My first Video-Blog for ScrewAttack.com. For more information, please visit ScrewAttack.com! Didn't see that coming, did you?
My second Vlog for ScrewAttack.com, this time touching on old vs new RPG styles for consoles. I look like shit, thanks to various problems that are explained in the video.
I'm back on Youtube, and back on ScrewAttack.com letting everyone know I wasn't swallowed up by the storm surge. In this video I touch on Diablo 1 and 2, plus my final thoughts I intend to ever express on Diablo 3 (at least until the game is released.) Also, I broke my microphone. :(
A look at the launch of the PS3, and the blu-ray. Was the inclusion of the blu-ray player a good idea, or was the timing all wrong? Find out! Er.. well, at least find out what I think!
A video response to my own video, because I don't have time to respond to everyone personally.. and when 70% are complaining about the same thing, it's easy to consolodate it.
Decker here after a long hiatus, with an even longer rant about the console war, how powerful each console's graphical capablilities were and how well they did in the market. Was it because, or in spite of their processing power? Watch, and find out!
Hello YouTube! Been gone forever, but haven't forgotten about this place (or the overwhelming amount of hate mail I got from my one vid...) Just wanted to say I'M BACK!
An overview of the DVD box set "Alien Predator Total Destruction Collection." I go over the box quality, DVD special features and overall value of the package - plus planned future reviews.
My review of Alien from 1979 - The second part of my Alien Predator Total Destruction Collection review.
A review of Alien 3 - How does it compare to the first two films, and what kind of experience does it have to offer? Watch and find out! Part 4 of my Alien Predator Total Destruction Collection reviews - watch for the upcoming part 5, Alien Resurrection.
Updating my viewers on the situation and state of my current series of reviews - and going into a bit of detail when it comes to exactly what counts as what I'm being accused of, and whatnot.
Giving a rundown of what's going on with my channel, and why you probably will see it go bye bye within the next few days.
Getting something up in the meantime, snags abound and I'm doing what I can, but sadly the reviews still haven't come together as quickly as I, and I'm sure anyone else would have liked.
My review of the 4th movie in the Alien series, Alien Resurrection - how does it stack up against the three classics, and how good/bad of an idea was it to adhere to the idea that Sygorney Weaver had to be Ripley in the lead role, yet again? Footage used from Alien Resurrection and a few seconds of Predator, copyright Fox. And yes, Fox, I contest false copyright claims so unless you actually plan on taking me to court, please refrain from making such accusations. kthxbye!
Stating, and asking exactly where my youtube channel is/might be going. If you, the viewer, have any comment please feel free to leave one! Despite the fact that I'll likely go ahead as planned, and stated in the video - also as stated in the video, I really do want to know the opinion of the viewer. Hopefully my luck will pan out on this video, and I'll actually recieve an opinion or two. :)
DeckerShado's webcam video June 30, 2011 02:40 PM
My first video of this type, lamenting on my lack of time while commenting on the use of time travel in science fiction, and movies. Specifically Superman 1 - just what would happen if his method of time travel were attempted?
DeckerShado's webcam video August 13, 2011 06:02 AM
Got a new camera (Casio Exilim EX-ZR100) and purchased 64-bit video editing software for the desktop (Cyberlink PowerDirector 9 Ultra 64) and am giving a quick heads up to my subscribers that yes, I really have been working on improving things!
A very quick update, that I sinceirly hope actually uploads properly to youtube. It's been far too long since my last video, I know, but I am trying... I hope to get the Predator 2 review completed soon.. So much to do, so nonexistant time...
Check out the above link for part 7 of the Alien Predator Total Destruction Collection Reviews, Predator 2. I am currently holding it exclusively on my Blip account, though that may change in the future.
Click the above link for the review of Alien VS Predator, on my Blip showpage. (Alien Predator Total Destruction Collection review part 8) This video details some ideas on what I'll do later on for this channel specifically, as well as things currently going on with me professionally, and personally. I hope you enjoy not only the review, but this video as well.
This video also gives some insight as to the trials the editing process has imposed on me over the last week, and the daunting task that the next review strangely is coming into being. Thank you all for watching!
Line flubs and bloopers from my reviews of Predator 2 and Alien VS Predator, now available for your viewing pleasure. :)
***UPDATE*** Got the Mario & Sonic demo, and it appears the limited uses is on all 3DS demos (as of this writing) so, on that latter issue I suppose the angst should be directed at Nintendo. Seriously, Nintendo? Why? An "open letter" for whoever at Capcom thinks their business practices with the 3DS are good ideas. Ranting shortly about how their descisions on how to handle Mega Man Legends 3 and Resident Evil Revelations are more likely to adversely affect their sales, in my opnion.
An amendment to my previous video, based on new information about Nintendo's 3DS demo setup.
My hotmail account was hacked, and Microsoft just recently figured it out, and blocked the account. Unfotunately, they also have completely ignored any and all requests to unblock said account, and their support software is terribly broken to begin with.
I found out today something SHOCKING when using my Andriod phone - it's the physical manifestation of sin and vice! The basic operation requires you to sell your soul!!! YOU MUST WATCH THIS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!
Yeah, I made a few more in addition to the ones in the review. I'm not planning on making this a constant thing, just having a little fun with editing. ;)
After a visit to Fry's Electronics, I am the proud owner of a brand new western digital 3 terabyte hard drive, however.. Some parts don't work as slick as others...
A review of the movie Predator 2, by Decker Shado. The internet personality with the best hair. Looking back on Predator 2, how does it match up against the first great, but flawed movie? How important is it to the series, and was Mike even on an investigation at any part of the movie?
Fox has been at it again, and it looks like Youtube doesn't care too much about holding true to their copyright policies, about bothering to even remotely punish false claims. The AVP review will be uploaded to my youtube channel as soon as possible, as with the rest of the alien predator total destruction collection review set, but Fox is helping to make sure that's going to take a lot longer than we would like.
A quick test of my editing software's visual masking abilities - seeing if I can have me on screen with myself and make it work.
A review of the 2004 Fox movie, Alien VS Predator (AVP) by Decker Shado, the internet personality with the best hair. How does it combine the franchises into one production? Does it take from, or ignore the previously standing AVP media? And finally, does Weyland even listen to Lex after hiring her as a guide?
A review of the 2007 Fox movie AVP: Requiem by Decker Shado, the internet personality with the best hair. Slated to rescue the AVP movie franchise, how well did it handle this daunting task? Did it treat the Alien and Predator franchises with respect? And finally, were The Brothers Strause smoking crack during production?
The 1998 action movie starring Kurt Russel, Soldier quickly gained and maintained the animosity of critics worldwide. Decker Shado takes a look at this widely hated movie to see if it truly is one of the most detestable films ever created, or if there is more than a little silver lining to this Warner Brothers presentation.
Considered a cult classic, the 1973 B-grade horror film Sssssss pitted it's actors with real, living (mostly) snakes! How does this Universal film stand up today, and did it truly do it's premise justice? Decker Shado gives his review, and opinions on some filmmaking decisions.
In 2010, after Fox's AVP movies were widely reguarded as rubbish, another movie in the Predator franchise was released for the first time in 20 years. Decker Shado takes a look at this film, produced by Robert Rodriguez to find out if it's a true return to form, or maybe not even a worthy trophy. Originally uploaded Feburary 1st 2012 on Blip, Original Youtube Upload May 31st, June 4th upload due to IODA infringing my copyright, and Youtube having pretty well no means for me to dispute their false claim, after they rejected my original dispute.
Back in 2002, while Jean-Claude Van Damme was deep in straight-to-dvd hell, Derailed was but one of many quickly put together action movies he starred in. Despite this, is it horrendous, or is there some good to be found in this bargain bin title?
It's been 15 years since the last "true" Alien movie, and Prometheus aims to bring the series back to it's former glory, by heading back before Alien was Alien. The story of the space jockey and the origins of the Xenomorph are finally told, but after so long a wait does the story hold up? Or is it even good to tell on it's own?
In 2001, Jeepers Creepers was praised as the best horror movie in the last 10 years. Was it truly deserving of this claim, or has time tarnished it's once proud reputation?
With so many comments expressing so many opinions, I decided to address them directly in this video - still standing my ground, and sticking to my initial rating for this film, but having a lot of fun with the comments presented. :) Check out Timdiana's Something Cinematic: Prometheus episode
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Jeepers Creepers went on to beat it's predecessor's record, becoming the highest grossing film opened on Labor Day weekend. Was this because it was truly a phenomenal follow-up, or were people hoping for more than they actually got?
Decker Shado gives his immediate gut - feeling reacion to new movies, and today it's the Tim Burton production Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter! Does it live up to your hopes and dreams? Is it simply mindless action with no reguard for history? What were your hopes and dreams, anyway?
Another Jean-Claude Van Damme straight-to-dvd film, In Hell was directed by award winning hong-kong based director, Ringo Lam. Does that make this production worthy of the theater, or are there several very good reasons it was sent to the DVD pile?
Nekotwins joins Decker Shado, as we give our first impressions to the film The Amazing Spider-Man. Did this reboot do the hero justice? Is it worth your time? Do you realize that Gwen Stacey is actually canon to the comics series? Find out!
The potential discovery of the Higgs Boson is quite possibly the most important scientific event of my lifetime. But why should I, or you, care? Do we know, yet?
A 1985 cult classic horror film by Larry Cohen, The Stuff's monster takes the guise of a popular dessert product. With business deals at stake and 80s style commercials promoting a mind controlling killer, The Stuff is definitely a unique take on horror, but just how scary can white goop be?
Suffering at the hands of Youtube's guilty until proven innocent policy, this coming month's uploads will be hampered a bit - but the show must go on.
Lots of stuff happening, and the AVP lets play hasn't come up as quickly as I'd have liked it to, but nevertheless - here's a quick update as to how things are going right now.
A crossover with Decker Shado, the internet personality with the best hair, of the 1975 cartoon series "Return to the Planet of the Apes." Taking the animated road meant more freedom for writers, but the severly limited budget made it a lot more restricting than you would think. Is it so stiff it's not worth watching, or is there something good to be found somewhere in the pages?
Released in 1959, A Bucket of Blood is a Roger Corman production starring Dick Miller as a serial killer, whom uses his victims as the base for his clay sculptures. As it came out six years after the 1953 remake of Mytery of the Wax Museum, just how big of a rip off was it? Or perhaps, was it truly a rip off at all?
A "Let's Play" style video, with Decker Shado of the 2010 game "Alien VS Predator" for PC. This is a sort of experiment, as I have not done a "Let's Play" style video before, but here's hoping it goes somewhat well.
The Asylum, a film studio known well now for it's straight to DVD "Mockbuster" movies, decided back in 2007 to produce a film to capitalize off of the success of Invasion, the TV series that served as the latest incarnation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers remakes. How does it compare to the original, or the remake? Or heck, does it even do Pod People justice?
Spambots have targeted Decker Shado! How will he handle this situation?! Apathetically.
Part 2 of my AVP Let's Play, where we trudge through the refinery, dig up some audio diaries, and run into one big bug.
After a minor screw up, we get things back on track with me failing to count how many audio diaries are left in the level, and mistakenly thinking I've got em all... but hey! Sniper rifles and acid-spitting Xenomorphs all over the place!
Before Jean-Claude Van Damme was JCVD, one movie helped to launch him into stardom, the 1988 martial arts action film Bloodsport. Although it lacks positive critical acclaim, it quicly becam a favorate among action movie goers. But did this portrayal of Frank Dux's life deserve to be remembered, or were the professional popcorn eaters correct all along?
Part 4 of my AVP Let's Play, where we explore the ancient ruins, get really, REALLY annoyed at the fellow marines, have a lovely fight and all for an alcoholic beverage.
Back in 1999, when the Dreamcast was the hot new game system, David Cronenburg imagined a hotter, newer game system called eXistenZ. Overlooked entirely at the box office, many attribute this to the target audience heading off to watch The Matrix instead. Is this the case, or was this tale of bio technological gaming and murder both for and against game players doomed from the start?
RE-Uploaded to Youtube due to file corruption - hopefully works this time. Original corrupted video not removed, due to the fixed video being unavailable in Germany. Makes me think the audio screw up of the original video wasn't a screw up at all, but Youtube's screw the user copyright policies in action. Geez, this is getting annoying. The 1998 action movie starring Kurt Russel, Soldier quickly gained and maintained the animosity of critics worldwide. Decker Shado takes a look at this widely hated movie to see if it truly is one of the most detestable films ever created, or if there is more than a little silver lining to this Warner Brothers presentation.
Back in the swing of things, we head out to the research lab to blow out our eardrums, not so much with the Xenos there that are allegedly powerful screamers, but rather with Mr. Weyland's voiceovers. (I apologize for the poor audio balance, it was in the game.)
Tired of people saying weed will kill you? Why not watch Charles Band's interpretation that the bong will kill you instead? Celebrating 4:20 as the first holiday special of my review show, see for yourself if Evil Bong is worth a toke, or if this would be better off criminalized.
The final part of the marine campaign, we head down to the pyramid to face off against hordes of xenomorphs, synthetics, and worst of all, the most unassuming, pathetic looking final boss that kills me over and over and over again.
After the first Evil Bong, Charles Band was at it again in the search for more money. Despite not having Tommy Chong or even the original Alistair, does this sequel to a low quality horror flick still maintain the odd charm? Or perhaps does it stand as proof that it really is possible to overdose on weed?`
A quick rundown of recent events, hopes for the future, and whoring myself out via social media. Ooh! Don't forget my twitter - @DeckerShado !
Part 1 of my AVP Let's Play of the Predator campaign - consisting of both level 1 and 2, as level 1 was pathetically short. See the amazing introduction, understand the reason why the Predator has gone down, and watch as he suffers from selective paralysis.
Part 2 of the Predator campaign, I decide it might be a good idea to actually try out the proximity mines, as we decimate the inhabitants of the refinery, and a good time was had by all.
As Prometheus is right around the corner, I take a look back at the 6 films that showcase the titular Alien, known as the Xenomorph. One thing they all do very well, is kill. A lot. And with that in mind, I present to you my list of the top 10 Xenomorph kills. What made the cut, and what just didn't hold up to scrutiny?
Part 3 of my Let's Play of the predator campaign, we get a new mask! In all it's gaudy goodness. Also, it turns out some women can take quite a few plasma blasts and just shrug it off. Nevertheless, the adventure continue
We finally get to play with the Combi stick, and behold, the game has suddenly become so much easier. Except when the Predator somehow becomes very, VERY weak against bullets. (I swear, it's not just that I suck as the Predator) Also, robo trophies.
Back in 1994, before starring in Street Fighter Jean-Claude Van Damme would find himself in this film adaptation of a Dark Horse Comics series. Or was the comic adapted from the film? Is this movie even worth watching? Find out the anwer to one of these questions!
The final part of the Predator campaign in my Let's Play of AVP 2010, where we get another rumble in the pyramid. Mountains of Xenos and Synthetics contest us, but at it's heart it's really a puzzle game.
Part 1 of the final campaign in the 2010 AVP video game, we get to see just how things start up for us taking the role as a Xenomorph. Malfunctions will ensue, and headbites will commence.
Part 2 of my Let's Play of the Alien campaign, we find that these levels are kind of short, so it's level 3 & 4 this time around. Watch me blaze through one level in 10 minutes, then walk around in a circle confused, trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do for 30 more!
Part 3 of the Alien campaign, and surprisingly enough, the final part. Not only were the levels short, there were only five of em.. oh well.. Enjoy watching me be gutted over and over again by a group of predators, without having to fire up the multiplayer!
A relatively recent 1985 public domain film, Night Train to Terror combines multiple stories along a narrative that follows a band singing a terrible song while literrally on the fast track to death. Does this vinette pull of something special, or should it have never pulled away from the station?
The first film on Fred Dekker's filmography, House stars William Katt as Roger Cobb living in a haunted house, of all things. A horror comedy in the vein of Evil Dead, does House manage to entertain fans of the genre, or is there a good reason I picked up this DVD on discount?
On October 19th Decker Shado watched a movie and was never seen again. Later that day, this footage was found.
Written and Directed by Ethan Wiley, House 2 was a drastic departure from the original - but seeing as the original wasn't a perfect movie by any means, was that neccicarily a bad thing? New characters, new supernatural rules and a new house - but at it's heart is it really just the same old tricks?
Still waiting for Prometheus to release in the US, Decker Shado takes a look at The Asylum's last rip off of the Alien franchise, Alien VS Hunter. Ripping off AVP Requiem, AVH puts William Katt in one of the oddest roles of his career - does it actually pull off the impossible of making a good Asylum movie? Or is Requiem actually the better film?
While Blip was having trouble, I was attempting to provide at least something for my Youtube subscribers waiting for my latest review. Of course, Youtube also screwed up, resulting in a failed video conversion. (Where as certain users can request re-conversions on Blip in such cases) and luckily, Blip was back up in time to get my review up for all to see. As it's no longer relevant as a failsafe, I present to you a quick let's play style video of survivor mode in AVP 2010, as a BONUS! Yay!
A cult classic from 1981, The Funhouse is a story of four generic teenagers whom get picked off one by one, directed by Tobe Hooper. Is it's reputation well earned, or should you skip the line for this ride?
The 1968 classic Planet of the Apes, based on the french novel of the same title (that for some reason was originally retitled Monkey Planet in English) captured the imaginations of the moviegoers 44 years ago - Does it still hold up today, or has time rendered it near unrecognizeable?
Week two of the Summer of the Planet of the Apes showcases the first of what would be a great many sequels, Beneath. Set directly after the first film closes, Beneath goes in a very strange direction.. but is it to the film's detriment, or was it actually done well?
I got a Wii U, and decided that this time, I'll start an unboxing video with the box still closed! Additional notes: The Pro controller is actually incompatible with Nintendo Land, and New Super Mario Bros U. Thus, I'll need to buy another Wii U game that does support them, in order to get any use out of them. At least I already planned to do that, but dang.. I'll still need to go out and get several more Wii Remotes if I want to have any higher than 2 players in Nintendo Land.
The third movie in the Planet of the Apes series, and the only one made with sequels actually in mind, Escape takes the apes out of the familiar dystopian future and into our own past. Well, at the time of the film's release it was still the future, but how has time treated this well recieved classic in science fiction?
The 4th film in the Planet of the Apes saga, and the only one that was actually a planned sequel, Conquest is the first Apes movie to showcase the creation of the Planet of the Apes itself, by force. Despite this, it still manages to go against established lore from the previous films.. however, can it still hold up today, on it's own merits?The 4th film in the Planet of the Apes saga, and the only one that was actually a planned sequel, Conquest is the first Apes movie to showcase the creation of the Planet of the Apes itself, by force. Despite this, it still manages to go against established lore from the previous films.. however, can it still hold up today, on it's own merits?
I got a ridiculously long message recently. I recorded myself actually reading the whole thing.
Part 2 of my reading of an incredibly long rant in my inbox.
Part 3 of my reading of a ridiculously long, winded, repetitive and quite worrisome rant that ended up in my inbox.
Part 4 of my reading of a long, incoherent ramble that somehow ended up in my inbox.
Part 5 of my reading of an increasingly insane rambling that somehow ended up in my inbox.
What was meant to be the really, truly actual final Planet of the Apes film - Battle for the Planet of the apes didn't so much end the series with a bang but more a whimper. However, despite it's poor critical reception, is there more to enjoy with this movie, or have we all truly had enough damn dirty apes?
Part 6 of my reading a ridiculously long message, sent my way by ForeverFlame88, a freaking Christ blessed basketball player!
The seventh part of my reading of a rand into ramble into nonsense, all more insane than the last.
Part 8 of a reading of an insanely long message from my inbox, which is sapping away at my sanity.
Part 9 of a reading of a huge f@cking paragraph....
Part 10 of a terrible message that will take my life...
After nearly 30 years of no planet, and no apes - Fox decided to bring the series back with the help of Tim Burton and Mark Wahlburg. However, critical reaction to the film was so bad, Fox pulled the plug on the planned sequels. Was there more to this film than we saw, or did those maniacs finally really do it? Did they blow it up?
The final part of my reading of a message that came to my inbox not long ago. By the way, Happy Doomsday!
The seventh week of the Summer of the Planet of the Apes, and the final Planet of the Apes film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes from 2011. After the very negative reaction to the 2001 film, plans for sequels were derailed, however a mere 10 years later we were given yet another reboot. Did Rise live up to the legacy, or has all the charm been lost in a mess of CGI?
Week 8 of the Summer of the Planet of the Apes, and we have the 14 episode series that originally aired in 1974. High budget, with great acting and starring Roddy McDowall, how did this series end up only staying on the air for half a season? Maybe there was cause, after all...
Part 2 of the Decker-Creepy Crossover and the FINALE of the Summer of the Planet of the Apes! Decker and Creepy look at a Planet of the Apes themed porno, Play-Mate of the Apes by Seduction Cinema. With apes, and sex, how can you go wrong? Oh you can go wrong. You can go very, very wrong. You know, I thought about linking to the dvd on amazon.. but considering the content, such a link may actually be against the TOS. Or the constitution.. or the bible. In any case it feels very strongly like I should not do that.
Had to drop the bomb sooner or later...
Tara likes to help with my videos, in her own special way.
From the writer of the 1941 classic The Wolf Man, Bride of the Gorilla sought to recapture the imagination of moviegoers looking for men transforming into beasts. However, it's not remembered nearly as fondly as it's predecessor. Is there a good reason for that, or is there something here we've been missing out on since 1951?
Back when I did the Summer of the Planet of the Apes, I was talking with Creepy about having a big double-crossover finale. Unfortunately, my transportation got screwed around and I ended up having to take the Greyhound to get to his place. This led to me having to film two episodes in one day, while being up for well over 24 hours. Obviously, I didn't pull this off quite as smoothly as I could have.
A Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick from 2004, Wake of Death was supposed to be directed by Ringo Lam, but after changing hands several times ended up in the lap of Philippe Martinez. Does it continue In Hell's trend of reasonably good movies from the dark age of Van Damme's career, or has the plot been compromised after so much shuffling?
Due to the fact that I have not had any time to rest while moving, my "episode" for this week consists of what I could pull off in about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
The Asylum, infamous for decieving people into purchasing their straight to DVD low budget flicks that look almost like the popular franchises they actually were interested in, ironically enough also produce Christian themed movies under the name of Faith Films. They still are nothing more than ripoffs of other movies, such as 2012: Doomsday. However, with 2012 being such a bad film in it's own right, how did the Asylum version fare?
The painful process of moving alone takes quite a lot of time away from video production. Then of course, one can film the goings on whilst it occurs.
A made for TV movie from 1999, The Cyberstalking follows the trend of the time of strange virtual worlds and ridiculous technology that goes completely unexplained. With a focus on music and a pop star's career, did this film deserve a theatrical release, or were they lucky it ever aired in the first place?
Looking back at another early review of mine, this one is not quite as embarrassing to look back on as the Predator 2 review, but there are a few rough edges. Listen in awe as I ramble on about nothing in particular for a half hour - what fun!
Months before Twilight, our resident king of schlock, Charles Band, produced his own take on vampires in a modern day setting. They don't sparkle, they don't go to high school, so what do they do? It's Charles Band, they strip and f&ck. Then again, how bad could necrophilia be?
A off-the-cuff first time viewing of Attack of the Giant Leeches, produced by Roger Corman. Completely unscripted, I suppose you could call this a "let's watch" video. Yay for public domain movies! This also proved to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated, but nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.
Decker Shado digs deep into the Predator, as seen in film, comic, game and novel format. Just what makes the creature tick? What are it's physical characteristics, cultural formations, and what is the drive of it's technological advancement?
A quick update on the current state of the documentary, future and present project situations, and other things.
A Charles Band "classic" from 1992, when Full Moon Whateverthef*ck was still a young studio, and Band was seemingly obsessed with pumping out killer toy movies. With characters and plot points as cookie cutter as they come, is there still some fun to be had in this rampant cheesefest?
A short based on the fact that Nekotwins and TheMimic1013 have this strange habit of destroying everything in their path whilst playing Dungeons & Dragons with me. Also, the fact that I had very little time this week to put anything together, but wanted to do something more complex than a simple blog or commentary this week. So.. No script, no real idea how it will turn out, but hoping it can be entertaining. While playing real games of D&D, these two have: -Shrugged off a death spell (at level 1) -Defeated a CR 3 Giant Crocodile at level 2, where it could have killed them instantly had it ever landed a hit -flawlessly quaffed half-orc "Firewater" without suffering damage -destroyed an entire hive of giant wasps (at level 3) suffering only 3 hits -caused me to completely change the direction of the campaign due to their meddling with the too-high-to-fight antagonists -constantly roll 20s
18 years after the first Demonic Toys, Charles Band would finally get around to making the sequel. Was it worth the wait? Of course not, but there may be something to it to enjoy, nonetheless.
A quick update that as I type this, is suffering under a ridiculously slow upload pace. Almost as if it is trying to taunt me, it tells me at 59%, (I had to re-initialize, it wasn't moving) that now it will take 10 hours to finish. Well, after typing that sentence, now 3 hours. Point is - this file size (2 gigs, approx) should take my connection 2 hours at most for the entirety. ANYWAY - I have several topics I neglected from the last update, as well as a few new events to bring up. Such as.. Aliens: Colonial Marines. Don't worry, that's the first thing I bring up in the video.
A zombie movie considered good enough that it won best horror feature at the 2010 Atlanta Underground Film Festival, but does that make it a grand movie overall, or is it just a lifeless husk with no soul that somehow is hobbling along?
A compilation blooper reel, showcasing the flubs and frustrations behind all the videos currently listed under "Special Episodes" - the Xenomorph Biology, Predator Species Analysis and Top 10 kills episodes. You'll be amazed at just how much fuc@in' the Predators and Aliens do, according to my bloopers. Also, you might get the sense that I have tourette's syndrome.
After Cowboy Bebop aired it's final episode, Sunrise had already begun production on the Cowboy Bebop movie, "knockin' on heaven's door." Changing halfway in to become a 2 hour movie instead of the originally planned 90 minutes, Cowboy Bebop strived to appeal to fans as well as newcomers.. but just how well was this balancing act pulled off?
A commentary video of my review of The Stuff, another "classic" review from my series. Listen on as I rant about the good ol' days, yogurt, and long haired creepy guys.
The Lordi motion picture, Dark Floors was the pinnacle of the aftermath of Lordi's victory in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. A psychological horror film starring the monsters of metal, Dark Floors' story was actually the idea of Mr. Lordi himself - however, the final production didn't wow audiences the same way the band's music had. Was there something more to this movie, or are these floors best left in the dark?
The second "episode" of Decker and Dragons, and the first one to be planned, in any sense. Not exactly the plan that I had in mind for the second ep, but still, there was much more time to prepare this one. Decker runs into trouble when he finds himself short on adventures for the duo of unstoppable players. A quick fix for this situation proves to be anything but - and Decker must struggle between keeping his players happy, and keeping his sanity. Oh! And to all those wondering "where the heck's the movie reviews?!" ...soon.
Presented by Miramax, Final Encounter (also known as For the Cause, and Warhammer) is a low budget sci-fi action romp, depicting a planet where two factions battle in a century long war. After so much conflict, and so little money to show us what's happening, how will this movie leave you feeling? And just what in the hell were they fighting over?
The Asylum's take, or rather complete rip off, of I am Legend uses much more of the source material than most Asylum films try to get away with. However, as they're not relying too much on their own creativity to support this one, how does it hold up against the rest of their library?
My 1000 subscriber special! Well after I hit 1000 subscribers.. but nevermind that! It's a review of the web shorts The Great Nug and The Tirshahms. Watching this review is only slightly shorter than watching the videos themselves.. but hey, you are just dying to hear my opinion, aren't you? ..no? ...okay, here's the links to the two videos if you're going to be like that...
Many apologies for the inconvenience caused by the various ways YouTube handled copyright claims over the years. (original upload date November 28th 2012 on Blip) With winter around the corner, we take a look at a 1977 made for tv horror movie, Snowbeast, that bears some resemblence to another film of that decade. A ski resort in Colorado is tormented by a killer yeti, but does that provide enough to give this movie it's own spin?
A 1996 science fiction film about the hell we will face in the mystical year of 2007, Adrenalin: Fear the Rush depicts the world as a wasteland of disease. Or does it? I've watched it several times and I still can't tell - however, is there something to enjoy in this sickening film?
The second film from The Asylum ripping off 2012, 2012 Supernova story wise seems less a rip off of 2012, and more of Armogeddon... but nevertheless, How does this foray into saving the Earth from a world destroying sellar blast do? Oh who am I kidding, this is The Asylum.
By popular demand, I give my personal top 10 list of Predator kills, as seen in the movies. As the Yautja are the galaxy's most powerful hunters - just what prey managed to make the top 10? Or perhaps more importantly, what sits at number 1?
The third movie of the Evil Bong franchise, Charles Band's Evil Bong 3D is the only film by Full Moon Features to ever be released to a theater. Does that mean it stands up well above the rest of Band's movies? No.. but perhaps what it holds can surprise us.
Due to MGM's claim against my Bloodsport review, a film they evidently had no actual claim to, I present to you a blog. ...yay?
Still no luck with MGM, so it's another blog. Watch in horror as I try to comment on something I only know 30% about, and am suffering from sleep deprivation! Also, there's a cat, so chances are this will end up on YouTube's most watched videos of all time.
Can't wait for my latest blog? Well, google says you're gonna have to.
Watch in horror as I vainly attempt to find something to talk about in this blog, whilst suffering from sleep deprivation. Oh, and I may or may not bring up Super Smash Bros in the process.
A Steven Seagal movie from 2009, Driven to Kill is the story of a man who is forced to seek revenge for violence against his lover, and their daughter. Fortunately, this man happens to be an ex-russian mobster and Steven Seagal. This may sound like a generic action movie plot, but that's simply because that's exactly what it is. However... what quality does it hold, when all is said and done? And shot.. and stabbed...
Monkey. Go happy... MONKEY GO HAPPY! MONKEY GO HAPPY!!!!!!!
Another update blog, with a purpose! Please leave your question(s) in the comments section below, and I will make an answer(s) video at a later date. Also, monkeys.
The latest film in the Alien franchise, (as of this writeup) and the earliest film in the timeline, Prometheus sought to answer questions we've had since the beginning, about the origins of the Xenomorph. Further, the movie itself explores the questions of the origins of life itself. And more questions, and more questions. Lots and lots of questions, really. Answers? Good question.
Finally, the answers to the questions asked in the 4th of July video's comments section. My apologies for the upload being slightly late, and to answer the question of why, the video ended up very long and processing/uploading all that in HD took quite some time.
Sanity is in short supply, inversely proportional to the quantity of monkeys present.
Lost in a world of Monkeys - he seeks respite.
Why are there so many Monkey Go Happy games? How did this happen?
Mo Monkey, Mo Monkey, Mo Monkey!
The last Monkey Go Happy game! .... or is it?
Okay, what's going on? You had the baby monkey already. What are these things? They're about 1/3rd the size of the baby monkey.
In a world of monkeys, one man stands between sad monkeys and happy monkeys. He then screams bloody murder.
Lost in the ethers of time, there are monkeys. I do not want them. I do not wish to find them, I do not care if Monkey Go Happy or not. But they won't let me leave...
As if we needed any more hints that the monkeys were never ending?
They never end.. the monkeys never end... THE MONKEYS NEVER END! THEY NEVER END! NEVER! NEVER!
Finally, after clicking each and every last Monkey Go Happy game on this website, we have reached the end of the road, the last Monkey Go Happy game listed. This is it.. no more Monkeys.. no more... no more...
I'll be heading to Metacon on Sunday, September 1st. See me at the Manic Expression: Creative Chaos panel as well as a sneak peek of the (much delayed) Manic Expression documentary. Also, bring your 3DS. What? I want tags...
I know, I know, I said I'd review The Foreigner this week as the Summer of Steven Seagal continues. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I was unable to get the movie in time. Therefore, I have to present to you, Out for Justice. Seagal plays Gino, a police officer with a checkered past who happens to be the best in the world. His partner is shot, and he spends the next 90 minutes trying to find and kill the man responsible. That's... pretty much it.
While trying to record this week's video, I had certain issues with large animals barging in and demanding to be included in the review as well. Sadly, this could not be, but allow me to introduce YouTube to the energetic fuzzball that we call "Chibi."
Yes, the DVD finally arrived. No, it wasn't worth the wait. Yes, I realize it was only a one week wait. The Foreigner, with Steven Seagal, pits the man against various mercenaries all hired to get a package. Of course, they were all hired by the same people so.. shouldn't they be on the same page? Oh, and this is the movie of which Black Dawn is a sequel. Does that explain things any better? Spoiler alert: Nope!
Busy week, this week.. so.. how about some random ramblings of a madman to tide you over?
Over on TechCrunch, a specific article by MG Siegler has the interwebs abuzz about it's contents. Is it because he's stated that Nintendo is going down, and nothing can save them? Possibly.. More likely though, it's because it's an article rife with strawmen, arguing from ignorance, and out and out false information. On that note... what do I have to say about it?
Yay for randomish updates!
A little story about my cat and the somewhat odd series of events that took place when I met her.
The recent events at Blip have Manic Expression a bit messy right now, so here's a little video about where I am in this situation, and a few other upcoming things.
So I'm supposed to have a review trailer, linking to a full length review about now... right?
Next generation doesn't start until WE say it does. And we say it does in about 2 years.
Yes, the DVD finally arrived. No, it wasn't worth the wait. Yes, I realize it was only a one week wait. The Foreigner, with Steven Seagal, pits the man against various mercenaries all hired to get a package. Of course, they were all hired by the same people so.. shouldn't they be on the same page? Oh, and this is the movie of which Black Dawn is a sequel. Does that explain things any better? Spoiler alert: Nope!
A let's play of my first time on Starbound. I was supposed to be doing a multiplayer one with Nekotwins and TheMimic, but due to certain circumstances, I was the only one present in the galaxy. Better luck next time, I suppose.
Second playtime with Starbound, and my attempts to equip myself with some reasonable armor lead to some wacky hyjinks. Also, because everyone else decided to use my computer more than I did, I say screw it and play solo for a while. Why not?
Because my video was 90 minutes long.. and that's friggin huge.. and I know a lot of people don't want to spend an hour and a half watching someone else play a video game - and sandbox games like this are inherently tedious... Why not edit the thing down to something managable for everyone? I'm planning to do this with the others as well, and hopefully get them ready to upload at the same time as the long version. (which will likely upload second, simply because the files are FREAKIN GINORMOUS!
One hour of gameplay equals 10 minutes of highlights footage? I know sandbox games are up on the tedium, but.. wow. Oh well! Here's where I set forth on my quest for pantaloons.
A little update to my channel, talking about how the Let's Plays are going and what I think about the Content ID match crisis of YouTube.
The Summer of Seagal drags on, because Universal has delayed it's end from arriving. NOOOO!!!!
It's a video of me sat in front of the camera talking about anything and nothing! YAY!
So how did the holiday season treat all the new consoles? I don't know. I don't have any numbers. But what I do have is unsubstantiated claims! Yay!
The lost episode from October 2013, finally available to the public due to various threats Creepy has made to Decker's safety! Here we take a look at Monkeybone, a film adaptation of Dark Town that went through one hell of a rewrite during production and somehow ended up starring Brendan Fraser. Really?
As Revenge of Gamera-Thon winds down, my eyes are already set towards the future in what would have to be a ridiculously epic conclusion to Gamera-Thon. But.. with the last 4 Showa films, one of which is 95% stock footage, how do you make Gamera-Thon 3 better than Revenge of Gamera-Thon? Well, I have some ideas...
Because of technical difficulties, this week's episode of Decker Shado Reviews will be delayed. Also, my head has been banging into my wall for the better part of an hour.
The finale of Revenge of Gamerathon is finally here, with a review of Gamera the Brave! This 2006 reinvention of the iconic Kaiju sought to recapture the glory days of Gamera movies being heavily geared towards younger audiences. As such, it was directed by Ryuta Tazaki, known for his work on Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, and the live action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. This Gamera movie obviously is a lot more light-hearted, with intentionally over the top acting from the human characters with questionable motives... and is not praised very much by the legions of Gamera fans, especially those fond of the Heisei series. However.. just how good is it? Or.. isn't it?
Just a quick update on the status of the Patreon campaign, along with a lot of information as to exactly what it is/how it works and random thoughts as I am interrupted by a fuzzy black cat, that isn't Tara this time.
Check out Creepy's new channel, TLHCG, at the link above.
The lost episode from October 2013, finally available to the public due to various threats Creepy has made to Decker's safety! Here we take a look at Monkeybone, a film adaptation of Dark Town that went through one hell of a rewrite during production and somehow ended up starring Brendan Fraiser. Really?
The finale of Revenge of Gamerathon is finally here, with a review of Gamera the Brave! This 2006 reinvention of the iconic Kaiju sought to recapture the glory days of Gamera movies being heavily geared towards younger audiences. As such, it was directed by Ryuta Tazaki, known for his work on Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, and the live action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. This Gamera movie obviously is a lot more light-hearted, with intentionally over the top acting from the human characters with questionable motives... and is not praised very much by the legions of Gamera fans, especially those fond of the Heisei series. However.. just how good is it? Or.. isn't it? - clarification: In the credits, Gamera the Brave is listed as owned by Toho. It was actually owned and distributed by Kadokawa Pictures.
Hey, I got to see the 2014 Godzilla film after all! ...a tad late, but still.
Listen one and all, as I ramble on and on about how Gamerathon 3 is going, and what I intend to do about it.
Not the best way to start your day.
So I find myself at the mercy of YouTube's unpredictable nature? Well may as well dive in head first by tackling an Asylum movie as soon as possible! This week, I bring you Merlin and the War of the Dragons. Strangely though, this almost comes off as a semi decent movie, going by the cast. They're not all great, heck there's not even all good... but some performances stand out in ways you don't usually see in Asylum movies. Sadly, this does little to change the fact that at it's heart, this is still an asylum film.
It's truly ridiculous. Edit: I got in contact with the claimants, and they helped to lift the flag caused by me deleting the video in question. Very thankful they were so helpful!
What happens when one person wants to make an awesome movie about a Japanese series they love, but everyone else on the project wants to turn it into a generic kid's movie? Well.. THIS. Guyver! Starring Mark Hamill - they even have him on the DVD cover as if he himself is the Guyver! But he's not. Yay for deceptive marketing tactics...
Now that the recent slew of problems has passed, and E3 is upon us, why not cover the bases yet again in a much more upbeat fashion?
Proving that no matter how bad an idea, if someone in a suit thinks a character is absolutely necessary for a franchise, even killing them off isn't good enough to prevent them from insisting they be used. Thus, we got Alien Resurrection, where bringing the Xenomorph back from extinction honestly took a backseat to getting Mrs. Weaver to reprise her role as Ripley yet again. While this one didn't have quite the production hell to worry about that the third film did, that's not to say it went much smoother...
By inexplicable popular demand, the "remix" I threw together in a couple of minutes using a video editing program is now available by itself for your viewing pleasure!
The horror classic from the famous horror writer, Clive Barker's Hellraiser was the film adaptation of his own novella, The Hellbound Heart. Interestingly enough, there were still many differences between the book and the movie, even though he wrote and directed this too. It's enough to make you wonder.. how well does the film hold up today?
Movie studios are known for pumping out sequels, but it's still rare to see one that was greenlit well before the original made a profit as Hellraiser had yet to be released. Nevertheless, many of those details that Clive couldn't fit into the first movie spilled over into Hellbound: Hellraiser II. Unfortunately though, despite coming out only one year later, not all the actors returned to reprise their roles... So.. plans changed.
Through the magic of timing, there may be very good news about the upcoming Patreon goal, Gamerathon 3 in Japan...
In 1992, Hell would come.. to EARTH! Which gives two options. Los Angeles, or New York? More importantly.. how would it come together, as Miramax now held the rights to the franchise? Clive Barker had the least influence of any Hellraiser movie yet, and almost none of the previous characters are even mentioned in this one. That... makes me worry...
The fourth and final Hellraiser film to be shown in theaters, Bloodline looks like it might have sought to be a new trilogy, as it's story is much more ambitious than your usual 90 minute flick. However, if they did that, then we'd have to wait quite a while for our Pinhead, and we can't have that. Surely, having Pinhead appear in the first second is far more important than coherent storytelling, or even keeping studio meddling down far enough so the director DOESN'T walk off set in anger. Surely.
After the Hellraiser series left theaters, never to return.. Inferno would come out some years later, straight to video. However, it's hard to say what inspired this movie, as it feels nothing like a Hellraiser film. Instead, it's kind of a psychological horror murder mystery, and in fact, could easily work without Pinhead or any reference to Hellraiser at all. Probably because that's how it was originally written... they just slapped Pinhead in there and viola! 5th film! Oh dear...
Back before the days of Caller ID, one never knew if their next phone call... would be their last!
A mere three years after the live action Guyver movie disappointed the world, Guyver Dark Hero would be released. Not because the original was some kind of success that demanded a sequel, but the original brains behind the film really wanted to do a good job with it, and sought to right the wrongs this time around. For starters, the old cast is gone and replaced with brand new faces, even for returning characters. It really is a clean slate.. but then, was it really a better execution?
The second straight to video Hellraiser film, Hellseeker sought to... hell? Maybe! The original script was yet again not written as a Hellraiser movie, but they shoehorned Kirsty Cotton into this one, so... take the bad with the bad?
A quick update for everyone to let you know how Gamerathon 3 is going, funding wise. Also, I have a little tidbit of what you can expect from the monthly movie riff.
The seventh film in the Hellraiser franchise, which strangely due to odd distribution rights tends to get sold on it's own (while you can get a 4 pack of 4,5,6 and 8) Hellraiser Deader is the story about how someone tried to make a semi interesting psychological horror film with elements of Lovecraft, only to have the script picked up by Miramax and be turned into a Hellraiser movie no matter the cost. There's no stopping the rampage of the puzzle box now... it's Hellraiser: Deader.
After being drug through the mud for the last 3 films, the 8th film in the Hellraiser franchise sought to bury the series. At least, that's what it looks like in Hellraiser Hellworld, where 5 generic friends embark on a generic adventure towards a generic horror where generic terror awaits them. To top it all off... Lance Henrickson will be there.
Kamen Rider "The First" was certainly not the original of the 30ish year old series when it came out in 2005, but it was trying to represent the original continuity for a new audience. However, while the original series was aimed more at children, the new audience the studio seemed to be after included adults.. adults who seemingly don't care much for tokusatsu. They do however, love them some drama. Oh boy...
The final movie in the Hellraiser franchse (as of 2014) Hellraiser Revelations was... oh screw it. Dimension films needed to keep the rights to the series, and threw this together over a weekend for just that purpose. Infamously it has a different actor portray Pinhead, but it also is the first Hellraiser in YEARS to actually be written as a Hellraiser movie. How bad could it be? ...it's Revelations.
The Thank You Level 2 is done! Also, big projects coming up and a little rambling about Gamerathon 3 and a feeling of responsibility.
Deep in the jungles of miscellaneous Spanish-speaking country, an alien presence hunts and kills. That's pretty much the entire plot right there. Still, this film is a classic for many reasons.. three of the main cast ended up as politicians, the filming was delayed 8 months while the predator was extensively redesigned, and most interestingly... critics kind of thought the film was "meh" when it came out.
On a short ride, you may very well get your kicks. However, go too far and you'll end up on the drive... FROM HELL! Something like that anyway, as Route 666 shows us that when a horrible fate befalls criminals in the distant past, they aren't the most forgiving in the afterlife. So cars, guns and zombies! What more can you ask for? Some diazepam for the cameraman, perhaps...
When Jet Li tries to become The One, the only one that can stop him.. is Jet Li! Which kind of makes you think things are screwed to begin with, but don't worry! It's a movie with a multiverse aspect to it. What is The One you ask? Why.. didn't you see The Matrix? It's kind of like that, an all powerful ass kicker of CGI and wire enhanced kung fu goodness. What else is there to say? ...The soundtrack includes Drowning Pool and Papa Roach. Could say that.
An emergency video, ready in case the review isn't ready on time. Update: the review is completely edited, but while processing at home usually takes 40 minutes, this one is taking 5 hours. :(
Okay, going to stay up until midnight to watch the new... DAMN IT!
After Mothra VS Godzilla, we look at Godzilla VS Mothra. No, that's not the same thing! This is a totally different movie from the Heisei era of kaiju. As such, you have that interesting mix of 80s effects and puppets, plus 90s proto CGI and.... environmentalism. Oh... great.
Click the above link to check out the review Creepy and I gave of Rebirth of Mothra, on Manic Expression!
The second Rebirth of Mothra series review where we look at "The Undersea Battle." This battle takes place... um... it's a surprise! And we still have some very heavy-handed environmental messages in this kid's Kaiju film.. but look on the bright side, Belvera's wardrobe is even more insane.
How's the progress towards Gamerathon 3? What's the status of Plushie Pranksters? and.. where the hell did these views and subs come from over the last 5 days?!
Click the above link to check out the review of Rebirth of Mothra 3, on Creepy's YouTube Channel!
When you want to watch the Kaiju movie with the longest title, nothing beats Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack! Hailing from the Millennium era of Godzilla, this movie originally was supposed to have a much different cast of monsters... however... these were more recognizable. Does make you wonder how Baragon kept his part.
I take a minute to talk about Alien Isolation, and my extremely limited opinion of the game (as I have yet to play it.) Also, THINGS BURN!`
Click the above link to check out the review of Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. on Creepy's channel!
Godzilla VS Mothra month has come to this... Godzilla: Final Wars! The last Toho Godzilla film made to this day, it stands as quite possibly the largest kaiju movie ever made. Tons of monsters, world-spanning events, and... Godzilla JR? What the hell is that doing here?
How will Decker get back home? What's with the space warp? Wait a minute, this is a movie review show! On that note, let's ring in the new year (so to speak) with Devilman! The film adaptation of the Go Nagai manga, Devilman was... not... well received. But why is that?
Another "Naturesploitation" movie out of Nu Image Films, Nature Unleashed: Earthquake.. or.. Earthquake: Nature Unleashed, is a generic movie with a bit more shakey cam than usual. Of course, earthquakes are unpredictable and not an easily solved problem.. so.. they focused on an entirely different issue instead!
On occasion, I like to google myself to see what comes up. Usually it's all my own posts, but on rare instances I find others talking about me. Amazingly, it seems quite a few people on /tv/ had some things to say about myself, and That Long-Haired Creepy Guy. We take the time to address a few of those posts. :)
A quick update on Patreon, YouTube ad revenue, and Gamerathon 3 plans! Also, some incoherent screaming.
What's got more potential than an independent zombie movie with a budget of $60,000? Oh... crap... well anyway, this is Mulberry Street! A zombie movie about... well, crud, a synopsis doesn't really help. It's something you've just got to watch.
Decker, what does the dashboard say about his subscriber level? It's......
Die Hard = Viagra + jumping off a bridge back first! Why back first? Because at least then you die with a smile. :) Starring Bruce Willis as John McClaine, Die Hard was a smash hit in 1988, and spawned a series of sequels, even decades later. However, how does the original hold up today?
The Next Kamen Rider movie after The First, was Kamen Rider The Next! Well, at least it's easy to organize on a shelf. It's also NOT a drama! Wonder of wonders!
The biggest film of it's time, Jurassic Park sent Spielberg to new heights, brought Crichton back in vogue and sparked a worldwide obsession with inaccurate paleontology! The question does remain though.. has the film stood the test of time, or did it just scrape by in the first place thanks to it's flashy effects?
The sequel to the biggest dino flick ever made, The Lost World tried to up the ante by having MORE DINOSAURS THAN EVAH and even more, a T-Rex in San Diego! Of course, it also fell victim to... wait a minute... you mean it was the same writers and director responsible? ...how in the..?
The third and as of this posting, final released entry in the Jurassic Park series until they get around to releasing Jurassic World, Jurassic Park III had a spinosaurus. That's about as inventive as the thought processes behind this movie seemed to get. This is such a departure from the grand and complex storylines of the previous entries in the franchise, it is widely regarded as the worst Jurassic Park movie. However.. how is it as a movie itself?
Keeping up with everything, here's the latest update on the Gamerathon 3 fundraiser numbers. As that is far too boring to be the entire reason to make a video, I also get a few thoughts off my chest. Enjoy!
Just because Jurassic World isn't out yet, that doesn't mean I can't "enjoy" a movie desperately trying to be a Jurassic Park film. Who made this mockbuster? ..guess. Nevertheless, this is Age of Dinosaurs, a film about the dangers of science, the truth behind Dinosaur's Kevlar hides, and the importance of filling up at the pump.
So the last review of Dinocember is coming in just a few.... oh, son of a bitch! Well... here's a cat.
As it's been eons since my last Let's Play series.. which was Starbound, which nobody remembers.. and then there was Monkey Go Happy! which... I would rather forget.. but there was also AVP 2010! People seemed to be okay with that one! With that in mind, I bring you part 1 of Aliens: Colonial Marines! Yes, an hour is a damn long time for the video to play, but I was assuming I'd edit it down later. Forgot that while that was a very good idea with Starbound, it doesn't work as well on first person shooters. so.. just played the whole thing. Part 2 will be shorter. (has already been recorded, but I've finally got the files to edit for my review this week, and that will be done come hell or high water! Or both! Or neither!
The last review of Dinocember would happen to be.. The Last Dinosaur! Uploaded just in time to.. be... past December. Every time zone in fact. Well crud. Point is, this is a review of a film from 1977 that was a joint production between American and Japanese filmmakers. Sounds like the perfect "preparing for Japan" film to review and round off Dinocember!
I've fixed many a problem with my recording setup, and as a result have a comparatively smoother gameplay experience! Also I am much more visible, so you can watch me drool on my desk. And we shoot people in this episode! ..what?
Yes, I played for damn near 50 minutes and did not run into a single Xenomorph. Well, a dead facehugger, but that's it. Who needs Xenos for company though, when you can watch characters run through walls and other various clipping problems?
The shit has officially hit the fan. You can tell by the use of a dance number to call for evacuation. You might be wondering why Weyland-Yutani fired on the other ship to the point of it exploding if causing it to explode would destroy the very ship they were on as well.. you see, there's your problem. Don't think!
Holy crap! We're on LV-426! Hadley's Hope! So much Aliens geeking out to be done! Now if only something exciting would happen..
The "adventure" continues back into the sewers. And would you look at that? There's a new breed of alien waddling up to us... I will call him... Derpy!
How do you top what is arguably one the the smartest and perhaps even the best action movies of all time? Well you don't, so don't bother trying. Instead, make something like Die Hard 2, which is fully aware that it is a sequel to a movie that it cannot possibly beat, and is totally fine with that. That's not to say the movie isn't great itself, but... well.. I articulate myself a hell of a lot better on camera, it seems.
Oh my! The Xenomorph is ready to birth! That means Bella might just DIE! What shall happen now? Take a wild guess.
So we walk through more boring hallways. Oh, and the derelict spaceship! Now augmented with new, boring platforms and hallways. Forget all of that, we finally find out WHO IS THE MYSTERY MARINE? You know, like they told us as soon as we hit "play."
Picking up where we left off, we learn we didn't leave off where we actually were. Also, things don't actually have to hit you to still hit you.
Well, it's almost over and we do SO MUCH in this part.. run through more recycled levels, fight far more enemies of all kinds.. see the Queen Xenomorph and have a stand off! The thing I remember most fondly however, is that the framerate is still ass.
It all comes down to this.. even though a bunch of us made it on the ship, it is somehow just a battle between Winter and a Queen Xenomorph. Lucky for him, she can't access 40% of the arena and armor pickups respawn. Oh, and he doesn't even have to shoot her to death, just do a series of levers. That's exciting, right?
Let's try something off the wall today. A classic horror review! For this, we take a look at Motel Hell, a dark comedy with a twisted backstory about Rory Calhoun cookin' up some peculiar treats while maintaining a farm and running a motel. How many incomes does the son of a bitch need?
It's close to the deadline for Gamerathon 3 fundraising, and that means it's time to rattle off what has been accomplished thus far, and how far we've got to go. Also, who wants a T-Shirt?
Long time no see, Seagal. This week, we take a look at the final movie of a set produced by Warner Bros as a contract deal with Steven Seagal. As it did extremely poorly, they weren't too keen to sign him up for any more films after this. However, what is the quality of said movie?
I've done an awful lot of Japanese movie reviews with Creepy.. more often than not, Kaiju flicks. This is a very well known genre, and is often parodied.. but what happens when you have a kaiju themed mockumentary made in Japan? Well, Big Man Japan happens.
Next time you are frightened by a spider on the wall, just be glad you haven't found yourself on Klandathu. In this review of Starship Troopers, we take a look at the extreme political angles, deep subtext and meaning.. and promptly pay no mind to any of it cause it's just a goddamn sci-fi action flick.
The sequel to Starship Troopers, subtitled "Hero of the Federation" was a... the guys were trying to... there's... oh the hell with it. I can't even begin to imagine how in the hell this got greenlit.
The third and final live action Starship Troopers movie, Marauder sought to bring the series back from the dark, dark low budget hell of Hero of the Federation. How'd they do? Well.. they got 2 million more dollars and also went straight to DVD. However, they managed to prove why a low budget and DVD release are no excuse for poor visual quality! They also stand as a prime example of how to alienate 100% of your audience.
A whole lot have bad has happened in a very short span of time.I absolutely hate having to ask this of everyone, as you all have done so much for me already, but please hear me out and let me know what can be done.
In very short order, the trip to Japan got saved from the jaws of failure thanks to the actions of YOU great people! It may be premature to say everything is fine now, but as you have raised enough to cover what caused the crisis in the first place, I feel everyone deserves to know that the target was met.
This month's Japanese movie review is.. Fanservice Forces vs Spacetime Jigglies! Or.. Travelers: Dimension Police. Close enough, as this multidimensional crime mystery science fiction flick seems far more interested in covering every inch of the leading lady's shapely figure in quite a lot of detail. How much fanservice then, you ask? More than the Cutey Honey movie. Way more.
Missing in action, there is a concern as to what the current state of the Creepy one is. In hopes to alleviate some of the concern, I give you this small update video.
Eight Legged Freaks brings two things to my mind. One, the idea of normal bugs giant sized killing dozens of people is so simple.. yet seems to entertain me very much. Two, I wish someone would do this with more convincing special effects, because these bugs.. well.. in still images they're okay. I guess.. but in animation, if you don't nail the natural movement it just looks silly. Did I mention these talk like evil chipmunks?
With spring break approaching, and Cancun around the corner.. why not remind everyone about the massive fish with the jaws of death? No no, not from Jaws. That's a review for another day... today, we look at Deep Blue Sea, a tale of killer sharks but they get away with the fact that real sharks aren't so psycho because these are MUTANT sharks! Who knew genetic manipulation would turn sharks psycho like a slasher killer?
In Die Hard 3: Die Hard with a Vengeance, we see that officer John McClaine of the NYPD has actually left the LAPD and come back to the NYPD! ...but there's no explanation as to how. Screw it, Samuel L Jackson is in this film! Also explosions, and Scar.
Been a long time coming, with SO MUCH on the plate right now. Nevertheless, here's an update for all those donating via Patreon. Things I forgot to mention: The milestone goals we hit that meant I had to make bonus videos DO still apply. I still owe you all quite a few videos, and autographs. Hopefully once returning from Japan, that can be focused on and taken care of. I'll say this much: I'm not going to have any more big projects requiring huge funding before getting ALL those bonuses squared away.
Hey, it's the monthly reminder for the Patreon campaign to make Gamerathon 3! ...wait a minute, shouldn't I already be in Japan?
Trying to get everything going, working hard to get Gamerathon 3 recorded as well as this zany adventure I strangely am having in Japan. This means I can't edit videos before returning, but hopefully you won't mind accepting this as a tideover until I return to the states.
Just got back from Japan, and that means.. it's time to get back to work! As again the reviews are suffering a delay due to all this, I bring you.. me. Hopefully to explain how things are, and catch any who are available to ask questions.
So by now everyone knows I went to Japan, and brought a bunch of cameras with me. It's nice to show I did a little something other than just walk around with them in my bags and go home.
It's finally HERE! The first week's review of Gamerathon 3, Gamera VS Guiron! Watch in awe as Creepy and I tackle the classic Japanese film from Japan! ...in a hotel room. ...that we never leave... *cough* Well things could have gone better, but we've got a review to do, dangit!
The adventure through Japan continues! And continues.. and continues.. and continues.. please dear god somebody kill me... and it continues.
Another Gamera movie, another wildly designed monster for him to battle! Thus, we meet Jiger. Hailing from Wester Island but bent on destroying the Osaka World Expo '70 that has so many great things you should really check out, only Gamera can save the world...'s fair! But who can save Gamera? A couple kids. No surprises there...
As the journey through Japan continues, Creepy and I find ourselves getting quite familiar with nighttime activities across much of the country. Mainly the lack of said activities past 1am, but still.
Hey, it's May! Therefore it's time for May's reviews. Don't worry, Gamerathon 3 will be finished. I just want to make sure I won't be behind on videos. Nevertheless, this week's review is 2007's Live Free or Die Hard. Starring Bruce Willis as John McClain, this was the first entry in the series in quite a long time. In fact, Bruce is looking quite a bit older.. because.. well, he is. But that's not important. What is, is how good the movie may or may not be...
In a world where both of our monsters are totally underwater, Gamera VS Zigra does the unimaginable... alien kaiju doing battle at a heavily commercialized area! ..oh, wait. :| Yes, this is Gamera VS Zigra, brought to you by Seaworld.. pretty obviously. This also marks the last Gamera film in the Showa era.. that is, until Gamera Super Monster....
Review will be later than usual. So much so, I made a video about it! ...crap. Also, if you read dates as day/month/year, than this is a video... FROM THE FUTURE! wait.. does that mean I'll still have videos coming late, that far out? Shit, that's a raw deal.
Been a long time since a "how the heck did this get past the planning stages?" movie review, hasn't it? Fortunately, we can always look towards the sci-fi channel.. or.. syfy? whatever they're calling themselves these days. Nevertheless, this is Convict 762, the story of a group of space ladies who wind up finding out that the only men in the movie are psychotic killers. Whoops...
It's time to take a ride on the nightmare merry go round.. and that theme song will be stuck in my head for the next 40 years. Nevertheless, this week's review is Killer Klowns From Outer Space. It's a story about a town's awkward adjustment phase as it accommodates a new population of clown people with certain needs. They do this by dying.. a lot.
Damn that's a long video title. Anyhow, there were quite a few things I found out about Return of the Killer Klowns From Outer Space in 3D when I was researching the original, and there's quite a bit on my mind I'd like to let out. Thus, I made this video. And now we understand...
What do you do when you want to make a big Gamera movie but you have no budget to speak of? ...I suppose I should already know the answer to that, but you could also churn out Gamera Super Monster. Or the Japanese title, 宇宙怪獣ガメラ (Space Monster Gamera) where a Gamera doll does battle with a miniature star destroyer for 90 minutes, as a combination of stock footage and girls in tights running around playgrounds tries to distract us. I wish I was making any of that up.
Back in 1982, sometimes it still looked like 1973, and when that happened.. SERIAL KILLERS WERE ON THE LOOSE! As we see in this week's review, The New York Ripper. It's about a guy who goes around New York stabbing young women to death, whom the police refer to as "the ripper." Sound familiar? Well this guy quacks like a duck, which makes it totally different. Though that doesn't exactly help...
The final film in the Die Hard franchise, at least as of this writing but also pretty probable considering what the hell they did to it.. A Good Day to Die Hard gives us two times the McClaines, nuclear weapons, Russian politics, and somehow this can only fill out a 90 minute running time. That's a great sign, isn't it?
Back in 2009, someone finally thought to make a live action adaptation of Dragonball. By that of course, I mean make an action flick with special effects and slap the Dragonball name on it. Oh, it's got characters, and even some situations familiar in the series, but surely no one watching a Dragonball movie cares if it feels uniquely like Dragonball, do they? So how do you make it more accessible? Make it like any other movie ever. Think I'm exaggerating? Goku's in high school.
What do you do when you need a Jurassic Park mockbuster, but The Asylum hasn't been founded yet? Call the Cormans, of course! This brings us Carnosaur, a film adaptation of the novel Carnosaur, which is as much an adaptation of that as Dragonball Evolution was an adaptation of Dragonball. Still, as an original production, how does it stand up?
Quick update to let everyone know about a little bump in the road, and measures that can be done to help mitigate the potential "worst case scenario." Here's hoping things work out properly before such an event takes place.. but just in case.
Things are happening a tad faster than originally planned, but the point is I now have a sub-channel dedicated to gaming. This means I can do the Alien Isolation Let's Play without it hurting my algorithms like the Aliens Colonial Marines Let's Play did. In this kerfuffle, I'm also trying to figure out the optimal amount of time to spend per week on let's play videos, while still providing the same amount of movie reviews as always. (also small update, submitting a support ticket worked! It took a week, but my let's plays are now monetized. I no longer live in Afghanistan.. that's a relief.)
After Rocky, there was Rocky II. Then III, IV, yeah you know how it went.. however, Stallone was getting more work outside the Rocky franchise! It didn't exactly go too well for him, until he took the lead of the 1982 classic First Blood, as John Rambo. This film was successful enough that many think it caused all action movies henceforth to stick to the 90 minute runtime. Just putting this out there... it could also explain why every single action movie hero out there is named John, as well.
It's the 4th of July, and I'm in Texas. Could this have possibly gone any other way? In celebration of the independence of the United States of America, we do what we can to blow up our fair share of this country.
Due to this week being quite hectic, and the fact that I had put quite a lot extra on my plate recently, this week's review will be a little late. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Los Angeles is infested with crime, with a cult of murderers killing helpless women.. I mean, unconnected people with not distinct pattern... and only one man can stop them. He happens to be a super badass cop who is so good at his job, the entire police force hates him, The Cobra! Also, I don't mean to surprise you, but this is an 80s action movie. Never would have guessed, huh?
While the ending of First Blood was changed because test audiences didn't want to see the character they grew to love die, the sequel pretty much discarded that character anyway and gave us a balls-to-the-wall action extravaganza. Rambo: First Blood Part II sends John Rambo back to Vietnam, to rescue prisoners of war.. but along the way, he learns something about life. Mostly how to end it by blowing shit up.
Things being as behind as they are.. they're.. still behind. Blargh. Anyhow, while you wait, did you know that Creepy's been uploading videos of me playing The Lost Levels at his place?
The Summer of Sylvester Stallone continues with Assassins, a 1995 film about.. oh yeah. Well, it also stars Antonio Banderas as the character you will enjoy watching. Sadly, he's the "bad guy." It's almost like the filmmakers thought entertainment was to be avoided...
Admit it. If I didn't review this one during THE SUMMER OF SYLVESTER STALLONE you'd all track me down and judge me. The same year Assassins came out, we got another much more infamous Stallone flick.. that being this one, Judge Dredd. It was based on a comic, but.. well.. what happens when Hollywood gets their hands on any established intellectual property? Make the same movie they've made 5000 times before, but with the skin of the new IP. Does it matter that it breaks just about every character? I'll be the judge of that.
What means Expendable? Get a bunch of action movie stars from the local retirement home and blow shit up! The Expendables sought to rekindle the spirit of the classic action movie blockbusters, by using the same ingredients to make them. Of course, some critics didn't think it worked. Or it did? I dunno, most of em complained that Stallone made an action movie.
In Rambo III, the Vietnam veteran throws the jungles to the wayside in order to go to Afghanistan and fight the REAL threat... Russians! Yeah, this is definitely a movie from 1988... but on the plus side, we get a change of scenery. Though now I kinda wish the 4th movie took place in the arctic...
I apologize for the delays, but hope you enjoy the cartoon.
A much more recent example of Stallone's work from 2012, Bullet to the Head has him star as Jumpin' Jimmy Bobo. Or.. just Jimmy Bobo? Jimm... bobonobona... aaah! He's a criminal who must team up with a cop to take out criminals who are conspiring to help people. Which is bad. Because conspiracy.
Continuing the Summer of Sylvester Stallone, it's time we look at The Expendables 2. After the first did surprisingly well, many actors jumped at the chance to be featured in the second.. specifically one who turned down his role in the first, Jean Claude Van Damme. It's a sequel, so it's bigger.. but is it better?
This particular review has been a major request ever since The Summer of Sylvester Stallone was announced. It would seem that is for good reason, as it pairs Stallone with Kurt Russel in a classic 80s police action movie. Is it deep, emotional and life changing? No.. but it just may be popcorn entertainment at it's finest.
Geez, it feels like it's been YEARS since my last Top 10 list... oh, wait. Point is, this time we're looking at the epic hero of awesomeness responsible for some of the most deaths per minute on film! It wasn't easy picking the best 10.. so I disqualified most of them for arbitrary reasons. Enjoy!
The Summer of Sylvester Stallone comes to an end in an epic battle of.. okay, it's another sequel. But it the latest movie in the Expendables franchise, so that has to count for something! This time around, Barney Ross has to take out a former member of his own team, and he feels the best way to do this is by throwing out his entire team. The f#ck?
Leaving the summer behind, we hit the hot asphalt with David Carradine in Death Race 2000. A classic Corman production, the movie was Carradine's first work past Kung Fu. It was also the first offer he got after said series, which he jumped on due to fears about being "the kung fu guy" and fading into obscurity. Oh yeah.. the movie.. what about that? Well, you did watch the video, right?
Many many thanks for all the continued support via Patreon. While the general understanding many have is that the money intended to improve a show or keep it going doesn't do that whatsoever with examples x and y, I wanted to let everyone know that indeed the funds have gone towards something that will help give the show a more professional look. Even better, I'll look uglier than ever before! Frizzy hair, grey hair, bad teeth.. all in glorious 4k with a high quality 1 inch sensor! WOOT!
Video games and horror.. it's almost like peanut butter and jelly.. THAT KILLS YOU. Or, that might make a better movie as I'm still searching for the "killer video game" horror flick that holds up today. Brainscan takes a stab at the genre, with a heavy influence from the 90s fear of ultraviolent entertainment leading directly to murder.
Possibly the best known monster movie of the 1990s, Tremors harkens back to the classic monster movie formula from the studio responsible for so many classic monster movies.. Universal. Sure, their robot hit this with a copyright claim before I even got a chance to finish writing the description, but let's not hold that against them. The important thing is we have giant killer worms burrowing underground, death.. destruction.. and Kevin Bacon!
After the success of Tremors on home video, it should come as no surprise that it spawned a direct-to-video sequel. Tremors 2: Aftershocks released 6 years after the first, and quite a lot is different this time around. Not only are very few of the original cast present, but the creatures have fled south of the border... and a new beast has appeared! In fact things get so new, it is at times hard to see this as a sequel to Tremors...
Computer stores hate him! Learn this one weird trick to produce highly edited 4k content on old hardware! You won't believe what happens next!
As Tremors 1 and 2 ruled the home video market of the 90s, it should come as no surprise that Tremors 3 would be greenlit. It may be surprising that it took them so long to do it, waiting until 2001 to get the movie made.. but hey, it was also a way to set up a Tremors TV series. The series that didn't come out until 2003. Eh.. you know, the more I try to explain the movie the more confusing it gets..
In 2004, one year after the Tremors TV series came and went and only 3 years since Tremors 3, a new entry in the film franchise came out! However, we can't have it be too much like the others, that wouldn't do well at all to bring in the monies. So what to do? Simple, set it in the same place as the first with characters very much like those found in the first, but this time IT'S A WESTERN! Didn't see that coming, did ya?
The final movie in the franchise.. at least so far, brings back MICHAEL GROSS AS BURT GUMMER! Which is enough to score one bonus star already in my book. But this is the first Tremors movie since 4 in 2004, so they had to bring everyone back up to speed, capitalize on nostalgia and do something completely different. They accomplish this by doing EVERYTHING! Seriously, this has more actors/characters than the TV Series pilot Tremors 3.
The 4th entry in the Starship Troopers series released in 2012, Invasion is a computer animated movie produced in Japan. As such the direction is quite a bit different than any film in the series, but considering how the last 2 entries went perhaps a drastic departure is exactly what we needed. There really is no question it is certainly better than the 2nd or 3rd, I'm not spoiling anything here.. but how exactly does it stack up on it's own?
The Dungeons and Dragons movie disappointed the world in 2000, and Wrath of the Dragon God left everyone to believe that while a D&D movie may be a fun idea, it will never be "good" in 2005, it took until 2012 for the third attempt at a motion picture about a legendary adventure taking place in the world of the legendary game. Legendary. Legends. Thing is, this time around they mix it up even more. Instead of following the Hollywood adventure of Marlon Wayans, or the game session translated to film of the 2nd movie, we get a game session translated to film from an EVIL campaign. That does mix things up quite a bit, as the best of roleplayers constantly kill each other before completing their adventures in said games.
Happy Thanksgiving, one and all! To celebrate, let's dig into the true meaning of the day. No, not family and friends. No, not being thankful for this that or the other. Offensive stereotypes and horrible killing set to cheerful musical numbers! For this, we turn to Troma and their film Poultrygeist. Though not a "thanksgiving" movie officially, it's got more to do with the day than certain horror films with a thanksgiving theme. And boobs. Lots and lots of boobs... and gore. And poop!
As the Carnosaur series continued to be pumped out by Roger Corman, Carnosaur 3 was the first of them to be released direct to video. Unbelievably enough, this does actually mean the special effects quality is even lower than last time and the writing takes a hit as well. Or maybe is better cause they didn't just take another movie's plot and add dinosaurs?
Deep in the heart of the Congo hides the elusive creature, Mokele-Mbembe. To prove it's existence, a team of British Cryptozoologists embark on a quest to find and record proof it is real. Oh, and they think it's a plesiosaur. And they think that's a dinosaur. They're doomed.
You know, normally I make a title card for these things that shows the dinosaurs in the movie. Thing is, I go for the ones actually made for the movie, and this one didn't have any. Oh there were dinosaurs, but every single one of them is stock footage. So this is how far we've gone....
This week, we look at a world that is still stuck in the Jurassic.. in Planet of Dinosaurs! This take on "astronauts f#ck something up and wind up in deep shit" sends a small group to a planet full of dinosaurs. I may be repeating myself, but that really is the whole plot right there.
You weren't really worried that Dinocember 2 was going to pass without this particular film being tackled, were you? Jurassic World was such a major event in film, being the first Jurassic Park movie released in over a decade, it quickly became the top movie of the year (luckily released before The Force Awakens) and it's looming release inspired the original Dinocember. But I'm not here to gawk over how grand a project it was, my job is to pick it apart scene by scene and find everything I can to complain about. Then decide if I like it despite that. :D
I'm going to talk about the movie now. I'm definitely not going to sidetrack to yell and scream about YouTube's uploading having quite the streak of failures resulting in the lateness of this particular video. No, no no. Besides, I'm sure many would assume I'm just making excuses for being lazy. ANYWAY! Rocky II follows the original, where Rocky must get in the SECOND biggest fight of his life.. this time, with Apollo Creed! Again! But bigger, because now they're even more pissed off.
Well, this has been on the to-do list for a while. Considering the recent television series, now seems as good a time as any to finally get around to reviewing The Evil Dead. Though, there's not all that much to say really. It's an extremely simple film with a very low budget from then independent filmmaker Sam Raimi. Then again, it took the home video market by storm upon release, so perhaps there is more to it than it seems?
Diving back into the kaiju genre, and slightly breaking up my Evil Dead reviews, we have for examination this week Godzilla vs DESTOROYAH! The final movie in the Heisei series of Godzilla films, Godzilla vs DESTOROYAH pits the monster against a creature birthed from the only substance to ever kill Godzilla... the oxygen destroyer!
While The Evil Dead managed to charm audiences with it's simple yet entertaining production, Evil Dead 2 was Raimi's shot at showing what he could do with some real money. As in, what he could do that people might watch. A lot of the points of the first movie are gone over again, but this time the direction is more in line with horror comedy. Or perhaps at times, even just straight up action with gore. In any case, for being a sequel that goes over a lot of the same points and scenes as the first it couldn't be more different in feel.
As YouTube has screwed with not only Channel Awesome, but many bigger channels very recently, there is a lot of people speaking up about how bad the system is. Unfortunately, I haven't heard too many musing on the topic of potential solutions. I hope to change that.
After Rocky Again: Extra Victory Edition, Rocky III had a somewhat more varied story to tell. At this point in his life, Balboa isn't scraping at the bottom struggling to get by and needing to fight just for a chance. He had his chance, won, and is kicking ass at life. Unfortunately, Mr T has come to star as Clubber Lang and kick his life's ass.
I have been doing a lot of thinking on the topic of creator rights, and a creator's bill of rights. While having the finished bill to present would be impressive, I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about how to word thing to even pretend I could get that right. (innocent until proven guilty is a problem, herp derp) However, perhaps even more important than figuring out how to word such a proposal properly is being able to present it with a reasonable chance that it might actually work. That part, I think is where a lot of people might lose their enthusiasm. However, I believe it is well within the realm of possibility. So early on, it's not easy to tell how everything will pan out but the opportunity is definitely there. It all depends on if we do what we need to pull this off.
You really can't talk about Evil Dead without someone bringing up Army of Darkness. That makes sense, as it is part of the series but it was named so differently to differentiate itself from the previous entries. Though I suppose it could have got away with calling itself "The Evil Deadites" and it would have been just as different. Ash goes back in time to fight the evil dead, and try to get back to his own time... and Sam Raimi is still directing, so Bruce Campbell is in for some sh!t.
One of the biggest summer movies of the 90s, Independence Day (ID4) managed to wow audiences with honestly old-fashioned special effects done extremely well. There is CGI in the movie, but it's used very sparingly. Shields and stuff, all the ships are actually miniature models. Seriously.
The recent upset over YouTube's policies regarding creators being presumed guilty until proven innocent hasn't died down, which is good. However, I am worried that by focusing specifically on spreading public outrage, the best change we can hope for would only be a temporary solution that would not serve to fix the underlying problems. I don't seek to control the conversation, but I hope to at least be able to discuss my point of view with a few of the bigger voices out there to express my concerns.
The last movie of the Evil Dead franchise as of this review, is the first movie of the Evil Dead timeline, re-imagined for a new era! That era consisting of people who have no idea what The Evil Dead is, and bounce between being terrified of creepy girls in the woods and math problems. It's certainly a unique take on the tale, but.. holy sh!t indeed.
I was hoping to have a bigger, better video up today but life being what it is, things have gotten in the way. As such this video was actually recorded a few weeks ago, but I didn't get it up until now because life being what it is, things got in the way. Oh well, the point is there's a few updates that aren't mentioned in the video. The little girl has gone to her new home now. Her name is Tinkerbell, and the woman who received her on Valentine's day is in love with the fuzzy thing. Two-Tone will be going to his new home soon, and has also earned the nickname Edmund around here for his skill at climbing up my jeans and shirt in pursuit of a ham sandwich. Orange Boy is staying with us, and as such as a more proper name. He is now known as "Koban" after the fact that the kittens' mother had the colors and pattern commonly associated with the Japanese fortune cat. Said cat is depicted with a coin, "Koban" is Japanese for coin, the little orange cat was her coin.. you get the idea. Also, Koban is by far the biggest cat of the bunch. By the size of his paws, he's got a way to go too...
For years, Science Fiction has depicted the future as bright and wise. Or horribly dark, yet still overall smart. Very rarely do you find stories that explore the idea of people getting dumber as time goes on, and in Idiocracy we see what such a concept looks like when explored by the creator of Beavis and Butthead, Mike Judge. Also, creator of King of the Hill... on the DVD it just says creator of Office Space as that was his latest big movie at the time. Unfortunately Fox didn't seem to think he knew what he was doing, and trusted the test audience's negative reactions to the film too much releasing it late with very little fanfare. On the plus side, that does explain why the movie is set in 2005, then 2505, yet "came out" in 2006.
The Cold War is a pretty interesting point in history. Absolutely everyone was convinced that America and Russia would start bombing each other any moment, and while Russia was busy training it's youth how to maintain and operate heavy armor America prioritized duck and cover techniques. On the plus side, Hollywood never let up on casting Russia as the bad guy in the 80s, and there's just something nostalgic about the big bad Soviet Union coming to f#ck up some sh!t. Also, this is a Rocky movie. Yup.
While Fury Road tore through theaters as recently as 2015, the original Mad Max hearkens back all the way to 1979. It also was made for a measly budget of $300,000 which had more buying power in 79, but still very distinctly categorizes this film as low budget. That's no problem though, everyone knows it's legacy and everything, so it's gotta be good, right? ...right?
Released a mere 2 years after the original, Mad Max 2 completely changed the image of the franchise and set the standard for sequels to come. It also obviously was a heavy influence in the Fallout franchise, thanks to the huge budget and market penetration it had. Quite a mark was left on the world with this movie.. but how does it stack up today?
The third installment of the Mad Max series, Beyond Thunderdome brings with it yet again sweeping changes to the setting. Not just that evidently the previous post apocalyptic place was perhaps not post apocalyptic enough, but in the new super post apocalyptic setting things are looking up. Society is rebuilding, there is law in the land, an oasis of green with fresh water exists.. and it's all done with a PG-13 rating. Oh boy...
The latest Mad Max movie upon us, Fury Road, finally came out in 2015. While there's plenty of things littering the internet already going over the politics and the character depictions and all that stuff... I.. personally am more interested in what the actual movie as about. Also, I feel kinda silly for buying the movie now and paying Warner Bros for the privilege, considering they just smacked this review with a claim while I was editing this text box and now I ain't even getting paid on this till the dispute is settled. Cause I really needed something else to rant about, eh? UPDATE: Actually got released in less than 24 hours. As I say, if I can b!tch and moan when things don't go my way, the least I can do is acknowledge when things go better for me than that.
The 5th, and for years final movie in the Rocky Franchise, Rocky V was the big send-off for the character. For that reason, the film sought to bring the character back to his roots, and finalize that he is never going to fight again. It does this in the most haphazard, cruel manners it really is quite remarkable.
Horror movies are usually targeted at a teen to early adult demographic. With this in mind, studios will often incorporate things that are seen as popular in that demographic, even if they have no idea what in the hell they are. In 2006, it was finally figured out the average "gamer" was indeed older than 12, and was in fact the late teens early 20s demographic. With this in mind, we got Stay Alive.. and... sweet holy f#ck. That's it, really. Sweet, holy f#ck.
This past week, the channel finally reached 25,000 subscribers. Okay, as of writing this paragraph it's at 25,261... but while I generally let the milestones pass without much fanfare outside of a tweet or facebook post, I felt like this was reason enough to turn the camera on. Koban on the other hand, thought it was a great excuse to climb me and purr constantly.
I missed the 4/20 special last year, so better make up for that! So let's have a look at the movie credited for creating the "Stoner Comedy" genre: Cheech & Chong's "Up in Smoke." It's the story of two comedians that got popular enough, they were able to toss a bunch of material together and call it a movie. What, you want the plot of the movie? Don't look at me...
It's a B movie, about wasps! ..close enough. Stung is your basic monster movie, where a specific series of events unleashes upon the world monsters! Monsters that happen to just be normal everyday creatures, but giant in size! It also unsurprisingly is a low budget film not made in Hollywood, but Germany.
Very sorry, but my hard drive has crashed. My episodes and work are fine, but the os is toast as well as my ability to edit or ruin all those lovely programs I've got tied to this motherboard. I don't have an estimate for how long this will be, but I'll try to fix it asap.
I'm down, but I'm not out! Thanks to Nekotwins, I was able to finish this review on her computer. This review being Rocky Balboa, the sixth and final movie in the "Rocky" franchise. Oh, I'm aware of Creed, but technically that's a "Spin-off series." Nevertheless, Rocky Balboa sought to do what Rocky V failed to. That being, bring Rocky's story to a close in a way that actually feels like a Rocky movie. Geez, how many times did I say Rocky in that paragraph?
Recently I was asked what my favorite remake was on Twitter. I never answered this question, but it got me thinking about some of the better examples out there of studios taking a pre-existing story and recreating it for a new era of cinema. To that end, I present to you David Cronenberg's "The Fly." A remake of a classic science gone wrong story from the 50s, The Fly spices things up for the 80s with genetics and amazing effects. How well does it represent the source material though, and more importantly does that matter?
As the 1986 film was so successful, plus the original had multiple sequels anyway, it shouldn't surprise anyone that a sequel was thrown together for the new imagining. However, "thrown together" may be a little more apt than one would like, considering how up in the air so much of the story was during pre production and the fact that despite being a direct chronological sequel the two films could hardly be any more different.
The biggest badassed badass is back! But before being back, dat boi was back again. The second shot America had at making a Godzilla movie that wasn't just a re-edit of a real Godzilla movie, "Godzilla" which we always just call Godzilla 2014 was produced by Legendary Pictures in.. well.. 2014. People were concerned obviously, after Tristar's Godzilla in 1998 almost destroyed the Kaiju's reputation in the states completely. However, the two movies are vastly different from one another... not to say that people didn't still find things to complain about.
Many things made last month really hard, and I knew this review would be cutting it close from the start. However, it turns out the internet around here is now so shitty, there's no way the thing will be uploaded on time. Hell, I don't even know if it will finish by tomorrow.
Rocky Balboa was supposed to be "The Last Rocky Movie." Then again, so was Rocky V, Rocky II and Rocky, so screw it let's make another. Except it's not another Rocky movie, no no no this is a new series entirely, Creed, starring Michael B Jordan as the son of the deceased former heavyweight champion of the world. Of course this means no one thinks he has what it takes, but a big name might just hand pick him for a match everyone is sure he will lose but it's a chance to prove to the world he has a true fighter's spirit! ...wait, where have I heard this before?
While the events leading up to Death Race 2000 didn't quite go according to the initial prediction, that didn't stop Paul W.S. Anderson from taking the IP and revamping it for the 2000s! This gives us Death Race! Not 2000, nor the release year 2008, nor the year it's set in.. which it's not very clear about, but would have to be at least 2013 if not later. Except it's a prequel to Death Race 2000. Fuck it, blame Paul, he said it.
Took me long enough, eh? Dawn of the Planet of the Apes follows the newest reboot of the Planet of the Apes series, started with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Sure, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes only had one movie to the series, but it still counts as a separate reboot. Either way, Dawn follows a story similar to what we saw in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which is interesting.. if they keep going this way, the next movie'll take place 2000 years in the future. I mean, I doubt that's what'll happen but I can dream.
Nothing says summer like summer camp! And nothing says summer camp like camp counselors being horribly murdered one after the other. Nothing says that quite like Friday the 13th, and nothing says Friday the 13th like... um... I think this description has run it's course.
20 years after one of the biggest sci-fi summer blockbusters ever made, we have finally been graced with a sequel. Of course considering the massive shadow cast by the predecessor (both figuratively and literally) is there any hope that the new film can even attain that level of awesome, even with all those new fangled CGI effects?
The Summer of Freddy vs Jason won't work without Freddy, obviously.. so let's jump right into A Nightmare on Elm Street and introduce the guy! Freddy Kruger is notable as while he had a mundane origin similar to Jason before going supernatural, our introduction to the guy is very much post supernatural transformation. He's a snarky serial killer who torments children in their dreams, toying with them while performing vertical unanesthetized street surgery. Of course like Jason, it took a couple movies to really hammer him down...
While the original Friday the 13th was a barely-released low budget flick with a definitively conclusive ending, that can't stop the hollywood sequel machine from kicking into high gear in record time! Introducing Jason as the killer, this particular entry in the series isn't actually seen as a high point despite paving the way for the iconic villain. Mainly because they way they did it was incredibly stupid, even for horror movie standards.
Damn, these titles are getting long... The point is, the summer special continues with A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge! This time we follow the misadventures of Jessie Walsh, a kid who recently moved to Elm Street and into the former home of Nancy Thompson! Bombarded with nightmares about Freddy Kruger, this doesn't kill him but everyone around him. Seems all the rules changed in between movies..
After proving the story didn't have to make complete sense as long as the movie was entertaining, the idea of a 3rd Friday the 13th movie wasn't out of the question. However, it needed something special to make it worth filming... so it was made in 3D! That's all. There wasn't much else they thought up before filming started, so prepare to have your eyes gouged out.
After New Line Cinema ensured they would be solvent for some time with A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, they did actually take the time to make the third installment more than just a simple cash grab. For one thing, they spent a couple years working on it, and more importantly got Wes Craven back on as writer and producer. The result? Something that cranked the concept up to 11.
When you used up your best idea to extend the franchise two movies ago and need something to grab people's attention it's time to threaten the world with ending a series! Be it by saying the main character might die, or by simply doing what Paramount did and claiming the series would be ending while at the same time continuing to plan for sequels.
Dream Warriors brought Wes Craven back to the series and showed that A Nightmare on Elm Street could be awesome even well into sequel land. The Dream Master though, was made in one year and without the help of Wes Craven. Oh well, it still follows the story where Dream Warriors left off and has many things within it worth praising.. though that's not to say it's a flawless production.
Much like the Halloween franchise tried to shake things up by stepping away from Michael Meyers, Friday the 13th took on a new direction in part 5 when the filmmakers opted to take the series past the increasingly ridiculous Jason Voorhees plot. While this didn't last any longer than this one movie, it still makes for a unique entry in the series worthy of critique.
As the sequels went on, the areas Freddy could influence only increased. With that, The Dream Child focused on his ability to take over the unborn and influence them for his nefarious plots of teen murder! It also was made fast enough to come out less than a year after the previous one, sooo...
Sick of Tommy stealing Jason's thunder? Well too bad, he's still in this one. The good new is said thunder has brought Jason back from the dead, to wreak havoc on teenagers, camp counselors, police officers and pretty much anyone else milling about his woods without adequate plot armor.
After 5 movies of varying quality, it seems New Line Cinema felt it was time to put the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series to rest. Or they got filled up with a bunch of people who just didn't like the series, as the only movie this entry has any connection to is the first. Like, a little bit.
The Friday the 13th series just keeps on going, but when your series goes on this long weird things start happening. An undead superhuman killer slowly transforms to be more undead and more superhuman over time, while the filmmakers try to figure out new ways to spin the formula. So we have Jason battling another supernatural person! No, no not that one.
Wes Craven was brought in by New Line Cinema to revitalize the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. After looking over the series so far, he concluded it was ridiculous, impossible to follow and Freddy wasn't scary anymore. Thus, he fleshed out the idea he had originally intended for the 3rd Nightmare on Elm Street movie, setting the film in the real world with movie-to-reality plot threads and a redesigned Freddy. As a kid, I found it ridiculous and impossible to follow. Now, however...
The last Friday the 13th movie to be made under Paramount, and coincidentally the last one to be made with the words "Friday the 13th" in the title, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a cheerful tale of two teens in love being pursued by a deranged psychopath. But if you take Jason Voorhees away, they just spend some time in New York! While there, they get mugged, kidnapped, yelled at, and... hm.. you know, even without Jason, New York isn't looking too friendly here.
After Jason Takes Manhattan was a box office embarrassment for Paramount, it was decided they should sell off the Friday the 13th franchise to whoever is willing to pay. Turns out New Line Cinema was first in line to pick it up, and the best way they could think to show the world how much they respected the franchise was to kill Jason off immediately. Brilliant.
While Freddy vs Jason was in a hurry getting delayed severely at New Line Cinema, they decided to keep the franchise relevant by throwing a new entry together in a hurry. Not wanting to mess with the timeline, they set it way in the future. They still screw up the timeline pretty bad regardless, even within the movie's events, but that's not what most people shake their heads at here. Seriously, it's Jason in space. Spaceon.
Before we jump into Freddy vs Jason, it might be a good idea to take on the remakes. Yes, that means reviewing the movies even more out of order than before.. but it's either that or building up to a finale on The Summer of Freddy Versus Jason that isn't Freddy vs Jason. That confuses me.
Before remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street, New Line Cinema actually got a remake of Friday the 13th sent to theaters. This is more impressive, when you consider they actually needed the permission of Paramount to pull this off, due to some remaining red tape. Also, I forget to mention it in the review but Jason Voorhees is played by Derek Mears, and he's not bad.
The grand finale of THE SUMMER OF FREDDY VS JASON is finally here, and yes it's still technically Summer. Trust me on this one. The point is, after so many false starts Freddy vs Jason finally became a thing in 2003. It's a movie about Freddy Kruger fighting Jason Voorhees, who'da thought? Problem is, there's those dang teenagers getting in the way...
What better way to ease into reviews that aren't Freddy or Jason movies than to look at a film that's a homage to the slasher legends of the 80s? To that end, this week's review is Hatchet, a story about a deformed killer in the swamps named Victor Crowly and the incredibly stupid teenagers that "fight back" in ways that look like they don't wanna hurt him too badly.
A movie I first learned about while researching Alien Resurrection and reading Joss Whedon say "I never wrote anything in the script about them fighting a big Pumpkinhead looking monster." - Pumpkinhead is the directorial debut of Stan Winston, and indeed the Newborn Xenomorph bears a striking resemblance to the titular monster, Pumpkinhead. With the tail and the curve of Pumpkinhead's chin, it could be surmised it's design was partially inspired by the Xeno, but that's neither here nor there. It's a movie about teens dying! AMAZING!
Got a head cold a few days ago, and it's been getting in the way of work... I'm working on getting the review ready asap, but in the meantime here's a little update on things going on. Here's hoping I can get everything back on schedule soon.
The long awaited review (cause I'm really late this week) of Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is here! I hope you weren't hoping for a masterpiece of a movie to follow up the impressive but flawed initial entry... oh dear god will this week be disappointing if you did.
Things haven't exactly gone any smoother, but I took the opportunity to sit down and read the comments on the last "oh crap not ready" video. Then I ran into trouble cause there's an absolute ton of them, plus me saying I was sick resulted in most of them being "get well soon." Live and learn?
How do you follow up a theatrical cult hit and a straight to video.. uh.. thing? Well, why not get SyFy to slap together some made for TV tripe, and pump out today's picture: Pumpkinhead Ashes to Ashes. On the one hand, it actually acknowledges the events of the first movie and has a couple good actors in it. On the other, it's somehow less coherent than the second and more disrespectful to the source material.
There are quite a few similarities between Pumpkinhead 3 and 4. For starters, the Pumpkinhead suit is the same one between the two movies, and they were both made for TV movies for SyFy. Other than that though, the stories manage to be pretty different from one another... except for recurring characters and constantly dragging Lance back on the set no matter what problems it causes with the series continuity, but nevermind that.
The king-daddy of science fiction media today.. sort of like Fallout 4 is the lord of post-apocalyptic RPGs, Star Wars needs no introduction. Thus, I'll just use this blurb to point out that until the early 80s, the film was just called "Star Wars" as "Episode IV: A New Hope" wasn't tacked onto it just yet. That was but the first of the mountain of modifications the movie took on over the years.
While the Judge Dredd movie from 1995 may have gone down in movie history as one of the most spectacular bombs of the last few decades, the source material was rich enough and the fans loud enough that another movie based on the universe was made.. Dredd. They aimed to stick a lot closer to the source material this time around, but there was a problem with this plan. Namely, the studios weren't willing to blow nearly as high a budget on another movie based on the Judge Dredd comics, so fantastical technology, hovercraft and robots went right out the window, as well as most of the other fantastic designs.
The reboot of Death Race did so good, where do you go from there? Well if you like money you make a sequel! Except Jensen Ames is free and Jason Statham is expensive.. so you make a prequel, without said character! Just get another grizzled bald guy, no one'll tell the difference.
Happy Thanksgiving, one and all! For those from outside the US of A, here's a primer on what Thanksgiving is all about. Eating, while cosplaying as settlers and natives. With that in mind, we're taking a look at ThanksKilling - a slightly different take where one also cosplays as the food, and kills the people instead! A movie that might have been made for less money than your gaming PC.
A Twitter poll has been created to figure this out.. but what will come of it?
The latest in the Death Race franchise, Death Race 3: Inferno mixes up the series that already mixed things up severely compared to the original. Some of these new additions make it similar to Death Race 2000, other "new features" make it similar to Death Race 2. I'm wondering what these people thought the definition of "new" was...
In keeping with the theme of 1 Star Wars review a month until I can make it through the whole series... it's time for the one that I must admit, several of you saw coming. The made for TV special that has a cult following in much the same way that Manos: Hands of Fate has a cult following... Like hairy family members? Constant screaming? Random disjointed whatever? Well... this special may still make you reassess you life decisions.
Although Dinocember 2016 is... not a thing, that doesn't mean dinosaurs in December is a no go! Therefore, today's review is KILLER\SAURUS! A happy tale about a small group of people who have high aspirations, but lack skill in the areas their occupation requires.. so they make a movie about bringing dinosaurs back from extinction.
Way before R rated horror movies started self-censoring to achieve a PG-13 rating and attain a wider audience, the PG-13 rating didn't exist. Still, there were horror movies made with the intention of pushing the PG rating as far as it could go.. and to that end, we have Gremlins. A Spielberg production directed by Joe Dante, Gremlins is about cute and fuzzy little balls of death, pain and terror. Wholesome family entertainment!
It's new year's, horror, science fiction, and even fits into Dinocember! What could go wrong? Well... there's that whole found footage problem, that's about as much of an issue as dating someone with a cannibalism problem.
While reviewing the Holiday Special was fun, I don't think it would make sense to postpone this one further by delving into SNL skits for 20 minutes... So let's take a look at Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! Which it seems likely a hell of a lot of people are going to be doing, due to recent circumstances...
You'd think six years is enough time to come up with a big, spectacular follow up to one of the biggest surprise hits of the 80s. Well, after racking their brains the guys at WB collectively decided "do it in New York!" was the best option, giving us Gremlins 2: The New Batch. I's flashy, it's visually impressive, and it's got Gremlins jokes galore... but does it live up to the original?
Considering in my last "top kills" video, I lamented the character in question not being in Mortal Kombat... it would make sense that this top kills video focuses on a character who in fact, has been added to Mortal Kombat. (and out-gores the standard cast on a regular basis) Jason Voorhees! Of course, his body count is so massive a top 10 list just can't cut it. Top 13 can't either, we need like a top 50 but I don't got that kinda time.
Sometimes you just want to kick back, and enjoy a simple movie about giant monsters crushing cities as they fight. Then somehow, you end up in a convoluted tale about world war 2, time travel and economic terrorism. Only in Japan...
While H.R. Giger's work in film may be known by most as simply "the guy who made the alien from Alien" he's done art for several other features. Notably, the new species from Species. Of course, a movie doesn't come down to simply how nifty the creatures in it look... so does the rest of the film do the man's legacy justice?
Just because the 2nd movie ended with Luke doing exactly what Yoda and Obi Wan told him would mean he could never become a jedi, that's no reason for him to not become a jedi. Thus, it's the return of the jedi! Later, as even though he's calling himself a jedi early on they still say he isn't one yet. It's a bit confusing...
You know what I love? Horror. You know what the masses love? Comedy! You know what comes up a lot in the horror genre? Horror comedy! The problem comes when you watch it, and find out it's just a comedy with blood in it. However, sometimes you find a movie out there that actually does the horror right.. a dark comedy that is truly dark. The Voices is one of those movies.
A cult classic from 1974, Phantom of the Paradise is a modern take on Phantom of the Opera. By modern of course, I mean 70s modern and holy hell is this ever a period piece. Next to nothing looks like it could happen at just any point in history, it all screams mid 70s. Nevertheless, this film written and directed by Brian De Palma did rather poorly when initially released.. Is there a big overarching reason for that? No, seriously I want to know I'm confused about this.
Be it the weather, my brain, or some combination of the two things are taking a bit longer this week I'm afraid. On the plus side, the channel just hit 49k subscribers and.. um.. other things. I really am not good at thinking right now. At least I think I'm not good at thinking.
A little monster movie from 1999, Virus was made quite a while after the original screenplay was penned. At the time, it wasn't quite as possible to do the kinds of special effects that would be required, so it was made into a Dark Horse comic instead. Eventually, the story would be put to the film - but at what cost?
While George Lucas had already made several films that would make the average sane moviegoer question his capabilities, that didn't stop the hype train from going full steam ahead during the late 90s, when news of a new Star Wars prequel trilogy first came. Telling the story of Anakin Skywalker, who everyone already knew would become Darth Vader and was described as a total badass in the original movie... Seriously, how could this movie not be awesome? Well... All those mediocre to bad movies George made? Add this one to the list.
This week marks the beginning of the March of the Clowns! Or last week was supposed to, but I'm a flakey f#cknugget and lack discipline. Either way, the review of the day is We All Scream for Ice Cream, a story made by the director of Child's Play for a Showtime television series. Think Twilight Zone, or Outer Limits, without the deep moral lessons and throw in a bunch of cursing and you get the idea.
The March of the Clowns continues with Funland! This film from 1987 is about a clown. That's a given, but to be honest with you telling you what the generally accepted synopsis is for this movie is completely inaccurate while at the same time correcting that is sorta spoiling things in the description. Either way, we got clowns, an amusement park, and death! That's a sure fit for the March of the Clowns.
It's hard to discuss horror movies about clowns without bringing up a certain horror movie, called Clown. Mainly because of it's incredibly simple straightforward name, as this is actually a pretty damn recent production. Also, it's not entirely the brainchild of Eli Roth despite what certain trailers will have you believe...
The March of the Clowns might have been a bit slower than planned, but it all ended up in the same place. With that in mind, we're taking a look at the 1990 television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's "It." It's possibly one of the most famous clown horror flicks of all time... despite it honestly not having much at all to do with clowns, other than the main villain of the tale, Pennywise, happening to look like a clown most of the time.
After the hype tornado of Episode I resulted in... episode I... Expectations were not quite as high for the sequel, and the studio was perhaps a little more careful with what did and did not make the cut this time around. With far less Jar Jar, and much more action we got Attack of the Clones and the beginning of the clone wars. However... did they perhaps cut a little too much explanation in this explosionfest?
It's been a long time coming, but I finally got around to reviewing that one Jean-Claude Van Damme movie from way back when that I never got around to - J.C.V.D.! It stars the star as the star, in this weird place called "reality." Fictional reality, but that's how it is in movieland.
What goes better with movies about killer paraphernalia than movies about killer snacks? Mix the two together, and you get Gingerdead Man vs Evil Bong... which is not so much the two movies mixed together, but an Evil Bong movie where nothing happens and then there's a stabbing before the credits. Yay.
From the deep dark depths of mystery known as the British Isles, Gorgo was born in 1961. Meant as a homage to the still young king of monsters, Godzilla, Gorgo employed many visual effects tricks at the time to help the creature appear larger than life.. but what is this?! WESTERNERS doing a kaiju flick?! Well, it might not be as bad as it sounds when you say it like that...
As I recall, when Episode III came out everyone was looking forward to the conclusion of the prequel trilogy. Mainly because after the first 2 movies, they really wanted to see the franchise they knew and loved stop being screwed with. However, it's also widely accepted that Revenge of the Sith is the best of the bunch when it comes to the prequels. The big thing that got everyone to go to the theater and watch it though? The wookie army.. and.. yeah..
After the box office "huh?" that was Prometheus, Ridley Scott was brought back yet again to tackle it's sequel. As such, you know a lot of the direction is the same.. but considering the great many critiques of Prometheus, does Alien Covenant right these wrongs? Or.. make new ones?
Produced by the horror legend Wes Craven, Wishmaster is a tale about how the world would be if genies and/or djinn were real, but also evil demonic extraplanar beings bent on destroying the Earth. You know, kind of like all those articles shared all over social media where children's shows are actually fever dreams of institutionalized psychopaths, but slightly more believable.
So I was supposed to get at least one review finished over the weekend, but oh sweet mother of pain and infections that did not happen. Fortunately, not only am I doing better now, there's things going on that should help keep this kinda crap from happening in the future. At the very least, I have enough saved up to take care of the two major problem areas in my mouth, and actually make a kind of plan for what the hell we're gonna do with the thing. Yay!
Hearing that a Wes Craven horror movie spawned a sequel isn't particularly surprising. Learning it's sequel had no involvement by Wes Craven unfortunately is also not really news. The fact that it went straight to video though? Now we're starting to get into worrying territory... and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies. Andrew Divoff returns as the Djinn, who escapes from confinement and tries to take over the world via wishes. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
The first of the Wishmaster sequels shorthanded to "the ones without Andrew Divoff" Wishmaster 3 is... bad. I can't say if it was a new direction they were trying, because the setup is generic as f@ck and the pacing god awful slow. What direction were they going for? Straight to hell?
The fourth, and mercifully final movie in the Wishmaster series Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled is a pointless romp through nowhereville where the Djinn gets his third wish! This should mean bringing forth the legions of Djinn into the human world, and royally screwing it. However, instead he goes on an adventure to learn human love in the worst supernatural dating game you can imagine. Why? Because they never bothered to check the previous movies to make sure the key point in the plot of this one wasn't completely f#cking stupid.
I was really hoping the summer special would start on time this year. Unfortunately, things did not seem to turn out in favor of such a scenario. On the plus side, I'm still alive.
Still behind on the reviews, I'm afraid. However, things are moving along and improving. At the very least, in terms of how much has been done to remove parts of my head that have proven to be problems in the past.
After the dust had settled on the prequel trilogy, more than a few people weren't particularly happy with George Lucas' vision for the Star Wars series. Some years and rights acquisitions later, and before you know it Disney owns Lucas Films, and with it the Star Wars franchise. This wasn't just a buyout though, before long work on a brand new trilogy (and then some) started, with our first peek into this new take on Star Wars being Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Upon release, it was cheered as an amazing start to what surely will be an amazing trilogy.. but I'm not here to tell you what other people think, I have my own opinions about the impression this particular film left on me.
From RTS to MMO to novels to film, Warcraft lore is rich in detail and scope. Thing is, the film is the latest piece of that particular series of events and as such, Hollywood gotta do what Hollywood does and figure out all the best ways to screw with the already well established lore because f#ck it, it's just a video game movie after all...
One of the most memorable aspects of Killer Klowns from Outer Space was the music, and the composer John Massari has been at the head of an Indiegogo fundraiser to produce the soundtrack with a full orchestra. He also asked me very nicely to help spread the word.. a while ago. Seems my own works being delayed isn't the only problem I've had since the tooth crud kicked up. But hey, there's still like a week left so... yeah!
Back in 1984, Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a very recognizable actor. However, "actor" was seen as more a technicality of his job than his talent and capabilities. This outlook changed quite sharply when it was decided that instead of playing the hero of this time-travel-killer-robot-dark-future thing James Cameron had been working on, he would play the villain. That meant instead of just being strong and yelling a lot, he had to portray a killing machine.. which it turns out he's very damn good at.
In the fantasy age of the 80s, giant dudes with swords fighting puppets were quite a draw for moviegoers, and a lot of that has to do with the success of Conan the Barbarian. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, it's about Conan going on an adventure! Just don't try too hard to find the thread that links his motivations together, it can get lost pretty easily.
So delays keep happening.. like, constantly. If it's not illness, or abscesses, or extensive dental procedures I'm off getting engaged or running away from rising waters. On the plus side, I'm okay and work can continue! Except that my Surface is on the fritz as well.. um.. Oh, look at that, Ichabod Todd makes some swell music now, doesn't he?
Ever wonder where the Schwarzenegger Stallone rivalry came from? Well not only were they both action movie stars of the 80s, but Commando was released the very same year as First Blood Part 2 and just so happens to have some superficial similarities. I guess we could just call it the "muscular man firing machine guns" genre at this point.
Would you look at that, the channel hit 75,000 subscribers! Not only that, but a bunch of other stuff has been going on, like expanding over to Vid.me and new Amazon Affiliate links in video descriptions. So let's go over the bases, get sidetracked immediately and inevitably wind up on Goku vs Superman.
One of the biggest sequels of it's time, Terminator 2 was the action follow up to the horror movie that everyone thought was an action movie, The Terminator. Made on a massive budget, Terminator 2: Judgement Day stood as the last movie in the franchise for over a decade. It's got quite a legacy... but exactly how much am I on board with?
What Arnold Schwarzenegger special would be complete without a look at his first starring role? Probably a "best of" list, but that's not the point. In Hercules in New York, Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Arnold Strong as Hercules, in New York. Yes, it's a movie with a title about as subtle as "The Bad Guy Dies" but deep down, is it really all that bad? Yes, but in what way?
After Conan the Barbarian showed the world you can make a profit off of an esoteric series of intellectual fantasies so long as you have enough gore and boobs to satisfy the masses, Conan the Destroyer showed us just how far a sequel is willing to water down the original no matter how well it did.
Spies, terrorists action and comedy. True Lies was a major hit at the box office, and it's enough to make you feel sorry for the film that Cameron was blatently getting the idea from, La Totale. Nevertheless, ignoring the Lion King / Kimba or Witcher / Elric situation how well does the movie itself hold up today?
Concerned about how your favorite passtime is depicted as a horror that will take over the world and desensitize the population to violence? Don't worry, that's what everyone has said about everything forever, such as how The Running Man depicts a future where TV still matters, and game shows are ultraviolent entertainment fed to the demanding masses, all while the corrupt government does their own shady stuff as well. It's fiction, I swear.
One of the reasons it took so long for a Terminator 3 to happen is because James Cameron, like him or not, is actually one of those Hollywood guys with a modicum of respect for the material. He felt there was nowhere to go from Terminator 2... so the studio found a couple guys who did and had THEM crank out the sequel! Still starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, of course.. otherwise nobody would have ever bothered to watch this.
For a while, Schwarzenegger wasn't doing much but cameos in movies. That's because of his time as the Gahvanahovcalifornja, but since his time in that job has ended naturally he returned to movies. Seems there wasn't a great backlog of projects built around him though, as in 2014 we get him as our lead man in Sabotage, a movie that has nothing to do with a sabotage considering that ending wound up on the cutting room floor.
Schwarzenegger teams up with Belushi for your standard hero/buddy cop flick with a twist.. Belushi is your snarky bad cop from Chicago, while Schwarzenegger is a tough as nails Russian from Russia! That's about it, other than that the plot's pretty standard to be honest.
A tale of swords, sorcery and someone OTHER than Arnold Schwarzenegger, Red Sonja still manages to give the guy top billing above even the title character. This is often thought of as the third Conan movie with Schwarzenegger, but that's not entirely true. Sure, in early drafts of the script Conan was in it, but.. things changed.
One of the most technically impressive movies of it's time, both for the use of CGI when such things were unheard of and the massive practical effects budget at work. It's also based on a short story you probably never heard of, but does that matter? It's got Arnold Schwarzenegger, gunfire and explosions.
With an acting career as large as Arnold Schwarzenegger's, you're bound to have a few stinkers under your belt. However, few have the reputation of Last Action Hero. The first film which Schwarzenegger was credited as executive producer, Last Action Hero released to a buzz of hype to take on.... Jurassic Park. Well then, that's not a fight to pick lightly...
Things have been so behind this week, I actually intended to make the "sorry I'm late" video earlier but that also got pushed back. On the plus side, at the time I'm typing this the next review has been filmed. Yay!
As the Summer.. which somehow turned into the year, was over saturated with a certain action star, why not celebrate it's end with another action star? Yep, we're not going with the classic renditions of this particular ancient dwemer text, but the 2004 Disney production starring Jackie Chan. I really should review more Jackie Chan movies, don't cha think?
300 is a story of a time when 300 Spartans defeated ONE MILLION PERSIANS! Also, it's not exactly historically accurate, as some say it was probably more like a couple thousand versus a few tens of thousands, but why let truth get in the way of a good story?
A long time fan request, Dog Soldiers is a Scottish horror film about Scottish soldiers facing horrors in Scotland. Monsters lurk in the night, and as the frights engulf them they scream in Scottish!
Well now, 2017 was quite a year wasn't it? Well let's not let that get us down, 2018 is here and with it, a chance to reflect on the good of the past year while moving forward with positivism! Doing what? Ranting about movies mostly, but this time it's different.
Things have been crazy, as usual. However, there is good news to be had!
The 8th movie in the Star Wars series.. or 9th, if you count the holiday special, is not an episode! Or is episode 3 and a half. Either way, it is the film version of the text from the original movie, where rebels steal the plans to the Death Star. Of course, the text left out that part about the ninja and the supernukes...
Welcome to Live & Wired, the live show where a bunch of YouTubers get together to talk about recent events in entertainment! Episode 2 will touch on such topics as the reveal of Hellraiser: Judgement, Nintendo Labo and of course YouTube's continued... tweaks, to the AI in place in order to ensure this is a "safe and secure platform for all creators."
A box office disappointment from 1982, John Carpenter's "The Thing" sent critics fleeing for the hills with it's very gory, and very detailed effects. Still held up to this day as an example of why practical effects stand up over time far better than CGI, most other life lessons you could learn from this film.. are best not followed. Unless you like jail time, I suppose.
Originally uploaded to Blip on November 28th, 2012.. then to YouTube on April 24th, 2013, then to Vid.me in 2017, but Blip and Vidme don't exist anymore, and the copy that's been up on YouTube for years has been muted for most of that time because that's just how YouTube's copyright system rolls sometimes. Since options to fix it within YouTube produce nothing but errors, I present to you - once again, Snowbeast! It's a review about that time a shark learned to walk and got fuzzy. However, some things never change...
Another long time request, the classic Phantasm! It's considered a cornerstone of horror movie history, because it.. has.. things in it! Uhm.. things happen. I guess they might be scary. Oh! And there's this silver ball, that's pretty awesome.
Welcome to episode 3 of Live & Wired, where we discuss all things entertainment LIVE! Or this is a recording, and wireless. Not as spiffy a name though. Today's topics include but are not limited to a sequel to Deep Blue Sea surfacing, talks about a new Super Mario Bros movie stirring up.. and YouTube deciding that just because you meet the criteria to get yourself a play button, that doesn't mean you're actually going to get one...
The second in the long franchise of Phantasm, Phantasm II ups the budget, the body count and the... sanity? Things were kept on a much shorter leash by Universal Pictures, and the movie as a result is easier to understand. THis is the part where you're supposed to say be careful what you wish for, isn't it?
The third philm in the Phantasm phranchise, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead marks the return of full creative control to Don Coscarelli. As such, it's got next to nothing to do with the second movie. Except of course, the return of the 4 barrel shotgun because that thing was awesome.
What's old is new, and that seems to be a theme over the last couple weeks. Welcome to Live & Wired, the live show where we discuss new happenings in the world of entertainment! Somehow, episode 4 is set to cover such brand new topics as Conan the Barbarian, Spyro the Dragon, Metroid Prime, Killer Klowns from Outer Space and more. Not to mention, a special guest is going to be joining us for this stream. This should be fun!
Think that "oblIVion" is a little cheesey of a name for the 4th project in a franchise? They were kicking around the idea of "Phantasm Phorever." Either way, the movie's about Mike running from the Tall Man, and Reggie trying to save mike. You know, like Phantasm 3, except without them spending nearly as much time together, or the interesting locations, or new faces... well... You ever been on a road trip? It's kind of like that, with a body count.
The final Phantasm movie, Ravager was made slowly in the time between Phantasm: Oblivion and the passing of Angus Scrimm. Starting out as a series, it was eventually built upon until it was a movie... or.. at the very least, a Phantasm movie. Also, this one isn't entirely the writing and directing of Don Coscarrelli, so mark it as the first time since Phantasm II that "outsiders" had a large sway in how things went down in the film.
Welcome to episode 5 of Live & Wired, the show that shows things to an audience sometimes. This time, there's news regarding the return of Ivan Drago, in the new Creed movie. Also, Graboids in a new Tremors movie coming straight to video! Also lots and lots of YouTube drama, but hey, let's have some positive stuff in the title card.
Okay, so it's dinosaurs in modern day movies in a Dinocember theme, in March. I swear, I'm good at my job sometimes... either way, this week's review is on a low budget paleontological horror, Raptor Ranch! AKA The Dinosaur Experiment, AKA Jurassic Dark... Honestly, the first thing I made sure of was that I hadn't already bought and reviewed this one before.
When a small group of soldiers find out they're off in a jungle where each and every one of them is at the risk of being killed, they got exactly what they bargained for BUT WITH DINOSAURS! ...that look like they'd fail to impress on modern gaming hardware. :/
So.. Nintendo happened. Smash Bros on Switch has been confirmed, and is said to be coming THIS YEAR. You know what that means... everyone start demanding Sakurai put any and every character into this game, no matter how little sense it makes! Hey, it worked for Bayonetta.
When you're making a movie about dinosaurs who destroy a major city, but can't afford to actually destroy a major city on film... what do you do? Well, if this film is anything to go by... do something on a much smaller scale, and just name the thing as if you're doing the bigger picture. No one will be able to spot the difference!
Poseidon Rex is what happens when someone decides to try to make an unholy amalgamation of Jurassic Park and Jaws, and has never heard of a plesiosaur. How do you make a dinosaur a sea monster? Simple! Take a T-Rex and slap fins on that sumbitch. Probably gives you an idea of the quality of movie we're dealing with already...
With news of a new Planet of the Apes graphic novel on the horizon, plus a new Duke Nukem film is being cast before being scripted! That's just the tip of the iceberg for horror news...
Long after THE SUMMER OF HELLRAISER ended with the very underwhelming (to say the least) Hellraiser Revelations, we were blessed (?) with a tenth entry to the franchise. Hellraiser: Judgment is the story about a serial killer on the loose who slaughters not-so-innocent people, as he picks his targets for the sins they have committed. Also, there may or may not be cenobites somewhere in the back.
Lots of oh so interesting news in the world of movies and videogames over the last 2 weeks. Of course, there's also something else that kinda sorta happened and there may or may not be a couple teensey weensey requests to talk about it.
While Legendary pictures made the beast much taller (and wider) for American audiences, Toho was hard at work designing a reboot for the franchise. The creature is much taller (and longer) for Japanese audiences. It's also a very talky picture.. but shouldn't we expect that by now? Come on, it's a Godzilla flick.
Long before the fires of hell were reunited in celebration for the latest Doom game released under Bethesda, Doom 3 taught the world the importance of flashlights. After that game brought the franchise back into vogue in the early 2000s, the Doom movie would be released to capitalize on that. Awesome! Except that somewhere along the way, everyone involved just forgot that Doom is about Hell and demons in a very literal sense...
So John Massari asked if I knew anyone out in L.A. who could maybe make it down to this particular event and we could work together over skype to get some footage. After a few minutes, I let him know I bought the airplane ticket to Los Angeles and I'll be there in a day. Many an adventure was had, and many a piece of KKFOS merch was signed by the Chiodo Bros and John.
Well, kiddos.. it looks like Ash VS Evil Dead is going to way of so many deadites after meeting ash's muthaf#ckin chainsaw hand. However, there's also news of a great many NEW projects being worked on! Everything from A Quiet Place 2, to Annabelle 3, to The Predator. That last one though.. might also be the death of the franchise.
You might think that the War for the Planet of the Apes was fought in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and.. well, you'd be right. There was that big escalation right at the end, but this movie skips over that minor detail to get to the REAL story we care about. Which group of warring humans will get to be the humans in the background on this planet, that will no doubt be ruled by Apes?
From the fires of creation birth the spark of life, giving breath and song to wonders and mundanity alike. Desire. The longing to expand, to construct and simply to exist. Endemic to these primordial ambitions is the query upon the origin of the inquisitor themselves. Then a critic like me shows up and says "WHAT ARE YOU ON? JUST SHOW ME THE MONSTER ALREADY!"
Welcome to Live & Wired, a show that after 10 episodes, still has no tagline set in stone! Today we're looking at more movie, video game and internet news... which brings us to the sad state of the new Tremors TV series with Kevin Bacon, as it's not being made it seems. Even worse, The Predator is STILL being made, but neither good nor bad (yet) is odd news about Stallone making a Rambo 5, among other strange things...
The sixth film in the Tremors franchise, A Cold Day in Hell is about GRABOIDS IN THE ARCTIC! That's.. pretty much all there is to see here. There's also a story about Burt coming to terms with Travis being his son, but that was last movie sooo.... you like slow motion?
Heading out to L.A. to film the KKFOS 4K mastered special edition Blu-Ray signing at Dark Delicacies was an adventure and a half... and at least some of the time, I actually remembered to take the camera out and record my thoughts! Not much sightseeing, but I was pretty much there to work anyway so... yeah.
The 5th.. or 6th Starship Troopers movie, 2nd to be CGI'd out of a Japanese studio but technically 3rd animated feature film and I'm already confused oh well CASPER VAN DIEN AS JOHNNY RICO. There, that's pretty much the main attraction outside of huge bugs everywhere that require huge explosions to exterminate. Certainly something I look forward to.
Right on the heels of Nintendo filing a trademark for "N64 Classic" rumors suggest Sony may be jumping into the classic console market with a PS1 retro console. Also, there's news involving Michael Bay, so explosions!
While IT was already famously portrayed by Tim Curry in the 90s, that was on television. TV's got rules and stuff to keep people from having fun, and in 2017 the novel was reinterpreted with a hard R rating. Also, they shifted the date around because any excuse to showcase kids running around in the 80s.
Another new sequel to a 90s film that came out of nowhere, Deep Blue Sea 2 continues the story of 1999's Deep Blue Sea. Or.. I dunno, some think this is actually a remake but either way you don't need to see the first movie to understand what's happening in this one. They made smart sharks, and the things are trying to kill them. However, this time it's a straight to video project.. and a bit of a bait and switch, to be honest.
All these classic franchises have been getting reboots and remakes and remasters lately.. but amidst all the axing of shows and movies, there has been more than a little crossover as of late.
A movie I have waited years for.. not because I thought the series was going in a great direction mind you, rather when I initially checked, it was supposed to be out in 2013. Took a good 4 more years before Jeepers Creepers 3 dropped in 2017, and it's not even an actual continuation of the story. Great.
E3 has come and gone, but there's little we actually talked about due to conflicting schedules between the events and Live & Wired. Sooo... why not pull out another episode right now so we have a chance to talk about this without waiting a whole other week to do so?
A project that began as a remake of John Carpenter's The Thing, The Thing ended up being a prequel that everyone thought was a remake because they just called the thing The Thing. It's about an alien lifeform that mimics it's victims in Antarctica... that is, until it gets it's ass kicked by Americans! This time, Americans at the Norwegian base.
Well if at first you don't succeed, try try again. Hell, even if you do a good job why not do it again anyway? It's easier than coming up with new ideas for movies, innit?
The "original slasher movie" Halloween was made for the low low price of just $300,000 way back in 1978. It introduced the world to Michael Myers, and gave a movie series that has continued to this day. You know, if you wave away the fact that the 2018 movie is going to ignore the events of almost the entire franchise.. except this one.
So the.. Sonic the Hedgehog movie? Yeah, that looks like it wasn't a joke. They got Jim Carrey to do Robotnik. What in the hell? Um, anyway there's all kinds of other movie news, like The Predator's new trailer coming out, and having a distinct lack of little kid in it.
The sequel to the movie that introduced us to Michael Myers, Halloween II continues the events of that night in 1978. Although most of the events now take place on November 1st, no one really bothers checking the clocks so it's okay. They're too busy watching their insides end up on the outside.
Tons of news, and not much time to detail it all in the description! No bother, it's a live show after all.
Halloween III is the one movie of the Halloween franchise to have nothing to do with Michael Myers. It's a horror tale about a plot to.. actually describing it might trigger the algorithm. Dangit... anyway! Without Michael, it's considered not only the worst Halloween movie but possibly the worst movie of all time. But is it really?
Released in 1988, 10 years after Halloween, Halloween 4 takes place 10 years after the Haddonfield incident. Michael Myers escapes a transfer, and returns to Haddonfield to stalk babysitters and murder a long lost female family member on Halloween night, but his old doctor is here to stop him! Yes, that is the plot of both movies.
It seems reboots and remakes aren't the main focus of discussion on today's episode of Live & Wired! How bout that? We still have a bit of a classic set of properties to talk about, but Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd projects generally aren't reboots and or remakes. On top of that... honestly? I'd LOVE to see a modern Judge Dredd video game. In VR... as long as it's not a 2 hours and your done "experience." Gimmie a 40+ hour sandbox megacity in VR. Or in flat gaming, just don't charge 60 bucks for a carnival ride is all I'm saying...
After returning, Michael Myers sought REVENGE! By waiting one year to try again, because it just feels weird to kill your family on Thanksgiving. Either way, Jamie returns, and we don't completely forget about her stabbing her mother, we just ignore it because... it's more samey that way?
Some crazy movie news has somehow made it in along with some pretty interesting leaks in the gaming world. Also, it seems the people upset with the way the Spyro trilogy was happening might have caused something... which of course has upset even more people!
So after Halloween 4 set up Jamie as the new killer... then.. Halloween 5 set up Jamie as the psychic girl, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers set up Jamie as a mildly important but mostly disposable character so we can get to the REAL important details! Which still aren't quite hammered out, don't make sense, and differ depending on which version of the movie you watch. What fun!
With news of not one, not two, but at least 3 classic horror stories spanning movies, books and video games being turned into at the very least a miniseries, this summer looks like it's becoming quite a boon to horror itself. Also, my skill in run on sentences has not dulled in the slightest!
Released 20 years after the original Halloween, a fact that they never EVER let you forget, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is Halloween's return after the slasher genre revival of the late 90s. As such, while it IS a Halloween movie, has Michael Myers and even Laurie Strode in it... it does come off like most of the feel of the movie was more inspired by Scream.
Shane Black's "The Predator" just hit theaters in my area... and I've got some words for it.
Lots of movie, video game and YouTube news as per usual. Not much time to think of what to cal it, tho. :D
From Haddonfield to Hollywood and suddenly back to Haddonfield, Halloween went from a guy walking around town and looking at people while maybe deciding to kill them to this! A bunch of teens just gathering up, and rushing forward into that place he likes to hang out and kill so many people because... well... logic doesn't matter, it's all orchestrated by Tyra Banks and Busta Rhymes for crissakes.
What with the news of the Playstation Classic and various new horror film trailers hitting the web, you'd think everything would be all great for everyone involved. Personally though, I think there's a potential storm on the horizon and I felt that doing an episode to help prevent anyone from making any bad decisions would be most useful BEFORE that happens, not after.
With news of news and news and.. oh dear god, I don't know what I'm doing and I never have. O_o
Considering how well Halloween Resurrection went down, it shouldn't be too surprising that the next movie in the franchise would turn out to be a remake of the first. However, this one is notable as it's written, directed and produced by Rob Zombie. Of course, that means you have the events of the first movie re-imagined through a lens of gore, sleeze and characters not even their own mother would love. Oh boy...
40 years after John Carpenter's Halloween, a new entry in the series seeks to do one thing if nothing else... write out of existence literally every single sequel in the franchise, and the Rob Zombie films to boot. Other than that, exactly how does it stack up as a modern slasher, as well as a Halloween movie?
Another fine batch of movie, game and internet news, but what might be the biggest net news of the last 2 weeks? Well, some things weren't functioning exactly as intended... to put it lightly.
...well, it looks like the amazon link shortener isn't working today. ANYWAY! Halloween 2 was Rob Zombie's follow up to the 2007 Halloween. Similarly, it's written and directed by Rob Zombie, his wife plays a major role in this one, arguably moreso than the first, and everyone in Haddonfield is an irredeemable jerk who gets what's coming to them. Unfortunately though, with more freedom to do what he wants it seems the last thing Rob Zombie was interested in doing, was making a Halloween movie.
Welcome to Live & Wired, the live show about the current happenings in entertainment. Not the ins and outs of setting up electronics, I'm afraid. With news about how The Witches reboot is going and more trailers for more horror from more regions than ever before, the biggest news? A phone game. What? Do you people not have phones?
Getting back into the swing of "whatever I feel like" why not pick up a bargain bin indie zombie horror film? Well.. for one thing, it's been a while since that strategy has really worked out well for me... but surely ZombeX will be the cure! ...no? No, it's still astonishingly bad? Oh well...
From rumors sprung from how showing nothing is in fact showing your hand, and that said hand is the royalist of flushes to an unfortunate passing one thing above all stood out for me. So.. did y'all see that Detective Pikachu trailer with Pikachu voiced by Ryan Reynolds?
This is one of those movies that gives you exactly what it promises with the title. RoboCop is the tale of a robotic cop, a former man who was rebuilt into a crime fighting machine! Literally!
Tons of topics to talk about while Netflix works on more projects, YouTube dials back others, and the game awards give awards to games, but that takes a backseat to what you actually watched for - the announcements!
You know, the Sonic movie poster reveal really wasn't all that surprising to me. I mean, we talked about the Sonic movie on Live & Wired a LOT. We've heard about the direction since we first brought it up from a weird post on a hip-hop website. Still, it seems the rest of the world just learned what kind of film we're in for.
The sequel to the hit Verhoven classic RoboCop, like many sequels to Verhoven movies it does not involve Mr. Verhoven. This change of director of course results in a change of direction, which has been criticized plenty in the past. But let me just be frank here, this isn't nearly the worst follow up to a Verhoven flick I've seen. That title still sits quite firmly in the hands of Starship Troopers 2: Traitor of Mars.
New Year! New You! Same show, same folks, same time same day same channel! But hey, that's why sequels work so well.. and why then they get leaned on so much. It is what it is, is it not? Well, if it isn't what it is than what is it? I'm clearly too scatterbrained to write this description.
RoboCop 3 was the last of the mainline RoboCop movies, up until the recent RoboCop remake. That might be because of the fact that even the filmmakers didn't quite know what direction to go with the story at this point. Or, the PG-13 rating. Or... well, I guess like always it's simply a combination of many factors.
But remember to be careful reading the reviews... After RoboCop lost it's way, going from a dark tale with light hearted presentation to a light hearted tale, RoboCop (2014) set forth to course correct... probably too much. Giving us a dark tale with dark presentation. Well, who needs intentional humor in movies anyway?
The newest from M. Night Shyamalan, Glass follows up and crosses over the classic Unbreakable with the more recent but still very well received Split. We explore if these seemingly superhuman specimens are indeed comic book caliber supers, or if perhaps it's all in their heads and everything has a far more mundane explanation. Of course, this is a Shyamalan movie so you bet your ass not everything is as it seems.
So... not only was a semi sequel to Alien: Isolation announced (Alien: Blackout) but... it's.. a mobile game... AND! and and and, Tony Hawk has revealed news that there was a little scifi adventure he was supposed to have years ago that never came out, another sequel to a beloved piece of entertainment media. What's the most terrifying news of all this week, though? Patricia can't make it tonight...
"The movie that broke Decker" The Predator released in 2018 after quite a long gap since the last entry in the series. With the return of Shane Black, an actor from the original movie, as writer and co-director of this entry, surely what made Predator great will... be completely ignored in favor of effectively making a parody movie and releasing it as if it was a serious entry.
A cult classic B movie that is perhaps the purest example of a B movie, Moontrap isn't a cheesefest of tounge-in-cheek sillyness that happens to be low budget, but rather a relatively serious movie about horrible alien robot things that intend to take over the Earth... which happens to have a budget well below what the vision needs to be realized with the standards we associate with serious films. However, they don't let that get in the way and still present a rather interesting look at a slice of movie history.
Not content with just rebooting things we've loved for years, it seems now we're even rebooting things that are not yet out! Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but news of Metroid Prime 4 completely starting over on development was a bit of a shocker. Thankfully, we have more news to distract you! And a lot of it just so happens to be reboots...
Moontrap was a super low budget Sci-Fi movie from the late 80s that managed to grow a decent cult following in the decades since it's release. Thus, the writer and director decided to try their hands at fundraising a sequel. After a few missteps, they finally managed to get Moontrap: Target Earth made in 2017. However... despite the fact that the writer and director are back at it, things are very... VERY different this time around...
A contender for the title of longest time stuck in development hell, The Meg's movie rights were first sold before the first novel was even published. However, it would take 22 years and a joint project between Hollywood and China before the film would actually see the light of day. Jason Statham fights a giant shark. There's your plot.
As our bi-weekly look at all things entertainment marches forward, we've got all kinds of news to talk about this episode! A Nintendo Direct dropped all kinds of announcements, Tommy Wiseau is at it again with a new movie about sharks, and... um.. someone painted Will Smith blue.
When there's a big movie coming out, you can count on The Asylum to throw together some shoestring budget cash grab to capitalize on the name alone, and release it around the same time! Atlantic Rim is one of those movies. It worked, if it weren't for the name and obvious rip off of Pacific Rim, who the hell would still be talking about it?
Halloween is a sequel to Halloween, but not Halloween. As in the Halloween continuity, not the Halloween one. There's a lot of damn Halloween movies called Halloween... Either way, Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode to Haddonfield where we see absolutely nothing happened since the original movie. However, her plot sense tells her to spend 40 years preparing to take out Michael Myers!
So some things came up that turns out, aren't actually coming up. Also, there's things we've known are coming for a while that we actually would like to be wrong about, but seemingly are correct... darn it.
A movie with the distinct "honor" of being banned from many, many countries. A video nasty, a film who's reputation as truly horrifying shocksploitation proceeds it so much you might not realize just what you're getting into. That's what happens when things are banned left and right for far less. Heed the warning in the opening well.
The follow-up to Godzilla 2000, Godzilla VS Megaguirus doesn't have to spend as much time introducing the monster, so we can get right to the great big monster brawl! That is, if we didn't spend so much running time in this movie introducing Godzilla again.. and waiting for the big bad monster he has to brawl to grow up.
Right place, right time, right button! Wrong settings.
Entertainment news is all over the place today! From the new Godzilla trailer to a new Seagal movie trailer, to Google Stadia and of course... a high school play of Alien! Beats the hell out of the millionth showing of A Christmas Carol.
A remake of the 1978 film that just to review, I felt the need to put a minute long warning in front of. This time taking place in 2010 and starring Sarah Butler, how does it continue the legacy of the original? Well, I may only have a 30 second warning this time, but there's still a warning...
From the new Star Wars trailer dropping, to VR made out of cardboard, to the empire's new plans for judging users not by time, but by "quality" time, we got a few big topics for today's show!
Bringing the Evil Bong back since we last saw her in Gingerdead Man vs Evil Bong, Evil Bong 420 takes us to... a bowling alley! And stays there.. for the entire running time, which isn't all that long honestly. That's pretty much it... not exactly the most exciting flick I've seen in a while.
The adventure through entertainment news continues, with what is starting to come off like a clip show. Haven't we seen most of this before? Well, maybe not in small town America I guess...
Another one of those collaborations between American and Japanese studios, Batman Ninja takes Batman and makes him a Ninja! It also takes Ninjas and turns them in to Batmen. Bats are also Ninjas that turn into Men. Okay, so it's time travel and Japan and probably even crazier than you can imagine.
For the first time ever, an episode of Live & Wired was missed... Electrical issues and such can do that sometimes. No bother, it seems in the time we've taken to get this one out, even more things just keep getting unplugged! Oh dear how does this always work out like that?
It's been a heck of a ride, but we made it! Actually, a while ago... but just recently, a physical representation of the acknowledgement of the endless quest for larger numbers has manifested! Wow, I'm using big words.. you can tell I'm nervous.
While my own output has been less frequent as of late, entertainment news marches on! Smash goes VR!.. ish.. Every superhero is now vs every alien, and of course Candyman is taking on his greatest foe... the toxic avengers! ...of film, on their laptops in their parent's basements.
Of course E3 happened during Live & Wired's off week, but that doesn't mean we can't cover it today! Heck, there's new information that's come up since the day of the event, so taking this long isn't all bad. Also, more than enough movie news has come up in the two weeks since the last show to also help this episode be about more than just games, for those of you out there who really don't care about that kind of stuff.
Known as Hung fan kui for it's 1995 release in Hong Kong, the 96 release "Rumble in the Bronx" introduced the world to Jackie Chan! Again, as he was already pretty well known.. but still! When it comes to stunts and action choreography, it's hard to go wrong with Jackie Chan. Oh, and the movie's about something about New York and some diamond heist or something. I unno.
Not Jackie Chan's first movie, or his big break, but certainly one of the oldest films to star the man that people might actually know about if you bring it up! Drunken Master tells the story of a man named Fred, who disappoints his father, Robert... at least according to the dub... and must restore his honor with harsh martial arts training! In Drunken Boxing, so there's a silver lining at least.
After that explosion of entertainment news last time, this might seem a bit slow, but not every week can be E3. However, it looks like everything from horror to videogames can be on TV! Now I just have to figure out if anyone is still watching that thing...
The Summer of Jackie Chan continues, with one of the most requested Jackie Chan movies to be reviewed. Rush Hour, from 1998, marks the first time Jackie Chan was tasked with speaking his mostly English lines completely clearly on set, as there would be no over-dubbing this time. Oddly enough, while tasked with being as coherent as possible, they teamed him up with Chris Tucker for this one.
A strange little release in America, Supercop is actually the 3rd film of the Police Story franchise, Police Story 3: Super Cop. Or it kind of is, as a few things are modified here and there, but all in all it's still a movie about Jackie Chan going to fantastic locations, meeting interesting people, and beating the crap out of them. Plus a helicopter to dangle from!
The third in a trilogy so long in the making.. well, it's honestly a miracle it was finished. Kevin from Split was supposed to be introduced in Unbreakable, the story goes, but keeping the story concise meant cuts had to be made. By the time Split was produced, it was under a different company. Somehow M. Night convinced them to work together and allow the third movie of the trilogy to be made. That's an even bigger twist than he could come up with himself, I'd say.
As Google Hangouts is scheduled to no longer offer the video conferencing services we've been using all this time, this may in fact be the last Live & Wired... to use Google Hangouts. We'll be moving on to other things, don't worry! In the meantime, guess what? MOVIE NEWS! GAME NEWS! Halloween 2018 was in fact not the last Halloween! ...surprising no one... and the Nintendo Switch Lite was unveiled! Surprising no one... but me, but that's just because I'm cynical as all hell and still find the thing to create more problems than it solves.
The 2nd Rush Hour film, Rush Hour 2 is a story about Jackie Chan being a cop from Hong Kong, teaming up with Chris Tucker, a cop from LA, to stamp out a crime ring that starts in Hong Kong before crossing the Pacific into Los Angeles. It's different this time!
While last L&W was the "Final Hangout" - I reiterate, that was in reference to Google Hangouts, which was said to be going away on August 1st. We still have Discord! ...and hangouts, evidently, but heck we may as well stick to that "final" just in case.
It's a railroad, not a quarry. ANYWAY, this week we're looking at Shanghai Noon, where Jackie Chan meets up with Owen Wilson for an adventure through the Wild West! And... that sentence alone scarily enough has told you absolutely everything you have to know about this movie. So why not watch a video review of it that's over 20 minutes long?
Jackie Chan is BACK, as the Drunken Master in Drunken Master 2! Which is more a remake.. or a reboot.. or a retelling? It's the legend of Fei-Hung Wong, the Drunken Master, and aside from the characters at play and the drunken boxing there's little here that lines up with the original in terms of a remake or a sequel. Point is, Jackie Chan and ass kickery await!
Okay, this time for reals this is the first Jackie Chan movie made in America. For true! He even speaks english! And I feel very confused... but not as confused as America, as this crazy guy showed up and backflipped his way through the action scenes. It seems like he was the only one who knew he'd be doing that.
Usually when it comes to week to week movie news, we hear about all these sequels and remakes and everything coming non-stop... it's not every day you hear about over 200 movies being cancelled in one fell swoop.
The sequel to Shanghai Noon, Shanhai Knights takes Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson and drops them in England in order to do the "because it's in England!" movie. That's... pretty much all you need to know. Ready for all the jokes you can handle about crazy British foodstuffs and historical events that.. more often then not are very VERY off of the date this film takes place in? ..why, what's wrong with you?
A much more recent Jackie Chan outing, The Foreigner (2017) puts the man opposite Pierce Brosnan in a drama thriller thingamajig involving the Metro police, the IRA and all kinds of factions. No, this is not the Steven Seagal movie of the same name. My nightmares about reviewing the same movie multiple times by accident shall live on for another day...
With IT Chapter 2 around the corner, and rumbles of a third entry in the Deep Blue Sea franchise... should we be calling it a trilogy now? Well, things are looking up for "clown and shark news" for this particular episode of Live & Wired.
The third and final movie of the Rush Hour Trilogy, Rush Hour 3 puts Jackie Chan opposite Chris Tucker in a buddy cop flick where two police officers from different sides of the globe must team up, and put cultural differences aside to work together and stamp out China's largest criminal organization! Now this might sound exactly like what we've already seen before.. but this time it's in FRANCE!
The follow-up to the 2017 IT movie, IT Chapter Two picks things up right where that one left off. However, if you think seeing the 1990 IT miniseries means you know what Chapter 2 entails... well, you are right for about 20 minutes of this 3 hour movie.
The black sheep of the Jackie Chan filmography, City Hunter is a 1993 live action adaptation of an 80s maga/anime of the same name. Anime style antics are common throughout, and the concept of logic should be left far, far behind if you intend to take in this feature. Then again... when have I ever praised a movie for it's firm grip on reality?
News of new projects coming up all the time is one thing. News of those projects being remakes or sequels is expected. However, when news comes that not just one, but several companies are either giving the ax to several projects and services... or they are planning on releasing products that maybe they should ax.. that's a bit strange.
Stephen King drinking game to IT (1990) - Wish us luck, and survival!
The found footage film seen round the world, The Blair Witch Project had a massive marketing campaign that three filmmakers were lost in the woods in 1994, and their footage was found one year later... but they are still missing! Except they weren't, they were actors and very much still alive. But hey! Everyone thought it was real, so why let things like facts get in the way?
From former high score champions seeking legal action to business deals being discussed and abandoned in the entertainment world, one thing holds true.. money makes the world go round. SO, who's up for getting paid gangbusters for watching a ton of Stephen King flicks?
A 1977 horror classic, Suspiria has been remembered for it's delve into psychological horror and the artistic vision of Dario Argentino. However, it has been like 4 decades... how well does it hold up today?
Out today in theaters nationwide, Joker is the tale of.. well, The Joker, and how he became The Joker. I think.. I dunno, it's kind of more slice-of-life than I was expecting, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I was supposed to get out of it.... BTW - AMC has responded to the "no singles" viral picture and stated they have no such policy for screenings of Joker. I can't be certain that this is the be all end all for information regarding that particular picture that had made it's way around the internet, but that's their story and they're sticking to it.
Set far, far into the future, in the mystical year of 2020 Bleeding Steel stars Jackie Chan as Lin Dong. His daughter has a metal heart, which is the heart of this heart-wrenching tale of.. well, bad guys own a spaceship and they want her blood. That's the best I got for ya.
Ahh, movies based on video games. It's not like we haven't been down this road before, considering I've already reviewed the original Doom movie with The Rock in it. Doom: Annihilation seeks to... um, well can't really say they were actually trying to right the wrongs of the past. After all, this one's a straight-to-video romp through hell. Yaaaaaaay...
Yes, we were supposed to do Live & Wired yesterday but there was a problem. I, Decker Shado, wound up in a mystical faraway land full of faerie folk and pirates and dragons, delving into torture chambers and walking in a forest while observing large beasts. I also partook in the provisions available, and got a bit tipsy as a result... .... ...yeah, I spent the day at the Texas Renaissance Festival, but turkey legs and the mud show aside, it seems Live & Wired isn't the only piece of entertainment experiencing delays lately. Or delving into far away lands and the horrors one can find there, for that matter...
The 1972 grindhouse classic, The Last House on the Left was Wes Craven's film debut... and what a debut, billed as writer, director and editor of this movie. Teens run into the worst kind of trouble imaginable, but the bad guys have something even worse in store for them.. THE WRATH OF THE PARENTS!
A sort of urban legend style horror with a smattering of Final Destination, Countdown is the story of a smartphone app that... well, it only kills you if you don't die when you're supposed to, after downloading the app. It's a kind of roundabout way of going about it, but it can be creepy... and incredibly cheesy.
It's horror month, and we're heading in on Halloween, which means haunted houses, hotels and hayrides! It seems the spectacle of supernatural structures is the subject of this Saturday's show. Also, alliteration is awesome.
Join Creepy, Patricia and I as we delve into the second foray into testing our livers vs the infamous Stephen King Drinking Game! This time, to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining." No, it's not going to be as potentially life threatening as IT (1990) was, but that's only if you assume that nobody present is going to go insane partway through the project...
Rob Zombie's movie making career starts here, having both written and directed House of 1000 Corpses. It's got most of the trappings you expect out of a Rob Zombie film - unlikable characters, vulgarity for vulgarity's sake and his wife plays a starring role where she can show off lots of skin. However, underneath all that... is there a truly terrifying tale to tell? No, but some people like it anyway.
Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, The Shining follows the Torrance family as they move in to the Overlook Hotel for Jack's new job as caretaker! However, a classic tale of cabin fever runs into trouble as it finds itself a Stephen King story, and thus the hotel has a dark secret past, the hauntings slowly drive Jack insane... and of course, the kid is psychic.
Movie news is rolling in, with horrifying animatronic monstrosities and strange lights from space threatening all of mankind! What does it all have in common? Nick Cage. The man seems to be at the center of all of the insanity...
LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE! Seriously, reviewing a kid's movie in a video intended for adults right now is the YouTuber equivalent of flossing with electrical wire. Either way, today's review is Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. It's a mystery flick (obviously) that follows the adventures of a pikachu (of course) who is a detective (could have guessed) and can talk. That's not really the twist though, it's more that he's voiced by Ryan Réynolds.
Psychological supernatural horror? Well why didn't you say so! The Bye Bye Man is a 2017 flick about a mysterious evil that spreads... through people knowing about it! So it's kind of like "you just lost the game" except with death.
Fiction and non-fiction alike, robots are rising up for our entertainment and destruction. Robocop's getting rebooted.. again... and Chopping Mall is set for a 24 hour marathon on black friday! Also the YouTube bots will be working overtime, because boy oh boy the YouTube news this episode is something else...
Released in 1995, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a movie starring the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It's notable as being possibly the first instance of said rangers using only original material, and not writing stories around fight scenes from the Super Sentai series. Despite this... that somehow doesn't make it any more coherent...
Still have that strike on the channel, and Patricia is still unable to make it. Um... showtime?
The 5th movie in the Carnosaur franchise, The Eden Formula tells the tale of a super special medical breakthrough able to do miracles! Miracles such as bringing dinosaurs back to life. Amazing how we always land on that space... but neer-do-wells intend on STEALING THE FORMULA! For... reasons!
Another made for TV SyFy movie, Pterodactyl first terrorized the world in 2005, with the tale of how paleontologists have no idea what is or is not a dinosaur, or that maybe you shouldn't be poking around certain areas of the world while there are bad dudes about. Luckily, one of them has a military background which is far more useful than the "scholars" in this situation...
With the year and indeed decade coming to a close, there's all kinds of new stuff just around the corner. From the worst kept secret in remake history, to rumblings about a new Tremors.. *hehe* But amidst all this... will we ever agree what is or is not a christmas and or action movie?
After two less than stellar sequels, things seemed to be on the right track with Jurassic World bringing the Jurassic Park franchise back to it's roots. A big blockbuster dinosaur flick that did so well, another entry in the series seemed obvious. Indeed, this movie made gangbusters at the box office, bringing in over 1 billion dollars on a 170 million dollar budget. However... that doesn't mean that the movie itself was THAT fantastic...
After spending nearly a decade dissecting horror on a weekly basis, there are few things that really scare me any more. Mountain Dew and Doritos bath products? Those things scare me...
Building on the M. Night Shyamalan cinematic universe, Split introduces us to Kevin Wendell Crumb. He suffers from DID, but not just the movie style multiple personality silliness. This is going into the realm of superhumans, so when James McAvoy jumps from personality to personality and goes on and on about "the beast" and how it will do oh so much damage... yeah.. things get a bit more complex than you usual kidnapped horror...
The Stephen King Drinking Game returns, with The Langoliers! As usual we will go over the rules to start, both for the game and how we will handle the stream so as to not upset any guidelines and remain on the up and up. Sync up, and follow along!
From Warner Bros reinventing movie production by programming an A.I. to figure out what movies they've already made and make 'em again, to the... um... surprise? That the PS5 would in fact be the PS5, January's had no shortage of news. That news being business as usual.
The follow-up to House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects is Rob Zombie's second stab at the horror genre. It's considered by many to be a depraved, insanely grim tale only the most messed up people could enjoy. Others say it's one of Zombie's best works. Why don't we have both?
Remakes and sequels! Sequels and remakes! Not just of movies this time either, horror games are experiencing some deja vu as well, with talk of Silent Hills and Eternal Darkness.
Possibly the hardest movie in the House series to find, House III, known in the US as "The Horror Show" stars Lance Henriksen as Lucas McCarthy, a cop who has put away one of the worst criminals in history. Sentenced to death via the electric chair, the baddie ends up coming back around for seconds because as it turns out THE GREATEST EVIL OF ALL IS PSEUDOSCIENCE! BWAHAHAHA!
