Drag Me To Hell rekalled...

DRAG ME TO HELL is the newest from famed horror film director Sam Raimi, who is better known for his Spideman films. This is a film that harkens back to his horror roots and his love of nostalgic cinema, this is rather apparent in the opening moments when the classic Universal logo is displayed instead of the modern CG one used in most Universal films. DMTH is an assault to the senses, the visceral sounds are done rather well and the imagery is rather creepy and when not creepy downright disgusting. The star, Alison Lohman does a competent job of playing a average person but not quite as charismatic or sympathetic as you would want in a lead role such as this. I felt that someone with a little more personality may have brought a little more to the film but she is not a hindrance even with her moments of Drew Berrymoore-ness. I am just more accustom to a Bruce Campbell-type presence in a Raimi film. The film starts out at a pretty good pace but looses a little momentum in the second half. I am not much of a horror fan but I did enjoy it for the most part. Not a must see by any means but a pleasant distraction if you are looking for some thrills and gore.

UP rekalled...

UP is the latest in the pantheon of good films from Pixar. They have yet to fail me, they only have varying degrees of good from what I have seen. Granted I have missed Cars and Ratatouille, I still think highly of their films. The voice actors are great in this and has a very inventive concept and goes in a direction you don't expect. While not as good as Wall-E or my favorite the Incredibles it is still good. It seems to be a more person story and a step back from the epic film that Wall-E was which isn't a bad thing, just different. Great for the whole family.

Termiantor Salvation rekalled...

TERMINATOR SALVATION has been terminated. No salvation will be allowed, a complete failure. The film works as an action film somewhat but not in comparison to what the previous films had established. I was pretty excited to see the film, I enjoy the Terminator universe and had heard what McG the director and the actors were saying prior to the film. I thought they understood what the property was about but talking a good game and performing are 2 distinct things. The story is a mess and the characters are un-interesting. Numerous characters with no real arc or motivation. The art direction of this world was a step backward as well, the world set up in the James Cameron films was a dismal future yet the machines were a glistening chrome. What we get is a human resistance that doesn't seem in that bad of shape and robots that look like giant pieces of plastic. What might be the most frustrating thing about the movie is that you could tell there could have been a good or great film in there with a few daring choices but we get a vanilla mess. The one bright spot for me was the actor Anton Yelchin's performance of Kyle Reece, while not looking the part at all he did the mannerisms and put in a solid performance in the moments he has. The other main actors weren't bad just uninteresting. Other than that avoid at all costs, your future may depend on it.

Star Trek rekalled...

STAR TREK has been saved. Go see it. It is great. This years IRON MAN if you will. Not a perfect film but a fun one. A character driven science fiction film that people have been craving for years. The original Star Trek series had it and that was lost on it's long trek through television and movies. J.J. Abrams cements himself as a truly gifted story teller with this endeavor, I thought of him only having that touch with TV shows like LOST and FRINGE but pulls it off on the big screen. His previous films of Cloverfield and MI:3 were more gimmicky than great films but this could be his break out film, I expect much more from him in the future. The actors chosen to reprise the roles that most know were not given an easy task an excel for the most part. There are no weak links, they don't do imitations but homages, they grasped what made the characters great and added to them their own flavor. There are some instances where the story takes an unbelievable jump with coincidence but way the story is told makes up for it. One of my favorites of the year so far.

Celebrity Apprentice S2.8 rekalled...

Celebrity Apprentice is a reality show where teams of celebrities compete at various business challenges for charity and judged by none other than Donald Trump. I am a fan of the Apprentice because I can get insight into the business world and a lot of the tasks involve marketing to which I am a part of the industry. Also I love the way Trump brands himself, TRUMP; A Trump Organization. The Celebrity edition is interesting because you can see which people are truly smart business people and which others are only talented in their specific area of celebrity, last night was a great example of this and a great episode.

The celebs were tasked to make a 4 page AD for deodorant using a celebrity basketball player, I design ads so this peaked my curiosity. The main excitement of the episode started when Jesse James called out Clint Black for his poor ad design direction for which Jesse was right and wrong. He was correct in say the ads were ugly and poorly produced but he didn't realize that it would be judged by the deodorant executives and they love it when you have their product huge and a lot of copy no matter how ugly. I have learned this the hard way. Jesse went on a rant about how Clint was a an idiot and was going to lose but the other team produced and uglier ad and they were saved from the boardroom.

In the boardroom we were treated to the playboy playmate, Brande Roderick defend her position of Project Manager of the losing team which she came out timid but fought back. Poker player Anne Duke, whom appears to be the strongest contestant, didn't have to defend herself too much except for some personal attacks that had nothing to do with her performance. Finally Melissa Rivers(whose celebrity solely stems from being Joan RIvers child) opened her mouth and she sank herself. Such a terrible human being. She was catty, childish and really insecure for the whole series and it really came through in the last minutes of the show. Thinking that the women were out to get her she stated her opinions on the matter early and caused waves on their task. The main problem with their task was the execution of the ad and she was supposed to be partially responsible for the layout and photography which was terrible and that alone could have fallen on the project manager but she wanted to make it personal which did her in.

Her and Joan Rivers went crazy after she was fired and both left the show without being interviewed. Not classy women, I had a good opinion of Joan Rivers before the show but now I think she is mean. As for Melissa I had no opinion before but now I think she doesn't deserve any success in her professional life, anything she has accomplished must be due to her mother's influence and rants. She seems to hate any woman who is more attractive than her and that is a huge problem since that happens to be 99% of all women. Plus she seems to think she has to prove that she is her own person, as not to think that her mother pulls strings for her, but she fails by always having her mother stick up for her even when she is in the wrong. I am glad to be rid of both of them. Joan did seem to have a sweet side but if you got on her bad side it was terrible to see. Melissa was all around horrible and I would not have any faith in her in any business capacity or in life in general. Most people get over high school inadequacies.

All in all a great episode, I am looking forward to the final episodes. I think it will come down to Jesse James and Anne Duke. Both seem to have a great business sense with different abilities with people. Anne is the strong willed person who uses her poker skills to manipulate people and Jesse is the stoic type who can be silent then make a great point when needed and has excellent business sense. I think Anne will win but will be pulling for Jesse, I think he may have a card up his sleeve on the river...

ANVIL REKALLED...

Anvil, the story of Anvil is a documentary about a band that never achieved the popularity that some felt they deserved and the continuing struggle for the band to achieve that recognition. The film was very American Film-esque with the underdog creative with unbridled optimism and his drive to see his vision through. Experiencing the tour of an aging heavy metal band you learn that you have to love the music to put yourself through the perils of such a journey. Many comedic moments occur with interactions of the 2 band elder statesmen with restrained love for one another that bursts through when angry and odd statements are said, so very metal. And the fanny packs run rampant. Even if you are not a fan of heavy metal this is just a fun film to see with sympathetic characters and a hope filled story.

Observed, Reported and Rekalled....

Observe and Report is the new star vehicle for Seth Rogen and it does him well. Even if the box office receipts don't pan out, I know it has been out a couple weeks and it is not performing well. This film is a dark comedy and character study of a Mall Security guard with ambition. This film reminds me of Bad Santa in style of comedy, where there are few to no likable characters but entertaining none the less. I have not seen Paul Bart Mall Cop and I believe a lot of people may confuse the 2, I can assume that these 2 films are vastly different. O&R goes in directions that I didn't see coming story wise but it seem to make sense in the world they created. If you can laugh at uncomfortable situations and don't recoil at male nudity then this is a film for you. Not much else to say but this film is not for the weak of humor, it is a hard R film, enjoy.

On a side note, I saw a youtube video of Seth Rogen on stage doing comedy when he was 13. I think he is more immature now than he was but you can see this guy has a well groomed understanding of comedy.

UPDATE: Saw the film again with a friend whom I wasn't sure if he would like it or not but I suggested it. He loved it. I laughed the second time through so this is the goods. Also I really noticed how the music selection was great and really added an element to the film instead of hurting like in Watchmen. Support this film please, I want more like this.