Angry Web

I know this isn’t really headlining the current event pages but when we were invited to a screening of “The Big Year”, we turned it down due to lack of time and interest. Just by looking at the cast, you expect a gut busting comedy whether your into Steve Martin’s vintage style of humor or Jack Black’s over-the-top physical comedy…you won’t really get either, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I checked out some of the reviews of this film dating back to its original theatrical release and they weren’t all that great. Rotten Tomatoes rounded it to a 39% and that will usually deter me from seeing a film. When the Blu Ray was announced for a release date of January 31st, I decided to give it a spin and see what it was all about.

The first thing the viewer needs to remember when seeing “The Big Year”, is that just because it has an A-List cast within the comedic genre, you’re not going to be on the floor laughing. TBY makes light of some pretty serious mantras that I feel most people can align themselves with. Read the rest of this entry »

The Muppets have been pretty obsolete for many years now so it was tough getting motivated to make the trip to the theater to check this one out. I have always been a fan of Disney and knowing that Jason Segel had written it and Brett McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) had done the music, I knew there would be something special about this movie.

“The Muppets” pokes fun at itself in a way by playing on the fact that they are no longer relevant. The plot of this movie centers around Gary (Jason Segel) and his puppet friend Walter. When Walter takes a tour of the Muppet’s studio and overhears a plan to tear it down so an oil tycoon can tap into the land’s resources, he finds Kermit the Frog in an effort to round up the Muppets to put on a show and raise $10 million to save the studio.

Now I know that doesn’t sound like the most original plot on paper but by following Kermit on his journey to pick up the characters that either brightened your childhood, or will be sure to brighten your child’s childhood, you will find yourself pleasantly surprised at this charming film.

The writing was absolutely fantastic and “Flight of the Conchords” are all over the musical sequences. The reviews of this film speak for themselves and with “Hugo”, “Arthur Christmas” and “Twilight” giving you choices for holiday moviegoing, do yourself a favor and see “The Muppets” the first chance you get. No matter what age you are, it will have you laughing and I challenge you to leave the theater without one or two of the musical numbers stuck in your head.

In a market over saturated by vampire movies and TV shows, it is not often one stands out from the rest. If you are looking for something a bit off the wall, that I can promise you’ve never seen before, you may just want to check out a dark comedy called “Vamperifica”…my official WTF movie of the Halloween season. This is the gayest vampire film you may ever see, aside from “Twilight”, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way.

“Vamperifica” begins 200 years ago with an epic tale of a vampire king who was killed only to be reincarnated into an extremely flamboyant college student named Carmen (Martin Yurkovic ) who is unable to land a part in a stage performance that he’s after. After being tailed by 2 vampires, who are trying to make Carmen realize who he really is, he finally embraces his role as a vampire and begins his training as the vampire king.

Carmen utilizes his new found powers to seek revenge on those who have wrong him throughout his life. Though he’s not afraid to feed on humans, he stay’s away from devouring his victims that he “doesn’t like”. This leads to one-liner gems like “don’t you know there are vampires in Africa who have no blood to drink”.

“Vamperifica” may not be the funniest film you see, the acting may not be Oscar calibre and the story is simple, but it’s charming in its own right.

“Vamperifica” is not afraid to poke fun at itself and its genre and, in a way, it makes it a fun experience. With most Halloween movies nowadays being cheesy or campy, “Vamperifica” is a unique holiday movie that is well produced and you may find yourself enjoying it more than you think.

“Vamperifica” was an official selection of the Screamfest 2011 horror film festival.

There are two types of people in this world: those who want to watch scary movies and those who don’t. If you find yourself in the former category, chances are you’re going to enjoy Paranormal Activity 3. The movie itself treads over very familiar territory and doesn’t really add too much to the horror genre (or Paranormal franchise for that matter). However, what PA 3 lacks in originality, it more than makes up for it in execution. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman have crafted together a very tight 84 minute flick that milks every last scare and jump out of what could be (and should be…but won’t be) the last entry in the found footage franchise.

Serving as a prequel to last year’s prequel, PA 3 takes place in 1988 and follows sisters Katie and Kristi in what is assumed to be their first encounter with…wait for it…PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. The two young girls live with their mother and her boyfriend Dennis, who happens to be a wedding videographer. From here you can pretty much guess where the story goes as it follows the successful formulas of the previous two installments. Some weird stuff goes down in the house which prompts Dennis to put up a couple of cameras. Slowly but surely events in the house get a little more bizarre and a little more out of control. By the time the characters who originally wrote off these occurrences as merely coincidence realize what kind of situation they’re in, it’s all but too late. There are cute little kids, “imaginary friends”, goofy sidekicks, creepy old people, teenage babysitters, plot holes, and few others items you might find in your typical horror flick.  Read the rest of this entry »

Are you an X-man? Or do you follow the ideals of Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants? These are the questions that, as a gamer, you must ask yourself while playing X-Men: Destiny. The only other question you must ask yourself is: “Why did I purchase this game?”

Let’s start with the story. If you are a fan of the X-Men comics, you will find the theme and story of this game familiar. That theme being: Acceptance. You get to play as one of three new mutants: Adrian Luca, the son of a hard-shelled and rigid Purifier idealist; Aimi Yoshida, a Japanese refugee sent to America to pursue a better life by her father; and Grant Alexander, the college football jock.

Another choice you are given at the beginning of the game is Mutant power selection. Your choices are: Density Control, a hard-hitting class where rock-like protrusions aid in attacks and defense; Shadow Matter, a quicker attacking class based on shadow-like daggers; or Energy Projection, ranged-based attacks through energy projectiles. As the game progresses, you are given more choices in abilities pertaining to which power-class you have chosen. Furthermore, you collect exp by defeating enemies and are given liberties on which abilities to strengthen.

As you follow the development of the character you have chosen, you are simultaneously thrown into conflict between the Purifiers, individuals devoting their lives to the eradication of Mutants, or organizations for the safety and progression of Mutant rights, such as the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants.

One of the strengths of X-Men: Destiny lies in the franchise’s characters. Part of the fun of the game was waiting to see which popular comic-book-character-come-to-life (or video game life) you would run into next. The developers did not use the characters sparingly and have allowed for even some of the under-rated characters to be used.

Another strength for X-Men: Destiny are the unlockables. These include collectibles, which allow the player to access character bios, and costumes, which change the appearance of your character to classic outfits that also give stat boosts.

Unfortunately, no single game is perfect and with that comes weaknesses. In X-Men: Destiny’s case, there are plenty. Firstly, the combat. Combat is fun at first, but quickly become somewhat of a hack-n-slash, button-mashing, lack of strategy form of repetition. Secondly, character movement is slow. While fighting enemies, your movement feels as though you are weighted and fighting underwater. Thirdly, you are constantly fighting waves of enemies that follow similar character designs, with not much variation. Fourthly, environments change, but still have the same format and are very linear in nature. Lastly, many cut-scenes seem to suffer from a product of poor clipping and editing. While watching a particular cutscene, with much excitement of what will come next, the emotion and power of that scene are halted due to a rushed resolution.

In conclusion, the sole purpose for the purchase of this game was the use of the long-running X-Men franchise. Although it was fun to have the capability to play within the X-Men universe along with popular characters, shoddy game-play and a rushed polish hold this game back from being the great game it could have been for us comic book fans. Hardcore X-Men and Marvel fans like me can see past the many flaws, but gamers that are not familiar with the franchise may want to use their Mutant power of inhibition and pass on X-Men: Destiny.

This past Labor Day weekend, select theaters gave an advance screening of the latest sports drama, “Warrior”, and I can say that this actually has the potential of being the “Rocky” for a new generation.  If you thought “The Fighter” was brilliant, wait until you see this epic masterpiece.

Directed by Gavin O’ Connor, the film stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as two estranged brothers, Tommy Rearden and Brendan Conlon, learning to deal with a warring family history as they become reunited in a vicious Mixed Martial Arts tournament.  Tommy Rearden, a former Marine, returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to live with his formerly-alcoholic father, Paddy Conlon, played with an astounding Oscar-worthy performance by Nick Nolte.  Entering a boxing gym and literally beating the pulp out of a championship MMA fighter, Rearden decides to become a professional MMA fighter himself, enlisting his father, a former boxer, to train him.  Meanwhile, Brendan Conlon, who has established a healthy family and career as a high school physics teacher, finds himself in debt and his house soon to be under foreclosure.  Once a mixed martial arts competitor, Conlon returns to the ring, starting out with low-paid amateur fights by a strip joint, and eventually requesting the help of a former trainer who offers him a job as a sparring partner at his gym.  After hearing about an upcoming championship tournament called SPARTA, consisting of the top 16 MMA fighters in the world, Conlon realizes this is the opportunity of a lifetime and the one chance he has to save his family out of bankruptcy.  What he doesn’t know is that his hateful, revenge-filled brother, Tommy, has also registered for the tournament which forces the two of them to come to terms with their broken family past.

Despite the violence and brutality of the sport depicted in the film, “Warrior” is a beautifully executed drama about the inner battles of two troubled individuals, struggling to overcome their differences, while learning to acknowledge the ones they love.  With a cast that offers superb acting, I must not go without mentioning the stellar performance that Nick Nolte gives as Paddy Conlon.  In the story, Paddy is a former alcoholic who apparently tore his family apart, leading his sons Tommy and Brendan to be raised by his now-deceased wife.  While details about their history are not fully explored, it can be inferred that Brendan deserted the two of them with his former girlfriend which he has now started a family with.  After three years of being clean, Paddy has become a bumbling, old hermit who therapeutically listens to audio tapes of “Moby Dick” to get by with his day.  He attempts to make amends with Brendan and Tommy only to realize they have completely lost all affection for him and trashed him out of their lives.  It’s the heart-wrenching, vulnerable performance by Nolte that ultimately gives the film the depth and sincerity it needs to deliver its compelling story.

With all sappiness aside, let’s go on to talk about Tom Hardy’s performance as I’m sure many are wondering if the actor’s really cut out to take on the role as Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises”.  Let me say this – After watching “Warrior”, I am honestly worried to hell about Batman as I think Hardy is literally going to rip him to shreds in the film and make fanboys crap their pants when they hear that spine CRACK under his gargantuan knee.  While I cannot confirm this, Tom Hardy had already gained 28 lbs of muscle for “Warrior”, raising his weight to 205 lbs.  In addition, he apparently gained another 30 lbs for TDKR, which would make him a monstrous 235 lbs – or perhaps there is some overlap there?  In “Warrior”, Hardy is as enormously threatening as ever and when he jabs and bodyslams his opponents, you can’t help but cringe and feel the immense pain that is inflicted.  While Joel Edgerton actually has more lengthy, choreographed fight scenes, Hardy is less tactical and simply charges at the fighters and annihilates them.  Sure, one can say that it’s done with the effect of portraying how rage-ridden and beastly the character of Tommy Rearden is, but Hardy pulls it off and it is frightening!

So if you’re deciding whether to watch a chunked-up Matt Damon freaking out over a morbidly diseased Gwyneth Pultrow…or everything described above…well, I hope this review has helped

AW Movies Rating: A+

Walking in to the dark theater, my feelings about this movie were split in two. On one hand, I thought to myself there was NO WAY this film could live up to the magic and fun of the original. On the other hand I thought, this could be the start of something new and awesome, even though I think that Jason Momoa still looks more like “Palace Guard #2″ than Conan the Barbarian. Dont get me wrong, but I just feel like a barbarian should look like he could lift a school bus, not win a swimsuit competition.

I was a little surprised that the movie started off with a voiceover by Morgan Freeman. Yes, you read that right. The movie also begins with a baby Conan being born, and we are “treated” to a teenage Conan who is raised and trained by his father (played superbly by Ron Perlman, who in case you didnt know, voiced Conan in the videogame a couple years back). Ron Pelrman does a great job in his role, far better than any one else in the movie, but maybe that is because almost all of the other lines are limited to yells, grunts, and cheers. When the other characters actually have lines, it seems a few of them speak so fast as if to get us to not notice they can’t act!

When Conan becomes an adult, the movie starts on its actual journey, and I won’t lie to you, the journey feels a bit forced and arduous. Looking back on the original movies, they played out like a grand adventure; Conan was once a slave but turned in to a free man, looking for adventure and fulfillment. This time around, it plays out as a revenge tale. If someone wasn’t getting stabbed, beheaded, or sliced, then you were watching the credits. Even with all the action, the movie just didn’t feel fun.

By the end of the movie, I could only remember the names of two characters, Conan and Remo. I’d say that’s a bad sign, considering this movie was almost two hours long, and had quite a few characters to aid Conan on his quest.

In the end, I can’t really recommend this as a “must see” in theaters. It is a rental at best, or a movie to DVR when it shows up on cable next month. This movie feels like it was a generic genre movie, but someone had the bright idea to slap “CONAN” on it to sell a few more tickets. But hey, at least I got to see some boobs!

“Shut up, crime!” I know this review doesn’t exactly fall under the category of “current events” but the IFC original film, “Super” was released this past week on Blu Ray and DVD so I finally had a chance to see what the buzz was about.

In the outlandish dark comedy SUPER, James Gunn has created what is perhaps the definitive take on self-reflexive superheroes. When sad-sack loser Frank (Rainn Wilson) sees his ex-addict wife (Liv Tyler) willingly snatched by a seductive drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), he finds himself bereft and wholly unable to cope. But soon he decides to fight back under the guise of a DIY superhero called Crimson Bolt. With a hand-made suit, a wrench, and a crazed sidekick named Boltie (Ellen Page), the Crimson Bolt beats his way through the mean streets of crime in hopes of saving his wife. The rules were written a long time ago: You are not supposed to molest children, cut lines or key cars; if you do, prepare to face the wrath of the Crimson Bolt! No stranger to rebel filmmaking, James Gunn cut his teeth writing for Troma before making his directing debut with 2006′s SLITHER. In a similar vein, his follow-up feature combines absurd humor with balls-out violence to create something that is both unashamed and inimitable. But this time Gunn adds a new ingredient, one that is dark, dramatic and subversive to the core.

The phrase “balls-out violence” doesn’t even begin to describe some of the going ons that happen in this movie. The odd part is, regardless of the fact that this film has some of the most violent scenes in any movie I’ve ever seen (think “Saw” gruesome with less torture), you can’t help but laugh in the way everything was executed.

It may not seem like it sometimes, but “Super” is actually a really funny dark comedy that is fused with gore, great character development and even emotion. It may leave some audiences unsure of what it’s trying to accomplish but if you take it at face value, you might actually be blown away by time the end credits start rolling.

“Super” is definitely not for everybody but it hits its target audience where it counts. If you were a fan of the movie “Kick Ass”, then “Super” really is the film for you. The cast did an excellent job of making you care about the characters and Frank is an average Joe, and superhero, you simply want to root for and follow on his journey.

If you are a fan of comic books, dark comedies or just have the stomach to sit through a wonderful movie with a splash of gore, go out and buy or rent “Super” on Blu Ray or DVD. Hell, if you consider yourself a geek at all, you would have seen it already just because Nathon Fillion is in it.

Walking in with extremely high expectations based on the potential for an amazing movie, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” fell into the good but not great category.

The film had an amazing platform to build on with a chance to give audiences the back story as to how primates would eventually dominate Earth. What started as an interesting character story showing the development of the chimpanzee, Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Will Rodman (James Franco), quickly became awkward and uncomfortable.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” begins the story when Will Rodman is in pursuit of a drug that will help cure neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. The preliminary testing on chimps shows that the virus, ALZ-112, repairs brain tissue and ultimately can increase IQ. When the research gets scrapped due to a mishap during an investor’s meeting, Rodman ends up taking Caesar, a baby chimpanzee, home with him.

Rodman discovers that the ALZ-112 was passed on genetically to Caesar and notices accelerated learning. Rodman decides to test the virus on his mentally deteriorating father which shows temporary signs of success. From this point on, the emotional development of Caesar’s intelligence becomes the focus of the movie. Read the rest of this entry »

We have seen a number of great Batman fan films in the past, but not many that have fully demonstrated the character’s ultimate fighting prowess.  Co-produced by ENSO Productions and Gotham City FX, “Batman: The Last Laugh” is one of the most impressively choreographed films I have seen, offering professional stuntwork, pyrotechnics, and dynamic fighting sequences.  It appears like a complementary follow-up to Chris Nolan’s Batman films, with costumes that closely resemble those from the film and even its own Bat-Pod.  There is also somewhat of a resemblance to “Batman: Arkham Asylum”, as we see the character taking on multiple thugs at once in a fighting style similar to the video game.

While I do commend the amazing talent and efforts poured into this work, I hate to say that it does have its setbacks.  What I understood from the studio was that this film was intended to primarily showcase their stuntwork and choreography, with less emphasis on other elements. There is little to no dialogue, not much of a story, a slightly overpowering musical score, and fighting that is more excessive than what we’d see in a typical production.  However, the cinematography is right on par and shows us what I believe we would have seen had Chris Nolan pulled back the camera a bit during the fight scenes.  ”Batman: The Last Laugh” is a highly recommended viewing, but take it as what it is – a bold, ruthless, no-holds-barred action film of The Dark Knight simply kicking ass to the max.

AW Short Films Rating: 8.0 out of 10