Zero Dark Thirty (2012):

Starring:

Jessica Chastain - Maya

Jason Clarke - Dan

Joel Edgerton - Patrick

Mark Strong - George

Jennifer Ehle - Jessica

Kyle Chandler - Joseph Bradley

Chris Pratt - Justin

Taylor Kinney - Jared

Edgar Ramirez - Larry

Mark Duplass - Steve

Frank Grillo - Red Squadron Commanding Officer

Harold Perrineau - Jack

James Gandolfini - CIA Director Leon Panetta 

Scott Adkins - John

Director: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Synopsis:

For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. This is the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man.

Review:

So the next installment in the Kathryn Bigelow war saga, I guess if you can call it that. So pretty much take all of the intensity, the drama, the suspense, explosions of The Hurt Locker, condense them into the last 20 minutes of this movie, then fill the first two plus hours in with tons of boring CIA mumbo jumbo jargin, boring conference room talk, phone calls & the slightest amounts of torture porn. I was someone who wasn't totally on board with The Hurt Locker winning best picture, but now after seeing this boring garbage, I will gladly accept THL's Academy Award as long as this one doesn't win. Let's face it, the only reason that this movie got such high praise & attention is: America. Killing Osama. that's the only reason. I cannot believe that Jessica Chastain got an Oscar nod for this movie, I didn't think that her role was any better than any of the other films she has done that she didn't get nominated for. There was in fact one point in the film that actually made me quite furious. So this is I'm going to say loosely based on true facts, because Hollywood always fudges up the truth. Anyways so as the Seals team moves in to kill Osama, they face the slightly amount of resistance from the people living within the same compound as Osama is hiding out in. So as they move in they begin to shoot at the Seals, who obviously have to kill them to get in safely. After they off Osama, they call for a body bag from one of the soldiers outside. He is their liaison officer to the arab world as he is an Arab American. Anyways as he comes in with the body bag for Osama, he stops & looks into a room where there is a dead man & woman who were fighting against the Seals. So he stops, looks in at them & the music gets all dramatic & sad as he looks down at their dead bodies. Oh you can fuck right off. You do not try & make us the audience feel sympathy for people who were aiding & abiding a mass murderer & enemy of the state. The man was a lunatic & now because a woman who was protecting him gets killed all of a sudden we are suppose to feel sorry for her? Kathryn Bigelow, you do shit work. Movie was horribly boring. The only thing this movie taught me was: Bert Macklin, F.B.I. = Killed Osama.

Budget: $40,000,000

Box Office (To Date): $63,028,596

Profit (To Date): $23,028,596

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Flixster: 85%

25%

Lead Acting: 6/15

Supporting Cast: 6/15

Plot: 7/10

Compared To The Genre: 0/10

Cinematography: 4/20

Intrigue: 2/20

Extra: 0/10  

Mama (2013):

Starring:

Jessica Chastain - Annabel

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Lucas / Jeffrey

Megan Charpentier - Victoria

Isabelle Nelisse - Lilly

Daniel Kash - Dr. Dreyfuss

Jane Moffat - Jean Podolski / Mama

Director:

Andres Muschietti (First Feature Film)

Synopsis:

Mama is a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night. 

Review:

The latest Guillermo Del Toro joint (although he doesn't call them that). As a huge horror fan, I always need to go into horror films with lowered expectations because it is a genre that is easily predictable & also easily horribly made. Sometimes a movie can have an incredible premise or concept but have just the worst execution. Well luckily I went into this movie with slightly higher expectations & came out with my hopes still intact & a sense of fulfillment. The story was perfectly written, with as little use of modern cliches as possible. The build up of suspense was exactly what this movie needed to not completely ruin it. The two little girls did wonderful jobs doing what I've always thought must be hard for child actors to do. How do you get them to act in something horrific & scary without ruining them for the rest of their lives. Was a very odd choice for Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain to take on this type of role, especially after taking on The Help, The Debt & Zero Dark Thirty. But like Christopher Plummer has always said, garbage pays the bills (granted this wasn't garbage by any means). Huge fan of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau even though I'm never a big fan of movies where someone portrays twins. Had high levels of intensity, threw in quite a large bit of scares & a pretty awesome ending. Loved everything about it.

Budget: $15,000,000

Box Office (To Date): $34.735,000

Profit (To Date): $19,735,000

Rotten Tomatoes: 62%

Flixster: 69%

95%

Lead Acting: 13/15

Supporting Cast: 11/15

Plot: 10/10

Compared To The Genre: 10/10

Cinematography: 19/20

Intrigue: 20/20

Extra: 10/10

Texas Chainsaw (Not Massacre) 3D (2013):

Starring:

Alexandra Daddario - Heather Miller

Dan Yeager - Leatherface

Tremaine "Trey Songz" Neverson - Ryan

Scott Eastwood - Carl

Tania Raymonde - Nikki

Shaun Sipos - Darryl

Keram Malick-Sanchez - Kenny

James MacDonald - Officer Marvin

Thom Barry - Sherrif Hooper

Paul Rae - Burt Hartman

Richard Riehle - Farnsworth

Bill Moseley - Drayton Sawyer

Gunnar Hansen - Boss Sawyer / Leatherface (Archive Footage)

Director:

John Luessenhop (Takers)

Synospsis:

A young woman travels to Texas to collect an inheritance; little does she know that an encounter with a chainsaw-wielding killer is part of the reward. 

Review:

So this re-vamp or continuation of the Texas Chainsaw franchise is supposed to be a sequel to the 1974 original. The story continues right at the end of the original with the Sawyer family held up inside their home as the sheriff arrives at the home & is demanding the family give up Jed (Leatherface). So as this goes one, things get all messed up, some redneck towns folks come & shoot up the house & burn it to the ground killing the whole family. The only survivor is a young baby that is the child of one of the Sawyers. So she ends up being taken by some of the locals & raised as their own. Fast forward to when she is a late teen/early 20 year old & she is told she has inherited her grandmother's property. Eventually she figures out that she was the child from the family & that she is a Sawyer. Anyways Heather, her boyfriend Ryan, best friend Nikki & her boyfriend Kenny decide to go down to the property. Eventually you discover that her grandmother was taking care of Leatherface for all these years, something that they obviously find out as Leatherface kills all of Heather's friends. So nothing special right? Everything that you would expect from a horror film that maybe you had seen all of the previous installments. We'll I personally had two MAJOR issues with this film. Number one, is the fact that this film is suppose to take place immediately after the original in 1974, where the baby (Heather) is a baby, so if she is now in her late teens/early twenties we're looking at the 1990's right? NOPE! 2012. So they essentially just said oh fucking about the dates. BECAUSE if it was the 1990's how could they incorporate iPhones into the movie... Yeah that's right there is a fucking scene where an officer is investigating the Sawyer mansion while holding up an iPhone so the sheriff & mayor can see what is inside. I wish so hard that they could have just done it in the 90's, because they so badly need to incorporate technology into everything fucking thing. Number two, and this is going to be a spoiler, but do you really care this movie was garbage. So after Leatherface has killed all of Heather's friends, he then realizes that she is his cousin, so now he must protect her. So they mayor & his son kidnap her, take her to the old meat processing plant where Leatherface use to work & use her as bait to lure him in. He comes, fighting ensues & Leatherface & Heather escape back to the house, where Heather is now in charge of looking after her cousin. OK fine, however the fact is, she has never met her real family, she knows that they were murderers, cannibals & all that jazz. Leatherface has just brutally murdered her friends & boyfriend but now she is 100% OK with living with & taking care of her murderous cousin. FUCK THAT!. Even the excellent amount of gore & carnage cannot save this bullshit story full of dumb plot & story holes.

Budget: $20,000,000

Box Office (To Date): $37,152,195

Profit (To Date): $17,152,195

Rotten Tomatoes: 18%

Flixster: 49%

25%

Lead Acting: 4/15

Supporting Cast: 2/15

Plot: 0/10

Compared To The Genre: 0/10

Cinematography: 14/20

Intrigue: 5/20

Extra: 0/10

I want to send out a special thank you to everyone of you that have clicked on the link when I have posted it on Facebook or Twitter & to anyone who might have randomly stumbled upon this blog somehow. It's been a somewhat inconsistent year for me. Started out very steady with updated almost weekly but as the year slowly progressed & my list of watched movies became uncontrollably longer it did become harder to keep up to date on what I had watched. I have received some feed back over the year that I hopefully will take into the next year. I have also begun a journey into the world of podcasting which I would also like to thank anyone who has listened to any of them. ISUXDIX ♥'s Cinema & Cinema Macabre. Now for a special treat for everyone who has now just sat through this post here is.....            
                  DREW'S TOP 12 OF 2012!!!!:

#12:

ARGO

 

A great combination of intensity & comedic chemistry mixed with a true life story that seems almost too funny to be real. I love Ben-a-flicks.

#11:

The Amazing Spider-Man

A reboot that actually NEEDED to be made unlike so many before it. I absolutely loved Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, I thought he made a super hero, which by nature is comic booky, seem much than just a kid who gains super powers, but an actual human being. Not the best Spider-Man villain but the ending was very well done. I look forward to this version of the franchise continuing.

#10:

Lincoln

I'm a sucker for civil war era films, even if most of them are made by hardcore purists who have to include every tiny conversation about every tiny little detail of the story no matter how unimportant it is to the actual progression of the films plot. Daniel Day-Lewis however is unbelievable in the role of Abe Lincoln. I wanted to make the joke of "This was the 2nd best Lincoln bio pic I saw this year" but Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was awful. Some hilarious dialogue courtesy of Tommy Lee Jones & Fat James Spader.

#9:

Seeking A Friend For The End

Of The World

A very emotional ride that you might not expect from a Steve Carell joint, but does have some very funny moments mixed in with the realization of impending doom that the two new friends face at the end. This has now become my favourite Rom-Com, replacing "Zoo".

#8:

The Hunter

Now technically this movie was made at the end of 2011, but since it was filmed in Tasmania, released in Australia & then eventually released in North America, so by the time we got it here it was mid 2012. Now this film might not be for the conventional movie fan, or someone with a short attention span, who becomes bored easily or isn't interested in cryptozoology, but if those things do apply to you then this movie is for you. A man is hired by a genetics corporation to travel to Tasmania & track down any remaining DNA of the thought to be extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Once he arrives he is met with disdain & distrust from the locals, rival competitors & the family of a missing man with whom he learns to trust. This movie has the most uncomfortable bathtub scene & also a very depressing ending but it is still incredibly we'll done for a low budget Australian film.

#7:

Goon

I haven't laughed this hard since I was a little girl. Well Hollywood sure does known how to cater to an entire country just by producing the 3rd hilarious hockey movie in 35 years (Slap Shot 1979 & Mystery, Alaska 1999). Even if you don't like sports movies, or hockey or anything about this movie, it was still a hilarious movie full of nothing but silly slap stick & some great one liners. Seann William Scott is back to being funny & not just annoying.

#6:

Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson's 2012 contribution to the world of cinema. Just like all of his past features this one had it's stationary back drop sets, camera pans, interesting costumes & wacky characters. Bill Murray at his finest, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand all on the top of their games. It is also Wes' social commentary on the legal age of consent. to drop it from 16 (or 18 where ever it applies) down to like 11.

#5:

Brave

The first of two Disney movies released this year (the other being Wreck-It Ralph) this one is a major throw back to the old days of Disney with a powerful female princess, animated human like animals, wacky characters & a great movie about being who you are & being an individual & not being who you are suppose to be. A great message for children & young girls. Some pretty great comedy as well involving the mom & brothers turning into bears.

#4:

Skyfall

The newest installment of the Bond movie franchise became the #1 all time grossing movie of Sony Pictures studios. I know a lot of people shit all over this one because it wasn't as true to the Bond formula as previous films but I loved the fact that they really went into the back story of this specific Bond, made him seem like more of a human being than just a trained killing, sex machine. A somewhat rare acting role from Albert Finney who hasn't done very much in the last few years. Javier Bardem was great in yet another villainous role in his fine acting career.

#3:

Looper

Futuristic assassins hunting down the most dangerous prey, their future selves. Who would have thought that Tommy from Third Rock From The Sun would eventually become one of the biggest actors in the entire world. My money was on French Stewart. Awesome story, great action, BEST ENDING!!!

#2:

Chronicle

So awesomely dark, was not at all interested in seeing it when I first saw the previews because I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be seeing, also because of how sick & tired I am of the goddamn Hollywood love obsession with found footage films. However once I convinced myself to attempt to look past it, it ended up being one of the best movies I had seen all year. The story was very unique, the main characters were perfectly written with just the right amount of realistic qualities to make them like able.

#1

The Cabin In The Woods!

The only film that I saw more than once (3 times) in theaters this year. Now this movie might not even be in most people's Top 50 of this year because a lot of people aren't exactly into the whole horror movie scene, but it is so much more than that. It's not what you think it is. Bunch of kids go to a Cabin in the Woods, get drunk, wanna bang then they get all sliced up..... OK we'll maybe it's almost exactly what you think it is.... But again IT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!

Honourable Mentions:

The Grey: Liam Neeson Vs Wolves

Wreck-It Ralph: Too kiddish for me, also didn't like the stupid poop humour between Ralph & Sarah Silverman's character.

21 Jump Street : Would have been higher but when I see this many movies in one year, it is kid of hard to put all of them in the Top 12. Was still really funny.

The Avengers: I had already seen Iron Man 1 & 2, Captain America, Thor so I had already seen this movie for the most part. Was much better the second time I had watched it.

Prometheus: Only because I am so in love with the world of Alien, that anything to do with it is up there for me. Even when the movie has the most uncomfortable scene of my life.

Suspect Zero (2004):

Starring:

Aaron Eckhart - Thomas Mackelway

Ben Kingsley - Benjamin O'Ryan

Carrie-Anne Moss - Fran Kulok

Harry Lennix - Rich Charleton

Kevin Chamberlin - Harold Speck

Keith Campbell - Raymond Starkey

Chloe Russell - Loretta

Director:

E. Elias Merhige (Shadow Of The Vampire)

Synopsis:

Suspect Zero follows the disgraced FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart), who was transferred to a desolate area in Albuquerque, New Mexico as punishment for botching a procedure which ultimately led to the release of one of the most notorious criminals on the FBI's list. Mackelway is given an opportunity to redeem himself, however, when he is called in to investigate the strange murder of a traveling salesman. Mysteriously, the mark of a circle with a line through it is the only clue that the killer left behind. Before long, the prime suspect is identified as former agent Benjamin O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley), who is seemingly obsessed with hunting down serial killers and murdering them rather than turning them in to the proper authorities. Though Mackelway believes he knows the area where O'Ryan (Kingsley) is living, he has no idea what he looks like -- a problem that the rogue agent exploits with great success. Despite his brilliance, Mackelway finds himself caught in a psychological labyrinth of sorts, and is faced with an even greater quandary after learning that O'Ryan is looking for none other than Suspect Zero, a murderer of hundreds and the FBI's most wanted man.

Review:

Have you ever watched a movie, then a few days or a week later you completely have no memory of anything that happened in that film? We'll that was this one for me. I honestly could not tell you anything that happened in this. All I remember is thinking man Ben Kingsley & Aaron Eckhart are really mailing it in for the paycheck on this one. Either one of them seemed to give a shit about anything happening in the film. There was no pacing, tons of over reaction to everything. Just a garbled mess of a film. Very boring & slow moving. Bleck shit film.

Budget: $27,000,000 (I'm guessing was mostly Kingsley & Eckhart's salaries)

Box Office: $11,416,075

Profit: -$15,583,925

Rotten Tomatoes: 18%

Flixster: 42%

4%

Lead Acting: 0/15

Supporting Cast: 2/15

Plot: 0/10

Compared To The Genre: 0/10

Cinematography: 2/20

Intrigue: 0/20

Extra: 0/10 

Niaraga Motel (2006):

Starring:

Craig Ferguson - Phillie

Kevin Pollak - Michael

Anna Friel - Denise

Kris Holden-Ried - R.J.

Peter Keleghan - Henry

Damir Andrei - Boris

Wendy Crewson - Lily

Caroline Dhavernas - Loretta

Director:

Gary Yates (High Life)

Synopsis:

A handful of oddballs and misfits cross paths at a motel overlooking one of Canada's more recognizable landmarks in this independent comedy. Phillie (Craig Ferguson) is the alcoholic and deeply depressed manager of the Niagara Motel, a shabby inn a stone's throw from the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. Phillie's guests at the moment include Michael (Kevin Pollak), a sleazy director and producer of porn videos who is attempting to persuade Loretta (Caroline Dhavernas), a pretty young waitress at a nearby diner, to star in his latest series of adult movies; Denise (Anna Friel) and R.J. (Kristen Holden- Reid), a drug-addled couple struggling to regain custody of their child; Henry (Peter Keleghan) and Lily (Wendy Crewson), whose marriage is already starting to crumble before temptation presents itself to Lily; and Boris (Damir Andrei), the Niagara's short-tempered owner. Over the course of their stays, the folks staying at the Niagara will witness an unplanned kidnapping, meet the motel's in-house prostitute, encounter a down-on-his-luck staple salesman, and get uncalled-for advice from a born-again social worker.

Review:

If I've said it once, I will say it again. I need to stop watching movie based on one specific actor (this time Craig Ferguson) who is in it. Especially if I know nothing at all about the film. I will say however that without seeing this film I would have never had the oppertunity to see Anna Friel, who believe it or not is one of my biggest Hollywood crushes, yeah obscure I know right? But without this film, would have never had the chance to see her topless. Even Kevin Pollak wasn't good enough to make this entertaining. Ferguson, was fine, had a much smaller role than I thought he was going to, but was fine in what he was on screen to do.

Budget: $8,000,000

Rotten Tomatoes: 36%

Flixster: 35%

32%

Lead Acting: 6/15

Supporting Cast: 5/15

Plot: 2/10

Compared To The Genre: 0/10

Cinematography: 4/20

Intrigue: 5/20

Extra: 10/10 

The Vanishing (1993):

Starring:

Kiefer Sutherland - Jeff Harriman

Jeff Bridges - Barney Cousins

Nancy Travis - Rita Baker

Sandra Bullock - Diane Shaver

Park Overall - Lynn

Maggie Linderman - Denise Cousins

Lisa Eichhorn - Helene Cousins

George Hearn - Arthur Bernard

Lynn Hamilton - Miss Carmichael

Director:

George Sluizer (The Vanishing 1988)

Synopsis:

George Sluizer's 1992 English-language remake of his 1988 Dutch thriller The Vanishing follows the same plot-line as the original film, yet with one important difference. The film details a young man's (Kiefer Sutherland) search for his girlfriend (Sandra Bullock), who disappeared at a gas station after the couple had a fight. Where the original film didn't reveal what happened to the girlfriend until late into the movie, the 1992 version opens with her kidnapper (Jeff Bridges) plotting his abduction. Over the course of the film, Sutherland's search for Bullock is intercut with footage of Bridges that illustrates his mental illness and his repeated attempts to abduct women.

Review:

I've read quite a few reviews on this version of the film, with everyone saying to "watch the original, it's better". Well that might not be very hard considering this one wasn't very good at all. A very interesting choice of character portrayal by Bridges who plays the character very all over the place. Kiefer, pre-24, does a lot of the same things he does in a lot of his more action-ish roles. Lots of yelling, lots of sporadic movement that ultimately is over reacting & unnecessary. I feel like if they hadn't revealed so much about Bridges character throughout the film it would have been much more interesting & left me to be more invested & interested in the film. But since you already knew the end game, it took away a lot of it.

Budget: $23,000,000

Box Office: $14,543,394

Profit: -$8,456,606

Rotten Tomatoes: 47%

Flixster: 50%

20%

Lead Acting: 6/15

Supporting Cast: 2/15

Plot: 7/10

Compared To The Genre: 0/10

Cinematography: 5/20

Intrigue: 0/20

Extra: 0/10 

Mr. Baseball (1992):

Starring:

Tom Selleck - Jack "Mr. Baseball" Elliot

Ken Takakura - Uchiyama

Aya Takanashi - Hiroko Uchiyama

Dennis Haysbert - Max "Hammer" Dubois

Toshi Shioya - Yoji Nishimura

Larry Pennell - Howie Gold

Scott Plank - Ryan Ward

Director:

Fred Schepisi (Roxanne; Six Degrees Of Separation)

Synopsis:

When has-been baseball player Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) is signed by a Japanese team, he is initially reluctant to take the game seriously. Elliot is very successful, though, as he teaches the team about American chutzpah, and they remind him of the value of respect. He must fight his way out from under a slump to show that he deserves the title of "Mr. Baseball".

Review:

Seriously LOVE this movie. Sure maybe it's a cheesy 90's baseball movie starring a whole bunch of Japanese actors that no one outside of Japan has heard of, but Tom Selleck was in his prime & whether your a fan or not, he is quite a hilarious man. Not to mention he has the best god damn mustache this side of Ron Swanson. Everything you want from a comedic white man in Japan baseball movie. Silly slap stick. Clashing cultures. Interracial love. Silly customs. Overall it's an awesome movie!!! Allan Creasy will agree with me. Absolutely love the scene where Selleck is filming a Japanese commercial. I will say that the only down fall is that, although I understand that it was important to the story & detrimental to the developing relationship between Selleck's character & his traditional Japanese manager I felt like they spent way too much time on the Hiroko/Jack storyline. Way too many conversations etc. between the two.

Budget: $25,000,000

Box Office: $20,883,046

Profit: -$4,116,954

Rotten Tomatoes: 13%

Flixster: 37% 

77%

Lead Acting: 12/15

Supporting Cast: 10/15

Plot: 10/10

Compared To The Genre: 8/10

Cinematography: 12/20

Intrigue: 15/20

Extra: 10/10

Idle Hands (1999):

Starring:

Devon Sawa - Anton Tobias

Seth Green - Mick

Elden Henson - Pnub

Jessica Alba - Molly

Vivica A. Fox - Debi LeCure

Christopher Hart - "The Hand"

Fred Willard - Dad Tobias

Connie Ray - Mom Tobias

Kelly Monaco - Tiffany

Director:

Rodman Flender (Leprechaun 2; Conan O'Brien Can't Stop)

Synopsis:

Anton Tobias wakes up Halloween morning to discover-after watching some TV and perusing the contents of the fridge, oblivious to the pool of blood on the floor-that his parents have been turned into a couple of headless Halloween decorations. After hanging out with his equally irresponsible friends, Mick and Pnub, Anton discovers that his right hand has a very bloodthirsty mind of its own, and it's hell-bent on wreaking deadly havoc with or without him. Will the gates of Hell open wide at the high school Halloween Dance and drag an innocent soul into eternal damnation? They just might in IDLE HANDS, when the forces of good and evil face off in a showdown full of diabolical comedy and bloodcurdling terror.

Review:

I remembered this movie being a lot more fun when it first came out. Now I'm just mad that I wasted part of my evening on a Devon Sawa movie... There was enough comedy to make it OK but even for a comedic horror movie it had some fucking brutal acting. I honestly can say that I hate Devon Sawa. Jessica Alba couldn't even save this stupid movie. I will say that Seth Green & Elden Henson were funny, which is hard to say because I dislike Seth Green & his stupid ginger face.

Budget: $25,000,000

Box Office: $4,152,230

Profit: -$20,847,770

Rotten Tomatoes: 15%

Flixster: 56%

26%

Lead Acting: 0/15

Supporting Cast: 5/15

Plot: 5/10

Compared To The Genre: 0/10

Cinematography: 8/20

Intrigue: 6/20

Extra: 0/10