Category: Movie Review

Captain America: Winter Soldier

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With Infinity War coming to us in a few short months, I thought it would be only fair I cover the MCU as well as I can thus far. For the fourth of July I already talked about Captain America: the First Avenger and Savior covered both Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) films as well as Doctor Strange ( 2016) , so I thought it would be fitting to finish talking about Cap. In this case, I have read the comic too so I got some extra insight on this story.

After the Avengers, Steve Rogers has found a routine in our modern day, working for S.H.I.E.L.D taking down terrorists with Black Widow and being a badass, but it’s not easy being out of your time. He begins discovering quickly how all isn’t right at S.H.I.E.L.D and how a ghost from his past has essentially come in and is trying to kill him after leading to the fall of Nick Fury, a metal armed assassin called the Winter Soldier. It’s up to Captain America to stop this threat along with Falcon and Black Widow and try to bring Hydra out in the open…

Winter Soldier is the definition of a superior sequel. Captain America is much more badass in this film, even from the get go. The fights with him and Winter Soldier are some of the best hand to hand fights I’ve seen in my life. The plot is fairly strong as is the acting and cast. The graphic novel goes into a much greater detail around the backstory of Bucky Barnes during WW2 and his hero/ sidekick relationship with Cap but is still a great read if you like a good spy thriller. Either book or movie, it’s a great story and definitely worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Spider-man: Homecoming

spiderman homecoming

This movie brought millions of nerd’s dreams come true, Spider-man’s first true film inside the MCU and we finally got the Spidey movie we’ve been asking for. Set after Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker returns to high school with big dreams of being an Avenger as well as asking the cute captain of his high school quiz team out. With the suit given to him by Iron Man, Peter goes around just trying to be the best friendly neighborhood Spider-man he could be, but suddenly a real threat comes his way when a gang of disgruntled workers emerges with experimental alien hybrid weapons led by Adrian Toomes, The Vulture. Suddenly Parker’s world suddenly find themselves crashed together and only he can stop it, a teenage kid…

First, special thanks go to my friend Hatter for awesome movie night. Tom Holland is the perfect Spider-man in my opinion, being witty but not mean spirited, heartfelt but not sappy and just the right amount of badass. The supporting cast is surprisingly strong, especially Michael Keaton as Vulture which is one of the better villains of the MCU. Something I give the movie credit for is being very simple, not diving into mountains of foreshadowing like The Amazing Spider-man 2 meant to set up other movies. Spider-man was fit into the scheme of things just fine. In the end, its a fun superhero movie and it’s well worth a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Hits (2014)

hits

Every so often I watch a movie that leaves me wondering what the hell did I just watch. This is one of those movies. The movie wasn’t bad, it was just weird as hell. Katelyn wants to be on The Voice and be a music star. She loves to sing and practices and even borrows money off her dad to get a guy to record a demo to send in, and does some less than lady like things in the process.

Speaking of her dad, he just wants the damn pot holes in the roads around town fixed. One of them is about to become a YouTube star, and it isn’t Katelyn. The movie has its ups and downs, with some fun moments and some serious moments. It also isn’t a great movie and is far from terrible. It simply exist. Dad has some less than memorable rants about the government where he sounds paranoid and Katelyn sounds like the usual stuck up brat. It is however entertaining at times. Realistically tho, there isn’t much incentive to watch this movie unless you are curious, there is simply better comedies out there. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Matilda

matida

There are times in life we have to go back to go forward. While writing I keep this in mind. As a kid Matilda was one of my favorite movies as a kid and twenty plus years later this movie holds up pretty well.

Matilda WormWood is an incredibly smart little girl living in a family that doesn’t really care, appreciate, or understand her. She finds knowledge and solace within the pages of books, becoming smarter than most adults around her; a gift emerges in the little girl. Matilda can move things with her mind. She finally gets her dream come true when she’s finally enrolled in school, bu that dream becomes a nightmare. Enter the maniacal, cruel, monstrous TrunchBull that runs the school. Her teacher Miss Honey however is the exact opposite, a sweet, kind lady that actually understands her and grows to love her as she does all children. It becomes clear to Matilda after finding out TrunchBull’s dark story that it’s up to her and power to stop her and free the school and Miss Honey from her tyranny…

In many ways, Matilda is the kid’s version of Carrie by Stephen King and it was written by Roald Dahl, writer of such WTF dark kid’s classics as James and The Giant Peach, The Witches, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There’s a lot of charm and while bleak as hell, there is always a ray of light. I was genuinely glad it had a happy ending. Mara Wilson was especially good as Matilda, being incredibly smart but lovable. I seriously recommend this to pretty much anyone, kids or adults alike. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Meg trailer

So Meg is finally here, adapted from the book about a giant ass prehistoric shark and pretty much seems to be what’s delivered. My friend Autobot, an avid fan of the book, wasn’t very pleased with the trailer. After finishing the book I’m reading now, Meg is next on my reading list. I think it looks like a fun, popcorn monster film with some cool visuals in the preview. The damn PG-13 rating is a red flag and a half to me. Time will tell as always, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Day of the Dead:Bloodline (2018)

day of the dead bloodline

Day of the Dead:Bloodline is a re-imagining of Romero’s 1985 Day of the Dead, tho it is quite a bit different. While the same general Idea is there about zombies taking over the world and people living in small armed camps that are heavily guarded in order to keep people safe the over all story has changed significantly, and that is actually a good thing.

Rather than trying to do the same thing better they have realized it is hard to beat someone who has already done great, and they have simply tried to be great on their own which is succeeds at nicely. While searching for antibiotics to save a sick girl at a place the doctor used to go to school they discover a legitimate stalker of hers when she was a student that follows her back to base. After discovering he still maintained his human memories of her and that he hadn’t actually turned they captured him and attempted to use him to find a vaccine for the zombie virus, or as they call them rotters.

While it is well-known I am a sucker for a good zombie movie it is also well known I am overly harsh on a bad one. This movie doesn’t fall into either category. You won’t see anything new or exciting here and visually it isn’t anything worth writing about, that being said I can’t honestly say it failed anywhere. The movie was entertaining and the gore looked good and at no point did I feel like I was let down anywhere. It was just a good old-fashioned zombie movie. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest

children corn 3

So 90’s kids, have you ever watched Fresh Prince and asked yourself, you know what this show needs, the Children of the Corn? Well you kind of got your wish.

Unlike Children of the Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice which tried to stay somewhat close to the vibe of the first film, Urban Harvest tries to go in a different direction. Josh and Eli are brothers rescued from an abusive dad in Gaitlin and sent to live with foster parents in the big city. Josh, the older of the two brothers, seems more rebellious, breaking his Amish-like wardrobe, making friends and being a normal teen in there Catholic School. Eli stays to his ways, but he brings a gift from home: the corn. We learn they are foster brothers, and Eli has always had a dark part in Gaitlin’s history. Gaining love in devotion from his foster dad, a marketing executive, Eli wants to spread his demon corn throughout the US…yep.

The plot is ludicrous, yes, I’m willing to admit. Most will call it trash; it’s one of my favorite WTF movies next to Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows and Halloween: Resurrection. There are some interesting death scenes combined with effects that are just sub-par to be enjoyable. Eli is a devilishly fun cult leader, second best to Issac from the original. The acting really ain’t too bad for such a laughable premise. It’s a fun kind of horror sequel that can enjoyed on a WTF movie with your friends and some beers. May the gaming gods bring you glory, and more Children of the Corn reviews are on the way.

Children of the Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice

children corn 2

Since I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the Children of the Corn series, for better or worse. Were they ever the crowning gem of horror? Yes and no, while the concepts and things behind them are creepy and there’s some messed up imagery throughout the movies, there is a ton of WTF moments that keep it memorable. Let me say this now, the title of this movie is bullshit: there are 9 of these movies that I’m aware of with a 10th in the making, final sacrifice my ass.

As for plot, it’s a pretty standard horror sequel. The police finally investigate Gaitlin after I guess Burt and Vicky got out and rescue the traumatized surviving children who are either catatonic or what. They are taken to the next town over and through the corn, another kid is possessed and this whole thing starts again. A reporter and his angsty teenage son are there to investigate the previous events but while Danny, the son is finding first love, he is likewise being draw to the children and it’s up to his father to save him before history repeats itself…

Many people have fixed feelings about the first movie, but feelings here are much easier to conclude: this movie kinda blows. There’s a lot of down time between some decent kills but all in all the movie feels longer than it is. Micah as a main villain is nowhere near as memorable as Issac and I found him annoying at times. The acting is meh at best. Sequels are supposed to raise the intensity, raise the stakes with bigger body counts, bigger story and Final Sacrifice just feels like a step back from the first. I’d say it’s safe to skip it and go straight to the batshit that is 3. May the gaming gods bring you glory and tuned for more Children of the Corn reviews.

 

Let Me In (2010)

let me in

I watched Let Me In more on a lark than any real interest in watching another vampire movie. After the Twilight movies every one I watch just seems to be trying to hard to reinvent the wheel rather than just improve it. Let Me In however is a rather nice surprise. The movie is a heart wrenching story about a young 12-year-old boy being bullied at school for being quiet and a bit odd back in the 80’s. He has no friends really, and is a rather quiet scrawny child.

One day at night he meets a 12-year-old girl, at night of course. As they strike up an uneasy friendship things get worse at school. The movie continues and as their friendship grows so does Owens confidence. Abby however seems a little off in the world as they visit the arcade, and doesn’t eat candy or really anything.

Owen will eventually learn to defend himself and that Abby isn’t quite as young as she appears, tho we never learn how old she really is.  The movie isn’t even a horror movie tho there is plenty of death. Abby does drink blood, even kills a few people. Getting bit by a vampire but not killed still results in becoming a vampire, as shown when she is interrupted and later when the person turns the victim is shown bursting into flames in the sunlight as a nurse opens the curtains at a hospital. Vampires are quite traditional even needing to be invited inside or risk death.

The movie won’t be for everyone admittedly. It has a lot of down time much of which wasn’t really that great. Others will find the friendship good enough and worth watching, for me I prefer a little more action. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Accepted (2006)

accepted

What are a group of friends supposed to do when you are expected to go to college but you don’t get in? The only logical and sane thing of course. Invent one. South Harmon college, the first ever college invented by students, for students, with no teachers, no curriculum. But that is ok, the website is fake anyway right? Not quite, see when Bartleby enlist his friend Shermen to build a website to fool his parents, Sherman makes a functional website that accepts thousands of students, all of which bring money kicking this make-believe college into high gear.

It isn’t all fun and games tho when the real Harmon college decides to put an end to this in order to by the land for their own use. Forcing South Harmon college to attempt to become a real accredited college.

The movie is fun and interesting but at times comes across as a down played version of a weird combination of revenge of the nerds and animal house. That isn’t really bad, the movie just isn’t all that new. Worth a watch, just don’t except anything new. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.