Priest.
Priest is the best movie that could have been made given the budget, talent and story involved. You cannot compare this to other movies of it’s kind because they had more budget so the scope would have been bigger, this movie is perfect for what it is and it’s a genre picture.
It’s not the best movie of all time, but it was one hell of a good ride! When someone asks what was the coolest movie of the year, I think it’s gonna be Priest (although Immortals may end up beating it).
Just like Season of the Witch, everyone shat on this movie, FOR NO REASON! It’s not supposed to be Harry Potter or something, it’s a fun movie with cool characters and setting, and I for one really enjoyed this. A lot!
I would put it in the category of Nemesis, Solomon Kane and Space Hunter. It’s better than Van Damme’s Cyborg (I love that movie anyway though) but it’s not quite Nemesis, but you get my drift. I mean obviously Road Warrior and Escape from New York are the best in this genre, and this isn’t nearly as good, but when compared to the lower budgeted stuff, this is one of the best!
I judge based on the criteria of what the movie accomplished for what it had to work with, and in that case, this is a winner!
I’m sure you all know the basic premise, Priests fight vampires and now one Priest goes against the church to search for a kidnapped girl. The vampires in this movie are monsters, not teenie-bopper guys with no shirts on. They are sick monsters that only kill. The familiars – usually human, are a cross bread – think Nosferatu, and there is a queen vampire – which we don’t see too much of and the main villain called Black Hat, is a – I wont give it away!
I also like the names in this movie, Priest, Priestess, Black Hat etc. I like when characters don’t have names, like in They Live.
Paul Bettany, Maggie Q, Karl Urban, and all the cast, are really wicked and I actually liked every character.
Go see and support this one – plus there are like 3-4 cheap pop scenes that make you jump! – DON’T SEE IT IN 3D THOUGH – it was a post conversion.
4.5/5
J-Man.
Monster Movie Monday’s are back!
I took a week off for some personal business, and besides I gave you a double dose of monster stuff last time, so its all good.
Today we start the Heisei series of Gamera. Beginning with Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.
This flick did well and even Roger Ebert reviewed it! My thoughts on it are the same as the Heisei Godzillas. They all look pretty good but they are a bit hit or miss. See the classics (Showa) are fun and a bit cheesy, the Heisei’s are better for the effects, and are serious movies, but sometimes they become too serious and lose a bit of the fun aspect.
This movie is still wicked and I love ALL the Heisei Godzillas (well I love ALL Godzilla movies period – except the American one – that sucked the bag).
This is a reboot as all new era Kaiju films are, and Gamera is said to be from Atlantis and is the protector of Earth against Gyaos. They went with Gyaos in this one because he was more interesting that Barugon and most people feel that he is the main Gamera villain, and he flies so they can air battle. Also Barugon sometimes gets confused with Baragon – a Godzilla character, whatever, Gyaos it is!
This movie has a really wicked end battle sequence, and Gamera’s flying ability is done really well with the effects.
Gyaos, starts out small and there are a bunch of him, but Gamera kicks ass and then Gyaos becomes one big one after eating the other small ones – I think – it was very clear.
Once that finally happens we get some great stuff! Also Gamera’s fire breath is now a fireball! Which he can shoot multiple times!
All in all this was a good movie, but I kind of prefer the classic ones. In any case I have 2 more Heisei’s to go before I make the final call.
5/5
J-Man.
The Blackheath Poisonings
BBC’s Masterpiece Theatre produced this 3 part miniseries about some aristocratic family that holds many secrets. There is murder, adultery, fetishism, and mystery, so basically its like a 90210 episode, only way less dirty. Hahahah.
So basically this is a Agatha Christie type of movie and it was pretty good. I guessed the killer but only in the last act, so it wasn’t too obvious. There isn’t any nudity or gore despite it being about the sins of the family, so its cool to watch even if you don’t like that sort of thing.
All in all it was a good production and a fun series.
3/5
J-Man.
Empire Records.
I have finally found a movie where Renee Zellwegger looks not ugly! And Liv Tyler looked good! And Robin Tunny (who is bald in this movie – for real) looks good too! Now Robin is nice anyway, so its not a big shocker, but she looked pretty good bald! Ok the story is one of those, Dazed and Confused, High Fidelity, Clerks style movies where they just hang out at the record store talking about life and relationships.
It’s not really up to par with the others of this genre, but it was ok. Maxwell Caulfield plays a cheesy singer – who steals the show in this movie, as he does Sundown and Oblivion 2, and the rest of the cast is passable.
Nice 90 mins of fun.
3/5
J-Man.
The Pursuit of Happyness.
Will Smith and his son star in this true story of a man who lost a lot, almost everything, but was willing to rise to the challenge.
Smith does really well in this role and he makes this movie great! As it is the story is typical (I know it’s true, but still) he loses his wife, and home and isn’t making much money, so he goes for a long shot at applying for an internship at a stock brokerage. He wont be paid during the next 6 months and he has to dig deep to find the strength to go on.
He spends a night in the bathroom with his boy, he struggles with getting new clients and in the end it all works out.
As I said, nothing new, but Smith made it seem new and I was with him all the way. I also liked that he never gave up and never let his son go even though it would have been easier without him.
Good movie.
4/5
J-Man.
The Room.
Oh hi guys.
Tommy Wiseau wrote and directed this epic masterpiece of love and betrayal. Just think one day your life is great, then the next day BOOM! Your best friend is sleeping with your wife. And who wouldn’t want to, considering how amazingly beautiful she is and how sexy her body is too!
The acting in this is top notch and I am shocked no one was nominated for best actor. This is one hell of a great character study.
The plot is very detailed too, Lisa is cheating on Johnny, her future husband, with his best friend Mark. See how complex that is!
In any case Lisa’s mom is an emotional wreck, learning that she has breast cancer can really make you feel unwell. I hope she just concentrates on getting well.
And I just want to make this very clear – Johnny never hit Lisa – that is bullshit-oh hi Mark.
Sar-casm
noun
The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.
J-Man.
The Postman.
Kevin Costner got hammered by critics for this Mad Max style movie that was based on a Sci-fi book of the same name.
Well those haters are all a bunch of fools! This was one great epic movie and loved everything about it.
Acting, message, theme, music and style.
This had the feel of an old Hollywood epic like Lawrence of Arabia (its not better than that though) but with a modern twist to it.
The world has gone through wars, and disease – not as bad as the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, but something similar. The USA has fallen and no one has anything left to believe in.
Costner’s character is a drifter that happens upon a postman’s uniform and letter bag. He uses this disguise to gain entry to a village and tells everyone that the government has started and has opened the lines of communication by rebuilding the postal service.
This causes great hope to townspeople and one man in particular, a youth looking for his place in the world, named Ford decides to join the service. Costner is forced to hold up to the lie and Ford takes it all very seriously and begins his own branch of the postal service.
I wont give away any more that than, but this is a must own for me. I am not sure why it was slammed by critics, as I thought it was excellent.
Great movie with great themes. It is long though, but not boring!
5/5
J-Man.
