onsdag 30 januari 2013

Daniel Answer A Fans Questions

A fan of my movie blog send me a few questions on facebook, so i thought i should answer them.

1. How did you come up with the title to your movie review page ?

Good question, actually i borrowed some influences from a South Park episode, where Cartman and his friends did a School News tv programme called Super Sexy Action News.  As i had plans of making a movie review page, i thought to myself, i have to have a title that makes no sense at all. Because honestly, there is nothing sexy about my movie reviews, that´s why it fit perfect to my style of a movie review page, nothing needs to make any sense at all.

2. You write in a special way, not afraid to say what you think, are you afraid someone might see this offensive personally ?

Not at all, the only time i had someone angry at me was when i posted my Twilight reviews, some fans did not appreciate my words, but i honestly dont care. If i am going to write what i think, i do that, and its not personal against anyone who enjoys those movies. Movie reviews are supposed to be written by your own mind, what you feel and think. Otherwise it wont be a personal movie reviews page.

3. Have you ever thought about working as a movie reviewer for a news paper or a magazine ?

It would be fun, but then i would have to write more elegant than i do now. I don´t think they would be so happy of my style, since i don´t always use nice words. But if i had the chance, i would try it, if someone did like my movie reviews


Thank you so much for these questions. I am not going to say who you are for personal reasons, but if anyone out there wish to ask me more, just send me questions, or even comment if you wish.

The Rise And Fall Of A White Collar Hooligan

England. A country known for many things. The Beatles, tea drinking, and most of all, football. One of the biggest problems in England are the football hooligans. Every year, thousand are being arrested, some people are injured so bad they need medical care. It´s tragic. You would think going to a football game means spending time with friends and family, and just enjoy a game of football, but reality is hooligans make this too personal. Movie adaptions of football hooligans have been made several times, the best one that comes to mind is The Football Factory from 2004. Brutal, and honest film making, on a very high quality level, telling the story of how football hooligans live and think.The Rise And Fall Of A White Collar Hooligan takes a look at football hooligans, but in a different way. Is this new british crime drama worth your attention, or just something we have seen many times before ?

Mike Jakobs ( Nick Nevern ) is unemployed, and is desperate to get a job. With no luck at job interviews, his criminal friend Eddie ( Simon Phillips ) suggest he begins working as a driver for his business, delivering packages around London. Everything is going smooth, as Eddie introduce Mike to another job, taking out money with fake bank cards, with other peoples money transfered into their own accounts. Mike is skeptic at first, but realise he can live life now. Football games, hooligan fights, party with girls, drugs and alcohol become a daily need. But his girlfriend Katie ( Rita Ramnani ) have had enough, and leave him. At a trip to France with Eddie and his friends, things go terribly wrong, and Mike is arrested. Will he finally stop this life of hell ?

If you expect to see a lot of football, you might be disappointed. Then again, this is a good choice if you love british cinema, the acting is really good. One of the few problems i have with this movie, is that it´s too short, only about 1 hour and 20 minutes, i would have like to know more about Mike´s childhood, what made him become a criminal. Apart from this, we get an intense criminal drama that makes you think, is it really worth all that money, when you get nothing in the end but misery ? Worth to rent, and might even be a good education movie at school for teenagers, to see what can happen to anyone, if you end up in the wrong friendship.

Rating: DDD

tisdag 29 januari 2013

Ted

Most children love soft teddy bears. Every child imagine their own teddy bear to be a person, even if they are not alive for real. But what if your teddy bear could wake up alive ? And become your best friend for life ? Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlen is behind the strings of Ted, and as most of you know, his sense of humour is enormous, he jokes about everything from gay people, pedophiles, you name it....With a different perspective on teddy bears, in a comedy, does this concept work well, or does it work better in a tv series format ?

The year is 1985 in Boston. Little boy John Bennett is a lonely child, who is a bully victim. For christmas he is given a teddy bear, he names his teddy bear Teddy ( Ted ). John have a wish, that Teddy will become alive, as a falling star goes into the sky. His wish comes true, and Teddy is a real person in a teddy bears body. They become best of friends. 27 years later, John ( Mark Wahlberg ) and Ted ( Voice of Seth MacFarlen ), still lives a party life. Using drugs, check out classic movies, talk about everything they can think of. Johns girlfriend Lori Collins ( Mila Kunis want to marry John, but she feels John needs to move on with his life, and let Ted live on his own. Ted wants to continue party and have hookers, and not think about problems.  As John tries to explain to Ted, they need to change their lives, or he will loose Lori. Can Ted accept this situation or will he try to stop their relationship ?

Ted is a damn funny movie. I had no idea a teddy bear could be this hilarious, with his immature lifestyle. Some scenes are actually classic, like when a prostitute takes a shit on the floor, and Ted says it was just a game. Or when he have sex at work, and his boss promote him for banging the cash register girl....you realise this is not for the sensitive bitches. Mark Wahlberg works very good as a comedian actor, as he tries to become mature with his girlfriend. I just love the raw comedy style, where they mix the cute teddy bear image, with a complete different angle than what most people would think of teddy bears. A lot of problems with todays comedies, are that there are very few original ideas, that makes an impact. Ted hits you right in the face, this is no sweet story of friendship, or sweet love. This is a story of real life, but with supernatural influences, since we all know teddy bears are not alive....or are they ?
Don´t miss the Flash Gordon scene, when Mark Whalberg meets his biggest idol ever, Sam J. Jones. I would do exactly the same thing if i met Jon Heder, a k a Napoleon Dynamite. Grab yourself a big glas of Ron de Jeremy, gather some friends, and just have a great time. Ted will please everyone with a vulgar sense of humor. By the way,  turn the volume up when Mark Wahlberg sings the theme song for James Bond movie Octopussy, honestly...this is the best romantic song ever.

Rating: DDDD

onsdag 23 januari 2013

The Revenant

In the 80´s there was a lot of movies made with different genres mixed together. Night Of The Creeps, Big Trouble In Little China, Bad Taste, and many more. The traditional way of making a movie expanded, and you could throw in a piece of everything to make your own style. Some did really well, some had some great ideas that did not work on paper. When i first saw the trailer of The Revenant, i almost fell off my chair. This looked exactly like one of the early 80´s mixed up genre movies, but updated and still very clever. Question is, is The Revenant a future classic, or did the trailer just take out the best scenes to hide the real quality?

Second Lieutenant Bart Gregory (David Anders) is shot dead in Iraq, during a mission. His body is transfered home to Usa to be buried. His best friend Joey Leubner (Chris Wylde), is devastated, but handle the situation with alcohol and medicine. Bart´s girlfriend Janet (Louise Griffiths) does not know how to handle the situation, so have sex with Joey. One night, Bart wakes up from the dead, not knowing why he is back to life, he finds his way home to Joey. At first Joey thinks this is a bad joke, but he realise Bart is back from the dead. The two friends try and live life, go out for girls, have fun, but the thirst for blood is bigger than ever. Bart needs blood, and fast. When Joey is shot in a robbery at a super store, Joey helps him wake up from the dead. Now, 2 dead guys are on the streets, with fireguns, ready to have the best party ever.

I am in love. The Revenant is just what i needed to see, this is a mix of everything from classic movies The Hidden, The Killer, and with influences from the early Peter Jackson movies. The fact is that this is a really funny movie, even how sick some scenes are, you will be laughing your ass off. Just the idea of a zombie who party, clean up the streets from crime as a zombie Dirty Harry is brilliant. The scene where he tries to sound like Clint Eastwood, and say his classic Dirty Harry line, this is some really funny shit people. The Revenant may not make any sense to many, but for me this is the perfect example of intelligent movie making. Mix everything you can, and make your own original story, with great special effects included, no cgi. Why did not The Revenant win an academy for best movie in the year 2009 ? Let´s face it, people need to learn what real movies should be like. Buy this one, this is without a doubt the best horror comedy released in many years. I wonder why it took 3 years for a release date here in Sweden ? It was worth the wait, no doubt about that.

Rating: DDDD

tisdag 22 januari 2013

Silent Hill: Revelations

Silent Hill games may be some of the best horror games ever made. What about Resident Evil ? They are two very different type of horror games, so its hard to compare. But one thing that i personally enjoyed playing Silent Hill is the story behind the gameplay. The characters, and why the town of Silent Hill is so special. The movie adaption from 2006 was actually pretty good, for being a movie made from a video game. And here we now have the next chapter of the story, will Silent Hill: Revelations hold the fans of the video games pleased, or is this another example of lazy adaptions for cash only ?

Teenage girl Sharon ( Adeleide Clemens ) lives with her father Christopher ( Sean Bean ). Sharon have always been told that her mother Rose Da Silva ( Radha Mitchell ), died in a car accident. But when Sharon begins to have visions, of a complete different world we live in, she begins to question what is going on. Turns out her mother is trapped in the town of Silent Hill, and her father is hold hostage. Sharon travels to Silent Hill, to find out more about her life, and to save her father.

I had so high expectations after watching the trailer last year, i was hoping Silent Hill: Revelations would deliver so much more than the first movie. And now, i feel lost. This is not what i expected. First of all, the acting for most part is really terrible. If you are going to do a Silent Hill movie, you need to have some quality acting, to make the characters of the video game come to life. This is just a waste of time. The best part are some of the special effects. I will say that director Michael J. Bassett have a good vision of Silent Hill, to make the brutal enviroment look nasty. But with acting low as this, it does not help the movie go in the right direction. There is one funny detail that i did laugh about, in a scene when leading actress Adelaide Clemens says :- Fuck facebook. This is a bit ironic since the movie is being commercialised on facebook. Silent Hill: Revelations is not a bad movie, visually it looks pretty good for the most part, but the acting is way too bad. If you enjoyed the first movie, then you might at least enjoy the scenery, but that´s about it.

Rating: DD

onsdag 16 januari 2013

Paranormal Activity 4

It´s time for some more paranormal events, do these evil spirits never find a way to a better world ? Looks like they are stuck here, and are still mad as hell about their situation. Ever since Paranormal Activity first arrived back in 2009, audiences all over the world fell in love with the concept, of having your home haunted for a reason. I must admit, it was not until the second movie i got hooked up. Third movie was alright, i enjoyed the ending especially, and now i am hoping to get some more answers with the 4th one in our hands. Will the fourth chapter continue the legacy in a positive direction, or have this legacy become desperate to make cash only ?

In 2006, Kristi Rey and her husband are killed by her demon possessed sister Katie, who then kidnap Kristi´s baby son Hunter. No one knows where Katie is, and it has now gone 5 years, no sign of Katie or Hunter. November 2011. Teenage girl Alex ( Katheryn Newton ), lives with her mother Holly ( Alexondra Lee ), and her father Doug ( Stephen Dunham ). The family notice a young boy Robbie ( Brady Allen ), from the next door neighbours house. He seems to be an odd child, staring at their house, and seem to be very alone. One night, when Robbies mother falls and hurt herself badly, is rushed into a hospital. Holly can´t find any relatives to Robbie and decide to take care of him. Katie feels there is something wrong with this boy, as she begin to see things happening when he is around.

I know a fifth movie is coming, but i feel that i have had enough. Part 4 is so far the worst of the 4 movies. Why ? Its uninspired, lazy, no surprises, just made to please fans. The biggest problem from my view is that the scary scenes does not work very good at all. Leading actress Katheryn Newton is not bad, but....she can´t carry this sloppy script on her own. Ok, everything is not awful, but i get the feeling this was only made to make a profit. If you enjoyed the previous Paranormal Activity movies, skip this one, and just watch one of the others. Paranormal Part 4 is about as exciting as watching a model train collection event in Manchester, do i need to say more ?

Rating: DD

tisdag 15 januari 2013

The Possession


There is only one ultimate exorcism movie, and without a doubt, it´s William Friedkin´s The Excorsist. Even if the movie has aged, it´s one of those titles that most horror fans have to own on dvd, a timeless classic that many directors tried to recreate, but not even close as good as the original. When it comes to the subject exorcism, we have a lot of titles out there with exorcism included. One of the few titles i enjoyed lately is The Last Exorcism, not the typical genre movie, but a story about a broken family, facing a truth they can not deal with. Even if there is a second movie coming, i fear it can´t be as good as the first one, it´s hard to make a sequel of a good movie, unless you really know what you are doing. The Possession is a horror movie, where one of the producers Sam Raimi, is a cult figure in the horror world. Not only for his Evil Dead movies, but also for his comeback to the genre, Drag Me To Hell, proved out to be a very pleasent tribute to his old classics. Question is, will The Possession bring new life to the exorcism genre, or is this business as usual ?

Divorced father Clyde ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ) show his daughters Em ( Natasha Calis ) and Hannah ( Madison Davenport ), his new house. He is hoping to spend more time with his daughters, since he and his ex wife Stephanie Brenek ( Kyra Segdwick ), does not get along. At a backyard sale, near Clyde´s house, Em finds an old box for sale, with a very strange design. Em asks dad if she can have it, and he approves. As Em manage to open the strange box, she does not know that something else is inside, locked up not to be let out again. Now, Em is starting to change, into someone completely different. Clyde will do anything to have his daughter back to normal.

The Possession does not bring anything fresh, but this is still a well made piece of cinema work. With classic elements and a good cast, we get a treat for ourselves. One interesting detail is the jewish society scene, where we find out more about demons in the jewish world. Usually it´s exorcism in the Christian religion, but here we get a different approach. Director Ole Bornedal may not be seen in the media very often, but he is a very talented director. His danish debut movie Nightwatch from 1994, is a bit of a classic thriller from my neighbour country Denmark. There was a remake made, but i prefer the original movie. Let´s not forget his suspenseful thriller drama Deliver Us From Evil, with such great acting you barely get anymore. You can tell his cinema feeling is very detailed in The Possession. To pick up a simple story like this, and still make a good horror movie is not an easy job. If there is one problem, it would be that we would have liked some different turns along the way, something we did not expect. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is one of the actors in The Possession who manage portraying a father, desperate and mentally broken, to find a way to heal his daughter. And Kyra Sedgwick ? She knows exactly what she is doing, as usual. If you love exorcism movies, i have a feeling you will enjoy this one also. One thing is for sure, i am not going to mess with religious items after watching this one.


Rating: DDD

söndag 13 januari 2013

Soldiers Of Fortune

It must have been embarrassing for Christian Slater last year. His movie Playback was the lowest grossing film of 2012. On a budget of 7,5 million dollars, the movie only grossed 264 dollars at the box office. Times have changed, and even if Christian Slater starred in some box office hits in the 90´s, the movie industry have found new names to big titles. I am pretty sure he is a nice guy, at least you get that impression on interviews, and maybe he enjoys doing low budget movies. Soldiers Of Fortune is an action movie, with co stars Sean Bean and Ving Rhames. Maybe this is exactly where mr Slater fits in, or is he out on too deep water ?

Captain Craig McKenzie ( Chistian Slater ), a disgraced special forces officer, is hand picked to lead the ultimate extreme vacation. Five very rich people want to experience something out of the ordinary, and hope that this will give them the rush they need. As the mission begins, everything goes terrible wrong, as Captain Craig and his amateur soldiers, have to survive against the tyranny of Colonel Lupo ( Gennadi Vengerov ).

Even if Soldiers Of Fortune did terrible at the box office in Usa, the movie did quite well in Russia, grossing over 1,5 million dollars, i´m not surprised why. Action movies like these ones does not draw a big audience in the U.S. like they did back in the 90´s. Some parts of Europe still love these kinds of action movies, that´s why so many of them are made in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Russia. The audience has not changed much over there, so you know how to keep fans interested, casting well known stars that have made some classics in the past. So what about Soldiers Of Fortune ? There are no surprises here, this is exactly what you would have guessed, action made for fans of Chuck Norris, but with less fights, and more weapons. Still, what we have here is a perfect example, when you have no script, and just follow the american way. Christian Slater is pretty much the same, he always is on screen. Sean Bean is at least an actor we know can deliver, but here he does not deliver much at all. I will say this is not as bad as the latest Seagal movies, he is long lost from hope. Director Maksim Korostyshevsky have put together an action movie, that will only please fans of old action classics. By the way, check out Dominic Monaghan in here as one of the millionaires, he is actually not that bad. Soldiers Of Fortune is nothing you will remember, but better than any episode of Småstadsdrottningar ( Small Town Queens )....i just dont understand why tv does shit shows like that.

Rating: DD

fredag 11 januari 2013

Alex Cross

In 1997, i remember renting Kiss The Girls, a thriller with Morgan Freeman as Dr Alex Cross, hunting a psychotic killer, who keep his victim locked up. It may not have the most original storyline, but it is an intensive thriller. The sequel Along Came The Spider still managed to deliver a pretty solid thriller. It took some time to bring back the character Alex Cross on screen, since there have been ideas of how he should return. Now we have a new updated version with actor Tyler Perry, taking over Morgan Freemans beloved character. Is this updated version a worthy sequel to the previous movies, or a step towards the path of no return ?

Businesswoman Fan Yau ( Stephanie Jacobsen ) is found murdered, including some more bodies spread out in the same house. At the crime scene, police captain Richard Brookwell ( John C. McGinle ) contact Alex Cross ( Tyler Perry ), and his partner Tommy Kane ( Edward Burns ). Alex Cross begins to investigate who the man is behind these murders. As the details of the suspect begins to reveal, he finds out the billionaire CEO Giles Mercier ( Jean Reno ), could be the next victim. The hunt has only begun, but what does this killer want ? Is there a reason he choose certain people ?


If you have seen the previous Alex Cross movies with Morgan Freeman, don´t expect to be happy. Tyler Perry as the new Alex Cross is not a good match. One difference is that Morgan Freeman is a talented actor, who knows how to make a character feel realistic. Tyler Perry does not even get close to that level of acting. Another problem is that the updated Alex Cross does not feel interesting. There is action, and some scenes are ok, but overall i can´t help to feel cheated. This is not what i have expected. One positive thing is the other actors, Edward Burns and Jean Reno are here, and that helps this movie to raise the level a few inches. In the end, i still feel that this is far away from the quality of the previous movies with Morgan Freeman. I read that Tyler Perry will return in a second movie, i hope they adjust some very important details until next time. If there is nothing on tv, you might get through this one, but my suggestion is rent the previous movies, you will notice the difference of quality acting.

Rating: DD

lördag 5 januari 2013

Dredd

Judge Dredd is one of the comic book characters, i really enjoyed as a kid. I remember i bought a couple of comic books, and enjoyed the character as well as his personality. When you think of the law system today here in Sweden, we have many problems. And you suddenly begin to wonder, what if we had a different law force, that could clean up the streets, would that be good, or just make more problems ? Interesting idea, since the law system need a change. Victims of violence or other traumatic experiences should not be punished for something they did not do. This is where Judge Dredd comes in, he wants to make things right, and erase everything thats wrong. If you did see the 1995 movie Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone, you know what we are up against, but maybe this is a complete different story, behind Judge Dredd, than what we did get in 1995? Is the latest Dredd movie a step in the right direction, or a completely lost project ?

United States, have turned into a wasteland known as the Cursed Earth. Located on the east coast, we find the city state Mega-City One. With a population of 800 million, and 17.000 crimes reported daily, the whole city is a big mess. The only force who can bring justice is known as the Judges. They act as judge, jury and executioner. Judge Dredd ( Karl Urban ) is ordered by Chief Judge to evaluate new recruit Cassandra Andersson ( Olivia Thirbly ), a powerful psychic, since she failed the aptitude tests to be a Judge. A new drug called Slo-Mo are causing big problems, while drug lord Madeline Madrigal ( Lena Heady ) order her workers to kill Judges. A war have just begun, and this war will not finish until justice is served.

Forget about the 1995 version. This is Judge Dredd the way we wanted a movie adaption to be from the comic books. Dirty, rough, with no bright future ahead, only eternal darkness and only a few souls out there, with hope that something will change. Karl Urban does a great performance as Judge Dredd, he found the balance that fits the character we know from the comic books, without being to dramatic. The scenes of Mega-City One looks great, with a city so lost from hope, it makes this story feel more interesting. What about action ? Don´t worry, there is plenty of action in Judge Dredd style, and thankfully some surprises along the way, you will see for yourself. It´s a shame audiences around the world did not go and see Dredd in the cinema, box office results were bad, but support this movie adaption, buy it or rent it, finally we have a Judge Dress movie worth some attention. Some details could have been better, but overall this is a comic book movie worth your time.

Rating : DDD

fredag 4 januari 2013

House At The End Of The Street

Last year i praised the horror movie Sinister for bringing something different to the horror genre. It was one of the better horror movies that came out that year. Movie studios wants to pull out new stories, and try to find an audience. House At The End Of The Street looks like a mix of Amytville Horror and a teen thriller. Is this an intelligent mix, or something easily forgotten ?

Divorced mother Sarah ( Elisabeth Shue ) and her daughter Elissa ( Jennifer Lawrence ) move to a new house, to begin a new life. In the house next door, a girl named Carrie Ann, murdered her parents years ago. Carrie´s brother Ryan is still alive, living in the house. Even if Carrie Ann disappeared all those years ago, some secrets are about to be revealed.

No...no...no....

Why did director Mark Tonderai give us this shitty movie ? We must have seen this 400 times before, and here, we get the same thing over and over. Jennifer Lawrence have been mentioned to become nominated for worst actor 2012 at the Razzie Awards, i wonder why ? The script is so boring, i would rather play with myself, just to keep the time running. Bad actors, bad movie, just stay away from this......at any cost.

Rating: D

Taken 2

I think most of us were surprised about Taken in 2008. What seemed to be an ordinary action thriller, turned out to be one hell of a ride, with great acting and great action. But what is most extraordinary is the box office numbers, cashing in over 200 million dollars in profit. Liam Neeson proved himself to be an action star, no one would have expected. With such a good start of Taken, will the sequel follow the high standards, or is this far way from the same quality of the first movie ?

After the events in Paris, Bryan Mills ( Liam Neeson ), is back in to normal life, spending time with his daughter Kim ( Maggie Grace ). In Albania, a ceremony takes place of dead terrorists, from their employer Murad ( Rade Sherbedgia ). He wants revenge on Bryan Mills, for killing his son Marko in France. Bryan travels to Istanbul, with his daughter and Kims mother Lenore ( Famke Janssen ). In Istanbul, everything seems to be going good, until Lenore and Bryan is captured by albanian terrorists. Before Bryan and Lenore was taken, he managed to explain to Kim, that something is wrong, and what she has to do. Now, time is running out for Lenore and Bryans life, and only Kim have a chance to end this.

Let´s face it, what worked back in 2008, does not work in this sequel. Taken 2 is an example of what happends, when you run out of ideas for a sequel. This is supposed to follow up what happened last time, but it´s not very effective. The story line is way too simple, the tension is gone, the only thing that manage to deliver something are the action scenes. Liam Neeson is not bad, but far away from his usual acting skills. Taken 2 is not awful, still there are so many flaws along the path, you can´t help to wonder why director Olivier Megaton got this script. In another directors hands, this might have worked with more details and perfection, but this is simply dull.

Rating: DD

tisdag 1 januari 2013

Welcome to 2013

Ok, im hangover today. But, still i feel like getting started with new movie reviews this week. I have 2 movie reviews coming up this week, so lets get started this new year, and keep your eyes open. Im looking forward to a new movie year, and i hope you enjoy this movie review page. Have a great start of 2013 everyone all over the world

Cheers from

Daniel