The Damned (2013)

download (10).jpg

The damn, also known as Gallow Hills, is the story of a family and friends stranded during a storm. Having gone off the road a bit during a flash flood and being trapped the seek shelter and help in a nearby home. The old man who lives there has 1 rule. When that one rule is broken, things go bad real fast.

The rule was actually quite simple, stay here. When nature calls and someone runs to the bathroom she hears a little girl crying for help. When they find a girl boarded up in a room they fear they old man may be pedophile or worse and let her out. This mistake is about to cost some lives.

See this little girl isn’t a little girl at all, and she was locked away for a reason. This little girl is more of a demonic force trapped away for the safety of everyone else. Much like this movie probably should have been locked away. The story itself brings nothing new, and while the acting and visuals are good enough the story has some pacing issues. There is also a plot twist that makes very little difference. Not sense, it makes sense just fine, it just doesn’t matter. The ending also means very little. Also the movie technically starts at the end and is one of them just telling a story, but you will know that from the very beginning. This is actually okay and I liked this at first and it gives nothing away really.  The movie just wasn’t all that interesting. There are far worse movies out there, there are just better movies out there telling better stories. I won’t say don’t watch this one, but don’t expect an instant classic. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

SDCC 2018- Torsten’s Summary

sdcc 2018

SDCC 2018 has been surprisingly epic  and as a nerd and blogger I’m truly thankful. At the end of this post I’m leaving all the links to the posts I’ve done regarding trailers from this year’s SDCC. I’m sure I missed stuff and I know there’s plenty to cover so feel free to leave suggestions in the comments and I’ll be happy to look into it. For right now I’d like to take this time and pretty much just talk about stuff that really popped out to me and bring up stuff I wish we got.

Normally, I’d say let’s start with the positives but this time I want to start with the worst thing I’m pretty sure most of us came out of this year’s SDCC, a trailer the internet, fans, and haters alike have banned together to trash and that’s the Titans live action trailer. Fuck Batman? No, fuck you trailer, enough said.

I have to say my favorite thing to come out of SDCC this year was the Glass trailer. I’m genuinely pumped for that movie and I hope Shyamalan makes a comeback. My close second favorite trailer was for Aquaman and thankfully I don’t think I’ll be disappointed come December.

I was surprised by quite a bit by a lot this year. Shazam looks funny as hell and I’m not even a huge fan of the character so that says something. The same can also be said of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it’s hard to not get goosebumps during the trailer. Alita: Battle Angel I feel could be the surprise gem of the bunch while Overlord’s trailer was the hardest hitting surprise for me.

With the exception of Overlord trailer, I’m a little disappointed at the lack of new horror content. I was hoping for a new Halloween 2018 trailer or a new trailer for the Nun. Predator 4 is shaping up to look sweet and though I’m sure it will dominate next year’s Con, I wish we got a little bit more of IT: Chapter 2.

The lack of Disney/ Marvel presence was sorely missed. Seriously, besides a trailer for Iron Fist season 2 and the return of Clone Wars, that  was all they brought to the table. No Avengers 4 tease, no Captain Marvell tease, no Daredevil season 3 peek, no Star Wars Episode 9 news. Hell, even the Fox part of Marvel was quiet; I was expecting a Xmen: Dark Phoenix trailer.

In the end, it was a great year. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Movies:

Goosebumps 2 trailer 1  Overlord trailer 1  Glass trailer 1  DragonBall Super movie: Broly trailer  Aquaman trailer 1  Shazam trailer 1  Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer 1  Fantastic Beasts 2 trailer  Alita Battle Angel

TV:

The Purge-USA event trailer  Star Wars: The Clones Wars, final season trailer  Walking Dead season 9 trailer  Deadly Class trailer  Legends of Tomorrow season 4 trailer  Black Lightning season 2 trailer  Supergirl season 4 trailer  Riverdale season 3 trailer  Arrow season 7 trailer  Flash season 5 trailer  Titans live action trailer

Game:

Marvel Spider-man SDCC trailer

Goosebumps (2015)

goosebumps movie

Goosebumps inspired the hell out me as a kid. The show enthralled me and the books made me want to read; R.L Stine was one of my first idols. You’d think a big screen adaptation of his work would make my heart a flutter with cosmic levels of joy? Hell no friend! I was nervous as shit. But why? And better question, was my fear justified? Well as R.L would put it, “Readers beware, you’re in for a scare.”

We begin as with a new kid moving into a quiet suburb with his mom and the crush he inevitably forms with the pretty neighbor girl next door. Classic story, including her grouchy dad who just so happens to be the legendary writer R.L Stine ( well, Jack Black playing R.L Stine). Zach, our main character finds himself at ends with his neighbor but falling for his daughter. After discovering his identity as the famous writer, he discovers the collections of his manuscripts and all hell breaks loose when the monsters of ghouls of Stine’s books are unleashed on the town led by the most sinister of them all, Slappy the living Dummy. Can Stine and the group of teens save the town in there own story?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the movie, but overall I can’t say I’m a fan of it. The plot is interesting and it was a cool trip down memory lane at times. The characters are pretty cliche, though Black is entertaining as Stine while not being so great as Slappy. A big problem I had was some of the creature/ monster designs were way too cartoony for me; I was hoping for some of the darker imaginings from the show. For example, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp looks pretty damn eerie and viscous in the show, where as in the movie he’s wearing basketball shorts and tattered sneakers. Slappy in the show always unnerved me where I wasn’t remotely spooked by him in the movie. The movie is predictable with a decent twist that’s hurt because I wasn’t invested by any of the characters but Stine. A lot of the humor didn’t stick with me but may with a younger audience. In the end, many will enjoy this movie and young or old, there is enjoyment to be had; the truth is I wanted something different from it but I don’t think it’s by any means terrible. It’s worth checking out, if just to form your own opinion. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Slender man trailer 2

Well, I’d say its a huge improvement over Slenderman preview but I’m not entirely convinced. Yes, the atmosphere has improved and the Slender Man doesn’t look too bad and I like the way the lore was used. I’d  seriously laugh if they try to plug the games though. A big problem I have is that I get too much of a Ring vibe from it and the fact it’s PG-13, which means there’s going to be a lot of teen pandering and jump scares. In the end, I’d RedBox it but that’s about as far as I’m willing to go. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Purge-USA event trailer

I’m divided as hell on whether making The Purge into a network show is a good idea or not. Yes, you can’t get as graphic with it on network TV as you could as a movie but to be fair, I never felt the movies went as overboard as they could. I think having the format of a show could give us potentially some really good stories on Purge night. I’m fairly curious how this will turn out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Bob Saget That’s What I’m Talkin’ About (2013)

download (7).jpg

If you are anything like me you grew up watching Americas Funniest videos and Full House. Maybe you watch Fuller House on Netflix. Bob Saget was that all American dad next door. Good guy, great father clean house doesn’t curse or swear. If you want to keep that image, don’t look him up on YouTube and for the love of the gaming gods, don’t watch this stand-up. Seriously, don’t do it.

If you want to screw your world up a bit and see old Danny Tanner talk about sex, swear and all sorts of messed up stuff, this stand up is for you. Or go on you YouTube and type in Bob Saget the aristocrats. I don’t recommend doing that tho, the joke is pretty damn messed up.

The stand-up tho is quite hilarious even without the added bonus of seeing a childhood father figure say messed up stuff and is very much worth checking out. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Extinction (2018)

download (6)

Extinction is a new movie from Netflix that is going to be hard for me to review. The main reason for this is I have some major issues with later in the movie, but I can’t actually tell you what they are without ruining the entire movie. So I will focus on the good, but touch on the bad a little bit later.

First the good. The acting is solid. The family the movie revolves around feels like a real family with real problems that have legitimate problems that love each other but just don’t know what to do anymore. Peter (Michael Pena) Is having a hard time sleeping. He is having odd nightmares about some sort of disaster. This is causing a strain on his marriage to Alice (Lizzy Caplan) and his job and of course his life in general.

When he is finally convinced to go seek counseling he has a sudden change of heart when he discovers he isn’t the only one having these dreams. A little bit later you will discover these dreams aren’t just dreams, this is something that is about to happen. Soon at a party in fact while out on the deck with a friend, they will witness the start.

I will stop there as to not ruin the story,but from there on we get to what I don’t like. From here it becomes hard to discuss what I don’t like since it could really kill much of the end of the movie which I really don’t want to do. Suffice it to say after a certain point I do think the story falls apart almost completely. It does come back around for the ending thankfully, and I do think its worth a watch. Just be careful because there are some story issues that you may want to simply accept for what they are and not think about. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Walking Dead season 9 trailer

Confession time: I’m not a fan of the Walking Dead. I liked the first few books but I never saw the hype. I think the trailer looks good but like one of my biggest problems with the series is there, it looks like its going to end but keeps going. Still, if you’re a fan this looks like it’ll be a cool season. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Good Kids (2016)

download (3)

Good Kids is about four kids that basically were losers in high school, never got invited to parties, studied hard, got good grades and got into good colleges. After graduation,  they decided they would have that summer they never had in school. The summer of yes as they call it. The would go out and do all the things they wanted to do. Get drunk, try drugs, have a boyfriend and get laid. Or would they?

Well it turns out they do get invited to a party, and are quite popular. It isn’t long before they are doing all of those things. The tennis pro actually becomes a male prostitute on accident. The movie is funny tho it has its ups and downs, but this movie does something a bit different. Something that can make you wonder about your days in school.

Towards the end of the movie our man and hooker Andy runs into a recently ex classmate Conch when he goes to the wrong house. After a small talk he is told, to use Conch’s words, a “hard truth” Nobody ever disliked them and they exiled themselves. The reason they weren’t invited to the parties was simple. Nobody was invited, people just showed up,that is why it was called a party. Andy being drunk has a sort of epiphany and agrees to come to the next party, where the group is made more than welcomed.

This to me is the highlight of the movie. Looking back at school, how many times have you gone places and weren’t really invited you simply knew to go? Did you ever wonder if maybe the less popular kids simply didn’t know they simply needed to show up? Or is that even a thing? I actually never got invited so I don’t personally know but it was a pretty thought-provoking. Maybe I missed out on some school experiences and friendships simply because I wasn’t aware that there were all these parties I was supposed to simply show up at and nobody told me. Regardless, the movie is pretty solid. Not the best, but interesting enough to be worth a watch. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter (2018)

images

The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter is a rather odd comedy. See its the story about a man named Buck Ferguson, a professional hunter that travels the world hunting.  When it son comes to that age where he can go on his first hunt, Buck and his best friend and cameraman Don plan to film the experience. The problem is his son, Jaden is really more of the gamer talk on his cell phone type.

The story starts with Buck and Don going to pick of Jaden from his ex-wife and her new boyfriend. Jaden for some odd reason insist on bringing his guitar to go hunting and his soon to be step dad gives him an assault rifle to go hunting with. Buck of course tosses this in the back of the truck and says he can’t hunt with it because it would be overkill.

After we get to the woods they quickly find their first deer. As Jaden takes aim, his girlfriend calls and the ringtone scares it off. Buck isn’t happy about this, in fact at some point in the movie he will actually take the phone off him it pisses him off so badly. Which I understand, Jaden is kind of a jackass. He will also destroy an ATV, whine insistently, pretty much never listen and cause all sorts of annoyances.

Don it turns out is also quite the pervert and even ends up showing Jaden pictures of the orgy his wife was in, splitting a cigarette with the kid trips and bust his head open on a rock and is also generally just not a very good role model or really anything more than a camera man with some questionable morals when it comes to how he talks to children.

The movie is actually pretty interesting and it does have its funny moments. It isn’t great or all that remarkable, but its good enough to be worth watching. Plus Buck is played by Josh Brolin so you basically get to see Thanos act like an over the top obsessed dear hunter which in itself is a bit funny. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.