I guess there was nowhere else to go with the series after the first two films pretty much accomplished all that it could. “Underworld” has been a very mediocre film franchise but with a surprisingly interesting mythos involving lycans and vampires and to prevent us from watching a repeat story similar to the first two, we instead get a prequel, the story of the feud between the lycans and the vampires that we only got a taste of in the first “Underworld.” While “Rise of the Lycans” does have its problems, the special effects can sometimes become some great eye candy that makes up for the poor story.
Tag Archives: Romance
Marley & Me (2008)
What director David Frankel accomplishes with “Marley and Me” is what was basically a winning formula with “My Dog Skip,” a dog lovers movie about the life that revolves around man’s best friend, that life long companion who disappears much too early to allow unconditional love. “Marley and Me” is a genuine dog lovers movie, one of many that takes the life of a dog owner and plants it on screen with as much realism as writers Scott Frank and Don Roos would allow. And I think what connected audiences to this is that most of what main characters John and Jennifer go through is what we have been through with man’s best friend at one time or another.
True Blood: The Complete First Season (DVD)
Maybe it’s because I’m just plain sick of vampires or maybe it’s just that I want them to go back to being feral vicious monsters but “True Blood” always bordered on “Twilight” for me to properly enjoy it and as hard as I wanted to enjoy it, I just couldn’t come around toward liking it as much as my family who found the show to be a breath of fresh air. Sure, the ad campaign was genius, but that’s just about where we end it.
Everwood: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
I loved Everwood and I think it was a show that was a rare family outing that didn’t rely on the religious overtones “Seventh Heaven” did and didn’t sink down to teen sleaze like “The OC.” Instead it was a firmly balanced family dramedy that took the Midwest tundra and showed off a cast of character who, with the narration of Everwood’s kindly bus driver/observer, brought to us genuine emotions and dramatic momentum that stuck with the series until the very end. Take the opening of the long awaited “Everwood” Season Two DVD where our love interest Amy envisions an Everwood that’s picturesque and filled with simplistic complications that revolve around an outing with the core characters of the series celebrating a nice summer day.
Fanboys (2009)
I have never not laughed so much since I saw “Gone Fishin'” and that says a lot. I was dying to see “Fanboys” ever since I met eyes with the theatrical trailer and whether or not it was because of the constant recuts or my sky high anticipation, “Fanboys” suffers from mediocrity. Sure it’s not a bad movie but it’s not a particularly good one because every joke and every single “Star Wars” reference falls like a flat football and falls hard. The war between Trekkies and Warsies, debating on Boba Fett, discussing the connection between Luke and Leia as a romantic couple it’s all here and can I get a giant yawn? Because none of it is ground that hasn’t been treaded by a million fans before and beyond but “Fanboys” attempts to corner the market and use it as a buffer for the comedy that is never really all that funny.
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (2008)
There really isn’t much of anything directors can do with the vampire sub-genre anymore and that’s been a given for horror geeks for a long time. I’m repellent to any and all vampire fang films that come to the forefront and I’ve made it a rule to carefully dissect most fang films after constant turkeys passed my way. Thankfully “Let the Right One In” isn’t your average vampire movie. And while it’s trite to make such a declaration the truth remains: “Let the Right One In” is a different vampire film and one I loved with every aching horror geek bone inside me.
Twilight (2008)
Let’s get real here people, up until the last year, not a single person beyond black make up and death metal fandom knew who or what the Twilight series was. I mean at least with Harry Potter I had some sort of preamble leading in to viewing the first four movies, but “Twilight” snuck out nowhere in the cinema scene and was destined to be a hit in spite of the slight obscurity. Just gazing down at a large picture of emo females with black lipstick, black digital cameras, and their own fan club I knew that this cliché, clunky mess of a story would bring in the big bucks. Because regardless of how passionate and antipathetic I or other critics feel, the movie will break the box office because author Stephanie Meyer knows her audience better than we know ourselves, don’t they?