Movie Review: "Jack Frost" (1997)

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Movie: "Jack Frost"
Director: Michael Cooney
Year: 1997
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes

Jack Frost is a convicted serial killer in a prison transport on his way to his execution. While traveling through the town where he was actually captured, due to a snow storm, his prison transport collides with truck transporting genetic materials. Jack gets drenched in the genetic chemical that spills from the truck, turning him into a living snow man that is out for blood and revenge.

We're never going to look at snow the same way again.

You may remember a movie named "Jack Frost" from the 90's where Michael Keaton dies and comes back to life as a snowman to reconnect with his young son. In fact, we reviewed it last year during the Christmas season. Well, this is not that movie. Sure, this particular "Jack Frost" is about a man who dies and comes back to life as a snowman, but this is no family friendly affair. This version came out the year prior and stars Scott MacDonald in the titular role. He plays serial killer Jack Frost who, after a car wreck with a genetic chemical truck, comes back from the experience as an evil snowman out to take revenge on the sheriff who caught him. His main goal is to wreak havoc and go on a murdering spree in the sheriff's small town. As a snowman, Jack throws out a lot of cool, punny one-liners as he often but not always kills his victims in some winter related ways. Some examples of these chilly deaths would be decapitation by a bobsled, someone getting impaled by icicle, or another person being force-fed Christmas ornaments, resulting in death. Come on, tell us that's not absolutely amazing. Now, to claim this film to be a good in the conventional sense of the word would not be accurate. It's chock full of bad acting, terrible dialogue, and has a ridiculous script and premise. However, all this being said, the film is something that is so ridiculous and so off the wall, it actually winds up being mildly entertaining despite how technically flawed it is as a whole. It definitely isn't going to offer up any scares in the way a typical horror movie, but it does manage to bring some laughs, most of which are intentional, but a lot of which were unintentional. Either way, it's about pure entertainment, and I honestly don't mind pun-filled films. I appreciate a good pun, but to make them almost always winter, snow, or Christmas related? That's gotta count for something. Maybe it's because we are a little twisted when it comes to our tolerance of low budget B-horror films and horror comedies, but we actually rather enjoyed this movie for what it is. If you aren't that type of person, it'd be best if you avoided this film at all costs, but if you are sort of oddballs like we are, grab some like-minded friends, pour some cinnamon whiskey into some warm spiced cider to get into the holiday mood, and get ready to have a good time. It also helps to go MST3K on "Jack Frost" as much as you can, and might even help you enjoy the movie a little bit more.

My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 4.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 7%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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Two years ago, we were watching: "Bloody Birthday"

One year ago, we were watching: "House of 1000 Corpses"

Movie Review #319: "The Intern" (2015)

Movie: "The Intern"
Ticket Price: $7.00
Director: Nancy Meyers
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minutes

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A 70-year old widower named Ben (Robert De Niro) is having trouble occupying his time during retirement. One day, he sees an ad about an internet clothing company that is hiring senior interns. He jumps at the opportunity and goes at it full force, and eventually, he passes all of his interviews with flying colors and gets the job. He is assigned to be the personal intern of company founder, owner, and CEO Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway). Jules isn't exactly thrilled at the thought of having an assistant at all, let alone a 70 year old one, but Ben has made it his mission to do his best to show his value and change her mind. 

"The Intern" comes to us from the same director as "It's Complicated" and "Something's Gotta Give," Nancy Meyers. Despite being somewhat panned by critics, this film is surprisingly very funny. It not only draws attention to the generational gap between pre-Baby Boom seniors and millennials, pointing out the differences in a snarky, comedic manner, but it also shows their similarities, as well how they come together in many different ways. The movie begins sporting a strong message that seniors citizens are still useful in the technological age and that women can be successful in business and still have a family, too. Unfortunately, it loses its momentum about two-thirds into the film as it forces a lot of melodramatic moments we think would have been better left on the cutting room floor. Jules, played by Anne Hathaway, has recently started an internet clothing company. Where she once had 20 employees, she now has 220 and has since expanded her business model at a rapid rate. Ben is 70 years old, retired, widowed, and looking for something to do with tons of time to fill his days. He joins the intern program at Jules' company and is assigned to Jules herself as a personal intern. She isn't thrilled with the idea, assuming Ben will just slow her down and get in the way. Of course, he quickly shows his value not only with Jules, but with the rest of the company, doing menial tasks others have put off and making friends with several of his much younger intern pals. Jules not only starts to see Ben's worth in the workplace, but she starts to rely on him elsewhere as he slowly becomes her best friend.

This is not your traditional romantic comedy. Ben and Jules are not love interests, but instead, create a deeper bond and a platonic friendship full of trust, relying on one another for emotional support, honesty, pleasantries, and unpleasantries. There is some really touching, tenderhearted moments between Jules, played as a tough cookie by Hathaway, and Ben, played by the incomparable Robert De Niro, as he becomes her mentor (or sorts) and she introduces him to all things hip and 2015. There are also some funny moments between Ben and the other younger college-aged interns as well, including a very memorable scene featuring Davis, played by Zack Pearlman, Lewis, played by Jason Orley, and Jason, played by Adam DeVine, where the 4 must break into Jules' mom's home to delete an email that is a complete riot. Ben might be there to work, but he does so much more, too. Because of his "worldly" experience, Ben shares his wisdom about life, style, and women with these guys, who have grown up in the internet age where it's acceptable to send an email in lieu of face-to-face break up, and where they can come to work with untucked shirts, flip flops, and a bad attitude.

We wound up laughing a lot more than we thought we would based on the trailers. Besides the developing friendship between Jules and Ben and Ben and his intern buddies, the rest of the film focuses on the fact that Jules' investors want to hire a CEO to run the day-to-day operations of her company. They don't have faith in her since she lacks the experience to run something that is growing as quickly as it is. In turn, Jules has take meeting after meeting with people from a list of pre-approved CEO's to see if they might make a good fit for her, her company, and her style. Basically, she has to hire someone be her boss, and this doesn't sit well with her. Jules, always running late to meetings, also has a family at home. Her husband Matt, played by Anders Holm, dropped everything he was doing at work to become a stay-at-home dad to their daughter Paige, played by the adorable JoJo Kushner. In true Hollywood fashion, when a female protagonist who is successful in her work has a hectic schedule and a family at home, to use Meyers' title against her, something's gotta give eventually. Everything was going so well in the plot of this film to the point where we were severely disappointed by its ending. In the end, even though Jules is a tough, strict, and solid worker, it's her personal life that determines what she does in her business life. As we mentioned before, the film was doing some really good things as far setting the tone that women could actually work and have a family with relatively no drama beyond being extremely busy, and from out of no where, a wall of forced drama rears its ugly head, going against what was the overall tone up until that point. The last one-fourth of the film just drags everything to a screeching halt as the typical Hollywood formula sets in, the musical score flips into a minor key, and it enters its mandatory sad, reflective moments phase. Without this ending, the fact that the movie felt a little bit long would have been fixed, and we could have actually watched a movie with a respectable message and tonality about working women with families. Still, for what it's worth, this was a really nice movie we quite enjoyed.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: ~7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 60%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?

Movie Review: "Wolfcop" (2014)

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Movie: "WolfCop"
Director: Lowell Dean
Year: 2014
Rating: UR
Running Time: 1 hour, 19 minutes

An alcoholic, loser cop named Lou Garoud (Leo Fafard) works in a crime-ridden city with no respect for the law. One night while investigating a disturbance in the woods, Lou is attacked by a group of Satan worshipers who turn him into a werewolf for use in their rituals, but Lou has different plans as he uses his new wolf powers to fight crime. 

With a name like "Wolfcop," how could you go wrong? We pretty much got what we expected from a film with such a title, which is something that's horribly wonderful in the best way possible. Leo Fafard plays Lou, who is sort of a redneck and a cop, though he is actually really bad at his job. He's not just bad at being a cop, he's not even a very good person. He can often be found at a local bar, even while on duty, as drinking seems to be his favorite pastime. He becomes the target of some devil worshipers, who use their powers to transform him into a werewolf. Sounds plausible, right? They chose Lou because he is such a loser and they figured, even as a werewolf, he would be easy to control and manipulate. The satanists need a werewolf to sacrifice as it extends their lives when done under the right circumstances at the right time of year. However, they underestimated their subject and he starts to use his wolf powers to fight crime, and even fights against the Satanists themselves. Lou starts to tear people apart in a graphic splatterhouse fashion, and there are some really good, humorous and bloodily violent scenes. On the same token, the way the werewolf transforms is very gross as it bursts out of its human form from the inside, leaving Lou's skin and blood spread across the room. His first transformation happens while in the bathroom, so you can only imagine what part of the body begins to swell and explode first. This film is goriffic, but it is definitely a horror comedy with a strong emphasis on the funny. On both of these fronts, it delivers all around. Despite the film's low budget, it actually does a pretty decent job in the makeup department. The Wolf Cop himself looks good and his transformations are executed very well. This movie is not for everyone; it takes a certain kind of nut-job to enjoy something as bizarre and weird as this, but damn, did we like it! Movies like this are definitely in our wheelhouse, the zanier, the better. It's got weird in spades, along with a hilarious script to boot. Sure, it's no masterpiece, and it's not even at the top of its genre, but it is still enjoyable if you accept it for what it is. The filmmakers went in with a certain set of viewers in mind and executed their plan rather seamlessly. It's obviously based on a goofy idea and plot, but "Wolf Cop" knows what it wants to do, keeps it core audience in mind, and in the end, sticks with tried and true genre-specific cliches and puns, which make it worth your watch.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 67%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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Two years ago, we were watching: "The Lost Boys"

One year ago, we were watching: "The Blob"

Weekend Box Office Results: October 2nd, 2015 - October 4th, 2015

"The Martian" rockets to box office glory

*all numerical information provided by boxofficemojo.com

It's the first weekend of October and Ridley Scott's "The Martian" takes the top spot at the box office, as expected, making an estimated $55,000,000, falling just short of the October opening weekend record set by "Gravity" just two years ago. Though the margin is so tight, it still has a chance to surpass it when the actual numbers are released later in the week. Coming in at #2 was the film led by Adam Sandler and friends, the animated monster comedy "Hotel Transylvania 2," which earned another $33,000,000, bringing its two week domestic gross to $90.5 million dollars. Coming in at #3 as it continued its gradual nationwide roll-out is "Sicario," which made an estimated $12,075,000, bringing its domestic total to $15,076,295. Settling for #4 is the Robert Di Nero/Anne Hathaway comedy "The Intern," which added another $11,620,000 to its $36 million total. Finally, closing out the top five this weekend was the dystopic teen fantasy adventure "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials," which added $7,650,000 to its $63 million total.

		This Week	Domestic Gross
1	The Martian	$55,000,000	$55,000,000
2	Hotel Transylvania 2	$33,000,000	$90,541,765
3	Sicario	$12,075,000	$15,076,295
4	The Intern	$11,620,000	$36,523,892
5	Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials	$7,650,000	$63,241,124
6	Black Mass	$5,905,000	$52,521,030
7	Everest	$5,506,470	$33,177,780
8	The Visit	$3,949,120	$57,694,210
9	War Room	$2,800,000	$60,544,613
10	The Perfect Guy	$2,400,000	$52,715,190

**See you at the movies!!**

Movie Review: "Silent House" (2011)

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Movie: "Silent House"
Director: Chris Kentis & Laura Lau
Year: 2011
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 28 minutes

A young woman named Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) goes to her family's summer home to help her father John (Adam Trese) and her uncle Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens) renovate the house to get it ready to sell. While cleaning up her childhood room, a home invader seemingly breaks into the house, attacks her father and locks her inside. As Sarah starts to see strange things, it's apparent that this may not be just any ordinary attacker, but a demon from their past. 

Real fear? Not quite.

This film is a dark horror thriller that is heavy on tension at certain times, but little else. "Silent House" had a lot of potential to be something really and truly creepy because it is shot and edited in such a way that makes it looks like it is one long, continuous shot. We enjoy this about the film, but in the end, it's nothing more than just a gimmick because the style isn't backed up by much substance. The tension is built because of this gimmicky way of shooting, but it can also go from being frantic and frenzied, to dull, slow and boring with lots of shots of feet, walking through hallways, and moving boxes. Admit it: following the main character up and down stairs, in and out of rooms, under tables and under beds as she tries not to scream would make anyone nod off after a while. It causes the film to drag and it gets utterly tiresome and repetitive after about 20 minutes, though we will say this style of shooting manages to set a good mood featuring an overall nervous atmosphere. Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Sarah, does a fine job in the film and clearly has talent, at least far more talent than anyone else in this film, and she has clearly moved on to bigger, better roles because of this talent. We as audience members are often scared for Sarah, and Olsen conducts herself in such a way that sells this fear to us well, despite her character making cliche horror mistakes every chance she gets. Adam Trese, on the other hand, the actor who plays Sarah's father, is as wooden as a tree and delivers his lines with the passion of Ben Stein on Valium. It's such a stark difference. Even though the movie is just mediocre, Olsen performs her role like she's gunning for an Oscar, and Trese acts like he just rolled out of bed and barely had time to prep his lines before the shoot. The only other actors with any notable amount of screen time are Eric Shaffer Stevens, who plays Sarah's Uncle Peter, who we think is a creep from the second he shows up on screen, and Julia Taylor Ross, who plays Sarah's childhood friend Sophia, who so rarely pops up, it's a shock to see her reemerge in the latter portion of the movie. Each performer is passable in their parts, but neither have much that stands out about them other than said underlying creepiness. We do like where the story leads eventually, as well as the twists and turns it takes, though we had a pretty good idea they are coming. As we mentioned before, "Silent House" has a cool idea behind it in regards to its one long shot, but unfortunately, there isn't enough depth or scares in this film to carry it the whole time. In an attempt to set themselves apart from the crowd by using this unique style of shooting, though sometimes effective, it winds up looking more like an episode of "Cops" instead of the horror movie it should be. 

My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 41%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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Two years ago, we were watching: "The Lair of the White Worm"

One year ago, we were watching: "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers"

Highs and Lows: September 2015's Best and Worst Movie!

September, oh September. You started so, so poorly, but ended with a bang. We are ready for what the rest of the year has in store for us at the cinema!

We are here to share with you our picks for the best and worst theater movie from September 2015! This helps us recap what we really liked and what we absolutely hated every month, and it will also let you know what film is worth spending your money on and what you should avoid entirely.

Here are our picks for September!

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*September 2015's Best Release: "Sicario" - Darkly dismal with a foreboding score that is beautifully and expertly filmed, "Sicario" is truly one of the best movies of 2015. There's no happiness here, but we still loved every second of it. The acting is phenomenal, the subject matter is grim, and the tension is enough to make you sit with your eyes wide opened in anticipation from start to finish. We cannot recommend this movie enough.  Our rating: 10/10.


*September 2015's Worst Release: "The Transporter Refueled" - What. An. Effing. Misery. The implausibility of it all isn't even the first problem with this crapfest. Based on the already terrible franchise starring Jason Statham, for some reason, those involved in this film thought they could get away with making a decent movie sans the gigantic action star, and instead, cast James Marsden on meth with the acting range of a pin needle Ed Skrein, who does the film no justice and is wooden as a board on top of the movie already being complete shite. Not even worth a free Redbox rental.  Our rating: 1.5/10. 

Movie Review: "The Innkeepers" (2011)

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Movie: "The Innkeepers"
Director: Ti West
Year: 2011
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

The Yankee Pedlar Inn is going out of business. Its last two employees, Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy), are obsessed with the supernatural and believe the inn to be haunted. They stay at the inn during its last few days of operation and investigate the paranormal history of the establishment. Meanwhile, a couple of unique quests check in: a former actress turned clairvoyant Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), and an old man (George Riddle) trying to rekindle nostalgic memories.  

If you notice below, there is a distinct difference between the IMDB rating and the Rotten Tomatoes rating for "The Innkeepers." Now, the only reason we include these ratings in our reviews is to give you a baseline for what critics say versus what the public at large says. We know there are nut-hugging fans and bitter haters out there, as well as uptight critics who are only reviewing things a certain way because of their own potential biases, so take these "ratings" with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, we proceed.

Sara Paxton plays wide-eyed true paranormal believer Claire. Pat Healy is her super hipster friend and co-worker Luke. Claire has experienced strange phenomenons at the inn where they work and Luke claims the same. They want to spend what few days they have left at the inn finding out the truth. Unfortunately, neither Paxton nor Healy are particularly convincing in their roles. Their performances are passable at best and that's about it. A pre-"Girls" Lena Dunham is also in this movie for some reason as a cafe barista, but by the end of the film, her role was so pointless you'll forget she was ever there. Kelly McGillis is also given a role as a clairvoyant former actress who is meant to be a developed character, but only serves to pop up and give Claire warnings of impending danger. Early on, Claire is very lighthearted about the whole investigation and Luke seems to be doing it as more of a lark. We understand that young adults often don't comprehend the severity of a situation and do things like investigate ghosts for fun as a joke, but their lighthearted attitude is transferred to the film itself and there is absolutely no tension or mood or anything scary at all in this film. For it to be billed as a horror movie is sort of insulting since it is nothing more than your typical, sub-par ghost movie with little to no thrills or chills. And for that matter, for the vast majority of the movie, literally nothing happens. Outside of Luke startling Claire a couple of times, it is about 45 minutes into the movie before we see any signs of supernatural elements, and then another half hour goes by before the director Ti West changes the mood and starts to try and build any tension at all. There is maybe one scene of decent imagery in the first hour and fifteen minutes and other than that, it's relentlessly dull and almost wholly lifeless. The final 15 minutes start to set the proper mood and display some good visuals, but by then, it's too little, too late. When it is all said and done, we are left feeling extremely underwhelmed, especially when the catalyst is the main character making the most mind-numbingly stupid move imaginable that makes no sense in the context of the story. We are baffled why this film has such high acclaim from film critics since they usually hate horror movies off the bat and this one is absolutely nothing special. For them to take this horse in a race is equally as baffling. It is not well written, it is not well acted, it is not suspenseful, or deep, or efficient in any way, and it definitely does not deserve an R rating.

My Rating: 3/10
BigJ's Rating: 3/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!
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Two years ago, we were watching: "John Dies at the End"

One year ago, we were watching:, we were watching: "Halloween 3: Season of the Witch"

Movie Review: "Shivers" (1975)

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Movie: "Shivers" (also known as "They Came From Wtithin")
Director: David Cronenberg
Year: 1975
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

On an island located off the coast of Canada lies a luxury high-rise apartment complex called Starliner Towers. One afternoon, a resident named Dr. Hobbes (Fred Doderlein) attacks a young woman, murdering her and then killing himself. At first, people thought he had just gone crazy, but it turns, out the girl was infected with a parasite that transmits itself through any sexual contact. He was trying to stop the spread before it was too late. Unfortunately, this young woman was very promiscuous and had already spread the parasite. This parasite, one that is similar to a leech, takes over the host, turning it into sex-crazed maniac and tries to further the spread of the parasite. Dr. St. Luc (Paul Hampton) is warned of the parasite by Dr. Hobbes' partner and heads to Starliner Towers to examine the infected, but he may already be to late to do anything about it. 


"Shivers" is part "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," part "Night of the Living Dead," part Roger Corman sexploitation film. While the concept seems pretty cool, there really isn't a deep plot or a well thought out story. It is all more like a rough outline. Basically, a parasitic life form is trying to takeover mankind and it turns people into hordes of mindless zombies, but instead of eating people, these zombies simply want to have sex. All of the actions in this film fall along this same general scope and we can't say much else about what actually happens because there isn't much beyond that. It's all rinse, wash, repeat. There is no development to any of the characters whatsoever and no direction to the story. There are some decent and cool looking visual elements to the movie, as well as some that are little gross and others that are very disturbing, such as parasites crawling around under the skin, characters puking up blood, and the little slug-like creatures that crawl into whatever orifice or face they can latch onto. These scenes can be unnerving, which is good for a horror movie, but without any character development or depth to its plot, there is little more here than random scenes of sex and violence. Another thing that we noticed was the inclusion of some rather touchy scenes with what appears to be very young characters. This made us wholly uncomfortable at the suggestion of anything remotely related to pedophilia. As a whole, it was almost like watching a really bizarre, disturbing, crudely made sexploitation porno with tons of creepy crawlies and a lot of really dark, shadowy camera work. David Cronenberg is known for his weird films and this is no exception, and since this was his first movie, this was obviously a glimpse into things yet to come from the prolific director.

My Rating: 5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.
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Two years ago, we were watching: "The Legend of Hell House"

One year ago, we were watching: "Halloween II"

Movie Review #318: "Sicario" (2015)

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Movie: "Sicario"
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minutes

FBI agent Kate Macer is recruited to a special task force headed by Matt Graver, who supposedly works for the Department of Justice. She knows they are investigating members of the Juarez drug cartel, but is kept in the dark about the details of their mission. As their mission gets closer to completion, she starts to wonder if she signed up for more than she bargained for. 

Holy tension, Batman!

"Sicario" is a movie that was screened at some film festivals before getting rolled out slowly into theaters nationwide. There has been a ton of buzz around the film and wow, it certainly deserves it. Kate Macer, played incredibly by the brilliant Emily Blunt, is a by-the-book FBI agent who is idealistic and simply wants to get the bad guys. As the film starts, her and her team raid a house in Arizona and uncover, almost by accident, what is essentially a graveyard of bodies hidden within the walls of the house. This very first scene sets the tone for what's about to come in the rest of the film. It is this discovery that gets Kate invited to join a special task force investigating the Juarez drug cartel. It is the Juarez cartel that is responsible for all the bodies she and her team discovered within the walls of the home in Arizona. Of course, Kate is very interested in bringing down those responsible for the deaths and so many others, so she volunteers to join the task force. She isn't exactly sure what the mission is, and Matt Graver, played by Josh Brolin, the man who heads the mission, isn't exactly going to tell her. There is a lot of secrecy going on, and neither us as the audience nor Kate as a character are exactly sure of what's going to happen. When Kate leaves for the mission, she meets a man named Alejandro, played by Benicio del Toro, who is working with Graver, but we know very little about him, only that Kate is to do exactly as he says. We find out that Kate, Graver, and Alejandro, with the help of a Delta force team, are picking up the brother of a high ranking cartel member Kate thinks is in El Paso, but as it turns out, they are actually crossing unauthorized over the border into Juarez to get him. For those who may not know, at one point in history, Juarez was the most violent city in the entire world, recording over 3,500 homicides in 2010. Since then, the rate has dropped down to about 538 homicides in 2014, which is just over one a day, so go ahead and feel free taking evening strolls through the city now.

We weren't kidding when we said there was an extreme amount of tension in "Sicario." From beginning to end, the things going on here provide for more than their fair share of moments where we needed to hold our breath for an extreme amount of time, exhaling and inhaling with rapidity the longer the film progressed. It has the edge-of-your-seat feeling we crave as moviegoers, and even though we were watching a movie with a realistic plot about drug cartels as opposed to something about space or robots, we were immersed and completely enthralled by what might happen next and where the story was going. While our eyes were widened in anticipation, it didn't escape us that we were watching one of the best films of 2015. The acting is fabulous all around, starting with Emily Blunt. Blunt has become a powerhouse actress in recent years and she has proven her worth as a versatile, excellent, fierce star. The best part? Her range. Within the blink of an eye, her character Kate goes from completely stone-faced and strong to visibly nervous and fragile, but never falters as sweat beads begin to grace her brows. She never completely unravels, but her tough-as-nails exterior begins to crumble by the film's end. Blunt has never been better, but we have a suspicion she will continue to reach for the stars in her career. Benicio del Toro is equally as amazing, channeling back to the part that won him an Oscar statue oh so many years ago. He is a mysterious and intimidating character to be sure, never revealing his true intentions or showing his hand. He and Blunt share some scary good scenes together. Even Josh Brolin is very good in this movie as he has an undeniable and cocky charisma about him.

"Sicario" stews in its despondency and we loved every single second of it. It is extremely well paced and is beautifully shot from a cinematographic standpoint. Overhead lingering shots of mountainous landscapes, visual shifts from normal camerawork to night vision and infrared, all of these pieces come together to make an intricate technical puzzle that pays off handsomely in its final product. An epic, ominous, foreboding score sets the stage for a dark, dismal yet riveting film wrought with suspenseful drama, blatant immorality, questionable doings, and a high body count. As with most movies of this nature, there is a delicate dance between what is right and what is legal, though sometimes what's being done for the greater good is wrong. It has more tension than I can recall from any movie we have seen recently and it's effective at every turn. Run, don't walk, to see this movie.

My Rating: 10/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDB's Rating: ~8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ~93%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!

Movie Review: "Arachnophobia (1990)

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Movie: "Arachnophobia"
Director: Frank Marshall
Year: 1990
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

On an expedition to South America, a scientist named Dr. James Atherton (Julian Sands) discovers a new and highly deadly species of spider. When his photographer is unknowingly bitten, he quickly dies, but his death is blamed on a fever he had. This deadly spider catches a ride in the photographer's coffin back to the United States. This spider settles into the barn of a doctor named Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels), who just moved into town with his family. The spider starts to breed and unleashes terror on their new small town. 

NOPE. NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOPPITY NOPE NOPE NOPE.

This is a fun and frightful PG-13 creature feature, but seriously, beware if you hate spiders. The premise of "Arachnophobia" is amazingly simple, but it has the potential to be so much more, especially if you hate the creepy crawlies. An ancient and isolated species of spider with the ability to kill instantly with one bite is discovered and accidentally introduced into a new environment and starts killing people. Doesn't that description just send shivers down your spine?! How scary you find this movie will probably be directly related to how scary you find spiders themselves, and if you're me, that amount is A LOT. If I see a spider in the house and I am faced with killing it, chances are, I'll just vacate the premises and burn the mothereffing house down instead of being in a room with an arachnid. If you are already scared of the relatively usually harmless to human spiders we have in our everyday lives, it's bad enough, but when you add the 'deadly' part, it really increases the fear factor tenfold. Just imagining reaching under a lamp shade to switch off the lights only to have a crawly arachnid hiding under the shade, or a deadly spider camping out in your hat or shoes before you slide them on. Or, worse yet, the creepy eight legged creatures hiding on top of your shower head or under your toilet seat just waiting to sink their little but not so little fangs into you while you are at your most vulnerable moment. I HAVE GOOSEBUMPS JUST WRITING THIS. Thank god we don't have to watch this movie again, it was a real trial for me! But, I guess that means Frank Marshall and company did their job, huh!?

The thing about spiders is half the time they are right under your nose and you don't see them hiding under the lips of your counters or dressers or in that crumpled towel sitting on a table top. There could be one under your keyboard or hanging out in you laptop case right now as you read this review just waiting for the right time to strike. It's pretty frightening to think about in the grand scheme of not only life, but this movie, which only serves to magnify them and enlarge them to sizes beyond anything a normal human being would ever think to put on screen. That is the major creep factor in "Arachnophobia," seeing that spider there and the anticipating what will happen. In a way, it's about jump scares, and the movie does resort to this from time to time, but really, it's more about our basic human instincts being infringed upon by those little suckers. Overall, though, the film focuses on images of the creepy crawlers and Jeff Daniels has an amazingly (read: HORRIFYING) end scene where he's in "the den" of the spider queen. UGH. We know where the spiders are for the most part, so it's not so much "Oh no, is there are spider in there?" but rather, "OH NO, THERE IS A SPIDER IN THERE!!!" There are some close-up shots of the face of the queen spider that are just menacing as well. This is a true horrifying delight in an unconventional sense. Horrific to some, cheesy to others, deadly when necessary.

My Rating: 7.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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Two years ago, we were watching: "The Skin I Live In"

One year ago, we were watching: "The Incredible Melting Man"