I’ve been dubbing 2011 “The Year That Reminded Me Why I Love Movies.”  It’s not to say that this year had more masterpieces.  Nor that recent years didn’t have good films.  But I felt more giddy and excited at the theater this year than I have in a LONG time.  Sure, there were a bunch of the usual blockbuster type films that we get ever year.  And some of them were A-OK.  I liked Cowboys & Aliens, Thor, and the new Sherlock Holmes films just fine.  And had the expected reaction (it’s cleared up since) to the latest Transformers abomination.  It seemed that every couple of weeks I would see something really fun, really weird, really cool, or just really different.  Lots of movies took chances this year.  Like last year, there was a lot of nostalgia present, which is something I tend to respond to.  At times, it felt like movie makers had forgotten that this wasn’t the mid 80s.  Anyway, what follows isn’t quite a list of the ‘best’ films of the year so much as the films I had the most fun watching.
Continue Reading…

2011 was another fine year in cinema.  And narrowing my favorite films to the Top 7 was incredibly difficult.  I’d love to toss out some honorable mentions to the geeky love of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, the Roger Cormany exploitation of Drive Angry 3D, the beautifully weird film school pretentiousness of Rubber, and the insane Samurai action of 13 Assassins.  And if those honors don’t give you a clue, don’t expect to see Tree of Life, Melancholia, or The Artist here.  As solid as those films may have been I’m a genre boy through and through and these are my year’s Best Films…

Continue Reading…

You want to get into the Christmas spirit?  There are a lot of great movies to watch:  It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Love Actually, Elf, and a myriad of A Christmas Carol adaptations.  But those are no fun.  What you want to watch are the weird, violent Christmas stories.  High Octane Cheer like Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Gremlins, and I Come In Peace!  If you’re looking for a little unconventional “Ho Ho Ho Now I Have A Machine Gun” joy this season than let me offer up some of my favorite cinematic stocking stuffers?

Continue Reading…

As far as access to Roger Corman films are concerned, we live in a golden age.  Thanks to online streaming sources like Netlfix and releasing houses like Shout Factory, film fanatics can get their hands on pretty much anything Corman.  From early directorial efforts like The Wasp Woman and War of the Satalites to his insane Star Wars knockoff productions of Battle Beyond the Stars and Starcrash.  It’s all available–And often in HD!  We’ve come a long way from scouring used bookshops for overwatched VHS tapes and staying up till 3 AM just for a glimpse of Death Stalker boobies.  And why is this a good thing?  Cuz Roger Corman told young me that anything was possible.  You don’t have the money?  No problem.  You don’t have the talent?  No problem.  You just need the will and you can make movies.  And I did.  Go over to imdb and look up Peyton Doves, that film owes a lot to the Roger Corman spirit.

Continue Reading…

Chases have been a staple of films since before sound.  Not just the centerpieces of action films, they tend to add a bit of excitement and occasional laughs to all sorts.  I love a good chase, and what follows are a few of my favorites.

Continue Reading…