What Dreams May Come Review

What Dreams May Come is a kind of surreal supernatural fantasy drama film released in 1998 directed by Vincent Ward starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Annabella Sciorra about a man named Chris Nielson who dies and his journey through the afterlife and him being a ghost watching how his wife gets on after he dies. Before he died his children died and his wife is left alone and so she kills herself and is sent to limbo and the film follows this story and him trying to save her soul from limbo and reuniting with his already dead family. It centers around both heaven and hell but paints a picture of these places in its own imaginitive way which I really like about this film. The effects are done really nicely to help you get immersed in this world of the afterlife which I think alot of people will find really fascinating.

Watching this movie I actually got creepy chills especially towards the end and in the beginning after he dies and is haunting his wife it was kind of creepy to watch her go through that but the main character Chris you can also identify with that he doesn't want to be forgotten by his life partner Annie. It has a dreaminess to it with the soundtrack and just the fact that he's in the afterlife it plays out like a dreamscape the way they did it you almost feel like you're in a dream yourself which makes this film really stand out amongst other films.

There's a really big surprise at the end that makes sitting through the whole thing really worth while to find out this surprise towards the ending. It's kind of slow moving that's why I say this some people might get bored of it if they have a short attention span but if you're enjoying the story you should stick through it because it gets more strange and there's a big surprise at the end about the characters. I think going into this movie viewing it as a piece of art you should contemplate death and the afterlife and what it means to you and what you're beliefs are about the afterlife and then look at their portrayal of the afterlife. It's pretty philosophical looking at what awareness is and what existence is and what it would be like to be in limbo not knowing who you are or where you are dwelling on your life and really getting lost in yourself but knowing if you have people who love you you can get through anything. It's a metaphor for life and if this idea of the afterlife exists then it can only help you through its wisdom by you seeing this character go through limbo and death and having a loving husband risking his own sanity to help her through her current state of circumstances and also the kids being there and already being adjusted to being dead. It really makes you think doesn't it and I think it's a healthy contemplation and visitation with death while it gets dark at times there's also a lot of serenity portrayed in this vision of death.

I feel this is an important piece of film both as a work of art and as an awakening to a vision of what death is like. That's what is so great about storytelling and film is you get to use it as a way to gain knowledge and wisdom about anything and everything. We can never truly know what the afterlife will be like but if you've seen what dreams may come then you at least have something to go on and can be prepared for it. You can get perspective on what it would be like to haunt someone as a ghost or be haunted by a ghost if you haven't had any experiences like that before. If you subscribe to abrahamic religious views on the afterlife with heaven and hell then this gives you something within your world view to prepare you for that. It shows you the life of a family who all end up dying like we all die but that they can help each other still even in the afterlife as a family you know. It's a great film and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in death. I personally have my own relationship with the idea of death and the afterlife and I think i handle it a bit better than most people do. When someone dies i'm not grieving for very long I accept death. Sure I'll miss their physical presence in my life and that's a sad thought but you also have to understand that we all go through this rite of passage and you can't dwell on the past for your own sanity's sake. Some people might think i'm cold for not feeling that sorry for people dealing with the death of a loved one when they are stuck in the past dwelling on memories and not letting that person move on with their existence or nonexistence. I feel sorry for people struggling through that awareness and i'm willing to help them accept the inevitability of death but logically speaking it is just that inevitable and there's no use trying to fight it because you won't win. All you can do is move on with your own life and accept that it's happened. That's about all I have for this one hope you gained something from it if you yourself are dealing with death and if you're just looking for something artistic to watch this is a good one to try. Ciao!

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Labyrinth Review

I've probably seen this at least 500 times not even kidding. You know how people have movies they watch on a regular basis like going to sleep or while cleaning or doing work etc. This is one of those movies for me, that and the dark crystal. Those old Jim Henson fantasy films are among the best fantasy films of all time and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Labyrinth is a timeless classic that just can't be missed. If you haven't seen this yet then well you need to.. like right now if you can afford to.

Not to be confused with Pan's Labyrinth, Labyrinth is a 1986 British American film directed by Jim Henson, executive produced by George Lucas, and based upon conceptual designs by Brian Froud. The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah the one trapped in the labyrinth.  So it's a movie about a girl who gets her baby brother kidnapped by goblins and she has to go to the goblin kingdom to get him back even though she doesn't like him very much she feels obligated to because he's her little brother.

People at its korny and has bad acting. Maybe the korny bit sometimes but I don't think the acting is that bad. I think some people confuse the two sometimes though. It's kid friendly and I would say pagan friendly as well. Sure it is part musical with the whole David Bowie thing but that doesn't overtake the film. I wouldn't say it's purely a musical, I'd say it's a fantasy film with a couple musical numbers.

There's alot of cool little puzzles in the movie that are solved for you. It's definitely an adventure film not much suspense or thrill. There is a few action scenes that keep you entertained but there are some real slow parts you may think are kind of boring. You just have to get past those parts really. All over its an enjoyable experience with fantastic creations you'll never forget. It's pretty immersive. It's easy to get lost in the story, in the labyrinth and you do feel like you've just been on an amazing journey to the goblin kingdom after its over and done with and you'll want to go there again and again or at least that was my experience and I've never met a person who didn't like this movie and lots of people will get a good kick of nostalgia when you mention something from this movie. So join the club watch labyrinth it's really good classic fantasy.  And one thing I want to point out is this is the earliest instance I know of hearing the word "hogwarts" nothing wrong with that, just saying though.  ;)

The Dark Crystal Review

I've seen this 500 times at least just like labyrinth. Guess I'm a sucker for classic fantasy, go figure.  I really love the dark crystal it has alot of special meaning to me. I've watched it many times and have searched for metaphorical meaning in it like the olde bardic tradition of studying a story for insight and I think there's alot to offer with this tale. It gives it alot of replay value to see new meaning in the events. This movie is filled with mystery and magick.

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz and stars Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw and Percy Edwards. It's a tale of ancient magic and good vs evil set in the form of an adventure of the last of a dying race of elf-like humanoids called gelfling. the main character is a gelfling who is prophesized to be the one who can return balance to their world after the evil race of vulture people called the skeksis take over the world ruling with the power of the dark crystal. They find out about the prophesy and kill all of the gelfling minus 2 who escaped and we're raised by different races of people one with small gnome like forest dwellers and one with a bizarre race of druidic wizard creatures that look like lizard/tortoise humanoid type things. As you can tell it's very nature and ancient pagan based with alot of fantastical creatures based loosely on real animals but the creatures in the dark crystal are definitely unique only minor things are relatable to reality most of the creatures are completely imagined to create the world of the dark crystal.

Most all the creatures are puppets or animatronics, some are people dressed in costumes. For this reason some of the movement like speaking and walking make it quite obvious this is only a puppet the movement looks very fake and lifeless at certain moments while at others look real as ever. It can be slightly inconsistent they may have had difficulties or puppeteers that weren't as experienced as others which is a Shame because the creatures and the story is so incredible that the technological inferiority of the time makes the quality of the film suffer but there is still a unique charm to those old puppet fantasy films. It's the viewers decision whether the fact that this is pretty much an all puppet movie is a hinderence to it or not. All in all the story and the aesthetic of the world and the creatures that inhabit is just superb. It's one of the best fantasy films of all time. It progresses just fine there's a balance of dialogue and action and it's all filled with great mysticism that makes it very very special indeed.

Malice in Wonderland Review

Like I may have mentioned before I love anything alice in wonderland I have an affinity for it and search for great media related to the story because I just think it's so awesome it can't be missed. Malice in Wonderland is no exception. This is an excellent film. It's a little strange but that's what I love about it. It stays true to the oddness that is Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland (the books mind you) while making it fresh and modern; abstract and artistic.

Malice in Wonderland is a 2009 British fantasy adventure film directed by Simon Fellows, written by Jayson Rothwell and  starring Maggie Grace, Danny Dyer, Matt King and Nathaniel Parker.  The story is based on alice in wonderland but set in an urban London ghetto with the queen of hearts being a mob boss and the white rabbit being a taxi driver and alice gets lost in this underground world of drugs and prostitution trying to find her memory after getting hit by the white rabbits cab after running away searching for her real mother. It's a bit more complicated than that but that's the gist of things and boy is it wild. The things they come up with for this film while still keeping it wonderland is phenomenal. Any fan of wonderland with an appreciation for the surreal and creative rendition will love this as much as I do.

The Alice character is beautiful and charming which she should be because she's the main character. Whitey is a funny cockney cab driver that helps alice through wonderland making it really surreal but totally true to the white rabbit character and the more the story develops the more you feel for him and want him to succeed. You can't have a book based alice film without the duchess and her peppered soup and this film doesn't let you down the duchess character is great I loved it.  The caterpillar is a drug dealer and helps alice get to the duchess in this movie which isn't really what I was expecting but I did enjoy that short scene with him in it really puts you in that world of urban wonderland, not the best way they could've  done it but it ended up working and I wasn't disappointed moreso wished there was more. I won't go through every character the last I'll say is everyone's favorite the mad hatter is played by a female freightline dispatcher with a small diner set as the headquarters for an underground prostitution ring definitely not what I saw coming but it's surely creative use of the character and trust be it does work to the films benefit. It's the most thrilling and suspenseful part of the movie and they still made it work to the classic wonderland tales well while at the same time but being a copy of the original.

All around this is just a great movie any alice fan will be proud to own and even if you just like artistic, dramatic, fantasy or adventure films this fits the bill in those categories as well. It really is an obscure gem and is worth the search for it.

Ghost World Review

Ghost world is an obscure indie coming of age drama film about these two girls who are best friends in high school and how they get along after high school. They go through their differences especially when they older man gets involved with one of them and they grow farther apart but in the end they remain best friends.

Being 22 going on 23 here in the next month I can relate to movies like this. I have it on vhs and have seen it a couple times but I just revisited it looming through my vhs collection and put it on again. This one is a strange one for me. I had seen it numerous times at the video store, websites and later on at thrift stores but didn't actually see it for a good while. Rosy watching it again as an adult with a job and an apartment and having dealt with flying the nest more recently I can relate to this movie even more than any pervious time I've seen it.

Things like your first time in an adult store, finding an apartment, worrying about what the hell are you going to do with the rest of your life, disappointment after disappointment, relationships. This is a tough time for most when you're still growing up and all of a sudden the flow of your life that you've dealt with most of your life just abruptly stops and now you're in trouble. In this movie the main character has more going for her. She has an older man willing to be let her move in and be with her, she has her best  friend willing to let her move on with her and she has her father letting her stay with him. I didn't have all that and I know a good number of people who didn't either so some may look at this film and think she doesn't know the half of it but as I always say just because someone has it better than the worst doesn't mean they aren't suffering. This movie illustrates that point very well.

This is one of those drama films that ate really down to earth, tells it like it is and lets you experience and identify with the character and you meditate on your own life, revisit memories think of things you could've done or can still do to improve your life or help another's. The progression of the story is fine and the ending is abstract and artistic. It's not so much particular dialogue or even events that matter with a movie like this it's more of the whole experience of coming of age in general. It sounds kind of weird saying what happens in the movie isn't as important as what the movie means as a whole but that's how I feel about it. It's one of those movies you would suggest to a stranger in their 20s you start talking to at a college or a book store or an art gallery who starts telling you their own tragic life story and how lost they feel. This movie may help them gain perspective into their situation and promote brainstorming on new patterns on development in their lives.

All in all its a good down to earth indie drama that can help and heal certain people in certain circumstances. There aren't many like this out there and I'm glad it's there because I think it has some good potential. 

Blue is the Warmest Color Review

Oh man this movie. This one made me tear up a little bit at the end. It's an indie french drama film about a bi sexual school girl who falls in love with a blue haired tomboy. It's basically about her love life. The French title for this film is actually La Vie d'Adèle Chapitres 1 & 2 which translates in English to The Life of Adèle Chapters 1 & 2. Adèle is the main character the school girl. They describe this movie as an LGBT coming of age romance drama which explains it perfectly. She wanted to be a teacher so she becomes a teacher and moves in with her girlfriend who is an artist. They have their ups and downs and there's a couple amateur lesbian sex scenes in this one so just keep that in mind on who you watch it with. The ending is sad but I don't want to give away any spoilers so go check it out for yourself.

The movie came out in 2013 and was written, produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. I'm not really one for chick flicks but I did watch this one because the title interested me. I already knew it was a lesbian romance movie but yeah the title is what drew me into watching it. It is in French with subtitles as well just so you know. It moves fairly slowly but not too slow to make you bored of it which is a good thing because to be honest I usually get bored quick with korny romance scenes but this movie did it well. There were a couple times with no music which is an indicator that what the character is saying will be important and it creates tension and when you see the leads school friends and they do that you know they are going to say something nasty or nosey which makes you either listen closely for the drama or makes you hate those characters which leads you to be more empathic with the main character which is great for a drama film so they knew what they were doing.

Artistic indie films especially french ones (imho) seem to have a lot of meaningful symbolism like a good painting does that gives this some good replay value as you can come back to it from time to time and see a new meaning in the film which all great art does. Things like them mentioning Pablo Picasso who had his "blue period", the lighting being blue in the gay bar where Adèle meets Emma and Emma changing her hair color from blue to blonde towards the end of the film when the relationship starts to wane from its peak or the fact that they frequently have them eating a simple spaghetti when they have an enjoyable get-together be it with the art friends or with Adèle's parents. The blue I would believe is symbolic of something like the English title is a riddle to be solved. But art is always in the eye of the beholder so the things I mention you may not agree with and you may have your own opinion on what it means and that's what makes it so great I think.

I encourage you to watch this and find out for yourself what you think of the film. This is a gem of a film. Even if I don't like chick flicks I can appreciate what they did with this one it's like 3 hours long and if I can easily get through it I bet you can. ;)

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Monkeybone Review

Monkeybone is a trippy dark comedy directed by Henry Selick starring  Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Rose McGowan, David Foley, Giancarlo Esposito, Megan Mullally, Lisa Zane, Chris Kattan, and an uncredited Thomas Haden Church. Some of the scenes are kinda lame and boring in this one but for the most part its dark trippy and awesome.

The movie is about this comic artist who created this character monkeybone and its kind of his alter ego for his perverted excentric self and he gets into an accident and goes into a coma and in that coma he goes to this dreamscape place for people who are in comas and meets monkeybone and its all about his experiences in the coma and trying to get out of the coma to get back to his normal life meeting strange characters along the way.

There's alot of great comedy some of it cliche and lame but most of it is really cool. Its like really artistic and is like what an artists mind would look like. Some of the effects like the costumes and the animation are low quality and simplistic but they make it look really cool and artistic. The music is kinda mediocre. The characters they come up with are amazing. It's all very dark and bizzarre and that's what I love about it. It does have replay value everytie you want to go see something bizarre and cool but not scary you should watch this movie for sure.

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Trick r' Treat Review

Trick r' Treat is a Horror Anthology Film based on a comic book of the same name. There are 4 halloween relayed tales and that all end up being interrelated in the end. Things you were wondering where that came from or things you might've overlooked all come together in the end. Each tale is really exciting and the aesthetic is just perfect for halloween. This is one of my favorite movies tbh but I really love halloween and I really love horror anthologies.

The film stars Dylan Baker, Brian Cox and Anna Paquin, is directed by Michael Dougherty and was released in 2007. So I think this is the best halloween movie nothing can top this for live action horror about halloween. I would say if you watch anything on halloween it would be this and maybe nightmare before christmas. It really captures the classic kids trick or treating getup but makes it more dark and spooky than what small kids will actually wear which is like spiderman and  disney princesses this shows kids dressed in vampire masks and witch outfits a more like mid 1900s approach that really looks badass in my opinion. The girl who dresses as a witch even talks about samhain which is the original name for the holiday which is a major plus and theres even some great morbid endings to the tales that you'll be all fuuccck that's awesome.

There are some cliche teenager movie moments to it but alot of great horror to it as well that is something you might see stephen king or edgar allan poe do. Standard horror movie music but that's quite common. I wouldn't get the soundtrack myself but if you like that kinda thing go ahead. The shots are great. The costumes are great. All around this is a really great horror anthology I think everyone should own. It should be a staple for every halloween night cuddle up and watch some  movies occasionally handing out candy to trick or treaters.

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A Cat in Paris Review

So It's a movie about a cat in paris... shocking I know but this cat lives a double life with a little girl by day and a cat burglar by night. A Cat in Paris (Une vie de chat) is a french film that came out in 2010 is directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli and stars Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui, Bernadette, Lafont, Oriane Zani and Bernard Bouillon.

Now this movie is really artistic but the art is simplistic and abstract looks very french. There's also a kind of archetype for the French cat burglar you know even running around the concrete jungle is called Parkour and started in France. This movie is about that archetype. I'd say the main character is the actual cat though which is a given from the title I know so it's about the cats double life and how they intersect. The little girl gets kidnapped and the burglar rescues her and they know each other from the cat.  Lots of parallels with the characters like it's a small world. They all live closer to each other and the crime boss has multiple links to both main characters but you'll have to watch it yourself to find the parallels.

It's not very long only an hour long the art is simple but enjoyable. There is an English dub and it's pretty good actually. There's a romantic happy ending a good amount of action on the main night scene for the film and it leads up to it fairly quickly enough time to get to know each of the characters then it all comes together in one hectic night.

I feel it's one of those movies you'd see advertised at an art college or an inner city community center in a big town you know. That's not a bad thing though its a nice little movie. The fact that it's only an hour long means it's as something you'll enjoy for that hour then you've seen it your done with it. It's not a movie I would spend too much money on doesn't have much replay value but is something I would suggest seeing at least once. I think thru should play it at like an art museum like one of those let's all watch an artsy movie on the projector at the art museum kind of things I think that would be very successful. That is it for this review.

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Daft Punk Interstella 5555 Review

I remember when I first heard about this I thought it was a huge conspiracy lol. I've loved daft punk since the very first time hearing them which was one more time in a car ride to elementary school and I loved the whole vibe of it and it was easy to get the lyrics and I sang along straight away and i'm not the kind of guy to sing let alone around others but daft punk had me from day one and 

I listened to every song I could get my hands on when I started going on youtube and saw the music videos for the songs in the discovery album and I thought they all had the blue aliens with the blonde hair or things that looked like them and it wasn't til a while later that I found out that the reason I kept seeing interstalla 5555 in all the videos that were anime was because they actually made a whole anime movie out of their discovery album and I was like wow.

I don't know a single other artist that made a whole anime out of one of their albums which makes this unique and very avant garde. So as you guessed it this is an anime about blue aliens played to daft punk songs. If you don't already know daft punk is actually a french house music group that started in the 90s and is still going strong today. They are the techno guys who wear the robot helmets and this whole movie is house and breakbeat style music from france. It's a silent film in that its all just music no scripting but still tells a good story. 

Before I go any further this was produced by Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo), Cédric Hervet and Emmanuel de Buretel along with Toei Animation, under the supervision of Leiji Matsumoto. It was released in 2003 and its japanese name is インターステラ5555 Intāsutera Fō Faibu, "Four Five". The name is a bit strange the full english title is Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. That's what the 5555 is its the S's in the title using 13375p34k. It is also dubbed the title "The animated House Musical" as you'll be able to see in the image.

The story of the film is about this space rock band that are blue aliens with blonde hair right and they get kidnapped and made into humans to be the next hit band on earth but is controlled by this evil guy who like does this weird occult ritual thing you'll just have to see it but they kind of regain themselves and try to escape to freedom and go back being blue alien dudes from outer space and stuff. Nice little story great use of colors true to raver culture, lovely music you can just chill to this anime its really a cool experience if you like house music and anime its just great. A real gem of a film i'm really glad daft punk made it. If you can get the bluray I would get the bluray to see it in that higher quality it enhances the experience  and make sure you got a decent sound system with a subwoofer to get that nice bass going on with the house music and if you have a decent sized tv all the better and that will make the best of this special film. If not its whatever its still great but blu ray etc makes this even better. 

If you don't like house music or anime or colorful things you might not enjoy this as much. Because of the fact that there is no dialogue minimal sound effects and all music and anime it makes it different to most other films so if you have a really short attention span and need multiple lanes of stimulus to stay entertained you might not be able to get through this one either. The people who watch this have to be the ones who wanna see how the story plays out and enjoy the music that's being played. You have to have an open mind or you will think this is boring and dismiss it, i've seen it happen. Some love it some don't care for it. You be the judge the film is available for free on youtube right now and has been like that for a while now not sure if the link I put up will stay up forever or if things with copyright change but I do know that daft punk has a more relaxed view on piracy. In fact their latest album at the time of posting this: Random Access Memories got leaked months before release and was already on youtube and torrent sites before it even came out anywhere and daft punk I guess figured it would happen and wasn't bothered by it it still sold well of course because it's daft punk <3. So there you go that's my review.

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and if you were wondering this is what the discovery album cover looks like:

Horsehead Review

K This is  Horsehead O.o. It's a French Psychological Thriller/Horror/Mystery Film released in 2014. It was directed by Romain Basset and stars Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux, Catriona MacColl, Murray Head. This movie is one of those really out there films that takes at least a million watches to fully understand whats even happening lol. It's about this girl who goes to visit her mother because her aunt died and they want her there for the funeral and what not. Now shes got big problems with her mom because she refuses to tell her who her biological father is and is a straight bitchy stuck up woman right. She wouldn't even tell her how her aunt died straight away but turns out... well I won't spoil it for you. The main character works in the science field studying lucid dreaming as a form of therapy and is an avid lucid dreamer.

The movie is about her dream walking travels all shaman status finding out things that happened in the dream world with a wolf spirit guide and everything always being chased by death which appears as the horse headed guy. So shes unraveling the mysteries of her family thats the mystery part. It is obviously horror because of all the scary things with the horse guy and another guy but that you'll have to see yourself and I say psyche thriller because it deals alot with the mind and lucid dreaming and it isn't always apparent straight away whether shes dreaming or not or whats going on in the dream because dreams can be very abstract you know so that's another thing you gotta unravel yourself while watching the movie. Movies like this always challenge you like a riddle to figure out whats even going on let alone the task of completing the puzzle of the plot putting all the events together you know then at the end culminating but yet not explaining everything and possibly you even overlooked something thinking about something else and that gives this movie alot of replay value. You can watch this again and again to try to figure out more of whats going on.

 I have to say some of the shots are fantastically done like way cool. The music in the movie is all of the dark ambient variety, lots of sub bass tones and strange soundscapes to create that kind of horrifying atmosphere while showing you dark and grotesque scenes and trippy dreamscapes. There is one thing though about the dreams that I didn't much like which was the fact most of the dreams she wakes up in she wakes up in her bed which from my experience you never become conscious in your dreams waking up out of your bed its usually somewhere else and you just think your'e awake yet you don't realize you just kinda popped up somewhere with no recollection before that moment. Perhaps that's just me but yeah I didn't think that was very realistic to lucid dreaming but I can understand they did that for the effect of the shot which looks great and also attempts to fool you at whether she is waking up for real or not but still that is my opinion on that.

To wrap up this is a great psychological thriller, a scary trippy gorey movie that doesn't overdo the gore but uses it to great use to make it even scarier not something to watch alone at midnight. There is some sex in it mostly her bathing which isn't as sexual but there is a weird incest part that was kinda like yuck but it's all to add to the experience of horsehead you know. So if you like weird horror films this is definitely a must. Very true to some other great french horror films iv'e seen that's for sure. Aight get outta hurr and go watch it already!

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Neco Z Alenky Review

This is an odd one. Neco Z Alenky (Something from Alice) is a 1988 Czech Rendition of Alice in Wonderland written and directed by Jan Švankmajer with little Alice being played by Kristýna Kohoutová. Now I don't know if I would show a child this movie because they might get scared when they see that alice turns into a creepy porcelain doll or that when she gets stuck in the white rabbits house he tries to saw off her arm and then sends skeletons of animals to eat her... That's whats in this movie. It definitely is bizarre and a it morbid. There isn't really any music in it just loud sound effects that seem a little too over-the-top and overdone. 

Alices voice is used for all the other characters that have voices as if shes narrating her own story and when she personally talks its usually a close up of her lips which is kind of weird. The effects to create the animals movement is stop motion with animal skeletons and taxidermied animals. Maybe a child wouldn't notice any of this stuff and just dismiss it and watch the movie but only a really small child I would think. Most others would probably think it was creepy and scary and most people probably wont enjoy this stop motion film made with a bunch of dead animals and a little russian girl but teens and adults with an inkling towards the macabre will probably think this is badass. Its a really bizarre movie that probably only goths and weirdos will love. I wouldn't watch it with family members or lovers unless they like that sort of thing because they might think you're crazy for even knowing about this movie. Just tell them some guy on the internet showed it to you and they might be a bit more sympathetic lol.

Maybe in the late 80s stuff like this in eastern europe might have been more accepted and commonplace but today its taboo and will give negative connotations to it but its a unique film and it stays more true to the book than most other alice in wonderland remakes but also fills in those parts from the book with weird happenings and it will probably scare if not creep out a good ammount of people in todays times young and old. I would recommend watching this while going to bed. It's a more slow moving peaceful chaos type of movie.

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Be Kind Rewind Review

Be Kind Rewind is a little dramatic comedy film from 2008 written and directed by Michel Gondry starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Melonie Diaz, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver. It's a quaint movie about a small time video rental store in the town of Passaic, New Jersey and their struggles living in a poor area trying to get by and the people in that town.

Mos Def plays what I would say the leading character is with jack black supporting the role as mos defs friend in the movie and it goes through their struggles trying to save the video store both while the owner is there and while he is away. All the VHS Tapes get ruined and they make their own homemade bootleg versions of the entire video collection at the store and it gets a little out of hand. By the end of the movie you're going to have sympathy for the characters and the Be Kind Rewind Video Store and even the town passaic, new jersey and its history. It tugs at the heartstrings like you experiences their hardship and are rewarded with a happy ending. Its one of those kind of movies but the humour strewn throughout the film are really interesting and creative and close to reality. Its like you're in a ghetto town video store with some dorky fellows who were the geeks in school and never really had any success but they get by and have a humble existence.

Each event in the film is engaging it makes you want to see what happens next and you have the feeling like "oh my gawd i can't believe they did that lol" and you wanna see the consequences. It makes for good drama and the things that are so dramatic that they do are silly and just wonderfully dorky. Makes you really like the characters by how silly they are. Everyone loves a silly goose and we all know jack black is a big silly goose. It's definitely classic jack black comedy with a touching story.

Give it a try.. if you can find it. Not the easiest one to find but you know amazon is always a good place to get it but I wouldn't check your local video store that deals in new and used movies because it can be a hard one to find; very hipster they've probably never heard of it lol.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox Review

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a stop motion animation comedy film made in 2009 based on the book of the same name by Roald Dahl the author of such things as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach and The Witches among other classics. Great author of childrens books I loved them when I was a kid and they make great family films. This one can be seen as a kids movie but this more is more of an adult movie in my opinion. It was directed by Wes Anderson and I read that it was his first animated film and first film adaptation. It stars George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, and Owen Wilson. 

So I think this film is very avant garde indeed. The animation with the humanoid bodies and the animal heads has been done before but the art is very "indie culture" and I think that kind of urban millenial artist type aesthetic is protrayed excellently in this film. Its intellectual its very adult in its humour like you see alot in 90s media but relatively safe for kids to watch. It pokes fun at things like having family members staying at your place and the kid gets jealous, midlife crisis where you buy extravagant things to make your ego satisfied the realty business stuff like that. Things adults willl understand that kids wont but kids can still find things they like about the film too.

The plot of the story is about the self proclaimed "Fantastic Mr. Fox" who was a thieving fox played by George Clooney who you may know from the oceans 11, 12, 13 etc thief movies. He has a girlfriend whos eggo goes preggo so she tells him to settle down and stop being a thief and so he starts a family and everything then moves to a new place and gets the urge to start stealing again and the whole thing goes by the actions of his last thief job and the consequences therein. All the characters are lovable they all have something unique and interesting about their character. The voice acting may seem a bit strange at first but the more you watch it the more you can see it was planned that was and is actually very good and very smart in how the actors read their lines in conjuction with the animation it all melds for a soup of lovable dorky characters. They took the original story but they definitely made it new and creative and its own kind of thing not like most other film adaptations. You will either love the creativity and artistic drive in this films making or you'll think its like an indie comedy disguised as fantastic mr fox and won't like it so much. This is one of those movies that creates its own slang terms and in my experience any media like that is always going to be cherished by certain dorky people who like to use dry humour to make their friends laugh in a dorky way and this gives you fuel to do that. I won't spoil it for you you'll just have to see. 

All around this movie is unique and artistic and a joy to behold. Yoou have to pay attention to get the little jokes though you can't half watch it half check your smartphone or you'll miss all the little jokes that make this a gem of a film. The animation is interesting you can tell its cheap stop motion right away but they made that a quality about the film to be enjoyed. The choppy parts of the animation they make use of that in a creative way which is very avant garde you don't really see creative uses of a smaller budget stop animation film like this movie has. 

And thats my review I think everyone should see this movie at least once and if you liked it you should go out and buy it because its a fun artistic movie with lots of quality humour and there is some pretty good music in it too.

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Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Review

I love this movie to bits. As you can imagine from the title "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" it's a science fiction comedy film and its definitely one of the best if not the best of the genre. Its based off the book of the same name written by douglas adams which is part of a whole series the books are: "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe", "Life, The Universe and Everything", "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish" and "Mostly Harmless". This Movie makes use of bits of all the books but focuses on the main story from the book of the same name. I imagine they didn't get a contract to make all the books into seperate films so to do it any justice they had to make due and do the best they could. You have to give them credit for that. If you have never read the books and like scifi comedy you will definitely like this one if you read all the books you'll get all the little things they put in the movie but might be a tad disappointed they didn't do more.

The film came out in 2005 its "British-American" directed by Garth Jennings and stars Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Mos Def and the lovely Zooey Deschanel. The story is about Arthur Dent a human whos planet gets destroyed by aliens but is rescued by this journalist for this repository of knowledge the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and his adventures in space and on other planets that have shocking parallels with things he experienced while on earth. Throughout the film you get snippets of entries in the guide which was fun to watch when you see the guidebook you know theres going to be some silly story going on to describe an alien race or how to react to an event. The whole thing has a fun whimsical attitude about it. Its intellectual humour any geek can appreciate.

I do have to say the beginning may confuse some. It starts out with the video resolution being small like a home video on a bad digital camera then the screen gets bigger to the normal widescreen or full screen version we are used to seeing. The pan out shows you that they made it small on porpoise but you might not enjoy the beginning bit for that reason. The rest of the movie is engaging and interesting. Theres always a new creative gag happening which makes this movie such a treat to watch all throughout. The slower parts you may find boring but those are few. There is action, adventure, romance, comedy all things that make a movie easy to watch for either gender. I really like this movie alot its an instant cult classic for scifi just like the fifth element is and if you like scifi comedy like I do this is a must have for your collection. I'll even go as far as to say it can even help you cheer up on a bad day.

That is my review have at it give it a try go buy it on amazon do the things.

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Freakshow 2007 Revamp Review

Freakshow

Backup of original blog post found here.

Freakshow the 2007 Indie film by Asylum Studios directed by Drew Bell is a remake of a classic horror called Freaks made in 1932 bringing you a chilling and slightly demented view of a traveling circus and freakshow and the psychotic residents therein.

The story goes that a local gang of thieves plans to cheat the freakshow and make it big. The female of the group plans to Whoo the ringleader, kill em and take the cash but they lose their heads kill a freak and they take brutal revenge. The ending is the most gruesome! >:)

So my opinion of this film..

Well to be quite frank the cameras were kinda cheap screwing up the lighting at times. The story was fine but the korny drama aspect of this movie made it a little boring. The big shocker suddenly happens at the end leaving you horrified and disgusted at the same time. I would recommend watching it at least once to see how it turns out but I wouldn't recommend spending money on it unless you're a collector.

Its more of a teenager movie lots of just talking gossip drama and sex but once again the ending takes a very sadistic turn for the creepy. It ends like a good ghost story would but getting there is a lazy mans battle. Just stick through it.

Something cool to point out is in the beginning they show a bunch of old pictures of freaks from the depression age I believe. Pretty cool stuff. Of coarse I use the term in a powerful sense. Nothing wrong with being different or having skills! ;)

And voila. That is my review.

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Nosferatu Reviewed

A backup post from my original blog here.

Nosferatu symphony of horror
1922 silent film
Directed by F W Murnau starring Max Schrek as Count Orlok (they couldn't get the rights to use count Dracula or even the word vampire for that matter)

I'm gonna start with this one and I think its a grand choice cuz its often considered the  first horror film ever made and it was horribly cheesy and that means it defined cheesy horror imo.

The film starts off with a young man being persuaded to sell a house to a vampire and he ends up visiting Draculas castle in Transylvania and having his wife lusted after by a sick vampire who brings a death plague to an unsuspecting village.

The story progresses very slowly and the background music makes it even more drab. An interesting thing about the movie is throughout the tellings a book called the book of the nosferatu is being read to you to teach you how to defend against them. The costumes were very Victorian London except the big Kahuna Count Orlok who is dressed in stilts a long nose pointy ears and the fakest webbed claws you've even seen! Roflmao!

If you don't have the patience to get through to the end you probably shouldn't watch this movie. It's kind of boring at first but picks up at the end when nosferatu (spoiler alert) brings the plague.

Its definitely not up to modern standards where people can't hold their attention more than 15 seconds. No joke. But I enjoyed it and it's a classic that I think every classic horror zombie has to see at least twice.

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