Movie Review – Page 78 – Savior Gaming

Justice League Dark

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As someone who isn’t too deep into magic, despite my love for Dr Strange, I had a lot of fun watching the R rated animated JLA Dark movie. After a grim series of murderous crimes the JLA can’t explain, Batman sets off to visit British occult expert, John Constantine and his old friend, Zatanna to try uncovering answers, coming across the Deadman, Etrigan, and Swamp Thing in a winding mystery of demons, dark magic, betrayal, and a epic finale.

I was deeply surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Right off the bat, I’m impressed how the R rating came out; there is no heavy language past shit but instead it’s for the themes going on mostly. There is some disturbing crap in the beginning- if the fact you almost see a woman try to kill her baby, who commits suicide after Batman saves the baby unnerves you, this may not be for you. The characters were done damn well and as for plot, it’s surprisingly strong but at times it feels slow and sometimes it can be a little hard to follow if you aren’t familiar with the source material. In the end this is one of the best animated DC movies in my opinion and well worth watching. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Black Panther

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If you caught my review of Avengers: Infinity War you would have noticed how Black Panther is the only damn movie I wasn’t able to drop a link. Sadly Panther was a casualty of our local theater closing down so I had to wait until Redbox, which pissed me off because I do love the character of Panther.

Picking up after Captain America: Civil War (Cap side) T’ Challa returns to the hidden, thriving African nation of Wakanda, where Vibranium came from. While grieving over the death of his father, he must rise to take the throne. While most are content with the quiet Prince taking the throne, some wish to bring him down, the most damning being his angry, idealistic hidden cousin, Erik Killmonger, who manages to defeat T’ Challa and set forth his plan to share Wakanda’s technology wealth with the world. Can T’ Challa save his kingdom?

As a Black Panther fan, I was pleased with the movie but it isn’t the game changer many have claimed it to be. A huge positive is the acting. Chadwick Boseman and Michael B Jordan are amazing as T’ Challa and Killmonger; Jordan’s performance many times steals the show and absolutely makes up for Fant4stic . Something I will say now, it is one of the slower movies of the MCU but it has some of the best characters and is most interestingly set. The effects for the first two acts are great but falter a bit in the last act. The story is good but I feel some of it is a bit muddled up, which isn’t totally damning, but if it’s your first comic book movie, it might confuse you. In the end, it was a pretty damn good superhero movie with some great characters and lore. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Suspiria 2018 trailer 1

Suspiria was one of the most artistic, beautiful, and creative horror movies I’ve ever seen and at first when I heard it was getting a remake, I rolled my eyes. Though I did a list of 5 horror remakes I loved , I generally don’t, hence the post I did after, 5 remakes that went and pissed me off . I’m glad to see Suspiria doesn’t look like a copy/ paste remake like the Omen, but at the same time I didn’t believe it was Suspiria until the title popped up. The trailer is well done though, intriguing and unsettling and I can’t wait to see it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Justice League: Doom

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It’s no secret I was pretty disappointed with last year’s Justice League (2017) I took this opportunity on Hulu to get my fix of real JLA.

Mostly based on the story “Tower of Babel.”, we get the story of how Batman’s paranoia and over preparation almost destroyed the JLA. Brilliant immortal Vandal immortal brings the likes of Bane, Star Sapphire, Cheetah, Mirror Master, Metallo, and Ma’alefa’ek because they hate a member of the JLA. Savage forms the Legion of Doom and with files Mirror Master stole from the BatCave, he gives each villain a specifically designed plan to take down there foes, tailored to there specific weaknesses. One by one, Batman, Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter fall. With some help from Cyborg they manage to pull themselves up, barely, but can they beat the Legion and trust Batman?

I loved the hell out of this movie. The voice acting was great, especially Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly as Batman and Superman, but my favorite may have been Nathan Fillion as a great Green Lantern. Every character gets a fair amount of screen time, though I admit Flash and Cyborg lack a little. The bad guy choices were interesting, definitely not the usual picks. The movie movie drags once or twice but nothing major. It’s a really good JLA movie I suggest checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Paranormal Activity 4

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I’ve been to probably 1,000 movies over my lifetime and Paranormal Activity 4 is one of the few times I wanted my money back.

Acting as the real sequel to the original, it picks up with the story of a family who gets new neighbors: Katie and Hunter, and of course strange shit goes on and it’s all recorded on film…that’s almost literally the entire movie.

By the 4th movie, in less than 5 years after the original movie, it’s charm has worn off. The movie is insultingly short, leading eventually to why I wanted my money back. I’ve watched DBZ films longer than this damn thing and to pay 10 bucks to be in and out. The most memorable part was the ending, but this time came as no real surprise and the poor pacing ruined what effect it could have had. If you buy the collection it’s meh at best but I wouldn’t go past $5 for it. After 4 I quit the series, admiring the trilogy but recommending you stop there. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Paranormal Activity 3

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Around this time I was a fan of this movie and had a job; my old writing partner and I had a WTF late night adventure trying to see this at midnight to no actual avail, but I digress. The teaser was chilling, and I’ll include it below. Many of the trailers were freaky as hell. Most of the cool shit never made it to this short ass movie.

Paranormal Activity 3 is a huge prequel, going back to when Katie and Kristy were little girls and we get to explore the very origin of the disturbances, the fire, the reason neither of them remembered anything as adult women. It begins when little Kristy finds a imaginary friend that no one thinks twice about; kids will be kids. But things begin to happen and before the family knows it they are on the run leading to perhaps my favorite WTF climaxes I’ve seen on film in a long time.

3 is the last of these movies I would call totally good. There are some crazy effects but I can say it’s a bit toned down from the previous movie. The acting again is solid but I have to say the kids nailed it; watching Kristy talking to nothing freaked me out a bit. By the third movie we find ourselves getting used to the formula, especially how frequently they were coming out, and with the exception of the WTF ending that kicks your ass, there isn’t much new ground covered. Something that bothers the shit out of me is a combination of the the pacing and how short the movie is. When you hit that WTF ending, the movie feels on the cusp of entering Act 3, not the tip toes of it which is jarring as hell. It adds to the scare but after the surprise wears off, you feel oddly let down. In the end, it’s a good found footage film that completes a solid trilogy. I’d end it here, save face, and call it a day. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Special Correspondents (2016)

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This movie is going to be a like it or hate it situation, I doubt anyone loves it sadly. Ricky Gervais (Albert) and Eric Bana(Frank) play a news tech and a news reporter respectively in New York. Eric is a local celeb that is boss sort of hates and Ricky is a man doing his best that his wife, well his wife is a bitch he just doesn’t know it. Yet.

One day they are chosen to go do a report in Ecuador, the issue? Albert and his wife have a small falling out and in his despair he accidentally tosses the passports,and the tickets and the money. So basically he messes up a lot. This however will be the least of their problems as Frank decides to fake the entire trip.

This starts out pretty well, small phone call, some general info and computer and sound tricks from Albert. Then they invent a leader that other news agencies run with. This sounds like it can not get worse doesn’t it? Until they fake being captured. Yup, this movie takes all kinds of weird turns from bad to even worse. It actually gets even worse from there, but I won’t go any further. I actually really enjoyed the movie and do not understand the hate from many people. The script was nice and it was just different enough to be interesting. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Paranormal Activity 2

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The craze for Paranormal Activity was on after the buzz and bucks the first movie got and oh how found footage found life in horror cinema again, The Last Exorcism being a prime example of the time. Well, of course there was a sequel and it was made and out in blinding speed…

Paranormal Activity 2 can strangely be called a prequel in that it takes place just before the events of the first one kick off. We follow Kristy, younger sister of Katie of the first movie, and her family as they are terrorized by an unseen force after her son Hunter is born. We begin to discover clues about the sisters past and we learn a dark family secret, leading to a pretty dick move that ultimately bites the family in the ass at the end…

Somehow I found myself thinking the second installment of this series is both better and worse than the first. Better because it is more eventful with some crazier shit going down in the second and third acts and the back story does become quite intriguing. The acting is still solid and performed by people I can see as regular normal people, in fact I cared about there well being throughout. Worse because while the effects are better and more entertaining to watch, the third act breaks the straw on the play at realism. Granted it’s not unforgivable or damage the film at all really, but you know it’s a damn movie now. Another thing I have to say is I found the pacing in the first act slower than the first movie’s and pretty boring. In the end it’s a solid sequel and worth a watch late night. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Paranormal Activity

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In 2009, my last year in high school, my class was taken by storm by a little horror movie called Paranormal Activity. It’s a simple found footage film about a well off couple, Katie and Micah, who have weird shit going on in there house and get a camera to record it overnight. As days go on, the activity becomes more malevolent and it takes a toll on Katie and a mystery unfolds about Katie’s upbringing that can prove dangerous.

This is kind of a tricky movie to talk about. When I first saw it in 2010, it actually scared the shit out of me at the end and I will give it this, while it is a slow burn, it does do well to build suspense and does have a good pay off at the end. You get a fair sense of the characters and how they change throughout. The lack of music and opening credits and the fact the actors are convincing enough to be normal people. It does drag, the pacing is slow and there is a huge unintentionally hilarious part in the middle, and I mean laugh your ass off funny when the ghost expert guy returns. In the years, following it and the bullshit sequels and corny effects, it has lost some luster but it is a Ok horror film that is worth checking out but turn off the lights and watch it in the dark. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Masked Saint (2016)

So I am rummaging thru Netflix and I come across this movie. Now I am a sucker for a wrestling movie, I used to be one. Then I see it has Roddy Piper in. I was a huge fan. There is no way I’m not watching this movie. opening credits end with “Inspired by a true story”. I am hardly convinced. So I watch the movie. But we will get to that,but I want to share this.

Yes for you book lovers, there is a book by Chris Whaley that the movie is based on, he also happens to be the Pastor/wrestler from the story. I have not read it, but it is something that is out there.

Now back to the movie. First, the acting is pretty good, better than I expected. I was honestly expecting some train wreck level acting like many of these style of “true story” movies have, but that isn’t the case.

The story itself is rather interesting, a retiring wrestler is injured after a shady promoter ( Piper) breaks his word and the new up and comer (The Reaper) intentionally breaks The Saints leg. When he takes over the new perish Chris discovers it is failing pretty hard as most of the people have abandoned it and it is mostly kept running due to one wealthy man and his donations that he will soon lose when he gets into a fight with him.

When Chris is invited to a wrestling event by a friend, coincidentally his former employees event, he prevents The Reaper from injuring his friend which gets him an invite back into the ring. Trust me, leaving the ring is not easy, and it never truly leaves your system. On the way home however he puts his mask on to stop a woman of the night from being mugged, and that is when things truly start to change.

I won’t get into too much more detail. The movie is however worth watching and unsurprisingly the wrestling segments are pretty well done. They don’t give away anything you honestly can’t google, but they don’t treat people like they are stupid either. We all know in 2018 the stuff is scripted and they don’t hide that and I appreciated that. So go give the saint a watch, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.