Snark, Critic and Pop!

Saw the new science fiction, time-travel, mind-bending movie Looper from writer/director Rian Johnson — flippin’ loved it.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a Looper, which is a guy who kills people from the future.  A crime syndacite from 30 years in the future (where disposing of bodies is nigh impossible) sends their victims to the past to be executed.  Things go askew when the Looper’s future self (Bruce Willis) is his next victim.  That’s the basic idea — and all you need to know.  There’s good fashioned time travel conundrums, but a great deal of conflicting motivations between the two versions of one man and an interesting cast of characters (featuring Jeff Daniels, Emily Blunt, and Paul Dano) surrounding them.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time — easily the best movie I’ve seen since the Dark Knight Rises.  Go check Looper out! (continue reading…)

I saw a familiar title at the Red Box, “Thrill Seekers.” It seems they repackaged the cheap, Casper Van Dien made-for-TV “thriller” which I reviewed years ago on our old site Film Is Pwn. The review appears in the somewhat selling book, Mega Roos vs. Giant Crappy Movies, but since I’m not writing many reviews as I labor with a novel-in-progress, I figured I’d repost for your amusement:

Riddle me this, Batman: What do you get when you cross Yours Truly and a $1 DVD bin at a dollar store?  You get the 1999, made-for-cable, Casper Van Dien lost “classic” Thrill Seekers!!!!

Having just witnessed the film and staring at the DVD case, I must take issue with the false advertising.  The cover, featuring a picture of Casper Van Dien looking slightly concerned as he talks on the phone, promises that Thrill Seekers is “YOUR PASSPORT TO DANGER.”

This is patently untrue.

The entirety of the story takes place in the confines of the United States, mostly Chicago, so no passport is mandatory.  Perhaps they are referring to the fact the film was filmed in Canada standing in for America, and in that case you would need your passport.  Or, it is equally likely that the DVD was intended for a foreign audience, and Thrill Seekers would qualify as a “Passport to Danger” if you were watching in North Korea, though I suspect their citizenry need no passport to experience danger. (continue reading…)

I read this article from ABC News, and I’m relatively sure I travelled through time.  I went to the Twilight Zone where I learned a valuable lesson about sharing.  The article states in part:

The Pentagon was inundated with so many studies in 2010 that it commissioned a study to determine how much it cost to produce all those studies.

Now the Government Accountability Office has reviewed the Pentagon’s study and concluded in a report this week that it’s a flop. (continue reading…)

Another must see movie (for me, at least) is Looper, from writer-director Rian Johnson (Brick, Brothers Bloom) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Jeff Daniels. Awwwwwww, snap! (continue reading…)

The 25th Reich Web Teaser 1 HD from Revolution Pictures on Vimeo.

I saw the new thriller Source Code, and I was pleasantly surprised.  I honestly wasn’t expecting much, as I mainly picked the film because it was one of the few films at the theater with a convenient showtime between my shift at work and my softball game later that night.  (Also I was impressed by the fact that it’s scored an impressive 90% positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com.) It’s a thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, and Jeffrey Wright.  Source Code is shocking not based on a TV show or a movie(!).  Source Code involves time travel . . . sort of, and an effort to discover the origin of bomb that destroys a train in Chicago.  Think the TV show 24 meets Groundhog Day meets Quantum Leap.  (Source Code features the voice of Scott Bakula, a tip of the hat to Quantum Leap, methinks.)  Good flick, not great, definitely worth a rent when it’s out on DVD in a few months. (continue reading…)