Last Seen Contemporary Movie

[phantomstranger]

'Atlantic Rim' (2013)

Plot: monsters vs robots (sound familiar)

Phantoms Review: Truly awful rip off of 'Pacific Rim' (produced by The Asylum , of course), terrible on every level, FX, acting, plot, action , it's a complete waste of time.

[Giganticface]

Originally Posted by shadyJ

I didn't hate the 90' NOTLD, but of course it was far inferior to the original, for the reasons you stated, although I think 'love and humanity of the very real characters' is a bit of a stretch to describe the original. One mistake the remake made is toughening up Barbara. Some people complain about how brittle Barbara is in the original, but I think that serves the story and atmosphere perfectly. She is a nervous wreck, and her hysteria gives the movie almost a sense of panic, an edge because it makes the situation all the more fragile. Plus her screaming is great. One of the great scenes of horror is Barbara screaming as the zombies take her away.

I prefer the stronger Barbara from the remake, but agree that as a whole the movie isn't better than the original. It's good though. I actually think it's a darn good remake as far as remakes go, and the effects are excellent. Tom Savini did well in his full-length directorial debut.

I agree with Sculpt that certain social themes were lost in the original, such as racism, but times had significantly changed between 1968 and 1990. The original was perhaps the first black hero in a feature film, while in 1990, African American culture was reaching new heights in popularity, both in music and film. In 1968, Romero was commenting on Vietnam, which was a distant memory in 1990, when there was no equivalent controversy. If Tom Savini wanted to make a statement in 1990, it would have probably had to be about political correctness or Saddam's oil fields. I'm glad he didn't attempt that. :)

[Ferox13]

Originally Posted by phantomstranger

'Atlantic Rim' (2013)

Plot: monsters vs robots (sound familiar)

Phantoms Review: Truly awful rip off of 'Pacific Rim' (produced by The Asylum , of course), terrible on every level, FX, acting, plot, action , it's a complete waste of time.

I so want to see this.

[Sculpt]

Originally Posted by shadyJ

I didn't hate the 90' NOTLD, but of course it was far inferior to the original, for the reasons you stated, although I think 'love and humanity of the very real characters' is a bit of a stretch to describe the original. One mistake the remake made is toughening up Barbara. Some people complain about how brittle Barbara is in the original, but I think that serves the story and atmosphere perfectly. She is a nervous wreck, and her hysteria gives the movie almost a sense of panic, an edge because it makes the situation all the more fragile. Plus her screaming is great. One of the great scenes of horror is Barbara screaming as the zombies take her away.

It's with the Barbara and Ben characters that I mention the love of humanity. Because Barbara is so weak, that, even though she's a stranger (& white), Ben protects her with his life. He becomes what he has to be to protect her. Among the group he's stuck with, he has to assume the role of leader. There's a selfish dude Karl, who would just assume let Ben get killed at the earliest convenience; but Ben needs to use everyone. Protecting Barbara is at the heart of protecting our loved ones. It's the heart and backbone of the film. I don't recall really caring about any characters in the 90 version.

Originally Posted by Giganticface

I prefer the stronger Barbara from the remake, but agree that as a whole the movie isn't better than the original. It's good though. I actually think it's a darn good remake as far as remakes go, and the effects are excellent. Tom Savini did well in his full-length directorial debut.

I agree with Sculpt that certain social themes were lost in the original, such as racism, but times had significantly changed between 1968 and 1990. The original was perhaps the first black hero in a feature film, while in 1990, African American culture was reaching new heights in popularity, both in music and film. In 1968, Romero was commenting on Vietnam, which was a distant memory in 1990, when there was no equivalent controversy. If Tom Savini wanted to make a statement in 1990, it would have probably had to be about political correctness or Saddam's oil fields. I'm glad he didn't attempt that. :)

I may give the 90 version a second look.

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by The Villain

You're Next


I don't know why i bother with home invasion movies, they're all the same and are never scary. This one is no different. The cold opening was dull, the characters are annoying and unlikable and the acting is terrible. The villains are totally unforgettable. You can't just slap a mask on someone and think that makes them a good bad guy.

It gets a little better when the main character goes all John Mclane on the bad guys but it's ruined by the lame ending.

SPOILERS
From a realistic and logical standpoint, Erin definitely would've gone to prison even without the accidental shooting of the cop. There was no one left to back up her story that she didn't in fact murder everyone. That's one reason why i like monster movies better then slashers. You don't have to explain to the police why you're murdered some creature. But you're gonna have some problems convincing everyone it was self defense when the cops walk into a fucking bloodbath and you're the only one standing.

Other movies have been able to pull off the "character survives only to be killed by police due to misunderstanding" trope but this movie did not. It was an unnecessary ending which would've been better if she had just walked out of the house and it ended. Even with that ending she might be able to escape arrest since no one would've really known that she was supposed to be there.
END OF SPOILERS

Overall, it was interesting but not worth the hype it got. Basically mediocre.

Awww... I really enjoyed that one. The sibling arguments cracked me up and there were a couple of parts that made me cringe even in a second viewing... Plus the "twist" gave me a WHOLE lot of appreciation for the movie...



SPOIERS


LOVE the kickass chick shift!!

[Angra]

"13 Sins" 8-9/10


Now that's entertainment.

Story:
"A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last."

A high paced thriller, both suspenseful and hilarious at the same time. Had a couple of scenes that were a little far fetched, but except for that minor detail this movie did everything right. No dull moments.
Never seen the guy playing the lead before, but he was great.

Could easilly become a franchise.

[roshiq]

Holy Ghost People (2013)



>>: B

Dark House (2014)



Agree with Angra; there were clear King, Koontz or even, to some extent, Clive Barker inspirations in the plot line & characters. So you can guess, the story had a great potential to become something really cool but frustratingly it didn't live up that expectations as a whole. The most disappointing part was they didn't explore that house at all, I just didn't get why nobody ever even just went & checked out the upstairs?! I was expecting a Lovecraftian showdown at the end with some creepy-weird monsters popping out from the dark corners of the house but that never happened. I think it was all because of budgetary issues, all those 'angels & demons' in human forms also never think of revealing themselves even when they were fighting with each other.

It's sad, when a film like this with such interesting premise turns out this way & a probably cool devilish villain never get a chance to show up.

>>: B-

[Angra]

Originally Posted by roshiq

>>: B

Dark House (2014)



Agree with Angra; there were clear King, Koontz or even, to some extent, Clive Barker inspirations in the plot line & characters. So you can guess, the story had a great potential to become something really cool but frustratingly it didn't live up that expectations as a whole. The most disappointing part was they didn't explore that house at all, I just didn't get why nobody ever even just went & checked out the upstairs?! I was expecting a Lovecraftian showdown at the end with some creepy-weird monsters popping out from the dark corners of the house but that never happened. I think it was all because of budgetary issues, all those 'angels & demons' in human forms also never think of revealing themselves even when they were fighting with each other.

It's sad, when a film like this with such interesting premise turns out this way & a probably cool devilish villain never get a chance to show up.

>>: B-

Also the min characters psychic gift. Why did he have it? Was it just to make him more interesting? It didn't come in handy at any time in the movie. He did't even bothered to tell his friend who would die in war maybe not to join the army. A real pal.

[cheebacheeba]

Story:
"A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last."

A high paced thriller, both suspenseful and hilarious at the same time. Had a couple of scenes that were a little far fetched, but except for that minor detail this movie did everything right. No dull moments.
Never seen the guy playing the lead before, but he was great.

Could easilly become a franchise.

So this is like a remake of the thai film from a few years back? Seems pretty similar.
Might have to take a look.



I just got through "Dark Shadows"...Maybe it's an alright homage to the original series or some such, but personally I found it just, droll and boring.
Few of the bitsof dialogue gave me a chuckle, but it was bereft of any kind of atmosphere, something Burton used to be able to muster.
I could deal with never seeing this again.

[hammerfan]

Divergent

Not bad. I know nothing about the story, so had low expectations. Kind of a mash-up of Hunger Games and Logan's Run.