FILM APE

I've Moved

2011-12-05T01:31:00.001-07:00

If you have this page bookmarked, change the bookmark to www.film-ape.com for the new, basically exactly the same site.

Box Office Review - Tyrannosaur

2011-12-02T15:56:00.005-07:00

Tyrannosaur is a movie about anger, and violence. It shows that anger and violence comes in many different forms, sometimes justified, and sometimes not. The first time we see Joseph [Peter Mullan] in the film, in a fit of rage he kicks to death his own dog. It is never known why he is so angry, but to be sure, it had nothing to do with his dog. The next scene shows Joseph slowly carrying his

Box Office Review - The Descendants

2011-11-26T00:32:00.005-07:00

I have never really liked an Alexander Payne film. Something about his movies just never clicked with me. Now after watching his newest film The Descendants, I am reconsidering my early judgement of his movies, and planning on going back through all of them. That is how much I enjoyed this film. Set in Hawaii, Matt King [George Clooney] is facing crisis in all areas of his life. After an

Box Office Review - Hugo

2011-11-24T17:37:00.006-07:00

It’s about time that Martin Scorsese made a family film. As Scorsese′s thoughts on the film The Thief of Bagdad are the reason that I sought out and now consider that film one of my favorites, it has been clear to me for sometime that Scorsese has an eye for great adventure. Unfortunately up until now we have only had amazing films of the adult nature from the master director, but now there is a

Box Office Review - Immortals

2011-11-11T19:21:00.012-07:00

When discussing this film after watching it, there were some catchy ideas for starting this review thrown around. I came up with Much like the character in the movie who has his manhood smashed with a massive hammer, I to felt pain while watching Immortals. Now to be honest the film isn’t as bad as having your testicles annihilated, but I don’t any good things to say about it. When I first saw

VIFF 2011 Review - Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

2011-10-04T17:39:00.002-06:00

I think it would be impossible to not like this documentary. Its basically a feature length version of Survivorman, except its one hundred percent sincere. Also the narration is by Werner Herzog which means the film is never boring. Happy People covers the lives of those living in an extremely remote village in the Siberian Taiga. Mostly focused on the lives of the trappers from the village, the

VIFF 2011 Review - Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

2011-10-04T17:28:00.006-06:00

Last year at the fest I saw director Takashi Miike′s first foray into Samurai movie remakes 13 Assassins. That film is a blood soaked adventure that delivers tons of Samurai action. Miike followed that film with this, another remake of a classic Samurai film. This time though, instead of a film filled with action and decapitations, we get a slow, thoughtful drama about honour. Any plot summary

VIFF 2011 Review - Kill List

2011-10-01T00:17:00.005-06:00

Walking out of Kill List, my mind worked as I tried to figure out the film. Like a crime scene investigator I recalled plot elements and tried to assemble everything to see if it all fit with the ending. I am not sure that everything does, but the fact that I would be willing to re-watch the movie to know for sure, should be a high compliment. Jay is an ex British soldier who has just returned

Box Office Review - Melancholia

2011-09-30T14:04:00.007-06:00

What would you do if the world was going to end? Don’t imagine a world overrun with zombies, or a plague, or any other type of disaster that allows for a few survivors. Imagine a situation that was inescapable no matter where you went or what you did. This is the situation that the characters face in Lars Von Trier′s newest film Melancholia. This however is not what the film is about. We join

Box Office Review - Moneyball

2011-09-24T02:36:00.007-06:00

There were two things I had problems with in Moneyball. The first being the back story for Brad Pitt′s character Billy Beane. I didn’t understand the point of showing his history, but then the film revealed why these parts are important, and it makes perfect sense. The second thing I had a problem with was the inclusion of the scenes with Beane and his daughter Casey. As with my first problem,

Box Office Review - Drive

2011-09-16T23:56:00.009-06:00

Drive shares some similarities with films like Bullitt and Point Blank. What it doesn't share with these films is a similarly complex plot. Ryan Gosling plays a professional driver/mechanic who befriends Carey Mulligan's character and her son. Mulligan's husband is mixed up with some bad people, Gosling tries to fix things, and everything gets messed up. That is the basic plot of the film. This

Box Office Review - Contagion

2011-09-11T01:32:00.005-06:00

When Jaws came out in the 70s, people stopped swimming. When Killer Klowns From Outer Space came out in the 80s, people stopped going to the circus. When The Blair Witch Project came out in the 90s, people stopped camping. A good horror film should exploit something common and make it into something horrifying. Contagion isn't exactly a horror film, but it does exploit something common and

Box Office Review - Warrior

2011-09-09T17:25:00.006-06:00

When making a sports movie the first thing to consider is that the sport does not matter. What matters is the character or characters that the film is about. Rocky isn't a great movie because it is about boxing, it is a great movie because the film takes its time getting to know Mr. Balboa. The sport in Rocky could have been table tennis instead of boxing and the movie still would have worked.

Box Office Review - Attack The Block

2011-09-05T22:12:00.005-06:00

With so many people talking about films it can be hard not to be redundant. With my thoughts on Attack the Block I cannot help but be redundant. The film is every bit as good as you have heard, and if you by chance haven’t already heard, Attack the Block is a fantastic film.Basically take the gang that Michael Caine exacts revenge against in Harry Brown, but make them the heroes of the film. Now

Box Office Review - Cave of Forgotten Dreams

2011-09-05T22:01:00.005-06:00

Director Werner Herzog is a very good tour guide. In 2007 he took audiences to Antarctica and showed something more than just penguins. In Cave of Forgotten Dreams he takes audiences to Southern France and into Chauvet Cave to show them the oldest cave paintings so far discovered. Along the way he discusses the human soul and albino alligators. I was already familiar with the majority of the

Box Office Review - Beauty Day

2011-09-03T14:06:00.007-06:00

Beauty Day is a documentary about Ralph Zavadil and his alter ego local cable celebrity Cap'n Video. There is a good chance you are already familiar with the pool cover removal video that Cap'n Video is famous for. Personally, I have seen this video of his failed stunt more times than I can remember. While watching this documentary about the life of the Cap'n, it occurred to me that the fact

Box Office Review - Fright Night

2011-08-20T11:39:00.005-06:00

Making a remake must be one of the more difficult things to do in Hollywood. Not from the studios stand point mind you, as redoing an old film usually means there is a built in audience, but I think that being the director and actors working on a remake must have some added stress. As soon as film audiences hear the word remake they immediately roll their eyes and assume the worse. Given that

Box Office Review - Red State

2011-08-18T12:14:00.005-06:00

It seems like everyday a new issue arises around freedom of speech. Whether the government is threatening to shut down social networking sites, or blocking cell phone signals, freedom of speech is a right that is increasingly being threatened. Is this such a bad thing though? If the government is blocking messages of hate and the spreading of evil men's words, isn't this a good thing? With this

Box Office Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011-08-05T16:58:00.007-06:00

You might think that I am a fan of the Planet of the Apes series because of the name Film Ape, and the picture that has been above my blog for a while now. The truth is, I am a fan of the original 1968 Charlton Heston film (mostly because I like to watch a human man kissing an ape), but it is the only film in the Apes series that I have seen. If you count the not great remake in the series than I

Box Office Review - Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-07-22T17:48:00.005-06:00

The best thing about Captain America is that it's fun. This seems to be a rarity in today's theatres, especially in the Summertime when movies are supposed to be fun. The film is extremely simple, but this is a positive. Captain America is good and he wears blue. Red Skull is evil and he is red. Red fights to destroy the world and blue fights to save it. This is pure comic book formula and it is

Box Office Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2011-07-15T12:37:00.005-06:00

Since I stood in line for close to three hours last night to see this film, I had plenty of time to reflect on the Harry Potter series as a whole. As for the final film, it is fine. Even if you haven't read the books, you will definitely know what to expect from this last film. That's what happens when a series, especially one focused on pleasing its fans, runs for so long. Seeing as the films

Box Office Review - Horrible Bosses

2011-07-08T17:21:00.007-06:00

This film is a product of the post Hangover world. The film is about three guys who go on misadventures and along the way they meet some bizarre characters. Each of the three guys has a different personality, there is the ladies man (Jason Sudekis), the straight edged guy (Jason Bateman), and the crazy guy (Charlie Day). I hope your thinking that this combination of personalities is exactly the

Box Office Review - Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

2011-07-07T22:26:00.007-06:00

The most interesting thing about this tour documentary is how it shows a different side of a very public person. It's not like the film is a big dark expose, pulling the curtain back on Conan O'Brien and exposing him as a monster. It is just a very honest look at a man who even though he is on TV four nights a week, we really only know his TV persona. The film starts after Conan walked away

Box Office Review - Transformers: Dark of the Moon

2011-06-29T16:01:00.008-06:00

The following is taken from my review of of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which was written almost exactly two years ago. “The movie is garbage, the story is terrible, the acting is bad, and the action is hard to watch. I bet Michael Bay is sitting in a stone fortress somewhere, cigar in his mouth, laughing as he burns a huge pile of money Dark Knight style”. While I didn't hate

Box Office Review - The Tree of Life

2011-06-25T17:17:00.010-06:00

In April of 2009 I made a list of my most anticipated films of the year. The Tree of Life was on that list. Now two years later it has finally been released, and it exceeded my expectations in every way. I have been a Terrence Malick fan since I saw The New World on its release in 2005. I would eventually watch and love Badlands, and Days of Heaven, but it took me a long time to get through

Box Office Review - Super 8

2011-06-09T17:39:00.007-06:00

As of lately I have grown bored with going to the theater. I still go every week hoping for an engrossing experience, but for the past month I have walked out of the theater feeling nothing but apathy. The movie industries focus on super hero movies and young adult novel adaptations has resulted in the Summer Blockbuster market becoming redundant and predictable. I had extremely high hopes that

Box Office Review - X-Men: First Class

2011-06-03T17:43:00.006-06:00

In the decade since the original X-Men film, there have been many comic books turned into movies. Some have been good, some bad, and that is just referring to the X-Men franchise. X:Men: First Class is the fifth X-Men film to be released and like the previous film Wolverine, it sets itself apart from the original trilogy.The most obvious difference between this and the rest of the X-Men series is

Box Office Review - Priest

2011-05-15T17:58:00.003-06:00

When I went to the first screening of Priest on Friday I saw something interesting. An individual, who almost certainly was a teenage male had taken a drink straw and lid and successfully got it caught between the theatre ceiling tiles. While this would have been impressive if it was done at the top of the theatre where there is a ten foot gap between the seats and the ceiling. It is even more

Box Office Review: Thor

2011-05-12T12:56:00.001-06:00

All I wanted from Thor was to leave the theatre with the urge to destroy things with a hammer. Unfortunately my only response while walking out of the theatre was to rub the sleep out of my eyes. That is pretty sad, as this is a film about Norse Gods fighting giant ice monsters, robots, and each other on multiple planets. You would think it would be easy to make an exciting film with these

Box Office Review - The Troll Hunter

2011-05-04T20:34:00.007-06:00

The so called found footage film has experienced a real resurgence over the last few years. I enjoy a great deal of these films, but almost all of them have the same glaring faults. While The Troll Hunter is an impressive addition to the ever growing list of found footage flicks, it doesn't avoid these flaws. The Troll Hunter begins with a group of film students documenting the poaching of

Box Office Review - Scream 4

2011-04-16T15:10:00.007-06:00

Throughout this film, I was thinking how horrible and depressing it would be if a slasher film tried to be realistic. After the first gruesome murder, the friends of the mutilated wouldn't tell jokes and continue to party, but would be shown weeping and inconsolable after the horrific murder. With every death there would be more weeping and the characters would become even more inconsolable,

Box Office Review - Your Highness

2011-04-09T13:34:00.008-06:00

In David Gordon Green's last film Pineapple Express, James Franco's character Saul can be seen watching the 80s fantasy classic Krull. If Saul attempted to write his own version of Krull it would be a lot like Your Highness. Danny McBride plays Thadeus, a lazy prince whose brother Fabias (James Franco) is a valiant hero. Fabias returns from a quest with the head of a cyclops and the beautiful

Box Office Review - Hanna

2011-04-08T22:06:00.006-06:00

As of right now, there is beginning to be a rise in fairy tale film adaptations. We have already seen Tim Burton's cash cow Alice in Wonderland, as well as the not so well received Red Riding Hood. Looking into the future, there are more than five scheduled fairy tale films to be theatrically released, three of which are based on Snow White. Having not seen these upcoming films, this following

Box Office Review: Win Win

2011-04-06T11:10:00.006-06:00

Including Win Win, Thomas McCarthy has directed three films since 2003. His two previous films The Station Agent and The Visitor each feature character actors (Peter Dinklage, and Richard Jenkins respectively) giving lead performances. McCarthy continues that trend by casting Paul Giamatti as the main character in Win Win. Another similarity that Win Win has with McCarthy's previous films is

Box Office Review - Source Code

2011-04-01T19:05:00.007-06:00

Much like director Duncan Jones' 2009 film Moon, Source Code has been called a complex movie. Just like Moon, calling Source Code a complex film is a bit off base. Source Code is a well directed, well acted, well laid out film that if you pay attention to, is rather easy to understand. In fact, the simplicity of Source Code is what I find most appealing about it. Rather than wasting time

Box Office Review - Hobo With A Shotgun

2011-03-27T02:42:00.009-06:00

I remember seeing the original faux trailer of Hobo with a Shotgun before Grindhouse and being impressed. Now years later, it is the second of the fake trailers to get the full length treatment. I went in hoping for a Grindhouse experience, but I didn't get it. Hobo is not a bad film, it just isn't the type of film I am interested in. Hobo is not a send-up to Grindhouse films. It is a send-up to

Box Office Review - Sucker Punch

2011-03-25T18:43:00.007-06:00

(Spoilers)It is hard for me to write a review for Sucker Punch. The movie is packed from beginning to end, and at the same time everything is forgettable. My memory of the film is not very good, and I just watched it an hour ago. Possibly, this is my minds way of protecting itself against the travesty that is Sucker Punch.Explaining this movie is isn't really necessary, as it is just a series of

Box Office Review - The Lincoln Lawyer

2011-03-22T12:13:00.009-06:00

The Lincoln Lawyer is a film on a seesaw. On the one side is the unoriginal film making, and contrived story. On the other side is the quality of the performances from the many talented actors. In the end, the seesaw balances its self out. Looking at Matthew McConaughey's IMDB page, I see that it has been nine years since he was in Reign of Fire. That means it has been nine years since I have

Box Office Review - Paul

2011-03-18T18:16:00.007-06:00

Last year the term “Nerd Pandering” started being thrown around, and there was good reason. So called nerd culture has been thrust into the main stream, and this is in no way a good thing. No longer are films being made to sustain future nerds, films are being made that celebrate nerd culture by jamming as many nerdy things into one movie as possible. If a film contains in jokes about comics or

Box Office Review - Battle: Los Angeles

2011-03-11T18:40:00.006-07:00

When I bought my ticket for this film, the girl behind the counter jokingly asked if I was over fourteen. After watching the film, I think a better question would have been are you exactly fourteen. This is who the movie is made for. Fourteen year old boys who have spent more of their time playing video games like Call of Duty than they have doing anything else. Video games often steal things

Box Office Review - The Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-04T17:58:00.004-07:00

The Adjustment Bureau is a bit of a hard sell. The film is a love story that asks questions about fate, free will, and coincidence, and it features a mysterious group of hat wearing men who control everything. This mixture on the surface (and in the trailer) seems like it would be a mess, but in reality, The Adjustment Bureau is a fun, intriguing, and effortless movie to watch,Matt Damon plays

Box Office Review - Drive Angry

2011-03-03T16:48:00.006-07:00

Over the last few years, bad movies have become more than just entertainment for niche audiences. Major studios are churning out movies that are meant to have an intentional cheese factor, and there is a problem with this. The enjoyment that I get out of watching bad movies comes from knowing that the people involved tried to make something good. Drive Angry 3D was made for fifty million dollars,

Box Office Review - Unknown

2011-03-03T12:37:00.006-07:00

Watching Unknown is like having someone tell you to put together a puzzle, and then an hour later, after no success on your part, the person returns and goes haha, stupid, you need theses pieces to put it all together. Unknown has Liam Neeson and January Jones as husband and wife travelling to a business conference in Berlin. Liam Neeson ends up in a car accident and then a coma, and he forgets

Box Office Review - Cedar Rapids

2011-03-02T18:19:00.005-07:00

With Cedar Rapid's setup, it could have easily been a Hangover clone. Thankfully it isn't. Cedar Rapids has five times the heart that The Hangover does, and equally as many memorable moments. Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe, a small town guy with a passion for selling insurance. After a series of events, Tim is sent to an insurance convention in a city known as the Sodom and Gomorrah of the United

Box Office Review - Incendies

2011-02-28T20:45:00.006-07:00

I really wish that Incendies was made up of scenes as impressive as its opening scene. Radiohead's song You and Whose Army plays over a scene of young boys having their heads shaved and becoming soldiers. When I say young boys I am talking about kids twelve and under. This starts off a film that is made up of coincidences and two parallel storyline. The movie is directed by Denis Villeneuve who

Box Office Review - The Eagle

2011-02-25T21:57:00.006-07:00

The Eagle is impressive as it is able to blend three movies into one without becoming a cluttered mess. The movie opens as a men at war film, then becomes a men on a mission film, and finally ends as a chase movie. These three parts are held together by the theme of honour. The most interesting part of the film is how it portrays this theme. It shows that there is honour among men, family and

Box Office Review - The Way Back

2011-02-24T10:49:00.007-07:00

Peter Weir is an ambitious director. He has made films about a gang of people with monstrous cars, a man whose entire life is a television show, and a film that takes places almost entirely on an old ship. His new film The Way Back is no different. A group of men imprisoned in the Gulags plot their escape from the hellish place, but unlike other prison escape movies the guards are low down on

Box Office Review - Vanishing on 7th Street

2011-02-24T10:41:00.004-07:00

Brad Anderson is one of the most interesting horror directors working today. Anderson has shown in the past that even with a smaller budget he is able to create satisfying and disturbing films. Vanishing on Seventh Street is his most ambitious film to date. After a massive power outage in Detroit city, something in the darkness causes the disappearance of everyone except for a few sole survivors.

Random Banana - Death Wish 3

2011-02-02T21:43:00.006-07:00

The saga of tragedy and revenge continues for Charles Bronson's infamous character Paul Kersey in Death Wish 3.Known as the most graphic of the five film series, Death Wish 3 delivers the goods for fans of revenge flicks. As this is the third film about vigilante Paul Kersey it is not a surprise that his revenge is so extremely violent. In the first film his wife and daughter are the victims of a

Box Office Review - The Mechanic

2011-01-29T13:16:00.006-07:00

When will rich people and large companies learn. If your personal hitman is described as being a one man killing machine, or the best of the best, don't double cross him. Also, don't be surprised when your best security teams are killed by said hitman. Thankfully the company in The Mechanic hasn't learned these lessons and as a result Jason Statham and Ben Foster get to cause a whole lot of

Box Office Review - Blue Valentine

2011-01-21T16:21:00.009-07:00

Early in the film Ryan Gosling's character Dean makes the statement that men are more romantic than women. This is not a universal statement, but it does turn out to be the case for the marriage that Dean ends up in. Blue Valentine begins a few years after the marriage of Dean and Cindy (Michelle Williams) and it is obvious from the beginning that they have problems. This becomes more evident

Box Office Review - The Green Hornet

2011-01-14T17:59:00.006-07:00

I was trying to think up a clever opening involving my history with The Green Hornet, but I couldn't, so I will do the worst thing one can do in a review and just say right off the top that I loved the film. The Green Hornet is exactly what I expected from director Michel Gondry and writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film is full of fantastic visuals and at the centre is the relationship

Film Ape’s 25 Favourite Films of 2010

2011-01-01T10:06:00.005-07:00

#25 - How To Train Your DragonI went into this film with trepidations and came out thoroughly impressed. Visually the film is astonishing. The flying scenes are breathtaking as well as the sense of scope in the film. Toy Story 3 put up a good fight, but this is unrivalled for best animated film of 2010.#24 - Max Manus: Man of WarA well made film about real life World War 2 saboteur Max Manus. The

Final Films of 2010

2010-12-31T13:06:00.002-07:00

Here are the last films I saw in 2010. Happy New Year of Movies!The King's SpeechThis film shines when it is only Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth on screen. The rest of the time the movie is merely okay. Colin Firth plays King Richard IV who is a strong and capable ruler who has a debilitating speech impediment. Geoffrey Rush is Lionel Logue an Australian speech therapist with unorthodox methods

Box Office Review - Somewhere

2010-12-25T15:53:00.003-07:00

Somewhere is about a very lonely man named Johnny Marco. All though the film does not present much information about Johnny he is an instantly recognisable character. Johnny is an actor, and judging by the way that women throw themselves at him he is a very popular one at that. Somewhere is not a film that glamorises fame and the lifestyle, but is a honest depiction of life in the public eye. No

Box Office Review – True Grit

2010-12-23T23:32:00.002-07:00

It seems that the audience of this film is and will be divided into two groups. There are those who will go into the film having seen one or two other Coen Brother's films. These people will come out saying that the film was dark and talky, but that should be expected from the Coens. The other group will be die hard fans of the Coens who will come out of the film saying that it is surprisingly

2010-12-20T16:07:00.003-07:00

Here are a couple films I recently watched, but haven't had time to do full reviews for.The FighterThis is the third film that director David O Russell and actor Mark Wahlberg have made together. It is obvious that they have a good working relationship because they seem to get the best out of each other. The Fighter is an impressive story about boxing and family that features four great

Box Office Review - Black Swan

2010-12-12T00:45:00.012-07:00

Darren Aronofsky has made four films prior to Black Swan and they all have something in common. They are very difficult to watch. Pi, Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, and The Wrestler all take the viewer to places that aren't exactly enjoyable to go. The Fountain gets a pass because it can be interpreted as a hope filled love story, but the other three, especially Requiem For A Dream can be

Box Office Review - Get Low

2010-12-11T19:57:00.005-07:00

Robert Duvall's feature film debut took place in 1962 when he played the role of Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird. Boo Radley is a shut in who is the subject of many rumours in the town of Maycomb. 48 years later Duvall plays a similar character in Get Low.Felix Bush (Duvall) lives in the woods as a hermit. In the nearby town there are many rumours that Felix is in league with the devil and is

Monkey Business

2010-11-30T19:23:00.014-07:00

Here are a few movies that I hadn't got around to writing reviews for.FasterEverything wrong with current action films is present in this film. Instead of being a simple revenge story Faster features three parallel stories about men looking for redemption. Of course these three stories intersect at the end and then a twist is revealed. The movie is stylish and not in a good way. The Rock is given

Box Office Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

2010-11-19T13:49:00.005-07:00

By now most people know if their fans of Harry Potter. If you love the series than you will love this movie. If you are not a fan than this film isn't going change anything. Aside from the length of the film I enjoyed this film as much as the previous films. The best thing about the Potter series has been the directors hired to handle each film. Every director seems to perfectly capture the

Box Office Review - Morning Glory

2010-11-18T20:15:00.004-07:00

Morning Glory at first glance comes off as a film akin to The Devil Wears Prada and The Nanny Diaries. While there are some similarities, Morning Glory is a much more enjoyable experience than either of those films. Sure there is a ridiculous love story and the third act of the film is poorly constructed but the acting in this Roger Michell directed film makes everything work. Rachel McAdams

Box Office Review - Unstoppable

2010-11-12T18:00:00.005-07:00

There are a group of directors who no matter what I enjoy their films. Tony Scott is one of them. In the late 80s he established what an epic action movie should be. Michael Bay took a page out of his book, and then beat the concept to death throughout the 90s and 00s. Fortunately Tony Scott is still doing his thing and whether or not you are a fan you have to admit Scott does what he does very

Box Office Review - Inside Job

2010-11-11T19:54:00.004-07:00

One of the quotes on the poster for this film claims that "if your not enraged by the end of this film than you weren't paying attention". This is a true statement. The doc is about how insanely corrupt hands worked the economy into the worst state since the great depression. Even if you don't understand much about the financial sector (like me) it is easy to tell that some very bad were done by

Box Office Review - Due Date

2010-11-06T17:35:00.005-06:00

This is Todd Phillips follow-up film to his mega hit The Hangover. Due Date follows Robert Downey jr and Zach Galifianakis two strangers who after and unfortunate incident at the airport have to travel cross country together. I find it hard to believe that this isn't considered a remake of Plane, Trains, and Automobiles as it is basically the same story. Robert Downey jr plays Peter Highman a

Banana A Day - The Blob (1988)

2010-10-28T17:34:00.002-06:00

If you have ever wanted to see Kevil Dillon fight a gelatinous pink mass, this is the film for you. Based on the 50s classic that starred Steve McQueen, this remake amps up the gore with the use of some impressive special effects. Story wise the 80s version follows the original film very close. Amazing writer and director Frank Darabont wrote the script with the films director Chuck Russell and

Banana A Day – The People Under The Stairs

2010-10-25T15:51:00.004-06:00

The best way to describe this film is that it is like an R rated version of Home Alone. The difference is that instead of a kid being terrorised by a couple of burglars at home, the kid is the burglar being terrorised by the people whose house he broke into. Just like in Home Alone there are many crazy traps set up in the house, but unlike Home Alone this film is definitely not for children. The

Box Office Review – Paranormal Activity 2

2010-10-23T00:41:00.002-06:00

(SPOILERS)This sequel to the major money maker Paranormal Activity was rushed into production so that it could be released a year after the original. The first film was a well-paced funhouse ride. The sequel takes the original funhouse feel and expands it. The result is a lot of build up with very little pay off.For most people this movie will work. It has some memorable scares in it and that is

Banana A Day – Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

2010-10-21T21:07:00.003-06:00

This film continues the Michael Myers is part of a cult story line that was confusingly established in the previous film. Jamie was apparently kidnapped back when Michael was busted out of jail by the man in black. She is now much older and has been impregnated with Michael's child. The movie opens with her about to give birth in what appears to be a factory. After she gives birth she escapes

Banana A Day – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

2010-10-16T14:42:00.002-06:00

At the end of the fourth film it is implied that Michael Myers' soul went into the body of his niece Jamie. He then gets shot, falls down a mine shaft and dies. Jamie now with the soul of a killer inside her goes crazy and in a scene mimicking the original film she kills her foster mother. Revenge of Michael Myers begins by negating the ending of the last film. It turns out Michael crawled away

Banana A Day – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

2010-10-15T12:29:00.002-06:00

After the poor reception of Season of the Witch, Michael Myers returns in the aptly named Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Even though Michael was shot seven, eight times, then lit on fire by Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis he did not die. For ten years Myers is kept alive by life support in the basement of a sanatorium. On the day before Halloween he is to be moved to a different

Banana A Day – Halloween 3: Season of the Witch

2010-10-14T16:05:00.003-06:00

Halloween 3 is a film that was not received well on its initial release. That is because it has nothing to do with the first two Halloween films. The idea for the film was to establish the Halloween series as an anthology series without a focus on Michael Myers. Unfortunately it failed. Season of the Witch is about a nefarious plot by the Silver Shamrock novelty company to destroy the world. The

Box Office Review – My Soul to Take

2010-10-13T10:53:00.003-06:00

I'm getting sick of repeating this statement but it must be said. The 3D in this movie is horrible. It does nothing for the film except to darken it to almost unwatchable levels. This movie is mostly conversation scenes so it is ridiculous that it is in 3D. If you can see the movie without the 3D, do it, because even though the 3D is brutal I had a lot of fun watching this film.The beginning

VIFF 2010 - Rubber

2010-10-12T12:59:00.002-06:00

The film starts off with the character Lieutenant Chad monologue right to the camera and he explains that this film will be a tribute to no reason in film. From there the film introduces a group of people who are given binoculars and told to watch the goings on in the film. They are the equivalent to a Greek chorus as all they do is comment on everything that is happening in the film. Basically

VIFF 2010 – Precious Life

2010-10-12T11:10:00.002-06:00

A four month old Palestinian boy born without an immune system is taken to Israel for treatment that will save his young life. Funds have to be raised in order for this baby to get the treatment that he needs. This is where reporter/filmmaker Shlom Eldar comes into the story.Eldar does a story on the families struggle to raise money and as a result inserts himself into the lives of this

Banana A Day – The Birds

2010-10-06T22:51:00.002-06:00

This is a romance film that turns into a creature feature then it ends very ambiguously. Melanie Daniels is a rich young woman who has a bizarre sense of humour. When she is visiting a pet store she pretends to by an employee so that she can have a conversation with handsome lawyer Mitch Brenner. The joke ends up being on Melanie as Mitch knows who she is and plays along with Melanie's ruse.

Banana A Day – The Haunting

2010-10-04T23:22:00.002-06:00

This film is the text book example of a slow burn. All the scares in this entire 1963 film are used in one scene of the 1999 remake of the same name. While the remake is a horrible mess the original film is taut, suspenseful and at times terrifying. After the death of her over bearing mother, Eleanor Lance (played by Julie Harris) volunteers for an experiment to prove the existence of the

VIFF 2010 – 13 Assassins

2010-10-03T15:21:00.003-06:00

Director Takashi Miike has directed some very extreme movies in the past. With 13 Assassins he explores the Samurai genre and as a result he has created one of the best modern Samurai films.The movie follows a classic storyline. The shogun's brother is a psychopath. He kills and rapes at will and as he is the brother of the Shogun no one does anything about it. There are many people who want this

VIFF 2010 – Armadillo

2010-10-03T14:43:00.003-06:00

This documentary follows a group of young Danish soldiers who are deployed to an army base in Southern Afghanistan called Armadillo. The film follows these soldiers for a sixth month period as they patrol through local villages and confront members of the Taliban. Armadillo features some amazing scenes of war. The cameramen often were putting their lives on the line in order to get the shots of

VIFF 2010 - Monsters

2010-10-03T13:27:00.002-06:00

Monsters is not the film I was expecting, and that's a good thing. It is a low budget science fiction film that uses the low budget to its advantage.The movie starts with a title card that explains that a satellite crashed in Mexico and shortly after alien creatures started to appear. Monsters takes place long after this has happened. People have already accepted that they now have to coexist

Box Office Review – Let Me In

2010-10-02T12:23:00.002-06:00

Director Matt Reeves was given the task of remaking/retelling the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In. A film that has garnered a decent following of passionate fans, fans who despised the idea of an American version. Well the remake is here and it gives me pleasure to say that Matt Reeves has created a film that is as good if not better than the Swedish version.Let Me In takes place in New

Box Office Review – The Social Network

2010-10-01T16:50:00.002-06:00

A few months ago I attempted to read The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich the book which The Social Network is based on. I don't think I got more than a fifty pages into the book before I stopped reading. I didn't like the way it was written and so I never finished it. After watching David Fincher's take on the story I can honestly say that there are some stories that have to be told

Box Office Review – Never Let Me Go

2010-09-27T22:41:00.002-06:00

It has been eight years since director Mark Romanek's released his last film One Hour Photo. Now in 2010 he returns to the director's chair with a film that is smart, poignant, and near perfect. Written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) Never Let Me Go is a very restrained film that is brilliantly paced, and acted. The movie could have resulted in a complex and convoluted story, but we

Banana A Day - Krull

2010-09-27T19:43:00.002-06:00

Krull is a science-fiction fantasy hybrid that is good 80s nostalgia, but in no way a great film. After the world of Krull is invaded by aliens Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa get married to establish an alliance between their two rival kingdoms, and hopefully then be able to defeat the alien invaders. Unfortunately immediately after the wedding the aliens attack and kidnap the princess and kill

Box Office Review – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

2010-09-25T15:22:00.002-06:00

In 1987 Gordon Gekko said "greed is good". Now in 2010 he is back, but this time he is asking "is greed good".Director Oliver Stone returns to direct the sequel to his film Wall Street, he brings along original cast members Michael Douglas as the aforementioned Grodon Gekko, and Charlie Sheen who has a small cameo as his character Bud Fox. Wall Street 2 takes place in 2008 and it focuses on a new

Box Office Reviews from August 25 to September 23

2010-09-23T20:31:00.003-06:00

The Last ExorcismIt's nice to see a pg-13 horror movie that isn't aimed at the tween/teen demographic. The Last Exorcism doesn't pull any punches when it comes to scares and it really takes its time developing the story. The film nails the documentary feel, except for some music cues that seem out of place. This I forgive because the rest of the movie is so tight. The actors are great in every

Banana A Day – Dear Wendy

2010-08-24T21:35:00.002-06:00

After watching Scott Pilgrim twice and seeing the great performances by Alison Pill and Mark Webber I figured I might as well re-visit the film that I first saw them in. In 2006 there were two trailers that I kept seeing one being Rian Johnson's Brick and the other was Dear Wendy. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg and written by Lars von Trier Dear Wendy is a film that is timeless and cool. The movie

Box Office Review - Centurion

2010-08-21T18:02:00.002-06:00

The sword and sandal genre hasn't had a good entry since 2000s Gladiator. Neil Marshall attempts to give the genre a boost by making a brutal and bloody story about Roman soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. Unfortunately Centurion does nothing to revive the sword and sandal genre.There are many problems with this film. At first the story seems rather simple. Michael Fassbender plays Quintus the

Box Office Review – Piranha 3D

2010-08-20T19:51:00.002-06:00

Those who go into Piranha 3D expecting a serious movie are kidding themselves. The movie has been marketed all along and as a guilty pleasure 80s horror tribute. Everyone involved in making the film is in on the joke, but it remains to be seen if the audience will be.Piranha 3D is a fairly well made film if you are into movies that are more about gore and mayhem then they are about story. That's

Box Office Review – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

2010-08-17T13:40:00.002-06:00

It is near impossible for me to write a non-bias review of this film. I am a fan of the comic on which the movie is based. Director Edgar Wright is on my short list for best working director and he has yet to make a bad movie. When the original cast was announced I couldn't have been more pleased with the actors chosen. In short I knew that I would love this movie long before it was in theatres.

Box Office Review – The Expendables

2010-08-17T00:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I had the chance to drive around Hope, British Columbia the town that was the filming location for one of Sylvester Stallone's most memorable films First Blood. The main drag of the town is old and rundown, but you can still get a Rambo vibe from the place. On the edge of the town there are newer gas stations and restaurants that are nothing like the town was in 1982. I find this

Banana A Day - Scream

2010-08-09T20:43:00.002-06:00

It's hard to believe that when this movie was made in 1996 it was originally going to be rated NC-17 due to its graphic opening scene. Now fourteen years later after such films as Hostel, High Tension, Martyrs and basically every R rated horror movie released in the 2000s Scream seems tame. Time has not been kind to the original Scream film. Two sequels and a bunch of Scary Movies later the

Box Office Review – The Other Guys

2010-08-08T18:26:00.002-06:00

It is said that movies often come in twos. Think Volcano, and Dante's Peak. Armageddon, and Deep Impact. A Bugs Life, and Antz. Now in 2010 a pair of buddy cop movies have been released the first being Cop Out back in February, and now we have The Other Guys.It's weird to me that buddy cop movies have been getting the spoof treatment as of late. All buddy cop films that I can think of are very

Box Office Review – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

2010-07-20T22:31:00.002-06:00

This film is the second attempt for Disney this year to create another franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean. The first film being the May released Prince of Persia. Like that film The Sorcerer's Apprentice is unable to be anything but mediocre.The movie starts by explaining that a feud between magicians has taken place since the time of Merlin. It is said that a child will emerge who will win

Box Office Review - Inception

2010-07-19T11:39:00.002-06:00

Dreams are a way for a film to manipulate the audience. In a horror movie dreams are used as an easy way to scare the audience. Dreams are also a way to provide information for a character without being too obvious. Inception is a movie based entirely on dreams and it destroys any clichés surrounding dreams in film.Director Christopher Nolan has cemented himself as one of the great modern

Initial Thoughts On Inception

2010-07-16T03:08:00.003-06:00