Is there a comedy more perfect than “Airplane!”? I ask you. It’s in the list of the five perfect comedies ever made, and is definitely one of my top ten comedy films of all time, as well as one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s a film that appeals to folks who appreciate subtle comedy, raunchy comedy, silly comedy, and comedy that doesn’t require any thought at all. There are sight gags, puns, word plays, double entendres, and gratuitous nudity. There’s action, romance, suspense, stunts, and two jive talking passengers no one understands. There’s Kareem Abdul Jabar being Kareem Abdul Jabar, Peter Graves being a lunatic, Leslie Nielsen delivering the most genius deadpan comedic performance of his career, Lloyd Bridges who has an unusual history with recreational substances, and Ethel Merman for some reason.
Tag Archives: Masterpiece
The Raid: Redemption (2012)
I said goddamn. If action movie buffs were concerned that the action genre was dying on its bed, then director Gareth Evans just stabbed it in the heart with adrenaline and revived it for a new audience. “The Raid Redemption” courtesy of Indonesia is one of the most frantic and ballistic action films I’ve ever seen, and director Gareth Evans delivers an action movie buffet of kicks, punches, and gashes that will leave audiences pumping their fists anxiously from beginning to end.
88:88 (2011)
Many directors think that in order to lure in audiences, they have to have a pay off that reveals their menacing villain in their film. Whether it’s a short or a feature length film, they’re not often concerned with leaving things up to the imagination. The fact that “88:88” was filmed around a very small budget with only two set pieces, benefits the overall creative work to display a film and a premise that’s both terrifying and awe inspiring. Thankfully “88:88” doesn’t crowd the film with a lot of dialogue, nor does it need to explain everything that’s happened.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Ultimate Edition (1974) [Blu-Ray]
As Joe Bob Briggs once stated, it’s telling of Tobe Hooper’s groundbreaking horror classic that to this day, conservatives still use the 1974 grindhouse slasher as a means of expressing how films are corrupting society. Because even so many decades after its initial release, there’s never been anything like it in theaters. No other film has managed to infuriate movie critics and analysts as Hooper’s vile and detestable horror film that depicts the back woods of the South as a futile wasteland filled with death, dread, and grime. Hooper pretty much set the bar high in terms of how harrowing the horror genre could be in cinemas, and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is still such a visceral experience to behold.
The Old Chair (2012)
It’s fantastic what some filmmakers can do when they’re given only a certain amount of time. I’ve seen short films literally crash and burn under the weight of their time restraint, while some just end without much of an explanation. Director Drew Daywalt however manages to squeeze in a back story, exposition, a full narrative and horrifying scares in a little under five minutes, and god help me, “The Old Chair” works as a horror film.
The Crow (1994) [Blu-Ray]
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost twenty years since the release of Brandon Lee’s final film, but here we were with a brand new release of his landmark film “The Crow.” In a long overdue treatment it deserves more than most titles out on the Blu-Ray format as we speak “The Crow” hasn’t shown wrinkles at all. “The Crow” is a film that garners a soundtrack with some of the most notable rockers of the nineties, along with some rather of the decade colloquialisms, and still manages to feel completely and utterly timeless. That’s because the world Alex Proyas shapes in his 1994 masterpiece is void of shape and time.
Cinema Crazed's Top 10 of 2011
It was a lackluster year for the movies. The bad movies were just slightly abysmal, while the good movies failed to be great movies. We couldn’t find a single amazing movie out of the bunch in 2011, but we came close to finding ten really good movies, and ten really bad movies for the year. 2011 was just a lull for everything in pop culture and the media and you’d be hard pressed to find something excellent that stood out among the rest of the muck. 2011 had a varied year of films, but while we did find more than enough great movies to fill our top 10 we didn’t find a masterpiece until the end of the year, and even then we’re having a hard time using the M word. Nevertheless 2011 was a year for new experiences, unique films, and most importantly underdogs. The best films flopped and the worst films excelled at the box office. There were surprises, some neat twists and of course the box office was at its all time lowest. While Congress is working on that censorship thing with SOPA, we appreciate our time delivering these top ten lists for our readers.
Sure they may not be the most agreeable lists on the site, but they arouse conversation and we love to debate with our audience. What with the increasing demand from the indie world we weren’t able to cover all of the year’s films, but we tried to tackle all of our most promising and we compiled lists of 10 great films, and 10 really bad ones. And for the first time ever we compiled five indie films you should look out for. Of course we couldn’t catch many films in time due to our demands on the site (Warhorse, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Take Shelter, The Artist), but we have a nice little mélange of 2011’s banner films that we felt warranted mentioning. So by all means indulge in Cinema Crazed’s official Top 10 and Worst 10 of the year 2011!