28 Days Later

28 days later I’ve been touched by a lot of amazing movies over my 27 years on Earth (as well as some lame movies). As time goes on, our feelings change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. 28 Days is one of those very, very few that hasn’t lost the profound impact on me all these years later.

It all begins with good intentions gone awry. A group of animal activists break into a lab and free a group of test chimps, unaware of the horrible virus they carried. 28 days later, a guy named Jim wakes up from a coma. He is completely alone. He leaves the hospital, he walks the streets screaming for someone, anyone; no one answers. After hours, he comes upon people, but they don’t respond. They chase Jim. All hell breaks loose. Selena saves him from getting mauled to death, having to kill one of her own group mates to survive. She tells Jim about the viral outbreak that swept through Britain and how just a single drop of infected blood can transmit the fast acting Rage virus. Jim goes home and finds his parents killed themselves after reading there note. The two find themselves on the run, joining a father and teenage daughter, Frank and Hannah and together they have to journey across the country, avoiding these rabid infected towards there glimmer of hope…

28 Days Later rendered me speechless when I first saw it on TV back when I was in middle school. I never had an interest in zombies until the Resident Evil (movie 2002) but I never found them really scary, until this movie. The Rage zombies are damn scary as hell. They’re fast, they’re rabid, and what I liked is how they were physically toned down but still looked freaky. These zombies aren’t missing pieces or overly bloody, but there red vacant eyes, pale skin were a nice touch. The actors are fantastic; there aren’t many horror movies where I’m genuinely saddened a character dies or where they are in danger but here they felt real. The cinematography and score are beautiful. Seeing Jim isolated, hearing his voice echo was mind blowing. The twist the story takes at the end is pretty cool and bad ass. I consider this movie a horror classic and I highly recommend seeing it, may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Terminal

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I’m glad there are movies coming out in 2018 that make my jaw drop and make me ask WTF did I just watch. I saw the Terminal trailer a little while back and was hooked by it’s neon visuals. When it popped up on Hulu, I jumped at the chance to watch this strange gem.

Bill is a English teacher who’s dying from a terminal illness who pretty much has nothing else left to live for. After waiting for a train that isn’t coming, he finds himself alone in a desolate diner with an attractive but mad waitress. This waitress has a messed up double life as an upcoming contract killer who must face off against competition so she could work for a mysterious Mr Franklin. This is just the beginning of this ever twisting neon noir, because no one is who they seem and nothing is what you thought at the end of the rabit hole…

I can tell you right from the get-go, this movie ain’t for everyone. This is almost the definition of a cult movie: it strange, looks and sounds amazing, and has recognizable actors  in roles you sure as hell don’t see them doing, but doing well. Margot Robbie absolutely steals the show here in honestly my favorite performance from her yet followed closely by Simon Pegg in a more somber performance. Robbie and Pegg worked amazingly together. Again, the visuals are beautiful. The only flaw I see is that it does drag a bit and the fact you don’t know what the hell is going makes the movie feel longer than it is. I personally really liked it but I know it won’t be for everyone, but it’s worth checking out if not for the performances and visuals alone. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Zombie Spring Breakers (2017)

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Every so often I see an interesting looking B movie so I check it out. Sometimes they are great sometimes I watch them and wonder why in the hell I was dumb enough to watch it. This time it fell somewhere in between. The movie was not good, but it was an interesting concept and the actors really put their hearts into making what was clearly a bad movie and making it at least fun, which they did.

The basic idea is in a world where people worry about zombies the way people worry about catching a terminal disease a group of friends and one sister go on a vacation for spring break. We have the usual group, guy and girl who broke up fighting a bit, the hot sister and the perverted friend that later turns out to be a virgin, the quiet foreigner that becomes heroic later, you know the crew. Anyway, eventually things go bad and the race to get off the island begins. It has its moments of being funny, but for the most part it’s a cliché zombie B movie with some nudity and small amount of gore. It is interesting enough or fans of B movies, but for everyone don’t bother watching it. Also the ending is legitimately ridiculous. I understand where it came from and why, and it was admittedly pretty original and clever, it just made much of the movie pointless. Bonus points tho for doing something new tho. I don’t regret watching it, but I feel like I would be in the minority there. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Package (2018)

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The Package is a um, interesting movie. The basic idea is ridiculous to even explain. When five friends go on a camping trip and decide to get drunk shit goes bad very fast. See when you have a drunk idiot playing with a butterfly knife while taking a leak bad things happen. Especially when your drunk idiot friends decide to scare you. The med evac gets there pretty fast so Jeremy gets there alive and well. His penis on the other hand, well that got left at the camp site when they accidentally gave the medics the beer instead of the penis.

Yea, that entire movie is a group of 4 friends trying to get Jeremy his dick back. The journey is quite eventful honestly. There are some injuries, a stolen boat, an 11-year-old pervert got slapped ( he deserved it) and even the heinous act of lost cell phones. Seriously tho the movie is weird, but in a fun way.

The movie has some solid acting and a fun premise. It isn’t new but can be exciting at times, if not goofy as hell needlessly. It is definitely worth watching if you like weird and awkward comedies.  Just don’t go into this expecting greatness, the movie is fun but it isn’t life changing or new, simply fun. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you greatness.

Mystery Men

mystery men Some love Batman, some love Spider-man. I love Mystery Men.

Mr Furious, The Shoveler, and the Blue Rajah (who doesn’t wear blue by the way) are superheroes in Champion City that get there asses kicked every night while the city’s flagship superhero, Captain Amazing, gets the glory. Well, Captain Amazing is dealing with a peculiar problem: he’s too good at his job and his pot of villains is drying up.So, using his alter ego, he influences the asylum to release his arch nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein. Casanova one ups the Captain and this trio of losers is left to free him. After recruiting The Bowler, The Spleen, and the Invisible Boy and getting a new arsenal and training from the Sphinx, can this team of average Joes save there city and Captain Amazing?

I love this dorky ass movie. Everyone is funny as hell; Ben Stiller is over the top, Hank Azaria is great as the cutlery throwing Rajah, and the Spleen’s killer farts. I love the music and costumes. This is a really cool, underrated superhero comedy with a good message I recommend checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Like Father (2018)

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Like Father is of course the new Netflix movie, which isn’t saying much as they seem to be multiplying like bunnies in a Viagra factory. This one is the story of a daughter left at the altar ( Rachel played by Kristen Bell) while her dad (Harry played by Kelsey Grammer) she hasn’t in 26 years shows up. They will then go out, get drunk and end up on a cruise together.

The story is pretty cliché honestly, there is absolutely nothing in this story to surprise you except that Seth Rogen (Jeff) randomly shows up as a love interest for Rachel and then just as randomly he is gone. They explain the whole thing just fine, and it’s not badly done. It’s just Seth randomly being in a movie then randomly not which honestly might be the most Seth Rogen thing possible.

Kristen and Kelsey do put on a great show and the take what easily could have been a relatively boring and forgettable movie and make it enjoyable. They feel like a real father and daughter that struggle to reconnect but have a lot in common, right down to both being workaholics to the point of it being almost an addiction. The movie isn’t great and has its issues, but its enjoyable. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Puppet Master: the littlest reich trailer

WTF man, Puppetmaster is back. I was never a huge fan of the franchise but I know many who are. I can say this newest installment looks pretty retro which honestly made me kinda smile. I miss 80’s slasher movies. Anyway, if you’re a fan, what’s your thoughts on the new Puppetmaster? May the gaming gods bring you glory.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse teaser

This maybe a surprise but I’m a pretty big fan of American Horror Story. While not perfect, I love how each season manages to cram in strange and WTF stories and good characters and make them work. So far, I know season 8, Apocalypse, we’re getting mutants and the Antichrist, which was part of the first season. The teaser is cool and I can’t wait to see what we get in 2018. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

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After the sad disappointment and utter outrage over the Titans live action trailer I needed some sort of balance to bring me back to my nostalgic teen love of the show. the Judas Contract is one of there most famous storylines, done amazingly on Teen Titans discreetly over 3 seasons. Also in my My Top 10 favorite DC villains- part 1 post, I brought up Terra, who this story centers around. So what makes this a great story?

The Teen Titans are a group of powerful youths out to do good on the world. Led by veteran Titans Nightwing and StarFire, they are joined by Blue Beetle, BeastBoy, Raven, Robin, and Terra who are on a mission to thwart a religious zealot called Brother Blood and his rising cult. While the battle against Blood seems to be going alright, life ain’t easy for the Titans. Nightwing and Starfire announce there relationship to the group, Beetle is distanced from his family by the temperamental alien Scarab that grants  him his power, BeastBoy crushes hard on the rough, edgy Terra who Robin doesn’t trust. Robin’s suspicion turn out to be true when Terra and super badass mercenary Deathstroke take him out; together they have infiltrated the Titans with Terra as a spy, hired by Blood to dismantle them cruelly for his ultimate plan. Hearts are broken and the Titans face a threat from within…

The live action Titans should seriously learn from this movie. Like the early 2000’s show, there’s a well done balance between light and dark moments. The biggest plus is the characters are really well flushed out and the action scenes are pretty epic. I kinda wish Raven had more to do and I think Terra’s betrayal was done a lot better in the show but her back story is dark is hell. What I admire is the movie does go over some really dark shit but it does stay balanced. It’s a really good animated film that’s paced well I recommend checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Mimic

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Before Guillermo Del Toro became a huge name in film with the HellBoy movies, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and The Shape of Water, we got Mimic. And no, not the Mimics from the Souls game.

Mimic begins with 2 scientists tasked with killing a terrible epidemic. Their solution is to kill the spreaders, by genetically creating cockroaches to kill off the carrier insects that spread the disease; after a generation, the insects would die and life would go on. Years later, then scientist responsible comes across massive versions of her work, which leads her and her husband to search them out. But unexplained disappearances suggest there creations have evolved to be more than they bargained for, evolving into hideous humanoid creatures under the subway…

This particular review is going to be pretty subjective. I know a lot of people that love this movie as a 90’s cult classic and back in the day, the effects were solid. I don’t have that nostalgia however. I never saw it until a week ago and I ain’t really a fan. The characters are pretty forgettable, the effects haven’t aged very good, and I couldn’t help feeling like it was a poor man’s Alien . While some set pieces and creature designs are very Giger- inspired and hell, you have Charles S Dutton via Alien 3  the script doesn’t have the suspense or characters to hold it up. The movie ain’t terrible, but unless you are nostalgic or curious, I can’t really recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.