You're Next: Another Genre Reborn! Cabin In The Woods Too

Hello, WORLD!! Smokkee, natch. While I still feel 2013 sucks movie-wise, there have been some bright spots. Guillermo Del Toro's MAMA comes to mind; many people feel like its the best horror movie of the year so far. I agree... but by default. Unless you're counting STOKER as horror (not to far from it) or you feel like THE CONJURING was better (another great argument), I'm hard pressed to name a better one. I can name a ton of dissappointments like DARK SKIES though, none more so than EVIL DEAD. E D wasn't bad but it coulda been so much more.

I blame my current disdain for current horror movies on 2012's love letter to horror flicks CABIN IN THE WOODS, the title itself a nod to one of the most overused conventions of horror. What CITW did wasn't game changing.  It was different, refreshing even, and the fact that it was done using one of horror's most overused plot settings is even more awe inspiring. If you haven't seen it.... you know what I'm about to say right?

Of course you do and THAT'S my point! Or rather the point of CITW and this new movie from Adam Wingard, YOU'RE NEXT.

A family in the woods is stalked by killers but there's a twist...

Lately Hollywood has felt it has got to go to extreme violence and gore to make a great horror movies. Most of the great horror movies of the past came from very few genres. Exorcisms, zombies, monster movies and slasher films are all what use to scare us. They still can when used right, said CITW and now YOU'RE NEXT.

Here's the premise and please stop me if you've heard this before: a family gathering at a cabin in the woods turns deadly when strangers decide to party crash it. You haven't heard of anything like this? Really? Sounds like you're in denial then. But what I didn't see coming here was how this movie decides to flip this genre to another level. I'm sure if you've read enough web updates you know might know what the twist is. I went in knowing the twist and it still managed to surprise me. Not scare me, though. I know I can still be spooked by horror movies, 2005's THE DESCENT proved that a few years back.  But I was more than just a lil entertained by this movie. I don't think I've laughed so hard at a movie all year and I wasn't the only one laughing either. In fact, most everybody in the theater was cracking up at the exact same stuff I was.

I know I haven't gone into any kind of details but this is one of those movies where the less you know, the better it will be for you. I can tell you that Wingard is getting to be one of those directors whose movies I look forward to seeing. He directed one of the best shorts in the horror anthology V/H/S and had one of the better shorts out of the 26 shorts in another horror anthology called The ABC's Of Death. although his short in V/H/S/2 was somewhat of a let down. Here he displays a great sense of comedic timing. What he doesn't do, even though he invokes the spirit of those 1970 horror classics like the original HALLOWEEN and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, is terrify you like the earlier movies did. I'm more than sure this is being marketed as a horror movie; marketing did not do it's homework. But I digress. I still feel like this is one of the Top Three horror movies of 2013...but by default; everything but MAMA, THE CONJURING, and THE EVIL DEAD sucked. And even EvilDead wasn't as good as it coulda been. C

Bottom Line,

See this movie if :
You want to feel that old school horror movie vibe. It's most certainly felt here. Oh, and you wanna laugh. Yes, there will be cackling.

Skip this movie if: You want to be spooked. You're gonna leave dissappointed.

The Conjuring: Everything A Horror Flick Should Be...Except Scary.

Hello, WORLD!!!

Yep, Smokkee again. In case you hadn't noticed, this blog was formerly known as Smokkee's WORLD Favorites but since most of my favorite's these days are movies, I figured the name should reflect that. MOST but not ALL, which is why I added the + sign. I'll still be reviewing apps, books, etc, whatever. But most reviews will be movies, no doubt about that. Lemme get cracking.

So far the horror movies of 2013 have been less than horrifying, MAMA being a lone exception but even that wasn't scary. It truly had the horror movie mood going for it though, something that can not be said for THE PURGE or the truly disappointing DARK SKIES. Even though I liked the remake of EVIL DEAD, that too was somewhat of a disappointment. The people behind the new E D most have thought 'instead of actually trying to scary our audience, let's try to gross them out instead.'

                                                                                                                         So now I'm beginning to think that Hollywood has forgotten how to make a scary movie. Director and writer James Wan
may be Hollywood's greatest horror champion at the moment but his latest outing, THE CONJURING isn't scary. It does manage to effectively bring the atmosphere of those classic horror movies of yesteryear. One of my Twitter followers Joe Cicero (@radiojoecicero) believes it has a lot to do with the fact that this movie takes place in the 1970s. I believe he has a point.

THE CONJURING starts with two girls telling paranormal activity experts Ed and Lorraine Warren the story of a menacing looking doll that is haunting them. Ed (Patrick Wilson, in his 2nd Wan film) informs the girls that this doll is possessed by a demon who really wants to possess them. We next see this doll in a room in the Warren's home that houses all kinds of supernatural knick-knacks from previous investigations. Ed tells his young daughter that she must never, ever play in this room because of... well, you know, the evil spirits and all.

Ed is the bookwise expert of the couple and his wife Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) is a clairvoyant. There's two things that I should tell you about this movie at this point. First of all, this movie is based on a true story. The Warrens were investigated a numerous amount of paranormal incidents back in the 70's, the most famous being what became known as the Amityville case. Yes, THAT Amityville. Second thing is Wan takes that at face value and plays it like that. This movie portrays the Warrens as legit; not once questioning whether or not they are fake as history has. A wise choice, albeit not an honest one. Most folks would have been having their doubts (especially people of my generation,  for sure).

After meeting the Warrens, we next meet the Perrons:

Carolyn (Lili Taylor) investigates a strange noise coming from the cellar.

Carolyn (Lili Taylor), Roger (Ron Livingston) and their 5 daughters. They have just moved into a new house where, after their kids crash into something playing a game called hide-and-clap, they discover a cellar has been sealed off for some reason. Of course they go exploring it and before you know it, they seek out the Warren's expertise because of the very strange occurrences that start happening right after that. After the Warrens agree that something strange indeed is going on, believing it's another demon after finding the reasons behind it all, they conclude an exorcism is in order and they try to enlist the services of the Catholic church, who must give their authorization before an exorcism can happen. All of that leads to a last act that falls back onto the exorcism. 

I have not done the plot justice. I loved this story and how it's told. Wan obviously knows horror, being one half of the duo behind the SAW series and DEAD SILENCE (one of the better horror movies of the last few years and yes, that movie does manage to spook you). I'm interested to see how his next movie INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2 will fare. I wasn't that much of a fan of the first one but it did manage to give the classic ghost story a modern day update. CONJURING manages to do the same for exorcisms. Most exorcism movies don't work well this days because exorcisms have been overused lately, bordering on cliche even, but THE CONJURING manages to throw some much needed curveballs with theirs.

This movie will not bore you. The only bad news is this movie wont scare you either. It's full of BOO! moments though and if those scare you, you just might be scared by this movie after all. Me? I long for those horror movies that stay with you weeks after you've seen them. This manages to stay with you until you leave the theater. Maybe until you get in your car. Still, that's better than the majority of horror movies released so far this year. Wan is already working on part 2 to this movie.
           

NOW YOU SEE ME = Cinematic Magic?

Hello, WORLD!!! Smokkee here, continuing to play catch up on all of my movie reviews. If you know anything about me, you know I've been disappointed by most of the movies that have been released in 2013. There's only a handful that truly stand out with STOKER being my favorite 2013 movie up to this point. I can now add  NOW YOU SEE ME to this list too. I don't know what it is about magician movies but most are pretty good. THE ILLUSIONIST starring Edward Norton and THE PRESTIGE with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale were both great.

NYSM starts off by introducing us to four magicians: Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinley (Eisenberg's ZOMBIELAND co-star Woody Harrelson), Henly Reeves (Isla Fisher) & Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) showcasing their unique brands of illusion. Each receives a mysterious Tarot card that leads them to an apartment and allows them to meet each other, although there's some kind of past history between Daniel and Henly. After their initial meeting, the film fast forwards to one year later in Las Vegas where the 4 performers are headlining a show as the Four Horsemen, with their benefactor Arthur Tressler, the man who sponsors the quartet, watching from the audience. Tresslrr is played by Michael Caine, who's just as great as always here. And also in the audience is Thaddeus Bradley, a former magician who may hold the key to the grand finale of the Horseman's show. Bradley is played with a smarmy to a tee attitude by Morgan Freeman. The grand finale to end this show, which we find out is the first of three, is they rob a bank...in Paris! Interesting, right?

 Enter FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) who is teamed up with Interpol agent Alma Vargas to figure out how they do it and what could they possibly do for encores at their next two shows... 

I loved this movie until the end. I walked out the theater still liking this movie but not as much as I thought I would when it ended. Also, you never really get to know any of these characters nor do you care about them. For one brief second, this movie appeared to be heading to greatness but that too was an illusion. Not bad but coulda been way better. It's definitely worth viewing.

B-

Later, WORLD!

THE ICEMAN: He Comeths But He Looks Awfully Familiar

        Hello, WORLD!!! Smokkee here, talking about a film from a genre that I thought would never get old. That film is THE ICEMAN, the genre is gangster movies, and that assumption was dead wrong.

        Based on a true story, THE ICEMAN tells the tale of Richard Kuklinski (played by Michael Shannon), who was just a porn distributor with a bad temper until he met a goodfella by the name of  Roy DeMeo (played here by the goodfella Ray Liotta) who comes to him to kill him for a bad video deal but instead notices that Kuklinski is a steely type of fellow. "He's as cold as ice." DeMeo observes at one point in the movie, made clear by the fact that DeMeo has a gun looking squarely in Kuklinski's face at the time.  Instead of killing him, DeMeo gives Rich a better money making opportunity as a hitman for DeMeo's mafia family.

        Speaking of family, Rich is totally devoted to his wife Deborah (Wynona Ryder, acting a bit rusty here) and later, their two daughters. He has hidden the fact that he's a hitman from her and their friends. Hell, he even hid the fact that he was a pornographer from her too. Soon separating the two Richs are as hard for Kuklinski to do as is socializing and everything comes crashing down. The only guy he really could talk to is another hitman who names himself after the icecream truck he works out of: Mr Softee (Chris Evans, one of the few acting bright spots in this movie).

         ICEMAN may have seemed like a good idea for movie. According to his Wikipedia page, Kuklinski is said to have killed anywhere from 100 to 250 people between 1948 and 1986. In most cases I'd say yes, make a movie about that guy. This movie isn't bad however, it's just a rehash of almost every gangster movie cliche you've ever seen, from THE GODFATHER to SCARFACE even to Ray Liotta's riveting turn in GOODFELLAS. The question is if you've never seen any of those movies would I recommend this movie to you. I don't think I could. Besides Liotta and Evans the rest of the cast doesn't do much to make this story compelling or to make their character stand out. Not totally surprising, though I did expect a better showing from Shannon but he didn't have much to do but glare most of the time. Now name me a gangster movie that didn't have a gangster doing that. Go ahead. I'll wait. D



  

THIS IS THE END - A Decent Way To Go

       Hello, WORLD!! Smokkee here, for now. With all the apocalyptic movies that have been coming out lately, it almost seems like the end is nigh. But who knows right? Actually, if MELANCHOLIA, SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, ZOMBIELAND, and WARM BODIES are any

indication, maybe it won't be so bad after all. I loved those movies & I'm half-halfheartedly adding THIS IS THE END to that group. It's not quite as good as the former movies but it still manages to entertain.

       THE END starts out with Seth Rogan meeting his friend Jay Baruchel at LAX. Seth is played by a Seth Rogan and every almost every other actor in this movie is playing a version of themselves as well. It's clear early on that there's gonna be tons of self depreciating humor in this movie when the in the opening scene alone Seth gets ridiculed for the GREEN HORNET, his laugh, and the fact that he plays the same character in every movie. Almost everybody has a little fun with themselves and there's tons of stars in this movie, from Rihanna to Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse. I won't reveal everbody though because part of the beauty of star cameos is finding out the that star was in the movie in the first place. One star's cameo towards the end of this movie in particular and the manner in which he appears is beyond insane. 

        Jay is out in LA for to visit but makes it clear from the onset that he hates LA and LA-ish people. He just wants to hang out with his buddy Seth. Seth has a better idea: he talks Jay into attending a party hosted

Michael Cera's cameo almost steals this whole movie.

by James Franco at his new house with people like Franco, Jonah Hill, & Michael Cera (who makes every scene he's in hysterical) in attendance. LA-ish people.

         Needing some air from all of the LA-ness, Jay heads for a convience store with Seth in tow and that's when all hell breaks loose. Literally? Maybe... Anyway, when all is said and done, only Seth, Jay, James, Jonah, and Craig Robinson are still alive at Franco's house. The spend time trying to make sense of it all in between making movies like PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 2 to entertain themselves.
        
         If you loved any of the earlier Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg movies, you'll love this one too I suppose. I liked this movie enough to recommend it but I did have some problems with it. First, at 106 minutes, this movie last entirely too long. It's premise starts to wear thin towards the middle. And it has a strong sexual innuendo that appears early in the movie and stays throughout the movie but doesn't quite provide the chuckles I imagine the writers thought it would. This movie isn't super bad but it isn't SUPERBAD either. Here's hoping Simon Pegg's similiar themed comedy AT WORLD'S END due out this August is as good or better than this.  C+  

DISCONNECT: Maybe One Of The Most Important Films You'll See This Year.

Hello, WORLD!! Smokkee Singleton here. Yep, It's been a long time. I got TONS of reviews for you but I'm trying to play catch up here so I'll try to stick to the movies that's out now and movies that you may have missed but I've been too busy on The Simpsons: Tapped Out (Yes, I've become addicted to that freaking game!) to write. I'm gonna kick my return to movie reviewing off with what I feel is one of the most important movies I've seen this year.


DISCONNECT stars ensemble cast in various stories about socializing in this age of technology we're in. One narrative features Jason Bateman acting as what is fast becoming his type of character as Rich, a family man that doesn't spend nearly as much time with his wife Lydia (Hope Davis) or their kids (Haley Ramm and Jonah Bobo) as he does on a computer until a tragedy hits. How this tragedy comes about also causes a crisis between a father and son (Frank Grillo and Colin Ford). In another story Andrea Risebough plays an up-and-coming TV reporter who happens visits a mail escort site and lands a story with one such escort under the condition that he remains anonymous, that leads to a bigger opportunity....if she'll reveal her source. Lastly, in what to me is the center piece of this movie, Alexander Skarsgard and Paula Patton play the Hulls, a married couple who become victims of identity theft due to one or maybe more of their online activities, including online gambling and chatroom conversations. Their relationship is strained by their actions and because of Facebook and Twitter, their story is probably the most accessible and the most relative to our society.

Alexander Skarsgard and Paula Patton as the Hulls in DISCONNECT

The first thing that strikes you about this movie is how much it will remind you of CRASH. To put it mildly, this feels like a continuation of the tone of that earlier Oscar winning movie, with the racial issues replaced with modern day socializing issues. That said, director Henry Alex Rubin does a great job showing the connected world as we know it as well as highlighting the dangers of it as well. My only complaint is that this movie gets wrapped up nice and neat with no issue truly resolved or ended on bad terms. We all know life usually doesn't work that way. How many truly happy endings have there been? Still, because of the issues this movie addresses, I feel that this is a must see for anybody that uses a smart phone or a computer. Log off and check this movie out. B-     

IRON MAN 3 Goes The Distance

Hello, WORLD!! Smokkee here. Just got a chance to watch the last part of the IRON MAN movie trilogy. It certainly ended like the last chapter but we all know after the inevitable AVENGERS 2 there may be another solo outing for Tony Stark yet.

This movie starts with that Stark at a New Year's Eve party in 1999, years before he became the hero we know him as today. Accompanying Tony at this gathering is his date Dr Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) and his loyal bodyguard Happy (the first two IRON MAN movie's director Jon Favreau). Sneaking aboard their already crowded elevator is the slightly unsightly Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce, unrecognizable at first). He wants to offer Tony a chance to be part of his new company AIM and Tony plays a mean prank on him as a way of saying 'beat it'.

(SN: Interestingly enough I remember meeting Aldrich, Maya and Maya's invention, Extremis, during a period of time when I still read comic books on a regular basis but not in the capacity of how this movie portrays them.) 

Flash foward to the Iron Man Stark. How is Tony (Robert Downey Jr) these days anyway after the events of last summer? He doesn't appear to be too scarred by them but it's revealed early that he isn't the same. Of course he just met a god, a monster, a living legend from decades ago, not to mention an entire alien army. So nobody can blame him if he's not quite the same fun loving billionaire after all that. That entire experience haunts him. He starts to have panic attacks anytime somebody brings up the New York incident. So what does he do? He does what he does best: he works. He's become another type of Iron Man, one who just keeps going and going. He reveals he has barely slept since the event, dragging himself out of bed to work on, what else, improving his Iron Man techonology. In earlier scenes it appears his robotic assistant Jarvis (voiced by Paul Bettany) has more personality than the former fun loving Stark.

The one thing that he has going for him is the love of his best friend Pepper Potts (the always lovely Gweneth Paltrow). She has a meeting with a now handsome Killian (Pearce, now looking like Pearce) and she too rebuffs his offer, albeit not as cruelly as Stark. Meanwhile, Stark's friend Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), still in possession of the War Machine outfit, now called Iron Patriot (Marvel Comics fans would remember that name too), is on the hunt per the POTUS for a terrorist called the Mandarian (Ben Kingsley, who should be arrested for stealing every scene he's in), the mastermind behind a series of bombings that is confusing the hell out of everybody because no bomb casings are recovered from the scenes of the crimes.  

This sets in motion a chain of events that will leave.... No since spoiling anything right?

You're just here to see if this movie works, right? It totally works! And the 3D for once doesn't take anything away from the great story telling. If I have any complaints, it's that IM# starts kinda slow but once it takes its foot off the brakes, you're in for one hell of a ride. Wanna talk about this movie with me? Find me on Twitter as @MrGBIZ or catch me on Bunch.com.





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