Horrorthon '09 creeps, leaps, slides and glides across the floor...
The Blob (1958)
The Blob has a lot of things going for it - A cool premise, an extremely catchy theme song and the Essence of Cool, Steve McQueen. This was one of McQueen's first film roles and he already shows the star presence he was destined to have. Steve McQueen is the best thing this movie has, because he's just so damn entertaining.
The Blob begins when Steve Andrew and his girlfriend Jane see a shooting star streak across the sky. They leap into their car to try and find where it landed. An old guy stumbles upon it before them and taps it with a stick. It breaks apart and inside is a round, gooey ball that climbs up the man's arm. Thus, the Blob is born.
The Blob really isn't a deep film or anything. Everything is simple about it. Nothing is really that amazing, except for all the Blob action. It actually looks kind of cool.
Besides Steve McQueen, the acting isn't all that great. Neither is the script. But The Blob is entertaining for what it is - Old, simple 50's B-Movie Horror
Possible Next Movies: Psycho, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween
Reviews Coming Up: The 40 Year Old Virgin, The 400 Blows, Papillon
No more number scores? That's my favorite part, seeing if the movie gets an 8, 9 or 10. (Becase let's face it, you dont give too many 7 minuses)u
Goozex Clan for Killzone 3 Webpage - Join by dropping an "application" at the clan website.
mhatter106: No more number scores? That's my favorite part, seeing if the movie gets an 8, 9 or 10. (Becase let's face it, you dont give too many 7 minuses)u
Yeah, I'm trying this out. I still rate the films, though, so if you truly want to know, ask me.
Horrorthon '09 gets murdered in the shower
Psycho (1960)
Wow, I do not have a clue where to begin...
Psycho is a (I'm struggling to find a fitting adjective here...) excellent? No, brilliant film. It's another Hitchcock masterpiece in a long line of Hitchcock masterpieces.
I refuse to give away the plot, so I'll just talk about what I liked (Almost everything).
The acting is phenomenal. Anthony Perkins was just extremely good. Actually, he probably had the best performance in the film. Janet Leigh was also very good. A good amount of the time, we only see her face. Her expression was just excellent.
The soundtrack was integral to the film's creepiness. I'd heard the kill music before (It was a sample on the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique). It was perfect, combined with the famous scream. The whole shower scene is just absolutely brilliant, honestly. All those quick cuts are so disorienting, much like the victim probably would've felt.
Finally, Hitchcock's direction. All I can say is wow. That's what makes the film creepy. They called him the master of suspense for a reason and this movie is very suspenseful. The tension is absolutely perfect. There are some wonderful shots and of couse, the shower scene.
Honestly, I don't know why I waited to watch Psycho. It's a masterpiece. If you haven't seen it yet, you should watch it.
"A boy's best friend is his mother."
Possible Next Movies: The Birds, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween
Reviews Coming Up: The 40 Year Old Virgin, The 400 Blows
Horrorthon 09 kills at the age of 6...
Halloween (1978)
This was the perfect way to top off my Horrorthon., though it was not the best horror movie that I watched during this adventure. Surprisingly, it was one of the two that had me jump in fear a few times (The other being Psycho). You'd think that as movie's age, they get less scary, but that's not true.
Halloween is very entertaining. It's a little slow in parts and there were a few things I would've liked to see a bit more of (Michael should of killed those bullies), but overall, I really liked it. What makes it amazing though is the directing. It's masterfully shot. In the beginning, we get a first person view of 6 year old Michael as he goes to murder his sister. That was a beautiful sequence. John Carpenter also does the scenes in the house excellent as well, with wonderful lighting.
Sure, it has those common horror cliches that sometimes have you screaming at the TV. The fact that Laurie didn't just end it all is very disappointing (Though the second sequel sounds very cool, picking up right where this one left off). Still, it's a masterpiece of a horror film on par with Scream (My favorite slasher flick).
Possible Next Movies: Zombieland, Taxi Driver, It Happened One Night
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Jud Apatow's first raunchy, R-rated comedy will go down in history as a classic. The main goal of a comedy is to make you laugh and The 40 Year Old Virgin definitely succeeded. In fact, I rarely stopped laughing.
The movie is about a guy named Andy who is 40 and is still a virgin. His coworkers learn of this fact and throughout the film they try to get him laid. The film succeeds by giving us a bunch of interesting characters and hilarious situations. It all works.
This is one of the funniest films I've seen in a while. Every scene has you laughing your ass off. I could list the good parts, but that'd be most of them. The "You Know How I Know Your Gay?" part, mostly improvised by Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd is hilarious. So is the part where they go to one of those Dating things, where you get to see 20 women in an hour. Honestly, the whole movie is funny.
My one and only complaint is the length. However, I cannot forget the fact that I watched an extended version of the movie. I can't imagine which bits I would cut (Except for maybe the masturbation scene). If you haven't seen The 40 Year Old Virgin yet, I highly recommend it.
Possible Next Movies: Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead, It Happened One Night
Reviews Coming Up: The 400 Blows, Papillon
Horrorthon '09 ambles on for one last time...
Zombieland (2009)
Shaun of the Dead is one of my all-time favorite films. Being that Zombieland is also a zombie comedy, comparisons between the two are gonna be made. Honestly, they are two different films, only united by the fact that they are both zomcoms. There are obvious differences. For one, Shaun of the Dead is unmistakebly British and Zombieland is obviously American. Because of this, the humor is a little different. Zombieland seems to rely more on slapstick rather than witty humor. Shaun of the Dead had its slapstick moments, but it was also filled with funny dialogue. Often, the two were combined, like in the scene where they throw LPs at the zombies.
When it all comes down to it, it's just about which is more entertaining. I'm definitely biased, but Shaun of the Dead is more entertaining.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy Zombieland. In fact, I was laughing my ass off for the whole 81 minute run time. Zombieland is just as good as most people say it is. It was bloody, violent, sad and funny. One of the things I really liked was the whole rules thing.
If you like seeing people kick zombie ass, then Zombieland is the movie to watch. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) is just pure badass. The sheer amount of awesome, Zombie Kill of the Week-worthy kills is amazing. I, like most normal folks, like seeing awesome zombie kills, so I thought this movie was excellent.
It's rare that I go to the theater to see a movie, but I think Zombieland was worth it. If you're interested, then you should give it a shot.
Possible Next Movies: Grosse Pointe Blank, Dawn of the Dead, It Happened One Night
The 400 Blows (1959)
I had high hopes for The 400 Blows, after hearing much praise for it. I think that was the movie's biggest downfall.
My reaction on this was really mixed. It did have some nice aspects. The direction was very nice. The shots of Paris were just breathtaking. The ending was very nice as well. I liked the part where they are on that spinning thing. It was very different and I liked that. I had to look away from dizziness, however.
For a 90-minute film, however, it just couldn't hold my attention. I honestly found it pretty boring. The parts that could've been good were too drawn out (A lot of good could've happened in the schoolhouse scenes, but it never happened). With so much potential, I really think it failed to deliver, but I can't exactly put my finger on why.
Overall, The 400 Blows had it's moments, but I don't think it's at all worthy of the praise it gets.
However, my 11 year old sister liked it a lot. 'tis a strange world.
Reviews Coming Up: Papillon
I'm almost done with my backlog. A day off from school tomorrow should finally end it. Then I can do my month in review.
Papillon (1973)
When I first heard about Papillon, it seemed like a dream come true. Two of my favorite actors (Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman) playing criminals trying to escape from a prison! It had epic written all over it. Papillon most definitely delivered.
Steve McQueen is insanely good in this movie as Papillon. I never thought of him much as an actor, despite him being one of my favorites. He was phenomenal in Papillon, however. The scenes in solitary confinement made me feel his pain. The look of sadness on his face was heartbreaking. Dustin Hoffman, my all-time favorite actor, is Louis Dega, a white collar criminal known around France. This is one of Hoffman's roles where he gives his characters odd attributes to make his performance more awesome (See: Sleepers). He's great in this one, for sure. Dustin and Steve also have good chemistry. If they didn't, the movie would've been pretty bad anyway. Because of their chemistry, the scenes at the end are even sadder.
The problem with being a prison film is that it's going to get compared to Shawshank. Honestly, I think I prefer Papillon (Though Shawshank is techinically the better film). Papillon is a rough movie to watch at times (Solitary confinement) and it also gets a little weird (The dreams, the scene with the Indians). But on a pure entertainment level, Papillion soars.
Reviews Coming Up: None! Yahoo!
October 2009 Month In Review
Ranking:
1. Toy Story2. The Godfather3. Midnight Cowboy4. Psycho5. Jackie Brown6. Rain Man7. The Towering Inferno8. Papillon9. The 40 Year Old Virgin10. Scream11. The Sixth Sense12. A Bug's Life13. Say Anything14. Halloween15. From Dusk Till Dawn16. The 'Burbs17. Moscow On The Hudson18. The African Queen19. The Blob20. Inglorious Bastards21. The 400 Blows22. The Shining
Number of Tens: 4
Lowest Score: 6
Biggest Surprise: Scream
Biggest Disappointment: The Shining
The Movie That Technically Wasn't Very Good But Was Just Plain Entertaining: The 40 Year Old Virgin
Zombieland didn't even make your rankings?
Cat in the walllll
Bobster823: Zombieland didn't even make your rankings?
I didn't see it in October.
wetwillies: Bobster823: Zombieland didn't even make your rankings? I didn't see it in October.
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Dark comedy doesn't always work, but when it does, it's pure gold, Grosse Pointe Blank being a great example of this.
John Cusack is Martin Q. Blank, an assassin who, after the insistance of his secretary, decides to go to his high school reunion and make amends with the girl he ditched at the prom ten years ago. All the while, Grocer (Dan Aykroyd), a rival hitman, tries to kill him.
Simply put, this movie is hysterical. I thought it'd be pretty good because John Cusack and dark comedy usually works (High Fidelity ftw). It really helps that Cusack and Dan Aykroyd are hilarious together, as well. Plus, there is some pretty phenomenal action. The final shootout is especially good, with one very awesome kill.
Overall, Grosse Pointe Blank is a truly hilarious film, with some great performances from its cast.
Possible Next Movies: A Fistful of Dollars, Summer of Sam, It Happened One Night
Reviews Coming Soon: Dawn of the Dead
Have you seen 12 angry men? Its a must see. So is Signs.
