Article ITT I attempt to review every movie I've seen.

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Title: Escape from Tomorrow
Year: 2013
Country of Origin: US
Director: Randy Moore

Plot: On the final day of his families Disney vacation, Jim White finds out he has been fired from his job. Jim promptly loses his mind.

Review: So first things first, this isn't all that great of a movie. It just isn't. The acting is half way decent and the direction is a little flat. The plot is pretty forgettable...but I can forgive all of this simply because of how this film was made.

This film is shot at Disney World without the knowledge or permission of Disney. The whole thing was shot guerrilla style with consumer hand held cameras and all the actors had their scripts on their phone. The sheer audacity of the production makes the film worth watch. Something like 80% of the film is shot on location, which is crazy to think about. So yeah, this is mediocre film...but this is easily one of the ballsiest piece of film making to come out in a while.

[6/10]
 
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Title: Heartbeats
Year: 2010
Country of Origin: Canada (French)
Director: Xavier Dolan

Plot: Two friends fall for the same guy. Friction ensues.

Review: I liked this one. It's well acted, entertaining and for the most part well directed. The story is told in a free flowing narrative. At a dinner party Francis and Marie meet Nicolas an attractive young man who they both fall head over heels. As they both pursue a relationship with Nicolas, their friendship becomes increasingly strained.

One of my main issues of the film is that every once in a while the film leaves the main story and goes on an odd mediation on human sexuality and sexual orientation. It breaks the flow of the narrative and comes off as filler. Outside of that, I enjoyed the film.

[7.5/10]
 
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Title: A Band Called Death
Year: 2012
Country of Origin: US
Director: Mark Christopher Covino & Jeff Howlett

Plot: In 1971, three brothers and a friend formed a Punk band called Death in Detroit...three years prior to the Ramones.

Review: So this is a documentary about a punk band before punk was a thing. Of course, given that you have probably never heard of Death before you can probably make a pretty good guess as to what happened to the band...they failed to land a contract and sort of faded away into obscurity until like a couple years ago. It's a well made documentary and one that's worth your time.

[8/10]
 
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Title: Nothing but Trouble
Year: 1991
Country of Origin: US
Director: Dan Aykroyd

Plot: A group of affluent New Yorkers find themselves on the wrong side of the law in some crazy backwoods...town?

Review: I guess the title of this film aptly describes the film's production. This one bombed and bombed hard both critically and financially. The plot is freaking insane, hell everything is insane in this movie...or everything is bad, I really can't tell. Hell, even 2 Pac and the Digital Underground show at at some point. This whole film is just one bloated, unfunny mess, and you should avoid it at pretty much all costs.

[3/10]
 
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Title: Volcano
Year: 1997
Country of Origin: US
Director: Mick Jackson

Plot: There is a Volcano that erupts under L.A., kind of ruins everyone's day.

Review: So yeah, this movie is pretty stupid, but it's the right kind of stupid. The kind of stupid where you just turn off your brain and laugh at just how stupidly bad the plot, the dialog, the effects, the acting...the well everything is in this movie. It's the perfect late night movie to watch after a night out.

[6/10]
 
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Title: Dawn of the Dead
Year: 1978
Country of Origin: US
Director: George A. Romero

Plot: Like the poster says: When there is no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth.

Review: This is pretty much "The" zombie movie. Sure, Night of the Living Dead came first, but Dawn of the Dead brought the idea of zombies to the forefront of the social consciousness and for good reason too. The film is fantastic, sure it's a little dated and a little rough around the edges, but it's something that you should probably watch...heck I have no idea why it took me so long to see this movie.

[8.5/10]
 
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Title: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Year: 1984
Country of Origin: US
Director: W. D. Richter

Plot: This film follows Buckaroo Banzai, who professions are as follows: Neurosurgeon, Physicist, Test Pilot, Rock Star, and hero of the American people.

Review: This movie is about as crazy as its name suggests, the plot follows Buckaroo Banzi, played by Peter Weller, and his gang of rock musicians as they try to foil the plans of an interdimensional war criminal. For the most part the film is entertaining, the cast is likable and the script is littered with memorable lines. Unfortunately, it runs out of steam near the end and sort of sours the experience. Still, it's a fun film and if you're into movies with crazy premises then this one just might be up your alley.

[7/10]
 
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Title: WNUF Halloween Special
Year: 2013
Country of Origin: US
Director: Chris LaMartina

Plot: In 1987, the local WNUF news team put on a Halloween Special that would become the stuff of legends.

Review: You should watch this movie. No ifs, ands, or buts, you need to see this movie. At its core, WNUF Halloween Special is a "found footage" horror movies...but it's unlike any other "found footage" movie you've ever seen.

The basic idea of the film is that you are watching a bootlegged copy of a recording of a Halloween special that a local TV station put on in 1987. This film goes to great lengths to immerse you in the experience of watching recording of a 26 year old TV broadcast. The video and audio quality is degraded to match what you'd expect from a bootlegged recording. In fact the film was originally only available on VHS, but there has been a DVD release of the film.

Overall, I wouldn't call the film scary, there are a few creepy moments. The film is funny though and well written. It manages to take its cleaver concept and deliver it in an entertaining way. At the moment, the only way to see this film is to purchase it from the film's site. So by some off chance you have a friend with a copy, watch it.

[9/10]
 
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Title: We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Year: 2013
Country of Origin: US
Director: Alex Gibney

Plot: In 2006 WikiLeaks was founded to spur on a whole generation of whistle blowers.

Review: WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning are all controversial topics. So I am not going to go in depth on how I feel about this issue or anything relevant to these issues. Actually the film itself is controversial, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange both come out against the film. All I can say in this regard is that I am familiar with and respect Gibney and his work. Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and Casino Jack and the United States of Money rank among some of the finest muckracking documentaries I have seen. He does a fine job with this film. It is well produced, engaging, and most importantly informative. You might not agree with all the points the film makes, but at least it gives an informed telling of the history of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning. If you have any interest in the subject, then this is a worthwhile place to start.

[8/10]
 
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Title: Olympus Has Fallen
Year: 2013
Country of Origin: US
Director: Antoine Fuqua

Plot:This is just like one of my American video games!

Review: So a couple of months back Pillar reviewed this film as he has done with a few other films on this site. So far this has been the first cross over review that I have done with a guest reviewer. Now, it is important to remember that a review is an opinion, no one is right and no one is wrong. Just because my view on the film will differ from Pillar's does not mean that Pillar's review will be any less valid than mine. Now that I got that out of the way, let's tear into this ball of mediocrity.

So this film is Die Hard in the White house, it's obvious and pretty blatant. Many of the film's plot point are straight up taken from the first Die Hard film and as such, this film is pretty darn predictable. The action is decent enough, but decent action movies are a dime a dozen these days. The acting is pretty much where it needs to be, everyone everyone does a pretty good job in their roles.

The real issue with the film is that it just isn't all that much fun. If feels like it was made just to compete against that other White House film White House Down. Also that CGI is pretty bad, like it reminds me of CGI out of Die Another Day, that crappy Bond movie from 2002. The worst part, they use CGI for like everything, from gun shot wounds to cars driving in the snow. It just makes the whole movie look cheap and thrown together.

Also, I pretty sure this script was written like a decade ago. Gerard Butler is in the secret service and works on the presidents details. For reasons that are explained, but not really explain, in the prologue he leaves the president's security detail. Where does he go? He goes and works in the Treasury department. Now, prior to 2003, the Secret Service was actually part of the Treasury Department. After 2003, the Secret Service was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security. So either this script was written prior to 2003 or the writer of the film didn't do his homework. Either way, it's a minor gripe.

[6/10]
 
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Title: Three Days of the Condor
Year: 1975
Country of Origin: US
Director: Sydney Pollack

Plot: It's better if you don't know the plot for this one.

Review: Three Days of the Condor is a fantastic "trust no one" movie that ranks among one the best spy thrillers ever made. It is the kind of movie where the less you know about it the better. The production is top notch, Pollack does a fantastic job with the film. Redford is entertaining as usual and believable in the role. The pacing is a little slow, so if your the kind of person who has issues with slow moving movies then you might have a problem here. All in all, this one is well worth your time.

[9/10]
 
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Title: 12 Years a Slave
Year: 2013
Country of Origin: US/UK
Director: Steve McQueen

Plot: A free black man living in pre-civil war America is kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Review: So the best thing I can say about this film is that it doesn't pull any punches. This is film is neither easy nor comfortable to watch and in fact feels like the antithesis to last years Django Unchained. That being said, this is also probably one of the best films of the year featuring a spectacular performance from Chiwetel Ejiofor (Who you may know from Serenity or Children of Men) The rest of the cast does a fine job as well, especially Michael Fassbender who plays a psychotic slave owner. The film does a fine job exploring the dehumanizing effects of slavery, where people were treated as less then human, even among other slaves. It is powerful stuff and has the ability to stay with you long after the credits role. This is so far the best film I have seen this year and it should probably be one that you should go out and watch.

[9.5/10]
 
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Title: Slumdog Millionaire
Year: 2008
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Danny Boyle

Plot: A young man is able to use his past experiences while competing in the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Review: This isn't my favorite Danny Boyle film. For me the film's plot rings a little hollow, it's a little too obvious and a little too contrived...and a little bit too manipulative as well. Visually, the film is dazzling, which can usually be said for most of Danny Boyle's filmography. I mean this isn't a bad film, despite the problems I have with the films plot, I still found it to be entertaining. So, while I'll probably never watch it again, you might actually like this one, heaven knows there are a lot of people who hold this film in high regards.

[7/10]
 
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Title: The Insider
Year: 1999
Country of Origin: US
Director: Michael Mann

Plot: This is the story of Lowell Bergman, a producer with CBS' 60 Minutes who managed to coax Jeffrey Wigand, an ex-executive for a major tobacco company, to blow the whistle on his former employers.

Review: It is real testament to the talent of Michael Mann that he was able he was able to take something as seemingly dull as a film on corporate whistle blowing and make it as exciting as a Jason Bourne movie. Seriously, this sucker has a 2 hour and 40 min run time and this film just flies on by. The acting is top notch, Crowe is fantastic as a man whose life is seemingly unraveling around him because of his decision to tell the truth. This film is based on a true story, Jeffery Wigand is a real person, he did go on to 60 Minutes and discuss the truth about nicotine. Seeing what he went through, it's actually a marvel that anyone would be willing to blow the whistle on anything. This is probably Mann's best film and if you ever get the chance to see it, I would recommend it.

[9/10]
 
Sexy Beast said:
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Title: 12 Years a Slave
Year: 2013
Country of Origin: US/UK
Director: Steve McQueen

Plot: A free black man living in pre-civil war America is kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Review: So the best thing I can say about this film is that it doesn't pull any punches. This is film is neither easy nor comfortable to watch and in fact feels like the antithesis to last years Django Unchained. That being said, this is also probably one of the best films of the year featuring a spectacular performance from Chiwetel Ejiofor (Who you may know from Serenity or Children of Men) The rest of the cast does a fine job as well, especially Michael Fassbender who plays a psychotic slave owner. The film does a fine job exploring the dehumanizing effects of slavery, where people were treated as less then human, even among other slaves. It is powerful stuff and has the ability to stay with you long after the credits role. This is so far the best film I have seen this year and it should probably be one that you should go out and watch.

[9.5/10]
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Im surprised that I never heard of this movie, but anything bout the Civil War & slavery, im always interested in watching it.
 
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Title: Down by Law
Year: 1986
Country of Origin: US
Director: Jim Jarmusch

Plot: Tell me if you've heard this one before: A pimp, an unemployed disc jockey, and an Italian tourist who speaks next to no English get locked in the same cell together...

Review: This is a cool little film about three men who find themselves locked up in prison together and form a shaky friendship. It's the kind of film that keeps the scope of it's plot narrow and streamlined. The acting is pretty good and the dialog is pretty funny at times. Roberto Benigni, who played the Italian tourist, brings a lot of energy and laughs to the film. The direction is pretty minimal, there are plenty of static shot and the pacing is slow at times. Tom Waits co-stars and provides music, which is always a plus in my book. This might not be the most ambitious film I've reviewed, but it is fun, stylish, and well executed.

[8.5/10]
 
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