Stupid Horror Movies

At the risk of sounding like your grandmother, I am going to gripe about the popularity of so many horror movies that are popular today. I enjoy suspense, mystery, and sometimes horror films, but I'm not a fan of the mindless murder/torture movies. I'm baffled how they can make so many sequels. Didn't they learn from Police Academy that sometimes it's best to stop after your first mistake rather than keep digging yourself in deeper. Apparently I must be wrong, since there is such a demand for these movies.

I like some scary movies like Psycho, The Ring, The 6th Sense, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but when a movie plot involves a crazy serial killer hacking up dozens of attractive yet stupid people who like to investigate strange noises they hear out in the woods in the middle of the night, then it's a huge turnoff. Movies like Saw, Hostel, etc. have no appeal to me. I'd really like to know what kind of person gets turned on by watching people get tortured and killed as the main plot of a movie. I'm also not drawn to movie posters that have disturbing images with lots of blood and gore all over them. Maybe I'm just a wimp. I know it is not fair for me to criticize so many movies in this genre that I have not seen, but life's not fair.

I also find it ironic that many people who shun movies because of sex or nudity have no problem enjoying a graphic, violent, horror movie. Which is worse, seeing a boob or watching someone get decapitated? It's nice to know you have such high morals Jeffrey Daumer! Sorry for the rant. I'll get off my soapbox now. I think I'm going to watch something really scary tonight like The Ghost and Mister Chicken. Happy Halloween.

Happy Anniversary- A Year of Reviews

Its been a year since I started this movie blog and I thought it would be a good idea to give a summary of the movies I have reviewed over the past year. Sometimes just assigning a number to a movie doesn't really tell you much, but when you see them ranked against each other in a side by side comparison, it is much more helpful. You may not agree with me on these, but this is the order I put them in.

The Dark Knight 8.5
Taken 8.2

Star Trek 8.1
Bigger Stronger Faster 8.0
Rescue Dawn 8.0
Valkyrie 7.7

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince 7.4

Ghost Town 7.4

Terminator Salvation 7.4

Wolverine 7.3
Hellboy 2 7.3

Traitor 7.3

The Proposal 7.2

Knowing 7.2
Quantum of Solace 7.1

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 7.1

City of Ember 7.0
Flash of Genius 7.0
The Express 7.0

Angels & Demons 6.9
Eagle Eye 6.9
7 Pounds 6.9

Australlia 6.8
Expelled 6.7
Forever Strong 6.6
Paul Blart 6.5
Max Payne 6.2
The Golden Compass 5.9
The Transporter 3 5.8

Twighlight 5.7
Land of the Lost 5.6

Transformers 2 5.4
The Day the Earth Stood Still 5.1

Race to Witch Mountain 5.0

The Echelon Conspiracy-4.9

I use a 1-10 scale but all of my ratings have ranged from 8.5 to 4.9 Anything over 8 is usually excellent. Mid 6 to 7 is good and if it is below 6, then I would definitely not recommend.

Cadfael

Cadfael is a TV series that aired in the mid 90's on the BBC. Cadfael is a Benedictine monk and herbalist played by Derek Jacobi. The series takes place in the middle ages in England and every episode involves Cadfael conducting a murder investigation while attempting to solve a mystery. It is kind of like Medieval Sherlock Holmes or CSI Dark Ages. Aside from life in a monastery, the series features, cathedrals, apothecaries, lepers, plague, civil war, religious pilgrimages, flagellation, superstition, and a bunch of unsolved murders.

What impresses me most about the series is the authentic feel it has. From the costumes, to the sets, one gets a feel of how miserable it would be do live in the 12th century. Some episodes are better than others, but I found most to be educational, insightful, and very entertaining. Especially if you enjoy the Middle Ages. Check them out on DVD from Netflix sometime. I give it a rating of 8.1 stars.

Ideal Movie Viewing Conditions

I remember when I went to see The Water Boy in the theater. I had the day off and stopped by a nearly empty theater. Just as the previews started, two ladies came in with about 7 or 8 kids who were all the same age. It must have been a birthday party but I was surprised they'd take such young kids to an Adam Sandler movie. Anyway they came in and started talking loudly and didn't stop making noise until the movie was over.

Ideal movie viewing can be compromised by people who constantly talk during a movie. Some other common problems are people who make phone calls and text, people who go to the bathroom 3 times during a movie, broken chairs, sticky floors, noisy babys, people who criticize or heckle a movie, and sitting too close to the screen.

I once heard that when famous movie critics like Roger Ebert review a movie, that the movie producers would make conditions comfortable for them so they could have an ideal movie viewing experience and hopefully give the movie a better rating. If that was true and I were a movie producer I'd include a foot massage and a fine meal as part of the movie review experience.

The worst possible scenario for watching a movie is when you are tired and falling asleep. This doesn't happen often in the theater, but anyone who has stayed up late trying to watch a DVD can relate to this. I hate it when I can't stay awake and doze off and have to rewind scenes or spend several nights trying to get through the same movie. No matter how good a movie may be, watching it while tired and fatigued can ruin the experience. I'm sure I have been critical of many movies over the years due to the fact that I tried watching them while I was falling asleep and had a bad experience.