Hi

Well, this is my first post on here so I should probably lay out exactly what this blog will entail. Basically I'm just gonna provide news and reviews for any movie that interests me. Generally that includes movies that fall into the somewhat broad category of "Geek Movies" which ranges from everything from sci-fi flicks like Star Wars and Spider-man to low budget indie fare like Garden State and Sideways, and maybe the occasional horror movie (although that's not really my area of expertise). I'll also address upcoming films from my favorite actors and directors that might not necessarily be considered "indie" (seriously what does indie even mean anymore anyway?). To answer the obvious question, no I am not one of those guys that goes on movie sites and trashes everything in the talkback. I just figured it'd be a funny, ironic title that would give people an idea of the content I was going for.

To start with I'd like to take a brief look at 2 movies I've seen recently. If you take a look at the upcoming release schedule you can see how this will quickly turn into a blog focusing on future movies while the reviews will mostly take a backseat (yeah, this year's winter line-up is pathetic). So if you hate my review style, you won't have to see it again for a while. First up is this past weekend's release, Constantine. I was actually fortunate enough to see this in an advance screening conducted by the University a week before its release, and had the somewhat unique experience of seeing a movie before the reviews had come in, allowing me to completely take the movie as it was. As probably few people reading this know, Constantine is based on the comic series, Hellblazer. I admit, I've never read Hellblazer, even though many of my favorite writers have worked on the title. This is probably for the best, as many of the fans of the comic seem to be pretty disappointed by the film. Personally I had a great time and thought it was a thoroughly entertaining picture, with several jump-out-of-your-seat moments. It kinda drags a little at the end, but overall I thought it was very well done, if a little over-directed at times. The whole cast gives very good performances, including Keanu Reeves who is generally a questionable actor at best. For me the highlight of the movie was the unique and irreverant take on religous themes (think the Exorcist meets the Matrix meets Indiana Jones) and probably the best vision of Hell I've ever seen in a movie. Oh and that Vertigo logo at the beginning floored me. Hope we see that again.

Next up is Million Dollar Baby which I finally saw last night. Ok, this movie's been out for a while now, but with the Oscars next week, I wanted to comment on it since I always try to see all the Best Picture nominated films (still haven't seen Finding Neverland, but 4 out of 5 ain't bad). I really thought I had this movie figured out before even seeing it, but that turn in the third act completely hit me in the gut. I read plenty of reviews telling me that would happen, but I still didn't think it would. I was underwhelmed by Mystic River last year and expected the same reaction to Million Dollar Baby, so I was pleasantly surprised to be so affected by a movie that I really wasn't all that jazzed about going into. The 3 principle cast members give outstanding performances and I'm pretty sure now that Hillary Swank has that Best Actress Oscar in the bag (sorry Annette). Then there's Morgan Freeman, who I'd be happy to seen in any movie whether his role belongs in there or not (Robin Hood anyone?). He delivers another solid performance that's a little grittier than he normally plays. Overall I still think I'd give Best Picture to the Aviator (well, in a perfect world it would go to Eternal Sunshine), but the race in my mind at least is now a lot tighter.