Abduction (2011)

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Alfred Molina, & Sigourney Weaver
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Well, teen heart-throb, Taylor Lautner, finally has his own feature film, and while the story sounded pretty good, I didn't expect much. To be honest, the only thing I've seen him in were the Twilight films and I fucking hated them! In Abduction, Lautner shows that he's more than just a pretty face. Not only can this kid act, but he's a martial arts expert too! The story is super strong and he is supported by some great veteran character actors, like Sigourney Weaver. The story follows a boy, who while doing a school project, finds a picture of himself on a missing person website. It leads him into an unbelievable story, full of twists and turns. It's unbelievable, yes...but still good! It's an action film, with a very solid background story and some fairly big names. Don't let the big name Teen Idol starring in it, keep you away. If you love a good action film, like I do, this one's a winner!

Return To Sleepaway Camp

Starring: Vincent Pastore, Michael Gibney, & Paul DeAngelo
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

It takes a good actor to play a bad one, and that's really the point of Return To Sleepaway Camp. Many critics have given this movie a terrible review, because they just don't understand it. Back in the 50's and 60's B-Movies were terrible because they had a very small budget. The actors were bad, the effects were ridiculous, and the story was rushed. Today's B-Movies have 100 times the budget of their predecessors. Return To Sleepaway has bad acting and terrible effects, not because they had no budget, but rather to pay homage to the B-Movies of the past. If you look at it in that context, this movie is actually pretty good! The kids are great, there are some really funny lines, and the cheesy effects are hilarious. It's just a simple, funny, old fashion B-Horror movie, that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Reeker

Starring: Devon Gummersall, Tina Illman, & Eric Mabius
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The majority of this film is your typical, basic, B-horror movie formula. That is, lots of gore, good looking people, and very bad acting. For most of this movie, I was unimpressed, thinking that it wasn't bad enough to turn off, but wasn't good enough to ever see again. I decided to finish it and that's when I got hit with one of the best endings I have seen in any horror film ever! I never even had a clue that it was coming. It tied up all the loose ends and weird things that I had just associated with it being a B-movie. Like I said, the acting is nothing special, the story is nothing different, and for the most part this film is "OK", but that ending, I just can't get it out of my mind, it really makes this one worth seeing.

The Help (2011)

Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, & Bryce Dallas Howard
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Yesterday, I had a 3 hour break in-between classes, and a free movie on my AMC Stubbs card, so I went to the movies. Unbelievably the only thing playing at my time was one of the movies I didn't want to see, The Help. Isn't it funny how the movie you never want to see always turns out to be great? The Help is based on a book by the same title, and follows a young writer, in the mid 1960s, looking for an idea. At a party, she notices how horrible people are to the African American help and decides to write their story. Of course it's a scandalous idea that can get them all killed, but Skeeter finds one woman brave enough to tell her story. This movie is funny, heartwarming, and inspirational, not to mention the acting is top notch. Viola Davis deserves an Oscar nomination for her performance, which is one of the strongest I've seen all year. The Help is an amazing story, with a terrific cast, and a big upside. It has a unique and inspiring story that takes us back to a very tumultuous time in American History, and I can't recommend it enough!

American Heart

Starring: Jeff Bridges & Edward Furlong
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Edward Furlong is one of my favorite actors. Jeff Bridges is one of the top actors in Hollywood, and while not on my top 10 list, he's still a brilliant actor. So, American Heart should have been an awesome film! I knew from reading reviews, that it was gonna be strange, but while most people liked it, I did not! The story follows an ex-con trying to restart his life, and his estranged, runaway son, that he just can't get rid of. The background is great, but the film sucks, seriously all you see is these people going about their everyday business! Nothing really happens, you feel no connection to the characters whatsoever, and there is really no reason to care about what is happening!? Just go follow two random people on the street for a couple days and watch them go about their everyday life and you'll know what this awful film was like.

Virtuosity

Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, & Kelly Lynch
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Virtuosity was a big budget 90s film, that despite having a great cast, was a big flop. After I watched the film, it's fairly easy to see why. The premise of the film is that a police training, virtual reality serial killer, programmed with over 200 personalities, gets put into a robotic body and reeks havoc on LA. Having no one else to turn to, they turn to a famous cop, in prison, to catch him. The deal, catch Sid 6.7, get your freedom. It's a pretty cool idea, but after you get all the information in the beginning of the film, it turns into one big chase. That's it, a back and forth hunt, with no real substance, dialogue, or anything more than explosions and gun shots. The cast was excellent and if they had focuses more on the technology and the scientific aspects of it, the film would have been awesome, but instead it's just another plain, boring, shoot out.

The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made

Starring: Carlos Larkin
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

We all know there are some really terrible movies, that should have never been made. This documentary attempts to highlight these films and tell you just what was so bad about them. I liked how they told you unknown information about these movies, that made them seem even more ridiculous. What I didn't like was how narrow minded the documentary is. Released in 2004, it mainly focus on Science Fiction and Horror films, made between 1940 and 1980. While ignoring all other genres, as well as the last 30 yrs of film, the documentary also rushes through, ending in just over an hour. Seeing all those old films and learning about how crazy some of the things they did was really interested, but it was simply rushed and narrow minded. Maybe in the future someone will expand the search criteria and give a more accurate picture of what truly bad is.

Runaway Jury

Starring: Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, & John Cusack
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Like most John Grisham stories, Runaway Jury takes place mainly in the courtroom. Unlike his other stories thou, this movie follows the behind the scenes of a trial, what goes into selecting a jury, and what happens when someone throws a wrench into your plans. What once was unimaginable, can quickly become possible when millions of dollars are on the line. The cast, well just seeing those names up there should tell you, that they were all top notch. All the main characters had two different sides to them, inside and outside the courtroom and it was great to see who they are on the surface as well as who they really are on the inside. Like all Grisham films it comes down to a verdict, which was the result of information we didn't previously know. Runaway Jury follows the genre John Grisham has created to the letter. If you liked his other films, you'll like this one even more, because of its outstanding cast.

My 9/11 Story

On September 11, 2001, I was off from work and decided to sleep in. As is the case when I don’t have anything else to do, I slept until about 11. That is when the phone rang. It was my doctor’s secretary saying my appointment for a routine physical had been cancelled and she didn’t know when I could reschedule. I asked her, “why not?” Her reply; “Have you turned on your television at all today?”

I turned on the TV and to my horror saw the two main towers of the World Trade Center crumbling to the ground. I knew none of my family or friends were in that area, yet still I was speechless. My first thoughts turned to the thousands of people who might have been in those buildings and then to who and why.

About 10 minutes later, I got another phone call. This one was from the woman I baby-sat for. She said that she and her husband were all right, but because of the tragic events they were stuck in Manhattan and could I be there when their kids got home from school.

The children came home, knowing their parents were all right, but it didn’t stop them from asking a million questions, most of which I couldn’t answer. Then a thought occurred to me. If these kids are that frightened and upset, what are the kids who lost somebody like and who is around to answer their questions?

Over the next couple of days I looked online for ways that I could help. I’m not particularly strong and I’m not the bravest person in the world, but having worked for The Boys and Girls Club and in various rec. centers and camps since I was 15, I knew I could do something. About a week later, a doctor and family friend who worked for South Nassau Communities Hospital called me and told me about the 9/11 Family Center they were opening in Rockville Centre.

The Center, as it would be come to known, started out as a place for anyone affected by 9/11 to come in and talk to a psychiatrist, social worker, or crisis counselor for free. It was also just a place where they could drop their kids off for a while and maybe even get them to talk to somebody.

For the next eight months I volunteered, almost eight hours a day and it was nothing like I thought it would be. My expectations were of depressed kids and kids crying out of control, but on the surface, just days after losing a loved one, these kids seemed like normal kids. Over my time there, I would learn that kids grieve differently than adults and I would have to interpret their behavior to find out who was more affected than others and who needed someone the most.

One child who stood out to me the most was a 3 year old boy whose father was a fireman. For confidentiality reasons, I can’t use his name. However, this young boy seemed to me to be absolutely oblivious to what had happened. For days I thought he didn’t know or understand what it meant that daddy wasn’t coming home.

Then one day his mom said she was going to get something at Rite Aid and would be right back. She wanted to know if I could keep an eye on him for 20 minutes, I said no problem. Literally two minutes after his mother left, he ran to the back to show her a picture he had made. When he didn’t see her, he said “Where’s mom?” and I told him she went to the store and would be right back. He dropped the picture, grabbed hold of me as hard as he could, and just let out the most horrific scream you have ever heard and then broke into tears. This wasn’t just your typical baby crying; this kid was absolutely terrified, and it was then I realized, not only does he know about his dad, but he must think the same thing just happened to his mother.

There are dozens of stories like that, but as the months went by and things started to settle down, so did the kids and their families. They will never be over what happened, but the initial shock of the situation had worn off and we started planning trips and events. Eventually I would receive a paying job and become the Youth Activities Director, a position I held for the next three years.

Those kids started out to me as a random group of victims that I was trying to help, but they became family members. Every time they cried, I wanted to. Every time they felt pain, I felt it. Working there wasn’t just another job. For the first time in my life, I feel like I was actually making an impact on the life of another human being. It was a feeling I have tried to duplicate in my everyday life, but so far I haven’t been able to. While I feel really good about myself for having worked there and for everything I did, it wasn’t about me and if I could, I would trade it all for the lives of their loved ones back or even to just give them the chance to say goodbye.

Hereafter

Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, & Bryce Dallas Howard
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

From Director Clint Eastwood comes the tale of three people's near death experiences, and the psychic who they turn to, to explain it all. Why do I keep watching movies directed by Eastwood? They are almost always much too long and a complete bore. This film, like many of his others, was supposed to have a hidden meaning, but I didn't get anything out of it. Eastwood is a legend and at this point can pretty much make anything he wants. Hereafter, even managed to get a decent cast, but the film itself is pure shit. Seriously, if anyone but a world renowned, Academy Award winning Director decided to make something like this, they wouldn't get in the studio gate. Oh yes, it is really that bad. This is one film you can avoid like the plague!

Apollo 18

Starring: Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, & Ryan Robbins
Rating: 1 1/2 out of 5 stars

This film is shot on old cameras, in a 70s style documentary, that someone would have made on an old camcorder. Someone uncovers the tapes of this secret, classified, NASA mission, that was buried and turns it into this film. Apollo 18 shows how the astronauts came into contact with extra terrestrial life. I was expecting this to be a trippy Sci-Fi movie, it wasn't. I also thought maybe the aliens would be hostile and it would be an action packed horror flick, not really. The truth is, it's hard to say what this was besides bad! First of all, the look they use for effect, hampered the viewers, the constant interruption and flashes were just fucking annoying! The actors really have no dialogue outside of their work, meaning we know basically nothing about them, so there is no connection with the audience. The dialogue is bland, the effects are cheap, and the cinematography makes you want to vomit. It's not Paranormal Activity, nor is it the Blair Witch, it's a cheap rip off of both, that's not worth one minute of your time.

Bereavement

Starring: Michael Biehn, Alexandra Daddario, & Spencer List
Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

I was really looking forward to this prequel to 2004's Malevolent, but was sadly disappointed. The premise of the movie is great and right up my alley. A twisted gore fest about a serial killer who abducts a child, in the hope of making him his predecessor. Sounds good, but in actuality, it was very slow and extremely predictable. I kept hearing about how scary and messed up this film was, did they watch what I just watched? There are a few bright spots here, mainly the cast, which was terrific, and the end of the film, which while predictable, was still really cool to see. Spencer List stars as Martin, the serial killer in waiting. At the ripe old age of 13, this kid has become a B-Horror star! He's this cute, quiet, innocent looking kid, and before you know it he's killed you. He has this way about him, in these types of movies that make it seem real, and he is truly scary. The cast was great, the last twenty minutes was cool to watch, but really there's not much else here.

Strange Days

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, & Juliet Lewis
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

In a futuristic world, black market virtual reality is all the rage. Ex-Cop Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is the guy you go to for all your virtual dreams. He can get you anything from the ultimate vacation to porno and everything in between. Nero's world is soon to be turned upside when on the eve of the millennium, he receives a tape which contains the murder of someone he knows. Many people don't know this, but Strange Days was actually written by famed Director, James Cameron, shortly before he did Titanic, a stark contrast from one project to the other. The mystery of Strange Days, as well as the machine, are cool as hell. What's not is how it ended, because once you find out who and why, you can pretty much figure out the rest, making the last half hour of the film unnecessary. Fiennes is the star and does a pretty good job, but the one who really impressed me was Angela Bassett. She plays his bad ass partner, Mace, and she was really something to see. Strange days is something different in many ways, but it's also predictable, repetitive, and anti-climactic in others. It's a cool film and a different story, but most of the acting is weak, and the story repeats itself leading up to its predictable ending.