Review: The Devil's Rejects

Yeterday (July 25th) I went and watched The Devil's Rejects. I had no idea what to expect, but having been a big fan of House of 1000 Corpses, I knew good things were in store. The movie didn't even take five minutes to deliever some shocking brutality. The movie grabs you by the balls immediately and never really gives you a chance to breathe. As it turns out, it is much less of a horror movie, and more a very cold, calculating thriller. We start to understand more of how this family became so crazy-and not through flashbacks, more through getting to see them on the prowl and in crazy murderous action.

The cast all does an admirable job portraying crazy ass killers. Sheri Moon is not as likeable as Baby as she was in the first movie, but no one is really that likeable in this movie. The guy who played Otis(whose name I can't remember, and I'm too lazy to check imdb right now) was fantastic. I don't know if he actually is crazy in real life, but he did a damn fine job convincing me that Otis was a cold, psychotic killer. He had a very Manson-esque way about him-very creepy. But for me, the star of the show was Sid Haig. I love his character of Dr Spaulding-the scene with the mother and her kid cracked me up. I felt bad laughing, but to me, funny is funny-and that shit was hilarious. It was also great getting to see Brian Posehn in this movie. That kid cracks me up-and I'm sure he loved every second he got to spend in the movie. The cop in the movie did a good job of going from a good cop trying to do his job, to a crazy ass guy trying to beat this family. But at no point was I rooting for him to win-I wanted to see this crazy ass family make it.

Overall this movie was disturbing, hard to watch at times and pretty graphic. And I loved every minute of it. This movie had good humor to it(although extremely dark) and everyone looked like they were having a good time. I recommend this movie if you have a twisted sense of humor and don't mind a lot of fake blood gushing out of people. Fun times at the movies.

Netflix Quadruple Feature(7/24)

If Netflix keeps getting 4 movies a week to me, I will rename this permanently. So hear is my latest addition, I hope you enjoy.

Before Sunrise directed by Richard Linklater

Ever since I heard about the premise to the sequel of this movie, I was interested in checking this one out. I made sure to see this one before I saw the second one because I knew I would be lost in the second one without seeing this one first. I was unsure going into this how it would play out, listening to two people talk for an hour and a half, but I was pleasently surprised. The movie is very engaging and turns out to be a very interesting look at relationships.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are both very good in their roles, with Delpy being better than Hawke. Ethan Hawke bugged me a lot throughout the movie though, and while he did a good job as an actor, the person he was playing was just kind of a dumbass, and I had a hard time believing that Julie Delpy would fall for this American guy.

What really made this movie work for me was how familiar it seems. Everyone has moments like these where everything is laid out in front of you, and it is up to you how you react to it. More often than not I find myself acting in the opposite way, always wondering what would have been. I'm not much of a risk taker that way, and to see Ethan Hawke take such a risk made me wish that I had the ability to do that. The movie also does an excellent job at keeping some of the bigger moments ambigous, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what they they think happened. It was an interesing choice and one that works extremely well in this movie.

I really enjoyed this movie for its honest look at relationships and watching two characters interact so naturalyl with one another. This movie is recommended by me.

Before Sunset directed by Richard Linklater

The sequel to Before Sunrise is an extremely interesing experiment, and ultimately much more engaging than the original. Taking place in real time-we are treated to the 80 minute reunion between the two characters from the original movie and we get to hear how their lives have changed in the 9 years since we left them. I was unaware going into this that it took place in mostly real time and didn't really notice at first, but then I started seeing how long of takes they were using and was amazed to find out that it was indeed occuring in real time.

Ethan Hawke remained very similar in this movie, and he got a little more on my nerves in this one because everything he said for the first 20 minutes were bad jokes, to which he would add, "I'm just joking". He got on my nerves, but I still found myself hoping that this movie would end happy for him. It's a testament to these actors that they can make this kind of movie so engaging and make you really care about them in a short amount of time. They are really only given a few minutes to make us care about them again, and they pull it off quite well.

This movie is very interesing because we get to deal with much bigger issues, as we find out that these two characters have really been pining for each other since they last left. I dated a girl from Australia a while back, and we had a short time together, but it felt really meaninful. From tiem to time, things will remind me of her-so I've never really forgotten about her, and this movie made me wonder if she remembers me from time to time.

My only real complaint with this movie is that it ties up the ambiguties from the first movie, and I personally would have preferred to have them remain ambiguous. The way they did it worked, but I would still have preferred that it was left a mystery.

This movie too ends on an ambigous note, but I was unhappy to see this end, as I really could have watched another hour and a half of this movie pretty easily. My hope is that there will be more of these movies, but even if this was the end, it is still a pretty fitting end. Ethan Hawke's character sums it up quite well at the beginning of the movie-saying that if you are a romantic, then the movie ends romantically, but if you are a cynic, then it will end badly. It's left up to us. and I for one hope for a happy ending for these two.

Highly recommended-but I insist that you watch the first one, first.

In Good Company directed by...does it really matter?

I really wanted to like this movie. I'm a Topher Grace fan and I hope his movie career works out for him, because if it doesn't, I'll be more upset that he left That 70's Show. And while he does a passable job in this movie, it really is nothing special. And I think Scarlet Johanssen is absolutely gorgeous, and she is usually good too, but again, she was nothing special. Topher Grace said it best in Oceans Twelve when he told Brad Pitt that he phoned this movie in. I think everyone involved phoned this movie in, and the reception wasn't very good when they were doing that. (That's a bad joke-but I realize that it is)

This movie never really felt like it ever started-throwing us into the movie without ever really explaining anything. And maybe I wasn't paying that close of attention, but the whole Topher Grace becomming Dennis Quaid's boss never really made any sense to me. Overall, this movie seemed like a rush job, with little time or effort given to make us care about these characters. The only good thing I can say about the movie is that it didn't end typically like I assumed it would.

This movie does not come recommended by me. I only laughed a couple of times and just generally didn't give a shit about any of it.

Dawn of the Dead remade directed by...who really gives a shit.

This movie sucked. In my opinion, it spit in the face of everything the original stood for. The original was a slow, methodical movie. It took time to build scares, and to develop the characters into well rounded people. This one was just a flashy movie with no real surprises to it. Every character's path was laid out the moment they uttered their first line. The original was unique because the characters had real arcs in their story and they earned everything you felt for them, which it made it that much more tragic when characters died. The remake just had cookie cutter characters and I didn't give a shit about any of them.

The gore was the only thing seemed to have any time devoted to it, but even that was pretty straight forward. I didn't like how this movie made the zombies fast and super human. The fat lady that was getting wheeled around on a wheelbarrow-how the hell did she just get up and start running?

Overall this movie pissed me off, and I really wish I hadn't spent two hours watching it. But in the end, I have no one to blame but myself. I do not recommend this movie at all. Avoid it at all costs.

So that's it for this week. Next week I have Klute, Crash, Pollock, and Basquiat. So until then I hope you don't watch the Dawn of the Dead remake. It's really bad.

San Diego Comic Con

I would like to thank www.mwctoys.com and the man who runs that site-Michael Crawford-for taking these great pictures. Go check out his site for all your toy needs! And so, for your viewing pleasure-on to the pictures of the things I deem to be awesome! (Note: I did not attend the Con, these are just things I think are cool. One day, I will be in attendance and it will be awesome!)


I've been against getting this line because I didn't want to start collecting too many of these awesome figures, but this Akuma looks too good to pass up.


I've never had an interet in getting busts, but this Lando looks great. If the price is right, it will be mine.


I'm never going to be able to afford this, but it is fucking awesome. Now I have to watch The Rocketeer again.


As opposed as I am to the Napolean Dynamite toy existing, I have to admit that it looks pretty damn cool.


Westside Cartman looks great! It might be the only South Park toy I buy.


This Uma figure rules and would be a good addition to my mini Uma collection(it consists of a Kill Bill poster and a Pulp Fiction poster). This also looks a lot better than the previous Kill Bill Uma. This one will be mine!


I already have this guy pre-ordered and I might have to get bloody Marv as well. The glasses don't look that good on this toy, but hopefully it will look better in person.


I will not be able to afford this, and I wouldn't have anywhere to put it But goddamn is it awesome!


Is it just me or do these look kind of crappy? Oh I'll buy them-but the don't look nearly as good as Shake does. But again, maybe in person this will be different. Let's hope so.


This guy only costs 650 dollars. But it is a life size bust of Darth Maul-that's pretty bad ass. One day when I have millions of dollars, I will have rooms full of stuff this bad ass.


I don't know jack about Dr. Doom-but I do know that this statue looks awesome. Just thought I'd share it.


I was one click away from buying that Darth Vader for 350 bucks, but I didn't. That's good though because I would have had to pay another 350 to get that Obi-Wan, and that's money I don't want to spend. But they sure do look awesome!!!

Netflix Triple Feature-7/17/2005

This week wasn't the best Netflix week I've had. But I will still give you my Netflix reviews, and this week I will be reviewing 4 movies, though I only made it through 3 of them.

A Woman Under the Influence directed by John Cassavetes

This was a very difficult movie to watch. It has superb performances by Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands and every other actor in the movie. It has an extremely interesitng visual style to it-more fly on the wall than movie. Everything about this movie is fantastic-but it is still hard to watch. The scenes can go on for upwards of 20-30 minutes as we are forced to sit on these situations that don't feel like we're watching a movie, it actually feels like we are watching real people with real problems. The last scene is especially hard to watch with Peter Falk going full blown crazy.

This is really a movie about a family dealing with their crazy wife/mother. And she isn't movie crazy where she starts screaming and becoming an obvious danger to those around her. She is a much more subtle crazy that becomes increasingly difficult to deal with. But not to be outdone, Peter Falk's character is just as crazy as the mother-he just doesn't know it. He switches moods on a dime-going from happy go lucky dad, to a screaming menace. He even gets his kids drunk on Hamm's in the bed of a truck. It's kind of funny, but when you actually start to think about-it is obvious that he is a worse parent than Mabel, who has been sent to an institution.

I highly recommend this movie but be prepared for an emotionally draining movie that doesn't leave you feeling happy at the end.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse directed by Fritz Lang.

I have not finished watching this movie yet. I might try and finish it up tonight, but it really was a difficult watch. It's not that it was bad-it's actually quite good, but I've watched it in two half hour intervals, and they were the longest half hours to get through. Everything moves at such a slow pace, that you think a lot of time has passed, but then you actually see how much time has passed and come to find that it's only been a few minutes. If I finish watching this tonight, I will check back in with you all and let you know my final verdict.

Shaun of the Dead directed by Simon Pegg(I think)

This movie is great. I had seen it once before and enjoyed it more for its British sense of humor than its zombie movie qualities. This movie is not simply a parady of other zombie movies-though it does pay its respects to Romero's Dead trilogy. This movie is its own zombie movie, and a quite effective one at that. It's premise is very simple-what if zombies invaded a town and the only guy who could save the day was a loser who doesn't even realize there are zombies until about half way through the movie? It has good commentary on society in that we are all pretty well stuck in our day to day routines that if you weren't paying attention-it might be easy to not notice that the people around you had turned into mindless zombies. The British humor in this movie is also top notch-the record throwing scene being one of my favorites, as well as the drunken DJ party they have at the beginning.

But not just a hilarious movie, this movie also has a lot of heart to it, that I feel was lacking. When characters die in this movie, it is really heart breaking. I was even sad when the grown up Harry Potter had his intestines removed from hins gut region. To jump topic-the various homages to the various Dead movies are plentiful. Everything from music, to dialogue, to deaths all pay homage to those great movies. It took me watching those movies recently to catch the references this time around, but that made it a much more rewarding experience.

Overall, this is recommended for fans of zombie movies and good British humour. Watch it-you will not be disappointed.

Naked Lunch directed by David Cronenberg.

This was a weird movie. Not being familiar at all with the book, and only having a basic plot synopsis of the movie, I really had no idea what to expect going into this. I'm not sure if I liked it-but I know it didn't hate it. It's definetely a movie that I would need to watch a couple more times to fully appreciate all that it has going on. And it has a lot going on in it. While not as disturbing as I thought it was going to be-I thought this was far tamer and Videodrome-it still had some gross moments. The talking bugs generally were the weirdest things in the movie-but then again-so was the weird, bug sex creature.

Overall, this was a strange movie with good performances all around. Peter Weller, of Robocop fame turns in a great performance as the lead-he plays the whole movie in a very low key manner. Ian Holm does a good job in it, as he always does. And everyone does a good job. But to fully appreciate this movie, I have to put in a few more viewings.

Overall, I recommend this movie if you like weird, interesing movies. But be prepared to have to see it a few times. And be prepared for a few gross things as well.

So that's it for this week. Join me next week when I will review Before Sunset and Before Sunrise both directed by Richard Linklater. I also have In Good Company coming, starring one of my favorites, Topher Grace. Until then, have a great week!

I've Seen Dead People (My Trip to The Universe Within)

Yesterday, Saturday July 16th, I took a trip up to San Francisco with my work friend Aimee. Our goal was to go and see The Universe Within, an exhibit about the human body. In this exhibit were a number of cadavers, as well as hundreds of specimens of organs. I thought I would be grossed out by it, but it turned out I was not. It was a really interesting exhibit that showed off the human body in ways I had never seen before. I don't think I had ever seen real human organs in person, and it was very educational.

The cadavers and organs were from Beijing University, and I assume all the work to open the cadavers and plasticize them was done there as well, but I am not sure of that. The cadavers were very interesting, but they started to get repetivie after a while. They showed off all of the muscles, bones, and organs and even had the cadavers set up in physical activty, such as riding a bike, or throwing a baseball. But easily the most interesing thing there was what Aimee and I came to call, The Blood Man. It was a body in which everything but the blood vessels had been removed. It took me a while to accept the fact that it was real, but like everything else on display, it was authentic. It ws amazing to see just how complex the blood vessels are, and how they keep the shape of whatever limp they are in-hands and feet, and fingers were clearly formed. The imagination and creativity of the people behind this is unmatched. It was great being in such a neat environment, where you knew you were surrounded by like minded people. I guess there were protests to this early on by those whacky Christians who don't believe in learning anything from the deceased, just in burying them and leaving them be. But since this has been going on for a while now, they had moved on to other matters of protest. Overall, it was a very interesting exhibit that I highly recommend people attend. I think it runs through until September at the Masonic Center in San Fran.

After that fun trip, we headed over to the SFMOMA, but I was a little disappointed by that. It is too similar to the NY MOMA, and since I was just there in January, it all had a feeling like I just seen most of these paintings(which in reality I had).

Then we went to a restaurant for drinks where Aimee used to work called LuLu's and we sat at the bar. Aimee told me about the time she had to protect Winona Ryder from hordes of screaming teenage girls. She also told me how Jennifer Aniston used to come in and sit in the very spot that Aimee was sitting in. I thought that was neat. Unfortunately there were no celebrities to gawk at tonight, just good food and good drinks.

We then headed over to Virgin Megastore and wandered around there for an hour or so and I picked up The Postal Service album Give Up. I'm still taking it all in, but overall I am impressed with it.

Then, after that, we went over to the Rogue restaurant and had a few beers there. I also bought 6 22oz. bottles from them. After that we went home. Me to mine and her to hers. It was a a fun, educational day and I really enjoyed myself. So take that!

My Trip to the Left Bank

Santana Row is a funny place. Walking through it, you get only a small glimpse at the type of people that flock there on the weekends, and really every other day of the week too. Walking through it you can see some funny people trying really hard to impress people-but like you, you just assume they are walking from one place to another, and with purpose. But if you actually seat yourself, and remain a stationary observer, you get to see things that are not only hilarious, but borderline crazy.

On Sunday, July 10th, I gathered with some coworker friends of mine for drinks and dinner at the Left Bank-a somewhat snooty, though not nearly as snooty as other places on the Row, restaurant. We were seated outside right next to the main road through Santana Row. As far as San Jose people watching, there is hardly a better place to position yourself. First, let's talk about the people. People walking through Santana Row, when viewed while walking, seem purpose driven. But when you are stationary, you can see that the only purpose walking serves them, is to be seen. They will stop for no reason-and if you actually look at them, if you're me anyway, will give you a look that says-"Even though I want people to look at me, why in the fuck are you looking at me?" Could it be that you have gigantic fake breasts falling out of your not so gigantic shirt? Or is that you happened to stop in my eyeline? Who knows. I do know that the kind of people they want looking at them, are not me. Another interesting thing that Santana Row has going for it is the joggers. Though really just a mall, the fact that Santana Row is outside gives it the unique ability to entertain people who like to jog in insanely crowded places. I saw the same guy, in the shortest shorts, twice in about 15 minutes, indicating to me that he was making pretty good time. But the main thing to realize when people watching in Santana Row is that everything is a trophy to these people-be it there dogs, their children, or their breasts-they are all being carted around to get attention and hope that the right kind of people glance at you and wish, if even for just a moment, that their lives were half as good as theirs. But if you're me-they really just want you to stop staring at their cleavage.

But perhaps the greates thing about Santana Row are the cars. My assumption of cars was that they were used for getting from point A to point B as effortlessly as possible. But I was wrong. The point of your car at The Row, is to have people look at your car, and again, hope to lead the kind of life that can get you one of those cars. But the kind of cars that get paraded around there are not super cars, or cars that are out of reach to the common man. They are new Mustangs, Corvettes, H2's, etc. The same red Corvette passed our table 5 times in 10 minutes. He was just doing circles around Santana Row-and I know he wasn't having trouble finding parking-because to do that, he would have had to have been out of sight in the parking garage. No-he was just driving around in circles trying to impress the bystanders of Santana Row. But these kinds of cars, while not cheap, are not expensive, in the sense of being cars. 85,000 dollars might be a lot-but there are cars that are way more expensive than that. And it is these cars that feel they have to show off the most-the cars that need to take the laps. The super cars, now these guys know how to show off. The nicest car I saw on Sunday, was a brand new, silver Lamborghini Murcielago. And all this guy had to do, was drive past once, at a reasonable speed-and without loud music, or having to look around to make sure people are watching, or without revving an engine-and his car was burned into the memories of all that saw it. The guy who dropped 250,000 on his car, has nothing to prove to anyone-the guy who dropped 65,000 on his car, really needs that constant reassurance that the money he spent was worth it.

Santana Row cracks me up, and if you get the chance to go and sit there and watch the constant parade of people out to prove their with to humanity, then for the love of God, go! We sat and had drinks for 3 hours, and while the conversation was entertaining-it was the people that we saw that made this evening hilarious. I hope it made you smile.

Random Things That Make Me Happy

Hello-my name is Matt. I am an incredibly easy person to make happy. For me, it is all about simple pleasures. Such as cold water on a hot day. I thought of that only because it is insanely hot in my apartment right now and cold water is the only thing keeping me sane. So here, presented for the first time in print-I bring to you random things that make me happy.

1. The iPod. I can't imagine what my life was like before the iPod. Why on earth did I spent 50 dollars on a CD book that can only hold 200 cds-and you still had to manually remove them and put them in your CD player. That's just dumb. With the iPod-everything is just a button push away. And it fits in your pocket. Those big ass CD books weigh a bunch, and unless you have GIGANTIC pockets, it's not going to fit in there. So save yourself the grief and go buy an iPod.

2. Mr Show. If you are unfamiliar with Mr Show, then I have very little respect for you. While that isn't entirely true, it's pretty close. Mr. Show is the hilarious brainchild of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, 2 of the funniest people alive. Mr. Show is sketch comedy brilliance, with each skit leading into the next one seamlessly. With a hilarious supporting cast, there's hardly an unfunny skit on Mr. Show. Some skit highlights include-Swear to God, a religous show where the pastor uses vulgarity to teach the word of God. We Love our Gay Son-A mother and father advertise all around town that they love their gay son despite his protests, and the fact that he isn't gay. The story of Everest-after his return from climbing Mt. Everest, a man tries telling his family the story about it, unfortunately he keeps stumbling backwards, knocking over his mother's tiny thimble collection-over and over and over again. And Drunk Cops-a cops like show where the cops are drunk and fight with each other. Either come over and watch this with me, or go out and rent it yourself-you won't be disappointed.

3. David Sedaris. David Sedaris is a brilliant comic writer. His books are all laugh out loud hilarious and get better and better with each read through.His stories all revolve around his life and his family. He finds humor in every aspect of his life-even tradegy. As I sit here trying to figure out what to write about this guy-I'm at a loss. The books I have that have read are Barrel Fever, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Dress Your Family in Denim and Corduroy. They are all hilarious and I suggest you pick up any of them and read them.

So that is it for this weeks things that make me happy. Hopefuly some other things make me happy so that I can update this, but until then-take care my friends.

Album of the Week(7/11)

The Decemberists, Castaways and Cutouts
Review-9.4

It all started a few months ago. I was reading a review of the Decemberists album, Picaresque and it sounded interesting so I picked it up. I was pleasently surprised to find out that not only was it a good album, but it was goddamn awesome. I listened to the shit out of it for a while, then as I do with bands I like, I decided to go back in time and pick up earlier albums from them. So I purchased Her Majesty the Decemberists and also found that I liked that album, but not quite as much as Picaresque. So after spending some time with that, I decided to dig in and I purchased their first album, Castaways and Cutouts. I was initially turned off by it, and instead spent most of my time with Picaresque. But then one day, I decided to listen to Castaways and Cutouts straight through, no interruptions. Now I was pleasently surprised by the fact that not only was this a good album, I liked it even more than Picaresque. It actually became my favorite Decemberists album. I haven't stopped listening to it for about a month now. The last time a CD did this to me was back in October, with Rilo Kiley's exceptional The Execution of all Things.

Cut to today, and the Decemberists are my current favorite band. I've listened to Castaways and Cutouts almost every day on my way to work and it keeps getting better. It starts off strong with Leslie Anne Levine an then moves on to another great song, Here I Thought I was an Architect. Two extremely solid songs, that set the pace for the rest of the album. July, July is an enthusiastic song that stands apart from the rest of the CD. This album is pretty chilled out for the most part, with a couple of stronger, faster paced songs to break up the slower songs. Odalisque is a great song that has slow parts, but builds up well to a more intense, more lively song than anything else on the album. Overall this album is fantastic. I recommend that you get off your ass right now and go and buy this CD. Then buy a ticket to see the Decemberists on September 11th at the Fillmore and go with me to see them. It's going to be awesome.

Netflix Triple Feature-7/9/05

Two weeks ago I saw George A. Romero's Land of the Dead and was generally underwhelmed by it. There was decents amounts of gore, and a fairly interesting story, but overall I didn't really care about anyone in the movie. John Leguizamo pisses me off, so right from the start, I was against him. And Asia Argento was kind of dumb, and I didnt' care about her either. So I guess you could say that overall this movie lacked heart. This led me to wonder just what the deal with George A. Romero is. Up to that point, I hadn't seen a single one of his movies, so I was hesistant to call the man a hack without first visiting his original zombie movies. So with this in mind, I set out to watch his original zombie trilogy.

Night of the Living Dead directed by George A. Romero

So this is the movie that started it all back in 1968. Shot in sparse black and white and in really only one location, it is evident from the get go just how many other movies this one has inspired. This movie wastes no time in getting right to the action, killing off the first character in pretty much the first 5 or 10 minutes. Then we have our sterotypical(stereotypical now, not then)dumb blonde woman who would rather freak out than actually try to help her situation. She quickly retreats to a deserted house that clearly inspired the Evil Dead house-it has a cellar and even the heads of animals on the walls. Other people join the situation and infighting starts as to what to do with the unknown zombie menace lurking just outside their door.

This is a psychological movie, punctuated with a few action set pieces. We are thrust into a situation with these characters as they try desperatly to figure out just what the hell is going on. Now if it was 2005 in this movie-the characters would know that they are zombies outside and you just have to get the hell out of there, mowing down how every many you have to. But this is 1968, and they aren't privy to this knowledge at this point, so they are utterly confused as to what these creatures are, and how to deal with them. Are they strong? Are they smart? And really what hope do you have against an enemy that you have no idea how to deal with. Remind anyone of any wars going on in the year 1968? And for a movie made in that year, it is surprisingly graphic. Fingers get chopped off, and zombies get shot, and people get blown up real good. While clearly not as graphic as his later offerings, you can definetly see where he is going.

Night of the Living Dead is one the most unique and chilling horror movies ever, and it doesn't end happy. It ends with no questions answered, and everyone dying-the last character to go finds himself the unfortunate target of a band of dumbass rednecks. The photographs that play over the end credits are a chilling end to a horror masterpiece. While not for everyone's tastes, I highly recommend this movie.

Dawn of the Dead directed be George A. Romero

Going into this movie, I truly had no idea what to expect. Expectations for it were high because of the praise that this movie has received as one of the classic cult horror movies of all time. I saw the remake before I saw this one, and the remake felt like a typical Hollywood movie. It was good, but nothing remarkable or really truly memorable. The original though, is an entirely different story. I found this movie to be suspensful, hysterical, and even touching at times. This movie has the heart that Land of the Dead was missing. Here we are given a small cast of characters and we get to watch the monotenous tasks that they have to do to survive, and it is in watching these things that we grow to care about these characters. Not everone starts out as a bad ass zombie killer, they have to learn how to become one. Barricaded up in a mall they have no choice but to learn how to deal with the zombies, or face death.

George Romero really brough his A game in making this movie. Made 10 years after the original, it takes place not long after the events of the original. The zombies are spreading and the military has been called in to deal with them. If the first movie was about our fears in the Vietnam era, this movie is about the ever increasing rise of consumerism. Zombies instinctually flock to the mall, and our heroes bask in the glory of getting to run around an emply mall with no consequences. The action in this movie is great, bringing us heaps of gore to enjoy. But it is the moments between the action that make this movie great. We get to know and care so much about the 4 main characters, that when 2 of them meet their untimely death, we are just sad as the characters that lose them.

This movie ends a little more optimistically than Night of the Living Dead but really nothing has changed. The characters haven't saved the day, and they aren't any better off having escaped. As soon as the chopper that they use to leave the mall lands somewhere else, they are going to have the same problems they just dealt with. In the end, we feel the same relief that they feel, but we are also saddled with the same uneasiness that the characters must be feeling as we know that better times are not ahead. Again, this is not a movie for everyone's tastes, but if you love a good zombie movie, you cannot do better than Dawn of the Dead. It is just as good and just as classic as everyone says it is. Now I just have to go out and buy that 3 disc collectors edition.

Day of the Dead directed by George A. Romero.

After loving the last two Dead entries, I was very excited going into this movie. Expecting the same level of zombie goodness that we got with the last two movies, I was in for quite a shock. The majority of this movie does not deal with zombies. This movie concerns itself with a group of scientists trying desperatly to figure out how to deal with the zombies, while military men are watching over their shoulders just wanting to kill the zombies. Infighting ensues and there are many standoffs in this movie. It is pretty clear right from the get go what Romero's view of the military is. All the military men in Day of the Dead are assholes and would rather use their guns than their brains. The scientists are our heroes in this movie, and we want them to succeed, just so they don't have to deal with those military assholes.

The zombie action in the first two movies was practically relentless, there was a sene of dread in the air, that at any moment you could have to face down hordes of zombies. But in Day of the Dead the zombies aren't the threat, at first. It is man's desperation that is the threat. With no real hope left, these men are willing to kill anyone to prove their points. The first 80 minutes or so primarly deals with the tension between the characters, while the zombie menace is kept at bay outside by fences. The main military man quickly gets set up as the primary villain in this movie, as he threatens almost every other character in this movie with no remorse. The other mlitary men aren't as evil as this guy, but they are very unlikeable.

But this wouldn't be a zombie movie without some great zombie action, and at about the 80 minute mark, we are treated to some fantastic zombie action. Once the inevitable happens and the zombies enter the facility that the characters are holed up in, we get some of the most wonderfully disturbing flesh eating action. Guts are pulled from insides, arms are hacked off, eyes are pulled out. It's even more graphic and gory than the first two films, and I loved every second of it. This movie does a remarkable thing, in that when the zombies finally overtake the facility, we find ourselves rooting for them more than the military men, which interstingly enough, are the only ones eaten by the zombies-the scientists are allowed to escape pretty much unharmed. For Romero to make the zombies more likeable than the military further cements his opinion on the military.

While not as action packed as the previous movies, this is a worthy end to the original trilogy. It is not as funny as Dawn of the Dead and not nearly as creepy as Night of the Living Dead, it still holds its own quite well. I highly recommend this movie, and highly recommend the entire trilogy to anyone who enjoys a good zombie film. But if you enjoy a good zombie film already, chances are you've seen these movies already. Now I think I have to give Land of the Dead another chance, because now I know that Romero is no hack, he is the king of zombie movies.

Coming next week: A Woman Under the Influence directed by John Cassavetes, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse directed by Fritz Lang, and Naked Lunch directed by David Cronenberg. And if it comes in time, the remake of Dawn of the Dead directed by some guy whose name I don't know. So until next week, be well.

Random Review of the Week(7/03)

Clerks. directed by Kevin Smith

Clerks is a love it or hate type of movie. I personally, love it, and am a pretty huge fan of Kevin Smith's films. The first time I saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, I was rolling on the floor laughing at every single joke throughout. And I'd like to say that Clerks started it all for me, but I was only 12 when it came out, so needless to say, it flew under my radar. Mallrats was my introduction to Kevin Smith and I was about 15 when I saw that and I instantly fell in love with the hilarity in that movie. Then I saw Clerks and I was floored. Now granted, I never had, and still really haven't faced a lot of the issues that the characters in the movie deal with, but I connect with Dante and Randall regardless. They are geeks, stuck in a world that doesn't give a shit about their geekiness. Kevin Smith is truly one of the great geeky directors out there working today, whose geekiness isn't cinephile geekiness-it's comics and Star Wars geekiness. He embraces his love of all things geeky and puts it out there for all the rest of us geeks to worship. He makes movies for the action figure collecting, video game playing, comic book reading, Star Wars worshipping people. It gives a voice to people like me, who generally are pretty ignored. I think he has helped pave the way for the mass acceptance of video games, and comic book culture. The OC wouldn't have nerdy Seth Cohen without having the nerdy clerks. That 70's Show wouldn't have nerdy Eric Foreman without having the nerdy clerks. Would comic book movies be the majority of movies hitting the movie theater today? Kevin Smith made it cool to be a geek, and it all started with Clerks. Clerks today is still as funny as it has ever been. Sucking 37 dicks, possibly in a row, is still hilarious. Showing a jizz mopper a close up of a vagins is still hilarious. Manually masturbating animals for artificial insemination is comic gold. For as little expectations that the actors had for the movie, they fill it with passion. They believe the words they are saying-and they are those characters. Unfortunately for Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran, they will probably never live down their characters, regardless of where their careers take them. They are Dante and Randall. Clerks is an important film, a hilarious film, and a film that I can't imagine being without. Kevin Smith has had a pretty long and interesting career, and I look forward to Clerks 2. The expectations are through the roof for that movie, and I for one have nothing but confidence in the man because you can tell he loves these characters just as much as the rest of us do. Here's to you Mr. Smith.

The Netflix Triple Feature

Hell0-my name is Matt and I am a new subscriber to Netflix, which I now feel is the greatest invention on the planet-next to the iPod and Foreman Grill. I wanted to set it up so that I would always have movies coming to me, but it seems I'm going to have to make due with only 3 a week, and once in a while 4. It apparently takes movies a lot longer to get back to them, than it does for movies to get out to me. Last week, I got my first shipment, and I will review those three movies for you tonight-and you can expect that every week I will drop a new triple feature review once all new movies have been watched. But as usual, I'll probably forget to update from time to time. Without further ado, on to the movies.

Happiness directed by Todd Solondz.

Hmmm....This was definetely an interesitng movie. I watched it, I laughed throughout much of it, but still I walked away feeling incredibly dirty. Was it the two close ups of jizz hitting a wall? Perhaps. Was it a kid talking to his dad about his hopes of one day cumming? Getting closer. Was it the sight of Jon Lovitz? Not quite. You see, there were actually many redeeming qualities about this movie. The humor throughout was pretty funny, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman turns in one of his best performances to date. And believe it or not, Lovitz was actually good in his role, for all 5 minutes that he is in it. Truth is, there is a lot about this movie to like and a lot of interesting avenues explored. Every character in this movie is looking for happiness, and it turns out that most of is it fleeting. The happiness people experience throughout the movie are broken down into moments-such as having sex with a Russian kleptomaniac, or said child eventually cumming, or even a father anally raping two little children. Wait, what? And there it is-the thing about this movie that makes you feel dirty. Now a few months ago, I watched a film called The Woodsman starring Kevin Bacon. This is a subtle movie about a man and his pedophilic urges. Subtlety is what made that movie good, and the brewing tension it built with that subtlety. Happiness is a movie that pulls no punches. Everything is frankly discussed, including a father's pedophilic urges. You can be guaranteed that almost any scene involving a child in this movie is going to make you feel a little weird. Do I reccommend this movie? I do. It's funny, and touching at times, but if you are squeamish about any of the things mentioned here-perhaps you should stay away. There isn't anything visually graphic in this movie, but the dialogue will make you want to gouge your brain out through your ear with a Q-Tip. Proceed with caution, you've been warned.

Big Fish directed by Tim Burton

I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. I am a big Tim Burton fan, but his latest offerings have left me puzzled. Planet of the Apes? More like Planet of the Shit. Sleepy Hollow, while incredibly atmospheric, really could have been a lot better. And the upcoming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has me worried. But Big Fish looked like it was going to redeem the man. Unfrotunatelay it's a movie that takes the more "mature" approach to the Big Daddy ending. It really wants us to get off the couch and call our dads and profess our love for him. But as is the case for me, it is the little things in it that turned me off to the movie. Let's look at casting. Billy Crudup-quite good as the son who is forced to reevaulate his father and come to terms with hi feelings about him. Albert Finney does a great job as the dad who weaves intricate tales about his life. Jessica Lange is great as the mother, and even the French girl was an interesing choice as the wife of Billy Crudup. So what is my hang up? Ewan MacGregor. A Scottish man doing a Southern accent is almost as bad an idea as Nicolas Cage doing a Southern accent. MacGregor's natural accent pokes through almost immediately and just continued to annoy me throughout. He sounded so much like a bad Matthew McCaughnaey(sp?) that I got confused as to who I was listening to throughout most of the voice overs(and there are many). Burton fills this movie with wonderful images that are really quite enchanting. And this is a good movie-but I felt like this movie was one step away from having an on screen prompt telling you to pull out your phone and call your dad. I don't like my movies telling me what to do, and how to feel. Too much felt forced- it is really easy to come to terms with your father when he is dying-I want to see a movie where someone comes to terms with his dad without anything life threatening prompting him. Overall, I reccommend this movie, but just know that it could have been much better.

Stray Dog directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Now here is a movie. The plot is as basic as it comes-a cop has his gun stolen from him, it is used in a crime, and he tries to track it down. It was interesitng to see Kurosawa use a time period that isn't feudal Japan, bu actually a modern(for the time it was made)Japan. Toshiro Mifune is great as the cop who is desperately running around Tokyo trying to locate his gun. Every scene is filled with such tension, and a lot of desperation. You can see Mifune getting more and more discouraged and worn out throughout the entire movie, and he hardly ever takes the time to stop. Seeing this movie in 2005, I kept waiting for something bigger to happen-for some sort of consipiracy to unravel, but it never did. It never veered off the main plot, even though there were times when it seemed like it could have. And that is a testament to how great a movie Kurasawa has created. That something so simple could be so engaging and so gripping. We only see what the main character sees, so when he sees the culprits in the beginning of the movie, we don't see them again until Mifune sees them, and we are wondering just who exactly it is. Everything is revealed to the audience as it is revealed to Mifune. We are in the dark with him and that is what makes everything so exciting. When he finally catches the culprit, we breathe a sigh of relief right with him. This is a fantastic movie and I reccommend it highly. You wil not be dissappointed.

So I hope you enjoyed my reviews, and I hope my first review doesn't red flag me to the government as some kind of pervert. Don't blame me for the content-blame the twisted mind of Todd Solondz. I think he has some inner demons that the movies he makes helps to wrangle. Here's hoping he works through them. So for everyone here in my apartment, which is just me, I wish everyone a good week. Peace out.