DVD Reviews: Winners and Losers

Recent DVD winners and losers

Winners:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER
This movie is far better than the exploitative popcorn title would have you believe. It mixes (surprisingly elegantly) outrageous fantasy and monster tropes with still redolent historical moments, and wraps it all in mesmerizing action and brilliant direction. I was and remain hugely impressed. Timur Bekmambetov continues to be a director to watch. And writer Seth Grahame-Smith surprises with a script that for all its action and outrageousness is surprisingly heartfelt and earnest and full of the import of those years of civil war. Highly Recommended.

INSIDIOUS
I think far more movies in general, and horror movies specifically, disappoint than satisfy. INSIDIOUS fortunately falls into the latter category. Being from first frame to last a downright compelling, creepy, and scary horror film. It’s a keeper.

REDBELT
David Mamet on his game is a joy to behold, and here in REDBELT he is plain superlative, in this tale of a Jujitsu instructor, played mesmerizingly by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and the lives that intersect one night, and the ramifications of that intersection. It’s a wonderful drama, that also happens to have some thrilling sequences of… prevailing. A movie to own. Highly Recommended!

So if these are this week’s winners, what are the losers? Glad you asked, they are:

A PERFECT GETAWAY

BLACK MASK
JULIA’S EYES

That’s all for this run around. Check back later for more.

SUMMER 2012 Movie Guide! With AVENGERS behind us are there any other films worth seeing in IMAX?

SUMMER 2012 Movie Guide!

With the AVENGERS film behind us, are there any other films worth seeing in IMAX?

That’s the question. It’s a bit of a trick question, in that if there was no uptick in price for seeing it in IMAX I would say go for it. Unfortunately there is a bump in the price, and even for the AVENGERS, which was fake converted to IMAX (post-processed, like every other film coming out for the rest of the year) the quality difference on an AMC “baby IMAX/fake IMAX” isn’t all that great.

Infact, I quite preferred the 2D version of AVENGERS.

It’s a preference thing to a point, but to another point it is about pushing back a little against the studios that want to foist these post-processed IMAX and IMAX 3D films on us, rather than actually filming in these formats, and then charge us like we are at a real 5-story, wraparound screen, 70mm, Science Center IMAX theater. That’s the problem I have with these AMC midget Imax theaters, they over-charge for a compromised viewing experience.

I have no problem with the gimmick of 3D, if priced the same as the 2D experience; the way it traditionally was done. But to pay more?

So, to the point, even the AVENGERS wasn’t worth paying more to see in IMAX 3D. But are any films this summer, worth seeing in IMAX or IMAX 3D?

None of the films… not PROMETHEUS, not EXPENDABLES II, not DARK KNIGHT RISES, not SPIDER-MAN could be bothered to shoot the film in IMAX (tiny portions of DKR maybe), much less IMAX 3D. So why the heck would you bother to pay IMAX or IMAX 3D prices, for the cinematic equivalent of a poor redressing of a set?

So for me, no I will not be seeing any other film this summer in IMAX or IMAX 3D.

[And as an aside, definitely call or web-browse ahead when going to the movies, because this is how they get you: they put 2D showings at inconvenient times so you get stuck with an IMAX or 3D showing. So as idiotic as it sounds you need to pretty much do homework to make sure you’re getting a 2D and not a 3D showing. I hate homework! 🙂 ]

Quite frankly there aren’t many films I’m that bothered about seeing in the theaters this summer, even in 2D. Like I heard one person say, “I like going to movies, I hate the people in the movie theater”.

I mean, do I have a sign-on me that says sit beside me? I either have to tell some old bat and her kid to not sit beside me and talk (I would be more forgiving if people in a theater with lots of seats, didn’t choose to sit right next to me with their foolishness), or I have to tell young punks to keep it down, or I have to tell the valley girls to stop texting and kicking the chairs… and on top of all that drama you want to charge me more for effed up, fake a** 3D?!!!

Heck No!!! Mother HT’s son ain’t having it!!! The studios should be paying me for the aggravation.

ohmmmmmm…..

ohmmmmmm…..

Okay, back in my happy place. Steering this boat back on track…

My take on the remaining summer movies: SPIDER MAN I currently have no interest in. DARK KNIGHT RISES, as I’ve previously stated I’m lukewarm on at best.

Only PROMETHEUS, EXPENDABLES II, TOTAL RECALL, and surprisingly enough ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER (I’m a fan of the Director, I enjoyed his WANTED, A case of a director’s vision trumping the writer’s source material— which I disliked) really have me excited to see them in the theater.

Some honorable mentions that look interesting/fun and I might see in the theater are CHERNOBYL DIARIES, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, THE BOURNE LEGACY, PREMIUM RUSH (the trailer for this looks GREAT, but I’m not sold on the director yet), and POSSESSION (also a phenomenal trailer).

If a movie is not on this list it could be an oversight, but more than likely it isn’t. It’s my way of saying that movie isn’t for me 🙂

Why don’t I tell you how I really feel? 🙂

No, but seriously, if you think I missed a summer flick that you think is going to be great, feel free to send me a comment. I’m always happy to discover another promising flick!

TRAILER Review of the Day: ABRAHAM LINCOLN:VAMPIRE HUNTER

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER- What sounds, and probably should remain a gag/fan short film, is actually going to be hitting our theaters in June of 2012, helmed by some major talent. Most notably Director Timur Bekmambetov of WANTED fame. I enjoyed WANTED, I thought it was way better than the joyless and annoying comic book it was based on, and find Bekmambetov to be a talented and visually exciting director, and those gifts are in full effect in this trailer.

Our 16th President may not exactly, in the great beyond, be enthused about this usage and monster-mashup mythification (yes I did just make that up)of his image, but it seems to be, if not exactly respectful, at least in the spirit of fun tall tales, and if anyone can understand that it’s a good old Kentuckian like our former President.

And the trailer visually looks like a lot of fun. If there’s a story to hold it together it may be a fun, brainless summer flick. Or it could be in excessively bad taste… time will tell.

View the trailer here.

I also watched three other trailers:

SPIDERMAN- The 2nd trailer makes me no more interested. The trailer commits the cardinal sin of just being boring, plus I don’t like anyone in the film. Particularly the new Peter Parker, just no personality. This is looking like a definite wait for DVD for me. It just looks boring as all heck.

7500- Instead of SNAKES ON A PLANE, you have ghosts on a plane. looks like a talented cast, interesting premise, but it’s directed by the director of the GRUDGE, and I wasn’t a fan of any of those films. And the reason is shown in this trailer, it’s all jump cuts and screeching sounds, rather than making a scary movie, the director just makes a discordant one. Just going by the trailer it looks like a hack job, a rental at best.

BOURNE LEGACY- The trailer is okay. Doesn’t really blow me away or give any impression that it will be up to the first trilogy, specifically the last film. That said the film sports great actors, so that alone is swaying me to check this one out on the big screen.

Okay, that’s all for now.