Movies To Watch On Halloween

Halloween is today, so what better way to spend Halloween night than by watching a horror movie or two?  Well, trick or treating is better but seeing how I'm 22, 6'2, 250+ pounds with a receding hairline and no kids it would be heavily frowned upon if I went trick or treating.  Sure I could stumble into a nearby bar but let's face it:  Those will be packed as well.  So tonight I'll be popping in the hilarious movie 'Zombieland' as I work a little bit on homework.  Here's a few other horror movies and horror comedies that I recommend watching, whether it's tonight on Halloween or any other time of the year.

'Paranormal Activity'
The first in the series and still the best.  After moving into a suburban home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.  Suspenseful and very creepy, it builds to an ending that I'll admit I had problems going to sleep that night...and I went to see this in the middle of the day.  A lot of found footage movies like this are hit or miss.  You either buy into the concept, or you just think it's the stupidest thing you've ever watched.  The sequels "Paranormal Activity 2" and "Paranormal Activity 3" expand on the mythology and are also creepy.  The less said about 'Paranormal Activity 4' the better.....and the upcoming spin-off 'Paranormal Activity:  The Marked Ones' doesn't look much better.......

'The Conjuring' (read my review here)
This came out earlier this year and is out on DVD and Blu-Ray just in time for Halloween.  Paranormal investigators Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) come to the assistance of the Perron family, who start experiencing spooky things happening around the house.  Cliched, sure, but it's very well made, very creepy and honestly still one of the better movies I've seen this year.

'Young Frankenstein'
Mel Brooks' 1974 parody of the 'Frankenstein' movies that stars Gene Wilder as Frederick Frankenstein, who stumbles upon his ancestor's work and soon makes his own monster (Peter Boyle).  Also features Brooks regulars Marty Feldman as Igor and Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher, an old associate of Dr. Victor Frankenstein.  It's a hilarious movie from start to finish.  RANDOM FACT:  The lab equipment used in this movie is the exact same lab equipment from the original Boris Karloff 'Frankenstein' movie.

'Tucker & Dale VS Evil'
Found this on Netflix after a coworker recommended it to me.  'Tucker & Dale VS Evil' stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as two rednecks on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids who think that Tucker and Dale are out to kill them.  Much like the 'Scream' movies, 'Tucker & Dale' also satirizes the stereotypes of the slasher genre.  Fairly bloody, but also funny.  

'Frankenweenie'
Tim Burton's reshaping of the Frankenstein story has a young Victor Frankenstein (voice of Charlie Tahan) conducting a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life.  But once Sparky comes back to life, the two have to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.  I wanted to see this when it came out in theaters last year but it was out of theaters by the time I was finally able to go.  So when I was home during Fall Break I turned off Sunday Night Football (it was between the Vikings and the Giants so it's excusable) and flipped to On Demand and watched this instead.  I liked this movie a lot.  It's funny, kinda creepy at times, and extremely sad.  It also has some pretty stop motion animation, something you don't see a whole lot of nowadays.  If you haven't seen it yet, watch it.  Now.  You won't be disappointed.




What are some of your favorite horror movies or horror comedies? 

Fall/Winter preview - NOVEMBER

October has come and gone so time to see what November will be bringing to a theater near you and what's on my radar to go see.

'Thor:  The Dark World'
Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.  I thought the first 'Thor' was okay.  This one looks better, and it looks a bit darker than the rather light hearted original movie.

'The Hunger Games:  Catching Fire'
This is probably my most anticipated movie for this month.  This sequel finds Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark becoming targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.  This also leads to the 75th Hunger Games, which rather than choosing from the general population to "participate", previous winners of the Hunger Games are chosen.  I loved the first movie, and this one also looks very good.



ALSO COMING IN NOVEMBER

• The adaptation of 'Ender's Game', featuring Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld (the 'True Grit' remake) and Asa Butterfield ('Hugo')
• The animated 'Free Birds', about time-traveling turkeys who want to stop the first Thanksgiving and make sure Turkeys are not on the menu, featuring the voices of Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler
• 'Last Vegas', about a group of friends getting together for a bachelor party for the last of them to get married.  Features Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline.
• 'Delivery Man', with Vince Vaughn discovering that due to a mix-up he is the biological father of 532 children.
• Disney's latest animated movie 'Frozen', about Princess Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) who must team up with mountain man Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff from 'Glee'), his reindeer sidekick Sven, and a snowman named Olaf (voice of Josh Gad) in order to save their kingdom from an eternal winter.
• 'About Time', with Domhnall Gleason (He was Bill Weasley in 'Harry Potter 7' Parts 1 & 2, also was in the 'True Grit' remake) and Rachel McAdams in a time traveling romantic comedy from the director of 'Love Actually' and 'Pirate Radio'. 
• 'Nebraska', the latest from director Alexander Payne ('The Descendants', 'Sideways').  'Nebraska follows a father and son (Bruce Dern and Will Forte) as they trek across the country to claim prize money that may or may not actually exist.  

NFL Week 9 Pick 'Em

Had my best week ever for NFL picks last week, going 11-2.  Hopefully my luck continues this week.

BENGALS @ Dolphins
CHIEFS @ Bills
Falcons @ PANTHERS
Vikings @ COWBOYS
SAINTS @ Jets
TITANS @ Rams
CHARGERS @ Redskins
Eagles @ RAIDERS
Buccaneers @ SEAHAWKS
RAVENS @ Browns
Steelers @ PATRIOTS

COLTS @ Texans
Bears @ PACKERS

Last Week: 11-2, 84.62%
Overall:  73-47, 60.83%

REVIEWS - 'Only God Forgives' and 'Bad Grandpa'

'Only God Forgives' ***1/4
Got this one from Redbox on Tuesday.  The movie follows Julian (Ryan Gosling), an American in Bangkok who runs a boxing club as a cover for drug smuggling.  Things get complicated when his mother (Kristen Scott Thomas) shows up and compels Julian to find and kill whoever is responsible for the murder of Julian's brother.  I was blown away by the cinematography and the score for this movie.  It's a beautiful movie to listen to and look at.  And while I did like the movie, I will admit those are the only things that the movie has going for it.  For the most part nobody really acts, they just stand around with blank expressions on their faces regardless of the situation.  There's not a lot of dialogue in this movie, and some of it is just awkward sounding and clunky.  In some scenes it's hard to tell if something is actually happening or if it's just a dream sequence.  The plot is a little thin, and some scenes just pop up out of nowhere, such as when it keeps cutting to a Thai police lieutenant singing karaoke in front of other officers.  It's also incredibly brutal and violent.  I only watched 'Only God Forgives' because the director of this also made 'Drive' (which also stars Ryan Gosling).  If you haven't seen 'Drive', it is on Netflix if you want to watch it.  It's a great movie.  It's also violent, also has a great soundtrack, but is quite suspenseful, has actual acting in it (great acting as well from Gosling and Albert Brooks) and it has a much more straight forward plot than this movie. 

'Jackass Presents:  Bad Grandpa' (R) ***
Put 'Jackass', 'Borat' and 'Little Miss Sunshine' into a blender, mix them up and you have 'Jackass Presents:  Bad Grandpa'.  86-year old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) is forced to take his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) to his dad's house across the country so that he can take care of him due to his mother having to go to jail.  Along the way Irving and Billy get into mishaps at a wedding, a funeral home, a biker bar, vending machines, a child's beauty pageant, various restaurants and other unknowing people.  I thought this movie was hilarious.  Not only was it funny watching the antics and banter between Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll, but it's funnier watching the real reactions of the people witnessing it all.  There are some actors planted in some scenarios so that they don't get too out of hand, but you're too busy laughing or being shocked to notice.  If you happen to like Johnny Knoxville's Grandpa character from the 'Jackass' TV show and movies, you'll probably like this movie.

Halloween Through The (College) Years

For my Creative Writing class in the spring I wrote a non-fiction piece about Halloween, simply titled 'A Halloween Retrospective', covering Halloween activities from when I was much younger to Halloween activities I partake in now.  I won't be putting that piece up here (needs to be revised and it's a bit lengthy), so instead I'm cutting the piece in half and just showing off what I was for Halloween in my college years and some quick comments.

2009 - Billy Mays

Freshmen year I was the late Billy Mays for Halloween.  For every time I was made to shout “HI BILLY MAYS HERE!!!” I probably could have quit my wonderful minimum wage job with Ball State Dining Services, become a Billy Mays impersonator and never would have to pay for another drink for at least a few months until everybody got tired of it.

2010 - Referee

Sophomore year, I was a referee.  Didn't exactly have to fork over a lot of my hard-earned money for this.  All I had to do was go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap whistle.  Not exactly the most creative or original costume in the world, but I really didn't have too many ideas that year.    

2011 - A Bum

Junior year I was a homeless person.  This costume I had already decided upon shortly after Halloween the previous year.    Most of the costume I already had materials for, only needing to buy a wig and some brown face paint.  Despite the sign around my neck saying “FAMILY KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS.  NEED MONEY FOR KARATE LESSONS!”,  I didn’t get any money from random drunk people.  But while on a walk in the Village to test my costume out some people honestly did ask if I was really homeless. 

2012 - Bane

Senior year, part one.  I went to see "The Dark Knight Rises" with my brother Josh on opening day.  After the movie we went to Arby's for lunch, and I remember telling him that if I don't lose much weight over the next few months I could be Bane for Halloween.  Sure enough, a few months later I hadn't really lost any significant amount of weight so I gave in and decided to be Bane.  Unlike costumes in the past, this one I had to shell out a decent amount of money for (the vest and mask total were around $50).  I also looked up Bane's dialogue on YouTube and constantly listened to it in order to try and get the voice just right.  Out of all the Halloweens I've celebrated while at school this one was my favorite for a long variety of reasons.  If I listed them all this would be an extremely lengthy post.  

2013 - Mr. Clean

This year, senior year part two, I decided to be Mr. Clean.  Not exactly a whole lot behind that decision process other than randomly deciding to be Mr. Clean.  I usually keep my hair ridiculously short or shaved anyway, so why not?  Much like the Bane costume, I had to shell out some hard earned money to get most of the costume.  I didn't have white pants, white belt, or white shoes.  Thankfully Wal-Mart and Amazon have all of those.  Not really any stories to attach to this one yet.  This is the ONLY time I will be perfectly fine with people calling me 'Mr. Clean'.

NFL Week 8 Pick 'Em and An Update

Well I suppose my luck could only go so far.  After 9-4 and 11-4 last week I went 7-8.  Ouch.  Hopefully things will go better this week.  The Rams apparently are so desperate for a QB that they called up Brett Favre to see if he was interested.  He declined.  You know Rams, there is this other unemployed QB out there on the market....sure his stats are horrible but he somehow manages to win games.......Perhaps it's #TebowTime for St. Louis.  Also.......how about them Colts?

PANTHERS @ Buccaneers
49ERS @ Jaguars
Browns @ CHIEFS
Dolphins @ PATRIOTS
Bills @ SAINTS
Cowboys @ LIONS
Giants @ EAGLES
Steelers @ RAIDERS
Jets @ BENGALS
FALCONS @ Cardinals
Redskins @ BRONCOS
PACKERS @ Vikings
SEAHAWKS @ Rams

Last Week:  7-8, 46.67%
Overall:  62-45, 57.94%

                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 Okay time to switch gears for a little bit.  Haven't had an update in awhile, so here's a preview of what's to come.  The next few days will have a blog post a day.  Today obviously has my NFL picks.  Tomorrow will be a piece about Halloween.  Saturday will have short reviews of 'Only God Forgives' and 'Jackass Presents:  Bad Grandpa'.  Sunday I'll post a quick preview of movies coming out in November, and then that will be it for a little while.  Next week is a busy week for me for school as I start typing away at my huge senior year research paper so apart from a quick post of my NFL picks there probably won't be any posts next week.  It's getting busier and busier here at good ol' Ball State and the clock is ticking towards graduation in December.  It'll be here before I know it and there's a lot to do between now and then.

NFL Week 7 Pick 'Em

Once again I had another good week for picks.  I'd love it if I stayed consistent throughout the rest of the season, but with how unpredictable some of these games are let's face it consistency isn't going to happen.  A few of these picks I kept going back and forth on (Broncos/Colts, 49ers/Titans, Rams/Panthers) so hopefully they don't haunt me later.....

SEAHAWKS @ Cardinals
Buccaneers @ FALCONS

RAMS @ Panthers
Bengals @ LIONS

CHARGERS @ Jaguars

Bills @ DOLPHINS

PATRIOTS @ Jets
COWBOYS @ Eagles
BEARS @ Redskins
49ERS @ Titans
Browns @ PACKERS
Texans @ CHIEFS
RAVENS @ Steelers
BRONCOS @ Colts
VIKINGS @ Giants

Last week:  11-4, 73.33%
Overall:  55-37, 59.78%

REVIEWS - 'Machete Kills' and 'Captain Phillips'

'Machete Kills' (R) **1/2
Once again they messed with the wrong Mexican!  Machete (Danny Trejo) is recruited by the President (Charlie Sheen, listed in the credits by his real name Carlos Estevez) to stop a revolutionary with multiple personality disorder (Demian Bechir) from launching a missile at Washington D.C.  Along the way Machete has to deal with man-hating madam Desdemona (Sofia Vergara) and her brothel (including a grown up Alexa Vega from 'Spy Kids' and Vanessa Hudgens), a master of disguise assassin known as El Chameleon (Walter Goggins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga, and Antonio Banderas), Miss San Antonio (Amber Heard), a racist border town sheriff (William Sadler) and an arms dealer (Mel Gibson) who might just pose the bigger threat.  The first 'Machete', based off of a fake trailer during the exploitation homage movie 'Grindhouse', was awesome.  It was funny, gratuitous, bloody, and dumb - and that's the point.  'Machete Kills' has it's moments, but most of the time it just comes off as just plain stupid instead of entertainingly stupid.  It's violent and bloody, but it didn't really do anything for me.  There is some laughs to be had but its not as funny as the first movie.  Mel Gibson (who I last saw in 'The Beaver'.....strange movie to say the least) and Demian Bichir (who I last saw as Sandra Bullock's boss in 'The Heat'.....hilarious movie) are both clearly having fun with their respective villainous roles.  It's also a little lengthy - this movie doesn't need to be 107 minutes.  There are many side characters and subplots that could've been removed entirely  Overall, the second 'Machete' gets duller but it's not without it's moments.  This movie opens and closes with a fake trailer for 'Machete Kills Again...In Space', which looks even dumber but I'd gladly pay to see it based on the title alone and the fact that during the trailer Danny Trejo has a lightsaber machete battle with the main villain, 'The Man With The Silver Mask'.  That alone is more awesome than anything else in 'Machete Kills'.  


'Captain Phillips' (PG-13) ***
Now for a much different movie.  Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) is in charge of the Maersk Alabama when, in April 2009, it is hijacked just off the coast of Somalia by Somali pirates led by Muse (Barkhad Abdi).  To the pirates, the mission is simple:   Hijack the ship, collect the ransom, pay the ransom to their bosses, and nobody gets hurt.  To Captain Phillips, it's not so simple:  protect the crew at all costs, try and get the pirates off of the ship, and stay calm because help will be on the way eventually.  The movie covers his grueling ordeal, trying to protect his crew from harm through his captivity by the pirates on a lifeboat headed towards Somalia.  Much like 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'Argo' we already know how this movie is going to end.  But that doesn't mean that it's any less suspenseful.  But while it is suspenseful in some scenes the movie itself has some pacing issues that make it drag out, leaving me not in suspense but wanting to just move the story along. It took awhile to get used to Hanks' Boston accent, but once I was able to get used to it I thought he did very well as the titular captain.  The first time actors playing the Somali pirates also do very well, particularly Abdi as the leader Muse.  They're portrayed sympathetically.  Basically if they don't follow through with the hijacking, they'll also have a gun to their head by the warlord ruling their village.  Overall for the most part I liked it.  Good acting, suspenseful scenes, but drags a little bit. 

NFL Week 6 Pick 'Em

Well last week I had my best week of pics so far this season.  Not my best ever, but better than I have been doing.  Colts looking more and more like legitimate Super Bowl contenders.


Giants @ BEARS
PACKERS @ Ravens
BENGALS @ Bills
LIONS @ Browns
Rams @ TEXANS
Raiders @ CHIEFS
PANTHERS @ Vikings
Steelers @ JETS
EAGLES @ Buccaneers
Jaguars @ BRONCOS
Titans @ SEAHAWKS
SAINTS @ Patriots
Cardinals @ 49ERS
Redskins @ COWBOYS
COLTS @ Chargers

Last week:  9-5, 64.29%
Overall:  44-33, 57.14%



Dug through some documents on my computer to find out my stats the last time I did NFL picks for an entire season.  This would be the 2011-2012 football season.
REGULAR SEASON:  164-91, 64.31%
POST SEASON:  9-2, 81.82%
OVERALL:  173-93, 65.04%

REVIEW - 'Gravity'

If you read my October Fall/Winter movie preview you'll know that while 'Gravity' was on my radar it wasn't exactly something that I thought looked all that good but I could see that it had potential.  Then it became the best reviewed movie so far this year (98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 96 on Metacritic) so of course I decided to go see it.


'Gravity' (PG-13) ***3/4

Medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are part of a team that's on a mission to repair the Hubble Telescope.  This is her first space mission while this is his last.  After an accident destroys their shuttle Explorer and kills the rest of the mission's crew, Dr. Stone and Kowalski are adrift in space trying to survive without any means of communication with Earth and with only a limited supply of air. 

Simply put this movie is amazing and one of the better movies I've seen this year.  The special effects and the camerawork are both topnotch and absolutely breathtaking.  Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are both great in their roles with Bullock as the inexperienced, worried, frustrated, and ever isolated Dr. Stone against George Clooney as, well, himself if he were an experienced, almost retired astronaut and his name was Kowalski.  It's a very tense movie and it's also a very quiet movie, which greatly adds to the tension.  There is no sound in space as the trailers, the opening of the movie, and modern day science will tell you.  As debris crashes into various things in the movie, you can only see it.  You can't hear it.  Sure the trailer made some of the collisions have sound effects but this movie does not do that.  And that makes it more tense and terrifying.  Despite being quiet the movie never drags or gets boring, keeping things moving along and briskly paced in it's 90 minute run time.  From Alfonso Cuaron, the director of 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Children of Men'.  He also co-wrote this movie with his son Jonas, and this is yet another movie that the filmmakers had the concept for a while but kept waiting on technology to catch up so that they could finally make the movie (much like 'Avatar' and the 'Star Wars' prequels').  

 Now this is being offered in normal 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.  The nearest IMAX is 40 miles away, so I opted to stay in town and watch it in 3D.  With the added depth that 3D brings, it made 'Gravity' that much more captivating to watch.  If you are interested in seeing it, I highly recommend watching it in 3D.  See it in IMAX 3D if you can.  Just the regular 3D was worth it but I'm sure it's even better in IMAX 3D. 

NFL Week 5 Pick 'Em

Last week was my worst week of picks so far.  Oh well.  I never said that I was any good at this.  I usually play it safe with my picks anyway.

BILLS @ Browns
SAINTS @ Bears
PATRIOTS @ Bengals
Lions @ PACKERS
Seahawks @ COLTS
RAVENS @ Dolphins
EAGLES @ Giants
Jaguars @ RAMS
CHIEFS @ Titans
Panthers @ CARDINALS
BRONCOS @ Cowboys
TEXANS @ 49ers
CHARGERS @ Raiders
Jets @ FALCONS

Last week: 7-8, 46.67%
Overall:  35-28, 55.56%