style. A fun ride and worth checking out.

Click here to check out the official website.

2012

The much hyped end of the world epic has made it to the screen from none other than Roland Emmerich, who has brought us The Day After Tomorrow and the mega hit Independence Day, starring the 80's generation's everyman John Cusack. What makes this film work is that as the effects and set pieces get bigger and bigger the story condenses around the Curtis family and how they race to save themselves. The cast includes Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover as the President who is faced with saving, or salvaging, the human race from extinction by bringing the nation's of the world together with a final solution made in China. The destruction is incredible and the effects spectacular as you would expect and fortunately the acting is good too. A good popcorn muncher that I enjoyed and I believe you will too.

Click here to check out the official website.

Broken Lizard @ GW Lisner Auditorium

The boys were in town tonight and they rocked the Lisner with skits and every member of the group getting their turn at the mic as part of their comedy tour de force. Just before the show got started I realized Lynda Carter - aka Wonder Woman - was setting in front of me and I pointed this our to my friend Sharon who was the only black person at the show apparently from the third row view. To get the show started, Steve told masturbation stories about himself and his fellow troopers much to the chagrin of Carter who learned that Jay had a Wonder Woman poster he liked to "make love to" at age thirteen but she recovered well and was laughing just like the rest of us in the audience. It was great seeing bits from each of their movies replayed on the stage and original material along with a large amount of audience participation. Their next movie, The Slammin' Salmon is due in theaters on December 11th and stars Michael Clarke Duncan, Olivia Munn and many more celebrity cameos - I can't wait to get my tickets.

Click here to check out the Broken Lizard official website.

Click here to see The Slammin' Salmon trailer or here for the Red Band trailer.

The Box

The writer and director of the cult favorite film Donnie Darko brings us a creepy morality play based on a Richard Matheson short story. Basically a disfigured stranger played by Frank Langella delivers a box to Cameron Diaz with a simple proposition in which she has 24 hours to press the button on a box and she will receive 2 million dollars but the catch is that someone she does not know will die. The film is intriguing and the web woven between the receivers and the victims of the the box is well crafted. There is only one moment in the film where the juxtaposition seems off but maybe this was due to a poor edit that may be resolved in the DVD director's cut. The film goes to show that Richard Matheson regardless of year is one of the best prolific writers we have ever had and can deliver a mean little story that will always pack a punch.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Fourth Kind

Director Olatude Osumsanmi brings us the true story of Doctor Abigail Tyler and the shared fear and mystery surrounding inhabitants in a small Alaska community who are terrorized by dreams of a white owl. The film is split between real case footage from Dr. Tyler's work and re-enactments and dramatizations featuring Milla Jovovich as Tyler. The split screening and dramatizations tend to be distracting more than engaging as the film unfolds but the real footage is very engaging and at points down right frightening. The footage where one of the patients is actually possessed by an alien or entity is startling and the aftermath where he literally breaks his own spine from the remenbered encounter under hypnosis is horrific. The ending sequence between Dr Tyler and the director on where things stand now is disturbing and sad but makes you really wonder what is out there waiting to mess with your life and you cannot stop it.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

George Clooney and an all star cast bring to screen the story of the U.S. Army's involvement in developing a unit to engage in paranormal warfare and espionage. As funny as this premise seems to be and the clips from the trailer, this film is surprisingly dull and the funny moments fall in to obscurity and make you just go meh. Jeff Bridges's Bill Django is the only real funny part of this film and he does steal the screen when he is on it. As much as I had wanted to like this film from the trailers it did not deliver much like Clooney's previous lackluster film effort Leatherheads. This is a pass unless you are a fan of Jeff Bridges.

Click here to check out the official website.

Disney's A Christmas Carol: An IMAX 3D Experience

A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite holiday classics that I have watched over the years in all its many film versions with Scrooge from 1970 starring Albert Finney still being my favorite version to date. That said, any Robert Zemeckis film is always a treat but add in Jim Carrey, the human cartoon, Digital 3D and IMAX and this is something to behold. The IMAX 3D is friggin' amazing and the best I have ever seen which gives me high expectations for James Cameron's Avatar. Jim Carrey provides the visual ques and voices for Scrooge and all of the ghosts with Zemeckis making sure the ghostly parts of the film still have a fright to them even if they are CGI while the rest of the familar cast of characters are brought to life by the voice talents of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn. If you have yet to go to an IMAX screening or seen IMAX 3D, then this movie is a most see just for these two features only - Happy Holidays!

Click here to check out the official website.

Fear Clinic - FEARnet Original Series

I just finished watching the first five episodes on this web series and they are freakin' awesome! The effects are phenomenal and the casting includes genre greats like Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Danielle Harris, and Lisa Wilcox. The phobias featured so far have been hydrophobia, scotophobia, entomophobia, misophobia, and claustrophobia and each episode is less then seven minutes long. Even if you do not want to watch the series these two fear and gut wrenching episodes are must sees: scotophobia and entomophobia. If you are a horror fan like me then you gotta watch this.

Click here to check out this series on FearNet.com.

The Night of the Headless Horesman

One of my favorite Halloween traditions when I was a child was watching Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Unfortunately, I have not seen this in years and would love to get it on DVD some day to add to my collection but thanks to huluween I thought I would give this version a watch. For a 1999 TV CGI animated movie it was not too bad and included the voice talents of Clancy Brown, Tia Carrere, Mark Hamill, William H. Macy and Luke Perry. This version was a little more graphic then the Disney version of course and actually showed blood. I would not let little kids see this but older ones definitely. Happy Halloween!

To watch it now click here.

Shredder

So to celebrate Halloween today I have been checking out huluween on Hulu.com and this straight to video release from 2003 seemed to be just the B-movie fodder I needed to get in to the mood. Let's see - no name bad actors, slasher at at ski resort killing teens who snowboard because they are not adhering to the slope rules for skiers, T&A, hot tub scene, and plot written by a 5 year old - good stuff. The effects are OK but very low budget as you expect. The jokes are very lame and hardly invoke any form of laughter on my part but I could spare a groan or two. Was much better then Nine Lives that I was playing in the back ground before that did not hold my interest at all and not even worth a blog post today except here.

Click here to check out the trailer.

Amelia

Hilary Swank, star of such unforgettable diverse performances in The Reaping, Million Dollar Baby, Freedom Writers, The Core and Boys Don't Cry, brings the life of American female pilot Amelia Earhart to the screen with help from Richard Gere, everyone's favorite former jedi Ewan McGregor, and the 9th Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston. The film is well done and beautifully filmed but nothing that leaps to the level of great as a bio pic. There is nothing really new here from her life story that is not general knowledge but the emotion and the eventual loss of Amelia and her navigator as they miss their refueling point is well performed and disheartening. If you love aviation and the story of Amelia Earhart as a pioneer for female pilots, then the film is worth seeing. If that does not grab you then watch it when it hits cable TV as a way to kill off an evening if you do not have a good book readily available.

Click here to check out the official website.

Saw VI

As the advertising slogan states quite well, if it's Halloween, it must be Saw. The little horror franchise that could is now on installment six and Jigsaw is still playing his games from beyond the grave and they are still able to tie the films together in cool little ways with installment VII in pre-production. There was no Saw back to back marathon screening this year at the theater to burn me out before seeing the new film and this new film makes up for most of the lackluster set pieces in films IV and V. New opening set pieces are definitely becoming harder to come up with to shock the audience but this one makes up for the lack on creatively by focusing on the horror of the victims who must give their pound of flesh. The ending is good but it definitley makes me wonder how the seventh installmet will get pulled off and where could they possible go with the frachaise.

Click here to check out the official website.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Darren Shah's horror series, Cirque du Freak, makes it's feature film debut today with the acting talents of John C. Reilly as the vampire Larten Crepsley and Chris Massoglia as his newly made assistant who are caught up in a renewing of the tensions between the vampires and the vampinese by the ominous Mr. Tiny played creepily by Michael Cerveris. Other big name actors lending their talents to this new franchise and who flesh out the band of freaks are Salma Hayek, Ken Watanabee, Orlando Jones, Jane Krakowski and Willem Dafoe. From the trailer I could not tell for sure if this was to be a comedy, horror, or a family film with a hint of Something Wicked This Way Comes throw in. The series has great film potential and seeing there are twelve books in the series seems to be a literary hit already. I believe I would like to see a sequel film made and wonder if this is Universal's hope for a Harry Potter-like franchise of their own - only time will tell.

Click here to check out the official website or here to check out Darren Shah's website.

Astro Boy

I could not make my the first Saw VI showing so I opted for the anti-Saw film with robots and eccentric scientists. The plot is a scientist loses his soon in a military demonstration and tries to bring him back with his work in robotics. The movie was actually very good and a lot of fun which was proven by the number of cheering kids when Astro Boy takes out the villain. The voice cast includes Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy, Nicolas Cage as the boy's father Dr. Tenma, Kristen Bell as his friend Cora from the world below and the militray nut job/villian General Stone is voice by none other than Donald Sutherland. A good family film and definately worth a matinee viewing for all.

Click here to check out the official website.

FEARnet presents Children of the Night

I am an avid fan of Fangoria magazine and to my chagrin this little ditty has my favorite horror magazine in the open credits of the film as one of its own productions. It stars Peter DeLuise, Karen Black, Garrett Morris and the lovely Ami Dolenz - who I first remember from running down the beach in the Tony Danza classic She's Out of Control - in the little town of Allsburg USA which is over run by vampires and it is up to the local school teacher, 17 year old virgin and the town drunk to save the town. Released in 1991, it is a campy little romp that went straight to video but featured effects by KNB Special Effects Group. Not a great B movie but fun to watch on a Sunday afternoon for a horror fan like me plus it has Garrett Morris. I tried to find a trailer but the best I could do is provide this clip from the film - enjoy!

FEARnet presents The Exorcism of Emily Rose

It's Sunday morning and the rain has finally stopped so what better time then to check out what is playing on FEARnet to get the day started out right. Today's feature is the 2005 Catholic exorcism film based on the possession of Emily Rose - played by new comer Jennifer Carpenter - and the ensuing court case. The film also stars Laura Linney and Campbell Scott as the opposing council for the trial of Father Moore - played by Tom Wilkinson - for the negligent death of Emily after the failed exorcism. All and all a pretty good film but not high on the scares or creepy factor as you would expect but what does make the film stand out is Carpenter's portrayal of Emily and the physical contortions she accomplishes - without the aid of special effects - to show her being possessed by demons. Good stuff and definitely a better performance here than in her later film Quarantine.

Click here to check out the official website.

The Stepfather / Stepfather II

So after seeing the remake today I felt the need to go back and watch the original film and its sequel. This reaffirmed my love for Terry O'Quinn's performances and why I knew he was an actor whose career was on the rise. The opening sequence is bloodier and more visceral than in the remake which makes the transition from inside the home to the outside world ever more unsettling and the story line with the young girl, played by Jill Schoelen, whose father died still worked better in holding my interest and sympathy. As for the sequel, it was great seeing how he was brought back even if the story was not a tight as in the first film and the relationship was now with a divorced mother played by Meg Foster - whose has the most incredible blue eyes ever - and her son played by the late Jonathan Brandis. Both films are still great and hold up well regardless of being part of the rampant Hollywood 80's remake machine.

Click here to check our the trailer for the original The Stepfather.

Click here to check out the trailer for Stepfather II.