Monthly Movie Recap - August 2013

Egads! Can you believe it's September already?! Can you believe someone outside a musty comic book used the exclamation egads? The majority if films I took in this month were recent, which is definitely a change from the norm!

Zero Effect (1998)
I had no idea this movie even existed before hearing about it from the Cult Film Club. It's a little off-beat and quirky and turns into a pretty good detective movie. Was getting a little Fletch vibe while watching it.

Cool: Pullman does a great job at being a Holmes-like detective; good soundtrack
Lame: I was just not into the Stiller-only scenes, which weren't many.
Rating: 6/10

The Heat (2013)
Hey, it's a buddy cop movie with two completely opposite personality types that are forced to get along! It was entertaining and I was certainly laughing but some of it was from McCarthy's creative slinging of profanity.

Cool: It was mostly shot in my neck of the woods. The Denny's in the movie is one I drive by frequently.
Lame: A few minor roles were done by people that could be really funny if given the chance; No post-credits outtakes?!
Rating: 5.5/10

Freaked (1993)
What the Hell did I just watch?! Whatever it was, it was Awesome!! I felt like I was watching Garbage Pail Kids by way of Ed Roth, it's just that kind of disgusting, gross-out goodness

Cool: Great cast including an uncredited Keanu as Dogboy
Lame: I can only imagine how much awesomer this would have been if the post-production budget hadn't been cut
Rating: 7.5/10

The Wolverine (2013)
While it may not quite be the Wolverine film I've been waiting for, it's a hell of a lot better than his last solo outing. One day, someone will have the balls to make an R rated Wolverine movie. That's the one I want!

Cool: Big props for having the stones to do an actual story instead of an all-out superhero action flick
Lame: The actress playing Viper! I don't mind how they changed the character but this actress, ugh! Plus it sounded like all her dialog was done ADR.
Rating: 7/10

Detention of the Dead (2013)
Stop me if you've heard this one before: a jock, pretty girl, nerd, burnout and an alterna-girl are stuck in detention together. Sound familiar? Now add zombies! Sound awesome? It does, but that's not this movie.

Cool: The best thing about this movie for me was the soundtrack
Lame: I'd say it feels like something made for YouTube but I've seen much better stuff there
Rating: 4/10, check out Dance of the Dead for a better high school zombie flick

Sexy Evil Genius (2013)
If you'd told me I'd really enjoy a film where 95% of it takes place with the characters talking around a table at a bar, I would never believe it. I was drawn to this one because of the genre TV stars and enjoyed it so much beyond that. It's got a modern-noir vibe to it.

Cool:  I haven't watched the recent BSG so I haven't see Sackhoff in much but she is great in this; the slow Hitchcockian revealing of the plot.
Lame: Seeing Oz and Dawn smooch is still a little disturbing no matter how long ago Buffy ended.
Rating: 8.5/10

Men in Black 3 (2012)
I saw MiB 2 when it came out and only vaguely remember thinking it wasn't that great of a sequel. With 3, I feel like they got they're groove back and it was a lot of fun! I especially enjoy how they tied everything together at the end.

Cool: Brolin's young K is about as perfect as it gets; retro-aliens in the 60s
Lame: The main baddie was just a little too weird
Rating: 7/10

Saturday Morning Mystery (2012) aka Saturday Morning Massacre
A group of young paranormal investigators and their dog drive around in a van and bust spooks. I know it sounds familiar, but this is taking the Scooby-Doo template in a non-cartoony, fairly standard horror movie direction.

Cool: The first case they open the movie with was a good homage to the Scooby Gang.
Lame: Effects are so-so
Rating: 5/10

Month Total

 New:8

Year to Date

New: 59, Rewatch:1