Written By: Dan Geer

Director James Watkins’ latest film, The Woman in Black, is the type of horror film that only comes along once in a blue moon. Moviegoers have not really been properly treated to gothic horror on the silver screen since the days when Universal, Hammer, and American International Pictures made it commonplace back in the 1930s-70s. Nothing since then has been done quite as effectively – although films like The Others and The Wolfman remake had their moments. Gothic horror is simply an all but forgotten genre that barely gets touched in modern-day film-making.

So, it really comes as no surprise that the recent reemergence of Hammer Film Productions would lead to the creation of such an effective film that harkens back to that golden age of horror when it was all about ominous warning and creepy atmosphere – and it pleases this reviewer to say that it is truly a warm welcome back to the genre.

Read more »

Written By: Dan Geer

John Carptenter’s 1982 film, The Thing (a remake of the 1950s classic, The Thing from Another World) has almost become as much of a cult classic as his much-beloved film, Halloween (from my point of view, it is arguably a better film altogether). It holds up today as much as it did 29 years ago, still scaring the pants off of most everyone who watches it. It has gone down in film history as one of the best sci-fi thrillers of all time, right up there with Ridley Scott’s Alien.

So the idea of making a prequel – showing us just what exactly happened to that devastated Norwegian base camp at the beginning of Carpenter’s film – is something that has been met with both excitement, as well as skepticism from fans of the original 1982 film. Even though it could be intriguing to see how it all went down, what’s the point, really? We basically already know what happened, so what possible reason is there to go back and show it? Furthermore, how could it possibly live up to the original? While these questions can really only be answered by experiencing the film for yourself, I can say that there’s more to it than you might think – although not much.

Read more »

Written By: Dan Geer

Shawn Levy’s Real Steel is a science-fiction film loosely based on a Richard Matheson story about “Robot Boxing,” which, of course, immediately conjures up cheesy thoughts of “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” in the mind of the typical cynical movie-goer. It simply cannot be helped, since the film’s movie trailers magnificently showcase exciting boxing scenes between various mega droids (which even look like souped-up versions of the robots from the classic Mattel game) that overshadow anything we see dealing with the human characters in the previews.

But movie trailers can often be misleading. Underneath it all, this film is a whole lot more than just robots beating the living metal out of each other. At its core lies a true underdog story of a washed up boxer (played by Hugh Jackman) finding his way back to the ring, as well as his estranged son, through a single commonality. It is a classic story formula, repackaged with a bit of sci-fi flare, designed to hit every sappy, heartwarming note that a story of its kind is meant to hit – and it works.  “Rocky Socking Robots” might be a better way to look at it.

Read more »

Written By: Dan Geer

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, we experienced a film that, while quite enjoyable, struggled to exist on its own as a single-film entity since the story had been intentionally cut off right before the climactic final act when things really take off. It was certainly a bold move for the creative minds behind the Deathly Hallows films to just give the audience half of a movie with Part 1 and expect us to enjoy and critique it without a real ending. They succeeded well enough, but it made it really difficult to judge the film by itself when the story was incomplete.

When all is said and done, Part 1 can not be truly appreciated without Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – the epic payoff to not only all the slow-paced meandering we endured with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) in the last film, but to the entire series as a whole. Everything we have experienced with these characters over the last decade has all led to this film, and I am pleased to say that it is indeed a very satisfying conclusion to what has to be the most ambitious film series ever created.

Read more »

Written By: Dan Geer

Watching Transformers: Dark of the Moon is almost like viewing two different films. On the one hand, much of the first half feels like it is filled with unused scenes from the last film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, containing unbalanced and unnecessary humor, useless side characters and, of course, an over-emphasis on ridiculously hot, scantily clad women that seem to only exist in Michael Bay films (seriously, I don’t believe Rosie Huntington-Whiteley actually exists in real life). But on the other hand, the last half of the film washes all those problems away when Bay delivers some of the best sci-fi action ever committed to film by giving us the ultimate war between the Autobots and Decepticons in the middle of downtown Chicago. It really is an exhilarating triumph in terms of action and excitement in a movie, especially in 3-D, and the story of how it all goes down is actually intriguing and quite dark to say the least. Ladies and gentlemen, total “Bayhem” is in full effect here and is definitely worth the price of admission (and maybe even some popcorn).

Read more »

Written By: Dan Geer

The alien invasion genre is one that has existed for decades, making it seem tired and worn out to many by now. While we may have enjoyed movies like The War of the Worlds and Independence Day in the past, it is really difficult to bring anything new to the table with each and every new movie in the genre, with District 9 probably being the least formulaic one we’ve had in a long time.

So where does that leave us with director Jonathan Liebesman’s Battle: Los Angeles? To be honest, as far as the alien invasion aspect of it goes, not a whole lot except for maybe tons of gritty, butt-kicking action sequences and special effects that explode with realism. The movie starts off right away with the invasion, taking as little time as is necessary to set up the characters and making sure that we get right into the action. Nothing wrong with that, really, since that is the main reason people will be drawn to go see the film initially. It is truly a two-hour, jaw-dropping, mind-numbing display of visual chaos that completely entertains.

But where the film really excels is not in the visual spectacle (although it is impressive), but rather its heart. Make no mistake; unlike The War of the Worlds, Independence Day and even District 9 – this is a military-focused war film at its core with a true war hero at its heart.

Read more »

Review By: Dan Geer

After I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I was taken back by how dark it was and wondered just how cheerless Harry Potter’s journey has to go before things get bright again. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, we approach the beginning of the end of this decade-long journey we’ve taken with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) – and, thus far, there is no happy ending in sight (well, there’s really no ending at all, but I’ll get to that later).

Read more »

Source: DC Comics/Wildstorm/IDW | Review By: Dan Geer

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my love for The X-Files. I grew up watching the show, and to this day it is still my pick for greatest TV series ever created. So when I found out there was going to be a crossover comic book series where FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate the vampires from 30 Days of Night (originally a comic book series by writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith), the geek within me exploded with excitement.

Read more »

Source: DC Comics | Review By: Dan Geer

American Vampire is an original comic book series from DC/Vertigo written by short story writer Scott Snyder (Voodoo Heart) with a special writing contribution from none other than Stephen King (The Dark Tower series) for the first five issues. The series debuted last May, but the issues will be combined together and released in hardcover volumes starting with the first five Snyder/King issues in Volume #1 on October 5th. The first volume was sent to me from DC for review. Read on to check it out!

Read more »

Source: Collider | Posted By: Dan Geer

As you probably know from my previous posting of the trailer for the Lost Boys: The Thirst DVD/Blu-ray, my hopes were raised a bit after watching the preview. The franchise’s previous straight-to-DVD installment, Lost Boys: The Tribe, was pretty much a total mess of a film, save for the welcome appearance of Corey Feldman’s character “Edgar Frog,” who will have a much more prominent role in the The Thirst.

To follow up on that post, you can check out Collider’s surprisingly positive review of The Thirst. Hit the jump for some excerpts from the review.

Read more »