Movie Review #64: Sleepy Hollow (1999)

I was going to save this for later in October but having just reviewed the pilot to to Fox's new show of the same name and story, how could I not?

Sleepy Hollow is directed by Tim Burton who is one of my favorite directors. I admire his gothic visual style, dark humor and the fact that many of his films are easy to watch. That is something you can't say about many directors is that you can pop in any of their films on a whim and enjoy them. And Sleepy Hollow is no exception.

The story goes that a young Ichabod Crane, played by a young Johnny Depp, is sent to a sleepy little town called Sleepy Hollow to investigate the unsolved murders of the towns citizens and solve the mystery of The Headless Horseman.

Of all of Tim Burton's films, Sleepy Hollow is the one that feels to be the most "Tim Burtony". What I mean by that is that Sleepy Hollow has perhaps the most Tim Burton elements. These are what I like to call the "Six Degrees of Tim Burton".

1.) Johnny Depp
2.) Tim Burton's friends fill the supporting cast (Ex: Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Jones, Martin Landau)
3.) Danny Elfman score
4.) Oscar winning art direction
5.) Style over substance
6.) Unintentional humor

Every single one of these elements is represented in this film. Let's start with the acting:
Johnny Depp was pretty good in this movie. It's always refreshing to be reminded that there was a time when Tim Burton gave Johnny Depp serious roles that didn't involve him getting decked out in white make-up. The supporting cast was also pretty good. Nothing special stood out about their performances except for Christopher Walken as The Headless Horseman. He made me chuckle quite a few times.

Danny Elfman's score is phenomenal. Just like with Depp, Burton and Elfman just click. They just understand each other so well. They're like the creepy version of Stephen Spielberg and John Williams. The visuals in typical Tim Burton fashion are lavishly macabre that completely immerse you in the scene. I actually find them kind of beautiful in a way.

The biggest issue I had with the movie is that with such a great story, this could have made a decent horror movie. It ended up coming off as silly and campy in the end. I mean really, how can you not laugh when someones head gets lopped clean off their shoulders and rolls in between Johnny Depp's legs? It could have been scarier, but I'm not complaining too much because I'm a wimp when it comes to scary movies.

Final Report: Sleepy Hollow might not be as scary as it could have been, but that is quickly made up for by the gothic visuals and elements, quick pace, entertaining action set-pieces and a phenomenal score by Danny Elfman.

Television Review #8: Sleepy Hollow Pilot Review (2013-)

Dang. Has it really be over two months since I reviewed a TV show? Now that truly is frightening.

I have an interesting relationship with TV shows. I only watch shows that are on the air if they intrigue me from the trailers or if my close friends personally request them to me. And Sleepy Hollow was the only show that looked intriguing.

It's created by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman who have co-written the scripts for Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness and for J.J. Abram's shows like Fringe. I was also interested in seeing what these two could do without J.J. Abrams around.

So how is Sleepy Hollow? Intriguing to say the least.

I like the guy who plays Ichabod Crane. I think he fits the part perfectly. Not only does he look and sounds the part, but he's also pretty likeable. His counterpart, a female cop named Abbie was not as easily likeable as he is. It took me a while to fully adjust to her. Also because she looks like a discount version of Martha Jones from Doctor Who. I just couldn't shake that thought from my mind during the entire episodes 44 minute run-time. Her boss also looks like a discount version of Phillip Broyles from Fringe!

But luckily, the chemistry between our two leads, Crane and Abbie, works. It's obvious that their relationship is going to grow because from the start, Abbie isn't quite sure what to think of Crane but she can't just let him go because she knows that he is their best chance at defeating the Headless Horseman. Which leads me to my next point and that is that the Headless Horseman is completely awesome. There are multiple decapitations in this one episode, (also awesome) but what really sold me was when he picked up a machine gun. I feel like I don't even need to go on anymore to get your interest.

And, without spoiling anything, the episode ends in a way that actually kind of disturbed me. The last minute alone made me eager to see the next episode.

The writers have a great, huge, interesting story to tell, the lead actors click and the visuals are top notch. Let's hope Fox doesn't cancel it after lest than 20 episodes!

Final Report: Sleepy Hollow has more than enough potential to be great. It's like a combination of Elementary and Supernatural mixed with the visual flare of J.J. Abrams and the gothic, creepy vibe of Tim Burton. Where it stands on just one episode, it's a good deal of fun.

My Top Five Favorite Films of Summer 2013

Summer might be long gone but that doesn't mean you can't still talk about summer movies! So I am going to rank my top five favorite films I saw at my local theater.

Please keep in mind that I wasn't able to see every movie I wanted to. I wanted to see Man of Steel and Fast & Furious 6 but I didn't get around to it. I will end up reviewing them when they come out to rent.

So here are my picks:

1. Star Trek Into Darkness.

This was so much fun! It ended up being everything I wanted the sequel to be. It was an easy movie to watch with fast-paced, intense, thrilling action, quick witted humor and a phenomenal performance by Benedict Cumberbatch. Even though it might be considered to be a remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, I'm not complaining. Both are fantastic movies and I can't wait to see what J.J. Abrams has in store for the Star Wars universe.

2. Pacific Rim.

I felt like a kid in a candy store when I was watching Pacific Rim. My eyes were huge and my mouth started to hurt from smiling too much. It was just beyond words incredible seeing enormous robots fighting equally massive monsters. Pacific Rim is a shinning example of what a movie can be if the studio executives don't rule over everything and calling more shots than the director. The fact that this lost to Grown Ups 2 in the box office is another fact of what's wrong with humanity.

3. The Wolverine.

This was a huge surprise for me. I didn't think anything of this when I was planning out all of the movies that I wanted to see during the summer. The trailer didn't entice me, but I was wowed by how awesome The Wolverine was! The story was fascinating, the Japanese culture was exquisite and Logan's backstory got more fleshed out. Not to mention the action sequences he was in were completely awesome! This gets me all the more excited for X-Men: Days of Future Past.

4. World War Z.

Of all of the many films that bombed at the box office this summer, I'm very glad that World War Z wasn't one of the many that did. Especially with all of the odds that were against it! The story, much like the zombies, moves. The action is pretty intense with quite a few surprising scares thrown in here and there. And a finale that is so white knuckle you will hold your breath with anticipation and anxiety. I eagerly look forward to a sequel.

5. Iron Man 3.

The final spot was a tough one to choose. I flip-flopped between Iron Man 3 and Elysium for a long time. It was really tough to choose because both films had moments that I could have done without. But I settled on Iron Man 3 because I realized that I would rather re-watch this over Elysium any day. And this was vastly superior to Iron Man 2. Although I still can't get over the complete bait-and-switch they pulled on us with The Mandarin.





So that's my list of my favorite summer movies. Do you agree? What was your favorite movie of the summer/year? Tell me down below!

Movie Review #63: The Breakfast Club (1985)

Here is the first of many high school movies to come and what better film to start with than perhaps the most famous one of them all?

The Breakfast Club is about five high school kids with nothing in common have to serve a saturday detention (because back then schools actually disciplined kids.) And by the end of the day they end up learning that they really aren't that different.

I only recently watched this for the first time and I understand why this is one of my mom's favorite movies.

The main thing that makes The Breakfast Club so great is also what makes Arrested Development so great, and that is the characters. They are all so relatable and realistic that I have met people at high school that are like these characters. I even met someone named John Bender! That was just pure luck I guess.

You can relate and empathize with them because the problems they are going through are problems. I know people who have had to deal with the problems of the characters. The scene when Emilio Esteves pours all his problems out is one of the most emotional and sincere monologues I've heard.

And the song Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds is such a great track. One of the best songs in any movie from the 1980's. I would put it up there with Kenny Loggins Footloose.

John Hughes films should be one of the few things that Hollywood should stay away from remaking because they are perfect how they are. Flawed, but perfectly flawed.

Final Report: The Breakfast Club works so well because nothing about it seems fake like with other high school films. You can easily connect with the characters because you either know someone like them or you are one of them.

Very Important News: The Future of the Blog

As I said in my last review, school is starting up for me and that means that the reviews will become less frequent because of homework, projects, stress and all that fun stuff. I will try to post one a week. Most likely on the weekends, (or if I get sick for a few days then I will go on a movie marathon!)

I will still try to go to see the new releases in theaters. There are a couple films that I will definitely be reviewing. (I'm looking at you Gravity.) I will also be reviewing new releases at the video store and some movies that are thematic with what I am experiencing in my life, (so there are going to be a lot of high-school movies.) And when December rolls around I will be reviewing some of my favorite Christmas movies so there is that to look forward to.

So I'll do my best, but in the meantime please enjoy the reruns.

Movie Review #62: The Lone Ranger (2013)

Why am I reviewing a movie that came out almost two months ago? I figured that since I start school on tuesday, this would be my last chance to go see a movie in theaters to review. And since The Lone Ranger only just came to my local theater, the stars have alined for this to happen.

In The Lone Ranger, an older Tonto tells the story of the Lone Ranger of how he came to be and the adventures he had.

Contrary to some people, I am a fan of Gore Verbenski's films. Curse of the Black Pearl is one of my favorite action films of the new millennium. I also like Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. So when I heard he was going to make a big screen adaptation of The Lone Ranger, I was excited because he would be making another western and his first western was Rango which I completely adore. But then the reviews came pouring in claiming this to be a huge turkey. This made me put off seeing it until now. So I went in hoping to get at least something like a western Pirates of the Caribbean. And did I get that? At times yes, but with the good parts there is most definitely bad.

Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger was actually one of the biggest issues I had with the movie. In the original Lone Ranger TV show, he was always the main character and Tonto was his sidekick. It rarely felt like that. I like Armie Hammer, but I don't think that he has grown enough as an actor to play a lead. Especially in a movie like this. Now you might say that Johnny Depp just stole the show. I disagree because look how his name is listed first on the poster above. You could say because he is the more well known name, but I say that the script was written with the intention that Tonto would be the lead instead of The Lone Ranger. It's like how in the Transformers cartoon it focused on the robots. But in the live action Michael Bay movies, the focus was towards the humans and the Transformers were supporting characters. That's not how it should be. For Transformers or The Lone Ranger.

My biggest issues with Johnny Depp is that he is playing Captain Jack Sparrow only coated a different layer of white makeup. Hopefully in the future he will get to do more roles like Public Enemies where he actually gets to give a serious performance.

The only character that I really dug was William Fichtner was the villain Butch Cavendish. I got behind him as a villain because he was really entertaining and menacing and the scenes he's in aren't cartoony. William Fichtner is an actor that has a recognizable face but you don't know his name. He might even end up being the only good part about the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie!

The runtime could have been shortened by at least 30 minutes. At times it was kind of boring. There are some elements of the film that could have been cut out because the story is very large and some of the story arcs could have been done without.

On a technical level, The Lone Ranger does not disappoint at all. The $210,000,000 budget is very evident on screen because the action set pieces are well crafted and highly entertaining. The last 20 minutes were the best part of the film because the William Tell Overture played and the finale began with a train chase sequence that had me smiling from beginning to end.

Final Report: While The Lone Ranger isn't in the running for best movie of the year, it isn't the worst of the year by any means. If you are going to see this, either see it at the budget theater or wait to rent. It definitely isn't Wild Wild West 2 by any means!

News: James Spader is Ultron!

I just returned from vacation up north without any internet access or wi-fi. So when I came home and checked IMDB this was the biggest news. I'm not sure how long this has been out so this might be old news to some of you.

I don't know, but what I do know is that Marvel announced that James Spader will be playing the villain Ultron in The Avengers sequel titled The Avengers: Age of Ultron. There has not been any confirmation on whether he will be doing only the voice of Ultron or a motion capture performance like Mark Ruffalo did as The Hulk in The Avengers.

I think that this is an excellent casting move. James Spader is a very talented and underrated actor and it is good to see him getting more mainstream roles.

The one role of his that sticks out to me the most was him as Robert California on the eight season of The Office. He was the only good part about season eight. In a sense, he was the villain of The Office that season and he was fantastic. Spader also has the perfect voice for Ultron.

"That guy creeps me out, but... he might also be a genius"

How do you feel about this? Are you psyched for Spader to kill it as Ultron or are you hesitant? I'm pretty sure we can all agree that this is better casting news than Ben Affleck as Batman. With all this casting news being announced I have a feeling that we are going to get our first Star Wars Episode VII actor announced. Fingers crossed!

News: Ben Affleck is Batman!

Holy Huge Casting News Batman! Ben Affleck has been confirmed to don the cape and cowl and play Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel coming out July 17th, 2015. Henry Cavil will return as Superman and so will Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I read the headline on IMDB. Of all the people rumored for the role, his was one that I didn't hear much about. I was predicting it would be Josh Brolin or Karl Urban. But I was hoping that Michael Keaton would return. That would have made me so happy. But since it is now Ben Affleck, my feelings are mixed ones.

Pro: He looks the role of Bruce Wayne. I can totally buy him as Bruce Wayne.
Pro: He has got the body for it.
Pro: He is a well-know face in Hollywood.
Pro: He has won two Oscars.
Con: Neither of those Oscars were for acting.
Con: He only gives good performances in films that he has directed like Argo.
Con: The last time he played a superhero was in Daredevil. Need I go on?

The emotions I am feeling with this are a mix of excitement, fear, terror, depression and optimism. I am still trying to wrap my mind around this. But hey, at least it isn't Clooney!

What say you my fellow readers? Please comment below. (It makes me happy!)

Movie Review #61: Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

I never had the chance to see this film in theaters, but since it just came out to rent this is as good a time as any. But this does not mean that I will also be reviewing Roland Emmerich's White House Down because that looks completely awful whereas this looks fun. Stupid but fun. And that is all I want in a film like this.

In Olympus Has Fallen, Koreans have taken over the White House and it is up to Gerard Butler to save the day. The plot is pretty simple because in a film like this, you really don't need complexity.

Is this film original? No.
Is it familiar to past, superior action films? Heck yeah.
Is it enjoyable? Totally!

I had a blast with Olympus Has Fallen because after the first 20 minutes it is straight up, 100% guilty pleasure action. The action is very reminiscent of gritty, realistic '80's - '90's action films like Die Hard. In fact, this could/should have been Die Hard 5! Or at least the 24 movie that they have been teasing at making for years. Is a 24 movie still in the works? I'm not sure if it is anymore because Fox is bringing 24 back for another season. Time will tell I guess.

Gerard Butler plays our hero and he is a great hero. He carries the film for the most part and he does a really good job. He needs to star in more movies like this and less romantic comedies. That needs to happen. Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman are also good, but that shouldn't be a huge surprise to anyone. The script does what it has to do for a film like this, which is to get the ball rolling. I'm just glad that the dialogue isn't corny or cheesy.

Even if the concept of The White House getting taken over isn't very realistic, the action has a sense of realism. When Gerard Butler throws a punch, it looks realistic. The CGI on the other hand was not. It wasn't awful, but it could have been better. That didn't take me out of the film though because I was having too much fun!

Final Report: Don't go into Olympus Has Fallen expecting it to tide you over until Terrence Malick's next project because this is 100% guilty pleasure action. And I am perfectly fine with that!

Movie Review #60: Prometheus (2012)

Of all of the films to come out last year, no film was quite as controversial as Prometheus. You either liked it, loved it, hated it or despised it so much that you burn every copy you find. But I am here to set the record straight!
..... Actually, I can't set the record straight because this is 100% my opinion so that would be very biased of me .....

In Prometheus, a group of scientists discover a clue to the origins of mankind and they set on a journey to find our creators.

The reason why people were so psyched for Prometheus was that from the trailers, it looked like a prequel to Alien. People thought that it would make sense considering Ridley Scott directed Alien and Prometheus. As it turns out it isn't. Prometheus isn't a prequel to Alien. Prometheus merely takes place in the same universe as Alien does. The upcoming sequel might end up connecting to Alien, but that's up for debate. I think that the fact that Prometheus isn't a sequel is the why many people hate this film. Here is my reasoning:

Some people went into Prometheus expecting that all of the questions they had about Alien would be answered. As it turns out it wasn't a prequel and that is why many fanboys were incredibly let down; because none of their questions were answered. Apparently some people only like movies that explain things to them because they are too simple minded to use a little thing called "thinking" and they don't want anything in a movie to be left up to the imagination. Even though that is half the fun for some movies. Sorry, I just get very defensive against all the Prometheus haters.

Now for the actual review:
Prometheus is a phenomenal sci-fi horror film. The cast consists of Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce. All give great performances, but Michael Fassbender out-shined them all. He plays David, and android and he is so fantastic. The visuals are astounding. Prometheus is worth seeing on a visual level alone. They are even more praiseworthy considering very little CGI was involved. For the most part, practical effects were used. And for that, I tip my hat to Sir Ridley Scott. Well done sir.

My biggest issue is that the script is inconsistent at times. There is this scene where a scientist gets freaked out by a dead body, but when he encounters a creature they haven't seen before he wants to touch it! I don't understand that at all.

Final Report: Even though the questions we had about Alien aren't answered, Prometheus is still a visually arresting science fiction adventure with a terrific performance by Michael Fassbender.