Manuel on Movies #8

This will be my last post before we leave on vacation! Finally, after months of planning, we leave for DC Friday afternoon. Our plan is to blog every night that way we can show off our pictures from the day so make sure to try to stop by every night starting on Saturday night. For now, here is a fairly large movie review post!

One Missed Call - I was actually more intrigued about the movie because of the poster than the actual movie preview. I thought it was one of the creepiest posters I had seen in a while. The movie sounded like every other teen type movie lately. The premise of this one is you get a call on your cell and you get the hear how you will die. Yeah, corny, but as you know, we watch most horror movies that come out. After all, we have Netlflix and pay monthly. Why not get in as many movies as we can? Anyway, not to spoil too much, but this movie was just like almost every other horror lately. The reason for someone killing comes down to someone was wronged and they are trying to make things right, blah, blah, blah. Standard horror stuff. I pretty much forgot about it once I ejected it. It wasn't bad, but it was nothing special. 5 out 10

Sweeney Todd - Jess had no desire to see this when it came out last year and I was on the fence. We hate 99% of musicals, even some very popular ones that most people seem to always like, but I was intrigued because of the storyline and I heard it was pretty bloody. We were both pleasantly surprised. We can now add this to the list of musicals we like(up to 5 now I think). Depp was great as usual and the storyline was fantastic. I didn't think it was too bloody, but it had enough to make its point. The first 5 minutes, we were both a little worried we weren't going to like it, but in the end, after its great climax, we were both in awe. Great story that actually benefited from some of the songs that were included. 8 out of 10

The Life Before Her Eyes - I discovered this movie the other day while browsing the new movies on the Instant Watch on Netflix. It sounded interesting so I pressed play and gave it a chance. This movie is about a woman who is looking back at a pivotal moment in her high school life; a Columbine type high school shooting that she had a critical part in. Half the movie is in her adult life while the other half deals with her teenage years including revisiting the shooting many times. It was a pretty good character study type flick and I can't really tell you too much without giving too much away. If you don't like movies that jump around a lot, it probably isn't for you, but if a heart tugging drama sounds good to you, give it a try. 7 out of 10.

WarGames 2 - I LOVE the original War Games. It is probably one of my favorite cheesy 80s movies. Who doesn't know the "Shall We Play a Game" voice from the computer in this movie? The sequel? This was an absolute abomination of a movie. It puked on the original's concept and angered me to no end when they tried to incorporate characters and elements from the first film. It sickened me to see this and I hope the makers of this movie never make another movie again. 0 out of 10.

Otis - This movie is so hard to classify. Is it a thriller? Horror? Comedy? Otis is a serial killer, kind of. He kidnaps young girls and keeps them as slaves to fulfill his not quite sexual fantasies. Hard to explain. So, at the beginning he kidnaps a new girl and the first half deals with her being trapped and their interactions. The second half is how her family decides to deal with the situation after her escape. Things don't really go according to their plan. I think I am going to classify this as a dark comedy even though there are no jokes in the movie really. How things end up and how the family situation goes is what brings so light to an otherwise dark story. It really was a strange film, but I would actually really recommend this film if you like off the wall movies. It was something special as it was just weird, but not in a "I don't understand it" weird. Give it a try. 7.5 out of 10

Day of the Dead - This is sort of a remake of the original Day of the Dead. I like zombie films so I was of course going to see this, especially since I LOVE with a passion the remake of Dawn of the Dead. This was just so-so though. There were zombies and some cool deaths, but in the end, it was pretty forgetable. Well, except for the fact that it had a vegetarian zombie. Yes, you read that right.... 5 out of 10.

Death Race - This had fast cars, explosions, cool deaths, and the always kick ass Jason Statham. I loved it! Yeah, you have to like cheesy, mindless action films to like this, but you need films like this now and then. In case you don't know, the film deals with a prison who televises live death races between the inmates on the internet. The movie is a cross between The Fast and the Furious, Lock Up(Yeah!!), and umm....Mario Kart. Yeah, you have to see it and know the game to know what I am talking about. Want to have nonstop action without having to think much for 2 hours? See this movie! 8 out of 10

The Lookout - This movie was a pleasant surprise. The main character, who was in a car crash as a teen, now lives in a world where he can barely remember how to live his life and has to leave himself notes on how to go about with everyday things (Take shower, wear fresh clothes, lock door, etc). He isn't really a simpleton, but he has some mental issues that make him sort of a pushover. A group of men prey on this and get him involved with planning a heist of the bank where he works as a janitor. This all leads to the heist at the conclusion of the film with some pretty satisfying results. This is a great drama and Joseph Gordon Levitt was spectacular in the lead role. This movie has a pretty dark tone throughout and I believe this movie was overlooked as a great, powerful drama. 8.5 out of 10

Eastern Promises. Brilliant. In one word, that pretty much sums it up and I don't think my review will do this film justice. It is a movie about the Russian crime family and it echoed the Godfather in its tones of family and crime and everything in between. The story starts with a diary and just progresses from there. Really, I just don't have the words for this movie. If you like mafia type movies - see it. If you like powerful dramas - see it. If you just like to see movies that should be on the list of all time greats - see it. This movie was so powerful, I watched it a second time the next day. If you are going to see one movie on this post, make sure you see this, one of the best movies I have ever seen. 10 out of 10.