Not Until You Dance (2005)

nuydBeing a best man is hard enough, but having to subdue to the duties required of you be they tedious or ridiculous is the part of the job that really makes it an unappealing aspect. Bored by his best friends wedding, a young dog is told he can’t leave the wedding until he can dance.

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The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003)

Not many people are aware of it, but I’m a huge fan of the “Zatoichi” series. I love the series, and I’ve seen almost all of them, so when I was finally able to get my hands on the Beat Takeshi sequel, I was ecstatic. What made Zatoichi was that Shintaro Katsu presented such an inept and humble distinction to him that he was never thought to be a dangerous persona, but Katsu strived in making Zatoichi so unassuming, yet so utterly deadly. Katsu was short, chubby, and seemingly incapable of being able to learn any sort of arts, but once criminals crossed Ichi’s path, he spoke loudly with his rapid fire sword work. For those unaware of the character, Zatoichi is an ex-yakuza who lost his eyesight during a war, and became a masseur traveling across the land as an anti-hero.

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Stomp! Shout! Scream! (2005)

MVI’m still trying to wrap my brain around the concept of how independent filmmakers with limited resources are so able to achieve the sixties camp value and genuine atmosphere of the kitschy sock hop era so easily, and yet studios with bloated budgets really can’t hit that mark. “Stomp! Shout! Scream!” is a well done fifties throwback that kept me engrossed from the opening musical montage that hit the mark without much effort. And I dare you not to tap your feet to the catchy theme song entitled—well—“Stomp! Shout! Scream!”

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Roll Bounce (2005)

thegangatrinkHey, I won’t lie, I admit I wrote off “Roll Bounce” since the first trailer, and I didn’t even consider it would be a remotely watchable film, only because it looked like a complete replica of “Drumline”. But, when I began watching this, I realized I’d written it off unfairly. “Roll Bounce” is an admittedly cheesy, but utterly entertaining film that takes place in the fleeting period of disco, and roller disco. For those of you who have no idea what either of these things are you’re an idiot, but in simpler terms, roller disco was the fad you see on screen, and it was huge. “Roll Bounce” captures the essence of this fad with sheer charisma, while serving the kitsch and fantasy value of “Grease” and I had a lot of fun. Lee’s films is a lot like “You Got Served” except watchable, with a brain in its head, and actually exciting dance sequences about a young roller skater from the suburbs who goes to the roller rink with his friends every weekend.

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Journey of the Dead (2005)

+3+3+Who do you call when rock star zombies (what’s the difference?) attack your house? Steve Perry. Seriously. A couple of “The Darkness” loving yuppies arrive home one day to find their home under siege by the living dead. Living Dead Rock Stars. It makes sense. You like “The Darkness”, you should be killed.

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Son of the Mask (2005)

The Mask 2

I kind of liked “The Mask”. I mean granted, it’s weak, but it’s fun, and for some odd reason we have the sequel and we’re forced to lay our eyes on: “Son of the Mask” based on the compiled works of Arthur Miller–just kidding. Yeah, you can pretty much guess where this lame-brained sequel is going, but I’ll spell it out for you because this plot is extremely esoteric. Yeah, I’m laughing too. Hey, I’m a big movie snob, and I admit it, but this goes beyond snobbery, this film (I use the term loosely) speaks to your common sense.

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Raise Your Voice (2004)

logoWhat’s more fun than this movie? Picking your nose, eating glass, listening to a Hillary Duff song, hell even watching a Paris Hilton movie. What is so incredibly laughable is that the director is so intent on giving Duff a respectable boost, he forgets that the truly sensible audience will just laugh it off. There’s a hilarious quotation from Beethoven before the movie begins that is extremely presumptuous paying too much homage for what we are about to see, and what we’re about to see is more horrific than anything we’ve seen in horror films in the past ten years. It’s not so much that “Raise your Voice” is an awful film, but it’s more that this is so insanely, brutally melodramatic and manipulative it would make the writers for day time soaps cringe. As always we watch Duff in every single frame of this god forsaking movie, and she doesn’t help this film at all.

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