13 (2010) - Jason Statham

I'm a huge JS fan so I had to watch this movie, but it is very strange. Even the cinematography and settings are just plain creepy. It's hard to describe. It's like everything is slightly underexposed and desaturated with hard contrast. Maybe I'm talking rubbish there and using the wrong terms, but that's the best description I can come up with. Together with the subject matter, it can really get under you skin if you let it.

Which is pretty odd, because if you stop and look back at the movie, not a lot really happens. It's basically about an organized Russian roulette competition. I can't really explain what that means without spoilers, but it's not all that complicated. It's basically the same concept with multiple players and the audience bets on the individual players and outcomes.

It does get a little more involved as the game progresses from one round to the next, but it's still pretty basic.

I did enjoy the movie but I can't really say why. From everything I've said, I really shouldn't have, but I did. All I can say is that it's definitely worth watching as it is probably one of the more unique films you will see.

Hessen Conspiracy (2009) - Billy Zane, Lyne Renee

This is one of those 1940's detective novel style capers that keeps you guessing until the very end and for me, was fairly difficult to follow. However I wasn't doing very well at the time and couldn't really focus on it so it's probably just me. It is solidly in that genre, so much so as to be a stereotype, but I wouldn't say in a bad way. I think it's quite well done for what it purports to be.

The Last Legion (2007) - Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley

This is very much a typical Hollywood movie in the tradition of Cecil B. DeMille only perhaps not on the same grand scale. However you have very good good-guys, very bad bad-guys and over-choreographed fight scenes that are, shall we say, often less than realistic. Even so, I think it's a quite good story that has a very interesting twist at the end.

It starts out with the crowning of a boy emperor in 5th century Rome when the empire is really under the suzerainty of the Goths. Cue the normal political deception and betrayal and the boy emperor and a small band of loyal protectors are off to find one legion still loyal to Rome.

Maximum Velocity (2003) Michael Ironside, Dale Midkiff and Wendy Carter

This is a very cheesy movie, but it is about superstorms that were predicted to occur as the result of global warming, so having just lived through one (Hurricane Sandy), I was curious. So I overlooked the awful sets and lighting and mediocre acting and atrocious script to at least see what the movie had to offer.

Well, to my surprise, early on they showed the projected size of the storm that they expected they would have to deal with - a swirling monster covering half of the eastern seaboard. Check. Sounds like Sandy's kid sister. So from that point on I was hooked.

However truly, in pretty much every other way, this movie is awful and hardly scientific. And did I mention the acting? The people who star are competent and put in good performance but sweet lord, I have no idea where they got some of the other actors.

Steal (2002) Stephen Dorff

This is a fantastic action movie. There are parts that really scream low-budget, but they're easily overlooked. There are numerous great chase scenes and shootouts not to mention a good dollop of very tasteful and enticing nude scenes. Plus it's not your ordinary type of chases and shoot outs.

For example in one scene the heroes (anti-heroes?) escape by base jumping. In another, their getaway vehicles are rollerblades.

This really is a fun movie that is also unpredictable, even though it seems just the opposite at times.

Well, it's been a while. Not sure why I haven't been back to this. OK, actually I do know. It's been a rough couple of months. I've been even more debilitated than usual. I can normally get my act together enough to get one or two things done on average each day but for weeks now it's been a struggle to do much of anything. I wish I knew why, I just know that it happens sometimes but hopefully the worst is over. I have however been vegging out in front of the tube and have caught a bunch of movies.

Total Recall (2012) Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale
I liked this remake and don't really see why people complained about it. Instead of Mars, you have only 2 habitable areas on earth connected by a tunnel that goes through the center but around the molten core. It's pretty cool actually and adds some interesting elements to the story. The chase scenes I thought were fantastic especially with the elevators that move vertically and horizontally between floors. Special effects were superb.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller
This is about as straight forward an old-timey white-hat/black-hat good/bad buy movie you're likely to find these days. So I think it deserves points just for its purity. Of course that means the plot suffers, but there's plenty of action and eye candy to distract you - LOOK, an army of robotic killer squirrels w/ lasers for eyes (just kidding).

Bourne Legacy (2012) Jeremy Renner, Donna Murphy
This is solidly in the Bourne tradition but w/o Matt Damon it just seems to be missing something. Even so, if you can get over that, quite a good action flick.

Outlander (2008) Jim Caviezel (Person of Interest)
I've really come to love JC from Person of Interest and I think he turns in an excellent performance here. I was really hoping for some sci-fi flash, but aside from a taste a the end and beginning, we're really talking stone knives and bear skins for the most part. Well, except for the monster - sort of. There be alien dragons here.

Resident Evil - Retribution (2012) - Milla Jovovich
Do I really need to say anything more than Milla Jovovich? OK, Nazi zombie hordes and a vast, super secret underwater Umbrella corp HQ. Oh, and wait until you see the lead-in to the sequel.
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Here are some low budget sci-fi/fantasy movies that were worth watching.

Flesh Wounds (2011) - Kevin Sorbo
OK, maybe not this one. You can fast forward over most of the first third except for some of the conversations. Sorbo's team is sent out into the swamp on a mission but they're lied to and only the CIA operative sent with them has part of the story. There are some funny scenes though like where one of the guys uses a severed leg that still on fire to light his cigarette - you know, if your humor runs in that vein so to say (hehehe). Special effects, if you can call them that are ultra cheesy, but that's one of the movie's endearing qualities I think.

Monsters (2010) - nobody you know
This is not your normal monster movie. They tease you for a long time about what they are like but there is a satisfying reveal and the whole premise is really pretty imaginative i think. There is also the boy meets girl saves girl element but it's not stereotyped and hackneyed, at least not IMHO. The plot unfolds in a fairly linear way but is still unpredictable and quite engaging.

Dark Fields (2009) - David Carradine, Richard Lynch
This is one of those M. Night Shyamalan type movies where evil acts come back to haunt a town. It's ok but I like DC so I think it's worth watching for him.

Hardwired (2009) - Cuba Gooding, Val Kilmer
I'll just refer you to the synopsis on IMDB or wikipedia . It's one of those implanted/stolen memory/mind control type of movies but pretty well done and engaging. Definitely worth seeing if you like the genre.

--Prometheus (2012)
This purports to be the prequel to Alien - sort of the Alien genesis story. IDK. I thought the premise was weak and the intro a bit misleading, but once you get past that, I think the movie does justice to the franchise. It's dark, foreboding and vicious. The special effects seemed top notch and it's a worthy action flick.

--Kick _ss (2010)
This movie created some controversy because of the little girl assassin who is one of the main characters. I thought she was wonderful and didn't see a problem personally but be forewarned. The story starts with a loser who has dreams of being a super hero. Where it goes from there you will NOT see coming.

--Puss In Boots (2011)
I loved this movie but it's a little odd even for animation and a few things don't quite add up, even for a fairy tale. Even so it was a lot of fun and I still really enjoyed it. It blends the eponymous puss in boots with a grotesque Jack and Jill and a few other fair tales but distorts them in what are usually interesting ways and blends them together to create what I think is a seamless whole.

--The Raid: Redemption (2011)
This is a dirty, brutal, ugly movie. And it has subtitles. The only reason I watched is because it had 3 of 4 stars but I spent the whole time trying to figure out why. I think I finally understood. It's possible to take dirty, brutal and ugly and turn into a type of art - at least I think so. You'll need to make that decision for yourself.

Star Trek Into Darkness I like it. Since 1966 I've looked forward to the next. A beautiful evolutionary timeline of technology.