A ridiculously talented cast leads what is easily one of the most underrated films of the last few years; “Monsters vs. Aliens” is a Mad Magazine style action adventure film that not only manages to pay tribute to the classic science fiction B movie tropes of the golden age of cinema, but also manages to create its own monster squad, that show they can save the world and not terrify it. “Monsters vs. Aliens” teams a blob, a gill man, a bug man (Hugh Laurie in his noticeable smug but likable demeanor), a giant grub, and a 50ft woman to take on archetypal alien menaces as they go on an exploration of themselves and their strengths as a team.
Tag Archives: Robots
Endhiran/The Robot (2010)
In its homeland it’s a blockbuster film and one that took years to develop to inevitably become “The Robot” or “Enhiran.” It’s garnered some rave reviews from Bollywood critics and has even scored something of a fanbase. But “The Robot” hasn’t caught on until a few years subsequent its initial release due to the internet’s capability of bringing to attention a movie very few have been aware of. Thanks to one person’s capturing of “Endhiran’s” most dazzling and over the top action sequence, this is a science fiction Bollywood film many have sought after its sensation as a web clip.
Mega Man (2010)
Director Eddie Lebron is essentially the definition of the modern independent filmmaker. He’s a man who is a fanboy at heart who is currently devoting himself to making video game adaptations of his favorite video games that he would want to see. What began as a thirty minute fan film turned in to a ninety minute feature length film and he has devoted most of his time to garnering donations. Not for himself. Not for his merchandise, but for the film’s benefit. And as such he’s screened the film for free on the basis that he could fund his next project and inevitably be discovered. Basically he’s riding on a hope and skill, and he really should be given a fair shot at a Hollywood film.
LEGO Hero Factory: Rise of the Rookies (DVD)
I am quite ignorant when it comes to the latest animated series, since most of them are absolutely terrible. Save for a few gems here and there, the newest animated series on television will turn your kids brains in to pudding. “Lego Hero Factory,” however, isn’t that bad a series. I don’t intend to follow it any further beyond the DVD I was tasked with reviewing, but as a whole I could see collecting the individual characters and really engrossing myself in to the lore when I was nine or ten years of age. And that’s who this series primarily is marketed toward. For a show it’s really just another Transformers wannabe.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
“That’s what you’re all becoming… Martianmallows.”
So the Martians of this piece have no idea what television is, despite watching it often. They have no idea what dolls are. They have no comprehension of the idea of tender loving care, but they’re fans of hamburgers and chocolate cake in pill form? How does that work? I have a feeling even with the notorious “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” being touted to children in its original release, the kids in the audience sat through about twenty minutes, and thought this experience would be much better with some acid at hand. It’s not so much that “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is a bad movie, it’s that it’s so terribly put together and written that it ends up watching as a slow and painful death that you can’t help to look at with sheer disbelief.
Skyline (2010)
I’m still trying to wrap my head around why the Strause brothers included a very superfluous prologue of Balfour’s character being sucked in by the bright lights of the alien ships and then suddenly zooming back to him and his girlfriend in a plane with the card reading “15 Hours Earlier…” Why is that opening scene important to know? What relevance did that have to anything? Did they feel the movie was so mind-numblingly stupid they’d have to lure us in from second one? “Skyline” (a movie Roland Emmerich would groan at) is the “Dragon Wars” of 2010, a movie with a great concept that fails on every conceivable level of entertainment, competence, and creativity imaginable. This is a movie–much like “Dragon Wars”–that should rightfully have been relegated to cable television but somehow warranted a theatrical release all for a PG-13 B grade science fiction movie about aliens consuming Earth and Eric Balfour… well you’ll see.
The Solo Adventures (2010)
Director Daniel Smith and Co-Collaborator Jeff Sheetz took it upon themselves to create possibly one of the finest homages to the “Star Wars” universe of all time, and one of the most clever looks in to the untold story of Lucas’ most iconic characters by taking the combined talents of Dave School from Universal Studios to tell their own prequel, the prologue to Han Solo and Chewbacca.