Child's Play 2

Sorry for that short sidebar review the other day…it was something I really needed to get off of my chest and it felt great to do so, but it’s time to continue my reviews of must-see horror movies for the Halloween season.


Rather than rehashing my short reviews of some of my favorite horror movies (see my Top 20 Horror Movies review), I’ve picked out some films that you may have not seen or have forgotten—like I have—over the years.

One movie I’ve seen recently is a film I haven’t seen since it was released in theaters in 1990…Child’s Play 2.  With a tagline like, “Sorry, Jack…Chucky’s Back,” how could you go wrong? Of course, that tagline makes sense when you see it in context with the poster art, showing Chucky attempting to cut off the head of a Jack-in-the-box with scissors.  Yes, the sequel to the hit 1988 original brings back that possessed killer doll to continue what he does best: evoke terror and kill.

When I first saw this movie back in 1990, I wasn’t impressed and thought it just didn’t hold a candle to the original. I never gave it another try on rental or cable TV...I just thought it was a shitty movie and shouldn’t even waste my time with it again. But as people get older, they become more forgiving (or is it forgetful?) and I started thinking about how this franchise grew and how Chucky was the one who made it what it was. Not only that, but I was getting set to visit Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios and I knew that Chucky was sometimes a staple of that event. So wanting to catch up and get a refresher on the series, I had Netflix send me a copy of Child’s Play 2 and I was glad I did.

I really don’t understand why I didn’t enjoy this movie back then. The movie is definitely a fun and solid popcorn flick that had me thinking about some of the fun movies I had seen during the early 90s.

Throughout the beginning credits, the film opens with a montage of someone cleaning up the mess that was left of Chucky in the first film. Mainly, his head is being stripped of the melted plastic and scraped off of the metal (or plastic...I can't tell) skull underneath. His teeth are cleaned and, overall, all burned and melted parts—including his eyes—are taken out. The head is remade with a new plastic skin and red hair, all attached to a new toy body. We then see that the film is taking place at the Good Guy toy factory, with the company’s owner (Peter Haskell) and the factory manager (Greg Germann) talking about the doll and how they want to make sure everything is okay with it. The manager mentions how it was a goof with someone recording bad things when the doll was first made. They then go on talking about who knows about what had happened and it’s revealed that the cops recanted their stories with the boy’s mother spending time in a mental institution. Seems that the owner wants to prove they had fixed the doll’s problems. Well, at this point, the technicians are putting the final touches on the doll, using a machine to place the new eyes in the doll’s head (they did everything else by hand, so why not the eyes?). Somehow the machine malfunctions, shooting some electricity into the doll which, apparently, brings it back to life—although we don’t find out until a little later. The manager is told to hold onto the doll until they can show it at some presentation, but he never makes it home, thanks to Chucky. Meanwhile, Chucky finds Andy and all hell—meaning, Chucky—beaks loose.

I like how they continued the story using Andy (Alex Vincent) as he's now orphaned and living with a foster family. How he was constantly blamed for doing the horrible things that Chucky was actually doing was cool (the note on his homework to the teacher, found in the basement with the electric knife). However, the kid was a terrible actor when he did the first one and he isn’t any better in this one, but it’s good to see the same actor nonetheless.

The special effects were well done and executed as believably as they could do it, seeing that it’s tough to make a doll come to life during the pre-CGI era. In the first film, there were a lot of far away shots where they used a small person or child to make it appear the doll was walking or running around. They never had any shots like that in this movie, but I wish they did because some of those shots in the first film wigged me out a little.

Brad Dourif as the voice of Chucky nails it again in this one (if they ever decide to make another “Chucky” movie, they better have him on board because it won’t be the same without him) and I might note here that I think the first two films are the only semi-serious films made because the following sequels started making him a one-liner cartoon serial killer. But the close-ups showing the doll talking had a great synchronization going with Dourif’s voice, which makes for an eerie and believable quality.

Overall, the film doesn’t have many surprises and it goes along like an archetypal slasher flick, but it’s still enjoyable, even so. But with all the typical storyline that plays out, the most entertaining part of the film is the climax at the Good Guy factory. Without giving it away, the way it ends is terrific.

So, what’s my final “bit” on Child’s Play 2?

Even though the film was made in 1990—and we know that the early horror films of the 90s were very outlandish and out there—Child’s Play 2 has the feel and reminiscence of an 80s horror flick. It’s a perfect film to watch right after the original, all during the great season of Halloween. So wait until dark, turn off all the lights, keep your toys in plain sight, and put in your Child’s Play DVDs.

Universal Sudios Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood

As some of you may know, I usually use this blog as a site to review films, both in theaters and on DVD or Blu-Ray. But I’m going to post a review of my night at Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood. I’m going to keep it short and sweet, since maybe you don’t want to read any rants or praise about an amusement park attraction. However, I have a fresh in my mind, so let’s do this. Hopefully, you have an idea or a little knowledge of the Universal Studios park because I’m not going to get too much into the everyday rides and attractions they have featured there. So if I mention some details or physical aspects of the place, I hope it doesn’t lose you.

Back in 2007, I first heard an advertisement on the radio about this event taking place over there. It mentioned that patrons will be able to walk around in the back lot and go through many haunted mazes, so I was very intrigued. However, I wasn’t able to go that year, so I waited with bated breath for a chance to visit the following year.

2008 couldn’t get there any slower and the month of October finally arrived. A buddy and myself took the trek to Universal Studios, visited for the day and waited patiently for the sun to set. The way the park set it up that year was to have everyone with a Horror Nights ticket wait in a certain area of the park while they kicked everyone else out. As soon as that happened and 7 o’clock reared it’s frightening head, the lights in the park went out and the excitement began.

The featured attractions that year were the three icons of fright: Leatherface, Jason and Freddy. It was awesome! We, first, went to the Tram ride- the Terror Tram- and enjoyed the ride in the dark until they suddenly stopped and told us we had to walk the rest of the way. From then on, we followed the directions of cloaked workers with flashlights throughout a pathway.

The highlight for me was waking in front of the Bates Motel, featuring the scene recreation from Psycho III, with the high school reunion happening after an apparent bloodbath. We kept going through this area, past the motel and up towards the Bates Manor, which was another treat for me to see this iconic building and have it only a mere twenty feet away from me. After that, we were motioned to keep going through some maze and then it was through the plane wreck set from War of the Worlds.

The rest of the night, we went through the various mazes they featured throughout the park, getting the shit scared out of us. Man, I was in heaven! It was such an awesome event! Even the little puppet show they had with Chucky yelling obscenities at everybody was great. At that moment, my buddy and I vowed to come back again the following year, and we did!

2009’s event was great as well. You could see the popularity making it grow, as the event had a little longer lines and went a tad longer for us. 2010, I decided to introduce my wife to the event and she, not being a big horror fan, was scared out of her mind. In 2011, my wife and I visited the park with two mutual friends of ours and had somewhat of a good time as well.

The one thing I had noticed over the last few years is that the park became more and more crowded every year. Of course it’s attributed to the popularity of the event, so I really can’t complain. Or can I?

In 2008, my buddy and I were able to see every single maze and take the Terror Tram twice that night, still being able to call it a night at 11 PM. 2009 was a little busier, but we were still able to see everything before 1 AM. 2010 and 2011 started really showing the signs of the event’s popularity because the whole park was packed and we were only able to see a fraction of the mazes. I follow the event’s designer, John Murdy, on Twitter and noticed he advised people to visit on Sundays because there were less crowds to deal with. So, days after my 2011 visit, I told myself that next year I’d make it a point to come to the event on a Sunday.

Yesterday, after purchasing my tickets for my wife and I about a month ago, we went to the event to enjoy the park with less crowds.

Upon arriving, the first thing I noticed as I drove up Lankershim to Universal Hollywood Drive was that there was a backup of vehicles. Then, as we drove up, heading to the parking structure, signs read that the event was sold out. As an unusual addition to this, parking attendants were motioning vehicles to park in the further parking structure signaling to me that this place was going to be packed.

Sure enough, it was.

The line for the Terror Tram was all the way up the escalators and beyond. I was stunned. Although the line moved fast, it was still a long wait for more of the same I had seen before. The walk in the back lot was a little different this year, a little shorter, and not as enjoyable. Seeing that I had already seen the Llorona and Alice Cooper mazes last year, I decided to check out the Universal Monster Remix maze, which is, more or less, the everyday monster house maze they feature daily at the park. After leaving there, I decided to search out the Silent Hill maze. Being that it was near the Jurassic Park Ride, we had to take the multiple escalators down just to get there, and saw that the maze had a 70 minute wait. We started waited through the line, up and down, in and out, waiting and waiting…I finally looked at my wife and said, “Let’s go home.” Knowing how much I love Universal Studios and how much I look forward to Halloween Horror Nights, she tried to persuade me to stay, but I couldn’t take it.

We went home and I felt no regrets about it.

A few things I wonder about this event: How many tickets are sold before it’s determined that it’s sold out? There seemed to be a shitload of people there, so how about making that number lower? Universal Studios must make a TON of money with this park everyday and it’s overpriced concessions, can’t they cut back the maximum capacity to let people have fun? I know a lot of people were raving about the place when we were there, but it seemed like most of them were drunk or high, which I’m sure enhanced their enjoyment of the place.

For me, all I’ll take back from this place is seeing so many faces looking miserable as they wait, wait, and wait through those long lines for up to 2 hours only to enjoy a 15 minute maze. Is it worth it? I think not. My wife suggested that maybe we buy front-of-the-line passes next year, but we still have to deal with the packed park and the craziness that ensues from it.

No, it’s not worth it.

My final “bit” on Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood?

Skip it. If you’re like me and enjoy the history of the studio’s back lot, take a day off during the week, buy yourself a VIP pass and get a great tour of the place. I love the movies over the years that have been filmed there and distributed by the studio, but I hate the gigantic crowds the place gets. For a good scare during the Halloween season, do what I’m going to do next year: find a haunted hayride and visit one of the many other parks (like Knott’s Berry Farm or Magic Mountain) to get yourself scared within some frightening mazes. Or better yet, make your own…get together with some of your neighbors and make your own fright maze. Halloween Horror Nights is overblown and over-hyped. Until they cut down the maximum amount of people that they cram in the park, I’m not coming back.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

"It's almost time, kids...the clock is ticking. Be in front of your TV sets for the horrorthon, followed by the big giveaway. Don't miss it...and don't forget to wear your masks. The clock is ticking...it's almost time."

Following the trend of watching Halloween-themed movies this October, I went ahead and watched one of my favorites from the Halloween franchise, the Michael Myers-less, 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Constantly bagged by critics and angrily overlooked by most Halloween fans, this film is still one of my favorites of the 1980s cheesy horror flicks and I really don't mind that it doesn't include the famous pale-masked serial killer we've all come to grow and love. What it does have is an outlandish plot, a gruff protagonist who gets the girl very easily, and an over-the-top villain who's evil for no apparent reason.

Yes, the movie is laughable and really can't be taken seriously, but there's a quality about it that makes you overlook the absurdities of the plot. So you do have to check your brain at the door—or at the very least shut it down before popping this into your media player—there's no doubt about that, but that's what made the horror movies of the 80s great, right?

Well, the movie starts with an older gentleman running for—what appears to be—his life, holding onto something as he does. He appears very spooked and we see a car is coming after him as he manages to elude it, getting help from a lowly gas station attendant down the street. The man is brought to the local hospital where we meet our protagonist, Dr. Dan Challis (the great Tom Atkins) for the first time. He treats the older gent and takes note of the man's claims that "they're going to kill us all." Later that night, a nondescript man in a suit comes in and kills the old man. He then leaves and, as Dr. Challis follows and watches, gets into his vehicle blowing himself up with gasoline. The next day, the man's daughter, Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin), shows up and meets Dr. Challis, telling him that her father told her of some goings-on at the Silver Shamrock factory that may have led to his death. She tells him that she wants to look into the place and Dr. Challis decides to go with her to help. What they find there is some really weird shit.

For many of you who associate the Halloween franchise with Michael Myers might find this film a little strange seeing that it has nothing to do with the masked killer whatsoever. As a kid, I, too, thought this outing was a little odd and preferred not to watch it when I had the chance. It's there, when you correlate it with the franchise as a whole that it's most noticeable as an anomalous chapter to the whole story. But if you've ever read or heard John Carpenter's idea for the franchise, you'd understand what this movie was supposed to be. See, Carpenter saw Halloween II as the end of Michael Myers. I mean, come on...Loomis and Myers went up in flames in the blast and we saw Michael fall beside Laurie Strode and burn, practically melt, to death. How do you continue a franchise with the main baddie gone? No, what Carpenter wanted to do, was to have a different story every Halloween, sort of an anthology of movies throughout the years, and I thought that was brilliant. But, alas, the horror audiences of the 1980s weren't ready for that.

The performances in Halloween III: Season of the Witch are pretty much what you can expect since the actors didn't have much to work with. The story is pretty crazy, so I give them props for being as straight-faced as they were. Tom Atkins, as he is in every film I've seen him in, is the every-man, playing it cool and getting the girl so easily.  Anyway, he, at least, has two children that he promises his ex-wife he'd take trick-or-treating, but decides to forget about that to go and join this strange woman to investigate some novelty factory in some other town. Stacey Nelkin as the love interest played her part very well, considering how her character ends up. And let's not forget the villain, Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy), as the owner of Silver Shamrock and master of the diabolical scheme to kill everyone on Halloween, all for the sacrifice for Samhain...I think.

Even though this film was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the whole movie is very Carpenter-esque, which is probably because the cinematography was done by Dean Cundey who worked a lot with John Carpenter. The film has a very eerie mood and can be very frightening at some times, which I think had a lot to do with Cundey's skills.  Not only the cinematography, but the music definitely makes you think of Carpenter, since he—as well as Alan Howarth—wrote the eerie score for this film.

One thing you better prepare yourself for is the commercial jingle you'll hear throughout the film. It's the song for Silver Shamrock Novelties, selling the Halloween masks seen on screen. Basically it's to the tune of "London Bridges," but be ready for it sticking in your brain regardless. I can hear it right now, as a matter of fact.

The scenery is pretty cool as they shot most of the film in the town of Loleta, California (called Santa Mira in thefilm). It's an appealing small town near the coast, but works perfectly as a place where everything just doesn't seem right.

The film features some pretty gruesome—yet cool—kill scenes. I found myself squirming in my chair during some of these scenes, because they're that horrific.

But, for the most part, this movie is silly fun. I mean, unless you don't think a factory in the 1980s is able to create lifelike robots posing as people and the same factory to have the means to steal one of the boulders from Stonehenge to bring to America then you'll have to problem with the logistics of this movie. I won't give away the ending, but I must implore to you to please understand, this movie was made in the early 80s and we didn't have many television channels like we do today, so keep that in mind when you see that last scene.

By the way, a few cameos in this film: one from the original Halloween movie that you'll see on TVs a couple of times and the voice on the television commercial that tells us "it's almost time" is director Tommy Lee Wallace.

My final "bit" on Halloween III: Season of the Witch? It's a bit of nostalgia for me to see this, especially being that it's a movie from the 1980s. Capturing the feel of October is a tough thing to do, seeing that it was more than likely filmed at a different time of year. I love the idea that Carpenter was trying to go with the franchise and kind of wished he was successful at it, but the better decision was made at resurrecting Michael Myers to return and return and return. This is definitely a must-watch for me every October and it can be seen in order from part one or just view it as a standalone flick. If you look at Tommy Lee Wallace's oeuvre of films, you'll see that this is probably his best piece of work...but that's not saying much. No offense to him because I love this flick.

Thanks for reading and have a Happy Halloween!

You can reach me on Twitter: @JustCallMeManny.

Jeepers Creepers

 

Halloween is around the corner, so that always means I need to break out all my fall-themed horror movies to have a month-long marathon of films of that ilk. Besides the obvious choices of going through the Halloween franchise of movies, I love to watch some other gems that scream of fall.

So even though I'm starting a little late (I usually pop in these DVDs and Blu-Rays the first week of October), I opened my media binder and brought out Jeepers Creepers.

This one movie—as well as the sequel—put another icon of horror on the map. We've had Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, Pinhead, Chucky on pedestals, crowning them with the cult status of the embodiment of a character that scare the shit out of us in these movies.

In 2001, another icon took up the huge mantle: The Creeper. But before I talk about him (or "it"), let me synopsize this film.

The film opens with Darry (Justin Long) and Trish (Gina Philips), brother and sister, driving through the countryside in a vintage car belonging to Trish. Trish had just picked up Darry from college to bring him home for school break. They're making small talk, doing the out-of-state-license-plate-game, and making fun of some RV travelers. Suddenly, we, the audience, see a vehicle closing in behind them in the distance. Trish and Darry aren't aware of this until the vehicle—some old truck that looks like a small locomotive—is right on their ass. It blares the vehicle's horn, sounding almost like a fire engine's blast, and startles the brother and sister. Darry, behind the wheel of his sister's car, is unnerved as the mysterious vehicle blasts the horn over and over, staying directly behind their car. Darry keeps waving and yelling for the vehicle to go around them and after a while, it finally does.

Later, as the brother and sister are driving along, Darry notices a building off the road with the familiar truck parked in front. Both he and Trish notice a dark figure in the back, pulling something wrapped in a sheet out from the back and dumping down a large storm drain protruding out of the ground. As they watch, the figure turns suddenly and stares, following them with his gaze. Not long after Darry picks up speed and trying to get out of the area quickly, the vehicle is back behind them, really blaring the horn and tailgating. As the truck smacks into the car a few times, Darry loses control and drives off the road. The truck keeps going, leaving Trish and Darry behind. Darry and Trish agree that it was probably a body that was dumped and decide to go back to investigate (Trish, reluctantly).

After getting to the building, which happens to be an old church, Darry climbs inside the grounded drain pipe to get a good look but falls in, dropping him into some big underground basement. What he finds down there is more horrifying than he had ever imagined.

I don't want to give too much away, in case you haven't seen this flick. Although, if you haven't seen Jeepers Creepers, you shouldn't call yourself a horror movie fan. But just in case, if you are a newbie to this film, or horror in general, I'll keep this spoiler-free. But basically, The Creeper is after Darry and Trish as they try to find a way to keep away from him.  Unfortunately for them, they experience some gruesome images and go through a nightmare before the movie ends.

First off, the story is a nice original work, not your typical slasher fest and not really a supernatural outing either. The direction by Victor Salva is pretty good and well-paced, keeping the audience going along and never really a dull moment. There are a lot of eerie scenes that make you feel uncomfortable, not to mention scared. Without mentioning who, or what, he is, The Creeper is pretty terrifying.

Justin Long gives a great performance in this film, appearing unraveled and spooked, making you feel and believe what he's experiencing. After his character finds out what's beyond the drain pipe, Long puts on a believable performance as he's nearly catatonic after seeing the horror underground.

Jonathan Breck, as The Creeper, does an awesome job, but it might be the make-up and his size that help him in his performance.

The idea of this new icon of fright is superb and I wish MGM would get on the ball with Salva's idea for part 3. In this day and age, most studios want remakes, but it's so refreshing to see an original story or intelligently written sequels to an already established franchise.

After watching this film, you may still be confused as to who, or what, The Creeper is exactly. So, in that respect, I'd say watch Jeepers Creepers II right after this one. It's not as good as the original, but it's a worthy sequel nonetheless. You'll find out a little more about his background to answer any questions you may have had in the first film.

So, anyway, what's my final "bit" on Jeepers Creepers?

The film has a feel of the 1980s horror movies with a quickly established new horror icon set. Instead of having a bunch of teens you don't care about getting killed one by one, you have two protagonists you root and care for. The movie institutes a creepy mood most of the time and is shot nicely, mostly during the night (a must for a horror movie in my opinion). Above all else, if you haven't seen this movie, you need to go out and rent it or purchase it. It's a must-own for any horror movie enthusiast out there.

A couple of trivial factoids:
Victor Salva has a couple of cameos; once as one of the bodies displayed in The Creeper's "house of pain" and the other is his picture on the sleeve of the record album during the phone call scene.

Well, thanks for reading and enjoy the Halloween season!

You can reach me on Twitter: @JustCallMeManny.

Marvel's The Avengers

YES! The Avengers arrived on Blu-Ray yesterday, September 25th, 2012, and I was delighted beyond any euphoria I have ever experienced in my life!


Okay…maybe that’s overdoing it a bit…but I was happy to receive this Blu-Ray from my wife when she returned home from a day of shopping at Target. Even if she didn’t bring it home last night, I still would’ve took a trip there myself to get it, because I had been waiting for this disc from the minute I left the theater last May after watching the film for the first time.

Back in 1978, I saw—at the time—the best comic book film I had ever seen: Superman. As far as special effects movies of that time, Superman was the best. It had even won an Oscar for it and won such critical praise for its cinematography, but my 9-year-old self loved it regardless back then. For over 25 years, that movie was on a pedestal for me as the best superhero movie ever…until Spider-Man 2 was released. Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was overall a good trifecta of films (yes, even the third one was enjoyable), but part 2 stood out from the three and even from all comic book movies, because in 2004, I held that movie as the best superhero movie ever. In my mind, The Dark Knight was a worthy runner-up, but Spider-Man 2 won me over as the best. However, a mere 8 years later, The Avengers comes along and just blows me away!

Conversely, this film didn’t just drop on us all of a sudden...we all knew about this and saw this beast coming almost 5 years ago. Starting with Iron Man in 2008, four separate films constructed and readied all of us for The Avengers simply by giving us entertaining movies with a tag at the end of each one—albeit, making us wait through exorbitant amounts of movie credits—hinting at an upcoming collaborative superhero movies which we all knew was going to be The Avengers. And, looking back, that is what made this film work. Because the filmmakers couldn’t just drop a huge movie like this and try to introduce us to a group of heroes with their origins in just a matter of 2½ hours. If they did, the movie would need to be over 4 hours long.

So, what I’m trying to say is that this movie has topped my choice for the best comic book/superhero movie to date. It breaks my heart to say it, because I’m a HUGE Spider-Man fan (although it makes it easier now that Sony screwed up the character with this new rebooted debacle they released over the summer). But yes, The Avengers is now my favorite film based on comic book characters.

Now, if you’re coming in this dry, with no prior knowledge of the separate films that led up to this one, it’s okay. You may find yourself asking questions about what one person (or alien) is, or you may not understand the objects or plots discussed, but you’ll get the basic gist of the film. And the simple idea of it is that an alien menace threatens the welfare of the planet, so a security agency in charge of keeping peace helps to assemble a group of superheroes to maintain that peace and fight off the threat that wants to annihilate our planet.

The heroes should all be familiar and are pretty much household names that most people would recognize. But as I had said, even if you don’t, the movie is very enjoyable to watch.

So, assuming that you’ve seen the preceding films, we see that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is still alive and is able to get to Earth to take the Tesseract (the Cosmic Cube) that S.H.I.E.L.D. (the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) has been performing tests on. Loki’s plan is to open a portal and let in an alien army to overpower the humans of Earth in an attempt to rule over them. S.H.I.E.L.D., directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), fails to protect the Tesseract and Loki—taking over the minds of Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) to help in his plan—steals it.

One by one, the heroes from the previous stand-alone films are called in to help.

Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America (Chris Evans), is brought in to lead this mission. Still taking in this new world after being asleep for 70 years, but never losing his sense of patriotic duty, steps in. It still throws me for a loop how straight-laced Evans plays the roll. I’m used to him as Johnny Storm from The Fantastic Four and how much he was a smart-ass in that film, so it’s a little off-putting to see him as the guy who gets annoyed when other characters joke around and not take things seriously.

Tony Stark, well known to the world as Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), is brought information by Agent Coulson ((Clark Gregg) about the threat and the other potential team mates, but he's still reluctant to join in. As in the previous two standalone Iron man films, Downey maintains his wit and funny banter, never taking things too seriously (he tried to get Banner to turn into the Hulk for Christ’s sake!). He turns in a solid performance and doesn’t disappoint. However, if I do have any criticism on his performance, it’s the constant need to give everybody funny nicknames (he calls Loki “Shakespeare in the Park” and “Rock of Ages” and refers to Thor as “Point Break”), but it can all be tagged as the type of character he is.

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is called in during her covert operation she’s in the middle of to help bring in the most unstable of the group-to-be, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), due to his knowledge of gamma radiation that the Tesseract has traces of, being careful not to let his alter ego, the Hulk, emerge. Johansson continues her character arc from Iron Man 2 and even brings a little bit more as we find out she may have some history we never fully get to know about, but it seems shady as we hear there’s “a lot of red in her ledger.” As for Ruffalo’s portrayal of Bruce Banner, what a breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, Eric Bana and Edward Norton are both great actors, but I don’t think they had the right chemistry or heart for the part. Or perhaps the actor and CGI character didn’t mesh well together. Whatever the reason, the filmmakers remedied it perfectly by casting Ruffalo in the part.

After initially capturing Loki—which leads Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who jumps right back into the role flawlessly, to come to the group, as he wants to bring Loki, along with the Tesseract, back to Asgard—the group finally comes together. Not without its trials and tribulations, the members-to-be test each other out, fighting amongst themselves as they get to know each other and their strengths. But even after getting along, they’re still at odds, mostly with disagreements of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plans and Stark’s ego—as well as a touch of Loki’s manipulation—it sort of falls apart, aiding in Loki’s escape, although we have to wonder if he really was a prisoner after all. Once Loki’s plan comes to fruition and the world is at stake (and Nick Fury plays his hand to help push them), the team comes together perfectly for some of the best action scenes put to film.

What I liked most about this film was The Hulk. You’ve probably heard from a lot of reviewers, or just word-of-mouth, that he stole the movie—and it’s true. But it was even better for me because after my favorite superhero, Spider-Man, Hulk is number two—or at least almost equal to Spidey. So to see him finally portrayed accurately on screen overloaded my heart with fan boy glee. The scene when he goes toe-to-toe with Thor was terrific and I was in awe at how much motion-capture/CGI has improved over the years. The part of the trailer where the characters circle together to get ready for the oncoming threat, I had seen dozens of times before the movie came out, but it still gives me goose bumps to see it in context with the film as a whole. All the characters get the same amount of screen time and all of them help the story move along. They all help the plot move along and it’s not like any of the characters are wasted.

The music score by Alan Silvestri is actually memorable and symbolic as the heroic theme of the movie. As I sit here, writing this review, it’s replaying in my head, over and over. Trust me, I’m not complaining.

The movie was released in both a normal format as well as in 3D. I chose to watch it in the normal viewing format because I didn’t think the film needed the gimmick to win me over. I was right. The Avengers wins the audience over with the stories and characters and not the visual effects. The film features individuals you care about and want to see come out on top over the evildoers. It’s an original story, from the pages of the comic books anyway, and not some borrowed sci-fi version of Dances With Wolves. Do you see what I’m comparing it to (wink-wink)?

Marvel definitely have their stuff together and are finally doing things right. They’ve created a universe that have the characters overlap each other and that’s what the comic book fans have wanted for a long time. Hopefully Marvel can win back the rights of other characters to get them all involved in this comic book cosmos, whether they become part of the team or not. Dare Devil should be free. The Punisher might be—however, they’re in talks to make a television series out of the character, so I’m not sure. Ghost Rider might be on the market after the debacle the last movie turned out to be. But other important characters that are actually part of the team in the comic book pages should be there and we nerds feel their absence. How cool would it be to see Spider-Man swinging along and fighting side-by-side with Captain America and Hulk? Let’s get the Fantastic Four in there to help out in the battle! Or the X-Men! Who knows? Maybe we will see that in the future.

Nonetheless, I can go on and on about this flick. I’ve seen it twice in the theater and once so far on Blu-Ray, only because I had to get to sleep last night, otherwise I would’ve watched it a second time last night. I’ll probably wear out this disc with the multiple viewings it’s going to endure, but it’ll be well-deserved because this film is the quintessential superhero comic book movie. It’s what other studios would love to do, but I really don’t think they’ll have the know-how that Marvel does. Talk has been brewing about the Justice League movie going into pre-production, but they better watch all the movies leading up to The Avengers if they want a chance at doing it halfway right. Are you listening (or reading this), Warner Bros.?

But you know what? It’s all about Marvel. The future is bright with what’s to come and I can’t wait!

So, in conclusion…what’s my final “bit” on The Avengers?

The best and most definitive superhero movie to date; it’s filled with drama, action, humor, suspense…basically something for everyone. It’s a movie for the whole family to sit around the television and watch with a tub of popcorn. I love it! You’ll love it! It’s especially entertaining and satisfying to watch all the solo movies that lead up to it before watching this one. But it’s just as enjoyable as a separate feature. Worth a watch or a rent…definitely worth it to own it on DVD or Blu-Ray, take my word for it.

Also, to follow suit with all the stand alone movies, there are two post credits scenes: one in the middle and one at the very end. Comic book nerds will understand the first one and the second one is very amusing.

Well, that’s about it. Thank you for reading and, as always, you can reach me on Twitter: @JustCallMeManny.

The Loved Ones

Yesterday, I popped The Loved Ones into my PS3 for a watch and I must say, it kept me on edge throughout.


In the past year or so, I had heard of this movie that many horror sites have held in high regard. But to avoid contaminating my mind with opinions—both good and bad—from other movie reviews, I dodged them all until finally getting this flick in the mail from by beloved Netflix account.

I’m actually glad I avoided all references, as well as checking it out on IMDb, because I found out right away that it was an Aussie film. Now, generally I have an open mind about watching films, both foreign and domestic, but I tend to steer away from transcontinental movies. I don’t know…I guess it throws me off, hearing the accents, seeing the obvious non-American landscapes, noticing the steering wheel on the right side instead of the left…I really don’t know. I’ve felt this way before, only to enjoy the films nonetheless. Sometimes, knowing that the films are foreign—but heard they were great films—I’ll just keep them in my Netflix queue, passing them up with other, American, films. When I finally decide to watch them, I enjoy them thoroughly.

And that was the case with The Loved Ones.

The film opens with Brent (Xavier Samuel of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) and his father, driving along a road, seeming to have a good relationship. Suddenly, there’s a young man on the road, bloodied and walking like a zombie, right in the center. Brent swerves to miss the young man, only to smash into a tree.

The film goes on after that, showing a more somber Brent as we find out his father died in that crash. He seems distant and dark, only coming out of his trance-like states for his girlfriend, Holly (Victoria Thaine). He seems to only keep attachment with one friend, Jamie (Richard Wilson) and not much else. He broods in his room, listening to metal music and doesn’t do much else that doesn’t involve hurting himself (he carries a blade around his neck and we later see scars on his body from cutting) or wanting death (we see him climbing a cliff and hang there, wanting to drop).

As prom season is approaching, Brent’s friend, Jamie, wants to ask the dark and elusive Mia to the upcoming event. She actually agrees to, setting the subplot on its way. Brent is left standing at his locker as Jamie walks away and is startled to see a dark-haired girl standing next to him. She asks him to the prom, but is turned down as Brent explains, in short, that he’s already going with his girlfriend, Holly. He walks off, leaving this girl look sad and rejected, and you almost feel sorry for her…until you see what happens later in this film.

The second act of this movie is reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where the heroine is held captive in the house, and that's what happens to Brent, because a lot of weird stuff goes on once we get there, including larynx paralyzing injections, use of hammers and knives, and of course the crude attempt of a homemade lobotomy. Around this time, I was hanging on the edge of my seat, and really feeling for our protagonist.

Although this is a short review (to avoid any spoilers), my final “bit” is this: The Loved Ones is definitely a simple story that easily followed along and understood. However, if there’s one thing I can complain about is the subplot involving Brent’s friend, Jamie, and what goes on during and after the prom. I thought he was going to tie into everything that was going on with Brent, but he really doesn’t. It sort of does, when you find out how his prom date is involved in the story, but I thought maybe they could’ve had a better view of that. Besides that, though, this film was very good and had solid performances throughout. I highly recommend the film if you’re a horror fan like me.

Iron Man 2

I’ve got to say, my favorite genre of film is horror. I can watch a horror movie any time of the year, whether it’s in the morning or afternoon or, preferably, at night. I long for Halloween because there’s usually a smorgasbord of horror movies on the tube and I usually watch the ones I don’t have on DVD and line up a bunch of them to view continually throughout October.


Once again, I digress.

My second favorite genre of movies is probably, and more accurately, a sub-genre of action movies—comic book movies.

After years of collecting DVDs, my wife grew tired of seeing all the different colors of movie covers in our bookshelf. She suggested that I inter the discs and covers into a DVD binder, doing away with the plastic cases and saving space on our shelf. Not long after doing this, my binder count is up to 25, with each binder holding 20 movies. That means I have around 500 titles in our bookshelf. Of course, maybe 2% of those movies are my wife’s, but the rest are all mine.

Two of those binders are dedicated to my second favorite genre—or first favorite sub-genre—comic book movies. A good portion of one of the binders is growing with the Marvel Studios films that tie into my upcoming Blu-Ray, The Avengers (I already have a spot saved for it).

Before The Avengers came out back in May, I sat at home and watched the films that led up to it, so I can have the characters’ stories fresh in my mind. Seeing that the Blu-Ray is probably coming out in September, I decided to do it again (although it might be a little premature since it’s still more than a month away). But after watching the first Iron Man film and The Incredible Hulk, I ventured into the next Marvel Studios film leading to The Avengers…Iron Man 2.

Sorry for the long-windedness in getting to this point, but let’s move on and get into my thoughts on the film.

To synopsize the film, we open with the ending of Iron Man, or at least the audio of that press conference that ends the first movie. The scene takes place in Russia and it opens with an old man, Anton Vanko, clearly very sick, who is lying in bed and watching said press conference. As he’s about to die, he calls over his son, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and tells him he’s given him all his knowledge that the Starks have robbed from him. As he passes, we get a terrific performance from Rourke as he believably portrays a grief-stricken son, showing the anguish in his face, as well as obvious anger toward the man on TV—Tony Stark. In the next scene, we’re treated to a montage of Ivan, going over plans and schematics (bearing the Stark Industries name, as well as Anton Vanko), as he proceeds to build a similar arc reactor that Tony Stark built for himself. But at the end of the scene, we see that Ivan Vanko has made some type of electric whip devices before the scene blacks out and the Iron Man 2 title appears.

We then cut to Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), as Iron Man, jumping from a military aircraft with AC/DC’s “Shoot To Thrill” accompanying the scene, as he flies threw fireworks (and getting hit by one) and down into the Stark Expo. Once on stage, he demonstrates how he’s disassembled and goes on to host the opening of the show. As he introduces a 1974 film of his father, he takes a break to go back stage and we see that he’s testing his blood, the reading showing his blood toxicity level is at 17% (if memory serves me correctly). At this point of the story, it isn’t clear why there are toxins in his blood, but we come to find out later that the palladium in his miniature arc reactor is slowly poisoning Tony.

Later, Tony summoned to appear before a senate hearing regarding his Iron Man suit and how he should release it to the government as a weapon. That’s where we meet Justin Hammer, a counterpart (albeit inferior counterpart) to Tony Stark. He’s called in before the senate as a weapons expert. The scene, as most in this film, is very entertaining, showcasing the humoristic zings between Tony Stark and Senator Stern (Garry Shandling).

As the story moves on, we see that Tony’s blood toxicity rises dramatically as he fights it, unaffectedly, with some sort of green liquid that he drinks constantly. Perhaps as a result of this, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is given control of Stark Industries as Tony has made her CEO, following an introduction to Scarlett Johansson’s character of Natasha Romanoff—the Black Widow from S.H.I.E.L.D.—posing as Natalie Rushman, a new notary assistant to Ms. Potts.

Later, Tony, et al, go to Monaco to attend a Formula One race, as one of the cars is sponsored by Stark Industries. They all get together in a nearby restaurant, where Justin Hammer, coincidentally, is present as well. Not surprisingly, and to get away from Hammer, Tony suits up in racing gear to drive the Stark car himself. This is where Ivan Vanko—Whiplash (although he’s never called this in the movie)—confronts Stark for the very first time.

As the confrontation is seen on television, viewed by everybody in the restaurant, Pepper gets Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and has him drive to the track, making sure they bring a metal case that has the same colors as Iron Man’s armor. They get there in the nick of time and save Stark from Vanko, giving him this case that turns out to be Stark’s mobile Iron Man armor (which is a pretty cool special effects shot). Again, just in time, because Vanko wasn’t out for the count when Happy slams into him twice with the car (one part I clearly didn’t get—how can he survive that?). Iron Man prevails and Vanko goes to jail in France, only to have Hammer help him bust out seeking revenge on Stark.

Without going further into the story, there are a lot of great surprises and performances here. Samuel L. Jackson is back as Nick Fury, with a bigger part, I might add. He’s actually an integral part in helping Stark with the palladium poisoning from the arc reactor. And let’s not forget Don Cheadle taking over the role of Rhodes from Terrance Howard. I thought he gave the character more life and there was a lot better chemistry between him and Downey, especially when they fight side by side as Iron man and War Machine (awesome).

Everything was enjoyable in this film and I don’t have many complaints. If there was anything I can complain about was how quick and simple the ending was and how it was resolved. But there were a few winks here and there us comic book fans can appreciate, like the appearance of Captain America’s shield, or replica thereof.

Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing how far Marvel Studios can go with this universe they’ve created. Hopefully they can introduce more characters to the group and retain other heroes’ rights currently owned by other movie studios. I mean, come on! Spider-Man should be a part of this universe! They’ve already ruined the character by rebooting a successful franchise with a shoddy retelling of a story we saw a mere decade ago (see my July 9th review)!

Well, what’s my final “bit” on Iron Man 2?

Great comedic moments, some dramatic acts, a lot of kick-ass scenes, all made for an awesome film!

By the way, don’t forget to wait for that extra scene!

Thanks for reading!

You can follow me on Twitter: @JustCallMeManny