Last Vegas

The best part of getting older is believing the fact that in your 70's, you and your three best friends from grade school will someday meet up in Vegas for a 20's something weekend.  Be prepared to pack your medications, cash in your pension, and let it all hang out!  The Rolling Stones aint got nothin on these 4 dudes from the Bronx.  It took me a while to check out this film thinking it would be your typical old man buddy film that has tired jokes and shows geriatric dudes in impossible situations.  I was only half right.  This perfectly cast film had me laughing out loud a number of times and was pretty underrated if you ask me.  4 friends who have known each other since 3rd grade all meet up in Vegas for a Bachelor Party weekend.  The groom is Douglas who is marrying a girl half his age.  They decide its not going to be a slot machine, buffet and asleep by 9 sort of trip.  Quoting one of the lines from the movie, "They are going to party like its 1959".  There is some past built up tension between a few of the characters that makes it an actual story and not an old man "Hangover" film.  Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline stole the show!  They had the best lines and their parts were hilarious.  Throw in Turtle from Entourage and it all comes together.  Somewhat predictable and some good cameos made this a light-hearted feel good movie.  I am holding out hope that I can throw a party like these guys in 30 years.

FYI:  All four lead actors have won Oscars

***1/2

The Gallows

Remember back in the day when you would break into your High School and tear shit up?  You know who you are!  How many of those kids around the country do you think were murdered by the ghost of some kid who died there 30 years before?  My guess is a lot!  This eerie tale is a step by step guide put out there by the PTA to deter kids from actually doing any of these criminal acts again.  Let this be a lesson to you, Teachers are fed up, and they aren't going to take it anymore!  So another found footage film, which seems to be the go to norm for any low budget horror film these days.  I really like them but think this could have been just as successful without.  The best part of this movie is that is was written by a kid from Beatrice, Nebraska, who only six years after graduating High School has a major motion picture showing across the US.  GO BIG RED! :)  The story takes place in Beatrice, a small town in NE, where the annual school play is about to take off.  The kicker is, the play is homage to the same play "The Gallows" put on 30 years prior where a kid accidentally died during the show.  Stupid I know, and most likely would never happen, but I have seen dumber things in schools these days.  Well the worst actor of the film is a former football stud who quits the team to play the lead because he likes the drama nerd.  His friends talk him into breaking in and destroying the set so they cant do the play and that's when they meet their doom.  Good twists and some good cheap jump scares.  For a low budget film that grossed 10 times the films budget, I would say it is a success.  Give it a shot, its worth a good fun scare.

FYI:  The lead actress is Kathy Lee and Frank Giffords daughter, a hot girl who seems to be missing her lips???

***

Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation

Impossible airplane stunt, explosion, shoot out, car crash, snipers, computer hacking, more explosions, death, resurrection, motorcycle chase, hot chick, another shoot out, mind blowing climax!  No I wasn't just describing my regular Saturday nights!  Well, Maybe I was at the end there :)  The 5th installment of Ethan Hunts incredible feats against the world of evil.  This franchise just keeps getting better!  Going back after this and watching part one was like taking away technology for a day.  The progression of these films have been outstanding and this installment takes the cake!  First off, I love Tom Cruise.  I will say it over and over again, I have yet to see a bad movie from this guy.  Weird, and a little deranged, yes, but awesome.  And who isn't messed up in Hollywood?  Don't try to give me an example because I will find proof that your wrong. The action and story in this movie was great but to be honest what made it was the comedic writing and delivery from some of the actors.  Especially, with a capital "E", Simon Pegg!  He is a genius and brings this movie together and showing an obvious Tom Cruise following suit.  One of the surprising parts was Rebecca Ferguson, who I never thought was all that hot, even at the beginning of this movie.  As the film went on she became a goddess, and acted quite well.  I think this is a great movie theater flick you wont mind spending the money on.  Take the kids, mine loved it!  This message will self destruct in 5 seconds.

FYI:  Cruise and Pegg did all of their own stunts.

****

Supremacy

Oh how the world works in mysterious ways!  When true evil in the form of a racist bigot, gets released from prison only to go on a murderous, kidnapping rampage minutes later, what do you think happens next?  He meets a wise old black man who changes him all around in one night.  Classic tale of idiocy diminishing before your very eyes due to the fact that the opposite race is not as trashy as you.  I guess the moral of this story is, always overestimate the angry white man, because underneath it all, he is a blubbering pussy.  Now throw in Derek Luke, you know the actor that plays every young black man in almost every movie ever (Boobie Miles).  For the kicker, you may know how much I hate Danny Glover, I really despise him.  He nails it in this movie!  He plays an old broke down man with a bad history and even worse bones.  His movements are painful and facial expressions are priceless.  Overall I liked this flick, it has a touch of made for TV in it at times but the acting was all pretty good.  Apparently it is based on true events which makes it better knowing its not your typical new age exploitation film.  There were some holes, and some highly unbelievable scenes, like when the whitey leader abandons his soldier!  If you cant trust a Neo-Nazi, who can you trust.  Give it a shot, its a Netflix, so its basically free!

FYI:  The real dude got 274 years in Prison for this!

***

Primer

Think you understand time travel?  Well here is your explanation.  Setting a wormhole time contingent lapse through isometric pressures formulating the contained atomic flow of space time continuum.  Therefore pulsating a systematic rendering of anatomic weight/mass formulating an unconsciousness transcendence of proportional retribution.  This will then reconfigure electrodes and bursting atoms creating a simultaneous clone absorbing life-scale time continuum.  Easy huh?  If you understood any of that, and it actually made any type of sense, then run to your Netflix and watch this movie immediately.  When you do, comment on this post and explain it to me please!  This is regarded as one of the most complicated movies of all time, and I agree.  It took over the number one spot from Interstellar.  This was a really well done low budget film!  No real action, and a set that is basically a garage, a storage unit, and a hotel room.  The dialogue is so complex but written so well that it fools you into thinking you actually understand these nerds.  There are many mysteries with this film that I am still pondering like loss of writing skills, what happens to the doubles, where are they in the time line, how did it actually happen????  This is a definite watch about two men that accidentally invent a time machine and within days begin to abuse it.  You can instantly stream it from Netflix, just make sure you are well caffeinated and ready to listen.  After you watch this film check out this site for some explanation,

 http://www.sparknotes.com/mindhut/2013/06/20/primer-understanding-the-most-complicated-sci-fi-movie-ever-made

FYI:  This movie was made for $7000

****

Unfriended

That's not how this works!  That's not how any of this works!  Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, You Tube, Google, Readit, Pinterest, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  Evil lurks in your device, escape while you can!!!  Especially when there is a ghost involved!  These little high school cyber bully's get exactly what they deserve!  This was an unexpected gem, and I loved every minute of it!  It was the perfect horror movie for today's youth.  Being a father of two kids, i can tell you that getting the screen out from in front of their face is about as easy as smashing my head through a brick wall.  The kids in this movie are no different and are just as technologically sound as your everyday average kid today.  In this suspense thriller, someone posted an embarrassing video of a high school girl after a party and she ends up killing herself, on a video, online.  Well she is back, with a vengeance!  The entire movie is shot through the computer camera from the group Skype of 5 friends and ends up in a great game of truth or dare.  This was gritty and real and due to the context it didn't matter if the acting was bad, and it wasn't too bad.  I had a lot of fun watching this and was really surprised at how well of a job they did.  This is a definite watch recommendation for me!

FYI:  This entire movie was filmed in one house, with the actors in different rooms for 6 days.

****

Demonic

Ahh, another tale of the old spooky house at the end of the woods!  Why not watch this one?  You have the elements that suck you in as a horror movie fan.  Cool spooky poster, Check!  Evil title, Check!  Taglines that say, "from the Director of The Conjuring" and "Every House has its Secrets!"  Check!  Red flag number one, it has been released in about 12 countries other than this one!  Another red flag may be the fact that Mario Bello is in it.  Although she is easy on the eyes, she has been in some pretty low budget, borderline made for TV types lately.  Frank Grillo is good, but he tends to over act, and the main teen-age characters in this movie were pretty awful actors.  Basically the kids go to this old house hunting for ghosts due to the murder that happened years before.  It just so happens that one of the kids Mom had known the killer.  Why not take him along, it might manifest the spirits enough to tear shit up.  Half found footage, half aftermath film it wasnt that bad.  I enjoyed most of it even with the played out story-line.  The end gives a bit of a twist that is not uncommon, but fits the story.  Some scares but definitely more of a suspense thriller than a horror movie.  Now get your Ouija board and light some candles, its time for a witch hunt!

FYI:  One of the film crew contracted rabies from a bat while filming!

**1/2