Movie Reviews! Late but here!

Goodness, I meant to get this going much sooner than now. Getting distracted can be a serious dilemma these days. Here I was hanging out and relaxing on Sunday and I realized that I had totally forgotten that I was supposed to have posted something by now. Silly me. Sorry guys!

There are so many movies to review and of course the new big one is New Moon. Sadly, that will have to wait simply because I couldn’t get out to see it. The amorous teenagers conquered the theaters and I’ve already heard tale that some of them saw the film six times in a twenty-four hour period. Now, I’m all for hunky vampires and werewolves but wow. I need a break between viewings.

So I thought we might touch on a couple of movies, both a touch older than the Twilight sequel but hey, I think that you might still like them.

First up: The Vampire’s Assistant. Three Fangs

I had to talk about this movie because well… you know, vampires! In this case, the movie was super fun. I LOVED John C. Reilly as the vampire. I typically am not a huge fan of the ridiculous comedy type movies that he shows up in and this time around, he was actually quite serious. Willem Dafoe was way over the top and the freak show was a little tame but still entertaining.

Other people to look for: Ken Watanabe as the freak master, Orlando Jones, Salma Hayek and Ray Stevenson (nigh unrecognizable from his role as the Punisher). These people really lend some cred to a movie that might have otherwise been kind of blah. The kids themselves, while not painfully terrible, aren’t the best. I think that other kids might relate to them better than I could.

If you’ve read the series or you enjoy a fun take on Vampires, you should definitely see this movie. It’s not really gory, the tastelessness is not as high as you might imagine and it could have certainly been far worse. Definitely consider it either in the second run theater or perhaps video at the least.

Second: The Men Who Stare At Goats. Four Fangs

This movie might shock you that I had to see it but let me explain: Ewan McGregor, George Clooney and Kevin Spacey. I was sold at that point without much effort and then it turned out to be so damn funny, I couldn’t help but fall in love. By the end of the movie, I couldn’t decide if I was extremely happy, introspective or outright sad. Perhaps even hopeful. I don’t know. It was great.

For those that don’t know, the movie is essentially about a military unit trained to be psychic warriors. Jeff Bridges had a moment of self discovery and went off to learn about manipulating the mind. Ewan McGregor, a reporter down on his luck, decides to head to Iraq to be a war correspondent. While there, he uncovers the story behind this ultra secret project.

Ewan and George spend a lot of time together on screen and they really have awesome chemistry. The comedic moments are really funny and the parts that were likely supposed to be ‘edgy’ turned out to be pretty tame. I never felt offended by the way they spoke to the audience and even the absurdity was not as over the top as other films get.

One part that might turn people off is all the wartime imagery. It’s not graphic and there’s only one really crazy battle moment but even that gets twisted to something humorous. I would recommend this to any fans of the actors involved or anyone who are looking for a relaxed and yet poignant film. There’s a message here that I don’t want to spoil but it’s a good one—a message that I think is really neat to see conveyed.

Next week: New Moon and probably something else to go with it!

PS I have some awesome graphics to use for the fangs but I'm afraid that I was abroad when I wrote this. I'll use them next week, I promise! :)