I like Batman. I think he's a cool superhero. There is nothing that makes him super though aside from his abundance of cash as Bruce Wayne (hope I didn't spoil his identity for anybody!). He can't fly, he can't do a Hulk Smash and definately can't shoot webs. But that's what is appealing. He's a regular handsome rich guy who's taking the streets back. The Dark Knight upped the ante for me as far as my Batman opinion goes. He took the top spot from Spiderman, so let's get into the movie.
I have two complaints with a possible third.
#1. His growl. You don't sing for Cannibal Corpse and you're not Cookie Monster. If your close friends and associated don't recognize your lower face, I thinks it's safe to believe that in fantasy Gotham they won't recognize your voice either (Peter Parker I am looking at you)
#2. I got fed up of hearing everybody refer to him as "the Batman". It sounds like Bret Hart saying "the WCW". Shut up.
#3. Heath Ledger licking his goddamn lips so much. Self explanatory.
The story is great. In my opinion this is more of a crime/police story than a superhero comic book movie. Aside from a guy dressed as a bat, everything is played straight and is truly believable. Yes it includes the Joker.
Heath Ledger in my opinion IS the star of the show. Dead or not, this is the Jokers movie 100%. When he is on screen I am glued to the screen. When he is off screen I am anxiously awaiting his next appearance. Then when the Joker theme comes on I am ready to see what happens next. He steals the whole movie. One of my favorite parts to him is his story of getting the scars and how he's a complete mystery about everything.
If you know me you know one of my pet peeves about villains in movies is that they have to come up with some horrendous, idiotic reason from their past that made them maniacs. It's always delivered with the generic "I'm so crrraaaazzzyyyy" delivery too after they played it straight the rest of the movie. There's no bullshitting with the Joker. Michael Caine said it perfectly when Bruce is trying to figure it out when he said there are some people who just want to watch the world burn. Amen brother. Perfect villain explanation.
The entire cast is great minus Maggie Gyllenhall. She sucks. She is ugly. She is annoying like her stupid brother. Her bogus stuck in the middle romance eats my shit but I know it's an integral part to the story so what can I do? At least they couldve let Katie Holmes know I'd eat her snatch to come back, I mean what girl would say no to that right? She sucks too but at least she's attractive.
Gary Oldman is the man. Aaron Eckhart was VERY good as Harvey Two Face. Once he turns I actually think I'd be more terrified of him than the Joker if I crossed paths with him.
Morgan Freeman is always good as the gentle black man. That guy can make you feel good with his voice, even as he is penetrating your ass with his unlubed dick. He speaks with such serenity.
The action stuff is cool, although I'll be honest I couldve used more. There wasn't a lack and it was all there for a reason. I'm a Michael Bay fan though so I anticipate sweaty tits, slow camera movements, and explosions every three minutes, followed by Morgan Freeman telling Christian Bale that shit just got real.
For a two and a half hour movie, it breezes by. Even upon my second viewing since it's on DVD now, it still moved fast and I loved it.
Upon second viewing however,this time I was a little distracted by Heath Ledger. I myself am beyond afraid of death, so seeing a guy my age just hitting his stride and putting on a display that warrants being called one of the top movie villains I've ever seen next to Biff and Mama Fratelli, it sucks to know he didn't even have the chance to see it. He probably does deserve a best supporting actor award and the Dark Knight should be up for best picture but let's be honest, those honors typically go to movies starring guys named Francois and they spend twenty minutes naked on a farm speaking a foreign language. That's fine that the academy nominated whatever they want, the problem is they rarely nominate anything people actually go and see. So hopefully he wins and this is at least under consideration.
Highly highly recommend not just seeing it but adding it to your own personal collection. I know my copy has earned it's spot in my classics collection with Weekend at Bernies and Harry and the Hendersons.
Heath Ledger is very haunting in it. The more I think of it i'm creeper out.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
City Of God
I had heard about this movie in 03 when I started college. It's about the violence and crime in the slums of Rio de Janero and all the crazy shit that goes down. I had no idea but it takes place in the 60's/70's and follows a group of kids from their adolescence to their grown up shithead phase.
The movie is subtitled, which for me personally is fine but sometimes distracting. Sometimes I feel like I miss some visual aspects of the movie, but for this one I got the gist of it all. Some of the things that happened you could see coming, but in delivery were still cool. It's not just gangsta rappers glorifying thug life, it's all over the world. I wish these people wouldn't resort to crime and murder, or if that's the path they take, I wish they'd avoid the innocent people. But I digress.
I was watching up until one of the guys, Benny, decided he wants out and there's a big going away party for him. Violence strikes and it was obvious what was going to happen. From there all hell breaks loose so of course I'd be amped for this right?
Wrong. The movie is two hours and ten minutes long. There was still plenty of time left. Once they become adults it really starts to drag and I feel they couldve cut out some of the stuff. We understand that the bad guy is a very bad guy. When he was a kid we established how nasty he was. So in the midst of all the action it happened....
I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up and turned it off, actually not caring to see the rest. I had my assumptions of what would happen. I looked up the spoiler online and in fact, my assumptions were correct. The only thing I didn't realize was it being based on a true story (according to the ending anyway) but Weekend at Bernies was also based on a true story along with Harry and the Hendersons.
Whatever. The whole start of the movie was great. I enjoyed seeing what these people became, they just spent too much time telling me. Check it out if you want, or go find spoilers
The movie is subtitled, which for me personally is fine but sometimes distracting. Sometimes I feel like I miss some visual aspects of the movie, but for this one I got the gist of it all. Some of the things that happened you could see coming, but in delivery were still cool. It's not just gangsta rappers glorifying thug life, it's all over the world. I wish these people wouldn't resort to crime and murder, or if that's the path they take, I wish they'd avoid the innocent people. But I digress.
I was watching up until one of the guys, Benny, decided he wants out and there's a big going away party for him. Violence strikes and it was obvious what was going to happen. From there all hell breaks loose so of course I'd be amped for this right?
Wrong. The movie is two hours and ten minutes long. There was still plenty of time left. Once they become adults it really starts to drag and I feel they couldve cut out some of the stuff. We understand that the bad guy is a very bad guy. When he was a kid we established how nasty he was. So in the midst of all the action it happened....
I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up and turned it off, actually not caring to see the rest. I had my assumptions of what would happen. I looked up the spoiler online and in fact, my assumptions were correct. The only thing I didn't realize was it being based on a true story (according to the ending anyway) but Weekend at Bernies was also based on a true story along with Harry and the Hendersons.
Whatever. The whole start of the movie was great. I enjoyed seeing what these people became, they just spent too much time telling me. Check it out if you want, or go find spoilers
Monday, December 1, 2008
Transporter 3
Frank Martin is back! He's as cut, kickass, and bald as ever.
They've put Frank back overseas away from the nasty skinny American blonde bitch from part 2, the stupid geek politician, and his job as a cheuffer. As Egan said, it is like part 2 never happened with how this one goes.
Frank has to transport a person again, like in the first movie. This time a hot bitch from Ukraine (who is not an actor, just some hottie the writer wanted in the movie, she does a great job). This time however, Frank can't just decide one thing or another and break his rules to screw the bad guys. He has a bracelet, along with the girl, that will combine chemicals and blow up if he moves 75 feet away from his car.
All kinds of crap happens, as you'd expect from a movie with Jason Statham, including but not limited to:
A sweet bike ride
A Statham striptease which will just make you melt if you have man crushes on cut bald guys!
Some good fights
Sweet car chases
dirtbag bad guy city
etc
It goes back to the original in the cheesey style of the movie as far as the story goes, along with the ridiculous music and love interest. I was thoroughly entertained throughout.
The one complaint I have, might not even be a complaint as much as an "I see the positives and negatives of doing it this way" and that's for the fight scenes. In the first and second movie, you could see everything perfectly. It was obviously a well planned, choreographed, and orchestrated fight scene with ridiculous things happening.
In the latest installment, all these things are still here, but at a much faster pace. Literally you can see that some of the fight has been sped up to make impacts sick and to make it just insane. Along with that comes faster editing. Its not on the level of the Bourne movies where you can't see a fucking thing going on, but it is also not the easy on the eyes fights from the first two. It helps them so they dont look like a ballet act, but it hurts them because I enjoyed the ballet looking slick fight scenes from the other movies.
Bottom line, you still see that mother fucker beat the shit out of a bunch of bad guys and shit, so its all good.
I read a review saying this was a dvd rental at best. Eat shit! You need to go see Statham tear it up on the BIG SCREEN so his bald head is shown in full force!
They've put Frank back overseas away from the nasty skinny American blonde bitch from part 2, the stupid geek politician, and his job as a cheuffer. As Egan said, it is like part 2 never happened with how this one goes.
Frank has to transport a person again, like in the first movie. This time a hot bitch from Ukraine (who is not an actor, just some hottie the writer wanted in the movie, she does a great job). This time however, Frank can't just decide one thing or another and break his rules to screw the bad guys. He has a bracelet, along with the girl, that will combine chemicals and blow up if he moves 75 feet away from his car.
All kinds of crap happens, as you'd expect from a movie with Jason Statham, including but not limited to:
A sweet bike ride
A Statham striptease which will just make you melt if you have man crushes on cut bald guys!
Some good fights
Sweet car chases
dirtbag bad guy city
etc
It goes back to the original in the cheesey style of the movie as far as the story goes, along with the ridiculous music and love interest. I was thoroughly entertained throughout.
The one complaint I have, might not even be a complaint as much as an "I see the positives and negatives of doing it this way" and that's for the fight scenes. In the first and second movie, you could see everything perfectly. It was obviously a well planned, choreographed, and orchestrated fight scene with ridiculous things happening.
In the latest installment, all these things are still here, but at a much faster pace. Literally you can see that some of the fight has been sped up to make impacts sick and to make it just insane. Along with that comes faster editing. Its not on the level of the Bourne movies where you can't see a fucking thing going on, but it is also not the easy on the eyes fights from the first two. It helps them so they dont look like a ballet act, but it hurts them because I enjoyed the ballet looking slick fight scenes from the other movies.
Bottom line, you still see that mother fucker beat the shit out of a bunch of bad guys and shit, so its all good.
I read a review saying this was a dvd rental at best. Eat shit! You need to go see Statham tear it up on the BIG SCREEN so his bald head is shown in full force!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Teeth
What starts out as a creepy, religious type infomercial for abstinence, quickly turns into a crazy affair.
This chick is uncomfortable with her body, knowing there is something wrong with her. Something that isn't normal. She takes a vow of abstinence and is a public speaker at her school about it. While she is speaking the "new guy" at school takes a liking to her, and then her vow of abstinence is called into question when she realizes her panties are getting wet at the sight of the dudes incredibly shitty haircut.
What happens next when things get taken a little further than she would like, was ridiculous.
I knew the premise of the movie before watching so I had an idea of what was going to happen. Knowing, and then seeing it in action is a completely different thing. It was even nastier than I expected. The editor of the movie did such a good job of waiting, and then waiting, and waiting, until finally waiting a little bit longer, before showing the horrible aftermath of what happens when she realizes she can use her deformaty to protect herself.
It was pretty gruesome. While the idea is freaky and disgusting, there was still plenty of humor in itself. The movie played itself out not taking itself too seriously, yet at the same time being incredibly uncomfortable and repulsive all at the same time.
I was glued to the couch, waiting to see who was next in line.
Each time delivered the total package (ha!) and left me cringing, even though it was warranted behaviour.
Definately check it out. The amount they show was surprising, but at the same time I am glad the prosthetics department (or the sausage cart) got so much action in the movie.
As far as the teeth themselves, those are still left to the imagination.
Good stuff
This chick is uncomfortable with her body, knowing there is something wrong with her. Something that isn't normal. She takes a vow of abstinence and is a public speaker at her school about it. While she is speaking the "new guy" at school takes a liking to her, and then her vow of abstinence is called into question when she realizes her panties are getting wet at the sight of the dudes incredibly shitty haircut.
What happens next when things get taken a little further than she would like, was ridiculous.
I knew the premise of the movie before watching so I had an idea of what was going to happen. Knowing, and then seeing it in action is a completely different thing. It was even nastier than I expected. The editor of the movie did such a good job of waiting, and then waiting, and waiting, until finally waiting a little bit longer, before showing the horrible aftermath of what happens when she realizes she can use her deformaty to protect herself.
It was pretty gruesome. While the idea is freaky and disgusting, there was still plenty of humor in itself. The movie played itself out not taking itself too seriously, yet at the same time being incredibly uncomfortable and repulsive all at the same time.
I was glued to the couch, waiting to see who was next in line.
Each time delivered the total package (ha!) and left me cringing, even though it was warranted behaviour.
Definately check it out. The amount they show was surprising, but at the same time I am glad the prosthetics department (or the sausage cart) got so much action in the movie.
As far as the teeth themselves, those are still left to the imagination.
Good stuff
Monday, November 10, 2008
Get Rich, or Die Tryin'
This is a loosely based look at the life and times of 50 Cent.
I will be the first to say, I HATE MOVIES, TV SHOWS, OR ANYTHING AT ALL GLORIFYING THE THUG LIFE.
Movies like this give pieces of shit like the kid who robbed me the idea that they too can deal drugs, shoot people, and be involved with murders and still grow up to be a rousing success, sell millions of albums, and all of a sudden become a good citizen.
Seeing exactly what transpired in his young life, obviously it IS an eye opener to see what some of these kids go through. What is mind boggling to me though is that these kids think they have to become a gangsta, or they have to hustle to make money and be a general menace to society, get it?
These kids who saw this movie in hopes of seeing their hero realize the american dream are fucked. His story isn't of inspiration as much as a guy that went through a ton of shit, realized he made tremendously poor choices, and nearly got himself killed in the process.
Is this what people want to aspire to be? Low life drug runners working for murderers and thugs? It makes no sense.
Does it mean the movie is bad? Absolutely not. I was interested and entertained throughout. If this was a purely fictional tale I wouldn't have any real qualms with the idea that this fictional character got his revenge on his mothers killer by making music, but since I know what has happened since, where this guy is a huge celebrity, has glorified and made bullet proof vests a fashion statement and made millions on the fact he survived an assasination attempt.
Maybe I am just jealous of these people who are doing things the "wrong way" and getting million dollar mansions, mercedes, and the fine ass bitches they wants. Meanwhile I am sitting here struggling to make a peanut butter sandwich.
Nah, joking aside, it is very entertaining, and I liked it and was interested in what would happen, even though I knew the ending already.
I just wish some of these people would actually be a positive influence on these kids. Maybe its because theres been an unbelievable amount of gang related violence in my city or what have you. None of them will ever compare with Boyz N' the Hood. Increase the Peace!
I will be the first to say, I HATE MOVIES, TV SHOWS, OR ANYTHING AT ALL GLORIFYING THE THUG LIFE.
Movies like this give pieces of shit like the kid who robbed me the idea that they too can deal drugs, shoot people, and be involved with murders and still grow up to be a rousing success, sell millions of albums, and all of a sudden become a good citizen.
Seeing exactly what transpired in his young life, obviously it IS an eye opener to see what some of these kids go through. What is mind boggling to me though is that these kids think they have to become a gangsta, or they have to hustle to make money and be a general menace to society, get it?
These kids who saw this movie in hopes of seeing their hero realize the american dream are fucked. His story isn't of inspiration as much as a guy that went through a ton of shit, realized he made tremendously poor choices, and nearly got himself killed in the process.
Is this what people want to aspire to be? Low life drug runners working for murderers and thugs? It makes no sense.
Does it mean the movie is bad? Absolutely not. I was interested and entertained throughout. If this was a purely fictional tale I wouldn't have any real qualms with the idea that this fictional character got his revenge on his mothers killer by making music, but since I know what has happened since, where this guy is a huge celebrity, has glorified and made bullet proof vests a fashion statement and made millions on the fact he survived an assasination attempt.
Maybe I am just jealous of these people who are doing things the "wrong way" and getting million dollar mansions, mercedes, and the fine ass bitches they wants. Meanwhile I am sitting here struggling to make a peanut butter sandwich.
Nah, joking aside, it is very entertaining, and I liked it and was interested in what would happen, even though I knew the ending already.
I just wish some of these people would actually be a positive influence on these kids. Maybe its because theres been an unbelievable amount of gang related violence in my city or what have you. None of them will ever compare with Boyz N' the Hood. Increase the Peace!
The Warriors
I first saw this movie when I was 12 or so. My aunt had the video lying around and I borrowed it and checked it out.
The movie has obviously dated itself with some of the horrendous hairstyles and music. Not saying the music is bad because I love synthesizers and stuff like that, but gigantic white guy fros, and shaggy hair look terrible, even now with shithead cool kids bringing them back.
What I do like is that the whole concept is still something people can relate to today. Getting from point A to point B while you have every gang in NYC after you is self explanatory.
I like the majority of the fights. They arent anything insane by todays standards, but I am sure at the time this was cutting age fight choreography. Another thing about the movie aging not so gracefully...
Were gangs in the 70's really this ridiculous? I like the Baseball Furies as much as the next guy, but lets be realistic, would anyone actually dress that way? How about the Hi-Hats, or the numerous other stupid gimmicky gangs in the movie.
I like a lot of the characters, although the stupid wuss guy in the Warriors is a waste, and I HATE the romance aspect that came along when the Warriors stole the Orphans bitch. A movie like this doesn't really need a romantic story and it honestly slows it down a little. At the same time some the other cut aways in the story slow down too when the Warriors meet up with the Lizzies. Is it too much to ask for a movie with guys fucking each other up and needing to get home doesn't involve a nasty whore? I like girls flashing their tits and being hookers in these movies, but as far as romance, beat it.
Even though its dated, and could actually benefit from a "reimagining" or a modernizing of the movie, I recommend checking out one of the first movies to cause a huge stink at the box office with people actually getting killed at the theatre. Crazy.
The movie has obviously dated itself with some of the horrendous hairstyles and music. Not saying the music is bad because I love synthesizers and stuff like that, but gigantic white guy fros, and shaggy hair look terrible, even now with shithead cool kids bringing them back.
What I do like is that the whole concept is still something people can relate to today. Getting from point A to point B while you have every gang in NYC after you is self explanatory.
I like the majority of the fights. They arent anything insane by todays standards, but I am sure at the time this was cutting age fight choreography. Another thing about the movie aging not so gracefully...
Were gangs in the 70's really this ridiculous? I like the Baseball Furies as much as the next guy, but lets be realistic, would anyone actually dress that way? How about the Hi-Hats, or the numerous other stupid gimmicky gangs in the movie.
I like a lot of the characters, although the stupid wuss guy in the Warriors is a waste, and I HATE the romance aspect that came along when the Warriors stole the Orphans bitch. A movie like this doesn't really need a romantic story and it honestly slows it down a little. At the same time some the other cut aways in the story slow down too when the Warriors meet up with the Lizzies. Is it too much to ask for a movie with guys fucking each other up and needing to get home doesn't involve a nasty whore? I like girls flashing their tits and being hookers in these movies, but as far as romance, beat it.
Even though its dated, and could actually benefit from a "reimagining" or a modernizing of the movie, I recommend checking out one of the first movies to cause a huge stink at the box office with people actually getting killed at the theatre. Crazy.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
SAW!!! ALL OF THEM!
Where do I begin? Let's start with a quick review/roundup of the first four in the series.
SAW: I anticipated this movie for a few month before it came out. I had followed it closely from all the new briefings and cool things I had heard from joblo.com back in 04, and man did it deliver.
Went into the movie pretty amped. It was being billed as a horror movie, and I think that's one thing that has actually hurt the series. While there are horrific events that take place in the movie, there is no clear cut slasher, no jump out scares or anything. It is more of a crime caper and a big who dunnit type of ordeal.
The entire premise of the movie is there is a "serial killer" on the loose, who cuts puzzle pieces of flesh from his victims. As it is discovered however, the victims are put into horrifying situations with a chance to redeem themselves from some of the terrible things they have done in the past. These people don't appreciate life, and Jigsaw has them decide whether they will live or die by putting them into these scenarios. When they fail, they are missing the piece of the puzzle to live their lives, hence the puzzle piece being cut out.
Two guys awaken in a nasty bathroom, chained by their ankles with a dead body in between them. They find tape recorders that give them rules to follow if they want to live. As they are finding out about each other, there are flashbacks, and cops on the hunt for Jigsaw. As I said, this is more of a detective thriller than anything else. Along the way there are some grotesque crime scenes, but half of the gore is insinuated and we see the after math for the most part.
For a movie that cost so little (1.4 million) they did a really good job of creating a solid atmosphere, picking up some half decent actors (Danny Glover, Carey Elwes), and a solid writer/director team of new comers Leigh Whannel and James Wan.
The movie has me stuck to my seat and the ending literally blew me away, as well as everyone else watching I am sure. The whole thing was set up beautifully, and when everything is tied together and revealed, it is so smart, and so well thought out I had no complaints. Of course as you look back you can nitpick here and there, but thats just semantics. Even so, any questions I had going forward, were addressed shortly.
SAW II
After Saw blew my nuts off, they announced a sequel. Sign me up and tell me where to watch. This time, the cops are hot on the trail of one Mr. John Kramer or Jigsaw as they call him. Saw has kidnapped a detective (Donnie New Kid Wahlberg) and has thrown his ass into an abandoned house. Inside the house there is a crew of theives, junkies, and general pieces of shit locked in there with him. They all have a specific time limit to get out of the house before a dealy nerve agent is released into the house.
This movie upped the ante on gore, on action, and on the entire entertainment aspect from the first. While part 1 had me glued to the story, part two lets you sit back and watch these sad cases go through the motions. We know why things are happening, so less talky, more killy.
Not to say there isn't a story to be had. On the contrary. This time we get to know Jigsaw on a more personal basis. He even goes so far as to explain why he does this shit, and why he's such a sick bastard. Being that he's a dying cancer patient, what the hell does he care? The difference between him and other old dying people is that he gives them a chance to live if they follow the rules. These people should feel lucky that he's not one of those maniac senior citizens who decide they're going to drive through shopping malls and front windows of stores to wipe out as many innocent people as they can before they go out in a blaze of glory. At least Jigsaw is a polite old man who gives directions.
As I said, this one is more graphic and more blood can be seen, but still, this isn't a horror movie. As it goes on, the story reveals more, the criminals inside the house reveal more, and it goes back into the whole, oh wow this is smart and well pieced together. Like a Jigsaw puzzle! HA!
All the way up to the twist ending, I was captivated. Yet again Saw blew my socks off and made me cream my jeans. More so this time than the first time. This one had more to talk about at the end too, like, "hey, would you be able to cut your eyeball out to stay alive?"
Still can't answer that one.
SAW III
Okay, I could see the sequel coming after part 2. Obviously the series is a full blown cash cow by this point. The first 2 cost a combined 5 million bucks to make and wind up making a measily 140 million dollars in the US theatres alone!! Jesus! No wonder they announced they signed a deal to produce a new Saw movie every Halloween until the year 3008. Don't even include DVD sales, which were probably also astronomical, and this is just unbelievable. So after making roughly 135 million in profit after the first 2, they decide to up the budget to a whopping 10 million for part 3.
I don't know what happened but 3 actually looks a little cheaper to me than the first 2. I guess Tobin Bell decided hey, if you want my sexy fucking voice, my sweet white hair, and me lying in a bathrobe dying for an entire movie, I want the new budget to go to me. One thing I do know if they didn't go out and get a good casting director for this one.
My biggest complaint for the entire series now comes up as some of the people that start showing up in the movies were piss poor casting decisions.
The people returning from 1 and 2 are fine. I enjoy them immensely. The main character for this one? What the fuck? There is a down on his life father who is depressed and wants vengeance because his daughter was killed, and the killer got off for manslaughter as it was deemed an accident. Jigsaw is teaching this suicidal asshole a lesson by letting him decide the fate of a few people involved with the accident. The story gets a little hokey for me here mainly because with what is going on with Jigsaw dying on a bed, with his apprentice learning from him, and holding a bitch hostage with six shotgun barrels mounted to a collar around her head, the vengeful father doesn't do a thing to catch my attention.
There is nothing to make me sympathize with the guy. Maybe I am turning into an asshole movie viewer, but appearance is starting to matter to me on this front. They got this greasy, slob, out of shape guy who seems like a wife beater, child neglecting, booze drinking asshole. He seems like a guy I should be rooting AGAINST in this movie, not rooting for. I honestly believe it has a lot to do with the guy they got. I just didn't care about him.
So him walking through the booby traps trying to save people gets lame fast. Not only that, the traps seemed a little weaker here too. Maybe the way it is set up, where he needs to help people as opposed to help himself takes the whole idea and throws it in a new direction which doesnt really work for me.
I am watching CSI Miami while I am writing this, and one of the chicks on it has perfect tits.
The whole movie to me, is what is taking place with Jigsaw. The guy has a brain tumor the size of an elephants nut bag. He needs emergency surgery or he is going to die like his test subjects. The girl they have in captivity of course is a surgeon, which is why she is there, so there is a great brain surgery scene in the movie. All the happenings with the cops finding victims, with Jigsaw near death, and with Amanda taking things in the wrong direction are so interesting, they could cut the movie in half and get rid of wife beater dad.
All this of course leads up to the ending. They all lead up to the damn ending amd the sweet ass Charlie Clouser music. This time, the ending throws a real curve at you, because where can they go from here? How is this going to continue? Who will continue on Jigsaws legacy? Will the casting director please get fired?
All in all, 3 was enjoyable for the swerve ending of course, for anything with Jigsaw on the screen, the flashbacks to 1 and 2, and pretty much everything not involving the wife beater dad and his scenarios to go through. He sucked. Make sure part 4 has someone I can like and relate to as the good guy.
SAW IV
Alright, the SWAT Team Member from the rest of the movies, the cool black guy Rigg is taking over as main guy. After Carrie, the detective and hot chick who flaunts her tits in Starship Troopers gets her tits ripped apart in three, he is on a mission to find who did it. Obviously Jigsaw. The only problem is, Jigsaw is dead. WHOOPS! Did I spoil that for my two readers?
Yeah, hes dead. His throat was slashed in three, and this has a sweet ass autopsy on his body where they obviously find another tape in his stomach to continue the games. How cool is this shit? So far so good.
Oh wait. Who the hell is this? Some asshole with a jew fro and his lips sewn together. Eh. I don't care about him at all and hope big guy with his eyes sewn shut kills him. Nope. Jew fro wins, but why?
Later it is revealed that jew fro guy is Jigsaws lawyer. Good casting because you're supposed to hate lawyers right? Bad casting because I don't hate that he's a lawyer. Joe Pesci was a lawyer in My Cousin Vinny, and he was pretty loveable. This guy could be the nice guy that passes out millions of dollars to the needy, but I don't like him because he looks like an asshole. Any white guys who have curly hair, should cut it short and leave it that way. Otherwise you look like the Jonas Brothers or Eugene Levy from Splah, and EVERYBODY hated him in that movie!
So, the story goes on, and Rigg is in hot pursuit, playing his own game. As with the others, they are showing more and more gore. I mean in sequels you have to right? Scalp getting ripped from a head. Some lard ass rapist getting his eyes gouged out and his body ripped apart. These are back to being COOL traps! Actually you know what? I am digging this! Who the hell IS behind all this Jigsaw madness now they he and Amanda are dead?
No! The Jew fro guy? His lawyer? You gotta be shitting me! Rigg winds up at the end of his game, there is Donnie, making a nice bearded return since we last saw him at the start of 3, being held captive along with one of the unimportant background detectives on the case till this point in the series. Then he sees Jew fro lawyer sitting at the desk with the monitors watching the madness take place and I am furious! What a terrible Jigsaw replacement! What follows is an awesome head explosion, a head scratcher of an ending and a "what significance does this asshole have to John Kramer, and why should HE get to carry the torch!?" I agree with Tommy when he said it should've been Dr. Gordon himself, Carry Elwes making a surprise run in from part 1 with one foot and being Jigsaw now. Nope. I hope part five is better than this. The ending left a really sour taste in my mouth for some reason. Is this it? Is the SAW franchise starting to fail me since Leigh Whannel and James Wan are only producers and are pretty hands off on the franchise they created? We will see.
SAW V
Alright. A year has passed, I have watched part 4 since my first viewing on opening night. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around as I was able to go back and see the writing on the wall and see what was going on, knowing the ending. Things are still shady to me in the Saw world, but the flashbacks in 4, of course all revolving around Jigsaws origins were badass, and the movie is cool.
Part 5 goes back to the earlier incarnations where like part 2, there is a group needing to survive together, all the while we are back to the formula of part 1 with the detective thriller making a serious return. This time Agent Strahm from part 4 is a survivor of NEW SAW and is finding more and more evidence as to who is behind all this shit now. Back and forth it goes from him to the crew of pieces of shit going at it in a game or survival.
This time they got a bunch of people I actually enjoyed. They played some swerves on me too as I was expecting specific people to get smoked and shit, and they didn't do it. One thing that was also exciting to me was the return of the disgusting scenarios of, man would you be able to do that? It didn't totally disappear in the others, but this one has one especially that was like, oh shit. The blood donor one if you've seen it.
Thankfully, the origins of new Jigsaw are revealed. All loose ends literally from all of the movies are tied up, and it is a good deal of cat and mouse, double crossing and all this shit. I was back into my vested interest mode of the Saw series. They're back! They didn't lose it! The rumors were true from two years prior when they announced they were in development for the next hundred sequels. They really DID have a whole story that would criss cross through the next couple movies. This is the proof in the pudding because the whole story intertwines and makes complete sense.
All my questions of why this shit happened in 3, or where did that come from in 4, all explained! Next time, I think you should put a disclaimer at the end of the movie SAW. Like when Back to the Future 2 had the To Be Concluded at the end of it to let us know that everything will be settled next movie. Only if you guys did that at the end of 4 and delivered this, it would've been a much more satisfying payoff than that terrible western love story.
So as you can tell, it all worked out in the end. My prayers were answered. They really did care about my opinion. They probably got a new casting director as there were no douchebags in it. They even went back and explained some planted evidence from back in part 1 which was awesome. We even got to see Danny Glovers picture, Donnie's picture, and so on and so forth. It was cool.
As unrealistic as some of the things are in it as well, it is still awesome anyhow. I loved part 5. Saw is back in action!
SAW: I anticipated this movie for a few month before it came out. I had followed it closely from all the new briefings and cool things I had heard from joblo.com back in 04, and man did it deliver.
Went into the movie pretty amped. It was being billed as a horror movie, and I think that's one thing that has actually hurt the series. While there are horrific events that take place in the movie, there is no clear cut slasher, no jump out scares or anything. It is more of a crime caper and a big who dunnit type of ordeal.
The entire premise of the movie is there is a "serial killer" on the loose, who cuts puzzle pieces of flesh from his victims. As it is discovered however, the victims are put into horrifying situations with a chance to redeem themselves from some of the terrible things they have done in the past. These people don't appreciate life, and Jigsaw has them decide whether they will live or die by putting them into these scenarios. When they fail, they are missing the piece of the puzzle to live their lives, hence the puzzle piece being cut out.
Two guys awaken in a nasty bathroom, chained by their ankles with a dead body in between them. They find tape recorders that give them rules to follow if they want to live. As they are finding out about each other, there are flashbacks, and cops on the hunt for Jigsaw. As I said, this is more of a detective thriller than anything else. Along the way there are some grotesque crime scenes, but half of the gore is insinuated and we see the after math for the most part.
For a movie that cost so little (1.4 million) they did a really good job of creating a solid atmosphere, picking up some half decent actors (Danny Glover, Carey Elwes), and a solid writer/director team of new comers Leigh Whannel and James Wan.
The movie has me stuck to my seat and the ending literally blew me away, as well as everyone else watching I am sure. The whole thing was set up beautifully, and when everything is tied together and revealed, it is so smart, and so well thought out I had no complaints. Of course as you look back you can nitpick here and there, but thats just semantics. Even so, any questions I had going forward, were addressed shortly.
SAW II
After Saw blew my nuts off, they announced a sequel. Sign me up and tell me where to watch. This time, the cops are hot on the trail of one Mr. John Kramer or Jigsaw as they call him. Saw has kidnapped a detective (Donnie New Kid Wahlberg) and has thrown his ass into an abandoned house. Inside the house there is a crew of theives, junkies, and general pieces of shit locked in there with him. They all have a specific time limit to get out of the house before a dealy nerve agent is released into the house.
This movie upped the ante on gore, on action, and on the entire entertainment aspect from the first. While part 1 had me glued to the story, part two lets you sit back and watch these sad cases go through the motions. We know why things are happening, so less talky, more killy.
Not to say there isn't a story to be had. On the contrary. This time we get to know Jigsaw on a more personal basis. He even goes so far as to explain why he does this shit, and why he's such a sick bastard. Being that he's a dying cancer patient, what the hell does he care? The difference between him and other old dying people is that he gives them a chance to live if they follow the rules. These people should feel lucky that he's not one of those maniac senior citizens who decide they're going to drive through shopping malls and front windows of stores to wipe out as many innocent people as they can before they go out in a blaze of glory. At least Jigsaw is a polite old man who gives directions.
As I said, this one is more graphic and more blood can be seen, but still, this isn't a horror movie. As it goes on, the story reveals more, the criminals inside the house reveal more, and it goes back into the whole, oh wow this is smart and well pieced together. Like a Jigsaw puzzle! HA!
All the way up to the twist ending, I was captivated. Yet again Saw blew my socks off and made me cream my jeans. More so this time than the first time. This one had more to talk about at the end too, like, "hey, would you be able to cut your eyeball out to stay alive?"
Still can't answer that one.
SAW III
Okay, I could see the sequel coming after part 2. Obviously the series is a full blown cash cow by this point. The first 2 cost a combined 5 million bucks to make and wind up making a measily 140 million dollars in the US theatres alone!! Jesus! No wonder they announced they signed a deal to produce a new Saw movie every Halloween until the year 3008. Don't even include DVD sales, which were probably also astronomical, and this is just unbelievable. So after making roughly 135 million in profit after the first 2, they decide to up the budget to a whopping 10 million for part 3.
I don't know what happened but 3 actually looks a little cheaper to me than the first 2. I guess Tobin Bell decided hey, if you want my sexy fucking voice, my sweet white hair, and me lying in a bathrobe dying for an entire movie, I want the new budget to go to me. One thing I do know if they didn't go out and get a good casting director for this one.
My biggest complaint for the entire series now comes up as some of the people that start showing up in the movies were piss poor casting decisions.
The people returning from 1 and 2 are fine. I enjoy them immensely. The main character for this one? What the fuck? There is a down on his life father who is depressed and wants vengeance because his daughter was killed, and the killer got off for manslaughter as it was deemed an accident. Jigsaw is teaching this suicidal asshole a lesson by letting him decide the fate of a few people involved with the accident. The story gets a little hokey for me here mainly because with what is going on with Jigsaw dying on a bed, with his apprentice learning from him, and holding a bitch hostage with six shotgun barrels mounted to a collar around her head, the vengeful father doesn't do a thing to catch my attention.
There is nothing to make me sympathize with the guy. Maybe I am turning into an asshole movie viewer, but appearance is starting to matter to me on this front. They got this greasy, slob, out of shape guy who seems like a wife beater, child neglecting, booze drinking asshole. He seems like a guy I should be rooting AGAINST in this movie, not rooting for. I honestly believe it has a lot to do with the guy they got. I just didn't care about him.
So him walking through the booby traps trying to save people gets lame fast. Not only that, the traps seemed a little weaker here too. Maybe the way it is set up, where he needs to help people as opposed to help himself takes the whole idea and throws it in a new direction which doesnt really work for me.
I am watching CSI Miami while I am writing this, and one of the chicks on it has perfect tits.
The whole movie to me, is what is taking place with Jigsaw. The guy has a brain tumor the size of an elephants nut bag. He needs emergency surgery or he is going to die like his test subjects. The girl they have in captivity of course is a surgeon, which is why she is there, so there is a great brain surgery scene in the movie. All the happenings with the cops finding victims, with Jigsaw near death, and with Amanda taking things in the wrong direction are so interesting, they could cut the movie in half and get rid of wife beater dad.
All this of course leads up to the ending. They all lead up to the damn ending amd the sweet ass Charlie Clouser music. This time, the ending throws a real curve at you, because where can they go from here? How is this going to continue? Who will continue on Jigsaws legacy? Will the casting director please get fired?
All in all, 3 was enjoyable for the swerve ending of course, for anything with Jigsaw on the screen, the flashbacks to 1 and 2, and pretty much everything not involving the wife beater dad and his scenarios to go through. He sucked. Make sure part 4 has someone I can like and relate to as the good guy.
SAW IV
Alright, the SWAT Team Member from the rest of the movies, the cool black guy Rigg is taking over as main guy. After Carrie, the detective and hot chick who flaunts her tits in Starship Troopers gets her tits ripped apart in three, he is on a mission to find who did it. Obviously Jigsaw. The only problem is, Jigsaw is dead. WHOOPS! Did I spoil that for my two readers?
Yeah, hes dead. His throat was slashed in three, and this has a sweet ass autopsy on his body where they obviously find another tape in his stomach to continue the games. How cool is this shit? So far so good.
Oh wait. Who the hell is this? Some asshole with a jew fro and his lips sewn together. Eh. I don't care about him at all and hope big guy with his eyes sewn shut kills him. Nope. Jew fro wins, but why?
Later it is revealed that jew fro guy is Jigsaws lawyer. Good casting because you're supposed to hate lawyers right? Bad casting because I don't hate that he's a lawyer. Joe Pesci was a lawyer in My Cousin Vinny, and he was pretty loveable. This guy could be the nice guy that passes out millions of dollars to the needy, but I don't like him because he looks like an asshole. Any white guys who have curly hair, should cut it short and leave it that way. Otherwise you look like the Jonas Brothers or Eugene Levy from Splah, and EVERYBODY hated him in that movie!
So, the story goes on, and Rigg is in hot pursuit, playing his own game. As with the others, they are showing more and more gore. I mean in sequels you have to right? Scalp getting ripped from a head. Some lard ass rapist getting his eyes gouged out and his body ripped apart. These are back to being COOL traps! Actually you know what? I am digging this! Who the hell IS behind all this Jigsaw madness now they he and Amanda are dead?
No! The Jew fro guy? His lawyer? You gotta be shitting me! Rigg winds up at the end of his game, there is Donnie, making a nice bearded return since we last saw him at the start of 3, being held captive along with one of the unimportant background detectives on the case till this point in the series. Then he sees Jew fro lawyer sitting at the desk with the monitors watching the madness take place and I am furious! What a terrible Jigsaw replacement! What follows is an awesome head explosion, a head scratcher of an ending and a "what significance does this asshole have to John Kramer, and why should HE get to carry the torch!?" I agree with Tommy when he said it should've been Dr. Gordon himself, Carry Elwes making a surprise run in from part 1 with one foot and being Jigsaw now. Nope. I hope part five is better than this. The ending left a really sour taste in my mouth for some reason. Is this it? Is the SAW franchise starting to fail me since Leigh Whannel and James Wan are only producers and are pretty hands off on the franchise they created? We will see.
SAW V
Alright. A year has passed, I have watched part 4 since my first viewing on opening night. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around as I was able to go back and see the writing on the wall and see what was going on, knowing the ending. Things are still shady to me in the Saw world, but the flashbacks in 4, of course all revolving around Jigsaws origins were badass, and the movie is cool.
Part 5 goes back to the earlier incarnations where like part 2, there is a group needing to survive together, all the while we are back to the formula of part 1 with the detective thriller making a serious return. This time Agent Strahm from part 4 is a survivor of NEW SAW and is finding more and more evidence as to who is behind all this shit now. Back and forth it goes from him to the crew of pieces of shit going at it in a game or survival.
This time they got a bunch of people I actually enjoyed. They played some swerves on me too as I was expecting specific people to get smoked and shit, and they didn't do it. One thing that was also exciting to me was the return of the disgusting scenarios of, man would you be able to do that? It didn't totally disappear in the others, but this one has one especially that was like, oh shit. The blood donor one if you've seen it.
Thankfully, the origins of new Jigsaw are revealed. All loose ends literally from all of the movies are tied up, and it is a good deal of cat and mouse, double crossing and all this shit. I was back into my vested interest mode of the Saw series. They're back! They didn't lose it! The rumors were true from two years prior when they announced they were in development for the next hundred sequels. They really DID have a whole story that would criss cross through the next couple movies. This is the proof in the pudding because the whole story intertwines and makes complete sense.
All my questions of why this shit happened in 3, or where did that come from in 4, all explained! Next time, I think you should put a disclaimer at the end of the movie SAW. Like when Back to the Future 2 had the To Be Concluded at the end of it to let us know that everything will be settled next movie. Only if you guys did that at the end of 4 and delivered this, it would've been a much more satisfying payoff than that terrible western love story.
So as you can tell, it all worked out in the end. My prayers were answered. They really did care about my opinion. They probably got a new casting director as there were no douchebags in it. They even went back and explained some planted evidence from back in part 1 which was awesome. We even got to see Danny Glovers picture, Donnie's picture, and so on and so forth. It was cool.
As unrealistic as some of the things are in it as well, it is still awesome anyhow. I loved part 5. Saw is back in action!
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