The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Phantasm

I know this movie is absolutely loved by so many people. I just didn't get it. I like the premise of the movie, but really didn't enjoy it. I wanted to yell at the characters in the movie so many times it wasn't fun. I can appreciate what they did with the low budget and effects, but I still didn't enjoy it at all.

[2/5]

Brick

A high-school murder mystery like you've never seen before. Make sure this movie has your full attention when you watch it or you will get very VERY lost. Oh, and that feeling of "WTF is going on!?!" for the first 30-45 mins... work through it, its worth it! An amazing flick, I seriously loved it and I'm looking forward to watching it again ASAP!

[5/5]

An American Werewolf in London

How amazing are the makeup effects in this movie? I'm so glad there was no CG when this came out. I'm not typically a big werewolf movie fan, but I did enjoy the heck out of this. And damn was that final scene some kind of violent!

[4/5]

The Signal

After meeting the incredibly nice AJ Bowen at fantastic fest, I felt it was my duty to watch what I could of his. Finding THE SIGNAL on instant was great. I really enjoyed this "crazies" style flick that was obviously written by someone with a very intelligent sense of humor. If you are a fan of Shaun of the Dead or any other zombie/infected type of movie, watch this immediately!

[4.5/5]

Carriers

A lunchtime viewing. Carriers is a good survival-horror type movie. Although the horror is more emotional than your typical "infected" type movies. There's no danger of reanimated corpses or anything, just the disease itself. Its a good look into the humanity within us when humanity is gone. Carriers is a good pick for a fairly short instant watch.

[4/5]

Wall Street

No, you didn't read my tag wrong. This is a "new" one for me.

I was a big fan of Boiler Room when it came out and now I know why. It definitely took a lot of things from Wall Street.

[4.5/5]

Hatchet

After hearing that Hatchet 2 would be premiering at Fantastic Fest this year, I figured I'd better catch up before my trip out to Austin!

Hatchet feels like every slasher film you've seen from the 80s. Group goes out into the woods, gets chased by crazed, deformed, person. Lots of gore and little story make this a "meh" for me. It would definitely be more enjoyed in the middle of the night with some friends and drinks. Still looking forward to Hatchet 2 at FF!

[3/5]

Jackie Brown

Probably one of my lower rated QT movies, but that's not saying much. I seriously think this was only my second viewing since watching it in the theater. Pam Grier does a great job and Samuel L plays classic Samuel L.

This Film is Not Yet Rated

The system is broken. Yep. We get that thrown at us a lot in this doc. Having a panel arbitrarily rate a movie is just stupid these days. We get to see all of the "corporate corruption" and most of the movie is wasted on an attempt to stalk these movie raters.

After watching this, here's my ideas on how to fix things, either make a specific checklist that you go through and a certain amount of "checks" say for the word "fuck" get tallied up and a rating is given based on those OR have an open panel that the public is allowed to view and see why a movie got a certain rating.

Unfortunately, the doc wasn't all that entertaining to me.
[3/5]

Matrix Reloaded

Watched this on instant since I was feeling matrix-y and I don't have 1 on blu. It holds up fairly decent upon rewatching, but a lot of the CG Neo/Smith fight sequences look highly animated.

I still stick with my original rating:
[3/5]

Angels & Demons

There's nothing quite like watching a movie that you've read the book to and not getting into it whatsoever. Book wins.
[2.5/5]

House of the Devil

House of the Devil is another one of these underground, super hyped, horror films. Luckily, HotD really lives up to it! The hype behind it reminds me of Trick-or-Treat although, unlike ToT, I really enjoyed this one. Definitely felt nostalgic for 80s horror with a good pl0t and good emotional intensity. Great ending as well!

[4/5]

Jerry Maguire

I believe this may be the first time I've watched this since it came out. It still holds up and I really enjoyed watching it again.

[5/5]

The Dead Zone

When I first started this movie, I thought, "wait, Christopher Walken was young?!?" and not to mention a good serious actor!

Stephen King sure knows how to write a mind F doesn't he?

[4/5]

Casualties of War

Full Metal Jacket is a tough act to follow up, but CoW does a great job. Another Vietnam movie looking into the messed up mind of a soldier.

[4/5]

Full Metal Jacket

I watched this movie multiple times growing up, but haven't watched it in over 10 years.

I think I enjoyed it now more than I ever did.

[5/5]

Education of Charlie Banks

I wish Jesse Einsenberg would narrate my life. That would be great!

[3/5]

Tokyo Gore Police

Maybe it had a little to do with the fact that I spent the entire night throwing up, but I didn't enjoy this movie even in the slightest. It is definitely a "drunk/crowd" style movie that would be best enjoyed.

I definitely picked the wrong time to watch this one.

[2/5]

Going to Pieces

This doc from 2006 follows the history of the "slasher" film and does a good job at it. Cool to see so many people involved in the industry in the doc including Carpenter and Craven. Its sad how many of the of "classics" I haven't seen (or don't remember seeing) though. The only thing I really remember is watching these on USA's Up All Night. So a lot of them were watched in pieces and highly edited for tv.

[4/5]