Noah

Noah is the next Darren Aronofsky film. It is a retelling of the story of Noah's Ark from the bible. You know, the one where he builds an ark and gets two of every animal on it. And then he watches the world around him drown to death. It stars Russell Crowe as Noah, along with Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Logan Lerman, and Emma Watson.

I am going to do something a little different this review. I am going to talk about a criticism of the film or at least a criticism to certain people. The story is based off the story in the bible. Now if your looking for an epic Noah film that is just the story put on film, this is not your movie. They do take liberties with the story. I personally really enjoyed it for that. Now the acting in the film is very well done. Some don't really get their chances to shine, but everyone does very good in their roles. The big ones in my eyes were Crowe and Connelly. Both had big moments and both knock it out of the park. With Crowe you can see how some of the things he had to do really effected him. Which I found to be amazing. It made the character part of the film amazing.

Although Crowe had top bill, Aronofsky was the star of the film. He knocks out of the part with this film. The film is almost like two films to me. The first half of the film felt like that big bible Cecil B. DeMille epic and the second half of the film felt like The Black Swan and The Wrestler. Now I don't think the two films mixed very well, but if we are looking at them as different movies both are done perfectly and with class. My major problem with the film is the script. I'm not saying that the script is bad though. They use symbols, dialogue and themes perfectly through the entire film.  The thing that it does wrong though is the huge plot holes in the film. Now I don't know if that is source material or the writers, but they are problems with the film.

This is a very good film. All together, if you like Aronofsky's other films you will feel right at home with this one. I would also like to add if you aren't a religious person this film keeps you mind and you should still be able to watch this film without feeling like you betrayed your beliefs.

RATING
3.25 out of 4 Ticket Stubs

Top 13 Favorite Horror films

Those that know me know what my personal favorite film of all time is, Pulp Fiction. The thing is gangster/ crime films aren't my favorite genre of film. That award goes to the one and the only the Horror film. Yes, horror films are my favorite. They catch a lot of bad heat for being one of the worse genres of film. Which I understand there is a ton of stupid and just plain bad horror films out there and also people who say they are bad because they scare them. To that I say isn't that the point. So if your not a fan of genre I have decided to make a list of my personal favorites and thing they represent the best the genre has to offer. Horror is a huge genre having many sub-genres, but I will be including all genres so hopefully nothing will be excluded. This is also my favorite not what I say is the "scariest" since scary may not mean the same to everyone. I will admit the films on this list do frighten me.  I will also do a micro review of each film basically just a few thoughts I have on the film. What I like and the basic of basic plots.

  

The Horrible 13

13) The Silence Of The Lambs- This film gave us one of the most interesting characters in all of cinema.  That being Hannibal Lector. Yes, I am aware that Hannibal Lector was in another film before based off the book "Red Dragon", but the performance done by Sir Anthony Hopkins is so legendary that it in my eyes is the first time we truly saw the character.  The story is Clarice Starling is looking for the killer Buffalo Bill and needs Lectors help to find him. The film is a horror film. I don't care if people say "But its a thriller,” NO I am sorry its horror. 

12) The Shining- What hasn't been said about the Shinning. You have Jack Nicholson going crazy. You have the great Stanly Kubrick behind it and you have one of the creepiest settings of all time. This film is tense and the viewer feels it all the way thought the film. It truly is a masterpiece. The story is Jack Torrance becomes the overseer at a Hotel that has to close down for the winter. He brings his family along. Then all of sudden some pretty odd things start to happen. 

11) Paranormal Activity 3- I personal thing this is the best this series had to offer. The first in my opinion started this found footage style craze we seem to find ourselves in. I will admit The Blair Witch Project also gets credit. This film did a lot for the genre it added humor with the super intense scares and also had a very powerful ending. 1 and 2 are just as good as each other but 3 is where the series hit its highest point and its best point. The story is about a family of 4 are living there normal lives in 1988 and when ghosts or something else start to terrorize them.  

The Big 10 

10) Halloween (1978) John Carpenter's- Okay people this is like the slasher film. I mean it started the crazy. Who doesn't know this film. Everything it does. It made a genre of film. I will repeat that so people can understand how important that is. IT MADE A GENRE OF FILM. When this film came out people couldn't sleep and eat for like a week. It had a huge impact on our culture and I am happy to say that is one of the few films that I will watch every Halloween till the day I die. The story Michael Myers (not Austin Powers) stalks a bunch of babysitters. Simple story and it is still effective to this day. 

9) The Conjuring- I think this is the scariest modern horror film to date. I was terrified after watching this film. This is a film that paid homage to 1970s ghost films. This is a film were everything works. The performances are all so good. The story is very good and the scares all feel real and genuine. It works on every level. The story is a family of 7 moves into a new house and once again ghost come after them. (is anybody noticing a trend here) Full review-http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-conjuring.html

8) The Descent- This is the film that spawned two great and personal loves in film. One being the horror film. For a while I really didn't enjoy horror films too much. After a watched a few in like a marathon. I got more and more used to them. Then I saw this masterpiece and it is when I became a horror junky. The other one is a powerful female cast/characters. The all female cast is amazing in this film. The film does one thing that I personal find very hard to do makes you feel like the walls are closing in on you. It is almost split into to films. The story starts off as a group of friends go spelunking and gets cut off in a cave system. Then they have to fight there way out but they soon find out they are not alone. 

7) The Evil Dead- "Groovy" That is all. 

6) Let The Right Ones In- This is the only foreign horror film to make the list and it just missed the top 5. This film really brought back what it meant to be a vampire after Twilight came out. It has one of the best stories ever put to film for horror. I enjoy all the acting and the scares are some of the most memorable. I will also mention Let Me In, this would be the American version of the film. It also does a lot of great things for the genre. If you haven't seen them you should because it’s not a great horror film but a great film.  The story is about a little girl that is a vampire and a boy who meets her. 

The Big 5 

5) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)- Even thought this film came out before Halloween. It would still go under the genre of slasher. I think this is the most brutal film I have ever seen. The imagery and the way it was shot just combine to make one of the realest looking films without applying the found footage style. Tobe Hooper was a mad genius with this film. The film is about a bunch of friends on a road trip to a grave site when they come across there old home. They find a new family there and that is all I will say. 

4) Jaws- "Where gonna need a bigger boat" This film started shark week. This film started the summer blockbuster season. This film started STEVEN SPIELBERG. It also has one of the greatest horror themes of all time. (If not the greatest horror theme of all time.) The film is about a shark. This film needs to be seen by everyone. Not just horror film fans, but fans of film. It works to this day. It is still fun to watch and quote. 

3) A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)- Just saying my high school was on Elm Street. I didn't sleep much in class because of this film. It gave us the best slasher killer of all time in Freddy Kruger. It is also done by the great Wes Craven. It has one of the greatest ideas in film. It is about dreams within dreams (oh wait sorry that's that dumb Inception film) but all jokes aside. The film is about a killer that you can't escape a man that gets you when you sleep. Talk about a way to keep you up at night. When I was a kid this film scared me so bad that I had to run to my mom. 

2) Psycho(1960) - The shower scene alone would have made it on to this list. It is the most infamous film scenes of all time. It only clocks in at 3:21 (at least the scene on YouTube). Then there is the rest of the film. I don't really know what else to say about Psycho. I mean if you haven't seen it. See it. This is another film that will last forever and will never be forgotten.

Now after all that Kyle's Favorite Horror film of all time is 

1) Cabin In the Woods- Cabin is the woods is the perfect horror film for the horror film fan. It does everything and pays homage to all the films I have just mentioned. It also has one the best stories out there. I won't spoil it for you so just see it. It also has a great sense of humor. The only problem with my favorite horror film of all time is that it isn't really that scary. I love this film still and watch it almost every year. It is a parody that works on its own that as a horror film what more can I ask for. Full review-

Now after that is all said and done. I have on more thing I would like to say. People yes horror films have a bad rep and people don't like them because they are scary or gory. I just want everyone to see this without the horror film I probably wouldn't want to become a filmmaker or a film reviewer. So they hold a very special place in my heart.  I will leave you saying this. Everyone can always use a good scare. 

300: Rise Of An Empire

This film is the prequel sequel to the smash hit that was 300 done by Zack Snyder. I have found that 300 is one of those films you love or hate. It is a simple film. It's not trying to be this masterpiece of high thinking story-telling. What it was trying to do was give tribute to one of the most visually striking graphic novels of all time. Now that 300 did very well, it was able to create its own style and it is very  much style over substance. I personally love the style of the first film so I knew what to expect going in, visual gore fest of guys kicking the crap out of each other.

Now the film's strongest point is the fact it has a set up world and set up style. The style of the film is the same but different from the first film.  Yes, you get the super slow-mo and hyper CGI looking film, but you can tell the director is not Zack Snyder. I could tell right form the beginning this film wasn't being headed by him, but he was in the background. The camera movements work a lot better and have more of a point. They got rid of the quick zoom in and zoom out thing that the first one. It's still there but not as bad. They use longer takes which gives it a lot more tease moments and you get to see the fighting a lot better. While I am talking about the fighting, Its awesome! I mean if your going to see this film for the fighting you're in good hands.

Now where the film falls apart is the whole story, script and acting. There is a lot wrong in this department. The story is simple. Nothing we haven't seen before. (SPOILERS) It takes place right at the beginning of the last film, but is forced more on the Athens side of the war. So with that you don't see much of the badass Spartans. (END OF SPOILERS) Now another thing wrong with the script is the characters. You don't care about anybody and you don't really get to know anybody expect one character which I will get to. Now the acting is alright they all do what they need to do. The replacement isn't as likable as Gerard Butler was from the last film. He is okay, but if Butler would have still been in that leader role I think it would have been a better film.

Now the saving grace that is the character and acting in this film is Eva Green. Holy hell she was having the most fun in this film. Like, her character was badass for lack of a better word and on top of it she killed it as the head villain. I was rooting for her to win by the end of the film. Not a good thing for the film, but awesome to watch. I would personally want a 300 3 with just her character. My final thoughts; if you enjoyed the first film you should like this film. It's action packed and will get the action junkies' butts into the seats. Everyone else wait for the Blu-ray

RATING
2 out of 4 Ticket Stubs