Reviews

I liked this movie. Yes, The Doll is scary. Valeria Lukyanova is great in this movie, but honestly so is Anthony del Negro. The outwardly cold psychopath that Natasha turns out to be, in the movie is placed into the context of two ordinary kids who live together. Anthony goes through a breakup, gets dumped, and Natasha is pretty much terrifying. This movie is sort of like a serious attempt at making the Movie 43, with Emily Rose, into a horror film, if the lead actress was'The Human Barbie'. I think that The Doll might be the beginning of something wonderful! I'll tell you how I take my coffee, with Valeria Lukyanova in it.

The Doll Squad was an Americanized spin on the James Bond film series. It could've been a cinematic inspiration for Charlie's Angels. Well received among movie goers in it's day, The Doll Squad was a popular movie. If you are unfamiliar with older films in you should try watching this one. Doll Squad is straight forward and fun. It's not an avant guard art film, it's an action spy movie from the 70's.

Hungover in Death Valley is like Wild Hogs without Tim Allen and all of the snappy one liners. It's not all bad when the old timey theme masks the gimmicky excess of nudity and weak drama. What a waste. Should've done more careful casting for their own sakes in this grindhouse flop! One reedeming quality that this movie had was that it tries mimic Texas Chainsaw, as it should.

Havanah Darkness does what it does and it's scary. I don't think the professional criticisms of this movie are viable for the most part because this movie is fun. It's about relationships when you get down to it. While it is similar to Saw, very, Havanah Darkness uses familiar concepts found in horror to put a new spin on the survival game sub-genre. I say well done.

Shanghai was a decent movie about rebellion and political dissidence. The movie, set in China, shows political turmoil in Shanghai under Japanese rule. The acting in the movie was very well done and the plot keeps you watching. The movie was very violent and I couldn't wrap my head around the love interest the movie benefitted from a break in the action.

This movie is twisted and wrong in all the right ways. Gravy is a fun movie with a lot of gore. It's a stoner flick at it heart. It smacks of Always Sunny, but leads with a Saw-esque theme that lacks the seriousness that most horror films take on. Nice job, cheers all around..!

Tenderness had it's moments. It's essentially a Russel Crowe movie about a psychotic pervert and a teenager who have misadventures together. Russel Crowe plays a police lieutenant who tries to stop the main character from killing someone else. The female lead's fascination with him is misplaced as it turns out because he was not as interested in her as she had hoped. Definitely a heart wrenching thriller.

This movie offers a different take on Angelina Jolie's earlier career. After the Blockbuster success of Tomb Raider. An interesting movie to say the least. The flawless english and Pre-Ben Affleck's Argo like theme takes on a thrilling journey of hostage taking and public affairs in the Middle East.

Side Streets portrays authentic and multicultural New York City, New York. Side Streets is a good movie that shows Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan in the late 1990's. A good choice for anyone who wants to learn about what both urban and suburban living was like pre-Millennial era. This movie has it all; good acting, intertwining storylines and a driving plot. I thought Mark Magolis should've had more screen time

The film is a snapshot of Southern American life in the early 1990's. It's sort of like a modern incarnation of Little House on the Prairie. I thought this movie was good because it's characters and Elvis is so good. Reese Witherspoon's character carried the movie because of her breakout performance in this movie! What a great movie. Definitely worth checking out!

The Arrival is the quintessential 1990's Sci-Fi flick. Like Jurassic Park, this movie grows on you. The Arrival is geared towards families and younger audiences. It's plot plays on a bunch of pseudoscientific myths. I enjoyed the acting in this movie. Look past the cheesy special effects and sort of lame story. The CG that there was was good for the time. As if to say that, though cool, it did almost nothing for the movie. It's a good movie and I like it on a whole. If you like the X-Files you might like this movie.

Manos: The Rise of Torgo or The Rise of Torgo for short is a prequel that continues the Manos series. Manos is and was a cult classic, a genre film, classic horror. It's not a bad choice to watch the first film first, I recommend it. You will understand concepts in the remake better. There is a third film that was released around the same time as this reboot of Manos: Hands of Fate. The Rise of Torgo was good for a remake of a movie that essentially flopped and was banished to the subbasement dvd collections of freaky weirdos of yesteryear. Not overly scary, but definitely left-field for most Horror enthusiasts The Rise of Torgo explains the background of the events that took place in the first film of the Manos trilogy. I liked the movie's frightening and somewhat grotesque depictions of both violence and sex. The somewhat hilarious flashback sequences introduce a lighter, more funner Manos that spirited the original into moviegoers hearts. The cinematography could be better, but The Rise of Torgo is a good way to spend an evening indoors.

..., but it does cling to old west stereotypes and use violence and sex to pander to audiences. This movie is geared toward fans of the genre. It accomplishes this much successfully. In so far as movie goers may like, it is a niche film that does nothing to appeal to outsiders. I watch western films and liked this movie. However, a focus on character dynamic and a distinct lack of artistic content leads me to believe that this movie is not only self-important, but also somewhat lazy in it's delivery of storyline by the spoonful. As if to say I felt as though I was spoon-fed the plot points

Orange county is and was a classic teen movie that in, its hey-day, lived up to it's reputation. When you get to it this movie is a stinker! The characters are entirely based on bad cliches and that do nothing for the thematic impact of the plot. The movie is directed at a younger audience, but portrays unrealistic light and at times uses low-brow humor to convey a lighter tone. Not to say that low-brow humor is without redeeming qualities, it's that the mood of the movie goes back and forth and leaves the viewer hanging. All over the movie tries to cling to it's upbeat motif while attempting to address serious topics that are really never resolved.

I watched this movie with the lights on after a good night's sleep because I heard that it was frightening and All Hallows' Eve made good on it's promise of being scary as balls. I felt that the character Sarah's role was pivotal in bringing the premise, sort of an urban legend, and plot devices together in this hallmark genre film. Definitely an instant classic, the Hallows' Eve is a movie to watch with people who you know and trust.

This movie confronts head-on a difficult problems within a tangled and male-dominated sub-genre. Meeting all of the criteria that the genre demands and more this movie confronts challenges, such as underrepresented minorities in cinematography. One major issue that I found with the movie, which is very loosely based around true-ish events was the movie covers in entirety the lifestyles of young party-goers and the consequence of their choices. Simply dismissing this film as an attempt to appeal to a younger audience is wrong in my opinion because as far as I can tell, no other film to date gives such a comprehensive view of the 1980's club culture aside from anti-drug PSAs, clearly what this movie is not, and historical films. This film plays like a biographical narrative while being a fun and light-drug movie that brings a strong theme of the destructive effects of criminality, warning the viewer away from the dangers associated. While the movie doesn't condescend to the viewer the story takes on too many subjects, drawing the viewer away from the entertaining aspect of watching these young people at their worst. I believe this movie is underrated. The actors play their parts with gusto, guiding you in the chaos that the subject entails. The movie moves quickly from topic to topic, but in a easy to follow format that many clubbing movies simply lack. The reviews for this movie are of course critical, and the poor rating shows that the movie was received under the same criticisms that movies in the genre, following scarface and other classic clubbing movies, are subjected. Many movies that are ascribed to the niche 'party movie' genre were underfunded and suffered from poor casting. A movie like this one would have received praises had it been release 20 years sooner, when the genre was thirsty for innovators.