hanshotfirst1138

Van Helsing must be what overdosing on something feels like. It's a frantic nonstop orgy of action, FX, and loud noise, a movie that truly subscribes to the "more is better philosophy."

Jory

I liked all three Mummy films, and even I sat through Van Helsing thinking, "What the fuck am I watching?"

I didn't hate it -- it's better than anything Michael Bay has ever directed -- but aside from one or two genuinely terrific action scenes, there isn't much about it that I can defend.

Jory

Dracula: The Dark Prince (2013)

Pretty good cover art, no? Looks a bit like Dracula in the Castlevania video games.



It starts by blatantly (and I mean blatantly) ripping off the opening scenes of the Coppola movie. Fortunately, it gets more original from there. Unfortunately, it never becomes something worth watching.

Luke Roberts is good as Dracula. He deserves a better movie.

Jon Voight tries his best as Van Helsing and the animated flashbacks are well-done, but it's pointless. Most of the characters are worthless and the script is asswipe. The dialogue would have been cliched in a Hammer movie. The effects are a joke; the CGI castle would have been unacceptable in a PS2 game. The direction and editing are a mess.

Oh, and they go back to blatantly ripping off the Coppola movie at the very end. And the end credits rip off the credits from Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies.

They also set up a potential sequel. It's the only scary thing about the movie.

iNCREDiPiNOY

Edge of Tomorrow w/ Q&A with Tom Cruise - 5/5 - Awesome!

printerati

d2cheer

Oculus...it sucked bad.

Jory

Jory

Giles

D-Day Normandy 1944 / IMAX (15/70) 3D

Jory

Excellent.

tommyp007

Escape From New York

inri222

The Wild Geese - 2/5

A group of mercenaries are hired by a wealthy industrialist to rescue an African leader being held captive by his opposition.
A film with a great cast that is unfortunately let down by a weak generic script and heavy handed direction.

DJariya

Gina Carano is still a horrible actress. Cannot sell drama to save her life. But she still kicks ass in her fight scenes.

The last act of this movie was pretty weak. It's strictly a rental.

Jory

Giles

Dance of Reality

hanshotfirst1138

Alexander Nevsky- Highly politically dubious but technically important and visually stunning propaganda film from Sergei Eisentstein about a Russian saint holding off attacking Germans and becoming a peoples' champion. Hugely influential battle scenes that echo into Peter Jackson and beyond and interesting experimentation with soundtrack and editing from a director drunk on cinema and experimenting with techniques which gives the film a vitality even today. In the era where everything is been there, done that, you can feel the director's excitement and sense of discovery. Criterion's DVD comes from a beat-to-hell print and some interesting extras about the terrifying conditions for artists under Stalin, whose whim could end your career and maybe your life. Presumably a restoration would be hard and the source materials are in bad shape?

Sleeping Beauty- A childhood favorite revisited for the first time in many years, Walt Disney's fantasy classic is stunningly gorgeous, their last hand inked feature full of gorgeous backgrounds, beautiful designs, bring colors, stunning set pieces, rich details, and fun characters. Time has been remarkably kind to it, though it was an expensive box office dud at the time. The Platinum DVD presents the film in its proper aspect ratio for the first time, and it gives the film a wonderful sense of scale. Still impressive after all these years.

Inhumans99

Volcano

Jory

Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004)

Short (30 minutes) animated prequel to Van Helsing. Decent time-waster.

joe_b

First time viewing. I know this is a landmark anime, but -- other than a few of the Miyazaki films -- I normally don't watch the stuff. The movie has a lot of dark imagery I really responded to (the Espers projecting themselves as giant monstrous toys freaked me out). The plot was a bit confusing... though I'm sure the manga series explains things in more detail.

Oh, and now I finally get what Cartman's transformation in the "Trapper Keeper" episode of South Park was paying homage to.

EddieMoney

Maniac w/Elijah Wood - 3/5

The French girl was hot as fuck with some huge cans.

asianxcore

Maleficent (2014)

Plot was super thin, but I was entertained the entire time. There were some characters/castings I could have done without but Angelina Jolie was perfect.

inri222

Silent House (2012) - 2/5

American remake of Uruguayan film about a young woman helping her father and uncle fix a house so that it can be sold. As nighttime settles in strange things start to happen making her think that there might be someone in the house. Another dumbed down remake of a much better film.

hanshotfirst1138

I thought apart from the digital single-take novelty, the original wasn't much to write home about either, to be honest.

inri222

I thought the overall mood of the original was much better than the remake. The original feels more like a haunted house film and the remake more like a slasher film.
Even though the twist ending in both films are weak, the original was more subtle while in the remake they bash you over the head with it. My opinion of course.

asianxcore

Upside Down (2012)

Visuals are lush & beautiful but we aren't given a reason to care about anyone living in this world. The 'Romeo & Juliet' plot line just isn't enough to make the film interesting outside of the visuals.