Could I have been wrong about the Chronicles of Riddick?

Chronicles of Riddick Unrated Directors Cut on DVD
If it had been like this in theaters, I wouldn't have been so hard on it


If I had seen this movie in the theatres I would have been a little bit more pleased. Now some of you may remember how I bashed this movie when I saw it in the theatres. You can find that in my archieves. Anyway when I first heard that they were adding 15 minutes to the movie I thought it may be like adding cancer to AIDS. Thankfully, that was not the case. I actually enjoyed this because, get this, the story actually made sense this time. The 15 extra minutes did wonders for this movie. Now this movie is by no means a masterpiece but at least it is watchable now. Vin Diesel delivers a decent performance as Riddick and the supporting cast is also pretty good. I will however say that the first 15 minutes are still pretty seizure inducing as there are flashes everywhere. This is just a summary of the movie as I will not give this movie a full review as I am saving a full review for a different movie that I shall review tomorrow. Anyway riddick, you did ok I guess. I can admit to being wrong to an extent. However I stand by my original review about the theatrical version as that version pretty much sucks. So what score will Riddick get this time?

Final Score
3.5/5 (Happy now Robert?)

Check back tomorrow for my review of "Without A Paddle" starring Seth Green. Oh that is gonna be a fun one....

Super Size Me Reviewed

Sheesh, when people start actually looking at your blog I have discovered that you actually have to put more work into it. Who woulda thought? Anyway here is a movie that some of you may have passed up. It has been nominated for the Best Documentary of the Year at this years Academy Awards. If there is any justice in this world, it will win. Anyway onto the review!

Super Size Me
A documentary not made by Michael Moore, that's a good thing


The concept is simple enough: Go one month with eating only McDonalds food in order to see if the food really is harmful. This film was made during the time of the lawsuits against McDonalds by people claiming McDonalds made them fat. Anyway Morgan Spurlock desired to put this to the test. Embarking on a thirty day McDonalds fast to see what would happen to the otherwise healthy adult. Enlisting the help of three different physicians, Morgan went head first into this experiment.

Oh yeah, it seems like a good idea at first but once you have eaten your seventh double quarter pounder with cheese, it has to be getting to you. He set himself up some rules though.
1: He had to eat everything on the menu at least once
2: If they asked him to super size, he had to say yes.
3. He could only eat things outside of the fast that appeared on the Mcdonalds menu
The second day in he has to super size a double quarter pounder meal. Hilarity ensues as he McVomits all over the parking lot. This movie isn't just him eating McDonalds though, he also tackles the school lunch system. Turns out that a reform school for juvenile delinquents is serving better lunches than your run of the mill public school. After a few weeks in Morgans liver is pretty much beaten. His health is put in jeopardy by the food he has been consuming. This movie is thought provoking and is very well done.

Now many of you may think that this is just a mainstream way to publically humiliate McDonalds, it isn't. If you want to prove a point you need to do it to the most familiar place possible. McDonalds is a fast food juggernaut and Morgan does mention other fast food places in this documentary. This movie does have limited appeal though as many people will not want to watch a man eat McDonalds food for an hour and a half. I must confess though that Morgans girlfriend annoyed the crap out of me. She is vegan and opposed what he was doing everytime she was on screen. It just got on my nerves. I conclusion though this movie is really good. By the end of it you feel as if you have actually learned something. Even with it's limited appeal and his annoying girlfriend this movie is still great.

Final Score
4/5

I really hate to plug things I have done..

First thing you might notice is that I dropped the "reviews" part of my blog title. This will make it so people won't think I am reviewing actual garages. Anyway I usually don't plug anything that I do but this is something that I am really proud of. I write screenplay's in my spare time using the site Script Buddy. Anyway I am currently working on this one screenplay about two Mormon missionaries that get into a lot of trouble. It's kinda like CLERKS with Mormons but without all the swearing. Anyway if you would like to read it here is the link. Badder Day Saints Script Keep in mind that there may be slight grammatical errors as this is a work in progress and not the final draft. I am working on this screenplay with the high hopes of getting it sold and hopefully it will be made into a feature length film. So far I have gotten two four star user reviews and only postive feedback. I think I might actually have something here with this script. Hopefully something good will come of this.

Your Host
Gavin

New Site Updates

Ahh my old sense of using HTML in middle school is slowly coming back. As you can see the sidebar has been revamped completely and now the eyesore that used to be the top of my page is gone. And I just realized there is a way to turn a title option on so that should make my reviews more accessible. So yay for site updates and for me being less of an idiot!

Your Host
Gavin

White Noise
Kinda like the Ring only it didn't suck

Now after reviewing "Napoleon Dynamite" I needed a movie that I could actually enjoy. "White Noise" is that movie. Now I don't get scared at movies often but his one had me at the point of almost weeping. It wasn't so much scary as it was psycologically traumatizing. As this movie is based around something that is actually real. E.V.P(Electronic Voice Phenomenon) is the the recording of somone who has passed on. This movie does tell a very good story that is centered around that phenomenon.

Jonathan Rivers and his wife Anna are very happy together until Anna suddenly disappears. Jonathon never gives up hope until he is approached by a man who says he is recieving messages from Anna on the other side. Jonathon disregards the man but does take his card. Shortly after he is approached Anna's body is found. Sixth month's after the funeral Jonathon recieves a message on his answering machine from Anna. He goes and finds the man who approached him originally to seek answers. We find out that the man is named robert Price and that he is contacted through EVP from the dead. He also meets a character named Sarah who will go on to play a larger role in the movie. Robert tells him that not only can he hear Anna but sometimes she can come through visually through VHS as well. Upon hearing this he basically becomes a recluse taping everything that he can. I know I am the only one that noticed how nice all the tv's he bought were. Without giving too much away I can say you will jump a few times during this movie. I did like the inclusion of facts about EVP before and after the movie. It was quite educational.

Now I could continue but this is one of those movies that you really have to experience. Now the only reason this movie is not going to get a perfect score from me is because it did have some plot holes and one line pretty much gave a large enough hint for you to be able to figure out the movie. I won't tell you what the line is though, you'll just have to see it for yourself. During this movie though I did feel like yelling at the screen and saying "Michael Keaton, you are Batman, don't be afraid!" I didn't though because I like going to the movies and would have probably been kicked out. Now the only way to describe how scary this is is to tell you that people were actually getting up and leaving because of the content on the screen. Small children (it's beyond me why you would bring one to a movie like this) were leaving and I even saw a teen couple leave because the girl got too scared. This movie is scary and the thing that makes it scary is the fact that it could, in reality, happen. the director does a good job of this and the writing is fantastic. This movie is not without it's flaws but should be seen nonetheless. A good way to kick off '05.

Final Score
4/5