How to Train Your Dragon Review

By: Robert Acosta


Plot: A unlucky young Viking, Hiccup, wants to be just like the other vikings and hunt dragons. He then becomes the unlikely owner of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he, and everyone else, assumed.



Review: I have to say, I wasn't expecting this movie to be good. At the very most, I thought it would be ok. I have a motto about movies, especially when you don't know what to expect going into them. I always say, "you have to go through the shit to find the gold." Basically you have to sit through countless hours of not so great, uneventful movies til you get to the classics or extremely enjoyable movies. With that story told, How to Train Your Dragon is not shit, actually far from it.



3D seems to be the "next big thing"since a lot of movies, including some blockbuster type movies, are using it. Unlike Alice In Wonderland, How to Train Your Dragon uses 3D pretty well. I realized that Alice In Wonderland didn't really have many scenes, if any at all, that used 3D effects. They're are a couple of scenes where things look like they're coming at you, and thats basically the whole point of 3D, make things a bit more life-like and real.



The story of the movie unfolds very nicely as well. It starts off with a puny son of a Viking, Hiccup, who wants to slay dragons and be just like his father and so many of the big, strong Vikings. No one believes that he has the Viking spirit in him but incidentally, Hiccup ends up catching a dragon. He tries to kill the dragon but can't and this is where the bond begins with the Dragon and himself and where some of the good parts of the movie come in.



Watching the bond between the dragon and Hiccup progess ends up being the best part of the movie. Yes, there is a lot of fun action scenes where we see Hiccup still in training to become a Viking, and a good fight scene with dragons but the bonding is really what the movie is about. After a while, the movie becomes more about the dragon, he is pretty damn cute. Hard to deny that, even for an 18 year old college student.

The supporting cast of characters is fun to watch as they do their training along with Hiccup. Its sort of the regular bunch of people, the dominant girl looking to better than everyone, the one nerdy fat guy who seems to know everything there is but can't put it all together, the twins who compete against each other to see whose better and the one show off guy who really has nothing to show off.



The moral of the story is pretty evident, it's along the lines of don't judge a book by its cover. Everyone thought the puny boy with not enough talent to be a Viking was useless and no good and he honestly ends up being the hero of the story.



Sometimes it seems like the story rushes through certain things but overall, How to Train Your Dragon is more than just a great time at the theaters, it's a must see and worth the price of admission.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Eskalofrio - Shiver

Eskalofrio - Shiver

By Jose

Plot:

Santi, a young high-school student with a serious physical reaction to sunlight, is forced by his health to move with his single mother to a shadowy, isolated village in the mountains of Spain where the inhabitants begin to reveal themselves as strangely xenophobic. When terrible, violent events begin to occur, Santi becomes first an outcast at school and then strongly suspected by the police of hideous murders. Santi himself, however, wonders if he is not the next victim.

Any good?:

Oh yes another horror movie review! When I first saw this movie I did not know that it had ties to Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage. Two rather good Spanish supernatural/horror movies. If anyone has seen either one or both of those films they know that Shiver should be something special as well.
Eskalofrio or Shiver I found to be really entertaining as a international horror movie. It is well known that foreign horror movies tend to be much better than American horror. We tend to want fast paced scare after scare or kill after kill. Although I do enjoy some movies like that and some are good movies, it gets tiring and repetitive. Plus we tend to “censor” horror here. I may be confusing some people but if you do watch many foreign horror from Spain, Japan, Italy, etc you would see some really messed up and gruesome things that would disturb you (Martyrs for example).
Shiver does not bring buckets of blood and guts. It brings a sense of dread and uneasiness of what lurks and hides in the dark. And gives you that feeling ten fold when you see that whatever that thing is in the dark invades your home and room, and basically breathes down your neck while you sleep. And no I am not saying that to scare you I am saying that because it happens in the movie.
Santi suffers from a vampire like allergy of sunlight. And due to that, at the beginning, you would think Shiver was a vampire movie. But it is not once Santi and his mom move to the village things seem too good to be true. Live stock disappear, people are attacked, and what the hell lurks in the forest? And once we have a small idea of what it is we get a rather uncomfortable scene of Santi alone in his home after an attack. Let me just say that sleeping alone in a house in the middle of a forest with a creature living in it is a very, very bad idea.

Final thoughts:

Great Spanish horror movie. Creepy and unnerving. Junio Valverde who plays Santi was great. Highly recommend it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Dread

Dread

By Jose

Plot:

Based on the Clive Barker short story, Dread is great on two fronts: Barker's departure from his traditional macabre story lines, and Anthony DiBlasi's impressive directorial debut.
The story unfolds with two college students, Steve (Twilight's Jackson Rathbone) and Quaid (Shaun Evans), agreeing to work together to create a documentary of people's innermost fears. The two put out a call for candidates and document their interviews on video. An expert manipulator, Quaid is able to coax these troubled souls into revealing their innermost demons; deeply personal revelations they would otherwise never dream of discussing in public, much less on camera. Meanwhile Quaid harbors deep seated psychological scars of his own, having been a childhood survivor of the brutal home invasion axe slaying of his parents at the hands of a mysterious psycho.
On the belief that by confronting one's ultimate fear an individual will either overcome their phobia or be consumed by it, Quaid convinces the more demure Steve, and friends Cheryl and Abby to participate in the study. Unknown to everyone involved, however, is Quaid's desire to take things to the next level, progressing beyond mere interviews to the actual physical and psychological nightmare of tackling their fears head on.

Final Thoughts:

Again this movie is not for everyone and is not an action packed, scare you every two seconds movie.
Dread is an interesting and different movie. It does not take the simple route of fear and overcoming it then happy ending. It takes what people fear and dread and perverts it. What if facing your fear makes it worse? What happens to a person that has this deep seated dread that to overcome it is to become it?

Extra Tidbit:

Seems Jackson Rathbone might be coming out of Twilight as a sleeper hit. I have been seeing him around in many different roles here and there and they are all good. I didn’t know about it but he plays the part of Sokka in the Last Airbender.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Hot Tub Time Machine Review

By: Robert Acosta

Plot: Four old friends, who went down different paths in life, spend one last wild weekend together which turns out to be a wild trip to the past.

Review: Now I want to note this before I get into the review. I was gonna give a lot of praise to this movie after watching and enjoying this movie, but it just so happened that I watched the movie 17 Again which, believe it or not, changed my overall view of Hot Tub Time Machine. I'll get into that later.

For starters, Hot Tub Time Machine is exactly what the title entails. The 4 characters played by John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry spend a weekend together where they used to have their best memories. Now, this place has a hot tub which they all decide to use. Of course, it turns out to be a time machine and sends them back into 1986.

Hot Tub Time Machine is pretty hilarious for mostly the whole way through. Craig Robinson is a hilarious comedian and continues to provide laugh out loud moments in all the comedies he's in, though I wouldn't say he carried this movie as he did in his others. Cusack, Corddry and Duke provide some pretty funny moments as well but I would have to say Robinson's funny moments stick more with me. Chevy Chase makes a fun cameo, having a lot of back and forths between the characters.

Even with this being a comedy, it offers up a good personal question. If you had a chance to change your past, would you? As the movie progresses, you see the characters struggle with what happened in the past and maybe trying to change it. It makes the movie a bit deeper than maybe intended, but it still brings up a valid point.

Also, the bond between the characters is good, you get to see how their relationship progresses from beginning to end, all their memories come to life including one that gets left out, possibly for a sequel or an extra feature on the dvd, depending on how good the movie does in the box office.

Another strength to the movie was the soundtrack during the movie, which something I hardly find as a strength. Usually the songs played during movies are alright, just fit in with whats going on in the movie. But because most of this movie takes place in the 80's, the soundtrack is gonna have you singing along and even bring back memories for you, if you were born in the 80's or like 80's music that is.

There was also a great moral to the story, friendship. Through thick and thin and hot tub time machines, friends stick together and help each other out. Thats definitely something I can get behind.

Now I want to get to the reason why the movie 17 Again changed my overall view of Hot Tub Time Machine. As I was watching 17 Again this morning, I realized that these two movies follow a similar formula. They both start out with people living not so great lives, reflecting on the past, some spiritual being(old man or hot tub) sends them back into the past, they get a chance to fix things or keep things the same, they fix things with some bumps in the road and everyone lives happily ever after. Now I'm not saying that these movies are exactly the same, Hot Tub Time Machine is funnier and overall better than 17 Again but they're so similar that Hot Tub Time Machine really doesn't offer anything new. Just funnier moments.

Overall, Hot Tub Time Machine is still a great time at the movies, even with the prices being raised recently over the weekend. Even with the comparison to 17 Again, this movie has a lot of laugh out loud moments and can be appreciated on it's own.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Triangle

Triangle

By Jose

Plot/What it is about

After their yacht is overturned during a freak storm, a group of friends are desperate for help. A cruise ship suddenly appears and they see a figure looking down at them from the bridge for a few seconds. They climb on board but there is no crew, no passengers, nothing.

Note

If I were to properly review Triangle I would have to spoil the movie. I can give you the first part of the movie no problem. But once the cruise ships arrives and the survivors get on board, anything else I would write/say would spoil the movie.

Any good?

Triangle starts off with Jess (Melissa George) a single mother and her child. Her son we see is sick/autistic. She is cleaning while her son is painting. All looks well until the door bell rings. Jess opens the door and sees no one. Once back inside she seems rushed and is packing a luggage. Jess takes her crying son and gets into her car and leaves. Next we are introduce to the rest of the cast on a sailboat owned by Greg. Jess shows up following Victor (Liam Hemsworth), Greg asked where her son is, Jess says school. Ok. Once on the ocean all is well on the sailboat and everyone is having fun. Then the wind dies rather quickly. I mean a complete void of wind and waves. Then a huge dark bank of clouds approach. Then the storm hits.
The sailboat ends up overturned and one person missing. The survivors are left in the middle of a quiet calm ocean. Until the huge cruise ship appears. They are able to get on board. But what they realize is that they are alone. Or so they think.
This is where things star getting weird and people start dying. Jess is blamed. Yet the camera is on her at all time. We the audience are following her and she wasn’t any where near anyone. So what is going on? Who is that strange person with the jumpsuit and rags wrapped around their head. Why does she sound like a woman. Why does she tell Jess to “kill them all” after they were all killed. And who is screaming for help from the ocean? And when Jess finds out who it is we all just have to say what the WTF?

Final Thoughts

I love my horror movies. I love horror movies that make you think about what the hell is going on before it finally comes together at the end. Well the Triangle delivers that plus more. It does not take it easy on the viewer. It throws everything it can to mess with you and twist what you are seeing around. Then at the end when that twist comes and it makes you go “wow” it makes a 360 and makes it worse soon after. Loved this movie, but may not be for everyone.

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5



Triangle (2009) Offical Trailer
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The Final

The Final
by Jose

Consequences. None of us are free from them.

Plot
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.

What is it about?

This movie is about the tortured masses banding together, and exacting righteous revenge on their tormentors. Any of us, no matter what side we found ourselves on in high school know how bad it can get. We can see how deep and hard the psychological torture is. That is why deep down inside, when we hear about a school shooting, we aren't all that surprised. We understand. We knew the people that got hurt/kicked/abused daily by the rising stars, and were ignored by the school staff. We wondered when they'd crack. We worried they'd find automatic weapons. We joked about it. Until it really happens.

In this movie, the "uncool" kids have had enough. They plan a trap. They draw their tormentors in by taking advantage of their egos with a VIP costume party. They divide and torture them. They single out the abusers that have been tormenting them since grade school, and they exact precise revenge.

The Final, being part of the 8 Films to Die For Horrorfest, did not bring large amounts of blood and guts. We get gun shots, a unique torture scene involving acupuncture needles, a corrosive face mask, bear traps, finger cutting, and some spine severing. But very little blood. It really did not need it. Just the overall feeling of the movie was enough to deliver that special “feel”.

Final thoughts

Dane: Ask yourself one question... what did I do to get here?

There is a message at the end. One that has already been shown to be true. Kids that aren't taught properly how to function in the world will lash out, and sometimes they'll hurt or mentally destroy others who society labels as outcasts and unpopular. And only their inept parents are to blame for it. Too many parents make no effort to ensure their children will behave or act like proper human beings. To be open and respectful to others and to treat others the way they want to be treated. But some parents do not care. They were popular. They bullied and tormented others when they were young. And they survived to grow up to be decent (in their minds) people. That a little “tough love” is good experience to life. These parents then see what their kids do to others and laugh about it. “They are kids being kids”. Yet they fail to realize the damage these things do to kids and teens. Torture. Abuse. Pain. Suffering. All in the name of “kids being kids”.

Fuck you.

Now that I vented. The Final is a decent movie. And a great entry to the Horrorfest series. Highly recommend. If you seen movies like Elephant and Bang Bang You’re Dead then The Final is a movie to pick up or watch.


Rating : 3.5 out of 5



The Final Trailer from AGORA ENTERTAINMENT on Vimeo.

She's Out of My League Review

By: Robert Acosta

Plot: An average Joe meets the perfect woman, but his self esteem issues and the influence of his friends and family begin to hinder the relationship.

My Review: I always thought that Jay Baruchel, main character of She's Out of My League, would be able to carry his own weight in a film, rather than being the guy with a couple lines, hiding in other peoples shadows. This isn't the film that he becomes a breakout star in but I still think he's heading down that road.

She's Out of My League is simply about a guy, Kirk, who sees himself as an unattractive guy and finds himself being asked out by an extremely hot woman, Molly, played by Alice Eve. As the movie goes on, Kirk's self-esteem gets worse and worse and he becomes his own worst enemy.

Most people would see this movie and say, "this stuff only seems to happen in the movies." This movie likes to push that idea away and say no, this could happen to anyone and to remember that love is in the eye of the beholder. Sounds very cliche I know.

Going into this, I expected a comedy much like 40 year old virgin and knocked up and this movie was far from that. Yes, it still has it's moments of comedy and they can be moments where you laugh for a couple of minutes. Mostly, the movie shys away from being hilarious so that story and the moral gets across and so that the movie is taken somewhat seriously.

Now understanding that concept, There were times where they tried to be funny and failed. A lot of lines and scenes with the character Stainer, played by T.J. Miller, ended up being unfunny. Just something about him and his delivery with most jokes didn't get a reaction out of me, kind of looks like Jon Heder as well. On the other hand, the character Devon, played by Nate Torrence, made up for the unfunny parts.

I can respect the moral of the story, viewing myself as unattractive and no way worthy of an extremely beautiful woman. Of course, the cliches come in. Love is in the eye of the beholder. Nice guys get the girl. The list goes on and on. Nonetheless, the movie just make guys like me feel like i've got hope!

Rating: 3.5 Out of 5

Alice in Wonderland Review

By: Robert Acosta

Plot: A teenage woman, Alice, returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

Review: I have to admit, i've never read the Alice in Wonderland story before, just never really cared about it. So when I heard a movie was to be made about it, I wasn't excited in the least bit or even remotely interested. I had heard Johhny Depp attached to the movie and that got me a bit interested, I think he's a good actor and fun to watch. I have to say, I was completely surprised and pleased with Alice In Wonderland.

Visually the movie is just stunning, it helps that you can also catch the movie in 3d. From beginning to end, you're drawn in and amazed with the visuals. Though, one of the sights that isn't exactly stunning is Johhny Depp as The Mad Hatter. Depp has played some pretty crazy and weird characters over the years, Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka, Mad Hatter, the list goes on and on. Out of all the characters he's played, I was actually a bit frightened by the Mad Hatter. He just looks scary and weird and completely out of his mind and of course, Depp's natural ability to get into a character makes him even weirder.

One of the things that makes this movie very fun to watch are the characters and all the different styles they bring. The crazy Mad Hatter, the big headed Red Queen, the sweet White Queen, the cunning Chesire Cat, the wise Blue Catepillar, the Brave Dormouse, the charming yet dumb tweedledee and tweedledum. They all bring something different to the film, it all blends together and it becomes entertaining to watch.

The big theme that I caught in the movie was acceptance. Alice in the real world was looked at as weird and noone seemed really interested in her besides her father. But in Wonderland, she's just one of them. Now everyone at one point in life or another, has felt this feeling before. Being called "weird" because you didn't fit in with what other people were doing. That's what makes a movie great, tackling a topic that everyone can relate with and tell a good, light-hearted story about it.

I can't honestly express how surprised I was at how great Alice In Wonderland really is. It's one of those movies that anyone, young or old, can relate to and learn from. I can't really seem to find any flaws with the movie, which is rare. Tim Burton, director of the movie, has been known to put together really creative, imaginative stories and films altogether. Some have been hit or miss, most have been, at the very least, entertaining. Alice in Wonderland is just gold.

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5

The Final Destination 3D/2D

The Final Destination 3D
by Jose

What’s it about?

Not sure if I should write anything here considering it is the fourth movie in the Final Destination series. The same formula exists in all movies: group of people are brought together when an individual “sees” their deaths and then prevents it. Putting said group in position to feel Death’s embrace in unique and interesting and gruesome ways. But you can see this one in 3D if you like.

Any good?

Of course it is good. It’s Final Destination in 3D! Yes if you have seen the other three than you know what will happen in this one. Obviously if the formula works why bother to change it. Yes a fix here or an addition there but that is all.
While the very first movie had a spectacular, and some say too realistic for good taste in having witness from within a plane break up and explode upon take-off, this one had an adrenaline pumping stock car race with thousands of potential victims to pick off from that got enhanced thanks to the latest gimmick in town, 3D. Which I found to be better.
I love this franchise due to the fact that it doesn’t take it self seriously. The movies are about cheating death and then death coming back for them. In fun, deadly, and gruesome ways. The characters are not too fleshed out but you do end up liking some of them. I actually liked Bobby Campo’s character Nick in this film. He did a decent job along with the Shantel VanSanten’s character Lori.
If you were able to see The Final Destination in Real D 3D at the theater then you were presented with some great death effects. Sadly whenever these movies get released on DVD we get the classic red and blue glasses. Same effects but the movie is then shaded in red and blue with hints or purple. But the 3D effects themselves are great especially during the race car death scene and other death scenes throughout the movie.

Final thoughts:

Whenever I go to see movies or throw on a DVD I follow a simple rule: Do not go in expecting the best movie in the world. Go in expecting to be entertained and to get lost in the world of the movie your watching. If you don’t you end up hating everything you see. Enough preaching from me. The Final Destination in 2D or 3D was actually very enjoyable and I felt was better than previous entries of the franchise.

Ratings: Theater 3D 4 out of 5
Home 3D 3.5 out of 5

Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin
by Jose

What’s it about?
A young ninja turns his back on orphanage that raised/trained him, leading to a confrontation with fellow ninja and master from the clan.

Any good?
Who knew that the most insanely violent, ridiculously brutal and psychotically gory film of the year would be Ninja Assassin. It's quite obvious that the people responsible for this film set out to make the most ass kicking Ninja movie and they even one upped themselves.
I remember when I was younger Ninjas were cool. But since than they've lost their flair and so has the martial arts genre in general. Ninja Assassin brings all that back with a hellacious gut punch. I got this same feeling when watching The Forbidden Kingdom. Ninja Assassin and Forbidden Kingdom brought back that special “awesomeness” that one gets when watching old classic martial arts movies from the 80’s and 70’s and earlier.

Visually the film is incredible. It's unlike anything you've ever seen. The fighting is quick, furious and the story although not completely involving is involving enough so that we end up liking the characters. The main character Raizo (played by Rain) is quite the baddass ninja and I look forward in seeing him in future roles. What the film does explosively well is decapitate, disembowel and explode it's victims across it's blood soaked screen. Imagine slow motion shots of a man diving out of the way of 100's of ninja stars, slicing people in half with samurai swords and being born out of shadows literally. Raizo’s main weapon of choice is a Tsubaki Kusarigama. There is not much for me to say about the amount of blood this one type of weapon sheds in this movie; but it is insane once we see it in action. It's an exciting piece of cinematic brilliance.

Final thoughts:

I can't speak for everyone but to me Ninja Assassin was just freaking crazy as hell. A modern ninja/martial arts movie was doomed to fail from the start. I that’s my opinion. Movies like this tend to fail due to lack of support or because Jet Li or Jackie Chan are not starring in it. Ninja Assassin proved to me that there can be a martial arts movie made now that can be great and I can’t wait to see if we can get more of these types of movies in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5