Day 45: Winnebago Man

Directed By- Ben Steinbauer

Written By- Malcolm Pullinger, Ben Steinbauer

Starring- Jack Rebney, Ben Steinbauer

Critics Review- "There is a genuine, human sympathy for his frustration and lashing out that goes along with the laughter."- Ian Bukwalter "NPR"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 91% Audience- 73%

Out of a possible of 5 stars- 4 stars

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS!

My Review-

I have never heard of this man, by the name of Jack Rebney or seen his infamous "Winnebago outtakes." However, from watching this documentary about him and his life after he made the video for Winnebago, and how he lives and what he thinks about America and others things. It seems likehe is a very angry person at times by watching the documentary, but also he is in deep thought about certain topics, when he gets into arguements with the director and won't believe certain things about his video and how many people like his video that he made in the 1980s about trying to sell a winnebago. After watching this documentary and seeing everything that he when through by making that video and what happened during that shoot, he is truly the "angriest man in the world." Even though he does at times seeing he does have a heart of gold, he speaks his mind, if you want to watch this documentary do not do what I did, watch his youtube video first, then watch this documentary so you will see for yourself why this man is so well liked by fans that love the video and have seeing it more than 10 times. And you will see why people watch his video, it is one of those things that will put you in a good mood, if you are in a bad mood. As someone put it he is everyone's "angry grandpa". Even though he has that video of him in which seems to be his worst mood ever, he does have a kind heart and seemed to actually care that people loved his video, and liked him, not just because he was angry, but also because he was a kind person and did finally actually care that this documentary was being made about him. If you want a good laugh or just having a bad day watch his youtube video, and if you want to know more about him, watch this documentary on him.

Day 44: Pontypool

Directed By- Bruce McDonald

Written By- Tony Burgess 

Starring- Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly

Critics Review- "A horror flick that's all talk and (almost) no action? The risk pays off better than you'd think."- Elizabeth Weitzman "New York Daily News"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 83% Audience- 68%

Out of a possible of 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars

My Review- 

I first heard about this movie when it was going to be released, but never got the chance to watch until now. It is by far one of the most strangest horror films I have ever seen, but I liked it. It was a new take on the "zombie" genre, and it is done all with imagination since a majority of the movie takes place inside of a radio station. Not that many films do that anymore, where you as the view have to use your imagination to figure out what is going on without seeing anything and that's when you know a movie has done it's job that you get creeped out or you are trying to figure out how everything started and trying to get in the loop. These are the types of horror movies that I'am starting like to watch those that make you try and figure out what is going on with very little to go on, and this movie did that well, even though it was kind of boring in the beginning. 

Day 43: Battlefield Earth

Directed By- Roger Christian

Writer(s)- Corey Mandell, J.D. Shaprio

Starring- John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, Richard Tyson, Kelly Preston, Sabine Karsenti

Critics Review- "You don't watch it -- you survive it."- Steven Rosen "Denver Post"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 2% Audience- 13%

Out of a possible of 5 Stars- half a star

My Review-

I have nothing nice to say about this movie, so this review will be short and too the point. IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN MADE!

Day 42: When a Stranger Calls (1979)

Directed By- Fred Walton

Writer(s)- Steve Feke, Fred Walton

Starring- Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst, Tony Beckley

Critics Review- "Glorified slasher flick never advances beyond a great first act."- Scott Weinberg "eflimCritic.com"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 40% Audience- 68%

Out of a possible of 5 stars- 2 1/2 stars

My Review-

This movie is based off of the urban legend of the babysitter and the kids she is watching, and it is kind of scary hearing over the phone "have you checked the children". I have always wanted to watch this movie, because I made the mistake of watching the remake first instead of this one; and in the remake that girl cannot act for shit. This was one of those true horror films, that did not show a lot of blood or killing, just good ol' fashion suspense. However for me the best part was the first 30 mins and the last 15 mins, other than that i believe that it did not need go into such detail about the killer and everything else. But that's just me, like the other one in way I wish it was mostly in the house and not seven years later however, for me it could have ended when what the movie is known for had ended, in the echo while she was on the phone. I did rather enjoy this movies in some parts of it, and other parts I thought did not need to be in the movie.

Day 41: Real Steel

Director- Shawn Levy

Written By- John Gatins

Starring- Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lily, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand

Critics Review- " "Real Steel" is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, it has a compelling plot. This is the sort of movie, I suspect, young viewers went to the "Transformers" movies looking for."- Roger Ebert "Chicago Sun-Times"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 59% Audience- 78%

Out of a possible of 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars

My Review-

If you like boxing movies, and robots then this is the movie for you. When I first saw the trailer for this movie I saw it as Rock em' Sock'em Robots which immediately had me wanting to watch the movie, plus it had Hugh Jackman, and I like some of his movies so I saw this as being one of his good movies and I was right. Although this movie was more of a father/son type movie it was done quite well, even at types that it was kind of corny I still wanted to keep watching it because the boxing matches were some of the best parts of the movie, and had me and my mom getting up and saying "oh shit:. This was a type of Rocky movie the whole time you were rooting for the underdog, what also worked for me in this movie was the supporting cast, Durand, Mackie and Lilly, even the actor who played his son did a good job in the movie, even though some of them had small parts they were helpful to the movie for Jackman and Goyo's characters. The big fight at end was the best part of the movie, the big finish for a movie that from start to finish was good. Having seen a few boxing movies and seeing how this can be considered one this would have to go on the list of my top boxing movies, this movie had me wanting more in the fights especially the last fight, the "main event" even though it was about the last 15 minutes of the movie I would have like to see more. I just guess I will have to wait for the sequel, if that ever happens.

Day 40: Wonderland

Director- James Cox

Writer(s)- James Cox. Captain Mauzner, Todd Samovitz, D. Loriston Scott

Starring- Val Kilmer, Kate Boswoth, Dylan McDermott, Josh Lucas, Tim Blake Nelson, Lisa Kudrow

Critics Review- "It hits you like a ton of dope."- Jules Brenner "Cinema Signals"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 34% Audience- 66%

Out of a possible of 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars

My Review-

The Wonderland Murders, or the Four on the Floor the killing of four people of in drug-related crime, and who was the man that may have helped out in this, none other than Porn Legend John Holmes. Taking place before and after the murders in July of 1981, Wonderland tells different sides to what may have happened the night that murders took place and why. According to this movie after he was out of the Porn Industry, Holmes  played by Val Kilmer, became addicted to Drugs and theft. This movie is told in four parts that all lead to the Wonderland Murders; told from the point of view of someone who wasn't there and John Holmes. The thing that lead to the murders was the robbery of man by the name of Eddie Nash, who was a gangster and a drug dealer. During the movie when hearing both sides you do not know who to believe since both sides sound very convincing. I was surprised when i saw some of the actors that were in the film, and thought they were good in the movie, except for a few people like Kudrow, Bostwoth, and a very small part with Paris Hilton, which i thought was very useless and did not need to be in the movie. Other than that I found my self trying to figure out who was telling the truth, since both stories are so convincing, and Val Kilmer in one of the best movies I have seen with him since the Salton Sea. For me I liked this movie because it caused you to think about who was telling the truth and who wasn't. The only way to find out is for you to watch the movie.

Day 39: This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Director- Kirby Dick

Writers- Kirby Dick, Eddie Schmidt, Matt Patterson

Starring- Kirby Dick, Jack Valenti, Kimberly Peirce, Alison Anders, John Waters

Critics Rating- "...A ringing indictment of a system that's not just broken. It's rigged and needs replacing."- Roger Moore "Orlando Sentinel"

Rating on Rotten Tomatoes- 84%

Out of a possible of 5 stars- 5 stars

My Review-

The MPAA decides the fate of the movies we watch in theaters, ranging from a rating of G to a rating of NC-17. In the documentary ironically rated NC-17, takes a look at the start of the ratings system and has interviews with directors and actors who have been in movies or had their movies rated NC-17; for either a little to much sex or a little to much violence. It shows how the movies are rated, who rates them and why they would be rated that way, BUT does not say who rates them for they want it to be a secret. In the movies I have seen which I really have lost count I have questioned the ratings of some movies and why they were given that rating. This documentary was rather very interesting because of how secretive the MPAA is about their members. I have always heard of how directors appealed their movies at an appeal board and here we sort of got an idea of how it works, and in away it seems like they just want to get it over with and they do not even give out their names, because they are afraid that they will be influenced to change the rating of the movie they are watching or have watched. So in way the Ratings system is kind of useless for some things that do not need that bad of a rating. At times it seems like the people at the head of the MPAA are two damn secretive, and don't want anybody to know what they're doing behind closed doors. And that they have the power to rate our movies and see if people watch it or not is kind of bad that they have the power to have are movie shown or theaters of not, I just hope that if I ever get to make a movie that I don't have to go through that whole entire process.