Godzilla: Final Wars

2004- Monster Action-

So far the title lives up to its place.

This film seems to be the 'Final' instalment of the Godzilla franchise. Note, 'So Far' due to the immense popularity of Godzilla and the money it constantly makes.

Synopsis:

Godzilla fights a flying drill sub in Antartica and the humans were bearely able to defeat him by sinking him/freazing him in the polar ice cap. Almost 30years later, a 'mutant' gene is found with certain individuals and are harnessed and trained to fight off the rest of the giant monsters. All is well until one day.

All Godzilla monsters atacked key places in the planet, the humans are about to be destroyed till an alien spaceship arrived and zapped all monsters. Aliens tried to woo earth by coming 'peacful' but there true intent was later revealed as take over/cattle feeding. Only force can stop them is Godzilla and a Super Mutant.

All-in-All:

Great fights for both Godzilla fans and for people not farmiliar with the genre. Special attention has been made for the Godzilla fans in general due to the cameos of all (most, no Mecha) monsters including the American Godzilla this movie called 'Zilla' and we all know how much our Jap countrymen love him.

I highly recomend this film, it doesnt take itself serious, cheezy, and i do believe the director was actualy seeking the 'Campy, horrible voice dubbing/scripting' to add to the mix/flavor.

The Shining

Epic Horror-1980-

I cant believed i have never seen this film in its entirety. The music, colors, and acting in the first 20min. were enough as a kid (hell, even as an adult) to make me walk out the room in where it was playing. Well, now i know what i've been missing out in.

Synopsis:
Jack, a former teacher has taken a job caretaking a ski resort hotel during its off seasons from November to March due to the crazy yearly blizzards. His job is to mantain and watch over the Hotel with his wife Winnie, and son Danny. Strange things occure and Jack suffers a possible mental break down, possibly supernatural or just plain Madness.

All-in-All:
I agree with USA Todays claime of this film being the "First Epic Horror Film", what ever happend to great horror stories like this? It's interesting that we replacied great story telling and great logical character development as opposed to the 'Wet hair in face white asian woman crawling on the floor' movies of our days. Seeing this film inspires me to look to the past for great cinima with directors using limitations and obsticles and overcoming them with no aid of Green Screen/Computer graphics.

Kumite

Hong Kong- 2003-

Well, i bought this film thinking its H.K. version of "Ong-Bak"
and how the preface claimed that its about a boy learing the art of kumite by combining Muay Thai and Kung Fu, so i thought it would be interesting.

Synopsis:
A mediocre Muay Thai kickboxer boy with no disipline (kinda like the trend/sterio type of the art) falls for his engaged Teacher.
Boy tries out for the 'Big Fight' but was passed on by a rich kid (which in all actuality is a better fighter).
After much whinning, and usless 'romantic/cute' scenes of a forbiden love you he gets kicked out of his gym and someone else trains him in the art of Kung-Fu.
He gets to the final bout and tries to copie Rocky films by attempting to show heart by staning up after a pummeling.

All-in-All:
as you can probably get it.
the film sucked.
No redeeming qualities.
You dont get to know who wins, he doesnt end with the girl (in the end he even gives up martial arts for school) nothing is resolved with his (poorly added late in the movie) grandfather. O yea, did i forget that it had nothing to do with the are of "Kumite"?!
by the way, the guy in the Cover isn't even the main character, its the opponent that you find out was the bad guy cuz all he wanted was acceptance from his older brother.
Dang.... now i have to brush my fingers now, cuz of writing about excriment.
Keep away at all cost.

Robot Jox

Sci-Fi- 1990-

Synopsis:
In the future the world is in chaos due to a nuclear war.
whatever remains of the countries are fighting for the newly neutral lands (i.e. Alaska, hawaii, California, etc.) but instead of all out war (remember they learned from that) they compete by building giant robots and fight each other. Makes perfect sence right?

Its kinda wierd watching this film cuz its totaly cold war inspired... but the cold war was already over by the time of the film, so in a way this movie is displaced in time itself.

All-In-All:
Its freakin hillarious!
cheezy acting, horible fight scenes, and no real plot other than having 2 robots kill each other. Even the ending was nutts!
didn't resolve anything.
You need to watch this for nostalgia sake... but if you've never watched this before... dont worrie, your not missing out on much.

"Transformers the Movie" (animated)

Animated- 1986-

Moments like this makes me doubt everything i though i remember when i was a kid in the 80's growing up.
Whas i realy born in the Philippens?
Did i realy ride a hors in Bagio?
Why do you ask? After watching this film i now realized that i dont remember squat on what happend other that Optimus Prime Dies and some guy named Hot Rod opens up some thing important with a kick butt soundtrack.

well, so much more is now appreciated as an adult, making this film a wonder..... no an oddity of Animated Films.

Synopsis:
The Final Battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron!
Robots fight each other, and lots of deaths of favorite characters. In other words awsome.

All-in-All
Nostolgia kicks in only to tell you that you dont know squat!
this move has Spike drop an 'S' bomb, and lots of ugly fan favorite deaths.
All my old favorite Autobots die with recless abandon. Its Amazing, far better than the G.I. Joe movie..... but then again... i doubt i really remember that one as well.

"Sasayaki" (Moonlight Whispers)

-???- 1999
Japan/Forgin

Well, it was Valentines Day and i just had to dive into that genre, so here it goes.

Synopsis:
Unusual would be the way to describe this romantic tale.
A young man falls in love with his classmate/kendo parner. Starts off inoccent and basic till you find out that the young man is a 'pervert' to the likes of a saitist. The girl tries to forget about him but ends up a masochist. In the end.... complete and utter non-traditional 17 year old love story.

All-in-All:
Due to its wild nature, and creepy sense of love, i myself would give it a 4/5. But to those who seek for a more traditional love story, you must look elswere.

"The Condemned"

Action - 2007-

What this one is a late entry, almost forgot i watched it....
now dont take that the wrong way, the movie wasnt bad.

Synopsis:
Groupe of Death Row inmates around the world are amassed into 1 island out of the 10 only 1 will live and be granted freedom. The Typical money hungry mogul is in it for the publicity, fame, and to prove a point that he is not be be messed with.

All-in-All:
I was actualy surprised on how good this film was. The action was average, and there were certain parts of the film that showed promise. From Rape, Humanity, and the dirty fact that 'We' or the viewers of the 'Condemned' Program are the real monsters. For what its worth, this film has got to be the best wrestler in the Silver Screen movie (yep beats out the Scorpion King/the Rock).

"Sunshine"

Sci-Fi-2007

What can i say? I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi.

At first glance i thought this film would be more to the lines of "The Day after Tomorrow" or even "ID4".

In some ways it was, but so much more.

Synopsis:

In the Future, the sun runs low and the earth is a cold mess (like 'The Day After Tomorrow'). The now united earth government rallys the best scientists the world has to offer and atempt to re-ignite the sun.

The team vanishes out of contact, so the 2nd stringers, the REAL last hope and all thats left with the Earths sciences are left to do the task.

If anything i would compaire the film to the likes of the underrated "Event Horizon". a lot of science and logic vs. the unknown and the limits of man.

All-in-All

I would recomend this film to those who are looking for a good Sci-Fi story, the trailer lies! Promising TONS of action and great visual effects. The Latter is true, but jumps from realistic to un recognizable, but the Former is a dud.

Special points go out to Michel Yeo for doing a film with NO MARTIAL ARTS.

"Rambo"

Action- 2008-

Wow, the long awaited Swan Song. Its been years since the last one, Rambo in Afganistan fighting off the russians, almost 20 years ago.

That film was a mere shadow of its former self, or at least the original one.

And now.... it puts a tear on my eye in saying that those 20 years of waiting were worth it. I didnt mind that the Cornel was not directly involved with this film, or that Rambo needed assistance with mercinary aid (well sort of). But this Rambo film will go down as The Manliest Film of the Year of 08.

Yep, you heard me!

2008 has just begun and already we found a champion.

Synopsis:

Rambo is in Thailand as a Snake Catcher, a bunch of Missionaries arrive and ask for his help sending them to Burma so that they can make a difference in the Genocide taking place. After some time thinking it over, Rambo agrees and takes them there.

After a few weeks the Missionaries were missing, the Church sends some "Mercs" to rescue them and asks Rambo for help.

In the end you get that theme of people making a difference in the midst of oppression and power struggle. Rambo finaly goes 'Full Circle' (funny enough a theme that was started but dissmissed on the last Rambo film).

I cant recomend this movie enough!

Memories of Honor, Courage, and Taking the First Blood to achieve something you believe in, and trying to understand things that dont make sence.

Rambo isn't a smart man, a simple understanding and hard experience made him, and I'm glad to view this film and witness its final "Good Bye"

"Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad"

Anime-(2007-?)

What can i say, i'm a sucker for Japanimes.

I've been into the genre since before chinas migration on to the sister islands off its shores, (eventualy creating Japan, for those of you morons out there that wont admit it).

So as you can see its pretty difficult finding something different, new, and has that spirit.


Now dont get me all nutty on the history of Japanime but lets just say i'm tired of all this 'safe' prossesed, vomit we now accept as entertainment.


So to my surprise, enters "Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad"

The series hits all key notes.

Has heart, knows its genre well, and inspiring.

Lets just say, I havnt even finished the series and i'm already proclaiming its awsomeness.


If its 'The' anime your looking for that has style, and fun. you gottta see this one.

Hostel: 2

Horror-2007

Director: Eli Roth

Synopsis:

Dumb Americans go to Europe, gets tricked on getting side tracked to some remote spot. The women gets separated, and killed by the highest bidder.

The first one was a real treat for those of us that are huge fans of gore, same plot. I thought this one will have the whole "If it aint broke, dont fix it" mentality.

In the sequel it gets a surprising twist where we get the perspective of the Bidders, how they are before the butchering and the transformation of while, questions of "Do you have it in you?" come up, and things turn to the worse, as the 'victims' reverse rolls.

The gore was not as bad as i was expecting, but then again you are talking to a guy that sat through a woman drown in her own excriment while a mans stomach explodes unleashing the ramen he just ate on an suspecting public, never mind the man with the shotgun who shot him min. ago took a chubby.

yea....

back to the topic,

Great film, totaly didn't expect the thing to have a real story.

"Day Watch"

-Action-2006-

Russian

Nope this is not that horible final season of bay watch in Hawaii, no Hasselhoff, or buxom women for that matter.

This is a sequel to the movie "Night Watch" with the same director/acting/production team.

The first film was interesting, action packed, confusing/nonsenceicle plot, and horrible action.

The appeal of the first film was the fact that you are watching an actual Russian 'High Budget' film.

Synopsis:

It has been some time since the grand finale of the original film. Anton continues to fight the forces of Darkness while simultaneously attempting to find and save his son from the clutches of those same forces. But when Dark Others start mysteriously being killed, and Anton is framed for their murders, he must put that goal on hold and try to escape the Day Watch that is looking for his blood.

Final Word:

this film was well put by the words of a Mr. Jeff Morris.

"this film is like a crappy drink, you bought it so you have to finish it, so you take little sips, cuz you cant take all that crap in at once."

I love stupid films, i love action films.... heck, i love USSR films, but this film has got to be thrown in the dumpster.

"Persued"

"Persued"

Action/Thriller (2004)

Starring: Christian Slater

"My mother always said I was as tenacious as a ferret on crack."

-Vince Palmer (Christian Slater)

That pretty much describes the whole film.

Slater plays the role of a Corporate headhuter. what he does is pursuade people working for other companies to join his employer. He is the best at what he does charging companies 1mil. per head.

Enters the main Character. Lovable guy, smart, and a family man.

The rest of the story goes as followed.

Slater plays nice, Guys family loves him guy stays loyal to his own co.

Slater plays evil, Family threatened, Co. owner killed, guy then eventualy kills Slater.

Nothing original, or new in this movie. all in all this movie sucked, and totaly unbelievable.

dont waist your time.

if you have to see a great sucky film staring our favorite Slater, watch "Alone in the Dark" with Tara Reed.

a year in Movies week #5

I know its late:
Great thing that I’m not on an actual schedule/dead line to get these things out huh?
Well "Week #5" was an interesting week.
Netflix has been acting up but that didn’t stop me from finding great finds.

"3:10 to Yuma"
-Western-
Great western film staring Russell Crow and that guy who played Angel in X3. Instead of a "Good cop vs. Bad Bandit" story (in which it starts off with) it ends with the theme of innocence and the rarity it is to find. Don’t want to spoil the story for you, great acting, every character was a nice living being, and the directing was outstanding. A modern classic even if you don’t like the Western genre.

"Rambo 3"
-Action-Yea, finally done with the Rambo Trilogy, and am geared up to view the new "John Rambo" Film. To Rambo 3's credit, most of us today remember the ridiculous story, muscles, and Rambo destroying a Hin-D Russian helicopter with an arrow. But after swimming through the male testosterone you find a creepy film giving the Afghanistan Rebels (Al Qaeda present day) credit for not bending in the face of extreme opposition. Rambo is touched by the Warbound reasoning of these people and saw true meaning in the way they think. All I can say is that you gotta watch this film and see for yourself, and enjoy the bloodbath that is in every corner.