Casey's Movie Quest - Part Two

You can read the first part of my movie quest, and background on how this stuff works, here.

Onto the next five movies!

6. The Dark Knight Rises - while almost everyone I know loves the Nolan movies, I kind of feel differently. Sure, The Dark Knight was pretty badass, due to Ledger's Joker. I thought the first one was super boring, and the last one, while alright, wasn't really anything special to me either. Felt like a really flat ending to a trilogy that was best in the middle. I mean, the original Star Wars was the best in the middle, too, but at least Jedi was a satisfying ending, Ewoks or not.

7. CM Punk - Best in the World - I'm a huge wrestling fan, and this documentary is good enough that non fans should watch it, though I know none of you reading this will probably do that. It's available on Netflix Instant either way.

8. Drive - some of my best friends absolutely LOVE this movie. I just feel like I didn't get it. My favorite part of it is actually Great Wall of China, one of my favorite restaurants, being spotlighted in the movie pretty significantly. Otherwise, I just feel like the movie is trying to be minimalist a bit too hard, at the expense of me caring about any of the characters. Great use of LA locations though, so if you're from the area, you'll get more out of it. Saw this on Netflix Instant.

9. Creature - Movie about an alligator man that always has shit falling off of him for some reason. No, really- every time you see him, something falls off of his back. It's like moss or something, but they never explain it, and it's used every time the guy appears. Saw this on Netflix Instant.

10. The Devil Inside - alright, if you haven't seen this movie, it hasn't pissed you off yet, so I'm going to spoil it a bit for you so you won't get stuck watching such a shitty movie - there isn't an ending. They tell you to go to a website to find out what happens. This was released in theaters with an ending like that. I hope they learned their lesson as there was a bit of backlash against this. If you want to torture yourself it should still be on Netflix Instant.

I'd say I was 1 for 5 in this set, with the 1 being the CM Punk documentary.

Next time, we'll see some 80s classics, a new classic, and a movie I liked as a kid that I don't think holds up now.

Stay tuned!

-Casey

Casey's Movie Quest - Part One

It all started with a New Year's resolution.

I decided I wanted to watch 365 movies this year, and keep a list of all of them. They CAN be movies I've seen before, but they CAN'T be on the list more than once. I did this because I feel like I was falling back on repeatedly watching certain movies. This way, I can get that out of my system with one viewing, and move on to something else. This doesn't have to be one movie a day, but it has to add up to 365 at the end of the year.

As I write this, I'm up to 261 movies. So over a series of posts, I'm going to talk about the movies I watched. They're not going to be wordy reviews or anything, just quick thoughts. I didn't write any of this on the list, mind you, so I'm working from memory. Chances are if I have no memory of something it was really, really boring.

1. LOOPER - I had already seen this in the theatres, and was watching it a second time. I kind of liked it less after seeing it again, but I still feel like this was pretty entertaining stuff. It's also written the complete opposite way that we learned to write movies in grad school, but you're bound to break a few rules when your hero and villain are the same guy.

2. PREMIUM RUSH - Don't know why it turned into a Joseph Gordon-Levitt double feature, but he's pretty great in everything he does, and this is no exception. Great sense of speed and urgency in this movie, and it's a real fun watch. It kind of feels like Run Lola Run with bikes, and that's actually a huge compliment.

3. THAT'S MY BOY - Okay, everyone hated this, but I thought it sucked way less than people were saying. Still thought it sucked, though. I haven't seen Jack and Jill so I can't say which is worse, but man, it's way worse than the Sandler classics, obviously.

4. THE KARATE KID, PART 2 - Caught this on TV. Of course, seen it before. As a kid, I loved these movies, and anything martial arts related, so you're going to see enough martial arts films on here to make sections of this list look like Kung Fu Theatre. I do have a knock on this film for being kind of boring and slow; not nearly enough ass kicking. I made up with that for the action figures after the film, having everyone throw down in the Karate Kid Attack Alley playset that was one of my most cherished toys as a kid.

5. THE WATCH - Another one everyone hated that I thought sucked way less than people said, though I still didn't really enjoy it. I see why it had such marketing issues - the alien stuff was really poorly done, and they tried to hide it as much as possible.

That's it for now. I'd say I'm about 2 for 5 in this batch; can't recommend Karate Kid 2 unless you're having trouble getting to sleep. Next time, I'm going to have two movies in there that I'll have some controversial opinions on (since pretty much everyone but me loved them, but after talking to Mike he wasn't a fan either), more JGL, and promise alligator-human hybrids as well.

Today is officially Miami Connection Day.

Tonight, we're going to a a get together where everyone is going to be watching Miami Connection.

I've seen it before, and I LOVE the movie, which is one of the best "bad/good" movies that's out there.

The best thing about it is Mike is going to see it for the first time, and man, I don't think he knows what he's in for yet. We'll be posting our thoughts about it later, which will be Mike's reaction to seeing the movie for the first time, and me saying "But dude, motorcycle ninjas!" to everything.

That's right. Motorcycle ninjas. If this doesn't sell you on the movie, I don't know what to tell you. Why are you reading this?

Check out this trailer, which will get you pretty amped for the movie, if you have a soul.



Miami Connection is available on Netflix Instant, Blu Ray, DVD, and even a sweet, limited edition VHS. WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!

-CASEY

Instant Watch Wednesdays - Mike's Pick

Since The FP was a total Casey pick (you'll be able to tell who recommends what pretty easily around here), Mike has a Netflix Instant suggestion for you as well.

Monsters (2010) - an indy film about the trek of two people through a Mexico now infested with alien creatures, this film does an excellent job of putting characters and relationships before the science fiction.

Click here to queue it up!

Instant Watch Wednesdays - The FP

Casey here. Chances are if you know me, I've told you to watch The FP a thousand times and if you haven't done it yet, it's going to happen again and again until you just break down and do it.

COME AHHNNNNNNNNN. Click here to queue it.

While these posts are usually going to be pretty short, highlighting something available on Netflix Instant Watch that you should be doing, I've got a classic article on when me, my friends the THUNDER BROTHERS(brother) and Little Buddy all went to a special premiere screening at the Cinefamily in Hollywood.

I live in Castaic. It's a tiny town built around a lake that's been shut down for ecoli contamination an assload of times, and a truck stop.

It's the last bastion of civilization for about 30-40 miles. After that, it's no-man's land. Miss an exit and you're fucked, son. Hope you have enough gas.

Just past that no-man's land is Fraizer Park, which is like if Castaic froze in time when I was growing up there in the 80s.

This almost post-apocalyptic wasteland is where the FP takes place.

Look, I'm not going to recap the plot and shit. Just head on over to The Drafthouse Films Site and take a look yourself.

Long story short - gangs fight using Beat Beat Revelation, a DDR clone.

Me and my homey since third grade and Castaic expatriate Tracy, Grad School Screenwriting homey John, and his brother(and also my homey) James went to see the Saturday premiere of The FP at Cinefamily. If you've never been, and you live in California, go immediately, Cinefamily is the shit.

We loved this movie, you guys.

If you like John Carpenter, Dance Dance Revolution, and are gangsta as fuck, you'll enjoy it too. Shit, I've already preordered the Blu Ray from Drafthouse Films, and that doesn't come out until June.

Here's a photo of me with JTRO, aka Jason Trost.



He's our main character in the film, but he co-wrote and co-directed with his brother Brandon Trost, who is a bomb-ass DP. I have a feeling these guys are going to be making awesome stuff for a long time to come - I hope FP is the hit it deserves to be so these guys can get some funding to make even more stuff.



Here's a photo of me with Art Hsu, who plays KCDC, the heart of Fraizer Park. He gets JTRO to come back and avenge the death of his brother, and is hilarious doing it. Really cool guy, and has the best speech in the film. Do it for the ducks.

So yeah, this film is a must see. In fact, even though you're reading this review right now, if you haven't seen the movie yet, I think less of you as a person for not having seen it. So see it and I will love you again.

-Head Ninja Casey

Review/Discussion: The Conjuring - LISTEN TO THE DOG!

We went to see The Conjuring last night, and as we usually do when we both see something, Mike and I had a bit of a discussion afterwards.

Casey Nielsen: Did you get a chance to check out the article I posted yesterday?

Michael Bowman: About the real doll?

Casey: Yeah. I almost feel like they could have got a whole movie out of that.

Mike: Yeah, but I don't think the event itself was the point. It was more about how they dealt with events in general, I think. How The Warrens dealt with confronting these things.

Casey: It set up the museum existing, which was essential. Real creepy way to start us off, as well.

Mike: I agree. It showed us their normal world, which was dealing with stuff like this. I am glad they changed the doll, though. The real one wasn't that creepy.

Casey: At least they didnt make it a clown doll. I'm not talking poltergeist either...my grandma used to collect creepy clown stuff.

Mike: While I really liked this movie, in thinking about it I realized that it really threw a spotlight on some glaring horror tropes that I think just need to go away.

Casey: Not sure if I agree, what are some examples?

Mike: I promise you, I will stand up and give a slow Citizen Kane clap for anybody who writes a horror movie where where people act normally.

• When entering a dark room...turn on the damn light. I do. We all do. ESPECIALLY when we're scared.
• LISTEN TO THE DOG.

Because that is a horror trope. Dog throws up warning signs and no one listens. There was something else that bugged me, but I can't think of it. I will. And these aren't huge, but they do defy the way we normally go about our lives. But it's not this movie's fault that they use it. I'm not coming down on The Conjuring in particular. It's just that the movie was so good, the tropes stood out to me.

Casey: I prefer not turning on the lights to "Oh shit, Michael Myers cut the power. Again.", but I get what you're saying. For the dog thing, I have to say my dog barks at nothing all the time. OR DOES SHE? Oh, man...

Mike: See? That's what I'm saying. And I'm not saying that every time the dog barks it's a problem. But it is a well used horror trope that the dog won't go where there's evil. It's a sign we give the audience and the characters never pay attention.

Casey: Yeah, but if people in horror movies were smart, they'd all be alive at the end of the movie, IMO.

Mike: It also bugged me that the house, like the walls and stuff, still seemed old and dirty after they moved in. I mean, if FELT like a haunted house, which was cool, but who doesn't paint the walls and shit?

Casey: They the house on auction, that's legit. You gotta watch Auction Kings, dude!

Mike: True. But I'm throwing down the gauntlet. Write a horror movie where people turn on the damn lights and see the warning signs. To me, that's scarier. I get the suspense of not knowing what's in the room, but what if you turn the light on and see the shit, now you have to deal with it.

Casey: But man I have to say, I was really, really happy to see a horror movie like The Conjuring do well. Mike: I agree. For all my bitching, I really liked the movie. A lot.

Casey: This is on the back of news that the last Paranormal Activity movie is so bad that they're not only thinking of pushing the October release back to January.

Mike: I hate to say it but I think we've pushed found footage horror like that as far as we can go without creating better stories. It was a gimmick that worked, but now we need to push further.

Casey: On top of that, they're thinking of taking a Latino spin off movie they did, the Oxnard tapes, and turning it into the new Paranormal Activity 5.

Mike: I really tired of that genre of horror. The found footage genre.

Casey: I still think that despite that, maybe The Conjuring is a wake-up call. Horror movies still do well and aren't bombing. It nearly doubled its budget on opening weekend, according to boxofficemojo.

Mike: In The Conjuring, I loved the jump scares in this because they felt organic. They weren't there JUST to make me jump. It was well written, I didn't get pulled out by crappy dialogue or stupid story logic.

Casey: I also like how they laugh at you in some instances for getting scared. Some movies have tried this and screwed it up (Paranormal Activity 4), but this felt legit, due to the cop character.

Mike: Yeah, the cop character was an excellent choice. He wasn't a badass, but was just a real guy and they used him well for this.

Casey: The cool thing is they knew that the original stories were a bit thin, so they combined three different Warren family cases into one movie, and it worked great because of that. Kind of hard to elaborate without spoilers. What some of the people reading this may not realize is that since we write scripts, we're always picking apart shit and it's hard to actually sit down and enjoy a movie sometimes

Mike: It did. Looking back, because this is a "true story" type movie, I would have liked to see some skepticism up front about The Warrens (which was real) and then get to see how they really do have to deal.

Casey: I didn't really find myself picking this one apart and ruining my own enjoyment subconciously. I think we didn't see the criticism due to one of the Warrens still being around, I don't feel like I really missed it in this movie though.

Mike: But you know, I didn't find myself sitting there analyzing structure and picking out holes in the plot during the movie. I was throughly entertained. It's been a long time since I've watched a movie and not thought about that stuff.

Casey: Yeah, same here. When we went and saw Pacific Rim, which I liked, I was still doing that.

Mike: I think we could have seen some criticism of "the science" behind it, maybe. Sure they make some comments, but I would have liked to see it. And not a lot, but it would have grounded it a little.

Casey: In reality, there is a bit of criticism toward the Warrens out there, but a lot of people consider them almost like pillars of the paranormal activity, along with their nephew, John Zaffis.
As someone who is a bit of enthusiast of the paranormal stuff, I was nerding out about some of the stuff in here, including a sly reference to the Amityville case that not everyone might pick up.

Mike: That was good. I even missed that because it's been so long since I've seen Amityville.

Casey: Overall, I really thought this was a badass movie, and that people should check it out in the theatres when they can. Watching it in your house feels too safe and is chumping out.

Mike: I agree. I'll watch it at home again, but I'm glad I saw this one in the theater.

Casey: Same here. Being surrounded by screaming people is the best way to see a horror movie.

Mike: As for the rest of the movie (minor story complaints aside) I thought all of the acting was spot on, the environment they set up was fantastic, and there's sound stuff that really made it. In fact, many of the cues are sound related. If you watch movies with a sweet pair of wireless headphones, like I do, you'll totally get the sound stuff at home. But you won't get that rumble. At a few points whole damn theater rumbled.

Casey: Plus, on top of the sound, you get that awesome James Wan crazy camera work, which is fun stuff.

Mike: Yeah, there's one moment with the shot above, then under the bed, that I thought was great.

Mike: But overall, I really liked this horror movie. And it has been a few years since I could say I was really happy with every aspect of a horror film.

Casey: Same here. People need to check this out as soon as they can.

Mike: Right now. Stop reading this, get up, and go to the theater!

The real Annabelle

So, you've seen the Conjuring and...

Wait, you did, didn't you?

Okay, we're going to post a bit of a review telling you every reason you should go see it. Until then, check out the real story behind Annabelle, the creepy doll featured in The Conjuring.

While the doll looks quite different, most of the bullet points are pretty similar to what's presented in the film, but the real story is a bit more sinister, with the doll being reported to have caused a motorcycle accident that killed someone.

• It was owned by two nurses that thought they attached a little girl's spirit to the doll.
• The writing stuff with crayons and moving around on its own was also reported
• It's really kept in a glass case with a sign that says "WARNING: Positively do not open"

The other story, from the Warrens' official website, is actually surprising that it wasn't worked into The Conjuring.

"The Warrens had a special case built for Annabelle inside the Occult Museum, where she resides to this day. Since the case was built Annabelle no longer appeared to move but she is thought to be responsible for the death of a young man who came to the museum on motorcycle with his girlfriend. The young man after hearing Ed's account of the doll, defiantly went up and began to bang on the case insisting that if the doll can put scratches on people then he wanted to also be scratched, Ed said to the young man "Son you need to leave" and put him out of the building

On the way home the young man and his girlfriend were laughing and making fun of the doll when he lost control of his motorcycle and went head on into a tree, the young man was killed instantly but his girlfriend survived and was hospitalized for over a year. When asked what happened the young woman explained that they were laughing about the doll when they lost control of the motorcycle. Ed warns you do not challenge evil, that no man is more powerful than Satan."

Creepy stuff.

Here's a video:



Here's the story on the Warrens' official website. (be sure to turn on your speakers for this one)

A View From the Streets

For the record, here's a photo of your distinguished writers. Literally distinguished - this is from the honors commencement ceremony at CSUN in May. Mike is in the blue, Casey is in the red.

Once from warring street gangs, we managed to put our differences aside in order to write together.