Dear Zachary

I hadn't heard anything about this movie until a few months ago someone told me it was very depressing and I should watch it. I finally checked it out, and it's very raw and emotional, and you should check it out, too, but I'm not going to tell you anything about it because I think the best way to come into this movie is blind. I will say that it's a documentary from a man to the young son of his murdered friend, and it's very sad and I cried like, through the whole movie, basically, and yelled at the screen a lot. You probably will too.

Land of the Dead

I hated this movie the first time I saw it, but it reads better the second time. I think it was too bleak and depressing and such for me the first time around.

Right at Your Door

This movie is very low-budget. It mostly works. there are a few logical inconsistencies that you can tell are a factor of the budget (it's unbelievable that we only see very d=few people in this film...none of the neighbors wanted to cause a ruckus and leave their houses?) but you won't mind those because the story at hand is too compelling. A man kisses his wife goodbye and she leaves for work in the morning, and then he learns that a bomb has gone off in the city. He tries to rescue her but it herded back to his house by cops. He seals everything off to keep whatever toxin came from the bomb from getting into his house, but after it's all sealed, his wife returns and he makes her stay outside for fear of what she'll bring in with her. I knew something bad would come of this and I yelled at the screen a lot, but neither of them listened to me. this movie is bleak and if you already don't trust the government, this won't change your mind. It's very depressing but very worthwhile.

Westworld

This was a movie I hadn't heard of until a few years ago, and when I watched it, I was underwhelmed by the first hour. It's one of those "slow burn" movies that takes awhile to get going, which is all fine and dandy when I'm enjoying learning about the characters, but these characters are a bunch of vapid rich people whoi don't give a shit about anyone but themselves and a bunch of tech people behind the scenes who are ignoring signs that something is very wrong at this vacation spot, so I wanted them all to pretty much shut up and die. Once the first hour was over and things got going, though, I enjoyed the mayhem, so I think watching it again would be less painful since I know there's a payoff for all my tedious hard work. Yul Brenner is great in this movie as a sadistic robot who kills off a bunch of people I don't like.

Vantage Point

A fun little action movie. It has a gimmick that might make you pull your hair out, but when all is revealed, it's worth the watch (which is something you can't say about most gimmick movies).

The Burning

I'd heard about this movie for years, and I love slashers so I wanted to see it, but I never got around to it until last month. I'm sorry I waited so long. this movie is the typical "killer slashes teens in the woods" fare, but it's so much fun you won't care (plus this was one of the early flicks in this sub-sub-genre so it wasn't copying much). There's a massacre scene on a raft floating down the river that kicks so much ass I don't know if I've seen a better kill scene in any movie, even those made today. Check this one out especially to see Jason Alexander (from "Seinfeld" fame) when he was young and hot!

Silent Night Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out

This is a case of the movie's poster being a hundred times better than the movie itself. Good LORD. I needed something to help me calm down after "The Hurt Locker," but this was something no one needed. this movie is so bad I can't even describe it. It manages to be horrible, but not so bad it's good. I almost went to sleep. this movie is so bad at characterization it took me half the movie to figure out that the lead character is blind, and she looks so much like her brother's girlfriend that you won't be able to tell them apart. Plus did you know that shooting someone twice won't kill them, but if you then stab them once in the chest, they'll die? Ugh. skip this. even if you love bad movies like I do, this isn't worth it.