Category: Movie Review

Die Hard with a Vengeance

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I want to start this review with a special shout out to my Dad, Duke, who got me into Die Hard as a kid. My favorite Die Hard needs to be shared with my favorite badass..

So after the events of Die Hard (1988) and Die Hard 2: Die Harder , John McClane is in a pretty rough place. His wife and family left him, filthy and drunk as a cop in New York fighting to keep his job. After a massive bombing, the terrorist responsible has a demand: he wants to play a game with McClane, but he didn’t count on a good Samaritan, Zeus, saving him. This terrorist named only Simon is driven to kill McClane, putting him and Zeus  through insane scenarios while Simon carries out his own agenda, but it isn’t long before John realizes Simon’s vendetta goes  back to his first great adventure- Simon was Han’s brother.

Die Hard with a Vengeance is pretty much what a action movie sequel should be. Bruce Willis, Samuel Jackson, and Jeremy Irons give great performances. The action scenes are truly badass and for the first time in the series, we get a lot of different locations so nothing ever feels stale. What helps too is the chemistry between Willis and Jackson which carries the film. What I truly love about the first 4 Die Hard films is how beat to shit McClane is by the end. I can’t stand action movies where no one gets dirty, just maybe a cut or two; in Die Hard, you know John McClaine ain’t Superman and the tension mounts because he wins every fight by the skin of his teeth. I seriously recommend tthe third Die Hard as much as the first and with that: may the gaming gods bring you glory and yippie-ki-ay motherfucker everyone ( even though it’s not Christmas)

Graveyard Shift

graveyard shift

If Pet Sematary was my first introduction to King’s work, Graveyard Shift- circa the short story collection Night Shift – would be my second. The story, while brief, is about a textile mill with an massive rat infestation. They practically pour out of the floors and walls, but what happens when you try to exterminate the pests? A freak of nature lurks in the catacombs under the dying mill, a creature half rat and half bat. After grisly deaths happen at the mill, a new guy in town, the girl he falls for, the bastard foreman, and a group of workers have to journey into the basement to clear the rats, only to find the beast underneath…

This is basically a B movie creature-feature from Stephen King and it’s pretty solid. The story is quick with some good atmosphere and it’s got a darker ending then the movie, though the movie ain’t exactly cheery by the end. As for the movie, it’s a decent horror movie. There is some fair kills of some pretty forgettable characters and the creature doesn’t look bad for the time. Brad Douriff is over the time and funny as hell as the exterminater but I’m kind of pissed his character doesn’t really go anywhere. If you are scared of rats, this movie will terrify the hell out of you but other than that, it ain’t a bad movie. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Wish I Was here (2014)

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Wish I was here is a pretty simple and straight forward movie. Basically a family having trouble making ends meet, dad is a struggling actor and mom, well they are never all that clear on what mom does, basically works with computers entering data.  Thankfully they cut a deal with Aiden Bloom’s (Zack Braff) father to pay for school as long as he picked the school. As a Jewish man of strong faith he chose a Jewish school. Sadly he has cancer that has returned and he can no longer afford to pay for school.

It is later decided that the kids will be home schooled until next year when they will go to public school,something Aiden isn’t happy about. The movie is a comedy but above all it is honestly a feel good family movie, tho you probably  let your kids watch it as it does deal with some adult content. The movie itself isn’t bad and is good for some laughs, it is just a bit odd. The conflict you are used to in movies honestly doesn’t really exist here. You never feel like the family is being torn apart or anything like that. It is simply the story of how the family deals with pulling together during a time of trouble.

If you are in to that sort of movie definitely give it a watch, it is a nice drama/comedy, but unless you are fans of that type of movie there isn’t much here for you. I don’t regret watching it, but I wouldn’t watch it again. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Await further instructions trailer

Isn’t Christmas time magical? Well, this trailer looks like a tense meet and greet during the holidays turns into Saw on acid it seems. With all this heat and mugginess, a little Christmas horror is welcome so during the holiday it can be a cool watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

House of Wax (05)

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Warning, though named after the Vincent Price classic, there is pretty much nothing relating the two.House of Wax was a eerie, gothic tale of obsession and revenge staring a legendary actor…the remake has Sam from Supernatural and Paris Hilton. Yep.

So we get  group of stereotypical horror kids going somewhere (who the hell cares where), partying all the way. So pretty much the car breaks down in the woods and a couple of the kids have to look for help, first from a creepy redneck who takes them to an abandoned town with an ancient wax museum in the middle. It becomes clear what people are in the town are waxed over corpses and there’s a deformed wax faced killer running around.

House of Wax the remake is simply ass. It’s not so bad it’s good, it’s just lame. It tries to use the killer’s backstory of an abused childhood to be edgy but it’s just annoying. The characters are stock as hell and nothing really stands out about the movie at all. You can forget this remake and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Young Guns 2 (1990)

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Young Guns like the first one is a movie I haven’t seen in so long I forgot the story. If you read my review of the first one yesterday you will know I did enjoy both movies and suggest you watch them both. The story of this one takes place not long after the first.

With most of the gang dead or in hiding Billy is still in New Mexico traveling around doing his thing. The story is actually however one big flash back told by a man named “Brushy” Bill Roberts. He is talking to a lawyer in the 1950’s telling the story of how he was promised a pardon years ago and never received it. He would not like to meet the governor to talk about getting it now. The flash back details how him and his crew attempted to run and escape to “old Mexico” to avoid the new sheriff Pat Garrett that used to be part of Billys posse.

Interestingly enough the movie is actually based off an actual man who claimed to be Billy the Kid and was discredited but there is some evidence to support that Pat Garrett killed the wrong man or that him and Billy intentionally mislead people to help Garrett collect the reward money and Billy could finally be free. Bill Roberts died in 1950 but was verified to be billy the kid by some people who did know Billy tho most people don’t believe him. Honestly we will never know, but it is a nice story none the less. Best wishes  and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Young Guns (1988)

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Young guns is a movie I haven’t seen in years, to the point I forgot what both movies were even about. Seriously I forgot it was about Billy the Kid and Doc.  The story starts out with a man named John Tunstall taking in a bunch of deviant basically criminals and giving them a second chance. The problem is him and another local cattle merchant are both going for a government contract for beef and with some powerful enemies John is murdered.

Billy, Doc and the rest of Johns boys are deputized to arrest the murderers and go off to do their thing. Billy however gets a little trigger happy and kills the first guy they go to arrest. This results in a gun fight that kills many and a legend is born.

What follows is an interesting take on the Billy the Kid story. Emilio Estevez and Charlie sheen do an amazing job at their roles as does Kiefer Sutherland as Doc Scurlock. In an era when westerns died off it managed to be a great movie that even warranted a sequel, a movie that I will be covering as well and I promise will be getting my recommendation just as well as this one. If by some chance you haven’t seen the Young Guns movies, Hulu has them both and Netflix has the first and now is a great time to check them out. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

House of Wax

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House of Wax was way beyond it’s time and let’s be honest, Vincent Price was spectacular in basically every movie he was in. He’ll always be my favorite classic actor and this is why…

House of Wax stars Vincent Price as a famous and talented wax sculptor who looses everything in what appears to be accident that burns down his studio, destroys his hands, and destroys his beautiful works, including his beloved Marie Antoinette. Years later, he resurfaces with a new studio. He’s confined to a wheelchair and his hands are horribly burnt but with the help of his assistant Igor, he opens a museum of torture with wax. But while his life gets back on track, a deformed killer stalks the gothic streets, talking the bodies after he’s done. Everyone joyously remarks how the wax sculptures look so lifelike, is it just a coincedence or something darker?

For a movie so old, it still openly gives me the creeps and I love it. Price steals the show, being sympathetic while being menacing and crazy at the same time. I love the creepy atmosphere and booming score. The other characters are solid and the time period adds to it. While not showy, the effects are pretty damn ahead of there time. It’s a classic and I’d recommend it for a old school horror fan. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Wait until Dark

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A lot of times, the best horror movies are the simplest ideas of all; in the convoluted age of today I can admire that more than ever. Wait until Dark is about a trio of criminals who lose a doll stuffed with a lot of heroin and it ends ups in the hands of a blind woman and her husband by total accident. The leader of the group takes advantage of the woman’s disability, invading there basement apartment, even going so far as to have one of his guys impersonate a police officer to try to buy them time to search for it. It’s up to Susie to uncover the mystery around her and survive with a cold blooded killer unseen in her midst.

Would I call Wait Until Dark a horror movie per say? No. I’d say a damn good suspense thriller, but not quite a horror movie. Strangely enough a lot of the movie and it’s tension revolves around how sweet and vulnerable Audrey Hepburn is; her charm hooks you almost immediately and from the get go your heart pounds when she’s in danger. Alan Arkin plays a good villain, charismatic and menacing. Like Misery , the entire movie pretty much takes place in a small, cramp space. The movie is filmed really well and has a solid score. If you’re interested in watching an older film and want a genuinely good thriller, I’d recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

World’s Greatest Dad (2009)

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World’s Greatest Dad is what we affectionately call, a dark comedy. Robbin Williams plays  Lance father of Kyle Clayton. Kyle is what you would call a complete douche. He treats his dad like crap, his friends has no respect for women and appreciates nothing. Lance is a wannabe writer that has written many things, but has never had anything published and teacher at his son’s school. He isn’t well liked, but he isn’t disliked. He is respected and has a girlfriend that is a teacher but the relationship is a teacher.

The problem here is Kyle has a weird I guess you could say masturbatory fetish called erotic asphyxiation. I won’t go into too much detail but basically its a dangerous practice and it kills him. Lance having found his body didn’t want him to suffer the indignity of being found that way and wrote a suicide note and moved the body to make it look more in line with that.

Afterwards things at school eventually get a bit weird when the suicide note is released at the school news paper. Suddenly Kyle was loved and popular, because as well all know everyone loves you when you are gone. But this isn’t where the story ends. Seeing how everyone has actually been helped by all this, Lance writes a book and claims it was written by his son. The problem is his son is basically a moron and his best friend sees through it.

I won’t spoil the rest of the movie for you, but it is well done and the acting is great. It can be a little slow-paced tho, but the story is deep and worth the slow downs. I definitely recommend checking this one out. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.