The Last Man On Earth (To Get Netflix)

WOAH. Sorry for the delay. First let me explain, I finally got NETFLIX and I have it streaming to my PS3, and it's AWESOME. I know I'm probably the last person in civilization to get it, but it wont stop me from singing it's praises. That all ties into this because now I'll have more old movie reviews written quicker, which by the way im changing the article title from "Movies You Haven't Seen" to "In Case You Missed It", it just sounds nicer.

Also, I've been working on a writing project that I will post on this blog VERY soon, I'm just making final edits and trying to think of an appropriate title. Once all that's done, it'll be posted right here for all to enjoy, at which time I'll fully explain what it is exactly. So, thanks to all my readers for being patient and checking the blog for new updates while I've been away from it working on stuff. It always makes me feel good when someone tells me that they enjoyed something that I've written, or when someone reminds me to update with a new article. Updates are coming, for serious this time.

NEW REVIEWS!

HELLO, this weekend I was able to see 4 different movies in 3 different days (I'm counting the Toy Story double feature as 2 different movies). So check out the reviews below and let me know if you agree or disagree, I wrote full reviews for PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and ZOMBIELAND that you can read in the articles below, but here I'll write a mini-review of TS1&2 because I'm almost positive EVERYBODY has already seen them both...

TOY STORY DOUBLE FEATURE in 3D. A QUICK REVIEW.

A double feature in 3D that shouldn't be missed. These movies are great because it is the epitome of the Disney film, it makes you feel like a kid again. The 3D isn't anything groundbreaking, although it does add an interesting depth of field and really puts all the characters into perspective as toys in a giant environment. Also seeing both movies back to back, there is a very noticeable difference in the CG in the movie, TS2 looks much more real by adding imperfections to all the toy characters, be it dirt stains, fading paint, or pinstripe hair lines they all add to the realism of what children's toys actually look like. If you can stand wearing 3D glasses and sitting next to 150 kids for almost 3 hours, this is definitely a excellent chance to rediscover 2 movies you forgot you enjoyed so much.

ZOMBIELAND, A REVIEW.

ZOMBIELAND is an odd mix of film that surprisingly works. When its funny, its FUNNY, when its scary, ITS GRUESOME. The story follows a group of people wandering in a world that is infested by zombies somehow. What's good is that the story doesn't waste time trying to explain HOW all this came about, it instead uses that time to show how the characters have adapted to this new zombie world. Because really when the first 4 minutes of the movie show a woman getting attacked by zombies and being launched from her car, smashing her face on the pavement and scraping across 8 feet of asphalt, you dont really care about the reasoning behind it.

The plot of the movie is kinda thin, the real reason for watching this movie is the characters. Each character offers up their own solutions for dealing with life in ZOMBIELAND, and thats where the story comes from. The characters are far more interesting and funny than the actual storyline ever could be. We find out what each person lost, and what each person is looking for, and thats the real story here, not the semi-road trip plot that the movie almost goes into.

Also there is an absolutely fantastic, hilarious, and geektastic surprise in the movie that I will not say anything more about other than that. If you see this movie knowing more than that, when it happens, you will be angry with yourself if you knew about it beforehand. And trust me, when it happens you'll know exactly what im talking about.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, A REVIEW.

When I saw the trailer for this movie a few weeks ago, I though I had a good idea about what I was going to see in the theater. I was wrong. In a rare move (I hope movie studios take note of this) the trailer DOESN'T give away every single scene in the movie, and for a horror movie like this it's best to know as little as possible before watching.

Now I won't get too much into the story, but it's the story of a couple that experiences strange happenings in their home so they decide to buy a video camera and record the goings on in their home while they sleep. Then things get weird.

The real thrill comes from the suspense. Each night that the couple records their home, the suspense and anxiety increases exponentially until the final act, which is so unsettling and horrific it'll disturb you long after the movie is over. The scares in this movie target your mind more than anything you have recently seen. This movie really works with the fundamental fears that everybody has; the unknown. Because you NEVER know what you're seeing, or what you might see, or what you THOUGHT you saw when you watch this movie. I have always wanted to see a movie that proves that what you see is never HALF as scary as what you don't. And I finally saw that movie.

This movie gets a wider release this weekend so if you are a fan of horror movies YOU NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE. You might even see me there checking out again, I won't be any less scared even though I've already seen it. Thats how effective it is.

MARK MY WORDS, VOL. III

It's been a little over a year since THE DARK KNIGHT came out in theaters, and since then people have been praising Heath Ledger for his role as The Joker. And since the movie opened many people are wondering what's going to happen in the next BATMAN movie regarding the Joker. Personally I think, the way TDK ended and the way Batman and Joker were matched so perfectly, that it would be just unacceptable to have the Joker left out of the next movie. They will likely explain his absence in a quick explanation, or just leave him out of the movie without any mention whatsoever (like Nightcrawler in X-Men 3), but either way they WILL not show him on screen. Unless what I predict comes true; one of these two actors will be cast as the JOKER in the next BATMAN MOVIE. I'll explain...

MICHAEL SHANNON

Michael Shannon was actually lost an Oscar to Heath Ledger, but it was a very close call in my opinion. Michael Shannon was nominated for his portrayal in a movie called REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, and the entire time I was watching it, I was waiting for his character to come back on the screen. In a way, his character was the "Joker" in his own movie. He was the only character who didn't lie about the kind of person he was and was not afraid to show his true self no matter how disturbing.

WHY HE'LL GET THE PART: Oscar Nomination. It's a lock that he will no doubt knock it out of the park with his performance, you only need to see REVOLUTIONARY ROAD once to agree with me. And with many film and stage credits to his name, he's got plenty of range to pull off many different faces.

WHY HE WONT GET THE PART: TDK director Christopher Nolan, for the most part, seems to like to cast people he's worked with before, which brings me to...

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT

Yup, Mr. ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD himself. G-L has been on the rise lately, starring in two movies this summer, one that you maybe have seen (GI JOE), and one you maybe should have seen instead (500 DAYS OF SUMMER). G-L has been trying to spread his acting wings in past films with roles in BRICK, and STOP-LOSS, but he has yet to have one defining, career making, breakthrough performance. Next summer you will be able to seem him (in some way) in Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION that nobody seems to know anything about, but seeing as how everybody that has a role in any Nolan movie ends up getting critical acclaim for their performances, this could be G-Ls home-run.

WHY HE'LL GET THE PART: Nolan will most likely want to work with previous cast members, and if anybody can pull a great acting job out of anybody, its Nolan. And though not the same build as Ledger, he's got the facial resemblance. Just look at that picture, its almost at a creepy, chill inducing level the way he reminds you of Ledger.

WHY HE WONT GET THE PART: Again, though a good actor, G-L has yet to prove himself as an outstanding actor in a breakthrough role. And there is a chance that he doesn't exactly 'wow' Nolan enough to keep him for a new project.

WHO GETS THE PART?:

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT

Again, though not GREAT, he has the potential. And I think that Nolan is the man who can make him great. I can easily see Nolan casting JG-L for the role of Joker only to keep his presence in the franchise and not dismiss such a vital and iconic character. I can see the role/screentime of the Joker slimmed down considerably for the next Batman movie though, only providing closure to the open ending of TDK, I don't see him being more present than that, it might be subject to much protest if a non-Ledger Joker is on screen for too long.

So there's my prediction, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the Joker in BATMAN 3. Mark my words.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY TRAILER.

A while back in my apartment, we had some trouble with strange occurrences. Our lamp would just turn off and on whenever it felt like it. One night our bathroom cabinet under our sink opened and slammed itself shut. My girlfriend heard knocking on the bathroom door while she was in the shower, and nobody was in the room. Lots of weird stuff. Well one night my girlfriend made the suggestion that we put salt on the countertops and set up a video camera while we slept, in hopes to capture any mischievous entities that may or may not have been visiting us throughout the night. I had no desire to do such a thing. I pussed out. I would never have agreed to film, much less WATCH, such a thing, strictly because I would be too terrified at what I would have seen.

Well somebody else did it and made a movie out of it. And it looks great. And I'm sure they're going to make an obscene amount of money. If only my girlfriend would have told me that it would have been a great idea for a MOVIE, instead of an experimental thing, I'm sure I would be rich now. Better luck next time, I guess.

Anyway heres the link to the trailer, check it out if you're a fan of scary movies. This movie looks like its gonna offer LOTS more than just jump scares, looks like something genuinely terrifying and disturbing. I was scared all night after just watching the TRAILER, imagine how bad it'll be when I'm able to watch the whole thing.

paranormalmovie.com/trailer.html Go there and 'DEMAND IT' to get the movie to play here in Tempe/Phoenix, cause right now its only playing in Tucson.

RETURNS. AGAIN.

HELLO, AND SORRY. It's been quite a while since I've written an article, but I had some major life hurdles to hurdle over, and hurdle I have. So I will work hard to attribute much more entries into my blog of ever-expanding topics, for your enjoyment and mine. I am working on a few articles as I write this post so keep an eye out for those in the coming weeks, in the mean time heres a quick recap of things I didnt get to write about during my absence; --QUICK MOVIE REVIEWS; 500 DAYS OF SUMMER -Didn't float my boat; GI JOE -Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes were the best parts of the movie; DISTRICT 9 -INCREDIBLE; UP-Pixar's most real, mature movie yet, and maybe the best. --Frequent visits to comsumerist.com will help you every time, trust me... --Office pranks are HILARIOUS! All you need is glue, coins, access to google, and some poor sucker's passwords... --JAMES CAMERON'S AVATAR movie trailer didnt rock. It's bad news if your movie's money shot is a space lion. --CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S INCEPTION movie trailer DID rock. --I really dig the new TOY STORY 3 teaser poster. Instead of putting all the characters in the poster with a sunny background, its just a giant stylized '3' behind a black background and the tagline "NO TOY GETS LEFT BEHIND". PIXAR is doing the right thing by marketing this thing towards an older audience, because most of the kids who saw the first two movies are pretty much grown up now. Hell, I was like 9 when the first movie came out. I'll be back soon with some new trailer reviews...