The Nightmare on Elm Street

Hello World...

Following suit with the theme of the month i.e. the scariness that is Halloween, i decided to make an attempt to scare myself. I decided to rent the newer revamped version of the old classic, "A Nightmare on Elm Street", and I was not disappointed. The movie more or less followed the same plot as the original, centered around teenagers at a school being terrorized by an unknown man with an unsightly sweater and a set of claws throughout the dreams, thus turning them into nightmares (hence the name). This reboot is one of three newer version of horror classics, the other two being Halloween and Friday the 13th. This one would rank second behind Halloween, which was phenomenally done by Rob Zombie. The movie also adds more terror by casting Jackie Earle Haley (The Watchmen), who unlike the original Freddy Krueger, actually added some scariness to the role. The original one, even though quite scary, grew to become more and more comical. The newer version of Krueger had many witty lines but overall kept his presence on screen as a villain and not just comic relief. This version also goes a lot deeper into the plot, detailing what really happened to the Krueger and why he is the way he is. This is done by using flashbacks within the nightmares he creates. Although I'm not a fan of the ending, as it seems the only to kill Krueger *spoiler alert* is to bring him to the real world and kill him here; it overall was a decently scary movie and serves as a pretty good box office movie on opening weekends, sadly not much else though....

DayBreakers

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Recently and to heavy opposition i was forced to watch the movie DayBreakers. I'm a huge fan of  Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Dead Poets Society Reality Bites) but i am not a big fan of vampire or zombie movies. Something about the end of the human race kind of creeps me out. DayBreakers was primarily about the human race being turned into vampires not by vampires attacking others, but by a disease. Soon however the more people that become vampires in turned meant less eatable human beings available. With the vampires nearing a famine of human blood they are desperately looking for a substitute. Unlike humans though they do not simply die out. Instead they slowly turn into monsters that feed on anything including themselves. Society is slowly split between the paranoid,rich, upper class that can afford blood but realize that slowly there time is ending; and then the lower classes that are slowly turning into monsters and ravaging the streets at night. This part of the plot really adds a certain dynamic that truly shows how greedy people can be and how desperate people may really become. This part in the story is quite interesting especially with america's certain dependency on oil. However, the main character Ethan Hawke accompanied by William Dafoe find a cure, which i wont reveal, which allow people to turn back into human beings. The  dilemma then becomes deeper as people must realize that being a vampire is a way of life and they've changed so much that is going back really worth it? The movie has lots of gore,and its very dark and dank in terms of cinematography, made in the same style I hope to make movies someday. The ending leaves you wanting more bout it isnt bad. All in all i'd watch it again but if the rental wasnt free from family video, I'd be a little more regretful for choosing to pay for that movie.

Kick Ass!

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Today I bring you a brief review on an old yet semi new movie called “Kick-Ass!”. The movie is centered on an average, semi-nerdy kid who one day has had enough and decides that he wants to become a super hero. Sounds like nothing new at first I will agree. But after watching the first 18 minutes of the movie I was completely left awestruck. * Spoiler Alert * The turning point that separates this from a run of the mill mild mannered man transforming to a superhero thru an accident happens when the main character, in his first attempt at thwarting a robbery, gets viscously beaten and stabbed! Completely unexpected and left my jaw dropped from then on until the end of the picture. The best thing about this movie is that it depicts what may really happen if someone did decide to put on a costume. Take a break from reading this, close your eyes, and truly imagine what would happen if you decided to put on a cape and try and fight a random person in the street. Do you think you would win? This movie does a great job at showing what would happen realistic, but at the same time sending a message about resilience and what can happen if one man decides to set aside his own well being to help society. The film is also very funny as well. The main character comes across a father-daughter superhero tandem that is the real deal as if Stan Lee wrote their lives in a comic book. The contrast of the main character being defenseless and not to skilled with the father-daughter tandem that could easily save metropolis if Superman decided to take a sabbatical make the movie interesting and very unpredictable. “Kick-Ass!” is one of the few movies in the past few years that I would definitely have no problem paying a hefty Tinseltown fee for admission.

All in all…a great movie for kids, adults, men, and women…should definitely take some time out to see if you haven’t by now

And like that…I’m gone…

The Last Exorcism

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Today I bring you a short review on a recent movie I saw entitled “The Last Exorcism” directed by Eli Roth. The movie follows an “exorcist for hire” as he embarks on his last exorcism. *Spoiler Alert * The supposed exorcism for hire is a complete fraud but doesn’t hide it at all. He chooses to do exorcisms mainly because he had a child born premature, meanwhile at the same time an exorcist in another town attempts an exorcism but ends up killing the child in the process. Seeing this and being so grateful that his premature child survived, he sets out to stop exorcisms from happening for real, he decides to do them professionally himself. Since he does not believe in god or demons he has a set of tricks as well as specific scriptures memorized to give off the feel that he performed a real exorcism. He eventually receives a letter from someone claiming his daughter is possessed by the devil itself. He goes down to the deep south of Louisiana and there proceeds to perform the fake exorcism. After doing so, collecting the money and leaving, he returns to his hotel; but later is awoken by the little girl who was allegedly possessed. From there the story spirals out of control as the daughter turns out to actually be possessed by the devil. The main character is faced with a serious dilemma: perform another fake exorcism to no avail, or allow the father to kill his daughter saving her soul from being consumed. To make this review more interesting I’ll save the ending for you to find out on your own, but I guarantee it is an ending that you will not expect at all. Many people have blogged and written reviews online slamming the ending and I must say I have to do the same. The ending was a little random but did make some sense. Visually it was just done horribly and is reminiscent of “The Blair Witch Project” just slightly more graphic. I definitely wouldn’t recommend seeing this in theaters because it is not worth the $10 admission as well as the $11.25 for the nacho combo.

 

All in all…a decent film…nice premises….just needed better execution…

And like that…I’m gone…

Better Late than Never….But Never Late is Better….

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This is my first official blog post for digital video 1 class. Due to things out of my control (Resurgence of professional/college football, Madden 2011, and some serious allergies) his post comes 10 or so days late. For that I apologize to the rest of my classmates as well as Professor Mann. I can’t go back in time to make up days lost, but what I can do is guarantee a completely unbiased, raw, and entertaining blog that will provide great insight on what’s going on in our class, as well as the world of film. Where going on our 3^rd week of school and thus far, I love the direction things our going in the class. In all honesty I had some second thoughts early in the class mainly about the speed at which we were learning things. Coming from DV2 last year I felt like thins were moving in slow motion. The second day in however I learned many basic camera techniques that I know could of helped all my projects from the previous year. Small things like shutter speed I feel could have added a more veteran feel to my work.

All in all…you can never stop learning and improving on something you love to do…and this class is building a nice foundation for future projects…

And like that…I’m gone…