The Room (2003)

theroom2-568x351

My love for The Room has not been an easy road. It took months of fine tuning, refinement, some conformity and skipping doses of my meds to get down to the level of Tommy Wiseau and his unmitigated cult masterpiece. Whether you’ve seen the movie in its true form, whether you’ve seen it play on the April Fool’s Day airings on cable television here in America, whether you were there during the great tirade of Wiseau on online critics, “The Room” and its charms are almost impossible to ignore. It’s a movie so bad, so inept, so unbelievably painful, it’s almost impossible to comprehend anyone thought it would be great on-screen, “The Room” is a film I constantly quote to this day–ohai Mark!

Continue reading

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Rise-of-the-Planet-of-the-APardon the cynical thought process but I imagine “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is only the first in what Hollywood will soon turn in to a series of three, maybe four films. Which is a shame, because ideally I wish “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” would be a single entry prequel in a classic science fiction film series. I say that not because it’s a bad film but because the writing wraps the entire film in to one clever self-contained little cinematic entry that it’s just too good to see ruined with a follow-up. While “Rise” is essentially about the emergence of a primitive ruler in a cruel world, there are so many Easter eggs included within the narrative that includes foreshadowing, winks to the audience, and a pretty great nod to the original “Planet of the Apes,” all of which are so subtle only the most eagle eyed genre geek will catch on to what the film is leading in to.

Continue reading

The Raid: Redemption (2012)

aKQ3mKlI 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.

Continue reading

Rhino (2012)

“Rhino” is an immense departure from director Patrick Rea’s norms in the film world. Typically Rea is more prone to delivering more darkly comic or horrific films that are often quite excellent. So it’s rather jarring to see Mr. Rea tackle what is possibly one of the best crime dramas I’ve seen in recent memory.

Continue reading

Ruin (2011)

Ruin-Oddball-2I was so giddy when the film ended on a “To Be Continued” note, because if Wes Ball plays it smart, he can have a series of amazing films on his hand that will tell a story piece by piece. I can definitely picture this series of short films garnering a massive cult following if Wes Ball were to pursue a series. But alas, I imagine what with the massive animation Bell and his company undertakes, we just have a short sequel coming up. And I can do with that.

Continue reading

Red (2012)

There aren’t nearly enough animated independent films out there. And when there are, there aren’t nearly enough willing to experiment with the medium. “Red” is a fantastic short and sweet ditty that takes the Red Riding Hood fairy tale and adds another twist on the lore. Sure, we’ve seen the mythos of Red Riding Hood twisted and turned on its head providing allegories and symbolism for everything under the sun, but “Red” does something different.

Continue reading

Remote (1993)

Remote1993-1-“Home Alone” was a smash hit in America, and to this day it’s one of the landmark blockbuster films of all time based solely around such a simplistic formula of comedy and storytelling. After the success of “Home Alone” every single studio in America from the big guns to the low budget filmmakers sought to create their very own successful film starring a rambunctious kid and a group of inept criminals with some physical comedy thrown in for good measure. Many variations tried and failed. Among them was Charles Band’s very own “Remote.” Directed by Ted Nicolaou “Remote” is a film I vaguely remember back in the days of VHS rentals.

Continue reading