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Split: Welcome to the Shyamalanaissance

February 7, 2017
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Split is a fantastic horror film that opens up a new world and introduces us to a beautifully original villain. I love that there is a sequel in the works (spoiler!!) and how it has been able to clear $100 million worldwide on a shoestring budget ($7 million). M. Night Shyamalan is back in a big way and this self-financed thriller combined with The Visit has made it cool again (I’ve always been on his side) to support M. Night.

Split tells the story of three teenagers who are kidnapped by a man who has 23 personalities. Their captor Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) suffers from dissociative identity disorder and is in a constant battle between his various personalities. Thus, the three girls never know who will be coming through the door next. It could be the childlike Hedwig or the stern matriarch Patricia coming through and warning them about “The Beast.” Eventually we learn more about the girls and the outsider of the group Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) starts to take the lead. Casey has a history of abuse in her family and her interactions with the Kevin’s various personalities start to play out like a very weird chess match.

 

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James McAvoy really impressed me recently in Filth and I like that he is back in multiple personality land. The guy has to juggle a whole lot of characters while remembering lines and lines of dialogue. He had to jump in on little notice after Joaquin Phoenix dropped out and I can’t imagine the stress he felt when taking this role. Also, the rushed production schedule forced M. Night to  film less coverage and focus mainly on tight shots that rely heavily on close-ups and single characters in frame.  What I like is how McAvoy was able to make you feel bad for him even as he is doing terrible things. Kevin has a battle going on inside him and McAvoy is able to create multiple three-dimensional characters with limited screen time. I know this will never happen but it would be awesome if he was remembered come awards time because the performance is so daring and off the wall.

I don’t want to go too much further into the plot or ending because I would be doing you a massive disservice. However, I will say that it is very satisfying and opens up some really cool ideas for the future. The ending made me so happy that I wanted to pick up the person next to me and run around the movie theater. I can’t wait for the eventual sequel and I hope Split keeps plugging along and collecting money.

Welcome back M. Night! I knew you’d crush it again.

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John’s Horror Corner: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Milla Jovovich versus yet more viral zombies and mutant monsters.

February 5, 2017
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MY CALL:  Many consider this sequel superior to part 1.  I’m middle of the road.  The action is better but the writing seems worse, with the clichés turned up—a lot.  Still a pretty fun watch, though.  MORE MOVIES LIKE Resident Evil:  Resident Evil (2002), Doom (2005), the Silent Hill movies (2006, 2012) and the Underworld franchise (2003-2017) come to mind.

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Narrated by Alice (Milla Jovovich; The Fifth Element, Resident Evil, Ultraviolet), a brief flashback montage catches us up with the story, which picks right up where it left off in 2002 as suited-up Umbrella technicians re-open the Hive.

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Like part 1, Alice once again awakens quite scantily clad with no clue where she is.  This time in a surgical gown…errrr…a “piece” of one.  LOL. They sure do like having her wake up with a heavy dose of legs and side boob.  She has also clearly been operated upon or the subject of experimentation.  Alice wanders outside the facility to find the streets of Racoon City barren—a newspaper headlined “The Dead Walk” blows by.  Nice touch, right?  We come to find that after her capture at the end of part 1 she had been dosed with the T-virus (a special strain, I suppose), making her a superhuman killing machine.

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Picking up where Paul W. S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Soldier) left off, newcomer director Alexander Witt (his only directorial feature, by the way) has turned the clichés up hard. Supercop Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory; Eragon, The Time Machine) slips out of her heels and into her Lara Croft Tomb Raider gear to solve Racoon City’s zombie apocalypse one headshot at a time in her tight breasty tube top and short-shorts; Carlos (Oded Fehr; The Mummy) likewise receives a nonsense-fueled opening action sequence; and the highly melodramatically written Dr. Ashford (Jared Harris; The Quiet Ones, Poltergeist) wheels out of his McMansion all smarty-pantsish like Professor Xavier.  There is also no shortage of various things random like ridiculous gratuitous acrobatics, zombies rising from the shallowest graves ever, no one ever missing a shot, topless zombie prostitutes, and yet more generally poor writing.

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Racoon City is quarantined, trapping all within along with the virus-raging zombies.  Among those trapped is Dr. Ashford’s young daughter.  Safely watching from outside the city, Ashford agrees to help Alice and Valentine escape if they can rescue her.  It’s all very Escape from New York-ish (1981). Trapped in a city of undesirables, our bad-ass hero is infected with a virus and will find a grim outcome nearing the end of the film unless she can save the daughter of a scientist who waits safely outside the city.

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There’s just one problem.  The “Nemesis Program” (mentioned at the end of part 1) is activated, awakening Alice’s old buddy who has now mutated into an unrecognizably hulking dreadnought resembling Hellraiser’s (1987) Chatterbox on steroids.

2013-11-29-chatterer0510x8resident_evil_apocalypse_nemesisThis sequel, much as its predecessor, features the lamest zombie scenes—all phoned in and clearly wastes of film and make-up.  However, once Alice fights the Nemesis hulk, things get REALLY entertaining.  I’m not a fan of the 30’ Crouching Tiger Jedi jumps, the canned fight scenes, or how thousands of bullets perpetually miss Alice despite having no cover and minimal evasive maneuvers.  But the action sequence is really quite entertaining.  I roll my eyes more here than at the original, and part 1 was clearly better written (in my opinion), but this sequel truly succeeds at being more FUN however over-the-top it may be.

After a better final boss battle than part 1 offered, there is a still a lot to be desired in the fighting photography and choreography.  Even when featuring a hand-to-hand combat action finale, this sequel is clearly more about big explosions and blatant exposition than the quality of anything between. But again, it’s fun.  And I’m grateful that the final boss wasn’t another miscarriage of bad CGI.

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We end very much how we began—and paralleling how part 1 ended and began—with Alice recovered by Umbrella, naked (Amen for boobs, right guys?), and yet again the subject of further experimentation by Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen; Game of Thrones, Darkness).  No points for originality, but I enjoyed the ending anyway.  I enjoyed the whole thing.

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Much as part 1 ended with the initiation of its sequel’s premise, so does part 2 leave the doors wide open for part 3: “Initiate the Alice Program.”  I’d say keep going if you liked either of the first two.  There’s nothing particularly thoughtful to be found here, yet still a lot of effort was evident behind making this fun and exciting.

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from → John Leavengood, John's Horror Corner, Movies

Resident Evil vs. Underworld: A Closer Look at Two Bonkers Franchises

February 4, 2017
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The Resident Evil and Underworld series have been plugging along since 2002 and have a combined 11 films between them. I’ve watched all of them and 100% believe I couldn’t give you a plot synopsis because they’ve been like a roller coaster of tangled plots, prequels and gobbledygook. However, I sorta love them because they are perfect background films that provide a welcome relief from absorbing movies that are actually good. They are the cinematic equivalent of comfort food and I don’t care that they offer nothing of substance or logic. For instance, in the first Resident Evil film why didn’t Umbrella just start with the checkered laser death trap?


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I really wanted to know which series has been more successful on multiple levels. The following post pits the two franchises against each other and only one can survive to live and stylishly kick zombie dogs or werewolves.

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1. Worldwide Box Office

The Resident Evil series (Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter)  has collected over $1,000,000,000 dollars worldwide and have an average box office of $184 million. This number is impressive considering the average budget is $48 million. This is all speculative but if you doubled the budget to include marketing and subtract the money the theaters kept the profit for the series is $70 million per film.

The Underworld series (Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Underworld Awakening, Underworld: Blood Wars) has pulled in $536,000,000 worldwide and each movie has an average box office of $107,000,000. The average budget is $42,400,000,000 which means the ROI is quite lower than that of Resident Evil. I’m pretty sure they only broke even at the box office after marketing and theater receipts. However, they’ve had a long life on cable and are probably playing on FX right now. Thus, they are long term investments that keep bringing money in.

Winner: Resident Evil – The surprising box office averages win the day.

2. Critical Reception

Underworld – 28.6% Rotten Tomatoes score and 36.6% Metacritic score.

Resident Evil – 28.1% Rotten Tomatoes score and 39.8% Metacritic score.

To be fair the Underworld and Resident Evil franchises have never had an interest in appeasing critics. They simply wanted to feature people in leather killing creatures. Thus, you won’t be surprised that neither series is close to fresh (60% or above). I was surprised to learn that the two series have a higher Metacritic score than Rotten Tomatoes score. Normally the RT score is higher and it proves  most critics don’t really hate the series. They simply are only 38% sold on them. I actually think that average is quite right.

Winner: Resident Evil

3. Audience Reception

Underworld – 6.6 IMDb User Score

Resident Evil – 6.1 IMDb User Score

I kinda love that the IMDb user scores are double the RT scores. The 63.65 average between the two is about the average for every IMDb rating (6.38). What I love about the two series is how they’ve managed to become critic proof (until recently). They have a solid fanbase of diehards who plunk down money and seem to genuinely like them. I was kinda shocked to see that the Underworld series has a 6.6 rating on IMDb. It is above average and seems awfully kind for a series that has taken a massive nosedive as of late.

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Audiences love Selene and her spinning tactics.

Winner – Underworld

 

4. Which series makes the most sense?

I believe that the Resident Evil franchise makes the most sense because it never tried to make sense (which is genius). It has bounced all over the place and  features a line saying “The plague dried up the rivers.” Nothing makes sense and I’m pretty sure Alice’s powers have differentiated from film to film. Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Three Musketeers, Pompeii, Event Horizon) has used the series as a playing ground that has pushed the limits of 3D and continuity. The series has gotten better and better and I love what the A.V. Club had to say about them:

The series’ best entries—the fourth and fifth, both directed by Anderson himself—are pulpy sci-fi slice-’em-up flicks distinguished by their sharply staged action and the ways in which they play around with viewer perspective and their own convoluted mythos. They are lean and lively and fun and totally unpretentious, and, creatively and commercially speaking, they’re the closest thing to a bona fide success to come out of the game adaption gold rush of the 2000s—the days of Doom, Hitman, and the Uwe Boll tax write-off. They even have a poetry to them.

The Resident Evil films are totally unpretentious and haven’t faded in quality throughout the years. The Underworld series has become a jumbled mess that features really bad action and tighter leather. The plots are barely coherent and when the Resident Evil series is better in comparison you might be worried.

Winner: Resident Evil

The overall winner is Resident Evil! – Long live Alice! 

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John’s Horror Corner: Resident Evil (2002), Milla Jovovich versus viral zombies and mutant monsters.

January 30, 2017
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MY CALL:  Still a pretty fun watch for fans of mindless action and some occasionally decent gore, balanced by some terrible CGI and a lame boss.  MORE MOVIES LIKE Resident Evil:  The Silent Hill movies (2006, 2012) and the Underworld franchise (2003-2017) come to mind.

I remember seeing Resident Evil in theaters in 2002 (LOVED it; I was 21), again in 2003 after I bought the movie, and once more (rewatching parts 1-2) before seeing part 3 in 2007.  Three times I had seen it and I recall quite enjoying it. But it’s been ten years and I was easier to please back then.  So I wondered, how would these videogame-to-movie-adaptation films hold up to my criticism now…?

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Profiteering from bioengineered virus technology (weaponized for the military) while masquerading as a home wares conglomerate whose products can be found in every household, the Umbrella Corporation is an original Proctor and Gamble…only evil.  Or at least one of their scientists was; the one who threw a glass vile of evil virus across the laboratory to volatilize through the vents and corrupt humanity.

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Sometime after the incident, we find Alice (Milla Jovovich; The Fifth Element, Faces in the Crowd, Ultraviolet) with amnesia, leaving her memory as bare as her breasts.  Awakening naked in the shower in a lavish mansion, she has no idea who she is or how she got there.  She is taken by force by some sort of black ops team who expect her to remember much more than she does, and then things get interesting.

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There’s a nice mix of characters, even if none of them ever develop into anything (except for more zombies, of course).  As Rain, Michelle Rodriguez (Furious 7, Machete Kills) continues her cute tough girl flavor that began with Girlfight (2000) and has persisted 17 years later (Fast & Furious 8).  In that vein, she has sort of a Hicks and Vasquez (Aliens) relationship with a colleague, both part of a larger team infiltrating the Hive and taking Alice along for the ride.  We also find Spence (James Purefoy; The Following, Rome, High-Rise) who, along with Alice, works for the Umbrella Corporation protecting the Hive’s entrance… but now neither of them remember that.

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We come to learn that The Hive, a subterranean research megaplex below Raccoon City, has an artificial intelligence: the Red Queen.  Her defense systems whittle down the infiltration team and at least one such scene really stuck with me.  To that end, the effects held up well enough and included some much-appreciated nuance. The CGI was pretty damned good for some parts and very bad for others.  For example, after getting laser-cubed, a soldier’s eyeball leaks some white goo before its severed parts fell asunder.  I also liked the zombie dogs, which were less CGI and more live dog covered in goo suits.  On the other hand, certain zombies missing chunks of their face were blaring examples of obsolete CGI technology and the main monster almost looked as it would in the actual videogame complete with 128-bit graphics.  The boss creature was little more than a dumb tongue-lashing monster depicted as a CGI mess. I preferred the dogs and the chop suey lasers over this nondescript beast.

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Director and writer Paul W. S. Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Soldier) did justice to the popular videogame with this popular horror-action franchise starter.  The movie may lean on heavy exposition (e.g., the introductory narration)—but, hey, so did the game.  A lot of it is videogamified over-the-top…and that’s okay sometimes.  We have Milla jumping off walls to do jump kicks like Donnie Yen or Carrie-Anne Moss.  But I don’t mind at all.

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A major shortcoming for me was that the zombie action scenes were all pretty weak.  The bites were lame, the horde was uninspired, and outside of a few zombie kills by Milla, I could have done without them entirely.  It felt like stock footage from The Walking Dead—you know, the kills you don’t really care about as the characters kill their way from points A to B.  Although I did enjoy our first meetings with zombies as the team was learning what they were (i.e., not alive).

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In the end, a bunch of Umbrella scientists “just appear” as Alice and our other surviving (but clearly infected) hero escape the Hive.  Back to the exposition, one says: “He’s mutating. I want him in the Nemesis program…we’re re-opening the Hive…”  Aaaaannnnnd cue the sequel as Alice wakes up again, now in a lab, and stumbles into the Apocalypse!

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So there you have it.  There’s nothing particularly thoughtful to be found here, yet still a lot of effort was evident behind making this fun and exciting.  It came as no surprise that it was successful and infected multiple sequels.

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from → John Leavengood, John's Horror Corner, Movies

The MFF Podcast #89: The 2017 Preview Spectacular of Awesomeness

January 26, 2017
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Hello all. Mark here!

MFF

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

The MFF podcast is back and we are talking about the films of 2017. It is going to be a massive year for superheroes, more superheroes and even more superheroes! However, amidst all the flying people there are going to be some little gems that get lost in all the property destruction. Thus, we here at MFF recorded a podcast that celebrates a wide swath of films like Goon 2, The Wall, John Wick 2 and The Mummy. It is a rollicking 70-minutes that will hopefully introduce you to some movies that don’t feature a lot of superheroes (not that there is anything wrong with superheroes).

Doug Glatt is a human superhero with a heart of gold.

As always we answer random listener questions and ponder whether we should tell people we haven’t watched Lawrence of Arabia. If you a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the 2017 shenanigans.

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

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5 Reasons Why Train to Busan is a New Horror Classic

January 22, 2017
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Train to Busan is a beautifully audacious horror movie. I love how it doesn’t spare your feelings and features a new spin on the zombie genre. It feels like Snowpiercer met 28 Days Later and spawned a neat World War Z type film. If you are wanting to watch an original zombie film I totally recommend you check out Train to Busan.

Here are five reasons why Train to Busan is a new horror classic.

1. It Puts a New Spin on the Zombie Genre

Train to Busan joins the ranks of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead and [Rec] in the pantheon of classic zombie films. I love the idea of “zombies on a train” and how director Sang-ho Yeon has created an almost self contained thriller. When I first heard about the idea I thought it was brilliantly simple and I knew I needed to watch it. Words cannot describe how much I loved the experience. Horror doesn’t really excite me anymore and Train to Busan was a thrillingly original experience.

2. It Features the Best Zombies Since ’28 Days Later’

Sidenote: I know the 28 Days Later “zombies” are technically just rage infected. However, I still consider them zombies.

What I love about the zombies in Train to Busan is how consistent they are. Their rules don’t change and I love how new wrinkles are added to them throughout the film. Also, I love how their bodies twist, turn and crack as they begin their turn into an undead killing machine. They are definitely the scariest zombies since 28 Days Later.

3. The Action Set Pieces Are Terrifying

One of my favorite set pieces of 2016 involved a bunch of unsuspecting travelers coming across hundreds of ravaging zombies in a train station. It is visceral, intense and beautifully urgent. It is a massive scene that went out of its way to create a new classic moment in horror. I can’t get over the visual of terrified humans trying to escape zombies by running up an escalator that is going down.

4. You Like the Characters

My favorite character in Train to Busan is Sang Hwa (Dong-seok Ma). The dude is a good man who also happens to be a big time bruiser. The majority of my favorite moments involve Sang Hwa busting up zombies and calling out Seok Woo (Yoo Gong) for his selfishness. What makes Train to Busan so tough to watch is how totally unsparing it is. Many people you like meet a terrible end and you never really see it coming. I love how it doesn’t pull punches and plays believably (for a zombie film) in regards to an actual apocalypse.

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5. Critics, Audiences and Directors Love It.

Train to Busan is a rare horror film that has united both critics and audiences. It currently has a 96% critic rating on 89% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, it has a solid 7.5 score on IMDb and 72% score on Metacritic. When you combine all the scores together it averages out to a legit 83%. Horror movies rarely do so well with both critics and audiences. Also, a lot of great directors/writers are rallying behind it and tweeting their love about it. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), Stephen King and Mike Flanagan (Hush, Absentia) love it!

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The MFF Podcast #88: The Best 2016 Movies We Didn’t Watch

January 21, 2017
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Hello all. Mark here.

MFF

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

The MFF podcast is back and we are heaping praise upon movies we haven’t watched. A lot of movie were released in 2016 and it was virtually impossible to watch them all. In an effort to promote things we think are good (but haven’t watched) we’ve dedicate an entire podcast to discussing things that might be brilliant. In this podcast you will hear about movies like Elle, The Handmaiden, Jackie and The Edge of Seventeen.

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I’m 100% certain The Handmaiden might be awesome.

As always we answer random listener questions and ponder how Orlando Bloom would do in The Hunger Games. It is a rollicking 75-minutes that will make you realize you can like movies even if you haven’t watched them. Make sure you check out our back catalog of episodes and listen to episode 87 where we defend maligned movies scenes!

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

 

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A Totally Nonsensical Guide to Predicting the Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score for xXx: Return of Xander Cage

January 18, 2017
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I want to start off by saying that I am rooting for xXx: Return of Xander Cage to succeed because the world needs a superhero who dirt bikes on top of water and skis down heavily forested mountains. Watch the trailer and you will be hoping the movie is a lot of fun as well.

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The following prediction is a collection of random scores that may or may not predict the RT critical score. I’m putting my reputation on the line and this prediction could make or break me.

I’m predicting  xXx: Return of Xander Cage will have a 36% score as of Monday 01/23. Here is how I came to that conclusion

  1. I averaged the RT scores of xXx, The Last Witch Hunter, Babylon A.D., A Man Apart, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick and 32.5% was the result. The most interesting aspect of the data is that Riddick had the highest score of the bunch. Its 58% RT score outperformed Pitch Black (57%) and XXX (48%). This could mean good news for xXx: Return of Xander Cage.
  2. Director DJ. Caruso’s wide release films have an average RT rating of 28.6%. Taking Lives, Two for the Money, Disturbia, Eagle Eye, The Disappointments Room and I Am Number Four did not do well with critics. The only fresh rating belonged to Disturbia and its 69%
  3. Since the new xXx film features an insane Dirt bike as a jet ski action scene I decided to add in my famed calculations for jet ski action scenes into the mix. Movies that feature jet ski action scenes have an average 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Listen to the podcast here! 
  4. The average rating of  third films in recent/similar action films have an average RT rating of 33.1%. Transporter 3, The Expendables 3, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Blade: Trinity, Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, Taken 3 and Tokyo Drift were aided greatly by the 93% of The Bourne Ultimatum. 

The average of these four scores is 30.8%. Normally, I would just use this score as my prediction. However, since Riddick was the third film and had a 58% RT score I’m gonna add another five points to the overall score. Thus, the final product is 35.8% (rounded to 36%) which is higher than the average of Vin’s other action films that he headlined.

Random data says that xXx: Return of Xander Cage will not do well with critics. Let’s hope I’m wrong and it wins him his first Oscar.

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from → Films and Flix Special, Mark's movie reviews, Movienomics

Which 10 Films Would You Showcase on Your Bookshelf?

January 15, 2017
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I own a lot of movies.  It all started with Columbia House and their VHS tape subscription and it grew into a massive DVD and Blu-ray collection. I take great pride in my movie collection and I’ve started whittling it down so I can have an uber collection that I can proudly show off. Recently, I started wondering which films I would showcase if I only had room for 10 on my living room bookshelf. I could still keep all my movies but I could only showoff 10. The following films are all eclectic and don’t even follow my own personal favorites. Here are my top five in case you were wondering.

  1. Jaws
  2. Dr. Strangelove
  3. The Royal Tenenbaums
  4. Hot Fuzz
  5. Once

The followings aren’t my favorite all time films. Basically, I looked at my collection and these films spoke to me. There is no rhyme or reason to my selections but this list just feels right. It could all change next week, but for now here are the 10 films I would showcase on my bookshelf.

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Sidenote: I realize Band of Brothers is a televised miniseries. However, it is awesome. Watch it now.

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1. The New World – Criterion Blu-ray

What I love about the Criterion edition of The New World is that is features three versions of the film (Awesome!). I was the only person in the theater when I watched it and it might be the most immersive experience I’ve ever had watching a film. I was 100% immersed in the experience and it opened up my world to the glory of Terrence Malick. The New World is in my top five of this century (Bloody Sunday, The Royal Tenenbaums, Take Shelter, The Act of Killing) and I don’t think there is a more engrossing and beautiful journey you could watch.

 

2. Deep Blue Sea – DVD (first one I ever bought!)

I was working in a movie theater when Deep Blue Sea was released and I used to go into the theater to listen to the crowds go insane. People lost their mind during the final battle with the shark and I’m pretty sure LL COOL J engages in the greatest kitchen fight ever. Deep Blue Sea is a beautiful mess that never fails to surprise, excite and prove that monologues are dangerous.  Deep Blue Sea is dumb perfected and I love every second of it. Also, it is the first DVD I ever bought and cost like $29 in 2000.

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3. Unbreakable – DVD 

Unbreakable is my favorite superhero film and it just keeps getting better and better with age. We are in a golden age of superhero films and I still don’t think any of them are as good as Unbreakable.  What I love about Unbreakable is how it is an original piece of work that creates a wonderful new world. Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis are perfection and I love how they were totally committed to creating memorable characters. M. Night Shyamalan created a world with actual stakes and I’m still terrified by the orange man who broke into the house and attacked the family.

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4. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou- Criterion Blu-ray

The Royal Tenenbaums is my favorite Wes Anderson film but I’ve watched The Life Aquatic the most. I was a senior in college when I got the DVD (now Criterion) and I watched it several times a week and showed everyone I knew. . I own the soundtrack, I have pretentious Life Aquatic art on my wall, and I own a Bill Murray coloring book so I could color in Steve Zissou.  Also, Seu Jorge’s covers of David Bowie are epic.

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5. Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut – DVD

Kingdom of Heaven came and went out of the theater with a little bit of fanfare. However, since the director’s cut was released it has been an underground favorite (weird for a mainstream movie) that has been steadily building a cult audience. I think the director’s cut is Oscar worthy and it should’ve been released in theaters. What I love most about it is how HUGE everything is. The battle scenes are truly epic and the scale of everything is still mind boggling. Ridley Scott directed a masterpiece that got hacked apart and was eventually put back together. Watch the Director’s Cut now!

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6. Big Trouble in Little China – Blu-ray

Jack Burton is my favorite action hero on the planet and Big Trouble in Little China is one of my favorite films. I love how unselfish Kurt Russell was and his work with John Carpenter has given us some bona fide classics like They Live, Escape From New York and Big Trouble in Little China. The reason Big Trouble in Little China works so well because it is a pure experience that is genuinely weird and features a hero who is actually a bumbling blowhard who gets lucky. Watch this elevator scene, it is glorious.

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7. Calvary – Blu-ray

Calvary is an original and moving piece of art. It is a quadruple threat of directing, writing, acting and cinematography. You won’t find many films that are this mature or darkly funny. It tackles religion in a mature manner and in no way makes it all simple. It goes deep into the grey and comes out warranting serious discussion. Director John Michael-McDonagh (The Guard – watch it now!) is awesome and I love how he manages to walk a tightrope of intelligent insanity. Also, Brendan Gleeson’s beard is glorious.

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8. 13 Assassins – Blu-ray

13 Assassins is the best action film of this decade and the final battle is a glorious melee of blood, guts and more blood. I love that the bad guy is truly despicable and you can’t wait for him to meet a terrible end. Tikashi Miike is madman director and 13 Assassins might be his most accessible work. If you are looking for a beautiful action film that brings the goods look no further. More people need to watch 13 Assassins because the heroes are brilliant.

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9. Band of Brothers – DVD

Band of Brothers might be the greatest thing ever put on screen (hyperbole….maybe not). I’ve watched it at least 10 times all the way through and I keep finding out more awesome things about it (Michael Fassbender has a bigger role than I remembered). I would watch it all again tomorrow and  enjoy every second of it. I also have a hard time getting rid of it because the old HBO box sets used to cost a fortune.

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10. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Cut – DVD (The one that looks like a book)

Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have made a lot of money off of me. I bought the initial DVD releases,  extended editions and the Blu-rays. I hate that I’ve fallen prey to multiple editions but I would do it all again. I love my extended edition DVDs of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the movies never get old. I picked The Fellowship of the Ring because it is the best of the series and features the greatest action scenes of the trilogy (viva la Boromir!). Also, it proves that there is no simple way to walk into Mordor.

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from → Films and Flix Special, List, Mark's movie reviews

The MFF Podcast #87: Defending Maligned Movie Scenes

January 15, 2017
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Hello all. Mark here.

MFF

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

The MFF podcast is back and we are defending movie moments that have become punchlines. To be fair, they mostly had it coming, but I find all the dogpiling criticism to be too easy. Thus, we here at MFF have taken it upon ourselves to make a case for maligned movie moments. In this episode we try to make a case for the rave in The Matrix: Reloaded and attempt to defend Mark Wahlberg’s interaction with the old lady in The Happening. It is a tough task but somebody has to make case for Tobey Maguire’s dancing in Spider-Man 3.

Spiderman 3 Toby dancing gif

Peter Parker + evil space goo = A jerky dork who has some sweet dance moves.

As always we answer random listener questions and talk about Val Kilmer  playing Batman and looking into mirrors. It is a random 90-minutes that will change your perception of maligned movie moments and make you realize that the walk into Mordor was anything but simple.

You can download the pod on Itunes or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!

 

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from → Films and Flix Special, Mark's movie reviews, Podcast
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