The Walking Dead season three premiere

Wow, the new season is off to an amazing start.  I think this image sums it up best.

Great to see T-Dog finally get some lines.  Carl is proving to be a useful member of the group at last.  Everything is right, now bring on the Governor. 

Dredd 3D

If your only exposure to Judge Dredd is the 1995 version with Sylvester Stallone, then you're in for a real shock with "Dredd 3D".
This version abandons all the giant robots and flying motorcycles and brings Dredd to a grittier more realistic world.  Admittedly, still not quite the same as the comics.  The comics were really a mix of both Dredd movies.  This version is about as close as you can get without starting to look like "Blade Runner".

Olivia Thirlby is better than Rob Schneider in every way. 

The plot is very simple Dredd and Judge trainee Anderson go to the Peachtree apartment complex to investigate a murder.  While there they bust a drug operation run by Ma-Ma played by Lena Headey. 

Seriously, don't fuck with her. 

 Ma-Ma locks down the building, all 250 floors of it, and announces it won't be opened until the Judges are both dead.  Dredd and Anderson have to escape Ma-Ma's goons and the apartment residents who want them dead. 
Removing the wild science fiction elements helped make Dredd more accessible, but it also made it more generic.  The plot was so simple that you could put just about any set of  characters into it.   This could have easily been a Robocop film, or a Jason Statham film. 

While "Dredd 3D" is a great action film, it just doesn't do much to distinguish its self from other action movies. 

and no, he never takes off the helmet. 

 

Halloween Movie Marathons, Part 1

This time of year I enjoy getting getting a group of friends together for a horror movie marathon.  In the case of me and my friends, more than one.  This year we're doing themes to each marathon.  The first theme is cold weather horror movies.  Here's our list of movies for a "chilling" good time.

 1. "30 Days of Night"

This movie was not approved by the Alaska tourism board. 

There's an old saying that the nights are six months long in Alaska.  That's not quite true, but if you had to deal with a vampire invasion for a solid month, you might think they were.  This movie has a very simple plot, but it's well executed and insanely scary.  Always great to see vampires being bloodsucking monsters instead of angsty teens. 

 2. "The Shining"

Here's Johnny.  

A horror classic that really needs no introduction.  This film has been terrifying people for decades and rightfully so.  The part that scares me more than Nicholson is the isolation.  I like to be close to civilization, I need modern conveniences. 

3. "Misery"

Why don't people go to warm places to write?

A creepy, very personal horror movie.  Worse than having a slasher try to kill you is being helpless and having to live with one. 


4. "The Thing"

No one gets paid enough to deal with this.

  Another horror classic that's a must for any good scare-fest.   One question about this movie though, why is Wilford Brimley one of the few guys without a beard?

5.  "Let Me In"

A great film with inspired performances from Chloë Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins.  Before anyone says anything, yes I know this is a remake.  I like this version better, thanks.