Well then I'm sure you ladies will remember Labyrinth and even the Dark Crystal. The Dark Crystal is apparently getting a sequel!



Yesterday i Saw 12 Strong.

Based upon a true story, 12 Strong tells the tale of Captain Mitch Nelson, a US Special Forces soldier who led an elite team into the heart of Afghanistan to infiltrate the muscle of the Taliban forces. Outgunned and outnumbered, Nelson and his forces face overwhelming odds in a fight against a ruthless enemy that takes no prisoners. Starring Chris Hemsworth & Michael Shannon, 12 Strong is a well thought out film and tries to keep your attention with its witty main cast members but its certainly no Platoon nor Full Metal Jacket. I give it 3 stars.

Desperate Measures.

FBI-agent Frank Connor (Andy Garcia) breaks into the FBI-computer system to look for a donor for his son who has been suffering from leukemia. He needs a bone-marrow transplant and Frank is at wits end. He finds a donor in Peter McCabe (Michael Keeton), a criminal in a heavy guarded prison. Initially refusing to cooperate, McCabe agrees to the transplant if he sees Frank's son first. Due to the controversy of the operation the hospital is flooded with press and police. When the operation begins McCabe escapes despite getting injured and roams free through the hospital. Meanwhile Frank and his men try everything to prevent McCabe from leaving the hospital and get him into surgery in time or else his son dies.

Desperate Measures was one of the last action films in the 90's when the genre slowy died out. It wasn't a success at all but it was an entertaining movie. Basically this is Die Hard set inside a hospital. Unfortunately the dvd messed up in the last twenty minutes. Good thing is that I had seen the movie before. Also a great score by Trevor Jones. Despite the dvd messed up the movie was pretty good. 3 stars.

Triple time weekend!

Starting off with Ghost Ship

Released back in 2002 Ghost Ship tells the story of a salvage crew that discover a once thought lost grand cruise liner from the 60's in the middle of the Bering Sea. Excited of the treasures they will find, they board the ship to explore it's secrets but an uninviting presence on board soon starts to hunt the treasure hunters down.

Like most films of this nature, story line and production values take a turn for the worst but if you are into these kinds of flicks Its worth a cheap scare. I give it 2 & a half stars.

Then on Saturday I decided to watch The Thing again.


There are too few John Carpenter fans out there. To me, he is a very underrated director and storyteller. Even to this day, the amount of movies and game ideas are all based on his works in one way or another. Yet his films when released were all original. So, the Thing. Ironically this one was actually a remake of the old 1950's classic The Thing from Another World. Although it followed a similar path to the original, Carpenters version is much more on a paranoia level which is key to the effectiveness of this film. So the story?

Set in the remote region of Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it attacks both humans and canines in the camp. The scientists soon discover that whatever they brought into their outpost is anything but a dog as it can take the shape of it's victims. It soon becomes a suspenseful ride as everyone starts to suspect each other of being the alien presence creating a roar of paranoia to uphold survival.

I have always enjoyed this film and recently saw this new version on the recently re-released Arrow label which did a masterful job on remastering this film. Picture and sound quality are top notch and Ennio Morricone's creepy music still holds up. watching this film can even give you a chill in the hottest of nights. It remains as one of my favorite past times and i give it a solid 4.5 stars.

Lastly, I saw the new Tomb Raider last night.

I can honestly now say that this was based upon the recent reboot of the game series. Set a few years before the famous Lara becomes anything of a tomb raider, the story follows her search for her missing father who's last appearance somewhere in Japan led him to the discovery of a cursed tomb of an ancient queen.

The quest soon becomes a lot tougher for Lara than she expected as she tries to survive on an island overrun by heartless goons in search of the very cursed treasure her father was looking for.

This is a tough one. Alicia Vikander makes for a much more fitting Lara Croft as opposed to Angelina Jolie's portrayal of the character and the sets and visuals of this film are breathtaking. But the story is so so when it should have carried a stronger quest as well as the smart yet quirky character profile of it's title character we know so well in the games, more so in the originals. Alicia tries to do a thorough job at a realistic version of the character but it sorely lacks the charm of the games back in the day which left you with humor as well as wonder. At times, I even felt the original Jolie films were better as they tried to keep a bit of mystery and wonder. Even Jolie's quirkiness shun through.

It was not a bad movie at all. But let's face it. Its not Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even the score could have been taken to a new level too.

For that, I give it 3 stars.

The Island.

Michael Bay's final movie before he started the Transformers franchise and seemingly can't stop making them. This was also Bay's final somewhat decent movie along with the Bad Boys films, The Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. I'm not a big fan of Transformers, I just think it's a shame that it seems it's all Bay can do anymore. Though he has two other movies coming.

Anyway this is about The Island. Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta (Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanssen) both live in an isolated community. They are led to believe the Earth is no longer inhabitable except for a place called the Island. A place that is considered a paradise on earth where they can go to by winning a lottery. Lincoln however is starting to ask questions about their existence and goes out to investigate, he stumbles on a horrifying truth that endangers Jordan's life and they both make a run for it. Helped by an employee of the institute they run to Los Angeles while being followed by the authorities that were send after them.

Like I said: Bay's final somewhat decent movie and that seems to have borrowed from many other movies like Lethal Weapon 4 The Matrix and even his own Bad Boys II movie. The movie started like it would be deep going but later turns out to be a typical Bay film with long action sequences, chases and explosions. The story turns up to be rather thin, yet the ideas behind it are rather dark. 2,5 stars.

Hot Pursuit.

Officer Rose Cooper has hit a low in her career after a taser-accident that lit up the mayor's son on fire. Uptight by always trying to do everything by the book she is assigned to protect federal witness Daniella Riva, a widow of a druglord. Riva is supposed to testify against her husband and she is to be taken to Dallas but nothing is what it seems to Rose when she suddenly becomes a suspect in her own case.

Unfortunately there's nothing Hot Pursuity on Hot Pursuit at all. Just two women who can't keep their mouths shut for like 90 minutes straight. 1,5 star.

I personally don't hate what Bay has done with Transformers however do agree that for his career, he should have left after the 2nd. It was Spielberg who convinced him to direct the sequels. Smart move? Probably not.

And speaking of which...

Personally I couldn't care less if there are like 10 Transformers movies. I never got really into them. The leading actor has something to do with it too but I'm thinking: "Michael, just move on already." Between 2005 and 2013, he made three Transformers movies before making something else. Of course it's all up to him but it's like he can't or doesn't want to get away from it. I think it would've helped his career a lot if he did more then just Transformers. Back in 2003 I thought Bad Boys II was a good movie. A 2,5 hour destruction fest and I started to look forward to his movies but then in 2007 Transformers came and ever since it seems like he got stuck with it. If he would just make a totally different movie, you'd be surprised how good it can be. He's been in Transformers for over 10 years now and I'm like: "why do you still make them?" or "why are you even a director at all?" For a long time I thought my least favorite director mostly due to reputation was Paul W.S. Anderson. Making movies out of videogames which was never a success. But now I'm beginning to favor him over Bay because it seems he got stuck with Transformers. Each movie that he will make now, people will say: the guy from Transformers. I think it's a career-kill, but of course he's always welcome to redeem himself.

Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom.

About three years passed since the disaster in Jurassic World. The park is closed forever but the dinosaurs are all still alive. Yet another disaster is about to happen as the dormant volcano is starting to wake up and threatens the prehistoric wild life. Owen and Claire are seperated but are called back into action to lead an expedition to ship several species to the mainland where they are to be sold to the highest bidder and will be used to their buyers ends.

Where Jurassic World was so succesful and failed in my opinion, Jurassic World 2 makes up for a whole lot. I've seen Jurassic World 4 times now. Twice at theatre (it was marathon this week) and twice on television. For some odd reason JW seems to be working better on a small screen than on a big one. The finale in JW makes up for something but takes way too long to get there. JW2 is much better in action sequences, story and mood. It's much darker and broader. 3,5 stars.

In 2021 a third movie is planned and is presumably the last one of the franchise. According to what I've read it will probably be called: Jurassic War. Maybe it's time to go rated R.

Gandhi.

The biography of Mahatma Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley. As a young man in the late 19th century, Gandhi is thrown off a train in South Africa because he is an Indian and they don't ride first class. From that moment on he starts to fight inequality in South Africa and later in India to achief independence. He chooses to do this in non-violent way throughout his life that covers nearly the first half of the 20th century. The British in India of course don't feel much to leave their colony behind and arrest Gandhi several times. They also use violence against the Indian people but Gandhi's approach does seem to have more effect then one would think.

This movie is a classic beyond words. Some say one of the last true classics from the old days. It took Attenborough nearly 18 years to get to film made and Ben Kingsley is Gandhi's mirror image that it becomes a bit scary. A lot of the elder people in India actually believed it was Gandhi. The movie won 8 Oscars, including for Best Picture, Director and Actor. All well deserved. With a length of over 3 hours, it's a long sit but far from boring. The movie also holds the world record of the most extra's ever seen in a movie: over 300.000 people during the funeral scene. Keep an eye out for Indian actors: Roshan Seth and Amrish Puri (Chattar Lal and Mola Ram from Temple of Doom). Interesting Seth plays a Prime Minister in both movies. Seth also has played his role from Gandhi in two other movies as well. 5 well deserved stars.

Another 3 this weekend.
It Came From the Desert.

Based on the 1989 video game released by Cinemaware which was originally influenced by films such as Them! from the 1950's, This movie version tells the story of a group of youngsters living in some remote area that witness strange things going on in their deserted town, namely peculiar science laboratories and military bases and of course, giant ants! For this rare occasion, I have to say that the story in the game is far better than the film. Terrible dialogue, acting and production make this film quite laughable. It is a parody, yes and it isnt supposed to be taken seriously, yes. But the film is so poorly made that its difficult to take anything without a tablespoon of salt. ICFTD gets 1 & a half stars from me.

Next up was the Shape of Water.

This latest entry from Director Guilermo Del Toro tells the story of Elisa, a mute working as a cleaning lady at a government laboratory in 1962 when her life changes after she witnesses the arrival of a sea creature that resembles a man being held captive in a tank. Not long after seeing torture and abuse of the creature by the agents particularly a man called Strickland, Elisa and her friends plot to free the sea creature. The first thing that went through my mind was Hellboy. Mainly because Del Toro directed the previous films and of course the character Abe Sapien. It almost felt like i was watching a spin off.

This is an unusual movie which, although i naturally understood it's tone, found it rather unnecessary when it came to certain scenes that expressed sex or passion. Mainly because it was not vital to the story in anyway. This kind of approach limits the viewership of the film which somewhat tarnishes its ability to branch out to a wider audience. Directors doing funny things and 30 years later end up regretting it. That aside, making the 60's look so good has never been so clear especially the cars.

It was a good film and something different aside from the Hellboy references. I give it 4 stars.

Lastly i saw The Thing (2011) version.

For those of you familiar with the 1982 John Carpenter film, this version plays as a prequel. Set just before the events of the 1982 film, this films follows a group of Norwegian researchers who embark to the icy cold region of Antarctica upon the discovery of an alien ship which crash landed on Earth thousands of years ago under the surface along with a life form trapped in the ice. Assuming that there is no danger the research leader decides to extract a sample of the entity which, yes you guessed it, all hell breaks loose.

I have seen this film before but could strangely not remember it very well. However upon recently viewing the 1982 version again, i came to the safe conclusion that this film lacks the charm of Carpenters version. What makes the 82 movie so effective is the suspense of not knowing who is infected and despite lots of creepy visuals, these were minimized in the film to create a sense of paranoia. The 2011 film contains too much CGI and tries to imitate the 1982 movie (Pun intended) with far less impact. It's not a bad film though but it just isn't the same caliber. I give The Thing (2011) 3 stars.

I love John Carpenter's The Thing. One of my favorite horror movies.

My sister and I saw Solo yesterday. It wasn't bad, for an origins movie. I thought Rogue One was better though. My sister liked it better than Last Jedi.

Alden Ehrenreich isn't Harrison Ford, but he does a pretty good job regardless. Same with Donald Glover as Lando. The ending was a bit of a shocker, so I'm not sure if we're gonna get another Solo movie or not, but it's certainly set up for another movie.

I think it's certainly a good movie for any Star Wars fan. I enjoyed it!

Pretty much what i am hearing about Solo. So far though it looks like it tanked at the box office.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philospher's) Stone.

I guess everybody knows Harry Potter's story so no point in bringing it up. But in short... At the age of 11 Harry Potter is beginning to develop his wizard talents. After receiving several letters of Hogwarts, Harry is taken to the wizard school by Hagrid where he meets future best friends: Ron and Hermoine to become the wizard whose destiny is to do great things.

To be honest, I never felt much for the Potter movies. I saw them as a big competitor for LOTR during it's initial release. In my opinion LOTR was much better and much more then just a childrens fantasy. Currently I have seen 5 of the 8 movies a really long time ago but back then I always had the idea something was missing. It was all nice visually but it felt kind of empty to me, storywise I would think. I never had much with it.

Last night I decided to give it another chance. I've been recording the movies for the past two months now and at least the hard drive didn't crash this time. I've got to say I barely remember anything from the movies. I know in the second movie Kenneth Branagh appears, in the third movie Emma Thompson and the fourth movie was composed by Patrick Doyle. All people from the movie Dead Again. But again storywise... I only remembered the broom competition in the first movie. Anyway, the movie was far better then I remembered. I always thought the first two were meant to be cute, but it's thankfully more then that. Anyway, the movie gets 4 stars.

Dombo looks beautiful.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The second in the Harry Potter-franchise. Harry is going to his second year in Hogwarts but something is trying to prevent him from going to school since there has been attacks on all living things leaving them petrified. Thanks to the Weasleys Harry is rescued from his mean aunt and uncle and is able to go to Hogwarts after all where they reunite with Hermoine and trying to figure out why Harry wasn't allowed to go to the school and whatever is causing the living things petrified.

Next to the familiar faces from the first movie, a couple of new ones are also seen like Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart and famous English villain Jason Isaacs as Malfoy's dad. This movie was quite lengthy with it's 161 minute run and the longest out of the franchise. Point of interest is that due to John Williams' busy schedule at the time, he was unable to work fulltime on the Harry Potter score. MacGyver composer, William Ross was called into action to finish the score where it was necessary. Ross mostly serves as orchestrator for major movies and composes them himself.

Anyway a nice follow-up to the first movie. 3,5 stars.

Turn up the volume, if you dare!

I have the worst time watching the animated movie, actually. Baby Mine makes me cry, every damn time! >_<

Also, I was wondering when The Nun was going to come out. I'm really hoping it'll be good.

The Conjuring and Annabelle kicked of the shared universe for horror for the latest icons at least. The Nun is the next chapter in that. This was just a teaser but it looks pretty good.

My sister and I are gluttons for punishment for these movies. lol They're not always what I'd hope they'd be, but they're a fun watch. We usually just order a pizza, drink a couple of beers and make fun of the horrible common sense of the characters. lol

That's what horror is all about.

I have the worst time watching the animated movie, actually. Baby Mine makes me cry, every damn time! >_<

Also, I was wondering when The Nun was going to come out. I'm really hoping it'll be good.

I haven't seen the animated movie in years. Hearing the song in this trailer now has my emotions all screwed.

And another for the holidays

I kinda stopped at the Minion screaming Illumination.

I hate those things...

They're everywhere...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In his third year in Hogwarts Harry is faced with a great challenge when he finds out Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. Black is suspected of being the right-hand man of the dark lord Voldemort and that he intends to kill Harry. To run up the safety of Hogwarts Dementors are appointed to protect the school and Harry, Hermoine and Ron are trying to figure out who Black is and what he wants.

This Potter-movie is a lot darker then the previous two and it delivers on every spot. Still providing laughs every now and then, it shows that the trio of characters are slowly becoming teenagers and are getting more emotionally fleshed out. 4,5 stars.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Harry is going to his fourth year in Hogwarts where this year a tournament is being held called the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The tournament exists out of three trials that should be fulfilled by it's participants. Usually by three students from three schools including Hogwarts. Only the Goblet of Fire has picked out four students this time... Harry Potter is one of them. The trials are brutal, almost cruel, according the Hermoine and the ones who has to face them, has to face them completely alone without the help of others. Suddenly abandoned by his friends Harry has to face his biggest challenge yet alone.

This one is the darkest I have seen so far. The first PG-13 rating in the franchise. Harry, Ron and Hermoine has reached the age of 14 and are now even more emotionally stuck with themselves. I'm halfway the franchise now and they're doing pretty well. Still I have four movies to go. This one also gets 4,5 stars.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In the fifth movie, the magical community expresses their doubts on whether or not Harry has seen the dark lord Voldemort in the previous film. The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is worried about all this and fears Dumbledore might be after his position in the ministry. In order to stay a step ahead of him he sends Dolores Umbridge who slowly succeeds in taking over Hogwarts. Harry Potter, Hermione and Ron step up by giving classes themselves and form Dumbledore's army to take on the dark lord. A matter the Ministery of Magic refuses to accept.

The Order of the Phoenix was alright but seemed the least interesting one so far. Maybe it was the change of scriptwriters, since Steve Kloves (the writer of the previous four movies) had other projects going for him. The actress who played Umbridge was great. The so-called nice disciplinarian/babysit with a gleeful taste of cruelity hidden behind are exterior. I don't know, there was something that seemed to missing, something the other four movies had. 3,5 stars.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Six years have passed since Harry, Hermione and Ron first entered Hogwarts and for the first time it appears Hogwarts is not as safe as it used to be. Voldemort seems to be taking more a more solid forms to enter the wizard world and intends to destroy the real world as well. Not only their threat becomes more real also the kids hormones starts to rage and they get involved in their first romantic relationships. During their classes Harry ends up with a copy of a textbook written by the Half-Blood Prince. Dumbledore has suspicions that one of their teachers Slughorn has witheld a memory that contains the location of a medallion that is considered one of the elements to bring Voldemort back. Harry finds out where it is and together with Dumbledore they go out to find him. What follows changes the events in unexpected ways.

Though it took me two days to see the movie, I just kept dozing off, while I was nearly at the end. This was the darkest movie so far and clearly better than Order of the Phoenix. 4,5 stars.

Has anyone else seen Into the Storm? Just watched it yesterday.

I saw Into the Storm when it was released back in 2014 i think. It was okay.