Ghostbusters (1984) - Movie Review

Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters is a comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and is about 3 guys who lose their jobs and form a business hunting ghosts. Released in 1984, the film was critically acclaimed and was a massive box office success, and was the highest grossing comedy film of all time at the time.

THE GOOD

Ghostbusters is a classic, pure and simple. It has everything, comedy, action, and even horror. All of the characters are likable and memorable, thanks to a perfectlly written screenplay. The dialogue is flawless, full of quoteable lines and deadpan humor. Bill Murray delivers the best performance in the entire movie, he has the best lines, and has the best line delivery. Rick Moranis is excellent here too, he really sells the whole annoying socially awkward neighbour guy. Sigourney Weaver's performance is great too, her chemistry with Bill Murray is wonderful. The action sequences are exciting, the glorious 80s special effects help make them tons of fun. The climax of the film is especially exciting, like the fight between Gozer and the Ghostbusters, and of course the giant sentient "Stay Puft" marshmellow man! It's classic stuff! Elmer Bernstein's musical score is fantastic as always, right up there with Heavy Metal and Airplane! in terms of phenomenal Elmer Bernstein musical scores. This film is also the prime example of why I love 80s PG movies, back when PG movies could get away with adult content, like swearing and sex jokes. Seriously, it's not every day that you get to see people get blowjobs from ghosts in a PG movie! The genre blending is perfect! This film manages to have action, comedy and horror while never compromising the consistency of the tone, it's a great example of good filmmaking.

THE BAD

My only issue is that while most the special effects hold up, the only time they don't is when they decide to use green screen. Whenever green screen is used, it really sticks out like a sore thumb.

CONSLUSION

If you haven't seen Ghostbusters yet, what the fuck are you doing? It's a must see for everyone! It's extremely entertaining, perfectly written, has delightful characters, it's everything a true classic should be! If it's streaming, or if you can find it on Blu-ray or DVD, I don't care just do yourself a favor and watch it! It's essential Halloween viewing!

9.7/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  PG (N/A)

Run time:  105 min

Release date:  June 8th, 1984

Studio:  Columbia Pictures 

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters

The Lords of Salem - Movie Review

The Lords of Salem (2013)

The Lords of Salem is a horror film that was written and directed by Rob Zombie and stars Sheri Moon-Zombie as a radio show host who has a vinyl record sent to her with a song by "The Lords", as she listens to the song, she starts having horrific cult visions and nightmares. Released in 2013, the film was divisive, receiving mixed reviews from critics and mostly negative reviews from audiences, the film only got a limited release in theaters.

THE GOOD

This movie was....weird! I loved it for that! This was a very different film, even for Rob Zombie! The movie didn't rely on gore and extreme violence either, it relied on atmosphere and disturbing imagery. The story was thoroughly engaging and never boring. I loved the visuals in this film, they were delightfully freaky, grotesque and it was all practical, no CGI to be found here. The acting was really good, Sheri Moon-Zombie was fantastic! Whenever she was fearful or bad things were happening to her, it was actually pretty convincing! The actresses playing the 3 creepy old ladies were fantastic too! The musical score is also a stand out, it's not overbearing, it sets the right tone for the film. The ending of the film was very unexpected and mesmerizing, and that especially is where all the weirdness and crazy visuals shine! The uniqueness and how different this movie is something I can't praise enough! The soundtrack is fucking badass too! You get Rick James, Manfred Mann, Rush, Velvet Underground, it's fucking awesome!

THE BAD

Considering this is pretty much the black sheep of Rob Zombie's career, if you don't like this movie, I get it! It doesn't offer all the stuff you expect from a Rob Zombie movie. I don't personally see it as a bad thing but I understand if you do. My only issues are that this movie does have some weak dialogue from time to time. It's a similar problem I had with his version of Halloween, I do prefer that film to this but that is an issue that this film shares with that. Another issue is that this film could have used more scares. As a horror film this movie did surprisingly lack scares.

CONCLUSION

The Lords of Salem is a different, unique horror film that should be given a second chance. Sure it suffers from some weak dialogue and lack of scares, but makes up for it with insanely creative and unsettling visuals, good atmosphere, fantastic performances, great story and of course a kickass soundtrack. It's definitely not for everyone but if you are a horror junkie like me, it's definitely worth checking out!

8.3/10

Check out my review for Ghostbusters

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (for disturbing violent and sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some drug use)

Run time:  101 min

Release date:  April 19th, 2013

Studio:  Anchor Bay, Alliance Films

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lords_of_Salem_(film)

Friday the 13th Part 2 - Movie Review

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Friday the 13th Part 2 came out in 1981, directed by Steve Miner and is about a new group of counsellors going to Camp Crystal Lake, 5 years after the events of the first film, and this time, Jason is after them! The film received negative reviews from critics, who bashed it for being "gross exploitation". The film was also a huge success at the box office, while grossing less than its predecessor, it grossed $21.7 million on a budget of $1.25 million.

Now we shall get to the review!

THE GOOD

Much like the first film, there is some solid atmosphere here. It always feels like something bad is going to happen at any given moment. Most of the acting is pretty good, although not quite as good as some of the acting in the first one. The cinematography is very good too, there's great wides, the POV shots are really good too. The movie does have a slow pace but does move faster than the first one so I do prefer watching this one over the first one. The characters, while two dimensional, are quite fun! The kills are okay, my favorite being where Jason jams a machete into a handicapped guy's face. I really love the campfire scene where they tell the legend of Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake, it's perfectly executed and sets a great mood for the film. I also love how different Jason feels here compared to the rest, he just kind of feels like a hillbilly, just one who happens to be a serial killer. You also don't really see him much either, he feels very mysterious throughout most of the movie. The musical score is fantastic, which is something I will say for nearly all of these movies.

THE BAD

While more entertaining than the first one, in many ways it's nowhere near as effective as the first one. There are a ton of terrible cuts in an attempt to make the movie less gory. The climax is entertaining, but it's nowhere near as exciting as the climax from the first movie. It's quite heavy on the slapstick. 

CONCLUSION

Friday the 13th Part 2 may not be as good as the first film purely in the horror aspect, but it's more entertaining than the first one. The film does have great atmosphere, fun characters, a wonderful musical score, and some okay kills, but its slapstick heavy climax and butchered editing during the kill scenes really prevent it from being one of the best in the series.

7/10  -  GOOD

Stay tuned for my review of Ghostbusters, coming October 1st!

Film details

MPAA:  R (N/A)

Release date:  May 1st, 1981

Run time:  86 mins

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

Sources

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_Part_2

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water - Movie Review

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is the second film of the now trilogy, all the voice actors for the main characters from the show and the first movie reprise their roles plus we get Antonio Banderas as the villain, Burger Beard. The film is about SpongeBob and Plankton teaming up to find the krabby patty secret formula after it magically disappears, and once they discover where it is, the whole gang team up on land to get it back and get Bikini Bottom back to normal. The film was released on February 6th, 2015 (5 and a half years ago, that's fucking crazy!), and received positive reviews from critics and mixed reviews from audiences. The film was a box office success, earning $325 million on a $74 million budget.

THE GOOD

I highly enjoy this film! It's got very good fast paced humor, the 2D and 3D animation is extremely good, and I loved the story. SpongeBob and Plankton carry the first two acts splendidly! They have terrific comedic chemistry, I genuinely wanted to see them succeed at their mission! The thing about this film is that it keeps the characters as likable and funny as you remember them. The story was tons of fun, very creative and never dull! This movie offers everything, it's a fantasy movie, a superhero movie, a dystopian apocalypse movie, a time travel movie, you name it! There are times where this movie kinda felt like a stoner movie too. During the time travel part of the movie, there are these trippy as fuck transitions between times they travel to. The thing I appreciated the most about this movie is that most of the movie is 2D animation! Technically it's false advertisement judging by the trailers but I was happy that this movie didn't go all CGI happy! The final act, where the CGI aspect really comes into play was pretty exciting, granted in a SpongeBob fashion, it's not large scale like Avengers or anything. I really enjoyed seeing the characters use their powers given to them in a creative way.

THE BAD

I really didn't like Burger Beard as a character. Whenever they cut to him I was always like "Can we get back to SpongeBob please?" It was the same feeling I always had watching a SpongeBob episode featuring Patchy the Pirate. There's also a couple of pretty lazy jokes.

CONCLUSION

Is Sponge Out of Water perfect? No, but if you like SpongeBob, it's definitely worth a watch! It has a fun story, it embraces 2D animation, the characters are as great as ever, for the most part the comedy is great! 

8.2/10 - GREAT

Pros:

- Great animation

- Fun story

- Characters are still funny and likable

- Humor is mostly great

Cons:

- Burger Beard as a character

- A couple of lazy jokes

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  PG (for mild action and rude humor)

Run time:  92 min

Release date:  February 6th, 2015

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

Kalifornia - Movie Review

Kalifornia (1993)

Kalifornia is a thriller film that was released in 1993, directed by Dominic Sena and stars Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, and is about a couple of journalists who go on a cross country trip to research serial killers, but little do they know that they are travelling with a psychopath. The film received mixed reviews at the time of release and was a box office bomb, earning $2.4 million on a budget of $8.5 million.

THE GOOD

Kalifornia is many things, exciting, suspenseful, violent, all that good stuff. The cinematography is fantastic, the film really lets you see that American landscape, and it's breathtaking! I also love how grainy this movie is, it really helps elevate the grittiness and dirtiness of this movie. The performances are fucking phenomenal! By far the best performance here is Brad Pitt! The guy plays a damn good psychopath! His character is a real piece of shit, and seeing Brad Pitt acting like a complete lunatic was so much fun to watch! I also loved Juliette Lewis as Brad Pitt's simple minded, kind hearted girlfriend. Throughout the movie you really develop a lot of sympathy for her, her backstory is really tragic and the way you hear about how Brad Pitt's character treats and eventually how you see him treat her really makes you despise Brad Pitt's character even more. It felt like there was a neverending sense of dread throughout the movie, it always felt like something awful could happen at any given moment. The final act of the movie is very intense and exciting, it has all the excitement, tension and violence you could want from a movie like this. One of my favorite things about this movie is that it doesn't force the violence either, it makes it count when it happens, you really have to be patient instead of opting to be trashy entertainment. I love me some trashy entertainment, but it's a breath of fresh air to see a movie like this actually trying to be a film.

THE BAD

This is sort of a nitpick, but I do think the violence could have been more graphic, not to be trashy or anything, just to increase the intensity a bit. Green Room is a perfect example of a movie that has extremely graphic violence and manages to not have it be for the sake of having gore.

CONCLUSION

Kalifornia is a wonderful thriller. It has the right tone, the right amount of violence, it has fantastic performances, the cinematography is gorgeous and it's intense as shit!

9.5/10  -  AMAZING

Pros:

- Great tone

- Perfect cinematography 

- Performances (Brad Pitt in particular)

- Goes for genuine quality rather than trashy entertainment

Cons:

- Violence could've been more graphic to increase intensity (nitpick)

FILM DETAILS:

MPA rating:  R (for strong violence, and for sexuality and language)

Release date:  September 3rd, 1993

Run time:  117 min

Studio:  Polygram Filmed Entertainment 

Cold Pursuit - Movie Review

Cold Pursuit (2019)

Cold Pursuit is a black comedy/crime thriller starring Liam Neeson. It tells the story of a snowplow driver who goes on a revenge quest after some drug dealers who killed his son. Released on February 8th, 2019, the film made just a little more than its budget back, grossing $76 million on a $60 million budget. The film received positive reviews as well.

THE GOOD

Cold Pursuit was a movie that I didn't see when it first came out. After Taken 3, I never bothered seeing very many Liam Neeson action movies because I thought they would be as terrible as that. I regret that completely after watching this movie! I saw this in my local theater a couple of days ago and it was really, really good! It seemed to look like your typical Liam Neeson revenge thriller in its marketing but it absolutely is not! This is a clever, weird and surprisingly hilarious dark comedy with elements of crime thriller and action. Liam Neeson is great here, he isn't your typical Neeson revenge thriller guy here, he feels more human. When he kills the first drug dealer on his revenge quest, you can see the nervousness in him and it's obvious that he does not want to do what he is doing. He even contemplates suicide early on in the movie after finding out his son is dead. The standout here is Tom Bateman as the villain, Viking. He was so gloriously over the top, so much fun, he steals every fucking scene he's in! There is also this kid, Nicholas Holmes, who plays the villain's son, he gives a fantastic performance here too! He also gives one of the best lines in the entire movie. The humor is great too, it's very subtle, but also very dark. There's a scene where Liam Neeson is riding in a cab with a hitman and Barbie Girl by Aqua plays. I thought it was pretty random, but it did get a giggle out of me. The last scene in the movie got a huge laugh out of me, I didn't see it coming at all, and it was hilarious! There are moments of great action here too, I wouldn't necessarily call this an action movie, but when it happens, it's violent, bloody and brutal. Whenever Liam Neeson punches somebody in the face, blood just starts gushing out of their mouth and nose and you hear the impact of those punches, it's solid stuff! There is also a terrific shootout in the final act, its filmed and edited wonderfully, you can actually tell what's going on and it's not migrane inducing like Taken 2 and 3. 

THE BAD

If you are not the kind of person who likes to be patient while watching a movie, don't watch this movie. It will be very offputting for people who are completely used to the typical pace and structure of your average Liam Neeson revenge thriller. It's not an issue for me at all but I just had to put it out there for people who will see that as a negative. My actual issues with the movie is that some characters are underutilized, like Laura Dern, who plays Liam Neeson's wife, she leaves no impact on the plot whatsoever, she is just there to slowly get upset at Liam Neeson overtime in the first half and then eventually leave and never see her again. I also wish they could've done so much more with the brother of Liam Neeson's character. *Spoiler Alert* At one point in the movie you find out that Liam Neeson's character's brother was at one point involved with the drug cartel that Liam Neeson is hunting down, which was an interesting subplot, but they don't really do much with it.

CONCLUSION

Cold Pursuit is a very good movie! It wasn't at all what I was anticipating, but in the best possible way. It does have a flaw or two but I still highly enjoy it! It was funny, exciting, the acting was great, the writing is great, and it was just a great time!

8.9/10  -  GREAT

Pros:

- Great moments of action

- Very funny

- Wonderful performances

- Liam Neeson feels more humanized than usual

Cons:

- Underutilized characters and plotline

- Can be offputting to many.

FILM INFORMATION:

MPA rating:  R (for strong violence, drug content, and some language including sexual references)

Release date:  February 8th, 2019

Run time:  119 min

Studio:  Lionsgate

BAD MOVIES: A Good Day to Die Hard

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

It's been a while since I have done one of these so why not review something that is truly awful? A Good Day to Die Hard was released on February 14th, 2013. It was slammed by critics and audiences, but was a box office success, earning $304 million on a budget of $92 million. A Good Day to Die Hard is an absolute disgrace to the Die Hard franchise, the only bad Die Hard movie, it is one of the worst sequels ever made and also one of the worst action movies ever made. How bad is this movie? Let's find out!

The Good

There isn't a single redeeming quality in this film.

The Bad

Where the fuck do I start? The action sequences are terrible, the cinematography is atrocious, the acting is horrible, there is absolutely no tension whatsoever, the movie doesn't even have a fucking villain! Let's talk about the action sequences and cinematography. This whole movie is an eyesore! There is so much shaky cam and quick cuts, both in the action sequences and in the talking scenes! I swear to fucking god they couldn't even keep the camera still for one god damn second! It also felt like they couldn't even keep a shot going for more than 3 seconds! If you like movies like Taken 3 or Alex Cross or The Hunger Games, this movie is right up your alley! There is zero tension in this entire film either. If you thought John McClaine was invincible in Live Free or Die Hard, just wait until you see this one, he doesn't even feel human here! Near the beginning of the movie, he is in this huge fucking car chase in Moscow, and he literally rolls the vehicle he's driving 3 or 4 times, he gets out of it, PERFECTLY FINE! No blood on him, no sign of broken bones or anything! Speaking of no blood, this movie is rated R, but yet this is one of the least brutal, most bloodless R-rated action movies I have ever seen! This is essentially a PG-13 movie that was just given the R rating to fool the fans! Live Free or Die Hard is far more violent than this is and that actually was rated PG-13! This film is also painfully unfunny, this film tries so hard to be funny at times and always fails! The dialogue is super painful, pretty much every single line of dialogue that comes out of Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney is either father and son bickering bullshit, terrible comedy and exposition. Now that I mentioned the lead stars, let's talk about the acting. What fucking acting? There isn't a single good performance here! Jai Courtney does his signature stoic, boring acting, and Bruce Willis is pretty much in the background the entire time unless the script needs him for an action sequence, and all he does when action isn't happening is being the annoying comic relief! This film doesn't even have a villain for most of it! There is this awful, forced twist in the climax where this Russian guy that the leads have to protect turns out to be the villain, but that doesn't last long because he's killed off like 5 minutes after the twist is revealed! Now that I think about it, I got some serious Halloween (2018) flashbacks happening, but that's for another review. 

In Conclusion

A Good Day to Die Hard is completely unwatchable. There is no plot, the cinematography and action sequences are a total nightmare that could very possibly give you motion sickness, the acting from everybody is atrocious, there is no tension, making the movie completely unexciting and boring. I hated this movie! We got 4 fantastic Die Hard movies already, there is literally no reason to watch this trainwreck unless you review movies and want to share your misery with your audience!

0/10  -  COMPLETE DISASTER

Pros

- None

Cons

- Terrible action

- Lack of tension

- No story

- Awful acting

- Frantic cinematography 

- Choppy editing

- No likable characters

Film Information

MPA rating:  R (for violence and language)

Release date:  February 14th, 2013

Run time:  101 min

Studio:  Twentieth Century Fox